TroubleinChaps by Ciana Stone Read Free Book Online Page B

Beckett started pulling her away from the bar.
    “Come on.”
    “I’m working,” she said as she jerked free.
    “In the office. Now.”
    Something in his eyes had her biting down on the urge to argue. She tossed her hair and marched through the kitchen to the back of the building where his office was located. He entered behind her and slammed the door.
    “What the hell were you thinking?” His voice was loud and angry enough to have her hackles rise.
    “Excuse me?” She arched her eyebrows haughtily.
    “You heard me. Why didn’t you call me if that guy was giving you trouble?”
    “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.”
    “With a beer bottle? What were you planning to do? Come upside his head with it?”
    “If necessary.”
    “Smart, real smart.” The mocking tone of his voice jacked her anger higher.
    “Fuck you, Beckett!”
    He grinned at her and it wasn’t a friendly sort of expression. More like a predator closing in on its prey. “You don’t want to start up with me, sugar.”
    Roxie snorted. “Oh, now I’m scared.”
    Cliff crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. “What’s your problem?”
    “You!”
    “Me? All I did was protect what’s mine.”
    That one word sent a bolt of something purely female and entirely terrifying through her. But she wasn’t about to succumb to either. “I’m not yours!”
    “The bar is. And if you’d hit him you could’ve been charged with assault.”
    “It would’ve been self defense!”
    “Maybe. But you were itching to do it.”
    “I did not.”
    “Yes, you did.” His voice softened as he regarded here. “You’ve been spoiling for a fight and that poor jackass seemed like a likely target.”
    “That’s bullshit. I have not been spoiling for a fight.”
    “Oh yeah, you have.”
    “Fuck you.” There was no way in hell she’d ever admit he was right. It wasn’t that she was spoiling for a fight, it was more that she felt as if a pressure cooker that was about to blow. Cliff had gotten to her on more than one level and the stress was starting to take its toll.
    “You making that a formal offer, honey?” His tone was teasing, but there was nothing of a jest in his eyes.
    Roxie went for the door knob, but Cliff grabbed her wrist. “Let go of me,” she warned.
    “Or?”
    Roxie hissed and raised her hand to hit him, only to have him catch her fist before it made contact. She tore free and backed away, stopping only when her backside bumped into his desk.
    Cliff stalked over to her, putting his hands on the desk on either side of her.
    “Or?” he asked again.
    “Move, Beckett.”
    “Or?” The heat was back in his eyes.
    “Or we’re gonna have a big problem.”
    “Oh we already have a problem, Roxie.
    “Do we?” Her eyes met his and held. “And what might that be?”
    “This.”
    At the same moment the word came from his lips, he reached behind her with his left arm and pulled her against him. Her breath came out in a small rush a moment before his lips closed on hers.
    Her mind screamed for her to push him away. This was not a good idea. Not safe. But her treacherous body betrayed her. As Cliff’s arm tightened around her, she pressed into him, not only accepting the kiss but returning it.
    It was a lusty battle of tongues and teeth, hands gripping and roving, bodies straining into one another. Cliff growled in protest when she pushed back from him.
    “Don’t stop now, honey.”
    She shook her head and blew out her breath. She couldn’t play this game. Not with him. It was too costly and she couldn’t take the strain of it. “Look, Beckett, I need to be straight with you.”
    He cocked his head slightly to one side. “I’m listening.”
    “Okay, so here’s the deal.” She took a breath and steeled herself. “You affect me like a drug and right now there’s nothing I want more than to get you out of those clothes and inside me. But—“
    She raised both hands and pressed them against his chest when he moved