by TJ Michaels
Sydni turned to look and her own lips eased apart. Oh god, this was so not happening.
There across the room, walking confidently in her direction was a man. Correction, a freakin’ hot studly construction worker mountain-type man…in a neon green stretchy workout shirt, hideous checkered golf pants. And a familiar face.
Sydni looked up at the ceiling and prayed. “God, just come and take me now, please. No? Well, how ‘bout opening the floor up and letting me drop through it? No on that one too? Damn.”
“Hi Syd.”
She was going to wake up anytime now, right? Right, damn it!
Then he spoke again. Sigh. Guess her prayers weren’t working today.
“I said, hello Syd.”
“Uh, hi, and it’s Sydni. Sid-nee. Fancy seeing you here, Mr. Caruth.”
“It’s Drew, and yep, definitely fancy.”
Now what were the odds that her recently acquainted lawyer would be the guy the radio station—correction, Charli, damn it—had set her up with? Why the hell hadn’t she figured it out sooner? Duh! And who would have thought the designer suits he wore in court hid such a fantabulous physique? Sydni’d thought he was only broad shouldered, but boy had she missed the mark by at least a football field.
The ugly shirt he wore left very little to the imagination, for goodness sake. Short sleeved, it showed off perfectly tanned, ropey muscled forearms and biceps sparingly dusted with black down. The shirt was stretched so tightly across his chest every can in the six pack was visible and his pecs were deliberately formed mounds of muscle. The whole lot tapered down to a trim waist and…
Nope. No way. I will not look down any further.
Okay, that declaration lasted all of half a second.
And down her gaze strayed right to a…hey, what was up with that? No overly impressive bulge? No huge package? Maybe he’d shrunk up his dick from lifting all those weights? Gazing a bit lower, disappointment was certainly wiped out of her mind at the man’s legs. His trousers fit perfectly, not too tight in the hips and thighs, but were cinched in at the waist. Since her sister was a lawyer-turned-tailor, Sydni could tell a living-room-alteration job on a pair of off-the-shelf pants at first glance. But Drew’s black hideous checkered duds looked tailored, as if the only way to get a good fit was if he bought a size or two larger just to get his thighs into them, then have the waist adjusted. Athletes whose sports required a lot of leg strength usually had this issue because they’re thighs were so large. And Drew looked like he fit that bill to the tee.
Amazing. Mr. GQ Lawyer stood there looking as deliciously sinful as her mama’s rum poundcake. And he’d seen her rougher than rough after a night locked in the hooskow? Oh god, how embarrassing.
Sheer horror snaked through each limb and it must have made its way to her face.
“What’s wrong. You look like you’ve just seen Hannibal Lecter.”
“Uh, what? Oh sorry. Nothing. I was just thinking about what I must have looked to you the other day.”
“You mean when we walked out of the courtroom?”
“Yep. That’s the time. Look, coming here was a mistake. I must have been out of my mind meeting a total stranger here.”
“Not a total stranger, Sydni.”
“Well, still. Why don’t we just call it a day? Besides, I don’t date guys I work with.”
“But we don’t actually work together, do we, beautiful?”
Beautiful? When was the last time she’d been called beautiful by someone who appeared to mean it? Sigh. That so wasn’t the point.
She rose and stuck out her hand wondering if she really wanted him to shake it or not. Surely if he touched her she’d fall on the floor in a dead faint from lack of oxygen because lord knew she’d stopped breathing the second the images of what she’d imagined him doing to her flashed in her head.
He wrapped warm fingers around hers and eased her toward him. Leaning close, he whispered for her ears only, thank god.
“Well, I did a pretty good job getting your charges dropped, not to mention I wore this ugly ass outfit just for you. At least have lunch with me?”
His words ended on a friendly chuckle, but Sydni hadn’t missed the confidence—and determination?—in them.
Arrogant bastard. Damn gorgeous, tall and yummily put together arrogant bastard. And he had a point, damn it. “So, how’d you get my charges dropped? I didn’t know you did criminal law.” Hell, she hadn’t actually meant to ask him that, especially not out loud. The last thing she needed was for the man to start gloating or for the folks at the next table to think she was some kind of two-bit crack ho’ with a neon green-shirted pimp.
