No One Needs to Know Read online

  “What are you thinking?” she asked, as they walked from the parking lot, her toothbrush and a three-pack of ugly drugstore panties safely in her purse.

  “That walking in my condition is awkward and a little painful.”

  “Blister from your boots?”

  His arm around her shoulders tightened. “Yeah. A blister.”

  “I might have a blister myself. Smaller than yours, though.”

  “I should hope so.”

  Her stomach grumbled. Loudly. She put her hand on her belly. “Sorry about that.”

  “When’s the last time you ate?”

  “This morning. I had breakfast.”

  “Which consisted of...?”

  “Hey, no playing Mom.”

  He bumped her hip with his. “That’s not at all how I’m feeling at the moment, but I have seen your refrigerator. And your cupboards.”

  “Fine. I had toast and string cheese.”

  He brought them to a halt. “I’m feeding you.”

  “Yes, you are. Later.”

  “Not later. Now. I don’t need you passing out during the best part.”

  She turned until she stood close enough to press against his “blister.” “What precisely would the best part be?”

  He kissed her, then moved his lips just far enough away from her to whisper, “All of it.”

  She captured his lower lip between her teeth, but let him go before he could object. “The gift shop has candy bars.”

  His green eyes looked darker staring at her from such close range, but she liked the view. Liked the man. “I feel like I’m not taking care of you properly.”

  “You can fix that the minute we get into your room.”

  “Why are we talking? We could be buying candy right this second.”

  She held on to his hand as they jogged to the back entrance and found the shop. She grabbed the first chocolate bar she saw, glad to see he picked one up, as well. Neither of them wasted a moment digging in, and they crumbled the wrapping in unison before the elevator opened at his floor.

  Once she got inside the suite, the memory of her old life hit fiercely. Thank goodness she had a legitimate excuse to shut herself into the bathroom. It was huge, but even the pleasure of seeing the big tub wasn’t strong enough to stop the déjà vu.

  Standing still as she looked into the mirror, she saw Leanna Warner. As the emotions welled in her throat, she clamped her eyes shut. “I’m here. Right now,” she whispered. “With the most amazing man I’ve ever met, and I’ve got this one chance.”

  After a few deep breaths, she brushed her teeth and her hair, blessed whatever gods had made her shave her legs before going to the board meeting and went out the door wearing a smile that was turned electrically real the moment she saw him standing by the bed.

  Just the way he looked at her made her nipples hard.

  * * *

  TOSSING HIS STETSON ON THE couch, Tucker held her gaze as he slowly approached her. He wanted to watch her eyes darken the closer he got.

  By the time he was a breath away, the blue of her irises had almost disappeared. “I can’t decide whether I want to undress you piece by piece, or race you till we’re both buck naked and panting.”

  “The second option gets my vote.”

  “Yeah?”

  She nodded. Then she started unbuttoning her shirt, and the competition was on.

  He won. Not the race—he’d lost that part. She was down to her underwear while he was still working on getting his boots off, but damn, the view was worth it.

  “I’m pretty sure I’m the winner,” she said, grinning, her thumbs hooked over the elastic of her panties.

  “I could argue that.” He knew she’d have great legs.

  “Want help?”

  “No. I want to stare at you. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you turned around a time or two.”

  She blushed. Pretty as a picture. The pink didn’t stop with her cheeks, either. He was going to lick as much of that rosy skin as he could. Later. Taking his sweet time was for seconds. Not that he didn’t want to impress her with his smooth moves, but he was already as hard as a bedpost just looking at her white cotton bra and panties.

  One boot came off, and dammit, he had to focus for a minute on getting the second one loose. The moment he did, he shot to his feet and started working on his jeans.

  When she did turn around, he nearly clipped himself with his zipper. Her body was even more amazing than he remembered, and he’d thought about it for two nights. Of course, he’d only seen that stretch of her back before, and now that he saw her behind, he knew he’d be dreaming of her for months, if not longer.

  “Happy now?” she said, turning back to face him.

