Skin Deep Read online

  She didn’t expect to be so affected by his simple touch or look. Here, among his friends he was far more relaxed and didn’t seem to worry about his face around them. The way he styled his hair tonight was able to conceal most of the scars but Angela could tell that he was different with his friends.

  “You must be a good influence on Shane. He hasn’t entertained in quite a while,” teased Beverly once the main course was served. The chef had servers to help with dinner and when Angela’s food was put before her she couldn’t help but inhale with appreciation. This was the height of fine dining and she couldn’t wait to tuck in.

  “I’ve been busy,” Shane put in before Angela could reply.

  Chandler rolled his eyes at that. “Doing what? We’ve missed you, my friend. Isn’t it time you started getting out of the house more?”

  Shane smiled and took Angela’s hand which he lifted to his lips. Uh oh, thought Angela as his mouth lightly brushed her knuckles. She could almost feel the snapping gaze of both Bridget and Melissa but that didn’t even get to her as much as the sensation of Shane’s kiss on her skin. It was fleeting but sensual and intimate.

  He looked up at her and then set her hand down without relinquishing it before turning to Chandler and saying, “I think I’ll take you up on that suggestion, especially since Angela loves the idea of going out.”

  “So are you saying you’ll finally start showing yourself in public? With Angela?” Bridget burst out as if unable to help herself. Angela could swear she saw Melissa jab Bridget’s knee, making Bridget turn to her with a ‘what did I say?’ glare.

  “Considering she’s my girlfriend, I’d think that was the normal thing to do,” Shane said somewhat coolly as he turned his grey eyes on Bridget.

  “But…” Bridget began, then clamped her mouth shut and started sawing into the beef tenderloin on her plate.

  The conversation smoothed over the little disruption when someone mentioned how fantastic the food was. Angela had to agree. She hadn’t tasted anything so tender and delicious in ages. She brought her fork to her mouth and slowly chewed on her food, letting the flavors seep into her palate before sliding down her throat. Heavenly. Better than anything she could have had in the best restaurant. She sighed deeply and opened her eyes to find that Drew and the other man Shane had introduced as his business acquaintances were looking at her lustfully. Angela had that ‘uh oh’ moment again. Being an actress she was used to some form of attention, this kind was a bit flustering though. Especially when she looked over to Shane and saw the glint of fire in his gaze.

  Every time she glanced Shane’s way she caught his narrowed stare. Sometimes she felt his gaze long before she sought it out. If he wanted them to play the love-struck couple unable to keep their eyes off each other, then damn it was working. Angela made a point not to act at all seductive for the rest of the night and ate her food with far less sensuous delight.

  The end of the meal couldn’t come quick enough. They all withdrew to the living room for more drinks and Angela found herself cornered by Bridget. “Shane mentioned you’re in the entertainment industry,” she said with a slight curl to her thin upper lip. “What exactly does that mean?”

  "I’ve been in a small feature film and I also do commercials. I doubt you’ve seen any of my stuff,” Angela said with a distinctly polite smile.

  Bridget’s green eyes snapped. “Oh, I’m sure I haven’t. So exactly how did you two meet again?”

  Angela shrugged, taking a drink from her wine before responding. “I do volunteer work with a charity for homeless women and children. Shane is one of our biggest supporters. I guess we just hit it off.”

  “Hmm.” Bridget’s eyes raked over Angela’s face and attire. “And you expect me to believe you aren’t worried about his face? You see what he looks like. Or maybe all that money blinds you to the fact that he’s turned into a walking, talking freak show?”

  Angela’s eyes widened and then darted. Wait, what?

  Bridget smiled thinly at her expression. “That’s right. I said it. He’s like family to us, but that’s the truth. He knows it and doesn’t hide from it. People cringe and walk away when they see him. They rather cross the street than have to go by him. I’ve seen children cry when he shows his face. But then again…he’s Shane Davis. Nascar Champion. Playboy. And worth several million – certainly enough to make a black opportunist stick her claws where she doesn’t belong.”

