The water kept running, filling the room with steam and clouding the mirrors. The A/C kept blasting. I bent to turn the water off. "Amanda." I let loose a string of curses. "Turn the A/C off. Amanda!"
Milia was blinking quickly and walking gingerly as she pulled the towel tightly around her and dried off the bubbles. "Good thing I have good reaction time. A few seconds more and my lady parts would have been practically blistered."
Milia firmly believed in Brazilian waxes. This time they had done her no good.
"I don't know what to say," I said, still trying not to laugh inappropriately. I felt terrible. So what was so funny? "Can I get you some ice?" I took a step toward the ice bucket.
Milia's eyes were watering. She shook her head and grabbed my hand. "Good thought. But not enticing. A numb woman doesn't climax." She paused, studying me. "This isn't our night."
Just then the fireplace went out and an alarm went off.
"Fire. Fire. Exit the building. Fire," came the electronic voice of my fire alarm, accompanied by a blaring noise.
"Apparently not," I yelled over the alarm. "Amanda, turn the alarm off and the fireplace on."
The room was steamy. I was steaming and getting a headache from the damn alarm. The fireplace came back on with its characteristic poof.
The alarm kept blaring. "Fire. Fire. Smoke has been detected. Please exit the building."
"I can't turn the alarm off, Lazer," Amanda said in the calm, sultry voice I'd programmed in. "It has detected smoke. Please exit the building."
"That's not smoke," I yelled. "That's steam. Turn the alarm off, Amanda."
Just then, someone pounded on the door. "Mr. Grayson? Are you okay? You have to get out. The alarm is going off."
Milia slid on a robe as my phone rang.
I grabbed it. The security company was calling to make sure this wasn't a false alarm and determine if they should dispatch a fire crew. A false alarm would cost me an arm and a leg.
"I'm fine!" I threw on a robe and answered the door to find two members of my staff armed with fire extinguishers.
"We're fine. False alarm," I said, speaking to both the phone and my staff at the same time.
It took me a minute to assure both that there was no fire and to get the alarm to shut off. My staff members insisted on coming in and doing an inspection. I reluctantly stepped aside to let them in. They were just doing what I paid them to do. And if they hadn't, I would have had to consider firing them.
When I finally got it cleared up, got off the phone, got the all-clear, and got rid of the staff, Milia reached for her underwear. "She's really gotten to you, Lazer." She sounded sad, and almost amused.
"What? Who?" I frowned.
"The matchmaker." Milia paused. "In the middle of the emergency, you called Amanda Ashley."
I shrugged. "That's an easy mistake to make—both A names—"
Milia shook her head. "It's more than that." She paused.
What the hell did she mean?
"I should go."
I took her hand. "Stay."
She shook her head again. "My poor, naïve Lazer. Clearly someone doesn't want us together. And I don't think they're going to give up until I leave and go back to my own room."
She grabbed her dress and shoes. "Don't worry. I'll make it extremely obvious I've left. I'll even smile into your surveillance cameras."
I caught her arm and kissed her roughly. "I've never known you to give up without a fight."
"A fight is the last thing I was looking for tonight." She kissed my cheek. "Another time. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Lazer.
I watched her go. If I was honest with myself, I was relieved. Damn this conflicted state. She blew a kiss into the hidden security camera right outside the door to my suite and walked down the hall to the stairs.
Who did I know who could hack into Amanda? She was supposed to be as secure and unhackable as the State Department.
Tell that to my friends and houseguests. They loved a challenge. This breach was my own fault for hanging with world-class hackers. They liked to point out the holes in my security. It was hard to know whether to curse or commend them. Their concern for my safety was touching in its odd way. Their desire to keep me away from Milia?
I was ninety-nine percent sure it was only one of their pranks. The fact that the timing lined up to mess with my rep as a playboy was a bonus. But in the back of my mind there was the niggling thought that Milia was right.
