Sexy Liar Read online

  SEXY LIAR

  Dirty Hacker #1

  A Dirty Little Secret Duet

  USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  STACEY KENNEDY

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Stacey Kennedy. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact Stacey Kennedy.

  EPUB Edition

  Stacey Kennedy

  www.staceykennedy.com

  Edited by Christa Soulé Désir

  Proofed by Trisha Tobias

  Cover Photograph: iStock

  Cover Design by Sweety ’n Spicy Designs

  Manufactured in Canada

  First Edition August 2019

  For all the readers who hoped Alex would get her story!

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  About Risky Love

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Excerpt from Naughty Stranger

  PROLOGUE

  THE FLASHES OF red and blue filled the dark sky as CIA Agent Rowan Hawke watched the Paris police handcuff Roger Moore, a hired hitman who’d evaded the CIA for months and had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for years.

  “A job well done, Hawke,” the seductive voice hummed in his ear through his earpiece.

  Alex McCoy. The best hacker in San Francisco. As a teenager, she was arrested for hacking into the CIA databases, and then she quietly got released under the agreement that she’d do contract work when her government—both the CIA and the FBI—needed her. When she’s not being ordered around by the Feds, she works in San Francisco for Blackwood Security, a private security detail company.

  She’d come onto the case a week ago, and the magic had been there between them since after their first meeting when they ended up screwing in the basement parking lot of the Paris PD headquarters.

  “You’re being too kind,” Rowan said, turning away from the scene and striding down the thin, dark alley with the cobblestone roads. “You’re the one who found him. I just chased him down.”

  Alex’s laughter brushed across his scenes. “Well, that’s true, but you did all the running. Much, much harder.”

  She never spoke with the arrogance she was due. Her mind was sharp and quick, and Rowan had been impressed by her from the second he met her. Which only continued when she put her hands on his body. Rowan had prided himself on being able to walk away from any woman. He needed to as part of his job description. Only this time, his feet moved him in the wrong direction.

  When he didn’t fill the silence, she said, “I guess this is goodbye, then.”

  “I guess it is,” he replied.

  The case was done. Rowan planned on leaving Alex right after Moore was in custody and returning to New York City to await his next case. But he needed one more of taste of her. One more feel of her.

  Rowan finally reached the place where the CIA had put them up. He entered the Hôtel Fleur, a boutique hotel set right in the heart of the city, and trotted up the stairs until he used his keycard to open the door. The room held Paris elegance with flowered wallpaper, antique furniture, and old paintings of people in Victorian times. Luxurious grand curtains were on either side of the only window in the room with the metal balcony. What interested Rowan more was the woman standing at that window.

  Alex’s bright amber eyes locked onto him, her dark hair draping over her shoulder. “You said you were leaving.”

  “I did,” he told her, shutting the door then closing the distance between them.

  She tilted her head back and stared at his lips, nibbling her own, emotion flaring in her eyes. “Then why are you here?”

  He shouldn’t be, but Rowan couldn’t help himself. He slid his hands across her face, loving the color that rose to her cheeks and how her mouth parted, then he threaded his fingers into her hair. “That’s a very good question.” With his other hand, he tucked a finger in the front of her jeans and tugged her to him. Her pupils dilated and her breath grew raspy. When he touched her, she melted, and damn, was it a rush. He opened her jeans and yanked her pants and panties down.

  The heat in her gaze bore into his when she opened his jeans. “Should we talk about why you came back?”

  He kicked off his pants and slid his hands down to her bottom as she stepped out of her jeans. “Yeah, we should definitely talk about that.” But he wouldn’t talk about it. He didn’t ever talk about these things. He took his pleasures. That’s where things stopped for him.

  Only this time, he wanted one more taste before he walked away.

  He sealed his mouth against hers, kissing her with all the intensity burning through him, and she moaned against his mouth. Urgency had him deepening the kiss, roughly holding her, imprinting this memory into his mind. He slowly walked her back until she was up against the wall. Not wasting any time, he grabbed a condom from the box they had on the end table and sheathed himself. When he looked her way again, Alex was primed and ready up against the wall. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes dark with need. He returned to her, hooked her leg onto his arm and entered her, while he fisted his other hand into her hair.

  This time, he didn’t kiss her. No, he stared at her intimately. And she watched him right back.

  She was tight, wet, and perfect with every slow stroke he gave, warming them both up. He’d learned the ways of her lithe body. Her breath was steady, lips parted slightly. “Not enough, luv?”

  Her eyes twinkled.

  He thrust forward. Hard.

  Those eyes went huge and she smiled. “Better.”

  He kept at that rhythm. Slow, but hard, until he caught the desperation in her eyes. Only then did he pick up speed, taking them both where they wanted to go. Over the edge. Together.

  And when they did break apart, it was rough, loud, and she clung to him, more than she ever had before.

  But then he forced her to let go, knowing if he didn’t, he wasn’t sure he would. She’d gotten a hold of him in ways no one had before her. When he caught her gaze, he saw that same conflict on her face too.

