Something to Prove Read online

  The bathroom was as Spartan as the rest of the apartment. She started the water, and while it warmed, she removed her clothes and folded them. Stepping into the shower, she allowed the warm spray to relax her muscles. Between the tension of finding out about the bowling alley and the effort to clean the place, her muscles ached. She used his soap, liking the smell of it. After the shower, she hastily braided her hair and slipped into Colin’s shirt.

  She was suddenly exhausted. Sleep sounded better than anything, so she crawled into his bed and under his covers.

  Colin sped through the remainder of his evening with a grin on his face. He’d never expected Elizabeth to agree to go to his apartment. He tried to remember how much of a mess he’d left the place and then decided it didn’t matter.

  They’d had another decent-sized crowd, which somewhat surprised him for a Tuesday night. Elizabeth had done a good job by hiring Mike. He knew what he was doing, which freed up Colin for mingling with the customers after closing up the bowling alley. Plus, Mike was so big, Colin couldn’t imagine squeezing behind the bar with him. He looked more like a bouncer than a bartender. As the night wound down, Colin played barback and restocked the shelves so he wouldn’t have to do it the following day.

  As he looked over the display of hard liquor, he noticed an empty spot. “Hey, Mike, when did you run out of Bushmills?”

  “I haven’t poured any. I didn’t even know we carried it.” Mike shrugged and went back to pouring drinks.

  Colin knew there had been a bottle; he’d broken the seal himself last night. Suspicion crept into his brain. He’d locked up after Elizabeth left. He struggled to remember whether the bottle was there then, but he couldn’t recall. How could someone have lifted an entire bottle without him noticing?

  He began to check the bottles against what he remembered putting on the shelf. Elizabeth had tried to reorganize some things in order to make an impression, but he stocked the liquor. He went to Elizabeth’s office to see if he could find the original inventory sheet.

  The office had Elizabeth stamped all over it. It looked so different than it had just a week ago. Gone were the rickety, rusty file cabinets along with the layer of smoke scum on the walls. Sitting on her desk were three file folders, one clearly marked Inventory.

  Sure enough, stapled to his handwritten list was a copy of the invoice. They’d only ordered one bottle to see if it would move, but it shouldn’t have moved that fast.

  He scanned the list and brought it to the basement with him so he could check it against the stock there. They were missing two bottles of Jack Daniel’s. He remembered pulling one up toward the end of the night, so they should still have one down here.

  Maybe Mike had sold a lot of shots tonight. He certainly hoped so, otherwise someone had to explain where this missing liquor had gone. With inventory sheets in hand, Colin went back to the bar. One bottle of Jack stood in its place and was still half full. “Hey, Mike.” When he had the man’s attention, he asked, “Have you opened any new bottles of hard liquor tonight?”

  “About a half hour after I started, someone ordered a Jack and Coke and there was no Jack here, so I grabbed a bottle from downstairs. That’s where Elizabeth told me to get stock. I wrote it down next to the register so I wouldn’t forget to tell you.”

  “What happened to the bottle that was here?”

  “There wasn’t one.”

  “I brought it up myself last night.”

  Mike raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  Anger tumbled through Colin. Someone had to have stolen from them. He eyed Mike and the two waitresses. They had better chances of stealing something than a customer had of getting around the counter. He’d have to check them when they left. If they were good, though, they would’ve just passed it on to a friend and no one would know.

  Fuck. They’d been feeling so successful, they hadn’t even thought to worry about theft. How was he going to tell Elizabeth? She was already so stressed about the bowling alley.

  Maybe he’d wait until they’d had sex and she was relaxed. The thought of her tense and rigid body made him reassess. Maybe after the second round of orgasms she’d be ready for bad news.

  Suddenly, he wanted to go home. Bad news or not, he had a warm and willing woman waiting for him.

  Unfortunately, he needed to deal with this problem first. He helped clean up the bar while keeping an eye on all three employees. Instead of sending anyone home early, he kept them all until closing so he could talk to them. Elizabeth would probably accuse him of trying to usurp her authority by having this conversation without her, but he felt that an immediate strike was important.

