Knock Out (A Reynolds Security Novel) Read online

  “Alright Semper fi then.” Sam amended and Ethan chuckled.

  “So did the company pass the test?”

  “I assume so. Whether or not we keep this guy as a client depends on whether or not Jace tears him limb from limb.” Ethan laughed again but now he had Lou’s attention.

  “He did seem a little… peeved.” Colby said.

  “That is putting it mildly. He was beyond pissed. Don’t let that easy going southern gentleman veneer fool you. Underneath he’s still as bad ass as they come.” Some of the other men started asking questions about the situation but Lou wasn’t paying attention. She was trying to reconcile the man she had spent so many hours with, with the term bad ass. He was strong yes, as big as a linebacker and as solid as a tank. But bad ass? She hadn’t seen that. No she had seen a man who pulled his punches despite the fact that she never pulled hers. A man who always held her door and picked up the check. A man who danced like Fred Astaire and looked twice as good. No she couldn’t consider him a bad ass but damn if she didn’t pick a helleva time to figure out her crush had turned into a full blown infatuation.

  Everyone in the room began to rise from their various lounging positions and she realized she had missed something important. Ethan handed note pads to her and each of the men that had been in the restroom with her. Everyone else left.

  “Gentlemen just an account of what happened with the suspect. Ms. Santiago I’m afraid your account is going to have to start at your first interaction with Viktor Castillo.” Lou sighed and nodded. She took her pad over to the table and sat down. She began to write not looking up until she heard the door open again. This time it was Jace.

  Jace looked tired as he took the chair on the opposite side of the table from her. She looked back at the pad she was writing on but discreetly watched him through her lowered lashes. He reached up and untied his bowtie and pulled it off.

  "You want these?" Sam held up the pad he'd been writing on.

  "Yeah. I want to apologize on behalf of our idiot client. This was... Well it was total bull shit." Jace's voice was low and gravelly it made the hair on her arms stand and her stomach quiver. Each man handed him their pad. "You guys can head out. If Ethan didn't tell you, you have Monday off. I'll see you on Tuesday." The other two men nodded and left. Colby stayed.

  "I'll wait and see the lady home." He said when Jace shot him an inquiring look.

  "That's alright I can see the lady home."

  "I brought her I should make sure she gets home." Colby insisted. Jace's eyes narrowed and Lou could see he wasn't going to let it go. While it was sort of flattering it was also really annoying.

  "Excuse me. The lady is a big girl that is more than capable of seeing herself home." They both looked at her and then back at each other neither backing down. She knew she would have to intervene.

  "Colby, I have like maybe twenty more minutes. I'll be fine." He looked at her and glanced at Jace again.

  "If you’re sure..."

  "I am." Colby relented and left leaving them in the suite, alone. She realized this was the most alone they had ever been. The idea sent a thrill straight through her. The idea that there was a bed in the next room both thrilled her and made her palms sweat. She hadn't been with anyone since that awful night. Before that there had only been Juan. Sex with Juan had been... Nice. She had a feeling it would be different with Jace. The kiss she'd shared with Jace had been more. She really wanted to know if she would have the kind of ‘oh my God I can't help myself’ passion with Jace that she had only heard about. Considering she could barely control herself after one kiss she had a feeling that in Jace's bed she could lose touch with reality entirely. It was a tantalizing and terrifying thought. There was still the very real possibility that she couldn't do it, that she would freeze up or have a panic attack but she wanted to try, oh boy did she want to try. She pressed her thighs together trying to ease the ache that had been there since their kiss and was now intensifying with the direction of her thoughts.

  "Lou?"

  "Hmmm?"

  “I said have you eaten? You sort of spaced off there for a minute." She felt a hot flush creep up her cheeks and hoped he couldn’t guess the direction of her thoughts.

  “Sorry. I am just tired. No I haven’t eaten. Unless of course you count the little hors d'oeuvres the waiters were passing around.”

  “No, I don’t count that.” He made a face and she smiled. He looked at her for a moment a peculiar look on his face.