  Angela was virtually speechless. How could one respond to something like that?

  But the vindictive female wasn’t done. Keeping her fake smile plastered on her face, Bridget added, “Have your little fling with Shane. But you’ll never belong in his world. Even with the way he looks he definitely deserves better than your type.”

  Oh hell to the no, thought Angela with fury as Bridget swayed away on her elegant sling back heels to join the men gathered on the other side of the room.

  Just then Shane turned and glanced over his shoulder at her. Something on her face must have alerted him because he left the group and came to her side.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked lightly, scanning her face.

  “Kiss me,” she said.

  His eyes narrowed. “What?”

  Angela licked on her lips. “You asked me to do a job. I’m doing it. Now kiss me. Like you mean it.”

  His nostrils flared for a moment. He asked no more questions, but leaned right in, slanted to the side and captured her lips. Angela’s breath hitched, the firmness of his mouth on hers edged with a surprising softness. She liked how he instantly took charge, not letting her dictate the heat level though she’d prescribed the kiss. He didn’t touch her, except with his lips grinding over hers with a rising hunger. Angela sank against his formidable chest, sliding her hands up his torso to rest on his broad shoulders. She could have sworn she heard his throat rumble in a low groan. The kiss was sexy as hell without being sloppy; just enough tongue to make a girl start weakening at the knees.

  They pulled back at the same time, Angela’s eyes hooded as she stared down at his mouth. He’d tasted…freaking good. Her first kiss from a white dude; she had to admit it hit her in all the right spots. But that wasn’t the issue right now. She glanced to the side of the room and caught Bridget’s venomous expression. Melissa who stood right next to her seemed to shake her head impatiently and whisper something in Bridget’s ears. With friends like those, who needed enemies, Angela wondered, smirking as she drew away from Shane.

  But his hand suddenly grabbed her elbow, making her glance up at him in surprise. His grey eyes were shot through with burning coals. “What did Bridget say to you to prompt that shining performance?” he said with a thick undertone.

  Angela merely gave him a honeyed smile, replying airily, “Oh, something about race and status and her thinking I’m not good enough for you. That I’m some gold-digging black chic out to scam her unsuspecting white lover. She seems awfully damn protective for just a friend.”

  Shane grunted, releasing her elbow. “Protective? Hardly. Those two worry only about nobody’s interests but their own. But for the record…I commend your ‘improv’. It’s something I wouldn’t have thought of. Your kiss, I mean. Please feel free to carry on in like manner whenever it comes upon you.”

  Yeah, sure, thought Angela, smirking thinly to match his equally sly tone. She had him well figured out now. He definitely hadn’t forgotten about wanting to get her to share his bed obviously – he was just going to use a different tactic. Well, he could try. But this was going to be an acting job for her, nothing more. That, at least was what she told herself…

  ****

  After that kiss, it was no surprise to Shane that he found it impossible to get any sleep. Even after the night fell silent, and everything else in the house no longer moved, he still lay awake, bare chested and in nothing but his silk boxers as he stared up at the ceiling in the dim room.

  The guests were long gone. He thought of Bridget’s parting barb as he’d helped he
r into her coat. “Your mom would be so glad to know you’re coming out of your shell. I’ll tell her how much fun we all had tonight, in spite of everything,” she’d said, sending Angela one cutting glance before smiling and kissing Shane’s cheek, then leaving with Melissa.

  The whole evening had gone better than expected. It hadn’t shown but he’d been dreading having to sit at table with people again, even though most were his own friends. He’d missed that; missed the banter and the warmth from enjoying good food and wine with people most of whom you cared about.