“Actually, my specialty is contract law.”
“What?! What were you doing negotiating my release? What if things had gotten screwed up?”
“It was a simple misdemeanor, Sydni. Any lawyer worth his salt could have gotten you off, even if his area of expertise was salt mining treaties. It was obvious you were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Besides, Charli wouldn’t have trusted me with your situation if I didn’t know what I was doing. She and I both trained in law, remember?”
“Yes, but…?”
“Well, it worked didn’t it?” he said, tilting his head to the side in mock challenge.
She couldn’t argue with that. The man was too attractive and too charismatic by half. And when he smiled the thought of proving her point flew right out of Sydni’s head, replaced with the urge to kiss him. Repeatedly. Uninvited, her erotic fantasy in which he’d starred the night before mixed with the fact he’d sprung her from the big house. Immediately her cheeks up in flames. Thank god for dark skin.
“I’m gonna kill Charli,” she muttered to herself.
“It was her fault I was there to get you out of the clink that morning, so don’t be too hard on her, eh?”
Great. Now he had two points. Relenting, Sydni sighed, “Fine, what’ll it be?”
They walked over to the counter together where Syndi ordered a simple Earl Gray tea, then motioned for him to place his order.
He cut the coffee maker babe a fleeting glance then turned a riveting stare on Sydni. The man’s voice dripped with so much sensuality, Sydni wondered if she could find a way to put it in a patch, women the world over could simply slap one between their legs when they needed a fix. She’d make a fortune.
“I’ll have the special dark roast.” Then with a saucy little tilt of his head, eyes never leaving hers. “With a shot of hot caramel and a bit of creaming…uh, I mean cream stirred in.” Then he winked.
Holy shit! Was he flirting with her? Pwah. Creaming indeed.
“Oh and I’d like the half-and-half steamed. Make it good…and hot.”
One side—oh god, she really shouldn’t be looking—of his perfectly formed mouth tipped up into a grin and the belly jiggle harpies came out to play. Definitely harpies ‘cause her stomach was dancing to a tune much too hard and lively to be butterflies.
Sydni’s tea came up first. They stood waiting for his drink as she sipped the steaming hot brew trying to get her eyeballs to behave. They wanted to roam all over the man, take him in from head to toe. She’d already let her gaze stray once and now the damn things wanted to take that particular journey over and over.
Back at their table, Sydni felt suddenly shy. It was such an unfamiliar emotion she lowered her eyes and kept her gaze plastered to the steam rising from her cup while she tried to figure out what to do with herself.
Drew chose that moment to lean in close. The natural scent of clean, healthy man wafted her way, sending a beacon blush to her cheeks. Mentally screaming at her belly to stop flip-flopping, Sydni squeezed her warming thighs together and sipped the scalding hot tea. God, she wished an icy gale-force wind would blow through the building to cool her off. This was so not good. And for the life of her, Sydni couldn’t think of a single reason why.
“You look awfully good today, Sydni,” Drew crooned. He probably hadn’t meant for it to sound so sexy
, but oh well.
“I’m wearing a black sweat suit, Drew,” she huffed, determined to resist the man’s charm.
“Yes, but it’s what’s in the suit that makes it look so good. Now where should we go for lunch? As much as I love looking at you, I’m looking forward to eating. I’m so hungry I could just…feast.” That last was said with more than a little innuendo. While it should have grated on Sydni’s nerves, it strummed them instead.
It soon became urgent to change the subject because the current topic was heating up just a bit too quickly. And her goofy ass wanted to do the seventies disco shuffle while singing “Burn, Baby, Burn”!
With a brisk walk across the street to a little Italian deli, lunch was on. Once Sydni had been coaxed out of her shell a bit, the conversation flowed freely. They covered every subject from A to Z and soon a half-hour date turned into two hours. Sydni’s general knowledge of, well, everything, combined with a wicked sense of humor had Drew laughing so hard he practically choked on his food more than once.
