Sheer Pleasure Read online

  “You don’t need to do that.”

  But Nate could see that he did. Annie had softened just a bit. And now the expression in her eyes was more confused than closed. So he’d found the approach he needed. He’d been waiting too long for his opportunity to get close to her to let any opening pass him by.

  If making Annie Wilder feel protected would do the trick, then he was on it.

  BY THE TIME ANNIE wandered back into the shop, Gloria was finishing with a customer. Good thing, or she might have questions about the heightened color in her boss’s cheeks. After Nathaniel left, Annie had caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror and been startled by the apparition staring back. Though she’d easily steeled herself against Nathaniel, she had found herself thinking about Nate.

  Her hands were feeling a little raw from the chemicals and the scrubbing, so she opened a bottle of massage oil meant for more delicate areas, and slathered it on. The oil itself was immediately absorbed into her skin, but the soft honeysuckle scent lingered.

  She walked through the French Quarter of New Orleans. Honeysuckle hung heavy on the hot night air. Perspiration dotted her body beneath her clothing and she longed for a tall, cool drink.

  A burbling fountain called to her. She followed its enticing sound into a courtyard. Dipping her hand into the water, she brought a palmful to her neck and let the cool liquid trickle between her breasts.

  “Can I help?” he asked. A voice thick with promise seduced her from the shadows….

  “I’m hot,” she whispered. “So very, very hot.”

  “Then take off your clothes. I won’t mind.”

  She hesitated only a second, then began undoing the pearl buttons on her dress….

  A chill hit her skin and Annie came back to the present with a start. Horrified, she realized she’d actually unbuttoned the front of her silk shirt. The air-conditioning had pebbled the sensitive skin of her breasts. But her back was to the main part of the store and, thankfully, no one was standing at the window.

  Quickly, she buttoned back up before anyone strolled by.

  Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. What had she been thinking?

  A little strung out, she was relieved when the customer left a few minutes later.

  “I’m going to get some coffee,” she told Gloria. “Want something?”

  “Nah, you go ahead. Chill a little, huh?” Gloria arched a perfectly shaped dark brow. “Hmm, considering how strung out you’ve been, maybe you’d better get a decaf.”

  Snorting at Gloria’s acerbic observation, Annie left for Helen’s Cybercafé.

  A late riser, Nick had just arrived and was having his so-called breakfast, coffee and a muffin. Ordering a cappuccino, Annie joined Nick and Helen, and shared her latest trauma with her best friends.

  “So you really think the alderman is behind this?” Helen asked.

  “I can’t be sure, since there were no witnesses. But it’s awfully coincidental that I saw him outside the store last night and then he happened by this morning. I have a feeling he’s responsible, all right, even if he didn’t do the dirty deed himself.”

  “Maybe we can convince Nick to install a SpyCam just in case whoever it was returns to the scene of the crime.”

  “Say the word,” Nick agreed, stuffing half a muffin into his mouth.

  Just the word spycam gave her a shiver. She’d never been one for invading anyone’s privacy, and she could only imagine what they might catch on tape if she agreed.

  “I don’t think that’s really necessary,” she said. “Nathaniel is basically pulling the security guard off his regular route to keep an eye on the building.”

  “Our landlord already knows? What did he do?” Helen asked. “Arrive while you were removing the paint?”

  “Uh, not exactly. He was dropping me off at the store. Rather, Nate was.”

  Helen sat up straight at that. “I think a more thorough explanation is called for here.”

  “Yeah, spill,” Nick ordered.

  So spill she did. Everything from her spooky walk home the night before, to Nate’s finding the rat and buying her breakfast, to seeing the scarlet letters painted across her display window. Everything but the interlude at the lakefront. Everything but the kiss that now had her a little freaked out.

  “So Nate’s your knight in shining armor,” Nick said.

  Remembering the fantasy she’d had of Nate fighting the rat-dragon, Annie laughed. “I guess you could call him that.” Among other things.

