“One for the road.” She leaned over to grab another condom out of his wallet on the bedside table, opened it up and rolled it on him. Then she rose up on the bed, straddled his body so she hovered over the tip of his cock, and then lowered herself down on him, taking him inside of her an inch at a time.
“No self-control at all,” he whispered. “So shocking.”
She grinned. “I know. I still blame it on the potion.”
He cupped her buttocks as she slid up and down on his length. Conversation was at an end, there was only the sensation of his body moving inside of hers. She was living every one of her fantasies about Ryan, one by one. She’d only started at the top of the list. There were many more to go. This is what she’d always wanted.
Part of her remembered that Ryan wasn’t perfect, that he wasn’t going to be in her life for much longer. There was no way she could totally forgive him for what he’d done, what he refused to admit. While this was wonderful, amazing, this chance to touch him, to feel him, to make love to him—it didn’t change anything.
Emma wanted him. A large part of her knew she was falling even deeper in love with him than she already had, but still another part knew she had to break that fall before it was too late.
She’d have this perfect hour or two with him here. Then at her house. It would be sex like she’d never experienced it before—mind-blowing and the culmination of all of her fantasies. But it couldn’t be real. Tomorrow things would be different.
As much as she was beginning to wish otherwise….
10
EMMA WAS INSATIABLE. They made love twice in the hotel room, and again at her house. Ryan had taken her deep and hard and fast, then slower and sweeter. For a moment, she’d looked up at him as he moved inside her, her body clenching his, her mouth seeking his to kiss, that he was certain she would whisper that she loved him.
But she hadn’t.
Ryan hadn’t slept around much since he’d left Mystic Ridge. He wasn’t a monk so there had been a couple of women—both one-night stands. Both times they’d been redheads.
He knew he had it bad for Emma—he’d known it for a while. But actually being with her had done him in for good.
Still, there was a little piece of herself that she was holding back from him and it was driving him crazy.
She didn’t ask him to leave, so he stayed by her side, sleeping in her bed, her body warm and soft and sexy curved against his. He could definitely get used to this.
“Was it really better?” he whispered to her.
She turned around so they were face-to-face. “Better?”
“You said you and me… That it was better than your fantasies. Better than your book.” He laughed under his breath. “This is me being needy.”
She smiled, a sweet, shy smile that betrayed how open and sexy she’d been only a short time ago. He still felt the lust potion swirling between them, threatening to cloud his thoughts, driving him to make love to her again instead of wasting time talking. But talking with Emma wasn’t wasted time.
She brushed her mouth against his. “Did you really read it? All the way through?”
He grinned and traced a line on her plump bottom lip. “Yes. Twice.”
“Twice?”
“I never knew I was such a bookworm.”
“I’m a little embarrassed. I’m not the best writer in the world.”
“You’re amazing,” he assured her. “For real. There was only one bad thing about the book.”
“Which was?”
“Nobody lived happily ever after.”
Her cautious look turned amused. “A sucker for a Holly wood ending, are you?”
“Again, it’s news to me. But I guess I am.”
“It was a journey for my heroine. She needed to experience life in all its facets before she truly understood herself.”
“And she left the hero behind when she moved away. I thought they were in love.”
“They might hook up again. Someday.” She shrugged a bare shoulder and he slid his hand over it, fascinated by every move she made.
“You didn’t answer my question. Does this—what happened between us tonight—really compare to your fantasies?”
“My novel was only fiction.” She traced her fingers over the stubble on his jaw. “This was real.”
“Was it?” He searched her face.
She bit her bottom lip. “It felt pretty damn real to me. Lust potions notwithstanding.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Ryan Shephard, you really are needy.”
“I seem to have gotten that way recently. I…I just want to make sure you don’t regret what happened between us.”
She studied his face for a moment. “It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change…what happened before.”
Even though he’d never felt so good, his body pressed against the warmth of Emma’s, her words cut him like a knife slicing through his heart. He’d forgotten how dangerous she could be when he let his guard down. “What do I have to do…to say…to make you believe that I had nothing to do with that? I’m innocent, Emma. One hundred percent.”
A shadow crossed her face and she frowned, finally breaking their eye contact. “Let’s not talk about it.”
His heart felt like a thick lump of coal in his chest. “I wish you could believe me. What I told you I did as a teenager…it means nothing. I’m different now. If you can’t believe me, then I don’t know if anyone ever will.”
“Why can’t you just admit it?” she asked quietly, her voice breaking.
He stroked her hair back from her face. “Maybe you’re right.”
Her glossy eyes widened. “I am?”
“Yeah. Let’s just forget it.”
He turned over and dug his fingers into the pillow. It took a long time before he finally fell asleep.
When Ryan woke in the morning, Emma was snuggled up next to him. He pulled her closer and kissed her. She kissed him back, but there was something in the kiss that made it feel just a little less urgent than it had been last night.
When she slipped out of the bed and went to the bathroom to shower, she didn’t invite him along. He tried not to take it personally.