As their meal progressed, he found himself wanting to prolong their time together by any means necessary. Shaking his head at himself, Drew squashed down all the baser emotions the woman brought out of him. One moment he wanted to pamper her, the next he wanted nothing more than to touch her from her scalp clear down to her knees. He could see himself enjoying everything with her—a dumb B-movie, hot sweaty sex, a walk in the park, hot sweaty sex, or sitting in silence reading a book together, followed by…hot sweaty sex. Jesus, she’d turned him into a teenager eager to get his first taste of pussy!
A waiter cleared their dishes and dropped off a couple of slices of creamy cheesecake and a carafe of coffee. Drew poured Sydni a steaming cup. She eyed him like a snake in the grass, as if he’d bite when she least expected it. It was the same look she pinned him with when he’d opened the restaurant door for her, and again when he pulled out her chair. So he smiled and said, “Yes, I pour coffee, pull out chairs and open doors.”
She tilted her head, but didn’t say anything.
“I like to pamper the woman I’m with.” Sliding the small container of cream her way, Drew watched Sydni stir her coffee while she watched him right back. She’d been having such a good time too. Almost seemed to be comfortable with him. Yet, something as simple as pouring her coffee put her right back on guard? What the hell kind of idiots had Sydni Cannes been out with where being nice put her back up?
Time to change the subject.
“Do you like board games, Sydni? Or any kind of games at all?”
“Believe it or not, I’m awesome at chess. As for other games, hmm…?” She tapped her chin, eyes focused upward while she thought. God, he could practically hear the gears grinding as she seriously considered the subject. In the seconds that followed Drew set a new target for himself – see to it that Sydni had more fun. If she had to think this hard about the kind of things she enjoyed, she obviously didn’t do them enough.
Finally she said, “Well, I like movie trivia.”
“Really? So do I. And since I have a thing for movies and beautiful black women…” With a deliberate pause, Drew let his gaze travel over her lovely features, then continued. “Let’s try this on for size.” Drew almost spewed his coffee at the utter shock that sent her chin toward the table as her mouth fell open. Okay, she needed more fun and more brash, blunt, straight up flirting. No problem. “You ready?”
She nodded with a still somewhat dazed expression. So he pushed on.
“Eartha Kitt.” The tilt of Sydni’s mouth and the glimmer of approval in her eyes said that she knew exactly who he was talking about. Eartha Kitt was still well known for her Catwoman purr, her flawless cinnamon skin and saucy attitude. “I don’t think there’s any early film star as sexy as Eartha Kitt. That woman used to give Batman a run for his money.”
Drew took a bite of cheesecake. It was thick, creamy, delicious. He wondered if Sydni would taste just as sweet on his tongue. Her smooth flawless skin certainly reminded him of coffee and cream. Or maybe chocolate mousse ice cream. With Hershey nipples, er, Hershey Kisses. It was just enough to send a rush of blood streaking south until he had to fight the urge to adjust himself underneath the table.
“Did you know that Eartha Kitt played Catwoman in the Batman TV series between 1966 and 1968, but Lee Meriweather played the character in the movie of 1966?” he asked.
“Not even,” Sydni retorted with a dismissive wave of her fork. “Everyone knows Eartha Kitt was the Catwoman of the 1960s. And that includes the movie. Nobody could purr like her.”
“Wanna bet on it?”
The woman snorted, then chuckled. “I don’t do bets, Drew.”
Sydni might not do bets, but god he sure wanted to do her. The more time in her presence the hornier he got. And it wasn’t just sex appeal. Sydni got to him on every level.
“I happen to be a total movie trivia expert, so I’ll even go easy on you,” he said smoothly, unable to hide what he knew was a shit-eating grin spread across his lips. The reaction was immediate. Just what he wanted. Well, almost.
All humor faded for a second before she snapped her well-known cool façade into place. He’d wanted to prick her pride, bring out her competitive edge, not piss her off. Time to tread a bit more carefully…then again, to hell with tip toeing around. Drew wanted Sydni to see him, the real him. Not the pretty playboy toy most women thought he was.
