Free Web of Lies by Candice Owen

her.  He knew he had to get his body back under control.  As he stood up to pour himself a second cup, he caught her eyes on him.  Instantly, he was hard again. 
     
    “Faith, stop it!”  When she met his eyes, he groaned low in his throat and went around to stand beside her.  “You’re not making it easy for me, you know?”
     
    She stood up, crowding him. He stepped back, so she wouldn’t feel the fullness of his apparently unending desire for her. 
     
    “You look hot when you’re asleep, all uncovered.  That didn’t make it easy on me, either.”
     
    “Faith,” he protested, but it sounded more like a groan of desire.  It was fueled by a shot of lust that held him in place when his brain was telling him to move.
     
    She moved past him to the coffee pot and took his mug from his unresisting fingers to pour him a second.  He took it back when she offered it and went back to his chair, hoping a second cup and some distance would calm his body before they had to get in the truck.  She cleared the table and was getting ready to wash the dishes when he said, “Leave them.  I’ll do it.  Go get ready.  We leave in thirty minutes.”
     
    He didn’t give her a chance to argue, and the mindless task of washing up cleared the lust from his gaze.  Once on the road, they would drive all day.  He hoped to pull into Grant’s homestead by the end of the week.  He helped her pack the food and drinks, and they set off.  Something about the way she looked in the white Capri pants and yellow sleeveless top made him wish she was his.  It was such an unusual thought and was enough to make him almost panic.  He wasn’t into long term, and he couldn’t do short term with Grant’s daughter.  She deserved better than that.
     
    He turned the radio on to keep him from thinking, and eventually, when she fell asleep, he relaxed.  He couldn’t wait for the week to end, so he could deliver her safely to Grant’s homestead.  Then, he could go about his own affairs, and she would be free to go back to her life without him.  He ignored the empty feeling that settled in his gut at the thought.
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    Three weeks earlier--Faith
     
    Grant Lee’s homestead was a compound made up of a cottage, a sprawling farmhouse, and a big barn.  The place seemed deserted until they rounded a corner on the long driveway and Faith saw all the bikes.  His crew knew she would be coming today, and it seemed they had all shown up to welcome her.  Introductions were made, and one of the younger bikers took her things and put them in what she later discovered was her father’s room.
     
    They had made quite a spread― one of them had been trained as a chef― and Faith was overwhelmed by their kindness and attention.  She had expected them to be rough and crude and loud, but though they did not have the polish of the elite, they were sensitive and funny and set her at ease at once.  The second-in-command to her dad in the club, Bob Lafferty, got the guys to clear the table and clean up after dinner.  Then, he shooed them out with a promise to return in the morning to make her breakfast before they got down to business. 
     
    She watched them all mount their bikes and ride off, except for Jack and Bob, who said he lived in the cottage.  Bob bid them both good night, gave Jack a long, considering stare, and then walked off to his place. 
     
    “They seem to be nice men,” she murmured, as the lights went on in the cottage, and she and Jack walked back inside. 
     
    “Did you expect something different?” 
     
    “Well, biker gangs do have a reputation, don’t they?” she answered defensively.
     
    “Indeed,” he said cryptically.  He went around locking up, and she stayed in the living room, waiting for him.  Then, he walked toward the other end of the long hallway.  “Goodnight, Faith.  Sleep well.”  He smiled and opened the last door.
     
    “Goodnight, Jack.”
     
    A quick wash and she