Sweet as Candy - Karla Doyle Page 0,70

Candace had a legitimate reason for being acquainted with a hotel-chain mogul. Thank God Enzo’s desire for self-preservation was greater than his desire for her.

But most of all, thank God she’d hadn’t come face-to-face with any clients who were cops. Did she have any? She’d like to think not, but again with the don’t-make-societal-assumptions thing. The majority of guys who paid for her services didn’t share incriminating details of their identities or lives. Enzo certainly hadn’t divulged his true identity during his visits to Lucky’s.

For all she knew, she’d had an off-duty cop as a customer. Maybe more than one. Men who could be Jake’s associates or superiors. Or worse, his friends. The thought curdled her stomach to the point of nausea.

Quitting her job wouldn’t solve the issue of former clients. The only way to be sure she didn’t have any future awkward run-ins would be avoidance on a scale as grand as the gala she’d never attend again. Since every man in the tri-cities could potentially be an ex-customer, she needed to avoid them all. Indefinitely.

Added to Monday’s to-do list: find a new place to live. One beyond the likely scope of Lucky’s clientele. Then find a new job. A school for Macy. Childcare for the overlapping hours. And then, explain it all to Jake.

He’d understand her decision to move out of the area. He’d support and help her, of that she had no doubt.

She also had no doubt they’d spend less time together. Or that they would figure it out, together.

“Something on your mind, sweets?” Jake asked, as they reached his SUV. “You look a million miles away.”

More like fifty, or possibly one hundred, but they didn’t need to talk about their future, longish-distance relationship right now. They needed a carefree night to enjoy each other, fully, and that’s what they were going to have. Starting now.

“I was thinking about us.” Ignoring the door he’d opened for her, she unbuttoned his suit jacket and slid her hands inside to circle his waist. “And about making the most of tonight.”

“I like the sound of that.” Palm spanning her ass, he drew her closer, tight enough for her to feel the hard ridge of his cock press against her abdomen. The smile curving his mouth wasn’t the sexy, I-want-to-devour-you type she’d expected. When he relinquished his hold on her ass to tip her face upward for a gentle kiss, she really had to wonder what was up. Aside from his cock. That was definitely still in the “up” position.

“Don’t stop,” she said, after the soft brushing of lips ended.

“Just keeping it sweet for a minute, before I hightail it to my apartment, peel you out of that dress and make you come so hard, you forget the word ‘sweet’ exists.”

“You’re setting the bar pretty high, since ‘sweet’ happens to be one of my favorite words.” Thanks largely to him and the nickname he’d given her.

“Don’t worry, your full vocabulary will return after the orgasm buzz wears off.”

“With a promise like that, I just have one question…” Easing out of his embrace, she leaned backward against his SUV and gave him her I-want-to-devour-you smile. Because she did want to. She really and truly did. “How fast can you get us to your place?”

Candace

Knowing he’d been thoroughly trained in high-speed driving techniques was the only thing that’d prevented Candace from hyperventilating during their express trek across the city.

The drive should’ve taken about twenty minutes. They’d made it in twelve.

“Wow, that was some impressive driving.” With deliberate effort, she released her white-knuckled grip on the edge of her seat after he brought the time-jumping machine to a complete stop in his apartment building’s parking lot. “Please don’t impress me that way again unless one of our lives depends on it.”

“Deal.” He grinned, then leaned across, cupped her face and kissed her. Quite thoroughly.

“Mmm,” she said, savoring the lingering taste of his Jake-ness after he eased back to his side of the car. “Please do impress me that way every time you possibly can.”

“Planning on it, sweets.” He glanced at her hand as she reached for the door handle. “Don’t even think about opening your door. I’ll do it. Taking care of you is my job.”

She didn’t need to be taken care of. Not tonight, not ever, not by anyone. But she’d let Jake do it anyway. In any way.

“Hurry up and open it, then. I want to be inside with you. And I want you to be inside of me.”

“Hurrying,” he said, exiting