Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

“Your bed is huge,” Simon said. “It’s like you’re on a different continent.”

They were back at her house after he’d taken her in the stairwell. Wonderful and decadent, and all the more so because of the risk of getting caught.

Exciting, yes, but this was better. Her huge bedroom was dominated by a custom-made bed that she swore had never had another man in it.

“I don’t bring men back here,” she said. “That’s what hotels are for.”

“And stairwells?”

She laughed. “I’ve never done that before either.”

“Really?” He didn’t know why that was important to him. Probably because he knew she’d had a lot of flings. He wanted something of theirs. Something unshared.

“Really,” she said. “I wanted that for us.”

“Tell me why.”

“Because I want to be yours,” she said. “That’s why you’re in this bed. In my inner sanctum.”

She bent forward to kiss him, and he felt his soul sing. Then she peeled off her clothes until she was standing naked in front of him. “Yup. We’re in the inner sanctum now.” She slid into his arms and wiggled against him, her hand cupping his erection.

He slipped his fingers between her legs. “This is the only inner sanctum I care about right now.”

She laughed. “Good answer.” Then she lifted herself up and brushed her lips against his ear. “Fuck me, Simon.”

“No.” The word came out firm, and her eyes went wide. Her nipples tightened, and he saw the flush rise in her skin. “Not until I’m certain that you’re ready.”

“I am,” she assured him, but he shook his head, then ordered her to lie down.

It was only after his mouth and fingers had explored every sweet, delicious inch of her that he finally thrust inside her. Plain old missionary, but it felt like the most mind-blowing sex of his life, and they repeated it not once, but twice, trying other positions. But always face to face. Someday he’d take her from behind. Right now, he wanted to get lost in her eyes when he got lost inside her.

They christened every part of the bed before giving in to exhaustion, and he felt like he’d traveled the world as he’d traveled the woman.

And while the sex had been incredible, it was the connection he felt with Frannie that had truly blown his mind.

It seemed like only five minutes ago, he would have sold his soul to have avoided her. Now he couldn’t get enough of her.

“I’m serious,” he said, reaching for her and tugging her to him as she giggled and kicked. “This bed is way too big. You’re on another planet. I need you down here on earth with me.”

“Yeah? And how are you going to keep me here?” She rolled over, then climbed on top of him. He was already hard again, and now his cock teased her ass as she straddled him, her body rocking slowly as she rubbed her clit against his lower abdomen. “You want me to stay on this side of the Atlantic, you need to be more proactive than that.”

“Do I?” He slipped his hand between them, his fingers teasing their way inside her as she rubbed her clit on the heel of his hand. She was perfect. Her sense of humor. Her compassion. The way she could take charge or surrender. And, yeah, her body. He knew she paid trainers handsomely to keep her in top shape, but damned if they didn’t do a good job. And it wasn’t just surface. The woman had strength and stamina. She could damn sure keep up with him.

“Tell me what you want,” he whispered as he thrust his fingers deeper inside her.

She arched back, moaning a bit, her hips shifting as if she was trying to find just that spot. With his free hand, he reached up for her nipple, then rolled it between his thumb and his forefinger.

“What I want?” she repeated.

“This?” He tightened his grip on her nipple and felt her pussy tighten around his fingers. “Or this?” He slipped his fingers out of her, easing his hand back until he was teasing her ass, and she cried out, begging him to do more than tease.

“Tell me,” he demanded, his thumb teasing her pussy as his index finger played with her ass. Her eyes were closed, and the pleasure and need he saw on her face was almost enough to make him come right then.

“I thought I was your toy,” she said. “Yours to command. To fuck. To sweetly torture.” She bent forward, lifting her ass until his cock was right there. “That’s what I want,” she said as her breasts rubbed against his chest. “All I want is to be yours. Completely.”

He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry as he met her eyes. The moment felt heavy. Important.

And utterly terrifying.

He lifted a hand to stroke her hair, then held her head in place so she couldn’t look away. “Baby, I need to know what you mean. Are we playing sex games or are we—”

“No games,” she said. “Not about that.” She bit her lip, and he saw her gather her courage, then press on. “I want to see what we can be together. I’ve never—I’ve never felt like this, and I don’t mean this,” she added, wiggling against his cock. “I mean this.” She pushed up higher, then held his hand to her heart. “Is it just me?”

“No,” he said, meeting her eyes and seeing the future reflected in them. “It’s not just you.”

“So you’ll stay? Even though you don’t have to protect me anymore?”

“I’ll stay,” he said, wanting to get lost in that sweet smile.

“Good,” she said. “But Simon, you still have to protect my heart.”

“Always,” he promised, knowing that was an oath he would willingly die for.

* * * *

The first two days, he told Ryan that he was staying with her just to make sure Burnet believed Frannie and didn’t try to harass her for more info.

On the third day, he told Ryan he was taking some personal time after the case.

After a week, he told Ryan that he and Frannie were involved, and since she had a week before shooting began on Spiraling, he was taking more time off.

“You haven’t been there long enough to have accrued time off,” Frannie said, snuggling close. “Ryan is going to hate me.”

“Actually, he told us to have a good time and recommended a nice little B&B in Ojai.”

“A good idea,” she said. “We should get out of the house.”

They’d gone out a few times for meals, but for the most part, they stayed in her place. Lounging by the pool, reading, talking. And even watching every Francesca Muratti movie made, to her complete frustration.

