by Betina Krahn
“Who also happens to be hot.” Barbara nodded slowly as she divvied up the cheese between two plates. “Got it.”
“So what do I do now?” Nervous excitement pinged through her. She tapped the wind chime made of tiny jingle bells near her kitchen window, the trilling sound an echo of her restlessness. “Bring him dinner? Ask him out?”
Barbara put the knife down with a thunk. “You just did that, remember? And it didn’t exactly yield results. Geez. This situation calls for stealth, not a full-frontal assault.”
“Stealth?” Tori considered her ability to be forthright one of her better qualities. Her practical nature and her willingness to tout her skills without modesty had propelled her career forward for years.
“That’s part of the hunt.” Barbara dragged her plate over to the seat near Tori’s at the kitchen island. “Let’s face it, if your quarry knows you’re on the prowl, they’re going to take cover. What you need is a guerilla attack so you can get close to this guy before he knows what hit him.”
Tori munched a cracker and debated the approach. “That’s not too underhanded?”
Barbara poked her in the shoulder in rebuke. “Do you want him to notice you as a woman or not?”
Hmm…Another Valentine’s Day alone at the bar with her friends? Or a night of torrid passion with the sexiest male she knew?
Her heartbeat answered the question. Her pulse spiked at the thought of Luke’s hands all over her. Luke’s mouth on hers. Luke in her bed.
And oh, man, she needed to fan herself.
“I want to do this.” Hadn’t she paid the price for her mistake long enough? She’d tried to stifle her impulsiveness and focus on work, instinctively behaving like a Halsey even though she’d once sworn she’d die before she acted like the rest of her family.
She would reclaim her life outside of work. And this time she’d live the fantasy instead of photographing the fantasy for the rest of the world to indulge in.
“Great. I’ve got the perfect plan.” Barbara pulled her sunglasses off her head and set them on the island. “Now I just need you to show me those pictures you were looking at with him before he ran out….”
TWO DAYS LATER, Luke prowled his temporary office at his law firm’s satellite branch in downtown Tampa, his cell phone in hand. He came here whenever he was in town to touch base with their company’s sole long-distance partner and a handful of junior attorneys. The branch wasn’t big, but it was growing and they’d recently bought a penthouse-level suite at an office building downtown. Luke had met with his biggest client based nearby this morning. Now, though, he couldn’t focus on anything else until he talked to Tori.
He’d called her twice since he walked out of her place Friday night, but she hadn’t answered and hadn’t called him back.
As he listened to her voice-mail announcement for the third time, he disconnected without leaving a message and wondered what the hell had happened between them. He’d had time to think about her suggestive proposal. Actually, he’d thought of little else since then.
And even though her offer had made him want her more than ever, he still didn’t see how she could have made the suggestion so lightly. Did she make it a habit to proposition men?
He didn’t believe that for a second, but damn. Her family would flip if they knew she was really taking this Valentine’s Day deadline seriously. And she was obviously looking for the kind of torrid affair her family worried about, ever since her Poconos disaster. At least he wasn’t a con man, unlike some guys she’d considered worth her time in the past. Who might she turn to next if Luke rejected her proposal?
He didn’t want to tell Tim about this—no way could he tell Tim about this—but her brother had texted him twice over the weekend to find out how Tori was doing. What could Luke say? Yeah, she’s fine, only her erotic photos have inspired her to troll for a man to help her act out her favorite scenes?
Or had that last part been a creative twist on her proposition? She had him in knots.
Pacing over to the window overlooking the street, he watched an afternoon rainstorm kick into high gear, spattering the glass and falling in sheets on the pavement below.
If he ever got a hold of her, he planned to find out how she thought a man and woman could go back to being just friends after—
His thoughts disintegrated as a car pulled into a parking space outside his building and deposited a woman in a trench coat. Even from five floors up, Luke noticed the hint of dark stocking on her legs as she emerged from the car. Seeing the rain-drenched woman in that distinctive garment reminded him of the sexy photos Tori had shown him. There’d been one of a drenched couple sharing a kiss in a cab.
And damn it. No wonder Tori’d had a tough time focusing on her work when the job required sensual fantasizing for creative inspiration. Pounding his fist on the glass in frustration, he turned on his heel and left the office. He needed some air.