  When the last customer left, he called Mike, Erin, and Marissa to the bar. “First, I want to say that Elizabeth and I are really happy with the way the first couple of days have gone. We’ve had good crowds and we’ve kept them moving. I haven’t gotten one complaint.”

  He paused and looked into each of their faces. He was a good judge of character. He’d hired Marissa and Erin, and although Elizabeth had hired Mike before Colin came on board, Colin had a good feeling. “I have found one problem that needs to be addressed. We have two bottles of liquor that have gone missing. A bottle of Jack and a bottle of Bushmills. If it had been only one, I might be able to chalk it up to miscalculation on my part. But both going missing on the second night open points to theft. I don’t want to make any accusations, but you need to be aware that theft is cause for immediate termination.”

  As he spoke, he watched all three sets of eyes widen. Either they were good actors or they were surprised.

  “If the bottles suddenly reappear on the shelf, I’m more than happy to forget about this.”

  “I’ve never even stepped behind the bar,” Marissa said.

  Erin added, “I left before you did last night, and I haven’t been behind the bar tonight. Mike’s a little territorial.”

  “I think territorial is a harsh word,” Mike said to her. Then he turned his attention to Colin. “I told you, I didn’t even know we had Bushmills. And why the hell would I want to risk my job to steal a bottle of Jack? I don’t even like Jack.”

  “I’m just throwing it out there. We’re only on day two of being open. This is not the way I run a business.” The words felt awkward and heavy in his mouth. He’d never run a business, but he imagined what Ryan or his dad would say in this situation. Another doubt pricked him. They wouldn’t have left brand-new employees in a position to be able to steal.

  “When you’re done cleaning up, you can head on out. I’ll be in the office.” He had absolutely nothing to do in Elizabeth’s domain, but he thought if he was out of sight, the culprit might return the bottles.

  Ten minutes later, he returned to the front and saw no change. Deep down, he knew the bottles wouldn’t magically appear. He flicked off the last light and peered around. The bar was clean and ready for a new day.

  Now he had to face Elizabeth and let her know they had a thief.

  Colin grabbed his extra set of keys from Ryan’s office at O’Leary’s and went upstairs. The kitchen light he’d left on still glowed. He glanced around. There was no sign Elizabeth had even stepped foot in his apartment, except for his key ring lying on the counter. He went to the bathroom first, wanting to take a shower before he woke Elizabeth. In the bathroom, he noticed the subtle indications that someone else was in his home. An extra towel hung on the bar. Her clothes were folded and piled neatly on the toilet tank.

  He stripped and stepped into the shower. He tried to figure out how to tell her about the missing liquor. Somehow he felt like this was his fault. He’d allowed the bottles to be stolen, and he’d further fucked up everything by the way he’d handled the employees. He toweled off and went to the bedroom.

  Thoughts of easing Elizabeth awake and hearing her moan made him hard. He left the bathroom light on and approached the open door. Instead of finding Elizabeth snuggled in his bed sleeping soundly, she was curled into a tig
ht ball.

  “Hey,” he called quietly, not sure if she was asleep.

  “Hi,” she answered, her voice strained. She didn’t move.

  “Are you okay?”

  Now she swung her legs off the side of the bed and tried to sit, but doubled over. “My stomach’s still bugging me.”

  Her arms wrapped around her middle and a pained expression blanketed her entire face.

  “Can I get you something?” He thought of all the antacids he’d watched her chew on. “Do you want to go to the doctor?”

  “For an upset stomach? What’s next, want to call my mommy?”

  “If it’ll make you feel better, sure.”

  “I think I just need to eat something. Then I’ll be fine.” She pushed herself up to stand, but it took effort. “Do you have any bananas?”

  “Yeah. Sit down, I’ll get you one.” He walked back into the kitchen and grabbed a banana. It wasn’t normal for someone to be in this much pain so often. Maybe she needed a prescription for heartburn. Tomorrow, he’d get her to go see a doctor. Back in the bedroom, he handed her the banana.