  “I meant what I said. I am… I would never want you to… I wouldn’t ask you to take an assignment that deliberately put you in danger.” He stumbled through the apology revealing more than he intended about his state of mind.

  “I know.” She said softly. And she did. She felt safe with Jace. Whether he was taking a swing at her in the ring or making her laugh she knew he would never put her in danger. He was the kind of guy that had chivalry ingrained so deep you could never get it out. He would always try to protect her. He would always open her door or offer her his coat. He would always see her as the fairer sex and the really weird thing was she didn’t mind. Even though she had been trying to prove herself as strong as the boys her whole life.

  “So uhh…” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Room service?” He grabbed a menu off the table and she went back to writing.

  “I have a better idea.” He said a moment later. “I know this great steak house. It’s not too far away.” He saw her grimace a second before she hid it.

  “What?” He prompted.

  “I am tired.” She sighed. “My feet hurt and at this point I would rather get out of this dress than eat.” She saw the flare of arousal in his eyes and almost groaned at what she just said. “Besides what if someone sees us? What will they think?” She hurried to add.

  “I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks.” He grumbled. “Fine, take out. How do you like your steak?”

  “Jace…”

  “How do you like your steak?”

  “Medium.” He grinned and grabbed his cell phone. She went back to her statement trying to finish as he was ordering.

  Chapter 10

  The Hotel valet handed him the keys to a black Range Rover and Jace held the door while she climbed in.

  “Wow your car is kind of freakishly clean.” She said trying to hide her nervousness. He looked around at the spotless floorboards and behind the seat.

  “This isn’t my car. It’s one of the company fleet, though my car is pretty clean, it’s also personalized.”

  “Like a little green tree hanging from the rear view mirror?”

  “Yeah something like that.” He laughed. He steered them effortlessly through town until they reached the steakhouse he had apparently ordered from. When he came back and placed a bag in the back seat the smell of the food made her stomach rumble.

  “Okay, where too? I know you live near the office, I live a couple miles up the hill on San Sebastian so we aren’t far from either place.” Lou thought about the anxiety she always felt when she went back to her apartment. The fear that made her stomach clench while she searched the place to make sure she was alone and locked herself inside.

  “We can go to your place.” She said maybe a little too quickly.

  “Did you leave dirty socks on the floor you don’t want me to see?” He joked as he pulled back onto the main road.

  “No.”

  “That’s good, but now I am wondering what I left on the floor.” He muttered, she laughed.

  His house sat on top of a steep bluff common in the bay area. This area wasn’t as developed as the city so his house actually had a view of the town below and the ocean in the distance. The front door opened into an entryway that led to a sunken living room that had a wall of windows on the west side. French doors opened onto a large deck that dropped off into nothing as the bluff fell away below.

  “This is an amazing view.”

  “Thanks, you should see the sunset from here. It is impressive. Not that I hav
e seen the sunset in a month of Sundays. Or the sun for that matter.”

  “You work too much.” She said softly and meant it.

  “You’re preaching to the choir, Darlin’.” He chuckled. “Let’s eat I’m starving.” He started toward the kitchen and then stopped and looked at her. He looked her up and down. “You wanted to get out of that dress.”

  “Oh, I am fine.” She said a little too quickly as her stomach somersaulted.

  “You’re tiny, nothing I have will fit you.”

  “I’m not tiny.” She said indignantly.

  “I think my sister left some random things in the guest room. Let me check.”

  “I’m fine really.” She insisted but he was already walking away. He returned a minute later with a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

  “You can change in the bathroom or the bedroom. The bathroom is the first door on the right. The bedroom is the second.”

  The guest bathroom was as beautiful as the rest of the house and everything was neat and clean. She changed as quickly as possible never liking to be without her clothes for long. Before she left she noted that the loose end on the toilet paper had been folded into a neat point. When she looked at herself in the mirror she nearly laughed aloud. The shirt he had given her was bright pink and said superstar across the chest. The shorts were neon green. She didn’t think she had ever owned anything in either shade.

