Stealing Home

chapter 18



MARK HIT TRIPLES for three straight days off the field. By the time they were back in Denver, Lorelei was pretty darn sure she’d made up for her celibate streak of the past two years in spades. Boy, he’d been right about one thing: When he found something he did well he kept at it.

The door opened and he walked in to his condo just as she was finishing up lunch. Two plates loaded with grilled chicken salad sat on the black granite counters. It had been a struggle to cook the chicken breasts since all he had was a hunkering stainless steel contraption out on the balcony. After ten minutes of muttering and then five more of flat-out swearing she’d figured out how it worked. Then she’d felt like an idiot. Turned out all she’d had to do was push a stupid button.

She’d stood there frowning, thinking to herself that she was glad no one was out there to witness her blond moment when she’d caught wind of a snickering above her. Her gaze had whipped up to see a young teenage girl hanging over the balcony above her; she’d obviously enjoyed eavesdropping.

Lorelei had turned to walk back inside when she’d realized that just about every teenage girl had a cell phone. So she’d strolled to the edge of the balcony, smiled up at the young girl, and introduced herself. She’d figured with the cell phone she could call Dina and be out of the locked apartment in no time.

After a few minutes spent convincing the girl to loan out her precious cellular, and then a few more spent finagling the phone down with a roll of blue yarn, Lorelei had grabbed it. Then she’d wasted no time dialing the number she’d memorized. She could still remember the conversation clearly.

Dina had answered on the fourth ring. “This better be good.”

“Hi, Dina.”

“Well, well. Look who’s decided to grow some balls after all. Since you’re calling me I assume you have the goods?”

Lorelei glanced through the glass doors at the living room. “Not exactly. I have it,” she rushed on before Dina could interrupt, “but I need your help.”

A drawn-out sigh came through the phone. “Really. What is it that I’m supposed to help you with?”

Talking to the woman was like listening to nails on a chalkboard—they both grated. “I’m still stuck in Mark’s condo, but he’s gone. I need you to come let me out and then I’ll take you to get the necklace.” It didn’t sit easy with her, but she still needed the money. So much had happened between her and Mark since the beginning, and she was trying like hell to keep a divisive line between business and personal. But she couldn’t help wishing there was another way.

Dina cut into her thoughts. “Silly girl. I can’t help you. Have you forgotten that the prick has a restraining order against me? I’ll be arrested if I step within a thousand feet of his place.”

“But—”

“No buts. I’m paying you an ass ton of money, so figure this out yourself. I have better things to worry about than the two of you playing hanky-panky.”

Frustration made her tone sharp and she snapped. “I’m beginning to think you don’t actually want his charm after all.”

Dina snorted and replied coldly, “I’m beginning to think you don’t want the money after all.”

Exhaling, Lorelei grasped at her composure. “I’m sorry.”

“You might be sorry, but you better not make me sorry I hired you.” There was a shuffle in the background. “I’m late for an appointment. Get off your ass and do something, Lorelei. Or stop wasting my time.”

On that note the line went dead.

And that had been that. A perfect opportunity completely wasted.

Lorelei had stared at the phone with a sinking feeling and then gave it back to the girl. Maybe she was cursed. Because it seemed like every opportunity that cropped up just got smashed to bits, and that there was simply no way for this to work.

Or maybe was there a way and she just didn’t want to see it because of what it would mean for her and Mark.

“What smells so good?” The deep timbre of Mark’s voice drifted in from the foyer, pulling her back to the present. He appeared in the doorway and she saw his mouth drop. “You made me lunch?”

Lorelei glanced down at the plates and back to his shocked expression, her heart suddenly a little bubble of happiness. “Yep. I thought I’d prove to you I can make more than just brownies and junk food.” She handed him a plate. “Here, eat this one. There’s things in there called vegetables. You might just like them.”

He laughed at the words she threw back at him and took the plate in a strong hand. The other ran intimately over her butt and squeezed. His mouth lowered to her neck and he nuzzled the sensitive skin. “I’d rather eat you.” He gave her a playful nip and straightened. “But a guy’s got to get his protein and roughage first.”

