dumped it and ran. I called the company and filed a complaint, but since I prepaid for the move, I don’t think anything is going to happen.”
Ace frowned. What kind of moving company would leave a woman to move heavy furniture and boxes on her own?
When she headed for the kitchen, Ace pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the shipping label, then texted Kickstand with instructions to investigate the company. Now.
“You want a drink?” She pulled two glasses from a box and placed them on the counter.
Ace sat on the lonely barstool at the kitchen bar across from her. “You gonna try and poison me again?”
“You’re no good to me dead.”
“Good for what?”
Her cheeks flushed, and her hands curled around the bottom of her shirt. With a quick glance up through her lashes, she tugged the shirt over her head. “One night.”
* * *
For a long moment, Ace didn’t move.
Oh God. What if she’d misread him, and his hesitation outside had been genuine? Maybe he wasn’t really attracted to her. Maybe he’d taken her home simply because Jason had asked, with no ulterior motive in mind.
“Take off your bra.”
Or maybe not.
Sophie’s breath left her in a rush. Twenty minutes with her hips pressed up against Ace’s ass, the deep vibration of the motorcycle between her thighs, and it was all she could do to act civilized once they walked into her apartment. Hands trembling, she unhooked her bra and slid the red satin straps down her arms, dropping it on the floor.
“Fuck, Sophie,” he rasped. “You have beautiful breasts. Touch them for me.”
She sighed inwardly. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. If she wanted to get herself off, she could do that much more efficiently with the toys hidden in one of the boxes strewn across the living room. “How about you come over here and touch them yourself?”
His jaw tightened. “Can’t. Promised Jason I’d watch out for you tonight. Wouldn’t be right if I took advantage. So best thing is for me to stay over here and for you to stay over there. But if you’re minded to strip, I’ll be happy to watch.”
“And then what?”
“Then I’m gonna suffer for the rest of the night because you are the sexiest fucking woman I’ve ever met.”
Sophie’s shoulders slumped, and she dropped her head back and groaned. “Just my luck. I pick a badass misogynistic biker for my first one-night stand, and he turns out to have a conscience.”
That got him out of his seat.
Ace rounded the bar and took a step toward her, and then another, as if pulled by an invisible thread. “You’ve never done this before?”
She heaved an exasperated sigh. “Obviously not. I’m standing over here, half-undressed. You’re standing over there with all your clothes on. Clearly, I’ve done something wrong. But that’s my fault for not knowing the rules. I’ll just go back to being Safe Sophie, and you can…just…go.”
“Fuck me,” he muttered.
Sophie reached for her shirt. “Well…I tried.”
But before she had even clasped her fingers around the cool cotton, he closed the distance between them. Gathering her in his arms, he leaned down and slanted his mouth over hers.
Sophie’s knees trembled and her blood ran molten through her veins. For a moment, there was nothing but the warmth of his body, the press of his arm against her back, and the slide of his tongue into her mouth. He tasted of beer and whiskey, with a faint hint of tomato juice. Sophie slid her hands over his chest and twined them around his neck, pulling him down for more.
“I promise I won’t tell Jason,” she whispered. “If that’s what’s bothering you.”
Ace growled deep in his chest and lifted her onto the counter, easing his hips between her parted legs. “Nothing’s bothering me ’cept I want your legs wider. Let me in, babe.”
God, everything he said turned her on. Sophie parted her legs, and wrapped them around Ace’s hips. He grunted his approval and threaded his fingers through her hair, tugging her head back, exposing her throat to the heated slide of his lips.
“Never met a girl like you,” he murmured against her skin. “Fucking beautiful. All sassy and sweet. But you aren’t as tough as you pretend to be. You got a real soft side. It’s the softness that kills me.”
She slid her hands over his hard pecs to his shoulders and pushed off his cut. “I want to see you, Ace. Touch you. I’ve been thinking about it all night.”
“I