Scarlet (7 page)

A gorgeous redhead that Paxson wasn’t going to think about
because she was now sleeping with one of his best friends.

He replaced the weight bar on the cradle.

“Oh, and she left her business card case in your office.
She’ll be coming by later.” Cain leaned over and looked down at Paxson. “So be
nice.”

Chapter Five

Dear Diary,

Maybe Cait was right about these red—oops, sorry,
scarlet—panties. She’s always claimed wearing sexy underwear beneath her
uniform gave her an extra boost of confidence. I can see that. I’ve developed
quite a fondness for scarlet undies.

Cain left her wrecked, leaning against the shower wall,
trying to catch her breath, her legs trembling.

The hot water continued to stream out of the shower and
Heather just soaked it up, letting it cover her body, soothe her sparkling
nerves. It wasn’t until she’d heard the hotel room door shut behind Cain that
she remembered—she had no clothes. Nothing except the dress.

“Damn.” Her shoulders sagged forward.
For someone who
plans events for a living, you didn’t plan this very well.
But really, was
it that big of a deal?

She had to put on the dress one more time, go to the mall,
get something sexy and hot, plus a few things she could actually walk around
in, then tonight, she’d invite Cain up to the room, the dress would fall off
and she’d be free forever.

Unwilling to give up the luxury of being free, she climbed
out of the shower, dried off and stretched out naked on the bed. The scent of
Cain’s aftershave lingered on the pillows. Memories assailed her body and she
sighed, twisting on the cool sheets, savoring every sensation across her bare
flesh.

Her mind wandered, filling in the blank spaces with thoughts
of Cain. The fantasy formed quickly in her head, his strong body naked beneath
hers as she rode his cock, taking him deep and hard with each stroke.

She arched her back, letting her hair fall behind her and
tease the upper curves of her ass.

“That’s it, sweetheart.”

Dream Heather opened her eyes. The sexy security guard
Paxson knelt beside them, his huge hands softly stroking her skin, the backs of
his fingers flicking across her nipples.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. He gently kissed her
lips, so different from the strong demanding kisses from Cain but so sweet and
sexual she couldn’t resist the soft intrusion of his tongue. “So beautiful,” he
murmured again.

Her nipples pulled up into tight peaks and Paxson
groaned. He bent down and drew the sensitive pad between his lips. He sucked,
the pressure matching the steady drive of Cain’s cock in her pussy. She—

A soft knock made her bounce up, breathless, the tips of her
breasts hard and tight. The dream replayed in her mind.
Cain and Paxson?
Maybe teasing Cain in the shower hadn’t been such a good idea.

“Housekeeping.” The voice called just as the doorknob
started to turn.

“No!” She hurried and stood behind the door, peering out at
the little woman standing in the hall. “Um, just give me a few minutes and I’ll
get out of your way.”

The woman nodded and Heather sighed. She closed the door and
leaned against it to calm her pounding heart. She quickly combed through her
hair, pulled it back into a messy bun and dragged on a fresh pair of panties.
She shivered as they caressed her pussy. The sleek red material felt even
sexier this morning, of course that was probably because she had memories of
Cain ripping the last pair off her.

Heat rushed through her whole body. Damn, she’d gone from
one arousing dream to another.

Moaning—a sound of dread not pleasure this time—she grabbed
the ugly dress off the floor. She took a deep breath and willed herself to put
it back on. At least now she knew how to get out of it.

Her grin returned as she pulled the dress back over her hips
and felt the bodice tighten around her rib cage. When she wanted out of the
dress, all she had to do was seduce Cain.

* * * * *

Paxson clicked through the resumes. They were down two
security guards and he needed to get the positions filled. A few of the
applicants he knew from his days with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department.

He wondered if they were, like him, just tired of it, tired
of working so hard and not making a difference? Or if they were just looking
for better pay, better hours and an air-conditioned office?

He dismissed a couple as being assholes that he didn’t want
working with his team but looked at the rest, sending notes to three of them about
interviews next week.

