His eyes flashed. He stepped closer so quickly that she stumbled away from him. Her back hit the wall of the walkway. His hands rose to brace himself against the brick on either side of her head, trapping her. Trapping her with his tall, hard body hovering close, radiating a heat so palpable it caressed her, wrapped around her heart, squeezed it tight. She caught the scent of his aftershave and something deeper, clean and bright as ocean air.
“Make no mistake.” His voice was low, dark, vividly intense, each word like a smooth velvet touch. “I don’t seduce potential clients to get the yes. I get the yes because I’m damned good at my job. What we’re doing here?” His gaze dipped to her mouth. “This thing between us has nothing to do with the contract. Nothing at all.”
She flattened herself against the wall and fought to get her breathing under control. She couldn’t look weak in front of him. Couldn’t look vulnerable. “I’d love to know your agenda, then.”
“Explain why I have to have an agenda to ask you out on a date.”
“Because I’m not exactly your type.”
He raised a brow. Cool and in complete control outwardly, but in his eyes she saw frustration. “I have a type, now?”
“A big ex-football player like you?” She tilted her chin up, glowering at him.
She thought to challenge him, but instead of offering a verbal response he dipped his head. His breath skimmed over her cheek, and she caught a sound in her throat. He was burning her and he never even touched her. The slightest brush of stubble set her skin on fire. His lips drew close to her ear. Close enough that she felt the two syllables he whispered: “Soccer.”
“Wh-What?”
“I was a soccer player. And I dated whomever the hell I wanted.”
Brianna closed her eyes. Her stomach was a riot, her body tingling. She had the feeling Thomas Jones did what he wanted rather often. She couldn’t let him think he could do whatever he wanted with her.
But then his fingertips grazed her cheek. Their tips were rough, the fingers of a man who used his hands for more than clicking next on a PowerPoint presentation—but their touch was gentle. Almost tender. Coaxing her to open her eyes and look at him.
His gaze captured hers. So dark—dark as a night she could lose herself in. As a little girl she’d been afraid of moonless nights; the world outside would seem to vanish into a gloomy half world where, if she weren’t careful, she’d be swallowed into that shadowed place and never find her way back again.
Thomas’s eyes were those moonless nights, and she was terrified he was already pulling her into the dark.
“It’s simple,” he whispered. “A man and a woman find each other attractive. The fact that we met in the high-stakes corporate pit of a Ruby Tuesday’s doesn’t matter. There is no agenda. Let it be as simple as it is.”
But could it be that straightforward? She’d trusted the simple and apparent truth too many times in her life and had been torn apart by lies every time.
Thomas was no different.
She set her jaw and pressed her hand to his chest, gently pushing him back. “Then let’s be perfectly clear,” she said. “I find you to be arrogant and obnoxious, and I’m not interested in starting a non-business relationship with you.”
“Your words say one thing, but your eyes say another.” He smiled. It was a slow smile, slow as molasses, and just as dark. “But I won’t argue with you. Let’s go.”
He withdrew, powerful arms bunching under his shirt as he pushed off the wall and freed her from the paralyzing envelope of his heat. He offered his arm with a sardonic tilt of his head.
“Shall we?”
No, she thought, and slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow anyway. Damn it, he was right. She might be saying no, but her body was saying yes. Very loudly.
“I hope you like Mexican,” he said and led her down the walk.
He flagged a cab. As they settled into the back, his gaze burned her. Thomas murmured their destination to the cab driver, but Brianna hardly heard him. She was too busy staring out the window, trying to make sense of her jumbled thoughts.
Nothing good could come of this date. The man had a motive, no matter what he said. He was too persistent. Too focused on her, turning the full force of his admittedly irresistible—and obnoxious, she couldn’t forget—allure on her. He wouldn’t want anything to do with her if he knew who and what she really was. He didn’t know she was a widow, with three kids at home.
Somehow she didn’t think that’s what he signed on for when he asked her out. If she told him about herself, he would probably run away from her faster than the human eye could see. He would go away and she would be free to go home to her safe house, on her safe couch, watching her favorite television show.
Why, then, did she open her mouth to do exactly that…and close it without another word? She knew what to say. What to do. But she didn’t do it—and she had no idea why. After all, the most she could expect out of tonight was a one-night stand, and those always left her feeling cheap and slightly dirty. Like she was compensating for something. She’d never learned to let herself go and just enjoy it, like so many other lucky women did. She always doubted herself, just as she did now.
Because she hadn’t the slightest damned clue what he—or she—really wanted.
Chapter Three
Thomas watched Brianna from the corner of his eye. So mistrustful. Admittedly he’d given her no real reason to trust him, but she acted like he was the Big Bad Wolf in Bo Peep’s clothing.
He could guess why she thought he’d hurt her. She’d given it away herself when she’d mentioned his “type.” He wasn’t sure he had a type. He had, once. She was currently living in his old house, sleeping with the yoga trainer who helped her keep her cheerleader body.
Paying for that yoga trainer with Thomas’s alimony checks.