She watched him swing a denim-covered leg over the back of a chair and sit down, laughter rumbling deep in his chest. He was doing crazy things to her emotions. And if she didn’t watch it, her heart would start overruling her head. Veering into that sticky territory with a man like Mark was a surefire way to get her heart stomped on. Men like him didn’t make love—they had sex. They didn’t fall in love—they made women fall in love with them. And when they were bored or things got too real they bailed. Plain and simple.

Good thing she wasn’t in any real danger. Sure she had feelings for him, but she had a handle on it. Absolutely. She could control her emotions and keep it all on the superficial level he was comfortable with.

She could and she would. Because she didn’t want to know what it felt like to be left crying in Mark Cutter’s dust.

“Hey, Lorelei. Why don’t you come over here and sit by me. This is great, by the way. Any chance you could grab me a bottle of water from the fridge on your way?”

She grabbed her plate and reached inside the fridge for two bottles of the Rocky Mountain’s purest. Nudging the door closed with a bare foot, she made her way over the cold tile and sat down across from Mark. His gaze traveled down her, over her snug white T-shirt and jeans, to stare intently at her feet. She wiggled her toes, and his mouth tipped at the corner in a small, crooked smile.

“I’ve been fantasizing about that little tattoo you got there, Lorelei.” A hum of appreciation rumbled in his throat.

Her eyebrows shot up. “You have?”

Clear gray eyes filled with bad intentions lifted to hers. “Uh-huh. And it’s sexy as hell.”

Her gut tightened. She took a drink of water, let the liquid cool her insides. “That so? Is it dirty?”

The fork stopped halfway to his mouth. “As a mud pie, baby.”

She let her eyes slide over him. “Is it kinky?”

The fork clattered to the table. “Why don’t you define your idea of kinky for me?” His voice had taken on a decided edge. She felt a running shoe slide intimately up the inside of her calf and saw the look on his face. Her stomach quivered.

“Eat your lunch, Mark. I went to a lot of trouble to make that.” Before she forgot all about it and jumped him like a nymphomaniac. Never before had it been quite like this. She was beginning to wonder if she should be worried.

She shivered when the shoe reached the junction between her thighs and pushed into her. His eyes were hot when he said, “Why don’t you be my lunch? I’ll eat as much of you as you want, sweetheart.”

“Say pretty please with whipped cream on top.”

Something hard flashed in his gaze and his brows lowered over his eyes. “I never say that word, Lorelei. Ever.”

Defiance sparked behind her ribs, lodged in her chest. “And why is that? Because you’re a spoiled badass sports star and you think you’re above politeness?”

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his powerful arms across his chest. “No. Because I don’t beg and I’ll never be brought to my knees like a p-ssy over a woman.”

Pain slashed her, swift and vicious. “Is that a challenge?”

His smile was cold and his eyes hot when he said, “It’s a fact.”

For several tense seconds they stared across the table at each other. Battling back the wave of pain and anger that tried to wash over her, she took a deep breath and notched up her chin. No way in hell would she give him the satisfaction of knowing what he’d just said hurt her.

“Lucky for me I don’t give a shit.” It was the truth. Had to be. She turned back to her lunch and speared a piece of chicken and lettuce with her fork. There was nothing going on between them other than sex and his cross anyway. It shouldn’t hurt her to hear him say how he felt.

But it did.

Damn it! Shoving away from the table, Lorelei strode to the counter and forced deep breaths. It wasn’t supposed to go down like this. Mark was supposed to be nothing more to her than a means to an end, an enjoyable diversion from the monotony and oppressiveness that was her life.

When she’d first agreed to Dina’s plan she’d had a secret. Not the theft, not the exchange of money. No, her secret was more personal than that. She’d wanted to feel something—anything—different from the smothering weight of emotions she’d lived with since the day her sister-in-law had died. A chance to feel alive, carefree, unhindered. To focus on something else for a moment in time other than Michelle’s life-threatening heart defect, the mountain of medical bills, the way her brother was being eaten from the inside out.

