Nerds Like It Hot (Nerds, #6)(8)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

"I’m not too keen on that plan, myself. Too much room for error." She looked down at her tightly clasped hands. "I wish I could be braver, though."

"There’s brave and then there’s foolhardy. I think going to the police right now, when Neil’s contacts know you were at the scene, would be suicide."

She glanced up, her expression bleak. "Yeah, me, too."

‘Tell you what. Once you’re on the ship and we’re confident you’re safe, you can use the ship-to-shore radio to call the police. How’s that?"

"Better than anything I was coming up with." She stood. "Let’s get out of here."

Lex pushed himself out of the chair and moved closer to the window. "Our guy’s still parked in the same spot. We should probably wait a while longer."

"I say he’s going to stay right there until we make a move. I can’t speak for you, but I’m going nuts sitting around, waiting to see what will happen."

He thought of counseling her in the art of patience. They really might outlast the joker in the black sedan. But the longer he stood there looking at her in her slinky outfit, the more he began to realize that they needed to leave. It was either that or kiss her.

"All right," he said. "We’ll go. I’ll stay on your left as we walk down the sidewalk. We’ll put our arms around each other. Think of me as your shield and keep me between you and the black sedan. We’ll be fine."

"Unless he starts to move. Or another one comes from the right, catching us in the cross fire, and we end up like Bonnie and Clyde, our bullet-riddled bodies lying across your white Toyota."

"Good God, woman." The image appalled him. It also made him sweat.

She laughed. "Sorry. It’s a bad habit of mine, imagining the worst-case scenario. It eases the tension."

"For you, maybe."

"From now on, I’ll try to keep those thoughts to myself." "I’d be grateful. So are you ready?" She hoisted the silver leather tote that had been lying on the sofa. "Ready." "Glasses."

"Oh, right." She took them off and tucked them inside the tote.

Once she did that, the resemblance to the legendary Marilyn was uncanny. Lex did his best not to stare. She even had the trademark mole on her upper lip, which drew his attention to her full mouth with its coating of shiny red lipstick. He’d never been a big fan of lipstick. In general it smeared and tasted funny. So his sudden urge to dive in for some smearing and a taste test was uncharacteristic and unsettling.

"Going without my glasses is probably better," she said. "I’ll never know what hit me."

That snapped him back to reality fast "Hey! I thought you were going to keep those morbid thoughts to yourself."

"Was that morbid? I thought it was sort of cheerful. If you’re going to be gunned down, it’s better to be taken by surprise than to see it coming."

"Not in my opinion. I always like to see what’s coming." And in the case of Gillian, he could see very clearly what was ahead. No doubt about it, he was in for a very bumpy ride.

Six

DESPITE ALL HER ATTEMPTS TO BEEF UP HER COURAGE, Gillian was shaking as she stepped through Cora’s front door. She had more than one reason to shake. The first was the man in the black sedan parked two houses away. The second was the man who wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side as they left the small entryway and started down Cora’s flagstone walk.

They were pretending, she reminded herself. But Lex’s warm embrace didn’t feel fake. It did feel incredibly right, as if she’d been waiting all her life for this particular man to tuck her against his side and head off to whatever paradise they could create together.

Lex reacted to the contact with a muffled little hum that could have meant anything from delight to indigestion. Or maybe he was signaling that the black sedan was on the move.

"Is that car going anywhere?" she asked quietly.

Lex leaned down and nuzzled her ear. "No."

She nearly swooned. The warmth of his arm was lovely, but nothing compared to the velvet brush of his lips against that tender spot behind her earlobe. She wondered if she could get him to do that again. "Are you absolutely sure?"

He dipped his head and repeated the caress, this time adding a flick of his tongue. "Not moving. Wish I could see the license plate. Wrong angle."

‘Too bad." Her knees wobbled. If Lex could get that kind of response from her so easily, what would happen if they ever ended up in bed? She wouldn’t allow that to happen, of course, but it was mind-boggling to think about the potential fireworks.

"Almost there," he murmured. "And the car’s stationary."

Whereas she was in high gear. A simple walk down the sidewalk and her panties were damp. "Maybe he’s not who we think."

