Read Online Make Her Pay by Roxanne St. Claire - Free Book Online Page B

she said, then she peeked around him. “Or did you bring your new girlfriend?”
    He grinned. “Stop, or I’ll think you’re jealous.”
    She rolled her eyes and stepped back, letting him in.
    “You cleaned up,” he said, looking around. It wasn’t exactly pristine, but he could see more surfaces than before.
    “That’s why I need your phone,” she said, holding her hand out. “I lost mine. I need to use yours to call it. And don’t even think about giving me shit for having one. We all signed papers, and I bet half the crew has them.”
    “Who’s so important that you’d trust me with your secret?” he asked, pulling out his phone.
    “My sister. I have to check on her.” The answer was guileless, and, if his gut was correct, honest.
    “What’s wrong with her? Is she sick?”
    “She’s alone, that’s all.”
    “How old is she?”
    “Twenty-six.”
    He laughed. “And no babysitter?”
    She snagged the phone he offered and dropped on the bunk. “I just like to talk to her every day. We’re all we’ve got now.”
    “You can call her from that, if you like.”
    “That’s okay. I just want to find my own phone.”
    Normally he’d have dialed, not wanting her to see how advanced the phone was, but he needed her to look at the keypad. When she did, he surreptitiously slipped her cell phone from his pocket and flicked it under the blanket.
    In a second, the bed vibrated with a soft hum.
    “Oh, thank God,” she said on a sigh of relief. “How in the heck did it get under there?”
    “You should try making your bed.”
    “We all have our flaws.” She lifted the sheets and blankets and dove halfway under them as she sought the source of the vibrating. She glanced up from the sheet cave, shaking her head a little as she looked at his exposed chest. “Well, some of us do, anyway.”
    He smiled at the compliment. “I have plenty of flaws, believe me.”
    “Faults, maybe.” She whipped her hand up, victoriously producing the phone. “But flaws? You have none. You’re great looking, have a charming personality, an excellent diver, and you share the wealth and credit with your crewmembers. You even worried about my burns before yours last night.”
    “Yet you were ready to think the worst of me when you saw Alita Holloway in the lab.”
    She nodded. “I was, but since you came to my phone rescue so quickly, I believe you can add ‘avoiding her charms’ to your list of attributes.”
    “If you’re not careful, you’re going to start to like me.”
    “Don’t worry. Won’t happen.”
    He laughed softly. “Why not?”
    “Because I’m…” She trailed off as if she’d said too much.
    “You’re what?” He trailed a finger up her arm to coax her. “Why don’t you finish that sentence?”
    “I don’t want to.” She looked at her phone again. “I wish I could trust you, though,” she said softly.
    “Because you have secrets, don’t you?”
    “Everybody has secrets.”
    Bracing his arm behind her, he leaned closer. “Tell me yours.”
    For a second, he thought she would. Then she jerked away, pushing herself up from the bed, but he grabbed her arm.
    “Never mind,” he said reassuringly. “I’m not interested in your secrets.”
    She settled back on the bed, not quite as close, but near enough for Con to feel her warmth. “You’re interested in something,” she said, eyeing him. “I haven’t figured out what it is yet, but you’re after something.”
    “Two guesses, Lizzie.” He let his gaze drop to her mouth, brushed a curl out over her cheek, and kept his eyes open so he could watch hers close as he kissed her. “First one doesn’t count.”

CHAPTER SIX
    THE CONTACT WAS so light, Lizzie was more aware of sweet, warm breath than the feel of his mouth. Her eyes began to close but his didn’t, so she fought the urge to sink in to the kiss. Instead she held his eye contact, as electrifying as his mouth, as sexual and sensual as anything she’d ever felt.
    Silver