Breathe Me In

  There was no need to fuss over how she dressed. It was a warm night, so she went for accessible. A mini-skirt, wedge sandals, a loose top. Maybe it all seemed presumptuous on her part, but she didn’t think she’d read his signals wrong. She left her hair straight and unstyled, anticipating whatever style she put in it would undoubtedly be demolished if the night went how she hoped.

  Every time she thought about the night going like she hoped, though, every time she imagined being so close to him, invaded by him, her heart would lurch. She would have to pause to catch her breath, and the thought would cross her mind to dive back under the covers. Text him that she’d changed her mind, just so she could go on living in her safe little world.

  Because she had no doubt her safe little world was about to be well and thoroughly rocked, and who knew if it would even be recognizable after he was done with her.

  When Macy’s SUV pulled into the parking lot fifteen minutes after her text had arrived, Ghost glanced up at the ice-bright stars and thanked whoever in the hell was up there pulling for him. He’d fully expected her to change her mind.

  When she slid out of her car and he caught a glimpse of those flawless thighs under the hem of her skirt, he thought maybe whoever was up there was intent upon killing him.

  But what a way to go.

  He stood gaping beside his car as she shut her door and strode toward him, her smile as bright as the moon. As she reached him, her faint vanilla scent drifted forward and teased his senses, so sweet he wanted to close his eyes and inhale. He managed to restrain himself. Just barely.

  “Hey,” she said, when he obviously couldn’t divert his blood supply from his dick to his brain to form a coherent greeting.

  “Damn,” he managed to choke out. “You look...” Fucking hot. Seemed too juvenile. This woman was...divine, and she deserved more than some compliment a horny ninth grader might toss at her. Keep it simple, right? “You’re beautiful, Macy.”

  “Thank you,” she said, seeming genuinely flattered.

  He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets, feeling like said horny ninth grader in the presence of the prom queen. Remembering the ultimate outcome the last time he’d felt this way.

  It hadn’t been pretty.

  “I’m surprised you came,” he said.

  “Really? Why?”

  Why? Why? Did she really expect him to answer that? Look at her. Any guy with a brain ought to be shaking in his boots over the prospect of being shot down by her. “You weren’t too receptive the last time I asked,” he said in place of that idiotic thought.

  “Oh. I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t making an excuse though, I really...I was going through some stuff. And then there was Candace...you know.”

  “Yeah.”

  “But I’m here.” She smiled, though it was fleeting. “Even if I probably shouldn’t be.”

  “Why shouldn’t you?”

  “I haven’t been very honest with you.”

  Of all the things that could’ve come out of her mouth right then, that was the last thing he’d expected to hear. Hell, neither of them had been all that up-front, had they? He damn sure hadn’t, and it didn’t take a genius to see she was hiding some pain herself.

  Both of them guarding their hearts so closely. It was that mystery behind Macy’s hazel eyes—right now glinting at him in the shadows—that had him so intrigued.

  And he had to be on guard right now, too. He shrugged off her statement. “For that matter, neither have I. Maybe that’s best, right?”

  Her perfectly arched brows drew together. “You’re not even curious?”

  “Do you have a husband at home?”

  “What? No way.”

  “Boyfriend?”

  “No.”

  He ticked off on his fingers. “Have four kids? Some deadly communicable disease? Really a man?”

  “Oh my God! No.” She propped her hands on her hips. “Would it matter if I had kids?”

  “Well, it would if you had four. Three’s my limit.”

  “You are terrible.”

  “I don’t try to hide it. Macy, look. Feel free not to share any deep, dark secrets with me if you don’t want to.” Then again, if she remained a mystery, he’d end up falling all over himself trying to solve it. Shit.

  “Maybe I do want to share.”

  “Then you would’ve told me before.”

  She shook her head. “Not necessarily. Hey, will you just listen? You said you wanted to continue our earlier conversation, and this is the continuation. This is ‘later’.”