  “Ecstatic,” he said, and proved his point by dropping his jeans and boxer briefs at the same time. Then he realized his socks were still on, and he toed them off as fast as he was able. Almost fell over, but it was worth it.

  She still laughed at him. Until he stood up tall, and then she got quiet. Seeing that look on her face as she stared down at him was a turn-on all by itself.

  “Now you,” he said, his voice lowering an octave.

  He wanted to touch her as she reached behind her back to undo her bra clasp, but he kept his hands at his sides. Fisted, but still. His cock, not so much. The moment that bra fluttered to the floor, it jerked, tapping the flat of his stomach.

  Annie was trembling slightly. Not like she was afraid. Just anxious. Her hands went to slide her panties off, and his plan to watch the whole show broke down. Before he knew he was going to do it, he hit his knees, inches away from her beautiful body.

  She jumped, but didn’t move back. When he looked up, he found her dark gaze and her tacit permission. He leaned forward, nestling his nose just below her indented belly button. She smelled so damn good, and she wasn’t even unwrapped yet.

  His fingers tugged her panties down slowly, and despite the impulse that urged him to speed the hell up, he unveiled her like a prize.

  She had a perfect triangle of blond curls and once he’d uncovered her completely, he inhaled again. Nothing on earth compared to the scent of a woman, and he would swear on any book in the room that Annie had been designed with him in mind.

  As gently as he could, he touched her inner thighs, hoping she’d get the hint. Bright and beautiful, she shifted her legs for him, and when he slipped two fingers just inside the barely parted lips, she was all moist heat and silk. It wasn’t hard to find where she’d gotten hard, but he was careful with his touches. Still, one swipe made her grab onto his hair, a little more enthusiastically than he’d anticipated.

  She let go immediately. “Sorry, I’m sorry.”

  Just the sound of her breathy apology got him hotter. “It’s okay,” he said, right before he blew a stream of air across where he’d touched.

  “We need to rethink this,” she said.

  Talk about a cold shower. “What?”

  “No...not...no. I can’t do this standing up. I’m going to spoil everything if we don’t get on the bed. Quickly.”

  Tucker obeyed like a shot. In fact, the second he was up, he had her in his arms. Not taking any chances, he swept an arm behind her knees and one across her back, lifted her up and into a kiss as they crossed the short distance to the bed. His romantic gesture crashed and burned when he had to put her down to turn back the white spread.

  Not that Annie seemed to mind. When she lay down, she pulled him along and they picked up the kiss right where they’d left off.

  * * *

  IT WASN’T EVEN FIVE-THIRTY, the room was filled with light and precious space, and Annie had never felt more comfortable being naked with a man.

  Maybe it was because he was clearly excited by her... No, that wasn’t a special feat in her experience. Perhaps she’d given up being self-conscious when she’d given up everything else. Her psyche seemed to realize that there would be no return engagements.

  Or it could just be that she liked him.
So very much. Something had clicked from that first meeting, and it had never stopped. Despite her nerves and her secrets and her endless responsibilities, she’d found him wonderful company. His touch... God, just now he was running his palm up her side, then segueing to her breast, where he teased her nipple as if she’d given him her personal instruction manual.

  She gasped, pulling away from his lips. Then they were on her throat, in that sensitive spot below her ear. He didn’t just kiss, but licked and nibbled, and then when he murmured something indistinct the vibration kicked everything up a couple notches.

  Easing her hand between them, she circled his length and moved to the base and back up again.

  He froze. Lips parted on her skin, tongue in midswipe. He didn’t even breathe as she repeated the motion, finding a rhythm that made her own heart pound.

  Tucker made a garbled noise, half word, half moan, entirely unintelligible.

  “You’re welcome,” she whispered, grinning before she nipped him on the earlobe.

  “Annie. Annie. Annie.”

  Her grin became a laugh. “Yes, Tucker?”

  “This is going to be over very quickly if you continue doing that.”

  She squeezed a little harder before she pumped him again. “You mean, this?”