He’d needed a new type long before he’d divorced Nicole and the long string of lovers that came with her. He could do worse than Brianna, and one date wasn’t the ten-year commitment he’d made before. A commitment that had left him stupidly blinded. Suckered in by a pretty face and reduced to a whimpering dog at her feet.
Never again.
At least with Brianna there was perspective. He wouldn’t be in Vegas long enough for her to use those lovely eyes and dangerous curves to seduce him into willingly snapping on his own leash, then dragging himself by it straight to Hell. He’d done that once before. And thanks to Nicole and his own stupidity, he’d destroyed his relationship with his one true friend, and hurt the only woman he truly trusted and loved. That rift was only beginning to heal after seven years. He wasn’t repeating the mistakes that had led to it in the first place.
No, tonight he was making an entirely new mistake. A very stupid one.
If they ended up hitting it off and they were happy together, then things would be fabulous. He’d seen office relationships work out splendidly. Stolen lunch dates in the break room. Hot, steamy kisses in the supply closet.
But if she decided she hated him? Well, that was a little bit different. He could just picture it now. The loathing glare she shot at him from across the boardroom table. The hatred in her motions as she slammed her pen down next to the blank contract she no longer wanted to sign because he was a dick. He could be losing everything in this mess. Losing everything because he was thinking with his little head instead of the one on his shoulders.
But he was in the mood to be a little stupid.
He turned his gaze to Brianna. She looked so small right now, her pensive eyes staring out the window, her face unguarded and somehow lost. He doubted she knew how vulnerable she could look when she wasn’t acting the part of the businesswoman, and he wondered if she wasn’t right: he would end up hurting her without meaning to, over a casual flirtation and the thrill of the chase.
A disquieting feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.
She glanced toward him and caught his eye. Her face closed over. “What?”
“Nothing.
” He reached across the seat, captured her hand, and stroked his thumb over her fingers.
She tensed and shot him an incredulous look. “What are you doing?”
“Touching you.” He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm. “It’s something humans do to express interest in someone. You’ve heard of humans, I assume.”
“I’ve also heard of slimy snakes.”
“I left my snake oil in my briefcase.” He darted his tongue out to touch the center of her palm. She gasped as if he’d shocked her. Her eyes were wide, the color of polished amber, translucent and clear.
“D-Don’t.”
“Are you sure? I’m just proving that I’m a man who is very much interested in you, since you seem so convinced I’m not.” He ran his thumb over the soft skin at her wrist. Goosebumps rose on her flesh, and her softly indrawn breath teased him. “Men are fairly simple to understand. We require very little to satisfy our needs. You, on the other hand…”
“What about me?” Her fingers curled loosely against his; her voice trembled.
“You are more complex,” he simply said. He wouldn’t give her more than that. Let her wonder what he meant.
Her trembling stopped. He glanced up and met her eyes. They were cold, but underneath the frosty surface a snapping fire threatened to break free. She deliberately, precisely extracted her hand from his grip.
“You’re playing me,” she said flatly.
No, he thought. If anything, she was playing him like a fiddle. Every time she brushed him off, he craved to win her approval. Wanted her to want him so badly it hurt. Had he read the signals wrong? Was she truly not interested in him at all?
“I’m not playing you, Brianna.”
She tapped her fingers on her leg. “Where are we going?” she asked, her voice cold.
“Where would you like to go? Would you like me to take you home?” he asked.
Her head snapped toward him. She blinked. Her brows drew together; that fire of fury threatened to break past her shielded gaze. Good. He wanted her to look alive. Wanted the spitfire he’d first met back. She seemed more real when she was angry. More the real woman she kept trying to bury under her polished image.
“Take me home?” she bit off.
“I’m not going to force you to go out with me, Brianna.” He dragged his hand through his hair, feeling completely out of place. “I usually read people well. I thought I read a spark of…interest…in your eyes. If I’m wrong about you, then I’ll take you home. I don’t need to bribe women to go out with me, believe it or not,” he said, his voice dry.
He couldn’t help adding that last part on. She’d wounded his pride, whether she had meant to or not.
She faltered. “So now you’re giving up? Wow. I thought you didn’t stop when you wanted something.”
“I draw the line at forcing a woman out to dinner,” he said. She looked at him as if she wanted to throttle him or kiss him into silence. He wasn’t sure which one. “So what is it going to be? Dinner or home?”
“Oh. My. God.” She clenched her fists. “You’re so annoying.”
“It’s simple. Either I was right, and you want to go to dinner with me on a date. Or I was wrong, and I take you home. We keep our relationship strictly professional.” His heart sped up. He wasn’t wrong. He knew it. If he was wrong, she would have jumped at the opportunity to flee his side. Instead, she glowered at him.
“I said I’d go to dinner with you, so I will.”
“Nope. Not good enough. Things need to be clear between us. If you go out with me, it’s a date.” He slid closer to her, tilting her chin back with his thumb. She stared up at him defiantly, refusing to admit she wanted him. Refusing to give in. “Just answer the question, Brianna.”
Her chin jutted out with stubborn defiance. “Fine. We’re going on the stupid date. Happy?”
He fought back a grin. He didn’t like to show his emotions too clearly. Nicole had always mocked him for being transparent. The simple memory wiped away all traces of a smile. “And you’re going out with me because…?”