  “I’d call it a little weird,” Helen objected. “Why in the world would a landlord of a business show up to rescue a tenant at home?”

  Nick poked her with his elbow. “Don’t be a dunce. Obviously, he has ulterior motives.”

  “Exactly!”

  Her cheeks suddenly seared with heat, Annie protested, “Stop making it sound so…so serious!”

  “It’s high time you got serious about someone,” Nick said.

  Not wanting to rehash her disastrous relationship with Alan Cooper, and the caution with which she’d viewed the handful of men she’d dated over the past several years, she said, “Look who’s talking.”

  “You’re not like Helen and me, Annie. You have no interest in playing the field. You’re a one-man woman. You just picked the wrong one first time around. We all make mistakes. Until now, I despaired of your ever being interested in any guy ever again. It’s about time.”

  Nick and Helen were the only ones who understood how much she’d cared for Alan and how his betrayal had devastated her. Nate was the first man who really interested her on more than a surface level since. That Helen didn’t say anything encouraging unnerved Annie a bit. She could tell her friend was biting her tongue to keep from adding her two cents worth.

  “Look, don’t read anything into it, okay, Nick? You’re jumping the gun here.”

  “Then you’re not interested in Nathaniel Bishop?”

  “No,” she said honestly.

  She wasn’t. Not Nathaniel. But Nate could raise her blood pressure and twist her insides into a knot. He could make her imagine being a damsel in distress…or a wanton.

  Helen was staring at her speculatively. “Something’s fishy here.”

  “I don’t smell anything,” Annie said lightly, trying to rise until Helen caught her arm in a firm grip.

  “You’re not going anywhere until I get every last detail. You know, the ones you left out.”

  “I should be getting back to the store,” Annie protested as she reluctantly settled back into the chair. “It’s nearly lunch hour.”

  “Which Gloria is perfectly capable of handling.”

  Annie groaned, wanting to smack her forehead against the table. She knew that tone. Helen, who for some reason chose to mother her, was not going to let it go.

  “You know she won’t give up,” Nick said, echoing Annie’s thoughts. He was sitting back, grinning devilishly, enjoying her discomfort. “So you might as well make it easy on yourself.”

  “All right. I give. We kissed.”

  “You and Nathaniel?”

  “Me and Nate. We watched the sun come up over the lake and kissed. That’s it.”

  “No slap and tickle?”

  Annie glowered at Nick. “I’m not into hooking up, as you well know. One kiss.” One stomach-clenching, world-whirling, mind-shattering kiss. “Period.”

  Her friends didn’t have to know that she’d been so aroused that she might have done something foolish, given the chance. That even now she couldn’t stop Nate from entering her fantasies.

  “What I don’t understand is why you make the distinction,” Helen said. “No, you didn’t kiss Nathaniel, but yes, you did kiss Nate. They’re the same guy.”

  “No, not really. Nathaniel is all business. A little uptight.” Annie grimaced. “He’s kind of boring. But Nate…he’s—”

  “The heroic fantasy,” Nick supplied.

  “Exactly.”

  “A rogue on wheels.”

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sp; “Right.”

  “A ravisher of fair maidens.”

  “Have you been into Annie’s romance novels again?” Helen asked.

  Nick pretended to be wounded. “Just trying to keep my fingers on the pulse of fresh young womanhood.”

  “Okay!” Annie popped up out of her chair and silently challenged Helen to try to stop her. “I’m outta here.”

  This time her friend let her go. But as Annie backed away from the table, Helen’s expression was speculative and curiously disapproving.

  Sending a frisson of unease up Annie’s spine.

  Not that she had time to dwell on it. Back at the shop, Gloria was swamped with lunchtime customers. And Annie was happy to dive right in and lend a hand.

  The shop was busier than normal. Annie overheard mention of Zavadinski’s name at one point, and realized the neighborhood must be abuzz with news of the face-off that morning.

