Chapter 15
At the end of the first set, Spence leaned close. “Time to leave,” he said. “Don’t want to push our luck.”
“Yeah,” Zoe said. She swiped her hand over his groin, smiling at his sharp intake of breath, then reached for her jacket and purse. “We have better things to do tonight,” she said into Spence’s ear, close enough that her lips brushed it.
“You’re right,” he said, murmuring against the soft skin beneath her ear. “You can think about them on the way home.”
“I’ll be making my plans,” she murmured as they slid off the bench seat and moved toward the door. Out of the corner of her eye, Zoe saw Ron watching them leave, so she nodded at him as they walked past. She detoured over to the band’s tip jar and dropped in some bills, then she and Spence walked out the door.
Several people stood smoking near the curb, and Spence wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her past them into the parking lot. No one else was leaving, as far as she could tell. She wouldn’t be leaving either, if this was a date. But it wasn’t. It was merely a distraction from the problem of Ethan.
Spence’s head moved from side to side as they walked down the rows of cars. She was certain he’d noticed everything, even the couple making out in one of the cars.
When they reached his car, he unlocked her door, then pressed her against the side of the car. Kissed her urgently, his hands cupping her ass and lifting her against him. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, her tongue tangling with his, her hands roaming up and down his back and sliding beneath the waist of his jeans to cup his warm skin.
Spence finally eased away from her. “I’ve wanted to do that all evening,” he said, breathing heavily. “Couldn’t wait a moment longer. But we need to get in the car. In case someone comes back this way.”
He held her hand while she dropped onto the seat, her legs wobbly. Then he closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. He started the car and exited the parking lot, heading for her condo.
She studied the side mirror, looking for a white car. She saw several of them, but none was an Outback. Every once in a while she glanced over her shoulder and studied the cars more carefully. But it appeared that they’d lost Ethan tonight.
“Where do you think he is?” she asked.
He shot a quick glance over at her. “Probably watching your building. Waiting to see you when you get home.”
She pressed her teeth into her lower lip. “Do you think he knows what kind of car you have?”
Spence nodded slowly. “Probably. I would be shocked if he hadn’t watched us drive out of the parking garage this morning.”
“You going to exchange this car for another one?”
He shook his head. “Not right away. I’ll save that card to play later.”
“Because from now on we won’t be going anywhere except my office and the condo?”
“Exactly.” He reached for her hand and brought it to his mouth. Pressed a kiss against her palm, and Zoe closed her eyes. Shivered as he curled her fingers into her palm, as if to hold the kiss in place, and set her hand back on her lap.
“Tonight was fun,” he said quietly. “I had a great time, but we can’t do that again. We took a huge risk and got lucky, but I won’t rely on luck to keep you safe.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, keeping her fingers curled into her palm to hold Spence’s kiss close. “We’ll go to my office and come home. I won’t beg you to take me to a pub to listen to music. Or go out on the town.”
“I know you won’t, Zoe.” He smoothed his hand over her hair, his fingers tangling in the heavy mass. “You’ve pretty much been a perfect client. You’ve done what I asked and haven’t tried to screw with me.”
“Oh, I think I screwed with you last night,” she said, sweeping her fingers over his thigh. “Quite a few times. And I’m looking forward to doing it again tonight.”
He drew in a shuddery breath. “Not the kind of screwing around I meant,” he said.
“I know.” She nudged him with her elbow. “Messing with you.” She grinned. “I like making your edgy, uptight self all soft and gooey.”
He shot a glance at her. Grabbed her hand and pressed it against the hard length beneath his zipper. “Zoe Melbourne? Making me soft?” His eyes went dark as he stared at her. “Not in this lifetime.”
He let her go, but she pressed her palm against his erection for another few moments before she drew it away, shifting in her seat. “Don’t say things like that when I can’t do anything about them.”
“Oh, you’ll have plenty of chances tonight to check and see if I’m soft.” He rolled to a stop at a red light and turned to look at her, his eyes molten. “In fact, you should probably make a habit of it.
“Just like I’ll have to check you out regularly.” He pressed his fingers between her legs for a long moment, then put his hand back on the steering wheel like nothing had happened.
Her breath sawed in and out, as if she’d been running hard. When she glanced over at Spence, she saw his chest was also rising and falling too fast.