"Maybe. But I’m not taking any— Hold it. He started the engine."

A thrill of fear shot through her.

"It’s okay. We’re here." Lex reached for the door handle. "Locked. Shit."

At the same moment Gillian heard the car approaching, Lex shoved her up against the car, bracketed her face with his hands and leaned into her, covering her with his body. "Hold still."

A flush that was part terror, part sexual excitement, spread through her. "I couldn’t move if I wanted to."

"Good. Now act as if you like what I’m doing." He kissed her hard on the mouth, somehow managing to avoid poking his glasses into her face.

She’d never considered herself much of an actress, but that didn’t matter in this case. She didn’t have to act as if she liked what he was doing. She’d rather have Lex smash her up against his car and kiss her like this than win the lottery. And she played the lottery every single week.

Kissing Lex resembled riding the Tilt-A-Whirl with your eyes closed. She would have screamed with delight, except that her mouth was too busy to be bothered. She couldn’t bring herself to care about the black sedan, either, and the fear of being riddled with bullets lost its power. Fate wouldn’t riddle a person with bullets at such a moment as this.

The kiss went on for a satisfyingly long time, long enough for Gillian to become lost in the heat and the sweet moisture of it. He was good with his tongue, which was an important quality in Gillian’s estimation. She also noticed how beautifully Lex’s body lined up with hers.

To be more precise, one particular part of his body was in a state of transformation that gladdened her heart. It gladdened all of her, come to think of it She wiggled with joy.

The wiggle might have been too much, because Lex groaned and pulled away. She would take back the wiggle if she could, but it had slipped out before she could stop it lifting heavy eyelids, she watched him drag in air as he looked around.

His glasses were so fogged that he had to take them off. Finally he glanced down at her. "He’s gone."

Even without her glasses she could see that his blue eyes were glazed from the powerhouse kiss. She was supposed to say something, but she couldn’t think what would be appropriate under the circumstances. He’d kissed her better than she’d ever been kissed, and yet that shouldn’t be the primary focus of the conversation.

Or should it? Nothing else seemed important to her, but she thought Lex might want her to acknowledge that his impromptu kiss had apparently helped them get rid of the bad guy in the black sedan. "Nice work," she said at last, hoping that covered everything.

"Thanks." The glazed look began to fade. He cleared his throat and replaced the glasses, a la Clark Kent. "Sorry about the manhandling."

"Womanhandling."

"Uh, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at her with poorly disguised longing. "I didn’t know what else to do."

"I thought it was brilliant."

"I’m surprised about your lipstick."

She blinked. "What about it?"

"Didn’t smear or anything. When I first saw how it looked, all shiny and wet…" His eyes glazed over again.

She could see them moving right back into the kiss. She was ready. "You were surprised it looked shiny and wet?"

"No." He hovered closer. "That it stayed that way."

"It’s supposed to look wet, no matter what." She slid her hands up his chest. The plaid shirt was nerdy, but the pecs underneath were prime stuff.

"But I kissed you a lot." He cradled her h*ps in both hands.

"That lipstick stands up to heavy kissing and still looks wet." She wanted to prove it to him. "I’m a professional." "Kisser?"

She smiled. "Makeup artist. I’m only an average kisser."

"Couldn’t prove it by me." His warm breath tickled her mouth.

Sliding her arms around his neck, she waited, heart pounding, for the Tilt-A-Whirl to start spinning again. Nothing happened. The tickle of his warm breath disappeared, too. Slowly she opened her eyes.

Behind the lenses of his glasses, his eyes were dark with concern. "This is not good," he said.

"You don’t like kissing me?"

"I like it way too much."

Her ego recovered its balance. "That’s not so bad. We have to pretend to be involved. What if you hated kissing me? You wouldn’t be convincing."

"That won’t be a problem."

"I believe people should be happy in their work."

Lex sighed and backed away from her. "I think you’re missing the point. In order to protect you, I have to maintain an aggressive stance."