  “How do I look?” She joked from the doorway. “I feel like an eighties throwback. Just how long ago was your sister here?”

  Jace looked up from where he was still laying out their dinner on the coffee table and stilled. “You look great.” He said seriously. Ignoring the eighties comment.

  “I don’t think I have ever worn anything this color.” She wasn’t about to admit even to herself that the pink made her feel sort of feminine.

  “Which color?”

  “Either of them.” She noticed he had changed into flannel pants and a gray t-shirt. Oddly he made that look just as sexy as the tux.

  “My sister Savannah, she is the youngest of the girls and the only person I know who owns a bright pink business suit. Everything she wears is brightly colored. Everything she does is bright and loud.” He chuckled and Lou smiled and sat down on the sofa beside him.

  She popped the top on the soda can he had placed in front of her and took a sip.

  “Where is she now?”

  “Mmm Seattle I think.”

  “You think?”

  “She is in marketing, she travels all over. It’s hard to keep track. We talk pretty often. At least we exchange emails pretty often.”

  “That’s great. I always wanted a sister.” She sighed.

  “I wanted a brother.” He laughed.

  “Well I didn’t have either one. When I was younger I used to vow if I ever had kids it wouldn’t be just one. There would be a bunch, like four.”

  “I have to admit there was never a dull moment though that is because one of my sisters was usually screaming at one of the others.”

  “Sounds like Savannah isn’t the only loud one.”

  “Definitely not.” He laughed. He continued telling her random stories about the way his sisters used to torment him and she laughed all through their shared meal. She was amazed at how easily she relaxed with him. He was easy to talk to. He dominated her thoughts so completely that she forgot to be anxious about all the unknowns. He calmed her in a way she hadn’t been in more than a year and a half.

  “I don’t think my feet are ever going to forgive me.” She whimpered, rubbing one of her arches after they had finished eating and he cleared everything back to the kitchen.

  “Let me see.” She hesitated just a moment before putting her foot in his hand. He began to rub her foot in slow gentle circles and she wanted to moan at the pleasure. She managed not to, barely. The more he touched her foot the more she felt as if her body was turning to liquid heat.

  “You’re very good at that.” She said huskily.

  “The sisters.”

  “Of course. They trained you well.”

  “Yes they did.”

  “Your future wife is going to have to send them a muffin basket or something.”

  “Or something.” He laughed. He switched to the other foot and the heat crawled up that leg. Soon she was nearly squirming with the desire to reach out and touch him.

  “If you are so well trained, how come you are still on the market?” Her tone was teasing and light but she was really curious. So far she hadn’t found a single flaw in him. And she’d been looking. Searching even.

  “I am a cross dresser with a foot fetish. I have kinky urges that scare away respectable women.” His face was deadpan she stared at him for a minute while he continued to rub her foot. Then she burst out laughing.

  “I have got to see the pumps that will fit you! What are you like a size twelve?” She looked at his feet that were propped up on the coffee table beside her.

  “You can get anything on the internet.” She continued to giggle at the idea of him in a dress and he rolled his eyes.

  “What kind of question is that anyway? How should I know why I’m still single? It’s not like I don’t date. I have just never met anyone that made me think about forever.” Until Now.

  “You’re right I’m sorry. But you could’ve just said you have commitment issues.”

  “I don’t think I am the one with commitment issues in this room.” He smirked and her mouth dropped open.

  “Are you saying I have commitment issues?”

  “I don’t know you tell me, Ms. I don’t do relationships.”

  “Relationships require… things… I don’t have.”

  “What sort of things?”

  “Well… trust for one. I am… damaged.” She squirmed uncomfortably. This conversation was going in a direction she didn’t want to go.

  “How do you feel about foot fetishes?”

  “I can honestly say I have never really given it much thought.”