I took a deep breath and went to my balcony, hoping the cool evening air would calm my anger. As I looked out over the unlit pool, my eyes adjusted to the dark. A woman in a white robe lounged on one of the lounge chairs as if sunning herself in the starlight. She stood very suddenly and shrugged out of the robe, revealing as shapely a naked ass as I'd ever seen. She was either wearing a tiny thong, or she was completely naked.
She dove into the pool, swimming across with expert strokes. I watched, mesmerized as she swam several laps. Finally, she swam to the edge and walked up the steps of the pool to the patio, wringing the water from her hair. She was naked, all right. Beautifully naked, with full breasts and gorgeous curves.
Ashley. Tantalizing me like a water nymph.
My mouth went dry. My pulse raced. I was filled with need.
I watched as she toweled off, slid her robe on, and looked up at my balcony. She saw me. I knew she saw me. She'd wanted me to watch. I half expected her to blow me a kiss.
Instead, she strolled into the lodge, leaving me frustrated and with an empty bed.
Chapter 3
Ashley
Austin met me in the corridor on the way to meet in the living room to catch the helicopter into the city for the day. It was the last day of our retreat. Lottie and I would be in town for an extra day. Checking out our new office space and apartment block tomorrow and heading home to New York the day after. The men would be going home to their homes in the area after a closing dinner this evening. Lottie and I had hotel reservations at one of the city's nicest waterfront hotels for the few nights we were staying. My bags were packed and in hand as I came out of my room.
I should have had a sense of victory. I had, after all, held my position and not had sex with Lazer in this romantic mountain lodge. But had that furthered my cause? Raised his ardor, or cooled it? I tried not to think of him with Milia.
Were my feelings for him any clearer? How was I going to fight this growing sense of jealousy regarding Milia, and a hundred other women that might pop up?
Austin was wheeling a carry-on suitcase as he came out of his room. He gallantly took both the bag I had slung over my shoulder and my wheeled suitcase from me.
"You look fresh and well rested this morning," I said.
"Oh, I am. As instructed by you, I believe." He grinned at me, seemingly in an upbeat, sunny mood. But that appeared to be Austin's general nature. He puffed his chest, stood tall, and peacocked. "And handsome? I got plenty of beauty rest last night. Slept like a baby."
"Did you now?" I nodded.
He looked fresh enough wearing that wry grin of his. I knew for a fact that he had been in on the prank pulled on Lazer last night. He wasn't concealing it very well. I didn't think he was even trying.
"Not as handsome as you're going to be when I'm finished with you," I said. "But you're off to a good start."
"If I've given myself a head start, that's good enough for me." He grinned. "I wouldn't expect much of Lazer this morning, though. I heard he had a rough night." He almost sounded like he was bragging.
Lottie had already filled me in on the rumors she'd heard when she went down for an early breakfast. Engaging tales of electronic malfunctions in Lazer's room late into the night. Something about Amanda, his electronic controller, going crazy and setting a fire alarm off. Where there's smoke, there's fire. That's the old saying. Where there's a fire alarm, but no smoke, there's either a malfunction or a deliberate distraction. And since we were in the company of some of the country's top software
gurus…
And, of course, I'd seen Lazer watch my little skinny-dipping escapade and heard what had happened on my way back to my room.
I raised an eyebrow, encouraging Austin to continue as we started walking. "Oh, well. Not my problem. I'm not making him over."
Austin was a tall man with long legs and longer strides. I had to struggle to keep up with him. "I heard something about a false alarm?"
"Oh, yeah." Austin nodded. "That's the story. But it appears there's more to it than that, if you know what I mean.
"His electronic assistant, Amanda, apparently went on the rampage all of a sudden, throwing her wrath at him and triggering the alarm. It's almost like she's a real woman with jealous fits of her own. Seems she didn't like another woman poaching on her territory and decided to chase her off.
"I give Amanda credit. She succeeded. Both in the chasing off and in ruining Lazer's fun. He'll be in a foul mood today." Austin sounded completely cheery.