"That kiss was pretty aggressive. I can still feel the imprint of the doorframe on my back. Your tongue was on the aggressive side, too, which I enjoyed, by the way. There’s nothing worse than a man who’s tentative with his tongue."

Lex groaned. "Still not the point. That was just my sex drive kicking in."

Yeah, baby. "So? What’s wrong with that?"

"Ultimately, sex fosters cooperation, not aggression. If you want to make war, you can’t make love."

"Oh." What a disappointing thought. "And I suppose this is war, huh?"

"It is."

"But how are we supposed to pretend to be involved and keep our natural sex drive under control?"

He gazed at her silently for a long time. "I honestly don’t know," he said at last.

"When you figure it out, will you tell me?"

His smile was tight. "Oh, you’ll be the first to know."

NEIL’S SHOPPING TRIP TURNED OUT BETTER THAN HE could have expected. Although Joanie spent the whole time complaining about Theo’s taking an impromptu vacation and ruining the shooting schedule, Neil was able to pull out a couple of critical pieces of information. Eileen had shown up today, but not Gillian. And the nerd cruise left this afternoon out of Long Beach.

Thanks to that information, Neil could plan his next move. A couple of phone calls put him in touch with Jared Stevenson the Third, who seemed to be the dork in charge of this cruise that was supposedly all booked up. Neil would see about that.

"Jared Stevenson, here."

Neil cringed at the nasal twang. Good thing Nancy was on the job. She could charm even the terminally nerdy. "Jared Stevenson. Am I talking to the Jared Stevenson?"

"That depends. There are three of us."

Neil controlled the impulse to laugh and ask if the guy had multiple personalities. As for Neil, there were technically two of him, so this conversation could get crowded, indeed. "My name is Nancy Roth, and I’m looking for the Jared Stevenson who organized the brilliant cruise that’s sailing this afternoon."

"I’m that Jared Stevenson."

"Excellent! What a cutting-edge concept you came up with!"

Jared’s voice filled with pride. "I’m gratified that you recognize the value of my work. Some shortsighted individuals scoffed at my plan, but I’m pleased to announce that we’ll sail with a full complement of passengers."

"That’s wonderful for you!"

"Thank you. I must say that I’m pleased that so many—-"

"And terrible for me! Simply dreadful!"

"Excuse me?" Jared’s voice squeaked in surprise.

"I simply must go on that cruise, if for no other reason than to meet you!"

"Oh! Well, uh, all the cabins are reserved as of this morning. I’m sorry. Maybe when we get back, you and I can meet for lunch. You sound like a discriminating woman. And I’m a discriminating man. Are you free on Monday?"

Neil deliberately unclenched his jaw and took a breath. "I’m sure that will be too late, Jared." No shit, Jack. No telling what damage this witness could do in the next four days. "Some other lucky woman will have bewitched you by the time you dock on Sunday."

Jared cleared his throat. "I, uh, doubt that. But I suppose it’s always possible. I can call you when we get back and let you know."

"No fair, you naughty man." Neil injected his voice with exactly the right amount of sexy petulance. "Keep-tog me in suspense all that time." He decided to take a gamble. "You know how I handle somebody who teases me like that?"

Another geek squeak.. "How?"

"I give him a good spanking." In the dead silence that followed, Neil was afraid he’d overplayed his hand.

When Jared finally spoke, he sounded out of breath. "Hold on. Let me make a phone call. Don’t hang up."

"I wouldn’t dream of it." Neil clenched his fist in triumph. As the theme song from The Love Boat played in his ear, he wandered into his bathroom, pulled off his wig, and inspected his buzz cut in the mirror over the sink.

Jared came back on the line, still sounding out of breath. "I’ve worked it out."

"I just knew you would." Neil smiled at himself in the mirror. Even without the wig, he was a damned good-looking chick.

"You’ll be sharing a cabin with a woman named Bernice Thigpen. Her roommate backed out, so this is financially advantageous for her."

"Umm … great." Sharing could be dicey. Extremely dicey. But he’d take it over missing the cruise completely.

"Don’t worry about privacy." There was a funny little tremble in Jared’s voice. "I…uh … have a cabin to myself, if we … uh . . . should hit it off."