She wanted him and he knew that a part of her did care for him, but there was a wall there. It didn’t take too much thought to figure out what that wall was built from—her being convinced that he was a thief and a liar.
Damn it. What did he have to do to prove he wasn’t guilty? There had been security camera footage, but it wasn’t conclusive. He’d seen it. It could have been anyone with dark hair, around six feet tall and male. It was grainy and the camera never got a clear shot of the thief’s face.
But there had been a witness. Only that witness had lied. He just damn well wished he knew who it was because he’d demand to know why they wanted to ruin his life.
And he wished that Emma would take him at his word. He wasn’t sure what he’d ever done to give her reason to doubt him so much. What someone did when they were a stupid teenager shouldn’t be held against him for the rest of his life.
Ryan showered quickly after Emma exited the small bathroom, then got dressed.
“Emma…we need to talk.” He leaned against the wall in her kitchen where he’d found her eating a bowl of cereal.
She glanced at her watch. “I really need to get to the office.”
“Can’t that wait?”
“No.” She bit her bottom lip again before meeting his gaze.
“Don’t tell me you wish last night hadn’t happened.”
“I’m not saying that.” She swallowed hard.
“Then what are you saying?”
“I wish things were different, Ryan.”
“They can be.”
She looked distraught.
There was a knock on the front door and Emma went toward it, opening it up.
“Thought I’d swing by and see if you wanted to grab coffee before we go to the office,” Charlotte’s voice
rang out. “And I wanted to see how your date with Leo went last…” She trailed off. “Oh, my God. Ryan?”
He forced himself to look toward the door where the beautiful blonde glanced in at him. He was surprised she hadn’t been here when they’d returned last night. She and Emma used to be roommates. Emma always treated her like a little sister who needed guidance and support after she’d left the support of her previously wealthy family to branch out on her own. “Charlotte. What’s new?”
“I…” Charlotte’s confused gaze snapped to Emma, then back at him. “Long time no see.”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?”
“Everything okay here, Emma?” she asked tightly.
Ryan repressed a humorless laugh. Not much of a greeting from a woman he’d dated. It just went to show that she had found their relationship to be about as serious as he had. In other words, not very.
Charlotte had been fun—a laugh, a distraction, and she’d seemed into him, but there hadn’t been any more to it than that. He’d realized that after they’d been together a month. It was a surface relationship only, nothing too deep. He’d dated her mainly to help him keep from pursuing Emma, something that would have jeopardized their friendship. If the shit hadn’t hit the fan with the burglary pinned on him, he didn’t think his relationship with Charlotte would have lasted much longer. And then he’d have been free to see if he and Emma shared more than friendship.
“Yeah,” Emma said after an uncomfortable moment of silence passed between them. “Everything’s fine.”
“If you say so.” Charlotte cleared her throat. “I should…go. I’ll, uh, catch up with you at the office, okay?”
“Charlotte—” Emma called.
“Bye.” Charlotte left through the door. Ryan thought for a moment that Emma would go after her but she stayed in place.
“Wow,” he said after another moment passed. “It’s great that we can all still be friends.”
Emma’s expression grew tense. “Look, Ryan, I need to go. I’ll see you later?”
That thick wall she had up between them again was starting to piss him off. He didn’t want there to be anything between them and yet that barrier stood there, a hundred feet in the air. He’d have talked to her about it, but it would have to be later.
“Dinner?” he asked. “I’ll pick you up after work?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“The lust potion…” he said, his voice trailing off.
“I still feel it,” she said. “Strongly.”
“When it fades…”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”
He wanted to cross a lot of bridges with Emma if he was given the chance. However, it seemed as if the tolls he had to pay to cross them were well out of his price range.
He wanted to kiss her goodbye, but he didn’t. He left, got in his car—his prized ’68 Mustang GT-390 that had been both a vehicle and a home to him on more nights than he’d like to admit lately—and drove to the motel where he was staying. He’d had a rented apartment when he’d lived here before, but he’d let that go and had been living out of suitcases in several towns ever since, picking up a bit of work at garages here and there.
Out of his rearview mirror he could tell that he was being followed.
“Fantastic,” he said dryly. He peered at the reflection again to see that it was Charlotte driving a silver Lexus coupe with its top down. Tailing him like he was a criminal and she was an FBI agent.
He didn’t bother pulling over, since he wanted to see if she’d keep following him. She did, all the way to his motel. She parked next to him, then got out of the car and slammed the door. It seemed as if she was going to tell him off, yell at him to stay the hell away from Emma, just as a proper protective “little sister” would do. The usual runaround.
He eyed her as she approached him. “Okay, Charlotte, let’s have it.”
“It’s been a long time, Ryan,” she said.
“It has been. So what do you—?”
She threw herself at him and kissed him hard on the mouth, her tongue seeking his, her fingernails raking down his back. When she stepped back, she was breathless. “Damn, I’ve missed you.”
“Whoa, wait a minute.” He grabbed her arms and pushed her away from him. “What the hell is this?”
