Carly Phillips - Sealed with a Kiss

She swept her arm around the room. “So where do we start?”

Hunter made certain Sonya had shut the front door behind her before he answered Molly. “How about we start with the goddamn truth?” he bit out. “Sonya and Frank. You knew they had a relationship.”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. I didn’t suspect anything until last night.”

“What exactly happened last night?” He met her gaze, taking in her flushed cheeks and guilty expression.

“Other than the obvious?” She stepped closer, placing a hand against his cheek.

He stepped back, deliberately pushing her away. “Don’t try to change the subject. Which by the way is getting more and more interesting. You suspected something between your father and Sonya last night and instead of telling me, you had sex with me instead?”

“That is not what I did.” Molly’s eyes filled with tears and she angrily brushed them away. “I made love to you.” She met his stare without backing down.

Which, he had to admit, was a pretty amazing sight. Her damp eyes flashed with determined fire, and despite it all, that aroused him. But he wasn’t about to let her off the hook so easily.

“You claim to have made love to me? With a lie between us?” He shook his head, disgusted she’d even try to say something so outrageous.

Molly let out a sigh and shoved her hands into her front jeans pockets. “Look, last night at Joe’s, when I went to the ladies’ room, I saw Sonya from the back window. She was in the parking lot with her pizza. My father pulled up in his Jeep, picked her up and sped away.”

She pursed her lips, a sure sign she was thinking what to say next. He decided to let her figure it out on her own, with no help from him, and he waited.

“I told myself there were any number of reasons he wasn’t at the meeting, and I shrugged it off. Or tried to. And then I played the answering machine at the house and there was one from Jessie, reminding Dad to pick her and Seth up from the party. That’s when I knew, combined with what I’d seen earlier, that Sonya had lied to us and there could only be one reason.” Molly expelled a long breath of air.

“They were involved,” Hunter said.

She nodded. “At least, they had something to hide.”

“So why not tell me?” And that, Hunter thought, was the crux of it. She hadn’t trusted him enough to confide in him.

She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed. “Because I was afraid if you knew my father had lied about where he was last night, then you’d come to the conclusion he’d lie about other, more important things.”

“Like guilt or innocence?” Hunter asked.

“And if you decided he was capable of lying, you wouldn’t be willing to represent him anymore and I couldn’t risk it.” She had deliberately ignored his question, he noted. And her eyes grew wider and more imploring with every word she spoke.

“Once again you didn’t trust me enough to believe I was in this for the long haul.” He shook his head in frustration and walked across the room to look out the window to the front lawn beyond.

“No.” Molly came up behind him. “I trust you. That’s why I came to you in the first place. It’s my father I obviously don’t trust and-”

“Don’t kid yourself,” he said, cutting her off. “You still chose to protect him instead of confiding in me. It makes me wonder what else you’re hiding from me.”

“Nothing. I’m not keeping any other secrets.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “And why should I believe you? How many more times will you lead me to believe one thing, then pull the rug out from under me again? Just forget it, okay? We have work to do.” And he didn’t want to waste any more time on a lost cause.

I made love to you, she’d said. Like hell she had, he thought. There was no making love without trust between them and he ought to be thanking her for the wake-up call.

Hunter headed to Paul’s desk, where he began focusing on the contents of the drawers, forcing Molly to find other things to search in the small room without his guidance.

There was nothing more to say and she seemed to understand because she now glanced around the room, which consisted of wall-to-wall shelving, books, knickknacks and family photos.

Clearly, once the police said it was okay, Sonya had cleaned up the office and replaced the broken things Paul had trashed.

“So what are we looking for exactly?” Molly asked.

“I’m not sure.” Hunter shoved one drawer closed and pulled out another. “I’ll know it when I find it.”

“That’s helpful.” She pulled out books, flipped through the pages and replaced each on the shelf. “I’m thinking we need to figure out what Paul did with the money, right? Because the police don’t know and they don’t seem to care.”

He pored over the papers and bills on the desk. She had a point, but it was a rhetorical one and he chose not to answer.

“The money trail might lead to the real killer…” She continued talking despite his silence.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She’d settled into a chair across the room and was digging through a bowl of matchbooks for clues. Though he wasn’t about to tell her so now, Molly had good instincts. The matches might yield clues to places Paul liked to frequent.

“My mother used to collect matchbooks of all the upscale restaurants she’d been to over the years,” she mused aloud.

Hunter gritted his teeth and resigned himself to listening to her ramble. He knew she hoped to engage him in conversation, anything to let her know he’d put their argument behind him. He wasn’t ready to indulge her.

“When I was younger, I’d take the matchbooks out and imagine myself in my mother’s place.” She closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, lost in memories. “At first I’d pretend my mother would take me along with her to all these elegant restaurants, hotels and spas, and show me off to her friends. Then later, I’d fantasize about some rich, handsome prince taking me instead.”

She ran her tongue over the lips he’d kissed. Lips that could still entice him, arouse him and frustrate him all at one time.

“But when I got old enough to see my mother for who she really was, I decided either I’d be wealthy enough to pay for the luxury places on my own or I wouldn’t go at all. I wasn’t going to be dependent on men the way my mother had been.” A satisfied smile curved her lips before she opened her eyes and immediately blushed, startled to find him staring.