  The sight of her standing there, wearing his shirt, gave him an odd, comfortable feeling. She’d chosen to wear his old Blue Balls team shirt. Blue balls indeed. He tugged on a pair of underwear, knowing that getting laid was not in his immediate future.

  With a mouth full of banana, Elizabeth said, “Why are you getting dressed? We had plans.”

  “Our plans can wait until you’re feeling better.” He pulled her close, kissed her head, then climbed into bed.

  “I’ll be fine in a minute. Once the food hits my stomach, I’ll be good.”

  “Yeah? For how long? You’ve been a mess all day. Let’s get a good night’s sleep. I’m not going anywhere.” He settled under the covers and waited for her to join him.

  She finished the banana and drank from a glass of water. After leaving to get rid of her trash, she lay down beside him. Her hand rubbed his thigh, and he fought the urge to climb on top of her.

  Remembering the pained look on her face when he’d walked in, he stopped her hand. “Get some sleep.”

  “I don’t want to sleep. I want to fuck.”

  “Talking dirty will get you nowhere.” God, he sounded like such a chick.

  “Afraid you can’t deliver on your promises?”

  He rolled to his side, grabbing her hip and pulling her body to his. “I can definitely deliver.”

  He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her. His tongue swept into her mouth, and he forced his hand to stay at her hip. If he touched her more, he wouldn’t be able to stop, and she needed rest.

  When he’d adequately proven his point, he pulled away. “I’ll deliver tomorrow, when you’re better.”

  “We’re seriously not going to have sex right now? Why the hell am I here?”

  “I planned on having sex multiple times tonight until I saw you in pain. Lie down and get some rest. You’ve been working crazy hours and you’re under a lot of stress. Is a good night’s sleep really a bad thing?”

  “Whatever.” She pulled the blanket over her and turned away from him.

  He pulled her to his body again and reveled in the feel of her curled into him. His dick was still hard, and he tried not to let her feel it, or she wouldn’t give up.

  “How was work?” she whispered.

  The first thing that hit him was how intimate it felt to lie in bed with this gorgeous woman and discuss his night at work. The second thing that hit him was that he was going to have to lie to Elizabeth.

  “It was fine. We’ll talk in the morning.”

  Elizabeth woke to a sunny day, a bright glare shining through the window. She felt well rested and her stomach no longer hurt. Maybe Colin had been right and a night of quality sleep had set her straight.

  She looked to her right and saw Colin asleep beside her, his breath even and quiet. She couldn’t believe he’d turned her down for sex last night. Wasn’t that the point of this . . . relationship outside of work? Getting together to just sleep was not part of the bargain. It was far too couple-ish.

  She slid out from under the covers and tried not to wake him. Standing next to the bed, she watched him sleep. It wasn’t fair. No one should look that good all the time. Stubble shadowed his jaw, and his hair was mussed in a way that made her want to run her hands through it. And if she didn’t know better, he wore a slight grin, a mere flicker of the one he had while awake. The sheet barely covered his hip and the unmistakable bulge told her he was always ready.

  Remembering the huge to-do list on her schedule, she made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She opened the medicine cabinet in hopes of finding a spare toothbrush. Colin struck her as a considerate enough lover that he would have extras for whoever might spend the night.

  “Didn’t your mom teach you that it’s not nice to snoop?”

  The sound of his sexy, gravelly, just-woke-up voice startled her, and she knocked his deodorant into the sink. She set it back on the counter and answered, “I wasn’t snooping. I was looking for a toothbrush.”

  “Bottom drawer.”

  “Thanks.” It was then that she took in the sight of him in nothing but boxers. He was no longer erect.

  “Why are you up so early? I thought we were sleeping in.” He scratched at his chest and moved toward the toilet.

  “I have a lot of calls to make about the bowling equipment, and I need to deal with last night’s receipts. You did bring those home, right?”