  “Just give me a minute before we talk, okay?” she asked softly.

  He released her leg and stepped back. “Of course.”

  Silently, she gathered her clothes and headed for the bathroom. Rowan dressed back in his jeans and then stared at the closed bathroom door. He couldn’t stay. He never stayed. Hearing the sink’s faucet turn on, he headed for the door, knowing he’d always planned to leave the very first time he placed his lips on hers.

  CHAPTER 1

  Five years later…

  ON THE CRISP autumn night in the heart of Manhattan, Rowan had a new assignment: Secure his target—former lover, Alex McCoy—to help catch New York City’s latest serial killer, recently coined by the media the Casanova Sadist. Of all the assignments he’d taken since the last time he saw her, this one filled him with the most dread.

  When he arrived at the Cool Cat’s Piano Bar in New York City’s Theater District a little after nine o’clock at night, he noted
how the jet-black walls, the cushy booths, and crystal chandeliers set the mood of older, classier times. Alex sat at the bar, drinking a martini. Her long dark hair flowed down her back over her black leather jacket, her tight ass in her blue jeans drawing his attention. He’d remembered that body, every spectacular inch of her.

  He never expected to work with her again. Let alone see her again.

  Five years had gone by since they had spent that week together in Paris. Five years since he’d smelled the captivating spring-like scent that belonged only to her. An aroma that had a slight similarity to when the sun came out after it rained. Five years since she set those gorgeous intelligent amber eyes of hers on him. Five years since the unexplainable passion burning between them made him hard in a single breath. And five years since he’d told himself not to go to San Francisco to apologize for running out on her, when he very well knew she’d begun to care for him. Alex had been his biggest regret. The only woman he thought about after he left her. Maybe because she’d had a hold on him too.

  He moved closer, the chatter from the busy bar brushing over him. While Alex still worked for Blackwood Security in San Francisco, she’d come to New York City for a vacation, which put her on his radar. He learned through the CIA’s undercover New York location where he’d been earlier today that she’d landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Alex was one of the best hackers out there. When she moved, the CIA kept a close eye on her, and her arriving in New York City set off alarms throughout the CIA. But the second he heard she was in town, he knew she could help him crack this case.

  Only problem?

  He’d run out on her without a word.

  The man at the piano on stage played a soft, sensual song, setting the right mood for what exactly Rowan needed to do. He could manipulate easily. That was his job, and he needed to get her back on his side before asking for her help. Alex was smart. He knew he needed to tread lightly when he slid on the stool next to her. “Whiskey on the rocks,” he said to the bartender.

  He noted the hitch of Alex’s breath before he caught the surprise in her wide eyes, which she controlled in an instant. Her gaze lingered on his mouth long enough to let him know she hadn’t forgotten him—or the sensual pull they shared—either. A bonus for him, making this seduction easier.

  “You know I don’t believe in coincidences,” she finally said.

  Rowan didn’t either. He also didn’t believe in lasting love. He trusted no one, and most times people around him got killed, which didn’t lend itself well to long-term relationships. But lust was real, and that red-hot sexual energy still pulsed between him and Alex, almost so tangible he could taste it in the air. “Yes, I do know that about you.”

  She didn’t even miss a beat, glancing down at her drink in her hands. “How did you know I was here?”

  “Your arrival at JFK raised alarms.”

  Alex snorted. “Are you here to check up on me, then?”

  The bartender placed his drink down in front of him. He nodded his thanks and left a ten-dollar bill on the bar then lifted his glass to Alex. “I can certainly think of better things to do than check up on you, can’t you?”

  Instant heat flared in her eyes in the same way it had five years ago. Rowan wanted desperately to drink it in. And that had nothing to do with the reasons that brought him there tonight.

  But that heat also made his job easier. He’d play on that desire, getting her to reconnect and forget that he’d left her once. She had no reason to help him. Christ, she had no reason to talk to him. He had to give her one. So he’d come up with a plan: seduce her, earn her forgiveness, find the killer.

  Rowan lifted his glass. “To old times.”

  She clinked his glass with a sexy smile. “To old times.”

  They hadn’t stayed for a second drink.

  An Uber ride later, and with heat burning in the air between them, Rowan followed Alex through the hallway of Langdon Bridge, the swankiest hotel in New York City where Alex had checked into. “Nice place,” he said, entering the room after her.

  She shut the door behind him and then locked it. “I’m supposed to be pampering myself on vacation.”

  He couldn’t help himself, and a grin tugged on his mouth. “I promise you’ll be pampered tonight, McCoy.”

  She returned the grin, though her smile dripped with lust. “Classy, Hawke.”

  “Always.” He took in the lavish modern suite, finding they stood in a small living room, while she strode by him and dropped the key card on the table by the door. The bedroom was in the next room with double doors and a large king-size bed with a white duvet. Obviously, her boss paid her well, as he should. Good—honest—hackers were hard to find. Rowan began to glance over at her, when he caught sight of her laptop sitting on the coffee table near the large row of windows by the wingback chairs. A laptop that he knew she could do things with that nearly no one else could do. There was no place that Alex could not get into. No person she could not find.

