by Lily Harlem
*
I pulled up at Rick’s gates on time and was met with a burly guy in a navy suit. Chainlink Security was embroidered in gold on his jacket.
“Good evening, madam,” he said when I wound down the window. “Is Mr. Lewis expecting you?”
“Very much so,” I said, remembering his threat of coming to collect me if I wasn’t there by ten past seven. “Dana Wilcox.”
He consulted a clipboard, ticked my name off, then pointed a remote at the gates. They started to swing open.
“Has Mr. Lewis had some more trouble out here?” I asked, glancing up and down the street, half expecting to see a crazy woman strutting around.
“No, miss, and he wants to make sure there isn’t any.” He stepped back and I caught sight of a holster around his waist. I shivered. My hatred of guns only grew as the years passed.
I pulled up the drive and parked next to Rick’s Lexus. Before I was even up the steps the front door was flung open.
“Hey,” he said, looking like a walking invitation to sin in faded jeans and a soft green cotton shirt. “Glad you made it on time.”
“I wouldn’t dare not.” Why does my stomach flip every single time I see him?
He chuckled and stepped aside so I could walk into the hallway.
I breathed in deep, inhaling his luscious scent. It swirled around my insides and laced my tongue, reminding me of his taste, reminding me of his touch.
“The guys will be here by eight. I ordered some cars so everyone can have a few beers and not worry about driving.”
“I could have organized that if you’d asked.” I dumped my bag on the chaise.
His brow creased. “You don’t have to do everything for me.”
“But that’s what you’re paying Best Laid Plans for, to do everything.”
“I asked for food, drink and some entertainment, nothing more.” He stepped up close and studied me with his heavy brown eyes.
“And you insisted on me being here,” I said in a quiet voice.
“Oh yeah, and that.” He reached and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “How’s your week been? Since I last saw you.”
“Busy, I was looking forward to a night off actually.”
His brows lifted, his mouth twitched. “I can cancel if you want. It can be just you and me and a huge mountain of pizza.”
“See, I was right, this was a ruse to get me out again, wasn’t it?” Placing my hands on my hips, I tried to look cross.
He grinned. “You being here is a definite bonus but no, I genuinely wanted to give Brick a guy’s night. He’s been so wound up in Carly these last six months, we’ve barely been able to grab a beer with him. I reckon if he’s the guest of honor then there’s no way he can back out and spend the evening in bed with his hot fiancée.” He paused. “But we have time for a quick dip in the pool before they arrive if you want?”
My belly clenched at the suggestion. “No, I think we can safely say I’ve experienced the pool.”
He laughed and stepped away. “Well in that case come and take a look at the ‘dancing room’. They put up a great girly twirling pole yesterday.”
*
Before long, the house was loud with deep, raucous voices and the aroma of every type of pizza hung heavy in the air.
Rick introduced me to the first few of his guests, Phoenix, Raven and a few others whose names I didn’t catch. But after that there seemed to be so many men all shouting over one another about the latest hockey scores and predicting future transfers that it was hard even to think straight.
Tina and Cindy showed on time and I hurried them into one of Rick’s spare bedrooms to change into their stage clothes.
“Phew, fabulous pad,” Tina said, whistling as she looked around the opulent bedroom.
“Yes, it is pretty impressive isn’t it?” I said.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I know you’re not telling me everything, Dana, I haven’t seen you for a while but I can still tell there is more to this party than meets the eye.”
“Are you sleeping with him?” Cindy asked, stripping off her clothes without a hint of embarrassment. “The big one, the captain, what’s his name…Ramrod?”
“No,” I said quickly. “No, I’m not. Not at all. No.”
She laughed. “Hah, you protest too much.”
Tina raised her brows. “You could do worse you know, hon.”
“That might be the case but I’m here doing my job, organizing his party, nothing more.” I folded my arms over my chest. “So if you’re ready, I’ll tell the guys to take their seats.”