  “Yes,” he said, through clenched teeth.

  She sighed. “Sure, spoil all my fun.” Letting him go, she was sorely tempted to go back for one more sneaky pull, but decided the consequences might not be to her liking.

  “Later you have my full permission to carry on,” he said. “But for now, let’s at least go for ten minutes, okay?”

  “I bet we can make it twenty, if we try.”

  He pushed up onto his arms until he was staring straight into her eyes. “Do you want me to have a stroke? Is that the plan?”

  She liked this side of Tucker. Naked and pleading looked great on him. To show her appreciation, she wrapped her left leg over his lower back.

  He closed his eyes for just a few seconds, and then pretended to glare at her. “You’re a devil. A stunning devil, but still. You should be careful.”

  “Careful? Why? What’s the worst that can happen?”

  The right side of his mouth quirked up in one of her favorite smiles. “I might have to ravish you again and again.”

  Her other leg joined the first to reinforce that she was in favor of that outcome. She used the traction to press up against his straining erection.

  Watching him throw back his head as if he was already coming made her ache along with him. “Where did you put the condoms?”

  “Give me a second. And don’t move.”

  She didn’t. Not a bit. At least, not with the obvious muscles.

  A moment later, he took a deep breath, turned both of them to their sides until he could reach the bedside table. His weight was just getting to be too much for her when he rolled them back to their original position.

  Then he sat up, unapologetically knocking her legs away. Annie held back a laugh, then watched him get ready. Goodness, he certainly looked impatient. But then so was she.

  Once the condom was on, he leaned down again, and this time, he brought her legs up toward her chest. “Next time, I swear...” He stopped to kiss the inside of her ankle. “We’ll have so much foreplay we’ll both be wrecks.”

  “Sounds wonderful. Now what are you waiting for?”

  He smiled and pushed inside her, one straight shot that had her arching her back and holding on for dear life.

  It wasn’t the most elegant sex she’d ever had, but it was exactly what she’d needed. She touched him wherever she could reach, hoped like hell the walls were thick or the room next door was empty, because she was not quiet.

  The kisses that started out hot and deep ended up pants against each other’s mouths, and it turned out that was about as sexy as anything she’d ever felt.

  By the time he let her right leg go, and found her clit with his thumb, she was shaking and straining so hard she thought her heart would burst. Her orgasm crested before she had a chance to warn him. All she could do was hang on, muffle her scream with his shoulder and ride the wave.

  When he pushed her whole body up the bed with the force of his thrust, she pulled her head back, opened her eyes. She watched him come, the intensity in his face breathtaking. When he could relax again, he smiled down at her, then pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder.

  “Hell of an appetizer,” he murmured.

  Which made her stomach growl so loudly they laughed even as they collapsed in exhaustion.

  * * *

  TUCKER ONLY OPENED his menu after Annie caught his attention. She gave him the look that meant he’d better stop staring at her. Yes, that happened a lot, but this was different. She’d been studying Louie’s deli menu as if it were the Rosetta Stone, and all her questions had been answered.

  “A Reuben,” she whispered, in a voice that was half awe, half hunger.

  “Sauerkraut have some special meaning in your life?”

  She looked again at the menu, then up at him. “The highlight of my month is eating in Marge’s diner. Not that Marge’s isn’t swell—the food is great—but I think they missed the memo on what rye bread should taste like. And I’m not going to discuss their corned beef.” She looked down again. “New York cheesecake. Please let that be true. Please.”

  Tucker had to grin, enjoying her excitement. But it also saddened him that he wanted to use her joy over New York food to press her about her old life. See if he couldn’t find out something more, anything that would allow him to help her.

  He couldn’t think of a way to tell her what had brought him to Safe Haven without screwing everything up. Trying to convince her that he believed she was innocent and he was on her side wouldn’t be enough. She’d be furious and frightened and would probably never trust him again.

  That wasn’t part of the plan. Even if he explained his about-face, she’d still know he’d lied to her. If their situations were reversed, he wouldn’t believe anything that came out of her mouth.

