Janelle Denison - Wilde Thing

"That's not a problem," he said evenly. "I'll cover the expense."

Her chin lifted adamantly, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "You know I'll pay you back. Every last penny."

Oh, he believed her, not that he was concerned about when or how she would pay him back. That was the furthest thing from his mind when it came to her. "I'm not worried about payment, Liz."

The case might have started out with expenses for her to gradually reimburse, but he was fronting the fees for the party out of his own personal pocket because he cared for Liz and this was important to her. Which made it equally important to him, regardless of how he felt about the situation with Valerie, and Liz's involvement.

He stood, rounded his desk, and gathered Liz into his arms. She was stiff and tense at first, and he caressed a hand down her back, soothing her with his touch. He smiled when she uncrossed her arms and slipped them around his waist and leaned into him, finally accepting his physical and emotional support.

He wondered when the last time was that someone had taken care of Liz, or simply comforted her as he was doing. He'd bet it had been years, considering Liz's penchant for worrying about everyone else, and her misplaced need in trying to please her aunt and uncle and make up for her rocky, rebellious marriage to Travis. She was so afraid of losing the people who loved her that she went to the extreme to compensate, and that ingrained habit of hers wouldn't change until she accepted that she only had to answer to herself in life.

"Listen, the most important thing is that you were able to get us into the party," he said, and brushed his lips tenderly against her temple, inhaling her soft, feminine scent. "And when I call tonight, everything will go as we've planned. I'll agree to escort you to the party, you connect me over to Doreen to handle the details, and hopefully, by tomorrow night we'll get what we need from Trixie, so I can trace Rob and his whereabouts."

As if realizing how much she was leaning on him, Liz stepped out of his embrace. "I swear, it never seems to end when it comes to Valerie." Frustration vibrated through her tone. "I'm just getting my business back on its feet and Travis's debts paid off, and now this."

While Steve would cheerfully strangle her cousin for putting Liz through such hell, Liz herself needed to realize that Valerie was a grown woman, that the choices she made- right, wrong, or dangerous-were her own to make. And any resulting consequences were Valerie's to bear. No one else's. Just as Liz's choices were her own.

She'd let herself feel guilt where none was warranted, thereby feeding into Valerie's need for attention. So long as Liz did that, her cousin would continue to manipulate her emotions. And all Steve could do was show Liz that he'd be there for her, to make sure she knew how much he cared. He'd protect her to the best of his ability and do his damnedest to locate her cousin and end Liz's worry.

After that, any future they might have together was up to her.

"I have a special delivery for Liz Adams."

Liz looked up from the Irish cream latte she was making for a customer, and glanced at the young man standing on the other side of the counter. He was wearing a navy work shirt with a courier service embroidered on the pocket, verifying his claim as a delivery man. A clipboard was tucked beneath his arm, and he held a flat white box in one hand, secured with ribbon and topped with a huge red velvet bow, and a plastic garment bag in the other.

Startled and a whole lot confused, she handed her customer the drink and met the other man's gaze. "I'm Liz Adams."

"Great." He grinned, and shuffling the items in his hands, he managed to set the clipboard on the counter and produce a pen for her signature. "Sign on the bottom line, and these items are all yours."

She dried her damp hands on a terry towel and shook her head. "But I didn't order anything." At least not from Sensual Pleasures, the name of the boutique imprinted on the garment bag.

"Hey, I just deliver the stuff," the guy said with a shrug. "And if you're Liz Adams, then this delivery is yours, no matter who ordered it."

Feeling self-conscious with her employees and patrons looking on, Liz signed off on the packages and took them from the courier. She told Katie to finish up with the few customers still waiting in line, and that she'd be in her office if she needed extra help.

Once she was in the back room, she hung the vinyl garment bag from a peg on a metal storage shelf and set the lavishly decorated box on her desk. Catching sight of the small white envelope attached to the garment bag with her name on it, she plucked it off, withdrew the card inside, and read the note written in a bold, masculine print.

See you tonight. Love, Steve.

Liz's hand trembled, and her heart beat hard and fast in her chest as she stared at the valediction Steve had used. Not sincerely, not warmly, but love Steve.

The single word tugged on her emotions, made her yearn to embrace all the subtle changes in Steve she'd noticed the past few days, which were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore or dismiss with a pat excuse. There was no denying the tenderness and genuine affection in his gaze when he looked at her, and then there was the way he touched her that had nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with a gentleness and understanding she'd been without for too long.

Love. An emotion that was so wonderful yet so complicated and scary for all it implied.

She exhaled a shaky breath and refocused on the gifts that Steve had sent her, instead of the insistent ache in her chest. She hadn't opened anything yet, but she was fairly certain that her bad boy had gone shopping and purchased an outfit for her to wear tonight, to the Ultimate Fantasy party.

Last night, their phone conversation had gone without a hitch, as had inviting Steve to the exclusive party. According to Steve, the transaction had gone smoothly with Doreen, and Liz was set up for his escort and date. A company limousine would arrive to pick her up first at six tonight, then Steve, and take them both to the Ultimate Fantasy mansion together.

She hadn't seen or spoken to Steve since last night, when he'd gently told her to go home and get a good night's rest. She'd been disappointed that he wasn't going to come by her apartment, but knew it was for the best. At least for her. At the rate that things were progressing for the case, another day or two and her affair with Steve would be over, and she needed to get used to the lonely nights ahead. Again.

A knock on her open office door made her jump and jarred her out of her troubling thoughts. She turned around to find Mona sauntering into the room, her eyes alight with curiosity as she glanced from the box on her desk to the still unopened garment bag behind Liz.

"Hey, what's with the special delivery?" Mona asked unabashedly.

It figured that Mona had witnessed the courier's arrival and had shamelessly come over to snoop, Liz thought with amusement. "It's from Steve." Tucking the card back into the envelope, she slipped the private, intimate note into the top drawer of her desk. "Tonight's the big night."

Mona's gaze widened in understanding. "The two of you are going to one of the fantasy parties?"

"Yes." Liz gave her friend a brief rundown of the events of the past few days in terms of the case, and her finally inviting Steve to the private party. "I'm pretty sure Steve sent me over an outfit to wear for tonight."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Mona said with an encouraging grin. "Let's see what kind of taste Steve has when it comes to dressing a woman."

"Yes, let's," Liz agreed, just as anxious to see what the garment bag hid.