  Sighing, he crossed his arms and leaned against his car, steeling himself for the worst. She looked at him uncertainly until he gave a circular gesture with his hand. Macy drew a breath, and managed to surprise him yet again.

  “I saw Jameson Andrews drive by here that night you and I were here. I guess he waited until we left and trashed the shop. I didn’t point it out to you and I didn’t tell anyone, at least partly because the Andrews family and mine go way back. But also because I’ve been upsetting Candace a lot lately, and I thought she would never speak to me again. It was selfish and it was wrong, and if you never want to speak to me again, I’ll understand.” He just stared at her. “I’ll be sad,” she added, “but I’ll understand.”

  Wow. No wonder she hadn’t been able to tell him this in front of everyone. Ghost scrubbed a hand over his head, wanting to be at least a little upset that she’d actually considered sitting on this information. But she looked so glum. It was plainly obvious she was a good enough person that this had eaten at her until she cracked. Besides that, he hadn’t asked her if she’d seen anything. He hadn’t told the cops she was with him. Either one of those things might have made her decide to come forward sooner. “Is that why you and Candace stopped by today?” he asked. “You did tell Brian, right?”

  “Yes. I did.”

  “So really, in the end there’s no harm done. The bastard’s been busted.”

  “He could’ve been busted sooner. I know you guys have been miserable all this time. And you’ve worked so hard and—”

  “Well, yeah. But we would’ve worked hard whether we had the proof or not.” What he couldn’t believe was that Brian hadn’t breathed a word of this. In fact, he hadn’t heard from Brian since he lit out of the parlor soon after Candace and Macy left.

  Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit.

  “Fuck,” he spat, digging in his jeans pocket for his cell phone.

  “What is it?” Macy went from zero to panicked, and once realization dawned across her face, she raised a hand to her forehead. “Do you think he’s gone after James? Oh, God. That was something I didn’t really consider. He’ll kill him.”

  “Get in. We’ll see if we can find him.”

  He fired off a text to Brian as soon as they’d jumped into his car. Dude where u at? Macy buckled in and stared worriedly ahead, chewing her thumbnail.

  Fortunately, the answer came just as he pulled into the street, and he almost laughed at how both of them practically dove for his phone. He let her get it since he was driving. “He says he’s at his brother’s and asks why you want to know,” she said.

  Ghost blew out the breath he’d been holding. “Crisis averted, then. Just tell him I’ll call him later.”

  She relaxed into the seat, typing the message. “Okay.” Then she laughed as she handed his phone back. “What were we going to do, anyway?”

  “Hell if I know. If he didn’t answer, I was ready to go try to bail him out of jail or something.”

  “You don’t think he’ll do anything?”

  “If he were at home in a drunken stupor, I might consider going to babysit him. But if he’s at Evan’s, then that guy will talk some sense into him. It’ll be okay.”

  “I don’t know Evan, but if what I’ve heard about him is true, I’m sure you’re right.”

  “Brian probably went there just for that reason too. He damn sure didn’t want my influence.”

  “Great. You aren’t going to d
o anything to James, are you?”

  He chewed over that one for a minute, long enough to make her sit up straight and open her mouth. Grinning, he cut her off. “No. Though it probably wouldn’t be too good for his health to cross my path in the very near future. That’s all I’m sayin’.”

  “Fair enough.” She watched the darkened buildings slip by them outside. “So where are we going now that our mission has been aborted?”

  “Where do you want to go?”

  “Hmm. I can’t think of anywhere in particular.” She shifted her legs.

  He shouldn’t do it, his brain kept telling him not to do it, but that was like telling his lungs not to need oxygen. He glanced down at those smooth-skinned thighs, swallowing hard as he saw exactly how much skin was showing, how it positively gleamed in the passing streetlamps.

  He wanted to touch her. Oh, fuck, how he wanted to. And he damn sure couldn’t do it while they were driving around...at least, not the way he had in mind. His fingers ached to chart every inch of her.