It was a chance to be selfish and do something completely insane. To be a wild woman—free and spontaneous.

Strong hands gripped her hips and yanked her back against a rock-hard body. Breath rushed down her neck and his voice rumbled against her ear. “You don’t give a shit about us, Lorelei? About what’s going on here?”

She kept very still while her heart leaped behind her sternum. “That’s right.”

Mark’s hands slid to the front of her jeans and he spread his palms just above her pubic bone. The heat seared her. “Oh, there’s something going on, all right. You’re just too cowardly to say it.”

He was everywhere, his heat surrounding her. Anger and desire rolled off him and washed over her. She could feel his heart beating fast in his chest. Could feel the hard length of him pressing against her butt, the immense strength he kept on a tight leash. It vibrated through him.

She wasn’t a coward. Not by a long shot. Lorelei was a realist. “The only thing between us, Mark, is sex.”

He tensed. His hands slid up her body and cupped her breasts. “Not ordinary sex, Lorelei. The best of my life.”

Arousal shot straight down to her crotch when he pinched her nipples between his fingers. “That’s quite a compliment to me, considering how much you’ve been laid.”

His teeth bit into her neck and Mark pushed her forward until the counter cut into her stomach and she was sandwiched between two granite surfaces. “Now that wasn’t nice. You’ve gone and hurt my feelings.”

He didn’t have feelings. Bitterness swept through her at the unfairness of it all. Control was slowly slipping through her fingers and she lashed out, tried to grab it. Tried to gain the upper hand. “Sex isn’t the only thing between us. There’s something else.”

He said with a growl, “Damn straight there’s more. You’ve crawled inside my head. And I can’t seem to get you out.”

His words sent her heart racing and emotions bubbling up inside her so fast she nearly choked on them. She shook her head against the onslaught and swallowed hard. That wasn’t what she’d meant.

“That’s not it.” She was fairly sure he was lying anyway.

He bent his head to her ear and said just above a whisper, “What is it, baby? What else do you feel between us?” His hand crept under the hem of her T-shirt.

“Your good luck charm.”

The hand froze and he swore. “Why did you just have to say that? Goddamn it, Lorelei.”

“Because it’s the truth.”

His deep intake of breath pushed his broad chest into her back. He dropped his hands. She thought he was going to step back, but he just spun her around to face him.

When she got a good look at his face something close to panic barreled hard into her solar plexus. He was furious. One hundred percent pure, pissed-off male.

“It’s still just about the bottom line for you, isn’t it? You really don’t give a shit about this, about what’s happening here.”

This was her chance to lash out, define her boundary, and she took it. “That’s right. It’s all about the money. Nothing more.”

Quicker than she could blink he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. She didn’t have time to do more than gasp before he’d walked to the spare room and dumped her down on the bed. The bed creaked and she bounced once before she righted herself. He was already turned from her, crouched down in front of her bag and yanking clothes out.

“Don’t do that. Let go of my bag.”

His eyes spit anger at her when he looked up. “I can do whatever I want. You stole from me. Then you went and screwed me till my brain scrambled, got under my skin, and all you want from me is the money my cross will bring you?”

“I need the money. It has nothing to do with you. It’s just the money. If I knew how to get it somewhere else I would, believe me.” Scrambling off the bed she walked to him. He fairly vibrated with anger, but she wasn’t scared. It was the first time he’d let slip how she made him feel.

“Tell me why you need the money so bad. What’s so horrible in your life that you need money to fix?” His voice was low and hard.

“Do you need all the money you have? You make millions a year. What’s so bad in your life that you need all that?” she flung at him.

He stood slowly and straightened to his full height. Then he braced his feet spread apart and clenched his hands into fists at his sides. “My life is damn near perfect. I’m trying to figure you out, so don’t change the subject again. I want to know what’s going on.”

“Have you ever lost someone? Someone you loved?” She crossed her arms across her chest and stared him down.

