You've Got Fail(10)

Hanging by the subway entrance, I waited for the cab to pull away. Once I knew he was gone, I ducked into the stairway and started my long ride across the river to Jersey City.

The first train rocketed along beneath the city streets as my thoughts wandered back to Willis. His innocent layer that hid something more interesting underneath had charmed me, lulled me into a true flirtation instead of the one I’d worked at perfecting over the past year. It had to stop. Once I’d figured out how much he had riding on Scarlet Rocket, I’d realized he might be useful. He was a mark—a big one—and that was all. I needed to remember that or I’d fall into the same mistakes as Hannah.

Tired and emptyhanded, I wondered if my haul from the previous weekend would be enough to see us through the next few days.





5





Willis





I flopped onto my couch and tried to untangle the mental Kung Fu that Fake Scarlet had just laid on me. Confronting her had turned into what? Into Linda offering her a position as the real Scarlet Rocket. As me.

Thumping the back of my head onto the arm of the sofa didn’t seem to clear it any. That woman. She’d done some sort of sexy Jedi mind trick on me. Had to be. It was the only thing that explained my new reality. One where I wasn’t me. One where a beautiful woman who excelled at the five-finger discount had stepped in and taken on a starring role.

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out to find a text from Elias.

Elias: Did you turn her in to the cops or bone her in a back room? Tell me the truth.

Willis: Neither. Sadly.

Elias: Pussy.

Willis: Linda showed up at the gallery and offered her a job.

Elias: Are you shitting me?

Willis: I wish I was.

Elias: What kind of job?

Willis: As Scarlet Rocket.



The three dots bounced. Stopped. Bounced again. Stopped.

Willis: Spit it out, man.

Elias: I want to say that’s fucked up, but it’s also brilliant. I mean, that chick is like a little sex firecracker. Charisma and all that. If it weren’t for Claudia, I would have totally made a pass.



An unpleasant burr sank into my chest. The thought of Scarlet getting close to Elias like she’d done to me in the cab had me tapping the keys faster than an angry tween.

Willis: She’s working with me now. Professional. Off limits.



I snorted. A pickpocket professional. That was her, all right.

Elias: Cool your jets. You’ve already called dibs. I was simply commenting on her assets.

Willis: It’s professional. That’s all.

Elias: Sure. Just use a condom, okay buddy?

Willis: Asshole.

Elias: Srsly? You’ve already made it to the fabled fifth base, aka ‘The Dugout’? Wow, you move fast.

Willis: Don’t you have a blonde to be bending in half right about now?

Elias: Yeah, good point. She’s giving me that hungry look that never ends well.

Willis: Get it. Night.

Elias: Night. Also, fuck you.



The faint light from my kitchen illuminated my respectable apartment, but instead of seeing the comfortable furniture and my threadbare writing chair, all I could see were flashes of red hair and a devious smile. Who was she?

I’d watched her after she’d dashed from the taxi like Cinderella at midnight. With a sneaking suspicion that she didn’t live in the swank building we’d pulled up to, I’d lost her in the crowd from the subway.

I drummed my fingers on my chest and examined the faint crack in the ceiling that ran through the light fixture and toward the exposed brick of the outer wall. She was a mystery. A beautiful puzzle. And fuck, the way she’d reacted to me in the cab. My cock came to life at the memory of her soft breath on my lips. Her vanilla scent had entangled me, and the red of her lips should have been a warning instead of an enticement. But she was the type of woman you couldn’t avoid, couldn’t look away from, and definitely couldn’t forget.

My cock agreed, tenting the ridiculous pleats on my pants. She’d been right about my clothes, though I’d never admit it to her. But while she’d been sizing me up, I’d been analyzing her right back. Problem was, I hadn’t been able to get much except for the mutual attraction.

“Down boy.” I shifted my hips, but my cock wasn’t in the mood to behave. She’d lit my fuse, and it wasn’t dying down. So, as with any normal twenty-seven-year-old male, it was time to jack it.

I reached down and freed myself from my pants and boxers. With a steady stroke, I imagined the way the night should have ended. We were in the cab, and I was drowning in her deep brown eyes. I claimed her lips, tasting her for the first time. Her hands entwined behind my neck, pulling closer as I slanted my mouth over hers. The cab faded until it was just the two of us, our tongues warring. I pulled her onto my lap and slid my fingers between her soft thighs. She moaned when I touched the thin fabric of her wet panties.

Groaning, I increased my pace, each imagined touch of her lips sending me higher at a rapid clip. I delved my fingers into her tight heat, swallowing her small cry as I pulled back and stroked her sensitive nub with two fingers. Kissing to her neck, I nipped and sucked at her pale skin as my fingers continued to massage her. She gasped, her body locking. I sent her over the edge and stole her moans with a rough kiss.