  Then traffic slowed for a while and, after Gloria took a break, Annie wandered back to her office and the computer.

  Helen had created a Website for her. Business was picking up there, as well. Printing a half-dozen orders and filling them, Annie decided to wait until the next day to take them to the post office. Maybe more orders would come in by then and she could save herself a trip.

  The shop had gotten busy again—crowded even, Annie noted with amazement. She recognized several women who’d been spectators that morning. Whoever had said bad publicity was better than none probably had a point.

  By closing time, she was exhausted, and still customers remained. She and Gloria took care of every last one before calling it a day.

  Then, as usual, after the final count from the cash register, Gloria took the day’s receipts to the night drop at the bank across the street.

  And Annie turned to the window display.

  WHICH ARTICLE OF CLOTHING would be next? he wondered.

  He watched, entranced, as she finished pulling the sweater off the female mannequin and added it to the growing pile of discarded clothing. Then she leaned over the window display and rolled the die, just as if she were playing the game herself. She moved a piece several spaces forward on the board.

  Which one? His groin tightened. The bra. Let it be the bra.

  Then he imagined her braless. What kind of breasts did she have? he wondered. Firm or soft? Nipples large or tight little buds?

  Hard just thinking about it, he rubbed himself discreetly. Not enough to draw attention even if a passerby were to look in the shadows of the doorway.

  Just enough to start the electric haze, that thick, soupy state of mind that made it difficult to concentrate but, oh, so easy to feel….

  But when she reached over and removed one of the male mannequin’s socks, he instantly deflated with disappointment.

  “Damn!”

  He would just have to wait for the real thing.

  4

  ANNIE HAD THAT FEELING again, the same one that had spurred her home so fast the night before. It had started while she’d been working on the window display—that edgy sensation of being watched.

  But when she’d turned her attention to what lay beyond the plate glass, the street had mocked her with its emptiness. The rush hour was over. People were home eating dinner or perhaps at restaurants. Everyone but her.

  Still she couldn’t rid herself of that creepy sensation that made her skin prickle.

  Her imagination, she tried to tell herself again.

  But was it?

  A shiver shot through her as she switched off the lights, set the alarms and prepared to leave.

  Gradually, the feeling lessened a bit, and jacket on, key ring in hand, she shot out onto the sidewalk planning to make a fast getaway. But the lock defied her and she fumbled the keys and the back of her neck crawled until, finally, the key penetrated the lock successfully.

  The door was secured.

  Taking a shaky breath of relief and turning for home, Annie ran smack into a big body.

  “A-ah!” she yelped, jumping back.

  “Sorry to scare you, miss. You all right?”

  Harry Burdock, the grizzled security guard, towered over her. He was burly; he’d probably played football in high school, or maybe he’d been a wrestler, but that had been three decades ago. Now he just looked big and soft and a little messy. One of his shirttails had pulled free of his trousers. Still, a man of his size, soft and messy or not, could put a scare into almost anyone.

  “You’re early,” she said as her heartbeat steadied.

  “Mr. Bishop’s orders. Sorry about what happened this morning. Don’t know nothing about it.”

  “So Nath—Mr. Bishop told me.”

  Harry’s faded blue eyes looked rheumy, as if he were a heavy drinker. Annie caught a whiff of whiskey on him. Could that be why he hadn’t caught the vandal? Hopefully, he’d been warned.

  “Good to see you, Mr. Burdock.”

  “Night, miss.” He grinned at her. “Stay safe.”

  Was she imagining the tenor of that grin? To Annie, it appeared lascivious, and the way his gaze swept over her, she almost felt exposed. Unease followed her all the way to the corner, where she stopped and glanced back.

  But Burdock was gone.

  The café was still open. Coffee to go or not? Not. She didn’t need another round of questioning from her friends. And John Riley was just inside the door, probably looking for an opportunity to chat up Helen. Besides, Annie didn’t want caffeine keeping her awake, she decided, as the gallery owner glanced up and caught her looking in. She could use a good night’s sleep.