  “Pity.” He ran his tongue up the arch of her foot and sucked her big toe into his mouth. She gasped but didn’t pull her foot away. He ran his tongue along the base of her toes and a jolt of pleasure quivered low in her belly. She could only stare mesmerized as she watched him run his tongue over each of her toes. The sensation was unbelievable the liquid heat that had pooled in her belly moved south. Nature’s way of preparing her for what came next. She had never thought about her feet as sensitive but at the moment she thought she could even feel the air molecules moving around them. His eyes met hers over the top of her toes and she surged forward before she even had the conscious thought.

  She kissed him hard on the mouth but he was undeterred. He met her force with gentle exploration. His tongue traced along her lower lip and into her mouth. She was completely captivated by the feel of his mouth on hers. She followed along where he led then mirrored him in her own exploration. She only realized she was straddling him when she felt the press of his arousal against her. Instinctively she pressed back against him. Her brain wasn’t focused enough to be relieved that she wasn’t at all afraid. Instead the only thought in her head was that she wanted to get closer to him. To feel his skin. She slid her hands beneath his t-shirt and pulled it over his head. She pulled back just enough to see him. He had hair on his chest. Not a lot, just enough to be manly, sexy. She buried her hands in his chest hair. She scraped her fingers across his flat nipples and he hissed an indrawn breath. Emboldened she repeated the action with her tongue and he groaned. His nipple beaded beneath the ministration and she sucked it between her lips. His hands tightened on her thighs and he ground his erection against her. She could feel the heat even through the layers of clothing and for the first time in too long she wanted all the clothes to be gone.

  “God you’re beautiful.” She whispered and he laughed.

  “I think that’s my line sweetheart.” His hands ran up her back under her shirt. She arched into his questing fingers and he unhooked her bra. He pull
ed her t-shirt off and hissed at his first glimpse of her dark nipples. Leaning forward he pulled one into his mouth. Her thighs tightened around him and he moaned again. He pulled her against him kissing her neck and running his tongue up the long graceful line to her ear.

  “You have the sexiest legs. I want them wrapped around me so tight I can barely breathe.” His whispered plea caused a new wave of heat to wash through her.

  “Yes.” She moaned. He stood lifting them both. Each step he took caused his erection to rub against her clit through the fabric. She moaned burying her face in his neck.

  “You feel so good.”

  “So do you Darlin’. Too good.” He paused in the hallway backing her up against the wall. He kissed her their tongues tangling in a frantic duel that only served to amp up the tension rather than relieving it. He thrust against her again.

  “If I don’t get inside you soon I think I may die.” He panted against her.

  “So what’s stopping you?” She taunted.

  “At the moment way too many layers of clothing.” He carried her the last few steps to his bedroom and laid her gently on the bed. He hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her shorts and panties and drug them both off her. He dropped his own pants at the same time. He grabbed a condom out of the night table drawer and sheathed himself returning to her in a matter of seconds. She put her arms up wrapping them around his neck as he leaned over her.

  She felt him nudging against her but there was no fear or revulsion. Only the desire to open for him. To feel him deep inside her. And then he pushed in slowly pulling back and pushing in again until he was fully seated. He rocked into her a few times before he stilled buried to the hilt. She thought for a moment they were finished but then he sucked lightly at the base of her neck and whispered heavily,

  “Hold on tight Louellen.” The sound of her name on his lips sent a jolt of pleasure through her but she followed his instruction wrapping her legs around his waist and latching her ankles. She gripped his powerful shoulders just as he lifted her off the bed. She found herself once again against the wall only this time when he thrust against her there were no clothing barriers. He was deep inside her and each thrust pushed him against a bundle of nerves inside she didn’t even know was there. Every time he hit it she heard herself moan, she couldn’t stop it. Wasn’t even coherent enough to want to. His tempo increased until the pressure was so intense she clutched his shoulders afraid something inside her was about to burst. He slipped a hand between them, running his thumb over her slippery nub in time with his thrust and the world around her fell apart. Her body spasmmed so hard she saw pinpoints of light behind her tightly closed eyes. She cried out clutching his shoulders and burying her face in his neck. He slowed his strokes as she rode out the orgasm until she felt him jerk beneath her tightly clenched fingers. He didn’t move for long seconds, he lay against her breathing heavily.