“This is all very civilized,” Tina said, removing her top and denim shorts to reveal a gold sparkling bra-and-thong set.
“Yeah, but I’m not complaining. Makes a nice change from the grimy backstage rooms at Mackay’s doesn’t it?” Cindy pulled on a scarlet thong and bra that looked stunning against her deep-coffee-colored skin. She reached into a bag and drew out a red feather boa and high black stilettoes. She slipped them on and grinned at me. “Let me at ’em. I’ve always had a thing for hockey players. All that Neanderthal grunting and beefy brawn. This should be fun.”
Standing at the back of the home theater, I watched Tina strut confidently up to the pole in time with the fast beat of her music. With a smile, a wink and a saucy wriggle of her hips, she harnessed the attention of the men in the room.
It never failed to amaze me how effortless she made swinging from one limb look, and clearly in the last few years she’d honed and perfected her routine so it was completely seamless. Her waist-length blonde hair swept over the floor when she hung upside down and her endlessly long legs wrapped around the metal supporting her entire body as she spun and slid, landing solid but light every time.
I glanced at Rick. He was sitting in the back row. He smiled up at me and took a sip from a beer, his eyes not leaving mine as he tipped the bottle. I looked away. Glanced back. His gaze was still on me.
Pulling in a deep breath, I offered him my most professional smile. Best Laid Plans had given him what he’d asked for. Pizza, beer and beautiful girls to dance for his friends. I’d done my job. He couldn’t complain.
When Tina finished showcasing her moves, Cindy took to the stage, flapping her feather boa provocatively. She was an amazing mover—her lithe, slim body incredibly beautiful and her expression sultry and sexy. She even treated the guys to some up-close-and-personal belly dancing, which generated several wolf whistles from the front row. I glanced at Rick again. He was chatting quietly to Phoenix and apparently oblivious of the show he’d paid an extortionate amount for.
As if he felt my gaze he paused, turned and gave me a cheeky, lopsided grin, creating a dimple in one cheek.
A flush traveled over my skin. What is it about his smile? It turned me to mush and created a warm glow in my belly and my chest. Not an unpleasant sensation, just new and impossible to ignore.
The show lasted an hour and afterward, as the players wandered back to the kitchen in search of more food and drink, I heard several of them admiring the athletic qualities of the dancers. Though many, of course, were discussing their female attributes and wondering what other positions their supple limbs could twist into.
Tina and Cindy quickly collected their bags from the bedroom and I met them at the front door to say goodbye.
“Thanks for dancing so wonderfully,” I said, handing Tina an envelope thick with bills.
“No, thank you, Dana,” Tina said, folding the envelope in half and shoving it deep into her purse.
“The guys seemed to enjoy it, even though we stayed covered,” Cindy said, her expression one of wonder. “Didn’t even get my puppies out and they were hooked.”
I smiled. “Not quite as Neanderthal as you thought, huh?”
She shook her head. “No, quite sweet really.”
I laughed. Sweet wasn’t an adjective I’d use for the crowd of hungry, loud men roaming around the kitchen.
“Don’t be a stranger, Dana,” Tin
a said, reaching out and resting her hand on my shoulder. “Raif still asks about you. He’d love to see you sometime.”
“I’m sorry, life is hectic, but I will stay in touch. And please, give Raif a hug from me.”
“I will.” She reached forward and tugged me into a tight embrace. “And remember what I said earlier, you could do a lot worse than Ramrod.”
“There’s nothing going on.” I pulled back.
She sighed. “I might just be a dancer and I sure as hell don’t have any qualifications, but if there is one thing I know it’s men.” She cupped my chin in her hand. “And that man looks at you as though he wants to throw you over his shoulder and carry you off to his cave.”
“He does not.”
“Oh honey, he so does,” Tina laughed. “And if you ignore it, you’re not as bright as I thought you were.”