  So off she hurried across the street, still with that sense of being observed crawling up her spine. Busy glancing back over her shoulder, she didn’t pay the traffic proper mind. A blared horn almost drove her out of her skin, and she skirted a turning SUV, the driver giving her the finger.

  Lucky for her the curb was only steps away. She turned once more—no one following her, she noted—then went on her way.

  Her imagination. Of course it was.

  Suddenly, a familiar angry buzz cut through her thoughts. She’d barely made it a quarter of the way down the block when the motorcycle pulled up behind her.

  Stumbling, she whipped around to see Nate pull his Harley to the curb, stop and remove his helmet.

  “Going my way?” he asked.

  The sound of his voice—that same seductive voice she’d heard in her head, the fantasy voice that had convinced her to unbutton her blouse—thrilled Annie down to her toes.

  “Nate. What are you doing here?”

  The same question she’d asked Nathaniel, but had expressed in a very different manner.

  Nate unhooked a second helmet from his cycle—not a bike helmet, but a real motorcycle helmet—and held it out to her.

  “Where did you get that?”

  “I bought it for you.”

  “For me? You’re serious?”

  “So I could keep you safe.”

  Annie couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t help it that her pulse thrummed. She couldn’t stop the warmth from spreading through her. And though the rational part of her tried to fight it, the other part, the primal part, didn’t want to fight. It wanted her to indulge herself.

  In Nate.

  “Put it on, Annie.” His soft demand was seductive. “Put it on and come fly with me.”

  Annie looked for an excuse not to, but her brain wouldn’t cooperate. And neither would her body. As if she were mesmerized, she reached out, took the helmet and placed it on her head.

  Nate stepped closer and fastened the strap. She held her breath as his fingers brushed the soft flesh under her chin and along her neck. Their effect rippled downward between her breasts, then spiraled out so that her nipples tightened into hard buds.

  She choked out, “Where are we going?”

  “Where do you want to go?”

  Anywhere with you.

  Before she could think of an intelligent reply—anything to not betray the sudden hun
ger that ran through her—Nate asked, “Hungry?”

  Annie nearly choked. “Excuse me?”

  Could the man read her mind?

  “Hungry…for food?”

  The way he said it convinced her that he knew exactly what she’d been thinking.

  “Starving,” she said.

  True enough. She’d been running on adrenaline all day, and now her stomach was beginning to protest.

  “Then let’s eat.”

  Nate climbed back on the Harley, and when she hesitated, he grabbed her wrist and swung her into position behind him.

  Settling in back of Nate seemed so natural, as if she’d done it a thousand times, Annie thought. As if she belonged there. Belonged to him.

  He headed northwest on Milwaukee Avenue. The ride grew longer than she’d expected, and she realized they were nearly to the suburbs before he finally pulled into an old-fashioned drive-in with individual speakers for each vehicle. They both dismounted to stretch, and he placed their orders—Polish sausage with everything, fries, onion rings and chocolate malts to go.

  Leaning back against the Harley, she asked, “How do you know I wouldn’t prefer vanilla?”

  Nate’s eyes narrowed as he loomed over her. “Not sinful enough.” He placed one hand on either side of her and left only a hairsbreadth between them. “Unless I’ve read you wrong, you’re a chocolate malt kind of girl.”

  Breathlessly, she murmured, “Okay, so you nailed me.”

  His grin had the effect of a stun gun. “Not yet. Give me time.”

  The strangled sound Annie made in return caused him to laugh out loud. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, she laughed with him.

  “By the way, this place has the best Polish in the city,” Nate said, pulling back and giving her some breathing room. “Trust me.”

  She did trust him, Annie realized. Totally and with abandon.

  Otherwise, after the creepy feeling she’d had, why had she gone off with Nate Bishop, a man she didn’t know? She knew Nathaniel fairly well, but Nate was…well, a wild card.