My heart shouldn't have danced so merrily at the thought of Amanda chasing Milia off.
"Open the pod bay doors, HAL?" I said. "Like that, you mean? A computer taking over?"
"Yeah. Sure."
Realizing he was outpacing me, Austin slowed before I started huffing and puffing to keep up.
"Bug in her software somewhere, I imagine," he said with a smirk.
"I wonder how it could have gotten there."
"No idea," he said as innocently as a completely guilty man can. "That's the thing with software. Get just the right set of circumstances and a problem can appear out of nowhere."
I nodded, feigning seriousness. "Makes perfect sense."
He nodded with me. "We have Amanda's malfunction to thank for keeping Lazer walking the straight and narrow. We wouldn't want his newfound chastity threatened, now would we?" His eyes twinkled with devilment. "He's supposed to be the bait for Pair Us. The success of it and the app are riding on him. We're counting on more than his business acumen. It would be a good thing if he actually looks like he's serious about finding a wife and has given up his playboy ways. Going without for a while might even steer him in that direction."
"Yes," I said, trying to maintain my serious composure and not crack up. "I hadn't thought of it. But I suppose you're right."
He nodded. "Women looking for husbands aren't generally pleased to find their potential matches are out fooling around with other women. That's what I've read in a reputable book on the subject, anyway. Matchmakers have to warn women away from those kinds of guys as not being serious husband material. It would be a shame if you had to call Lazer out on it."
"A travesty," I agreed, wondering how Austin was managing to keep a straight face.
Cameron stepped out of his room, pulling his suitcase, and joined us in the hall. He wore a big, fat grin as well. "Morning."
"You look fresh as a daisy," Austin said to him in a way that was clearly meant to be funny. "Get a good night's sleep?"
They both acted way too innocent and pleased with themselves.
Cameron stretched for emphasis. "The best. Never slept better. Slept with the window open. Fresh mountain air. It makes for good sleeping. Heard Lazer had a rough night, though." There was mock sympathy in his voice.
The scenario repeated itself as Dylan and Jeremy joined us.
I have had some clients I've grown very close to. Some I'm still quite fond of. But these guys suddenly had my heart in a way I'd never thought possible. They were my tribe. I was fiercely protective of them. And was touched they were equally protective of me and our business.
We walked into the living room, which I kept wanting to call the lobby because of its size, with Austin and me in front and the rest of the men behind us. I felt like the lady of the castle with her knights escorting her.
Lazer was waiting for us, sitting on the sofa with a travel mug of what I presumed was coffee in his hand. He looked surprisingly good and awake, given the night he'd had. Fortunately for him, he was used to traveling, being off schedule, and getting little sleep. But there was a hint of dark circles beneath his eyes. You had to look closely, but they were there.
He watched us warily as we walked in laughing and joking with each other. I realized with a start that he'd lumped me in as a suspect with the men. It served him right for playing the jealousy card. He should expect all of us to look out for our best business interests. His friends were no dummies. If he'd underestimated them and me, was it my fault?
As for me, I didn't know whether to love or hate him. Whether to curse fate for bringing him into my life or thank it for spicing things up and making me evaluate my own advice, ethics, beliefs, and decisions.
I should have been hurt that he'd flaunted another woman in front of me, taken her to his room without trying to hide it. Looking at Lazer now, though, I went suddenly soft in the head and heart. It may only have been my vivid imagination and a damnable sense of undying hope, but I thought he looked sheepish and possibly sorry. Maybe he realized he'd made a mistake, miscalculated. Misjudged his friends and me and the way our relationship could go. Maybe being the unobtainable was working for me. Or maybe I was just too optimistic. Call me Sally Sunshine. Miss Rose-colored Glasses. Miss Denial.
Austin's words referencing my book rang in my ears. Playboys don't change their ways.
I was ignoring my own sage bit of wisdom by hoping Lazer would be the exception. Always count on being the rule, not the exception, I reminded myself. And promptly ignored that as well.