“I’d watch all of Bright Eyes,” he’d told her, “but there are too many episodes. Saving that project for later.”

“I need you to send me files for all of your projects. You know all about me from my movies. I need to learn all about you.”

“Ah, there’s where we differ. Confidential.”

“Yeah? So if I was like a double-agent, I’d be trying to get the information from you in bed?” she’d teased. And then they’d ended up naked again. Which, as far as Simon was concerned, wasn’t a bad thing at all.

When he took the official week of leave, though, they made more definitive plans. They went out into the world, exploring the stalls at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, visiting the observatory, taking the ferry to Catalina. He felt like a tourist again. And Frannie did, too. She kept her hair up and under a floppy hat, wore no make-up, and dressed in flowy, peasant-style dresses. He thought she looked incredible. And no one recognized her. Or, if they did, they realized she was incognito and didn’t bother her.

That had been the idea—to let them go out together and have fun while keeping Frannie safe from prying eyes.

As far as the threat, the case had officially been closed with Frannie, Matthew, and Ryan all signing off on the decision. Burnet’s mysterious shooter probably didn’t exist at all. The simplest explanation was that Leslie had made up the story to help her defense. And the simplest solution was usually the right one.

But even if there was a mystery shooter, if they’d known that Frannie had been there that night, they would have dealt with her a long time ago. And if they’d only learned it because of Burnet’s poking around, they most likely knew that Frannie didn’t have any idea who the shooter was. All of which meant that officially, the case was over. Unofficially, Simon intended to watch her like a hawk. And he intended to keep watching her. She was his now. And he would keep her safe.

They were on the ferry back from Catalina when he saw the way she was looking at two young girls, probably ten or eleven, writing in their pink diaries and giggling as they whispered to each other.

“Was that you once?”

She shook her head, clearly distracted. “No.”

“Frannie?”

She tilted her head up at him, but she seemed to be looking right through him.

“What? What is it?”

“Can we go home? I need to see something.” She reached for his hand. “Please?”

“Of course.”

As soon as the boat docked, they headed for the car. She said nothing, and he didn’t push. Something was on her mind, and he could wait until she was ready to tell him about it.

When they got back to the house, she bolted to her bedroom. He followed, then found her half under the bed as she tugged out a flowered hat box. She lifted it onto the bed, then started pulling out spiral notebooks until she finally tugged out a pink cloth-covered book like the girls on the ferry had been giggling over.

“Carolyn’s diary,” she said, climbing on the bed and holding the pink book in her lap. She raised her brows, then patted the space beside her. And that one little gesture said more than a week of exceptional sex. They were together.

They were a team.

And he’d fallen in love.

He took a moment to savor the moment then hurried to climb up beside her. She started flipping pages, going slowly every few moments to read a passage and smile. But for the most part, she was on a mission, and she didn’t stop until she reached a double page spread that was full of cramped writing interrupted only by a butterfly, a snake, and a calligraphy-style V.

“This,” she said, pointing to where the snake bumped up against a butterfly made of two Ds, one the mirror image of the other. “That’s what she wrote instead of saying Pruitt or stepfather. The snake is the S and the butterfly is for Dad. Stepdad. Right?”

“Got it.”

“She does it in a few other places, too. I’m a picture of a fan with a little R on it. And her mom is a drawing of a mummy.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Typical kid.”

“Pretty much. But then there’s this.” She tapped the page, and he saw a capital V with a wavy line through it, like someone had crossed it with a calligraphy pen.

“It’s a V,” he said.

“Yeah, but in context, she’s talking about a person. So I figure she had a crush on some guy. And that means that he’s the most likely guy to have come by her room that night.”

“Oh.” He scooted back so he was leaning against the headboard. “That’s a stretch.”

“Do you have another idea?”

“I do. But you’re not going to like it.”

Her shoulders fell, and he could hear her exhale. “You think I should drop it because it’s been years and I won’t figure it out anyway?”

“You said it, not me.”

She made a face. “I know. I should. But now that I know there was someone else there—”

“Assuming the mom was telling the truth. And that’s a big assumption.”

“Maybe,” she said. “But—”

She was interrupted by her phone, and then sighed as she glanced at the screen. “Aaron,” she said. “Work beckons.” She hit the button to put it on speaker.

“Hey,” she said. “What’s up?”

“You alone?”

She put her finger to her lips. “Yup. Clean bill. My stalker was a Woodward or Bernstein wannabe reporter. I am no longer under surveillance by Stark’s finest.”

He laughed. “You sound like you’re in a good mood.”

“I am,” she said, taking Simon’s hand and pressing it to her breast. He raised a brow but didn’t resist. This was a game he was more than willing to play.

“Listen, I was hoping you could come over tonight. I got some revisions back on Spiraling, and I wanted to go over them with you.”

“Problem?”

“Just some character stuff before I call the writer with notes.”

She glanced at him, and Simon nodded. He’d rather stay in bed with her, but this was her job. And he should probably swing by his place and get a change of clothes anyway.

“Okay,” she told Aaron. “It’s five now. I can be there by six.”

“Perfect. See you then.”

She ended the call, then turned to him. “Where will you be when I get back?”

“That depends. Where do you want me?”

“Right here,” she said, then grinned and added, “And bonus points if you’re naked.”

“Sweetheart, I’m all about the bonus.”