Read Online Wicked Garden by Lorelei James - Free Book Online Page B

oft-used term of endearment. “You could wear sackcloth and ashes and you’d still be the hottest guy in the room and you damn well know it.”
    “Now who’s the flatterer?”
    Micah and Thomas burst in, dribbling a basketball, creating chaos and Eden was grateful for the diversion.

Chapter Nine
    Billy’s workday was a lost cause.
    His focus centered around reliving Eden’s husky moans of delight as he slid in and out of her slick feminine heat, the satisfying weight of her lissome body wrapped around his, the remembrance of her sweet and hot kisses. Occasionally he’d catch a whiff of her scent on his skin and he’d go as hard as his protractor.
    Before he’d left Bob’s office, he’d grudgingly grabbed the files concerning the community center. The logical thing would be to hole up and decide on a course of action for the city council.
    Sometimes logic was highly overrated.
    Almost on autopilot, Billy drove to the community center. He justified the burning need to see her because they had business to discuss, preferably in a room without a bed.
    He winced. That hadn’t seemed to matter a few hours ago when he’d taken her hard and fast against the front door.
    No regrets, but there hadn’t been any finesse either.
    Her Jeep was parked in its usual spot and he wasn’t surprised she was working late. Briefcase in hand, he passed by the gym, stopping to observe a raucous basketball game. The men appeared to be his age, but that didn’t stop the cheap shots or the adolescent taunts. After a nasty elbow jab, in the next play, the jabber found himself facedown on the court courtesy of the jabbee.
    Billy squinted at the kid leaning against the back wall. Was that Thomas? He waved.
    But Thomas didn’t wave back. A stricken look crossed the kid’s face and he disappeared beneath the wooden bleachers.
    Dammit. According to Eden, Thomas wasn’t supposed to be here this time of night. Had he snuck in again? It made Billy absolutely sick to think the kid had to figure out a way to avoid getting a beating on a regular basis. He suspected Eden’s bond with Thomas was partially because she’d been in that same “duck and run” family situation. Billy’s childhood hadn’t been ideal, but physical violence hadn’t been an issue. So did he keep Thomas’s secret so the kid would be safe tonight? Or did Billy tell Eden he’d spied her young friend hiding out again?
    The empty corridors were quiet, save for the far-off mechanical whine of a vacuum cleaner and the shuffle of his hard soled dress shoes on the marble floor. Light shone through the half-closed blinds in Eden’s office.
    He knocked and heard a brusque, “Come in.”
    Billy hesitated on the threshold. “Am I interrupting?”
    “Would it matter?”
    “No.”
    “Why are you here?”
    “I need to talk to you.”
    A deliberate pause. “Is this a matter concerning the center?”
    Concerning the center . No surprise she wouldn’t discuss their mind-scrambling sex that’d ruined him for any other woman. “Actually, yes, I do have some questions.” He slid into the chair opposite her desk and opened his briefcase, shuffling through the papers until he found the one he needed. “My research shows nothing’s been done with the electrical system since the city took over this building twenty-five years ago?”
    “We’ve hired an electrician to put in additional outlets or fix some minor glitch, but as far as major rework? Not in the five years I’ve been in charge. Why?”
    “Seems the city only did minimal changes back then,” he said, scanning his notes.
    “Didn’t it pass inspection?”
    “Yes, but neither the city nor the contractor kept a detailed list of what’d been updated. My understanding is that this building was a temporary solution, so they only made the most rudimentary updates.”
    “Which means…?” Eden looked at him expectantly.
    “A whole different set of unforeseen problems with wiring codes.”
    “I don’t understand.