One perfectly manicured black brow winged upward as Sydni’s neck canted to the left. “Make it easy for me? I don’t need you to make anything easy on me, Drew. I’ve never done easy in my life. Besides, I’m not some simpering twenty year old just beginning to make her way in the world. I know who I am. And who I’m not,” Sydni snapped quietly, stabbing her cheesecake like she was mad at it.
Ah, so that’s her problem, Drew thought. Fine. He had no problem jumping right into what was really on the woman’s mind. “What do simpering twenty year olds have to do with a bet over something fun and meaningless, like movie trivia?” Drew kept right on smiling. After all, even if she was mad, he was still enjoying her company. A soft huff and a couple of soft grumbles that sounded something like “damn man” and “off guard” told him she felt a bit on the silly side. But Drew also knew that the devil would be having blizzard weather before she admitted such a thing. Instead, she forced the frown from her brow and painted on an easy smile.
Meeting his eyes, she said, “Fine. Sorry ‘bout that. What do you want to bet?”
“I bet you that Lee Meriweather was Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie.”
It sounded easy enough, but Drew knew his movies. Especially ones with sexy black women in them who pioneered the way for the current generations. Women like Eartha Kitt and Lola Falana. And it was a common misconception about who played what during those ground-breaking times.
“And what are you willing to wager since you’re going to lose?” Sydni asked, all shameless confidence, showing almost every tooth in her mouth. She was all glowing confidence and feminine grace as she tilted her head again. But this time her almond shaped eyes twinkled with an expression as old as Eve. Drew laughed outright, ridiculously thrilled that she was flirting back.
Suddenly, Sydni went still.
Drew’s laugh cut off abruptly when his eyes tracked Sydni’s line of sight. He almost groaned aloud. His guffaw had caught the attention of the woman working the counter. The chick proceeded to tilt her head at a saucy angle and wink his way. What was it that urged these airheaded women to flirt shamelessly with a man, even when said man had another woman at his table? Not to mention the fact Drew wasn’t paying anyone but Sydni the least bit of attention.
Totally ignoring the counter floozy, Drew said, “Since I’m determined to see you again, when I win I get a date and a kiss, not necessarily in that order.”
“And if I win?” she asked. With eyes suddenly gone shy, Sydni looked down at the fork she was playing with. The tip of her tongue left a moist trail over her bottom lip. Drew wanted
to taste her more than, than…hell, he couldn’t think of a comparison just now. She made him feel untamed, wild. A lion. A predator. So high on his own testosterone he wanted to lift her onto the table and mercilessly tease her lush body until she spread her legs and yelled, “Do me now!”
“Well?” she asked.
Hell, he’d almost forgotten the question. Slowly reaching across the table, Drew took her hand in his and gently kissed the knuckles from left to right.
“I’ll wear this ugly ass neon green workout shirt for you again.”
Now it was Sydni’s turn to laugh outright as she took her hand back.
“You’re on, handsome.”
Handsome. Mmm. The word sounded so different, more meaningful, coming from Sydni. She probably hadn’t meant anything by it. But in time, she sure as hell would.
They shook on the bet over the table.
Sydni was giddy as a sixteen year old on her first date until Drew pulled out his PDA, connected to the wireless internet connection offered by the restaurant and scooted closer to her in the booth. After a few clicks, a trip to the Wiki page for Batman 1966 proved her…wrong!
All she could do was gape at the traitorous PDA. And squeeze her thighs together when Drew chuckled sexily, promising all kinds of unspoken naughtiness. And right there in front of anyone who cared to watch, Drew more than made good on his word.
“Lunch tomorrow, Sydni. But I’ll have that kiss now.”
He scooted over to her side of the table and laid a kiss on her that started out so gentle it took her by surprise, lulling her into a sense of ease. Then he subtly upped the ante and drew her in with practiced skill. Sydni didn’t realize the lip lock had already blazed out of control until she was moaning into his mouth, arms twined about his neck and holding on for dear life.
