Sweet as Candy - Karla Doyle Page 0,9
strangled curse passed through his lips as he eased backward, putting a stride’s worth of space between them. “I’m not here for a hand job.”
“Fifty more gets you the VIP treatment, but you’re on the clock, so tick-tock.”
“You’re gorgeous and sexy and tempting as hell, but I’m not that kind of guy. I’m a cop.”
The room seemed to tip. So much so, she grabbed the edge of the massage table for support. “You’re a cop? Are you—” Her daughter’s beautiful, innocent face flooded her mind. Oh God, what would happen to her baby girl? Candace had always known this day might come, but now that it was here… “Are you here to arrest me?”
“I have no desire to arrest you.”
Ah, so that’s how it was going to be. Thank God. This scenario she could handle. Manipulate. Survive.
She moved toward him, licking her lips. “If you’re not here to arrest me, what is it you desire to do to me, officer?” Because she’d do anything—truly anything—to stay out of the back of his cruiser and get home to her daughter.
He groaned as she skimmed her hands over his tanned forearms, then guided his hands over her bare abdomen.
“Go ahead and tell me, honey. Or don’t tell me, just do it.”
“Doesn’t matter what I want. I don’t pay for sex.”
“So don’t pay.” She plucked the money from her bikini top and stuffed it in his jeans’ pocket. “Two consenting adults enjoying each other’s bodies…nothing illegal about that. You get what you came for, I get to go home at the end of the day.”
“I didn’t come here to coerce you into fucking me.”
“Of course you didn’t.” Between them, she unbuckled his belt. “This is a completely mutual arrangement.”
Strong hands caught hers before she could unzip his jeans. “This isn’t going to happen. I’m not here for sex.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I told you. I came to apologize.” Time seemed to freeze beneath his unwavering gaze. He could be feeding her a line of crap. Hell, he might not even be a cop. If he was, however, she was entirely at his mercy.
Under his warm palms, she crossed her fingers. She needed all the luck she could get. “I’m listening.”
“I had one purpose the first time I came here—Sara.”
“I remember.”
He released her hands and backed up a step. “I’m not some random asshole off the street who harassed Sara because I’m a dickhead. I did it as a favor for a friend, crazy as that sounds.”
“Not so crazy.” Her theory that he was part of the crew who’d heckled Sara and painted a message on her apartment door had been correct. “Actually, it makes perfect sense. Except for the part about you being a cop. Or was that bullshit to see if you could scare me into a freebie?”
“No bullshit, I’m really a cop. And I didn’t come here for sex, free or paid.”
“Now that’s bullshit.” She crossed her arms over her chest while nodding at the front of his jeans. “Dicks tell lies, cocks don’t.”
His robust laughter filled the small room. “True. But I’m not lying. I said I didn’t come here for sex, not that I don’t want it.”
“I don’t see the difference.”
“I was attracted to you the first time I laid eyes on you. When I spotted you at the store yesterday, I couldn’t see your face, so I didn’t recognize you, but I was hooked just the same. Hooked by a sexy blonde with a ten-out-of-ten ass and great taste in potato chips and baseball teams.”
Damn him for making her smile. For making her laugh, even just a little.
Things he clearly took as an invitation. One step and he closed the space between them. Dimples accented his handsome face as his smile stretched practically ear to ear.
“Here’s the difference. I want to have sex with you, but I won’t pay you for it. I won’t accept it because you think you’re obligated. If we have sex, it’ll be because you want it to happen. Because you want me.”
“Don’t hold your breath. That day will never come.” Probably wouldn’t with any man, and certainly not with this one. She walked to the massage table, patting it with one hand. “This is the only place the magic happens. Take it or leave it.”
He approached slowly, staring her down with his crystal-clear, blue eyes and six feet of lean muscle that would’ve aroused any normal heterosexual woman.
Unfortunately, she’d exited the normal category three years ago, the day she gave her first VIP