  “Let’s just go back,” she suggested. He could get onboard with that. A parked car allowed for many more opportunities than a moving one.

  Dermamania was dark and deserted when they returned. The past few weeks he and his coworkers had been worried about a repeat attack, and they’d discussed taking turns staking out the place at night, relishing the idea of catching the asshole in the act. But no one had seemed too enthused about doing it. There was a security system now, anyway.

  “Crazy thing, isn’t it?” Macy asked after he’d parked and killed the engine. “Our friends causing all this trouble.”

  “It isn’t like they caused it. I’m sure they didn’t have any idea it would lead to all this.”

  “Do you think it’s worth it? I’m not sure I do. I mean...I don’t know.” She finished on a dejected note.

  He’d had similar thoughts while staring into the destruction that was once his lively place of business. It was up and running again, sure, but something about it was...off. Like their happy little bubble had burst and there was no blowing another one so round and so perfect no matter how hard they tried. “I guess it doesn’t matter what we think, right?” he said at last. “Only they can decide.”

  “I predict this separation won’t last long. Candace won’t last long. She’ll go back.”

  “And he’d take her in a heartbeat. He isn’t the problem, you know. He’s willing to work through it. I guess he’s willing to throw everything away. His business, us... everything, if he has to.”

  “Wow.”

  “Right.” He thumbed the grips on his steering wheel, thinking of Brooke. How he’d wanted to scour the fucking earth to find her after she left him, no matter what she’d done. “I guess it’s worth it, then.”

  “It seems pretty selfish to me.”

  Macy’s voice had hardened, and when he looked over at her, he saw her mouth had, too. Usually those lips were generous and seemed to be hiding a smile like a precious secret; now they were tight and forbidding. “What’s wrong with being a little selfish sometimes?” he asked. “In the end, we’re the only ones looking out for ourselves. No one else is gonna do it.”

  She stared at him for a moment, a light “Hmm” escaping her throat. “I guess you’re right about that.”

  Jesus. She was perfection from her sleek, shiny hair to the white-tipped fingernails she lifted pensively to her lips. To those killer legs. And everything he couldn’t see...he was damn sure it was perfection too.

  He was feeling selfish as hell right now. He hoped she was too. This was a moment, her gaze remaining steady on his, and he feared if he looked away, if he even fucking moved, he would break the spell and the moment would be gone forever. The moment she was thinking of kissing him.

  But he wouldn’t kiss this girl. Not now. She would fucking own him then. Next time, next time...if she came back, if she wanted him again...he would kiss her then—

  He was about to put that vow to the test. In one fluid motion, Macy leaned closer, caught his cheek in her hand, and moved in.

  Never once, not once that she could remember since she started kissing guys at age twelve, had Macy ever been rejected when she was the aggressor.

  Not once.

  But before she could lose herself in the insanity of putting her needy lips on Ghost’s, he trapped her face between his palms, let his gaze sear darkly into hers for a heart-stopping moment, and—

  He didn’t push her away, which she’d expected in that one half-second of panicked mortification. Oh, no, he didn’t. He tilted her head to the side and branded the side of her neck with his mouth, sucking the air from her lungs. Warm breath, firm lips, the gentle scrape of teeth... She’d always been a little ticklish there but not now, not with desire coursing a hot path through her veins. She only wanted to get him closer.

  Why hadn’t he let her kiss him? She’d been stealing glances at those lips all night. She’d dreamed of them. Now there was nothing she wanted more than to taste them. Drink him up.

  Well, almost nothing.

  His hand skated down her arm. Hers ventured up his hard chest, finding his neck and holding him to her. Breath teased her ear; he nuzzled into her hair and inhaled. Groaned.

  She managed to get both her hands on him then, caressing each side of his jaw with her thumbs. Pushing back, she went in for another try. He had to let her. He had to.

  Determined hands clamped hard around her wrists, halting her. “What’s up with this?” he asked, the gruffness of his voice sending shivers through her entire lower body. His eyes glinted in the dimness. “Coming on to me just to shoot me down?”