“Sorry. I got carried away.” She glanced down and began rifling through the matchbooks that had caused the trip into the past.

Seconds before, he’d been hurt and angry. Now he was grateful for the sudden insight. He imagined her as a little girl yearning for her mother’s love, wishing with everything inside her she could be enough for the beautiful woman in the fancy clothes, who cared about her lifestyle more than her daughter. He wanted to hug her and promise nobody would hurt her again, but he still had some lingering resentment.

Hunter cleared his throat and Molly glanced up again. For a brief moment, their gazes met and held. The lies and the lack of trust dissolved in the heat of the attraction and yearning they both still felt. He couldn’t deny how much he wanted her.

He also couldn’t forget how badly she’d just burned him. Again. “You’re nothing like your mother,” he told her.

She treated him to a warm smile.

“But I wouldn’t kid yourself, Molly. You’re not as independent as you’d like to believe.” He gentled his voice but was determined to lay it on the line for her.

Her smile slowly disappeared. “I don’t understand.”

Although it had taken him some time, he’d finally figured her out. Finding her father and being accepted into his family hadn’t changed her as much as she wanted to believe.

Hunter propped his elbow on the desk and leaned forward. “You’re as dependent on your family as your mother is on her men. Every decision you make is dictated by someone else’s reaction. Last year it was your mother’s, now it’s your father’s. You’re so paralyzed by the fear of losing your family’s love and respect that you don’t think about what choices you want to make.” And until she got past her hang-ups, Molly couldn’t have a serious, long-term relationship with any man, whether she realized that fact or not.

Having had his say, he straightened the mess of papers in his hand, then froze as something struck him. “Or maybe it’s me who shouldn’t be kidding myself. Maybe you are making the choices that are most important to you. You kept your father and Sonya’s secret from me because I’m not that prince you spoke about who will come to rescue you. I’m just the two-bit lawyer who is good enough to save your father and your precious family but not good enough for you. ”

“No!” She rose from her seat, toppling the matchbooks onto the floor. Ignoring them, she walked to his side and cupped his face in her hands. “You couldn’t be more wrong,” she said and lowered her lips to his.

And damn, she felt good. But Hunter knew that this kiss was all about proving to him that not only was he good enough for her, but that she wanted and needed him, too. But with her lie, she’d ruined her chance of convincing him of anything.

He pulled her hands away from his face and broke the kiss, ignoring the hurt look in her eyes. “We have work to do,” he said gruffly.

“I’m sorry I lied to you.” She walked away.

He stared at the sway of her hips and the rounded curve of her backside and tried not to groan. She bent down to pick up the matchbooks she’d dropped on the floor. The movement lifted the hem of her short T-shirt, revealing the sweet expanse of skin on her lower back and the thin strap of lace underneath. He bit down on the inside of his cheek and prayed for restraint.

Molly examined each matchbook before tossing it back into the bowl. “I recognize all of these places,” she muttered, obviously frustrated.

He headed back to the desk and started looking through recent credit card bills.

“Wait!”

Her excited voice caught his attention and he glanced up.

“Find something?”

“I think so. All of these were from local places-restaurants and bars around here or at least in Connecticut, but look. This one’s from New Jersey and it’s a motel, not a place to eat.” She tossed the matchbook at him.

He caught it midair and looked it over. The matchbook appeared to be unused and new, no rips, tears or creases in the cover. “It says A.C. Probably Atlantic City.”

She nodded. “That’s what I thought. Could it be the lead we’re looking for?”

He wasn’t about to feed her false hope. “It could be nothing or it could be something. When Sonya gets home, ask her if she’s ever been there, and if she hasn’t, I’ll have Ty run down the lead.” He pocketed the matchbook and scanned the credit card bill for the past few months.

There were no indications Paul Markham had been to Atlantic City or anywhere else in New Jersey for that matter. But the man had been stealing from his partner for a while now. He had to have been an expert at covering his tracks, paying cash and maybe even using an assumed name.

Hunter caught the dejected look on Molly’s face. He understood how badly she wanted to find something that would lead to more information and hopefully free her father.

“I didn’t say it was nothing. I just said we need to look deeper.” He started to reach a hand out to comfort her, then curled his fingertips into a fist and dropped his arm back to his side. Touching her now would be deadly to his self-control.

And he had to be tougher around her now.

She turned away, pretending not to notice his rejection.

But he knew she had and his stomach cramped. “Let’s go back to your father’s and see what we can find out,” he suggested.

“Sounds like a plan.”

He followed her out, wishing like hell she’d confided in him instead of choosing to shut him out by lying to him about Sonya and Frank’s relationship. Not only had she sent him into a witness interview unprepared, she’d shaken the fragile trust they’d begun to develop again.

It was ironic, really. And it would be funny, if he wasn’t so disappointed in her. Molly had lied out of fear that Hunter would no longer trust her father and he’d drop his case as a result.

Her plan had backfired big-time. Because it was now Molly he didn’t trust at all.

AWOMAN SCORNED had nothing on Hunter, Molly decided as she dressed to meet Ty and Lacey. In the two days since he’d discovered Molly had lied about her father meeting with Sonya, Hunter had frozen her out. He acted as if they’d never made love. As if his body had never been buried deep inside hers, filling her completely.