  He nodded.

  As she put toothpaste on the brush, she wondered if she was supposed to leave to give him privacy to pee. From the corner of her eye, she saw that her presence didn’t seem to affect him, so she started brushing. After he flushed, he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her to reach the sink to wash his hands.

  She stiffened and tried to concentrate on brushing. The heat from his body relaxed her muscles, and he stepped even closer. He flicked off the faucet and nuzzled her neck. His wet hands dripped on her thighs and he wiped his hands on her shirt. His shirt.

  In the mirror she looked at him and he simply smiled. She bent over, thrusting her ass into his groin, and spit the toothpaste out of her mouth.

  “Doing things like that will make you late for whatever job you think you’re going to do.”

  “Threats don’t scare me.” She straightened and wiped her hands on the towel hanging above the toilet, but didn’t turn around.

  “I don’t need to threaten. You look like you’re feeling better, so you owe me.”

  “Sorry, you said you didn’t want to be rushed, but I’m on the clock.”

  He pulled her to his body and his hands crept under the shirt, feeling that she wore nothing underneath. “You can be late. I know the boss.”

  One hand moved to her breast and the other began stroking between her legs. In the mirror, she saw Colin’s blue eyes darken as her body began to melt. He rolled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger and pushed one finger inside her. His palm rubbed her clit, and her head lolled back onto his shoulder.

  “You are so damn sexy. I think I just want to watch you come.”

  She was already panting, her hips wiggling against his hand, but she said, “You’re not the kind of guy who can just watch. You like to be in the middle of the action.”

  A second finger joined the first and his hand moved to the other breast. Elizabeth reached up and held onto Colin’s neck. Her legs were trembling. If she didn’t move soon, she would be nothing more than a puddle on the floor. She forced her right leg forward to disengage herself from him.

  “Uh-uh. Where do you think you’re going?” His hand left her breast and held her waist tight against him.

  “Back to the bedroom.” It was barely more than a whisper, and she sounded defeated because she knew he wasn’t going to let her move. His fingers picked up the pace, and her eyes fluttered shut. He was going to make her come standing right here in the bathroom.

  His hard
-on pressed firmly into her back as she rocked to his rhythm. He bit the side of her neck and then licked the spot to soothe it. The good kind of tension coiled in her stomach.

  In that moment she felt nothing but mindless pleasure. Every nerve stretched taut and she balanced on the brink of sanity.

  “I’ve got you. Let go,” he whispered against her ear.

  And she did.

  Every muscle in her body spasmed with her release. When she reopened her eyes, her gaze caught Colin’s in the mirror. He wasn’t kidding; he wanted to watch her come.

  She wasn’t sure if her skin was pink from pleasure or embarrassment from having him watch her. She shrugged it off and turned around. “Your turn.”

  Her fingers circled his thick shaft. He pulled her shirt over her head and started walking.

  “I’m not ready for my turn. I’m not done with you yet.”

  His words sent a shiver down her spine, but she tried to hold her ground. Between her weak knees and his strength, it was a futile attempt. He simply kept walking until they were back in the bedroom. While she walked, she stroked his chest and shoulders, marveling at the toned muscles.

  “Being a bully doesn’t work for you,” she said.

  “I make you come, and you call me a bully? Those are fighting words.” He gave her a shove and knocked her onto the bed.

  A squeal popped from her lips.

  “Don’t move,” he said. “I don’t want a black eye.”

  “Now who’s being mean?” She was going to say something else, but the words evaporated because he started kissing his way up her body. Starting at her hip and across her stomach. When his mouth found her nipple, she moaned.

  His stubble rubbed against already sensitive skin and it hurt but felt good all at once. He moved up to her neck, kissing, licking, and nibbling. His dick was so close to where she wanted it—needed it. She wrapped her legs around his hips and drew him to her body.

  He nestled between her legs, rubbing against her, but not entering. He was clearly intent on torturing her. She whimpered, trying to move into a position to take him, but he pressed her into the mattress.