He hated the administrative crap but it was part of the job.
He rolled his shoulders back, trying to ease the tension in his neck. He might
have overdone it at the gym that morning. He’d been working out his stress,
trying to get the cute redhead out of his brain. There were strict rules
against him hitting on the patrons, particularly ones who had been naked in his
office.

It had been worse when Cain had joined him at the
gym—looking cheerful and well fucked.

Paxson had refused any more details but the perpetual smile
on Cain’s face was enough to annoy him. Cain had spent the night fucking the
woman Pax had been dreaming about. Even now it was easy to recall how good she
looked, standing there, naked, except for a pair of panties. It was just a
short step to imagining her sliding those panties over her hips, doing a sexy
striptease just for him. His cock leapt against his fly.

Unfortunately Cain’s overly sexed presence this morning
invaded his fantasy and there he was, leaning against the far side of the desk,
watching, telling Paxson to fuck her harder.

Pax moaned and leaned back, trying to ease the pressure on
his dick. It didn’t matter. He was never going to see those panties or the
woman ever again.

A soft knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts. He
yelled for the person to come in and gulped when the woman in question poked
her head through the opening.

He glanced down at the business card on his desk. Heather
Bremerton, Wedding Planner. He’d checked her out, and from all accounts, she
was just what she’d claimed.

His upbringing made him stand even as he feared his hard-on
might break through his zipper. “Miss Bremerton.”

“Hi.”

Her lips spread into a soft smile and he could barely stop
his groan. Those pretty lips would look so good stretched around his cock. He
gave himself a shake.

“How can I help you?”

She pushed the door the rest of the way open and walked in.
She still wore the wedding dress, crumpled flowers and all, but now she carried
a dozen shopping bags as if she’d bought out half the stores at Fashion Show
Mall. “I think I left my business card case with you.”

The white fluffy dress brushed against his guest chairs as
she approached. Strange, last night, she’d seemed almost frightened, had
practically cowered in the corner. But today, she boldly walked in and scanned
the top of his desk.

She leaned forward. The front of the gown dipped low, so low
he could see her nipples. Tight and pink and perfect for his mouth. He wondered
if the pink matched the color of her pussy. He licked his lips. Damn, he loved
going down on a woman. Well, the right woman.

“There it is.” She pointed one perfectly manicured finger to
the far side of his desk.

He coughed and jerked his eyes away, finding the gold case
slid amongst the paper.

“Thanks,” she said as she straightened up. As if it was
pulled by a magic string, her dress fell off her hips and sank to the ground
“My mother gave it to me and—” She gasped. “What the hell?” She stared down at
the pile of material on the floor. “That’s not possible.” She whipped around,
looking behind her. “Is Cain here?”

“What? No.”

She peered forward, her eyes squinting at the edges. “He’s
not hiding under the desk?”

“Uh, no.”

“Damn.”

She seemed so casual about it. She hadn’t even covered her
breasts and damn it, Paxson couldn’t find the strength to look away. The clear
light of day hadn’t made them any less perfect. Not too big, they’d fit nicely
in his palms, those tight nipples rubbing against his skin. The red panties
still shielded her sex but with one quick tug, he could snap the thin string
and she’d be bare and he could be between her legs, licking—

The pressure of his zipper digging into his cock snapped him
out of the fantasy. Wait, Cain liked her. Cain was meeting her tonight. Cain
had sex with her
last night
.

Paxson dragged his gaze to his desk.

“Perhaps you’d like to put your dress back on,” he said,
keeping his eyes averted.

“Oh, right. Sorry.” She bent over and Paxson couldn’t help
but watch the sweet curve of her backside.

No, no, no. Don’t look.

What was it about this woman and her body that captivated
him? He’d been face to face with a half-dozen topless showgirls and all he’d
done was nod and move on but with Heather, he couldn’t seem to control his own
body.

Maybe it was because he hadn’t had sex in a long time,
though six months wasn’t that long, right?

He half turned away, giving her a moment to pull up the
dress but instead, he heard the rustling of bags. The sound intrigued him
enough to turn back around.

