Defending Pacer, стр. 13

Waiting …

Shit! Why did I send it? It’s one o’clock in the morning!

PACER: Name a restaurant and I’ll organise the rest.

Smooth. Heart aflutter.

CHELSEA: Surprise me.

PACER: Careful what you wish for

Shit! Breathing difficult. I blow out a long breath, but it does nothing to stop the pounding in my chest.

CHELSEA: You’re up late?

PACER: I’m always up late. Nature of the beast.

CHELSEA: I hope you’re at home. You have a curfew, remember?

PACER: Nagging me already? I like it.

CHELSEA: You pay me to be bossy. Just stay out of trouble. I will have this all sorted Monday morning.

PACER: I love it when you boss me around. I’ll happily pay good money for that. Heading to bed now. Good night x

I stare at the ‘x’, and stare at it for so long that I don’t end up replying.

Something so small is so much cause for wonder. There are so many ways to take the ‘x’.

As I make my way upstairs to my bedroom, I can’t dislodge the ‘x’ from my brain. It’s etched in there, just like Pacer is.

***

The second my eyes open, he’s there. Pacer is right in there, and I can’t shake it. The guy will not get out of my head. I’ve got to do something about this. It’s crazy to ignore the incessant need to get myself off, every time I think of him … which is all fucking day. From the moment my eyes open, until the moment I shut them. If I have to go through another week of this, my clit will be rubbed into extinction.

Maybe if I see him I’ll calm down enough to focus on the case?

CHELSEA: I would like to go over some of the issues with your investigation. I need to clarify a few details. Are you free for lunch?

Ten minutes later, no reply.

Half an hour later, still no reply. He must be asleep. It is only seven am.

Slumping back into my soft pillow, I decide another hour’s sleep will work wonders for the heavy bags under my eyes, especially if I’m seeing Pacer later.

Fuck, I hope he messages back.

As each minute passes, I’m getting dangerously close to feeling desperate. Sleep. Just sleep. Soft pillow.

***

“Hey sleeping beauty, your beau is at the top gates. Uncle John is going to have your ass if he gets home to find him here.”

My eyelids feel like concrete blocks but the rude awakening has me instantly alert. I look at the end of the bed to find Logan holding my foot. For a moment she looks just like she did when we were teenagers, and she wasn’t them yet. I miss the old her sometimes.

Hang on.

What was Logan saying?

“What?”

“He’s here … that Pacer guy. Well, his driver is here. He’s still in the car, hasn’t stepped a foot out. The driver said you requested a meeting with Pacer at lunch. The car is fucking pimpin’, by the way.”

I smile. Without the stack of makeup on, Logan is my old Logan, but all the variants of Logan are so much better than just the one.

Throwing my arms around her, I kiss her cheek. “What’s the time?”

“Ten past two … in the afternoon.”

“What the fuck?”

I rifle through the bed, searching desperately for the damn phone. As soon as my fingers hit hard plastic, I rip it out from the depths of the bed.

One missed call

Two unread messages

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Sliding open the message, I brace. I must’ve slept all morning.

7:28a.m

PACER: I’ll be at the northern gates of your parents’ home at 1pm

8:00a.m

PACER: I hope you know I’m not joking

12:40p.m

MISSED CALL: Pacer

As I come out of my phone message coma, I find Logan still sitting on the bed, smiling at me.

“Did you say Dad was out?”

“Yeah but he’s due back any moment. Both him and Aunt Tilly went out to the yacht club for lunch together.”

“Okay, can you get Pacer’s driver to take him around and meet me at the bottom gates instead. He can park on the main road then, and he won’t stick out like a sore thumb. Mum and Dad always use the top entrance.”

“If I didn’t see how you reacted every time you see a message from him, I’d tell you to stay away. But I don’t think a natural disaster could keep you from seeing him. Now, go. Get yourself all prettied up, before your Mum and Dad find out about all of this.”

As I rush to the bathroom, Logan slaps me on my pantie-clad ass cheek. Such a guy thing to do.

***

Once I’ve got myself dressed and ready, I poke my head around the door to hear any voices downstairs. I just don’t need the questions about where I’m going. Luckily for me, the house has a million exits, and I know each one intimately. Escaping undetected is always a breeze.

Reaching the end of a hallway, I listen out for voices again.

“She left an hour ago. Went to see friends down at Bondi.”

I hear Logan talk. I’m trying to gauge the direction of the voices; working out which room they could be in.

“Good. I’m glad she’s getting out. This must be a lot for her to deal with, John.” Mum’s voice of concern sounds as if it’s coming from their favourite sitting room. That would make sense too, they always hang out in the sitting room on a Sunday afternoon.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I lightly leap through the side doorway and take the overgrown path between the two tennis courts. A series of smaller pathways lead me directly to the lower-level entrance of the property.

I step out of the small pedestrian gate and look to one end of the busy street. In the opposite direction, a sparkling car catches the corner of my eye. I turn quickly in the direction to find a beautiful chrome SUV Bentley parked a few metres away.

Subtle.

The driver gets out of the front seat and opens the rear door. There’s nothing needed to be said. I know it’s Pacer’s car.

Excitement lodges that nasty ball in my throat again. I try to swallow it away but it doesn’t want to budge. Re-tying the belt that’s come loose on my trench coat, I walk as quickly as possible to the Bentley.

“Good to see you, honeybee.” Pacer’s voice is as smooth as honey … bee. Honeybee? That’s new. I like the way he says it.

I slide into the creamy leather interior of the car. Pacer pulls me straight to him and kisses either cheek. The second kiss is more prolonged, his lips lingering. They’re soft but hard, all at the same time, and I can feel his breath against me.

My entire body vibrates with a buzz of energy. His nose runs along my cheekbone, his lips edging closer to mine. If I moved a millimetre, our lips would touch. But I don’t want to move. I want to savour every second of this.

The driver’s front door opening pulls us both from the haze of one another.

“Hi.” I smile, still not daring to move.

“Hi.” His breath floats into my mouth as he speaks. It’s warm and delicious. I want more. I want to taste him so badly.

I feel the movement of the car underneath us, but the ride is so smooth that you can barely notice it.

Pacer reaches up behind me. “Better get your seatbelt on.” He pulls the belt from its holder in the back.

“Okay,” I whisper the word more to myself than to him.

The moment slips away from where it was heading.

I’m so horny, I could cry … with real tears.

CHAPTER TEN

She looks so beautiful. It’s completely different to how I’ve seen her during the past two weeks. She’s so relaxed and sexy, and I love it.

Her hair is flowing down past her shoulders for once, and it’s just how I imagined it. My dick is demanding my attention—or rather it’s commanding her attention. Her soft skin felt like silk. I want to lick every fucking inch of it.

“So how did you know where to find me?” Her voice sounds shaky. Is she nervous?