  All she was doing was trying to protect herself. And she’d done it by being a selfless defender to those that couldn’t defend themselves. So what the hell should he do? Damn. If Christian had told the truth, and the mob was involved, Tucker’s choices had narrowed considerably. His first priority was to keep her safe. Even if it meant she’d hate him forever.

  “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

  Pasting on a quick grin that became genuine as soon as he saw the concern in her eyes, he nodded. “I’m fine. Too many things look good. Like the Parmesan chicken sandwich. And the Bronx Bomber.”

  “That’s the Philly cheese steak, right?”

  He nodded. “So tell me. Carnegie Deli or Katz’s?”

  “That’s a trick question. The pickles at Carnegie and the pastrami at Katz’s. And how does a cowboy from Dallas know about Katz’s, anyway?”

  He shrugged. “Well, shucks, ma’am. I’m not rightly sure. But I think I hopped on that there subway train from Midtown to the Lower East Side, and there she was.”

  She ducked her head and looked at him through her lashes. “God, you’re adorable.”

  “It’s a burden, but one I’ve grown to accept.”

  The waitress came by to take their hefty order, but Annie still made the time to ball up her straw wrapper and throw it at his head. She had damn good aim, too.

  The best part of the meal was hearing her make the sounds he hoped to duplicate when they got back to the room.

  The other great thing was her laughter. She seemed like a different person, sitting across the booth from him. No wonder. This was probably her first break in years, and it had been a revelation. Seeing her shed the burden of her responsibilities gave new light to her eyes, and when she smiled...

  She made him forget, for long moments at a time, that he was unsure how to help both her and his brother, that his mother was walking on thin ice, that he had grown so used to being alone he’d learn
ed to ignore the loneliness.

  “Think we could stop here tomorrow before we head back home?”

  “Sure.” He wanted to sit here for hours, just staring, thinking about how her eyes matched the blue of the sky. “To eat here or carry out?”

  She sighed, leaning back in the booth. “I’m taking home as much food as will fit into my fridge.”

  “That would be what, half a sandwich?”

  She glowered. “There’s another fridge in the stable, you know. A big one.”

  “I don’t think you’re supposed to put the cheesecake on the same shelf as the pergolide.”

  “Where there’s a will...as they say.”

  “I’d be delighted to help you improve your stash. Frozen burritos? That’s just not right.”

  Annie leaned forward. “Guess what? You do what you have to. Money’s tight. And you know as well as I do that horses are accidents waiting to happen. Not to mention goats. I swear, they should have first-aid competitions at rodeos. I can wrap a blown kneecap in under a minute when necessary. And that includes any injections.”

  How was it possible to become even more impressed with this woman? And how quickly could he get her back to his hotel room?

  12

  “LET ME HELP YOU WITH THAT,” Tucker said, walking toward Annie with a wicked smile.

  “You’re so thoughtful.” She had already taken off her boots and socks and left them in the main room. The bath was filling quickly, the scent of lilacs hinted at summer gardens and would be forever imprinted with Tucker in her memory.

  Unlike the first rush to push aside anything standing in the way of sex, he took his time unbuttoning her shirt. Would she have to get rid of these clothes once he left? Hide them in coffee cans so they wouldn’t torment her?

  She closed her eyes, forcing herself to be present, right here, right now. Why was it so difficult to stay in the moment with him? To experience every second as it was happening instead of jumping ahead?

  After her shirt fell, she took hold of him. Instantly, she felt more grounded. Of course she’d have to let him go, but for now, contact was all important.

  He’d been looking down at her chest, at her ugly bra, but then he shifted his gaze to her face, to her eyes. His touch halted as they met in a kiss. It was easy and sexy, and each time they parted lips, they kept hold of each other with their warm breath, and when they came back together it was a jolt of the best kind. Again and again, as if they were near a waterfall, lying in a meadow, alone in a steamy cave, all at once while never leaving the simple, spacious bathroom in an ordinary hotel.