She grinned wickedly. “It’s me playing hooky from work so we can reacquaint ourselves with each other. I don’t share that house with Emma anymore. I’m assuming you were there looking for me.”
“Charlotte—”
“I’ve fantasized about this, Ryan. My body has missed yours.”
He eyed her. “Yeah? That’s a little hard to believe considering I haven’t heard one word from you in six months.”
“I wanted things to cool off first. But it’s not like I haven’t thought about you.” She moved toward him but he stepped out of her reach.
“Things have cooled off,” he said. “If you mean between you and me.”
“I was talking about the robbery, actually.” Understanding slid behind her gaze. “If you’re not here to see me again, then what are you doing back in Mystic Ridge?”
“I wanted to see Emma.”
Her eyes widened. “Emma.”
“Yeah.” Emma had always extended herself way too much with Charlotte, Ryan thought. She’d let herself be used a bit, under the guise of friendship. Women could be wily when they wanted something. Charlotte hadn’t had much in the way of savings when she came to town and took the job with PARA. Emma had offered to share her house until Charlotte got on her feet. She’d been a sounding board and a true friend.
Not to say that Charlotte was that bad, but he’d always worried that Emma felt their friendship was stronger than it really was. People who wanted something could be very convincing.
Charlotte swept a glance over the length of him. “I always had a feeling you were interested in her. Even when we were together.”
“You’re so perceptive. Then again, you are an empath just like me.”
“No, not just like you, Ryan. My abilities are much stronger.”
She’d sent that out to wound, but it didn’t hit the mark. “What we had is long over, Charlotte. I can’t imagine you really give that much of a shit. I heard you’re dating Stephen now.”
“I am.”
“More power to you. I’ll refrain from letting him know about this. I’m sure it was a little slip-up that won’t be repeated and that you’re one hundred percent faithful to my old friend.”
She twisted a finger into her long blond hair. “We have an open relationship.”
“Then there’s no problem.”
Charlotte shook her head as she studied him. “You and Emma, huh? Is it something real between the two of you?”
Admitting that out loud would mean that he thought that they had a chance. “Maybe.”
He braced himself for her reaction and thought for a moment she’d be angry. Instead she nodded. “She’s a great catch. She’s never been anything but wonderful to me.”
“I know. On both counts.”
She wiped at her mouth where her lipstick had smeared from kissing him. “After everything that happened before, I have to say I’m a bit surprised she’s open to having you back in her life.”
“I’m innocent,” he said simply, pushing away the stab of annoyance at being reminded, yet again, that everyone in the universe seemed to think he was a thief.
“If you say so.” She shook her head.
“I do. It’s true. And it’s only a matter of time before Emma realizes that. Before everyone realizes it.”
She frowned. “I just can’t believe it.”
“Believe what? That she’d give me half a chance, despite everything that’s been said about me? I worked with her. She was my friend. She’s still my friend, even though she’s having trouble accepting my innocence in this ridiculous matter.”
Charlotte’s lips thinned. “Well, of course she’s having trouble. Do you blame he
r?”
He stared at her. “What are you talking about?”
She looked at him incredulously. “Don’t you even know? Emma’s the one who confirmed to Patrick that it was you in the first place. Of course she wouldn’t believe anything else.”
Ryan just stared at her for a long moment of silence, not quite believing what he’d just heard. “Excuse me?”
She looked confused as she shrugged. “Emma says she saw you that night, Ryan. She watched you leave the building with the stolen merchandise in hand. The video wouldn’t have been enough on its own, but with her word… Well, Emma’s the most honest person I’ve ever known in my life. She tells it like it is, which is why Patrick believed her without any argument. She wouldn’t sell out her own partner just for shits and giggles. It was devastating for her.”
Emma was the one who’d gotten him fired. She was the one who told the agency manager that Ryan was the thief.
Why would she do that? Why would she ruin his life like that? It didn’t make any sense.
“Great seeing you again, Charlotte,” Ryan said through gritted teeth. “But I have things to do. Give my regards to Stephen.”
He turned and went to his motel-room door, let himself in and closed it behind him, leaving him standing alone in the dark room.
“Emma’s the most honest person I’ve ever known in my life.”
Charlotte didn’t know how wrong she was about that.
Emma had lied. Blatantly.
Emma got him fired. He had no damn idea why she’d set him up, but he was going to find out. And she was damn well going to tell him the truth.
11
THANK GOD IT WAS FRIDAY. Today seemed to consist entirely of paperwork. It wasn’t Emma’s favorite job by a long shot. No, she preferred doing field work—showing up at a place and investigating first-hand. But she didn’t get to do that much since she was currently between partners.
She’d checked in with the potions department to make sure the Desidero potion was being kept under lock and key. It was. And they’d already determined that it was a viable potion—not that that was news to Emma. They had a dozen other potions on hand that were of varying degrees of volatility—lust and love potions, potions that make one disappear, potions that changed a person’s hair color or length of one’s nose. There was even a potion that helped someone speak a different language. Unfortunately, it only covered Latin. Not all that useful in everyday life.