A short elevator ride later, he was in the lobby of his office building, bolting for the door…and nearly bolting right past the woman in the trench coat, who studied the directory of offices.
Now, close up, more than her costume looked familiar.
“Tori?”
He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her long blond hair undone and wet with rain. Her curls had turned dark and kinky, falling in dripping spirals over the shoulder of her lightweight, belted coat.
“Hi, Luke,” she said brightly, then turned back to the directory.
As if they were the most casual of friends, ones who hadn’t recently contemplated sleeping together. Frustration fired through him.
“Can I help you?” he offered with exaggerated politeness.
“Actually, I’ve decided to incorporate my small business for tax purposes. Are there any attorneys you’d recommend in your firm?” She tapped the glass covering the list of professionals in the building. “I remembered you had this mini-branch down here, so I thought I’d work with someone from your extended company.”
She shifted from one foot to the other, drawing his eye down to her legs in dark silk hose. Just like in that damn picture on her computer. Did she run around town testing out the wardrobe choices from her shoots?
“Yes. Me.” He reached for her as a handful of administrative types returned to the building after the lunch hour. “Come to my office.”
She retreated a step, out of his grasp.
“I don’t think that’s wise, given what’s transpired between us, do you?” She hugged a small leather folder to her chest, a case that no doubt contained the paperwork for incorporating her business.
“Nothing happened,” he reminded her, steeling himself against the rush of male interest in what she was wearing beneath her coat.
The woman in the photo she’d taken had flashed garters in the scene. And didn’t that provide a visual he could do without in plain view of the whole building? A tic started in one eye like a mini heartbeat.
“Not yet.” She winked. “But why mix business with pleasure, just in case? Besides, I like the sound of Suzanna Maryweather. I’m sure she’ll take good care of me.”
Clutching her leather binder, she turned in the direction of the glass-walled elevator overlooking the lobby.
The tic in his eye started pounding like a jackhammer.
“We need to talk.” He seized her by the elbow and turned her toward the set of private elevators, needing to speak to her alone before his retinas fried from the sensual wanderings of an overactive imagination.
“If you insist,” she demurred, glancing at the silver watch on her wrist as he pressed the button for his floor. “But I’ve got another appointment after this.”
“And who the hell would you be going to see dressed like this?” He’d waited until the elevator door closed behind them, sealing them inside alone.
“Like what?” She peered down at her wet raincoat and dark stockings. “I put on grown-up shoes and everything. No flip-flops. Even Tim would approve.”
D
id she honestly not know what he was talking about?
“You’re wearing the same clothes as that woman in the photo—” He halted the words as the elevator opened again.
Thankfully, there was no one else standing between them and the door to his temporary office, so he hustled her past the small reception area and into the corner digs that had been vacated by a junior partner for his use.
“What woman in what photo?” Tori asked, digging in her heels just outside the door with someone else’s name in brass plated letters.
Her voice was loud enough to attract the attention of a few research assistants and clerks in the middle offices. Unwilling to figure out how to introduce her right now when all his gray matter was devoted to what she had on under her coat, Luke tugged her inside his office and shut the door firmly behind him.
Then he locked it.
“The woman in the photograph you showed me on your computer the other night,” he supplied, allowing his gaze to finally linger over her the way he wanted to.
A small rivulet of water followed the delicate curve of her cheek until she swiped it away. The lapel of her jacket gapped a little, revealing an enticing shadow where a hint of clothing should be.
What if the stockings were the only thing she was wearing under there?
“Don’t tell me those pictures got to you after all.” She set the leather binder down on a nearby chair. “I thought you were immune to my dilemma.”
She walked to the same window where he’d first watched her emerge from a cab earlier. Staring down at the traffic, she focused her attention on the view while he couldn’t rip his away from her. The belt of her jacket nipped her waist to practically nothing.
“Nobody said that.” The rush of possessiveness that came over him was fierce. Primal.
Her hands went to the belt and untied it. Her back was still toward him and his heart stopped. His breath ceased.
Would she really do this here? Now?
Desire surged. He was already moving in her direction, already committing to the affair he probably shouldn’t have.
As she turned to face him, however, she wasn’t even close to naked.