  “No, I…”

  “No? You wanna fuck me?”

  It was said with no wonder, no incredulousness, but with a rough edge of challenge.

  Because that’s what this was all about, and she’d known it. He wasn’t up for anything less. Had he been anyone else, she might’ve been insulted. Not now, not when she’d known what she was getting into when she came here.

  He was putting her to the test now, speaking so bluntly, moving closer and letting his mouth tease along her jawline, barely touching as he breathed on her skin.

  “Yes.” The word just slipped out. Absolutely no uncertainty behind it. In fact, that little word might’ve been bouncing around the inside of her head ever since she first laid eyes on him. Yes. Oh, hell yes.

  A grin flashed across his face as he leaned back from her. “I don’t think we have room up here. Climb in the back.”

  Macy glanced back between the front seats into the shadowed, small backseat area. “We wouldn’t have room back there either. It looks…cramped.”

  “It’ll be fine. Go.”

  “But we could—”

  “Come on. Live a little dangerously.”

  “Climb back there? I’m in a skirt.”

  The tip of his finger trailed along her upper thigh, raising gooseflesh. She felt that touch all the way up her spine. “And in about sixty seconds I’m about to be all up under it, or so you tell me.”

  Jesus. “That doesn’t mean all modesty automatically goes out the window.”

  “It doesn’t?”

  “No.”

  “You’re not a lights-out, under-the-covers kind of girl, are you? You’re too beautiful for that.”

  Despite herself, a warm thrill coursed through her with the compliment, mixing with all the other warm thrills he gave her. “No. I’m just not… an ass-in-your-face-before-we’ve-even-kissed kind of girl.” She cocked a meaningful eyebrow at him.

  He smacked his leg as if he’d just suffered a profound disappointment. “Dammit! I thought I’d finally found one.”

  Laughing, she gave his arm a shove. “Remarks like that won’t get you laid, in this car or otherwise.”

  “Get your sexy ass back there, killjoy.”

  Go, go! her mind screamed at her, even as she probably would have sat and carried on the practically giddy banter until sunrise. Her pulse throbbed, her en
tire body burned…she wanted him, but nerves kept her planted to her spot.

  Then he popped open the door. “Well, if you want me…I’m back here.”

  She watched in amusement as he got out and pushed the seat up so he could get in the back, then pulled the door closed. He settled back as if he was getting comfortable, resting his hands on his knees and glancing around. “I’ve never been in the backseat of my own car before. Interesting.”

  “Oh, so we’d be christening it?” she asked.

  “I guess so. I will think of you from now on every time I get in.”

  It was time to put up or shut up. Taking a deep breath to bolster her courage, she let herself out as he had done, then slid into the back beside him and closed the door. It was even smaller back here than it had looked.

  Ghost reached over and gently pushed her hair behind her shoulder. She wondered if he could tell how badly she was shaking. If he couldn’t now, he probably would in a minute. When he began touching her. Really touching her.

  Her pulse went from throbbing to thrashing. She could feel it everywhere, especially between her legs.

  “I hope you know there’s no way we can do this back here,” she told him as he moved closer, hearing a high note of anxiety in her voice. “We should—”

  “We can. I’ll make it work. Trust me.”

  He pressed light kisses to her neck, under her chin, around to the other side. She sighed, rolling her head around to give him access, loving the light burn of his stubble along her skin. “Trust has to be earned.”

  “Right,” he murmured, and continued his task. “But you’re here. You trust me a little already.”

  “I don’t know why, but…yeah. I do.”

  Her top and bra weren’t very substantial at all, so when his hand slid up her side to her breast, she felt it almost as acutely as if he’d touched her bare skin. Her hands flew to his shoulders; her nipple tightened under his palm. She couldn’t stop the sound that escaped her throat when he circled the tight peak with his thumb, and his answering groan elicited a flood of heat that left her trembling for more.