  That’s why he needed her. He sought answers about the Casanova Sadist that no one had been able to give him. A killer that he’d been hunting for weeks now. A killer that had taken the lives of five women, leaving their naked bodies bound and displayed like they were a disturbing piece of art. A killer that still had three more women in his grips.

  But first, he needed Alex on his side. He needed for her to want to help him, instead of flipping him off and telling him to find someone else. Which was exactly what he deserved.

  Determined to reconnect and put his plan into action, he yanked her lithe body up against his and ravished her with his mouth, pleased when she kissed him back with equal fervor.

  But soon that wasn’t enough. He needed…more.

  With every bit of clothing he removed from her body, he knew the deeper he was getting himself in this. Touching her reminded him of the exact reasons he’d run. She felt too good…too real…too dangerous. But there was no turning back now, not with lives on the line.

  He lived his life in the shadows. He’d spent so much time pretending to be other people to catch criminals, he couldn’t even remember the man he was meant to be. Until Alex. And that rich sensation of home that she pulled out of him would not wait. He wanted her. Every goddamn perfect inch of her.

  With each kiss, her mouth molded to his. Her body bent to his will, reacting to every one of his touches, urging him on like a drug he couldn’t get enough of. He wanted her like he hadn’t wanted anything for a long time. She tasted sweet and yet sinful, and he ached to drink her in. Every brush of her lips, swirl of her tongue, only made him thirstier. She held his T-shirt tight, yanking him closer, until she removed his shirt and then pushed him away a moment with a gasp.

  He met her lust-filled eyes, and his cock pressed painfully against the zipper of his jeans. “Still so dangerously sexy, I see,” he told her huskily.

  She licked her lips. “Likewise, Hawke.”

  His muscles felt rigid beneath his skin as he scanned over her creamy flesh to her black lace bra covering a perfect handful of breasts.

  “Don’t get any ideas about this,” she said, drawing his focus back to her face. She kicked off her red high heels. “We’ve got tonight, then you forget me again.”

  That seemed to be their thing. When someone saw the darkness that lurked beneath people’s skin, that’s all they saw. Trust came hard after that. “I’ll take tonight.” He stalked toward her. His target. “But you won’t get any agreement from me that I won’t want more or that I’ll forget you.”

  When he reached her, he grasped her hip. She gasped when he yanked her against him, her face flushing beautifully. He pinned her arms behind her, dropping his head into her neck, inhaling the sweetness of her flowery perfume. He kissed at her flesh roughly, encouraged by the unleashed moan she gave. Hot and hard and ready to give them both a release, he backed her up against the wall. She draped her leg across his thigh, and he took that as an invitation. He ground his throbbing cock against the juncti
on between her thighs, moving his mouth to hers again. Then he devoured her.

  Every moan, he drank in.

  Each one of her shivers, he owned.

  Desperate to have her, he leaned away to drag his fingers over the curve of her breasts and damn near salivated. “Exquisite,” he murmured.

  “No, Hawke,” she said, and he lifted his gaze up to her smoldering eyes as she took his hand and placed it between her thighs. “In case you forgot, here is where I’m really exquisite.”

  He felt her heat through the denim, and he grinned at the challenge, not minding a little power play between them. He could always give the illusion of control, knowing in the end, he’d always get it back. He flicked the button of her jeans open then yanked them down to below her ass. With his free hand, he slid his fingers into the soft strands of her hair, until he held her tight, right where he wanted her. When he fisted his fingers, her hooded eyes met his. Only then did he slide his other hand into the front of her panties. He met trimmed pubic hair and a soaking wet sex. “I’ve never forgotten, Alex. Not a single thing.” Her taste, her smell, how beautiful she looked when she fell apart, all of it had remained cemented in his mind. He stroked the silkiness of her folds, bringing her arousal to her clit where he circled the bud.

  She moaned, her eyes fluttering, as she dropped her head back against the wall. “Don’t stop.”

  He leaned in, bringing his mouth close to hers, tasting the passion in the air between them. “Tell me what you want,” he ordered, nipping at her jawline.

  She opened her rich, seductive eyes. “Make me come, Rowan.”

  His muscles quivered at his name on her tongue. A tongue he wanted back in his mouth and then later on his cock. But it was the heady lust in the single word that drove him to give her what she wanted. He easily inserted one finger into her drenched heat and then another.

  Her eyes fluttered. “Fuck yes…”

  Captivated by how sensual and free she was, he tightened his fingers in her hair, seeing the swell of desire rushing across her face. Needing to get his cock where his fingers were, he didn’t drag this out. He settled his fingers in deep, played with a few different moves to learn her tells again, and then he quickly found his rhythm. He thrust his fingers fast and hard, working her pleasure until he had full control of her body.