Return to You

than that."
    "Have a bad day?"
    Suddenly the day didn't seem that bad. "I missed
you."
    She leaned back enough to look into his eyes. She
smoothed his hair back and simply said, "Good."
    He pulled her against him again. "I called you but I
couldn't find you."
    "You did?"
    "Mmm." He nuzzled the side of her neck. "Your store
and then Granny Mae's."
    "I was out."
    He pulled back and frowned at her. "That was
vague."
    She shrugged. "Girl business. If I told you I'd have
to castrate you."
    "You wouldn't like that."
    "Hell no," she agreed fervently. "That's your best
feature."
    He laughed, running his hand through her long hair.
But he stopped laughing when he felt something cold snap around his
wrist. "What the—"
    Before he could say another word, she captured his
other wrist too. Michael looked down to find his hands securely
cuffed. He tugged them apart. Real handcuffs, not chintzy
fakes.
    She pushed him back toward the bed until he toppled
over onto it. She straddled him and took off her jacket to reveal a
harlot red tank top. It was lace and see through and she wore
nothing under it. "Can you handle it?"
    "I'll certainly give it my best."
    She reached over him and secured the cuffs to the
bed with a scarf. Where she pulled the scarf from, he had no
idea.
    "What other tricks do you have up your sleeves?"
    "I have no sleeves. Maybe you didn't notice." She
stood up and shucked her jeans to reveal matching lace panties that
sat low on her hips and showed the succulent curve of her ass
cheeks. Her belly button piercing winked at him in the light.
    He loved that belly ring.
    "I hope you're taking notes," Olivia said as she
climbed on top of him, sat on his thighs, and unbuttoned his
shirt.
    "Notes?" he rasped. He could feel her heat through
his jeans, which were uncomfortably restricting. He wanted to ask
her to ease him out, but given her mood he was afraid she'd leave
them on longer just to torment him.
    "If you're going to break into someone's room, this
is the way to make the most of it."
    He swallowed a groan when her hand rested casually
over his fly. "You aren't dressed like a pirate."
    Her laugh was low and husky. "You
always did have a thing for pirates. At least this time I get to be the marauding
one. It used to piss me off when I had to play the kidnapped
princess." She dropped a kiss on the hollow of his throat and her
hair caressed his chest.
    "I was a fool," he said with a gasp. "From now on,
you're the pirate."
    "About time you saw the potential." She teased his
lips with her teeth.
    "Call me slow." Michael arched up, trying to capture
her lips.
    "Baby, you haven't seen slow yet." She bit the lobe
of his ear and began to show him how slow they could go.
     

Chapter Twenty-seven
     
     
    "Where do you think she is?" Olivia flipped the sign
on her door to "Closed" and peeked out the window. When there was
no reply, she turned around with a frown to find Eve sprawled in
one of the stuffed velvet chairs, her eyes shut. "Hey, are you
asleep?"
    "I wish. I'm exhausted."
    "Treat keep you up all night? Or was shopping for
Lainie tiring?"
    Eve grinned but didn't open her eyes. "All of the
above. Plus we've been insanely busy lately. I love that Lainie
asked me to provide the pastries for the movie's wrap party, but
it's a lot of work."
    Olivia dropped the bra she was rearranging and
stared at Eve. "The movie's wrapping up?"
    Eve sat up straight, her brow furrowed. "You didn't
know. I'm sorry."
    "Not a big deal." She turned her back and fussed
with a display. She needed something to do with her hands. Since
Michael wasn't here to strangle, fixing her display seemed a good
second choice.
    "Are you sure it's not a big deal?"
    "Of course it's not. We all knew this was temporary.
It was only a matter of time before Michael went back to Los
Angeles."
    "It'd be nice if he could stay longer though."
    She could feel Eve boring a hole in her back. She
forced a casual shrug. "It won't make any difference really. It's
good that he's leaving now before things go any further."
    "Is it?"
    No. Her heart felt like it was being ripped out of
her chest. She pasted a smile on her face and turned to face Eve.
"Sure it is."
    Eve didn't look convinced but fortunately Lainie
chose that moment to rush in. "Sorry I'm late. We had a production
meeting that ran overtime. With the filming just about done, there
were a lot of loose ends to wrap up."
    Of course Lainie would know the movie was just about
done. It seemed like everyone knew except