Mark raked a hand through his hair in frustration and sighed. Some of the anger seemed to drain out of him. “Is this about your brother’s wife?” he demanded.

She found no reason to lie. “In a way, yes.”

He slowly advanced on her. “Is Logan in trouble? Where are your relatives, can’t they help? Tell me, Lorelei, I want to know.” It was less a demand that time.

Taking a step in retreat she backed into the bed, almost fell down. She couldn’t tell him. No matter how many times he demanded. “There are no other relatives.”

Compassion softened his gaze. For some reason, seeing that made bitterness swell inside her. She didn’t want his sympathy.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. But you didn’t answer my other question. Is your brother in trouble?”

Again, she didn’t have to lie. “In a way, yes.”

Warning flashed across Mark’s face as he stopped in front of her. “Stop that. Tell me why Logan’s in trouble.”

She stared out the big window at a beautiful, cloudless sky. It was so blue it almost hurt her eyes to look at it. “Would you let me sell your necklace if I told you?”

He sighed and she turned back to him. “You know I can’t do that. It means something to me.”

“Who gave it to you?” She really wanted to know.

Mark sighed again and briefly closed his eyes. Then he opened them again and relented. “A girl. The first girl to ever kiss me.”

“How old were you?” She asked because she remembered his sister saying he didn’t have a girlfriend until after high school. Maybe it had belonged to his ex-wife.

“Seventeen. I keep it because she saw me. Saw beyond the imperfections, the defects.”

What was he talking about? What defects? He was perfect. “Are you talking about how you used to stutter when you talked to girls?” That wasn’t a defect. That was kind of cute, actually. If she’d been a girl he’d talked to with a blush and a stutter she’d have been a goner. His name would have been written all over her notebooks with little hearts.

Mark reached for her again, let his hands settle on her hips. “It’s more than that. She saw value in me, told me I was special. She kissed me and gave me her necklace—told me it was for luck. I haven’t stuttered around a woman since then. And I kept it close until you swiped it from me.”

Now they were getting somewhere. And they’d effectively changed the subject from her family. Lorelei ran her hands up the soft merino wool of his sweater and sidled up against him. “What other problems did you have, Mark?”

He shook his head. “I’m not telling. You have to go first.”

Never. “You’ve been playing well without your cross. Maybe you don’t need it anymore.”

His hands closed over hers and clamped them against his chest. A spark lit his eyes and turned them silver. “Maybe. But, I want it back, Lorelei. That hasn’t changed. I won’t let you take the money and run.”

“Would you have me arrested if I do?”

Brows slashed low over his eyes and he glared at her. For a moment Mark was silent as a tic worked his jaw. Uncertainty flashed across his face and he sighed. “I don’t know anymore. Hell, I might. I might let ’em cuff you and haul you down to the station just for kicks. Because I’d be really pissed if you did that to me after all this.”

But he might not. That much was clear to her. He might not forgive her, their affair would most definitely be over, but there was a chance he’d let her walk. That was good to know.

He squeezed her hands, got her attention. His voice was ripe with warning. “Don’t even think about it, Lorelei. I said I don’t know. That doesn’t mean you should go and find out. I’m unpredictable. Remember that.”

She would. Definitely. She’d remember that today was the day she saw a crack in Mark Cutter’s armor.

He stepped back and pushed up the sleeve of his sweater. He checked the time on his watch and raked another gaze over her that said they’d have a day of reckoning if she betrayed him. “I’m going to say it one last time. I want my lucky charm. If you run you’ll regret it.”

“You’re threatening me?” She couldn’t believe it. Well, yeah, she could. But still.

“Damn straight, sweetheart.”

“All right. I’ll give it back. You want it back, I’ll give it back, but you’ve got to do something first.” Lorelei held back a grin. The cocky jerk deserved what he had coming. She walked to the door and looked back at him.

And saw he’d been checking out her butt. His gaze wandered over her body, a grin cupped his mouth, and she could see his eyes were filled with male appreciation. “Yeah, what’s that?”

“You have to get on your knees and say please.”