Cindy opened the front door. “Come on, Tina, let’s get going. Rodrigo will be a complete shit if we’re late.”
“Think about it,” Tina said, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. “There’s not many times in life a decent man passes your way. If I were you, I’d be grabbing him by that hot tushie of his and not letting go.”
*
“Have they all gone?” I asked Rick an hour later.
“Yeah, they need their beauty sleep,” he said with a laugh and bolted the door.
“Then it’s time for me to go too.” I reached for my purse from the chaise.
“Please, Dana, wait.” Rick wrapped his fingers around my wrist.
“Why?” My breath hitched as I looked up into his face.
“Because I want to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“The, er, girl, the dancer.” His voice quieted. “With the blonde hair. You knew her?”
My lips tightened and my knees jerked as if they’d been whacked from behind. Oh shit, he saw Tina giving me a hug goodbye.
“It doesn’t matter how,” he went on. “I just…” He shook his head and his jaw clenched. “Damn it, Dana, talk to me. Quit with the games.”
“They’re not games, it’s how I feel.”
“Then explain why you feel this way.”
“Explain why I don’t want a man in my life?”
He dropped my wrist and I folded my arms over my chest.
“Yes, that would be a good place to start.”
I shrugged. “What do you want me to say? That I’m not attracted to you?”
“If you did that would be a lie because I know you’re attracted to me. I can tell by the way you look at me. By the way your body reacts whenever I touch you. By the way you call out my name on a breathless pant whenever I give you what you really need.”
I sighed and shivered at the same time, goose bumps rising on my flesh at the memories. “Rick, what do you want from me?”
“Just the truth.”
“But why does it matter so much?”
He reached for my arms, unfolded them and grasped my hands in his enormous palms. “Because I haven’t felt like this in years.”
“What do you mean?”
“I haven’t ever before been desperate to spend time with someone, want to see them smile and get to know everything about them. You fascinate me, you’re a challenge.” He paused. “A wild thing.”
I stared up into his earnest face. “But that’s just it. You don’t know me so how can you think you want those things from me?”
“Because when I’m with you the need to touch you is a gravitational pull and when I’m not with you I’m plotting how I can see you again, how I can spend time with you.” He dragged in a deep breath. “Each tiny snippet of information about yourself that you release is like a piece of treasure, something that I store away and bring out in the dead of the night and think about.” He released my right hand and placed the pad of his thumb beneath my chin. “And every wonderful time your sexy little body has responded to mine has chipped away at the feeling of aloneness that has been in my life for far too long.”
My heart was swelling in my chest and my breathing was tight. “But, Rick, if you really knew what had happened in my past you wouldn’t feel that way, I promise. You might think you want me but you wouldn’t, you don’t really.” How could he? My beginnings had been demeaning and my first steps into the world sordid.
“Don’t tell me I don’t want you,” he said in a low rumbling voice as his lips brushed mine. “And who hasn’t got a past, Dana? Everyone has a past.”
I licked my lips and drew in his intoxicating flavor.
“Take me, for example,” he said. “My past is biting me on the butt big-time. Laurie Sharp was one hell of a mistake.”
“She would have put a lot of men off women for life.”
He gave a naughty smirk. “Baby, I like women far too much to be put off by one psycho.”
I glanced away. “But Laurie was one night, one mistake.”
He sighed. “Yeah, one seriously hideous lapse of judgment.”
I reached up and rested my hand on his upper arm, letting the strength and the heat of him seep onto my palm. It was awful that he was living with this shadow—a shadow of hate, madness and revenge. I wished I could magic it all away for him and take the distress out of his beautiful eyes.
“If I tell you something, can you keep it to yourself?” he asked quietly. His brows pulled low and his arms wound around my waist but he didn’t hold me close, he just kept me trapped.
“Of course.”
He sucked in a breath. “My agent will kill me for this but I want to tell you, I want you to understand about my past.”
I tipped my head. “Why would he kill you?”
