They hit an alignment-destroying rut in the road and Kady threw out her arms to steady herself on a surprised cry. One hand grasped the back of the seat in front of her, brushing Colton’s forearm in the process.
His gaze cut back to her and his eyes narrowed at the gap in the front of the suit jacket her position had created. “Better hold on tight, cupcake.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Colt, I will,” she said, returning his annoying term of endearment with the nickname she knew he found equally grating. His gaze was almost a physical caress on her face and breasts, but Kady refused to meet it because she didn’t want him to see that his words had affected her again. But in truth, the stupid little term of endearment curled anger into her belly because it took her right back to the night three years before when the competitiveness and tension between them had flashed red hot and led to the single most intense sexual experience of her life. And they hadn’t even had sex. Not because she hadn’t wanted to, but because Colton had developed second thoughts and declared the whole thing a mistake.
The wheels caught in another pothole that tossed Kady in her seat.
Their hookup had happened at the party welcoming Colton home from the military. Before that night, she’d only seen him now and then when he’d come home on leave and hung out with her brother. But that night, from the moment she’d seen Colton out on the back deck leaning against the railing, beer in hand and absolutely glorious smile on his suntanned face, he’d totally stolen her breath. During his two tours in the army, he’d gone from a gorgeous boy to an incredibly hot man who had the filled-out, muscular body, survival skills, and wartime experiences to justify the arrogance that had always been part of his personality. Her friend Regan, who had a knack for summing people up in just three words, didn’t refer to Colton as a loyal, driven badass for nothing.
Kady could certainly agree with the “ass” part anyway.
“Well, damn. Is that really you, cupcake?” Those were the first words he’d said to her that night. The nickname had been cute for about five minutes when she’d been, like, thirteen, and afterward he’d continued to call her that simply because he knew it annoyed her.
And though she’d teased right back that eight years in the military apparently hadn’t changed him at all, it hadn’t taken her long to realize that wasn’t actually the case. Because all night, Colton had looked at her differently. Like, for the first time in their lives, he actually saw her, and not just Tyler’s little sister. Her. Kady. The twenty-three-year-old woman.
After hours of circling each other and subtle glances that had turned more brazen the later it had gotten, he’d walked into the pool house after she’d changed into her bikini and stared at her like a starving man at a feast. “Problem?” she’d asked. And his answer to the question had been to close them in one of the dressing rooms, kiss her senseless, and make her scream his name not once but twice, first with his thick fingers and then with his mouth. God, between his dirty talk and rough handling he’d had her so out of her mind she’d freaking begged for him to fuck her. In that moment, nothing else had mattered but him burying himself as deep inside her as he could go.
Then her brother—who had the gift of perhaps the worst timing in the history of man—had come looking for Colton, and the sound of Tyler’s voice had totally thrown Colton out of the moment and sent him flailing back from her like she was a snake that might strike him down.
What was worse was that, in college, Regan and Kady’s sorority sister Christine had predicted that outcome—both how incendiary Kady and Colton would be if they ever gave in to the chemistry brewing between them and the fact that he’d pull a duck and cover. Which was exactly what he’d done. But had Kady listened? Nope. She’d led with her body instead of her brain and gotten her heart stomped on for her trouble.
Ugh, whatever.
Thunder crashed above them, pulling Kady out of the memory. She wished she could make out some detail of the passing scenery through the rain-blurred windows because she really didn’t need to dwell on how he’d commanded her body that night, nor on the humiliating words he’d said afterward. Not with the man himself sitting two feet in front of her.
Besides, young girl crush aside, it wasn’t like she had feelings for him or anything. Despite the fact that he was the only man who’d ever been able to get her off. She could take care of herself just fine, but other men? Kady didn’t know if Colton had ruined her or held the only key to her lock, but either way, it didn’t matter. She could never get there no matter how hard she—or her lovers—tried. At this rate, it might be a wise financial investment to buy stock in Duracell.
Kady’s cheeks caught on absolute fire at the thought. Sitting. In. Front. Of. You. Dresco. Right. No more thinking about orgasms or lack thereof in the presence of the infuriating sex god. Got it.
Needing a distraction, Kady pulled out her iPhone and thumbed open her email. She needed to let Christine know she wouldn’t be home today so she wouldn’t worry, but the little loading icon spun and spun but never actually produced any new emails. She tried her social media accounts and found more of the same. With a sigh, she dropped the phone back into her purse.
As the rain drummed on the van’s metal roof, Kady imagined the gorgeous weather she’d no doubt be enjoying back home in southern San Fran. Her firm, Resnick Security Services, was headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley. She loved living near the Pacific Ocean, visiting the wineries, and going out with Christine and their girlfriends to all the amazing restaurants in the city, but she still missed the mountains of Boulder where she’d grown up and her family still lived.