The key, the thing I had to decipher, was whether, for all his bravado, Lazer really was a playboy to the core of his being. Or if it was something he thought he should be. An act he put on. A game he played. A role. Deep down, was he an imposter? A nice guy who could settle down if he found the right girl?
I knew from my matchmaking experience that many a person, man or woman, who maintained that they would never marry simply hadn't found the right person. And when they did, any notion of remaining single vanished. And they married quickly after that.
Okay, Miss Rose-colored Glasses, time to embrace reality and realize you might be spitting into the winds of false hope.
Since meeting up with the men, I was in a surprisingly good mood. Men in New York had made me jaded and cynical about the XY gender. These men were restoring my faith. Good guys did exist. It had been a long time since I'd had a close male friend. Now I felt like I had a troop of them watching my back. I had no doubt they'd keep tabs on Lazer while I was in New York closing things up and finding women to bring back with me when I returned.
I had to give Lazer major points for having some of the best guy friends on the planet. Would these great guys put up with a douche for a friend? Even a rich one? I didn't think so.
Lazer's choice of female friends, however, left a lot to be desired.
Our eyes met and held. Was there a note of apology in his along with the suspicion?
Everyone knows the old saying that you catch more flies with honey. You catch more honeys with honey, too. I put sugar into my smile as I met his gaze, forgiving him for his indiscretion, playing it cool and relaxed. Making him sweat it with my sunny nature. Sins against sweet humanity were hard for all but the most despotic people to shoulder.
"You look surprisingly chipper this morning," I said to Lazer. "Especially after your night of terror at the hands of a commanding woman." I shook my head.
I had his attention. He tensed, very slightly, bracing himself for a tirade, maybe? Whom did he think I was referring to?
I laughed. "Anyone ever tell you that you have terrible taste in electronic women? Am I going to have to match even those for you?"
He relaxed. A little. "You heard about Amanda?" His gaze swept past me to his friends behind me.
"It's all the news around the lodge." I came up beside him. "If you can't even control your female apps, how am I supposed to put my trust and business in your hands?"
"I can control my apps." He shot another look at his friends. "It's my friends a
nd business partners I'm not so sure about. Can I have a word?"
Uh-oh.
He took my arm. I let him gently lead me away from the group of men.
"I owe you an apology," he said.
This was unexpected. So he is sorry. My heart raced.
"You were right last night. I wasn't treating you like a partner. We should make business decisions together."
He grimaced. "Which is why I have to come clean. Milia suggested we move all the appointments to the spy school. She has the facilities. We thought it would be fun for the guys to get the full spy spa treatment. She suggested we document their transformations to use as promo and advertisement later on.
"She graciously closed the school. It's all ours for the day." He seemed perfectly calm, but his Adam's apple gave him away. "I should have consulted with you before taking her up on her offer. If you disagree and would rather, we can go back to the original plan."
I wasn't usually the emotional type, but his apology genuinely touched me. I got a lump in my throat.
Before I could reply, Milia swept into the room from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand. She looked no more worse for the wear than Lazer. To my surprise, her lips quirked when she saw us, as if she found last night's prank amusing. And maybe a touch endearing. She was perfectly composed and put together, down to the elegant gold chain she wore. I wondered what kind of a woman remained amused and unruffled after being chased away by an app. There was an untold story there somewhere.
Her dark, straight hair was up in an elegant chignon that emphasized her high cheekbones and beautiful dark eyes. A look that was calculated to make other women feel inferior. She appeared classically French. But I was sure it was an illusion.
She wore skinny jeans and a tight red blouse that highlighted her model thinness and pale skin. Her expression soon turned calculating and serious as she studied the men.
I thought they suddenly felt like she was perfectly capable of extracting revenge on them. Jeremy and Cam stood up straighter, unafraid. Austin actually laughed. Dylan's expression was hidden by his mountain man beard.
Pair Us: A Jet City Billionaire Romance (The Billionaire Matchmaker Series Book 3) Page 3