“Because, as I already told you, he’s trying to set me up working with kids, being an example and all that. It would make things awkward if this came out during the negotiations.”
“Then I promise I will never say anything.”
He dragged in a deep breath. “Back in my teens I spent some time in juvie.”
“You did?” My eyes widened. “What for?” Rick behind bars, I couldn’t imagine it, couldn’t believe it.
He swallowed and I was aware of his body tensing beneath my touch. “I fell into the wrong crowd. We took to running around at night, looking for a bit of trouble or a bit of cash, both if we could.” He paused. “One night we spotted a second floor apartment with the window open. I was the youngest but also the tallest so I was sent up on the fence and ordered in.” His eyes narrowed. “I handed down what I could—TV, stereo, kitchen stuff, even a jewelry box. I felt like shit about it but the others were shouting me on, encouraging me to get more. We would have a great time spending the cash on beer and some smokes. I was the hero of the night.”
“So what happened?”
“Sirens screamed down the street, a whole pile of cops got out and my so-called pals ran like the wind. Trouble was, I didn’t get out quick enough and four cops were waiting for me as I dropped to the ground. They hauled my bad little ass off to the station and screamed the riot act at me.”
“Rick, that’s awful, didn’t you tell them it was peer pressure?”
He laughed without humor. “That doesn’t wash when you’re seventeen, Dana. It was my own stupid fault and my own sorry mess.” He stared at the wall over my shoulder. “No one in my family had the cash to pay my bail and to cut a long story short, I got locked up for two months. It was a shit time in my life, the worst probably, but it did make me sit back and think. Made me decide what I wanted to do.”
“And were you skating then?”
“Yes, I was on the local team, messing about, hitting pucks whenever I could be bothered to show up. I enjoyed it, I was good at it, so I decided it could be more, a bigger part of my life. Luckily my coach felt the same, and when I got out he was happy to give me a second chance.” He shrugged. “The rest is history.”
“You mean your rise to fame and fortune?”
“Yeah, my rise to fame and fortune.” His gaze harnessed mine. “But I’m still loo
king for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“What a few of my teammates have found. Someone to spend time with, have fun with, get to know. Not some groupie who hangs around the bars near the rink hoping to score a hockey player, and certainly not some crazy stalker woman who sends me freaky letters and stuff. Someone nice and normal, someone who makes me smile and who makes me think about them when we’re not together.” His voice dropped low. “Someone who makes me so damn hot I feel as if I’ve been dropped in a volcano whenever she walks into a room.”
“I don’t think that’s me,” I said, shaking my head. But I wish it was, ’cause he’s making me so hot I’m about to combust.
“Let me be the judge of that,” he whispered. “Because I’m sure whatever is bothering you has been blown out of proportion. We all have broken parts of ourselves we prefer to hide, but trust me enough to tell me, please.” His mouth pressed against mine, soft and gentle but with more than a hint of determination.
He clearly wasn’t going to let up and I owed him an explanation after what he’d just shared with me. I should get it over with and tell him my story, brace myself for his disgust that I wasn’t the woman he presumed or with the background he imagined. The sooner the agony of him cutting me from his life was over the better, because one more damn kiss like this and I was going to be hooked. Well and truly hooked. I broke the kiss. “Okay,” I murmured. “I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you why I’m not the one for you.”
His gaze snared mine. A flash of triumph seared through the rich base of his chocolate-colored eyes.
My heartbeat trebled, and it was already going some to begin with. I’d never told anyone in my new life this, not even Maddie. “You were right, I do know Tina.”
He gave the barest of nods.
Beads of sweat were forming in my cleavage. I was nervous, terrified, but also a part of me was longing to be free of my secret now that I’d made the decision to divulge it. “I used to work with her.”
His expression was unreadable.
“At Mackay’s and Monte Carlo’s, downtown,” I went on.
“Clubs?”
“Yes, clubs.”
“What were you? Management or something?”