Finally, another series of harsh bounces had them turning into the lot of the Desert Paradise Motel. Through the windows, she could just make out the long one-story, cinder-block building with doors facing the parking lot. At one end sat a small office, and beyond that a bright-orange roof covered what appeared to be a diner. Seemed to her the ratio between desert and paradise at the place was just a bit off.
The soldier brought the van to a stop and turned around in the driver’s seat. “The travel office booked you reservations here, so you’ll need to give them a credit card for incidentals, but the rooms are covered with late checkout. Assuming the roads reopen, we have you booked on the same evening flights tomorrow. Those are the first available. So, if Mother Nature cooperates, I’ll be here at fifteen hundred to take you to the airport.”
Colton nodded. “Roger that.”
“This place is the best you can do?” Beckstein asked, a sneer on his little round face.
The soldier didn’t take the bait and instead smiled. Kady wanted to give him a high five. “Yes, sir. Before the base, Panther Canyon was little more than a crossroads. This is the only motel in town until the new Best Western is finished.”
Beckstein released a long-suffering sigh. “Whole day lost,” he grumbled as he scrambled out of the van and into the rain.
Kady scooted to the edge of her seat and slipped her purse and laptop case under her arm where Colton’s coat would help keep them dry. “Sorry about him,” she called. “It’s not your fault it’s raining.”
The soldier grinned. “Thank you, ma’am.” He pointed out the front window. “The diner over there has decent burgers and great milk shakes if y’all get hungry later.”
“Sounds good,” Colton said, hauling open the sliding door. Wind and rain blew in so hard it made Kady catch her breath. Colton jumped out, his back hunched to offer some protection to his own computer, and offered Kady a hand. See? Sometimes, he could actually be a gentleman.
“Thank you,” she called to the driver as she accepted Colton’s hand. “And thank you, too,” she said to Colton.
“Did…did I hear Kady Dresco just thank me?” he asked, humor playing around his eyes and mouth.
Kady stepped down, the force of the rain making it hard to give him a good smirk. “Yes, but now I’m regretting it,” she said just as her foot sank into a deep, cold puddle, throwing her o
ff-balance.
She wobbled on her heels and Colton caught her with a hand on her ribs. “Okay?” he asked, dark eyes gazing down at her so intensely that for a moment she barely felt the rain on her face and shoulders.
“Yeah. Fine.” She pulled her hand free. She might find him irritating 90 percent of the time, but it was better to keep contact to a minimum, especially when he managed a bit of sweetness or charm. Because sweet and Colton equaled a lethal cocktail she’d never been able to resist.
Colton closed the door and then they dashed the short way across the lot to the entrance to the office. Kady could’ve sworn he kept a hand on the small of her back, as if he stood at the ready in case the combination of her three-inch heels and the two-inch-deep puddles made her unsteady again.
Beckstein pushed out of the door as they reached it, and of course he didn’t let them in first. What a ginormous asswipe.
Finally, they made it in out of the rain and stood dripping on the old linoleum floor of the tiny office.
“You can check in first,” Colton said, running a hand through his wet hair.
Kady’s phone rang. “Oh. Go ahead,” she said as she dug for the cell. Her assistant launched into a rundown of client calls before Kady stopped her. “Can you put all of this in an email to me? I’m stranded here overnight due to a storm, but if you send me everything I’ll return any calls I can today and all the rest tomorrow. Oh, and can you email Carson and copy me so we can reschedule the site visit I was supposed to do tomorrow?” A few more housekeeping matters kept her on the phone for another minute or two before she hung up and approached the registration desk just as Colton finished.
The man on the other side of the ancient, stained counter was quite possibly as old as the desert itself. He pushed his glasses up, then stared down his nose at her. “Welcome to paradise,” he said with a straight face.
Kady burst out laughing before she could stop herself. She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she said.
He blinked lazily, as if she hadn’t just made an ass of herself. “Can I help you?”
“Right. Yes. I’m Kady Dresco. I’m with the guys who just checked in.” She glanced over her shoulder toward Colton, who stood by the door shaking his head at her. “What?” she mouthed.
“Here you go, missy.” In almost slow motion, and without really taking his gaze off the small television that sat to the side, the receptionist lifted a key off a row of hooks and pushed it across the counter to her. Before long, she was all checked in and held an actual metal key on a ring in her hand. The large plastic tag read “2.”
“Are there any stores that might sell clothing nearby?” she asked.
The man squinted for a moment, then shook his head. “Not unless you want something from the tack shop, which is about five miles from here. Otherwise, nearest shopping is in Battle Mountain. Won’t get there in this weather, though.”