“Because I want to.” She gritted her teeth. “Not because I have to for my job.”
“Good. Now I can do this without feeling guilty.”
He gripped her wrists, dragged her close, and captured her lips. She tensed, twisted, and tugged. If she’d jerked away, if she’d cursed at him, he’d have let her go.
Instead she melted to him with a breathy little moan, her lips parting beneath his.
He groaned and let go of her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she dragged him closer, arching her supple body into his. She was like fire wrapped in silk, and she opened to him with an almost vicious eagerness.
His tongue darted past her lips to taste her. She was sweet, luscious, her flavor wild and molten. A tight ache of need unfurled inside him—a craving he’d been denying for far too long. She raked her fingers over his shirt, fisted handfuls of the cotton, and pulled him closer. The heated, wet depths of her mouth dragged him into an undertow of fire that threatened to drown him in the untapped wells of passion sleeping under her cold shell.
They nearly ravaged each other, fingers grasping and clutching at clothing, mouths pressed together with a hunger that bordered on madness. Her breasts heaved against his chest, the twin points of her nipples pressing into him, taunting him. She was panting, pliant, and he wanted her. Here. Now. Raw and rough in the back of the damned cab if he had to.
The cabbie cleared his throat. The car eased to a halt. With a growl, Thomas tore his lips from hers and looked down at her. The glazed look in her eyes, the wanton need written on her face, punched him in the gut. He almost ignored the cabbie. The intensity of the sudden, overwhelming need she roused in him was disturbing. He was accustomed to having to hold himself back.
But one kiss from her made him feel like his leash had snapped.
He rested his forehead against hers. His lips ached from the roughness of their kiss. “We’re here.”
She took a shaky breath. She looked beautifully dazed, almost confused, and she jerked back from him, blinking, darting a glance at the cabbie. “R-Right.”
He shoved his hand into his pocket, tossed a twenty to the cab driver, and helped Brianna from the car. It was more telling than anything that she let him, laying her delicate hand against his arm with her eyes downcast. Her mouth was reddened, her hair disheveled, and he couldn’t help a fierce and primitive sense of pride. He’d broken her poise. He’d left her flushed, flustered, deliciously disarrayed.
To hell with dinner. He was taking her straight to his room.
Chapter Four
As the cab pulled away in a crunch of gravel, Brianna smoothed her disarrayed clothing and looked anywhere but at Thomas. Good God, she’d been all over the man. She wasn’t even sure what had happened. He’d kissed her, and some long-dead part of her had come very suddenly and very vocally to life.
And that part of her wanted his body atop her, locked with her, filling her until she screamed.
Guilt sank its ugly claws into her. What was she doing? She looked down at the band of paler skin on her ring finger and clenched her fingers. It had been far too long since she’d looked at a man, let alone let herself go like that. The last time had been clumsy fumbling with some guy from a dating site. She’d realized then that she didn’t want to get back into the world of awkward first dates and disastrous attempts at forced intimacy.
She’d realized that she couldn’t replace him, and his shadow would always follow her through every failed relationship, every moment of doubt that when the next man said, It’s not you, it’s me, he meant, It’s you. It’s you and all your baggage.
Thomas would be no different. Just because her body didn’t have the sense God gave little green apples didn’t mean she had to let it rule her choices. She needed to keep her distance, or she’d be in trouble faster than she could say “blackjack.”
He offered his arm, but she retreated a step. Calm. Composur
e. She drew herself up and forced a polite smile. “I think this was a bad idea. I’d like to go home now.”
He rocked back on his heels, his face open and vulnerable for once. He didn’t look like he was any more in control of what had happened back in that cab then she was. It made her relax a tiny bit.
Meeting her eyes, he asked, “Do you really want to go home? Or are you just a little bit scared of what happened? I’ll admit, it was pretty damn intense.”
“Well, yes and no.” She blew out a breath. If he was going to be completely honest, then so would she. “This scared me, yes. This is entirely unlike me. I don’t normally do…do that. In the back of a cab. With a stranger.”
His grin was wolfish. Dangerous. And it sent delicious tremors right down into the heart of her. “If that was any indication…you’ve been needing to for a long time.”
Wrong thing to say—even if he was absolutely correct. “You have no idea what I do or don’t need.”
He stepped closer, his nostrils flaring. “I know that I need you. I know that I don’t want you to leave, but will stand here and watch you drive off in a cab if you want to go.”
She closed her eyes. Need wasn’t an adequate word to describe the molten thing curling in her stomach and flowing lower with every moment, but if she stayed…she knew she would end up in his bed. Tonight. Did she really want that? Was she ready?
“I don’t want to go,” she finally whispered.
Before the words were completely out of her mouth, he was behind her—wrapping his arms around her, pulling her back against his body. Lust was a potent thing that left her dizzy. The heat of him wrapped around her until she felt lewd, a flush of arousal swallowing her like a burning, wet mouth licking everywhere over her skin.
And from the way he pressed into her, at least one part of him was very honestly, genuinely interested in her. In what they’d been doing in the back of the cab. In what they could be doing upstairs in just a few minutes.
Love Me Page 3