  But the high point was Angela, and what her presence did to the atmosphere. How she shone with her smile, her laugh and her voice. It made anything she said sound deep and musical. He’d loved watching her eat, or listening to her hold a conversation. He’d wanted to snap the stem of his glass in his fingers when he’d caught Drew and Harvey ogling her. No doubt she looked on fire in that red dress. He knew she’d caught him looking her way with more than a bit of masculine hunger in his eyes.

  When the guests were gone and the house was empty except for the staff clearing up, they’d walked back into the main area and he’d asked her if she’d like to have some more wine, and talk. But she’d gracefully declined.

  “It’s been a long day,” she’d said with an apologetic smile. “And tomorrow promises to be just as busy. A girl like me needs her beauty sleep you know.”

  Her infectious grin had drawn a smile to his lips. There was a time that smiling felt alien to him and even now there’d been a slight twitch as his unused muscles had stretched in an answering smile. “It’ll be many, many years before a woman with your looks has to worry about that,” he’d murmured. As she’d paused on the first step above him, he’d looked up with barely concealed heat at her. Thinking how well his hands would span her waist; or fit over her hips…or even how easily her breasts would fill his palms.

  He didn’t know what she saw in his eyes because she laughed nervously. “Thank you, but I still think I’ll hit the sheets early tonight. Dinner was lovely, by the way.”

  “Thanks but it wouldn’t have gone so well without you. I appreciate you agreeing to do this. Having you here makes it much…easier.”

  She’d held his gaze for a long, telling moment, and he’d thought she’d say something else.

  Instead, she’d nodded briefly and then made to go up the stairs to her room. But his hand shot out to cup her elbow. He liked that she didn’t recoil at his touch like the first time, and her eyes weren’t impatient or wary when she turned to face him again.

  “Yes?” she asked softly; he’d have liked to think, expectantly.

  He hadn’t known what to say. So he’d let his touch speak for him. His fingers had found their way up her bare arm, skimming her smooth brown skin. She’d shivered slightly. “I need to go, Shane,” she’d finally said, maybe with a hint of reluctance.

  His name on her lips had impacted like a branding iron on his senses. He wanted her to say it again, to scream it when he took her deep, deeper than any man ever had before.

  She didn’t pull away from his grip. He looked up into the dark chocolate pools of her eyes and something in the depths made his fingers tighten on her flesh.

  “Shane, this isn’t…”

  His thumb stroked over the smooth curve of her arm, his eyes hooded as he looked down where his hand closed round her flesh. “I can make you want me,” he challenged huskily.

  She snatched in a long, shaky breath. “Maybe,” she’d replied with coolness. “I know all about your reputation, Shane. A smooth-talking ladies’ man. I don’t think a few scars are going to change your leopard spots. But sex isn’t on the agenda, I made that clear. I didn’t sign up for that and come to think of it, nothing’s been signed as yet. Please don’t make me change my mind.”

  Her tone was low and calm; but he could see the fear in her eyes. Did she think that he’d turn into some sex-mad monster and force his needs on her? With great reluctance and a tired sigh, he let her go. “That won’t be necessary, Angela. We’ll speak tomorrow.”

  “Goodnight,” she said deeply, the relief palpable in her tone. He watched her ascend the stairs and the arch of her ass in that dress and from that angle called to the beast in him. His throat constricted as he strangled off a groan.

  This woman had him wishing for things he’d never thought to wish for after so long. A soft, warm body with enough curves to tempt a monk. Glowing dark eyes filled with passion and awe, lips full with want, begging for his kiss. She made him crave all that and more.

  Later, as he’d stripped right before the longest cold shower he’d ever taken in his life, Shane stared at his reflection in the mirrors lining the walls of his bathroom. He used to avoid looking at them which was strange since it had been his idea to fill his personal bathroom with mirrors. But tonight, he looked at himself and cursed the day of the car crash. His last conscious memory from that day was frantically fighting like hell to free himself from the burning, tangled mess of his car.