Breath left his lungs as if he’d been punched in the gut.
Heather stood there, bent over, digging through shopping bags. Her long auburn
hair hung down around her face. Her legs seemed endless. The red panties hugged
the sexy curve of her ass. He tipped his head to the side to watch her breasts
but she shifted just enough that he could only see the silhouette. She looked
like one of those sexy pin-up girls, teasing him with hints of skin.

“Uh, Miss, I thought you were going to put your dress back
on.”

She whipped her head around, peering up at him through
strands of red hair. “God no. I am never putting that thing on again. Not
taking the chance.”

“Uh—” He wasn’t sure what to say to that.

“Just give me a second. I’ve got the perfect—” She didn’t
finish the sentence. She yanked a t-shirt out of a bag. Holding it to her
chest, she spun around and faced him, the look in her eyes positively devilish.
“Do you have scissors?”

The pale pink shirt barely covered her, again tempting him
with the chance to see those perfect breasts.

“Scissors?”

“Yeah. To cut off the tags.” She pushed the t-shirt toward
him.

“No! Uh, here.” He opened his desk drawer and grabbed the
scissors, handing them to her before he looked away. But instincts bred into
him from his years as a cop would not let him turn his back on someone he
didn’t know, particularly someone who now had a weapon.

He kept her at the edge of his vision, trying to ignore the
sensual movements of her pulling the t-shirt over her head, the soft bounce of
her breasts. Once her upper half was fully covered, he felt a little more
confident in turning around.

Bad idea
. The t-shirt clung to her breasts like a
second skin, the tight peaks poking through the cotton. She wasn’t wearing a
bra so his mind just dismissed the t-shirt as unimportant, visualizing her
naked once again.

Pax licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry and damn…she
bent down again and pulled out a strip of black cloth. It looked plain to him,
until she stepped into it and started to shimmy it up her legs. She wiggled and
squirmed as the material stretched over her ass. The skirt stopped near the
tops of her thighs, leaving her long legs bare.

Somehow he’d always attracted petite little things, women
who made him feel huge.

But Heather was just a few inches shorter than him. Tall,
slim with just the right amount of curves, curves that fit perfectly against
him. And the way she carried herself showed she had some strength. Maybe he
wouldn’t feel like he was going to crush her when he was on top of her.

Or better yet, she could be on top of him. Yeah, he liked
that idea. Those long legs straddling his hips. His cock twitched.

He blinked and reminded himself that she was sleeping with
Cain.

But it’s only been one night. How serious can it be?

He shook the thought away. Cain was his friend. He cleared
his throat and waited for her to finish dressing. She did up the zipper,
flipped her long hair back away from her face and stood before him, chest
forward, hip cocked to the side.

And a definite look of interest in her eyes.

Paxson swallowed deeply, hoping to knock the groan that
threatened out of his throat.

Heather was sleeping with Cain. Cain was his friend.
Therefore, Pax could not,
not
be interested in Heather. That was just
the way the rules went.

Okay, so he couldn’t exactly stop himself from being
interested but he could stop himself from doing anything about it. At least, he
was pretty sure he could.

“How do I look?” she asked.

“Fine.”

“Fine?” Her shoulders went back and the breasts plumped up a
little more, the tight peaks popping out against the soft material.

Don’t lick your lips. Don’t imagine how it would feel to
have those pretty tits in your mouth. Don’t— Too late.
His tongue slipped
out and caught curve of his upper lip. Fuck, he hoped she didn’t notice.

The twinkle in her eye warned she had.

“I was going for something a little better than
fine
,”
she said, her voice low and sultry.

He cleared his throat and dragged his gaze away from her
breasts, her practically naked breasts.

“You look nice.”

“
Nice?
”

The word was a definite challenge.

“Yeah. Nice.”

“Not sexy? Not wicked?”

He knew she was teasing, deliberately flirting with him. She
strolled forward, walking around the back of his desk. Paxson knew she wasn’t
going to hurt him but he still had the insane urge to back up.

In truth, his first urge was to flip her over onto his desk
and rip that tight t-shirt off her body but once he convinced his body he
couldn’t do that, Paxson decided retreat might be a good idea. Except damn it,
masculine pride just wouldn’t let him. He crossed his arms over his chest and
faced her.