  His next memory was waking up in the hospital weeks later in terrible pain, his life altered forever. He could have easily died from the severity of the burns, only the expertise of the Burn Center saved him.

  Now he grew his thick blonde hair longer to conceal most of the damage to his forehead and face, and the burn scars on his chest and torso could easily be covered in clothes, except for his right hand which had scars etched right up to his forearm. Could he blame Angela for being like many other women and preferring to stay well away from a man who looked like a monster?

  Turning angrily away from the mirrors he’d shut himself under the chilly spray for as long as he could stand it. He wouldn’t think of her…or dwell on the fact that she was right under his roof, and that all he had to do was walk across the hall, unlock her door and…

  No, he wouldn’t even consider it. He wasn’t the old Shane who was cocky and so damned sure of his welcome in a woman’s bed. Angela would most likely scream the house down if he dared venture into bed next to her, or worse club him over the head with the nearest blunt object she could lay a hand to.

  Again…no. He’d have to content himself with the memory of the taste of her lips, the texture and lushness of it. His cock was in its now ever-present state of granite hardness whenever Angela came to mind. Now he had that damned kiss to keep him rolling around in bed with the worst case of insomnia and blue balls he’d ever had.

  For the first time in a long time, he didn’t dream about the accident. Instead, his dreams were filled with Angela, and how her simple kiss had brought his frozen heart back to life.

  ****

  Kissing Shane had been a totally bad idea, thought Angela as she punched her pillows for the umpteenth time and settled back on them, sighing heavily as she tried to sleep.

  She’d wanted to show that snotty bitch Bridget a thing or two and her extreme move had worked if Bridget’s face had been anything to go by. A warm glow stirred her belly when Angela thought how easily Shane had gone along with her bold move. It had started out as an act but she couldn’t lie, kissing him had felt good, better than a kiss had felt in years. Like the taste of the lips of your first teenage crush. Oh damn what am I thinking about? Angela thought with exasperation as she rolled over on her belly and scooped her pillow beneath her cheek.

  Shane’s words that first day rang through her mind now. He wanted someone who would go “on their merry way” when the whole thing was over or something like that. He was confident that because she was an actress, she’d focus on her job of pretend girlfriend. No strings attached. But then he’d come up with that deal about sleeping with him and though he’d withdrawn the offer and apologized, it still hung over them.

  Was he thinking about her now? She couldn’t help wondering. Tomorrow she’d be signing the papers that would make the whole thing official. A job contract which also included accompanying him for a visit to his parent’s place in the mountains for his mother’s birthday party. In return, he’d give her the p
romised fee as well as paying for her father to be transferred into a state-of-the-art facility. The icing on the cake would be the well-paying job her sister Sasha would get in one of his corporate sponsor’s companies. It was a juicy arrangement and she’d be a fool to turn it down. Who was she kidding? She couldn’t turn it down, knowing how much it would mean to her family as well.

  She wished she understood why he got to her so much. She thought of how the dinner had gone and was glad she seemed to have passed the first ‘hurdle’, to Shane’s satisfaction. She wondered what Shane’s mother was like and why he was going to all this trouble to make her think he had a real girlfriend. Oh well, I’ll find out in due time, Angela figured.

  Chapter Five

  Something black and heavy had fallen on her. Angela wanted to scream but the shrill sound was strangled in her throat. I’m going to die, she thought as the beast hovered over her, wet black eyes gleaming…

  “Asgard, down!”

  The solid, imposing weight seemed to be pulled off her roughly and Angela straightened off the pillows, her eyes wide with fear until she saw Shane standing at the foot of her bed with the biggest, blackest dog she’d ever seen.

  Keeping his hand on the silent dog’s collar, Shane frowned. “You didn’t lock your bedroom door last night?”

  Angela flushed. “I guess I forgot,” she said reluctantly. Now that she’d found her voice she hated that it sounded defensive instead of furious at Shane. How could he let that thing walk free around the house? Surely it was dangerous!