A wrap dress draped her curves respectably, covering her in pale gray silk. He’d let his imagination run away from him and now here he was, inches from her. Ready to back her onto the desk and take her, even though she hadn’t been thinking along the same lines as him at all.
“Luke?” She looked up at him uncertainly, her eyes tracking his as he tried to figure out his next move.
The scent of her rain-washed skin made the decision for him.
“I’ve been thinking about that proposition we discussed,” he managed to say, completely incapable of holding back now.
He skimmed a knuckle along her cheek. A fire roared to life inside him. He had to touch her. Besides, if he didn’t scratch this particular itch for her, who else might she find in his place? The thought of having anyone other than him touch her was unacceptable.
“And?” Her tongue swiped along her top lip, a soft, surreptitious invitation.
“And I think we owe it to ourselves to find out if there’s any chemistry between us.”
Then he slanted his mouth over hers, answering that question for her. By the time he was through with this kiss, there wouldn’t be a doubt in her mind their chemistry was off the charts.
4
VICTORY WAS SWEET.
Toe-curling, mind-swirling and heart-racingly sweet. Tori swayed on her feet and clutched Luke’s shoulder to steady herself under the spell of his kiss.
Heat streaked through her limbs, jacking up her temperature and steaming her rain-soaked trench coat. She hadn’t expected such immediate results from Barbara’s crazy plan to re-create the sexy photos that had sent Luke bolting from the house the other night. But apparently, still waters ran deep. A wellspring of hot passion lurked behind his teasing smile and lawyerly shrewdness. Maybe Luke Owens had an impulsive streak of his own. He kissed her like a man who knew exactly what she wanted and how to give it to her. Like a man far more skilled at this game than she was.
His mouth played over hers, tugging her lip between his teeth before he licked the same spot. He cupped her jaw, holding her still and tilting her where he wanted her. The base of his hand rested on the throbbing pulse in her neck while his fingers spanned her cheek. His thumb urged her mouth open to deepen the kiss.
A wave of pure want weakened her knees and her hips fell forward to meet his in a carnal invitation she hadn’t fully intended. But now that she was there, his thigh parting hers as he backed her against the window, she couldn’t imagine pulling away. His chest pressed hers, the hard expanse of muscle giving no quarter. She reached to open the lapels of her coat wider, wanting to feel more of him.
Just then, he ended the kiss.
She had a vague mental image of herself, dazed and confused, as she groped around for his shoulders again, blindly seeking more. Wrenching her eyes open, she found him watching her through narrowed lids, his breathing as hard and fast as her own.
Not sure what happened, she slipped her hands around his waist, close to the place where their bodies still touched. He seemed to snap out of the daze then, and eased away from her gently, prying her fingers from his belt to hold them between his palms.
“Was there any chemistry for you?” he asked politely, shades of his usual reserve coming through the steaming-hot new side of him she’d discovered in the past five minutes.
How could a man speak to her with such ruthless control when she’d nearly stripped off her clothes to get close to him a mere moment ago? And holy Trident’s staff, had he been looking at her like this before and she’d never seen the intense attraction until now?
The possibility knocked her even further off center. Only now, she didn’t have the benefit of Luke holding her up.
“Did you know that was there this whole time?” She couldn’t even think how long they’d known each other.
“Is that a yes?” he pressed, pursuing the answer to his question like the attorney he was.
“I’m breathing like I’m hyperventilating and my lips are so tingly it’s like I stuck my finger into an electric socket.” She planted her hands on her hips, irritated with his calm rationality in the face of this monster revelation. “You tell me if that’s a yes.”
He gave a clipped nod.
“Then you can appreciate why we shouldn’t play with fire.”
She blinked, sure she missed a whole sequence in the conversation.
“Excuse me?”
“The chemistry between us is another reason we shouldn’t mess around with some hare-brained short-term affair.” His dark hair grazed his left eye, just above the scar that made him look like he was contemplating seduction. “You can’t play around with that kind of heat. Someone will get burned in the end.”
“I’m sorry.” She tipped her head sideways and pounded on her temple. “I must have rainwater in my ears. Did you just say that we shouldn’t sleep together because we’re attracted to one another? I must have misheard you since that defies every biological law of nature.”
“Tori, I want you. Badly.” The simple truth of his words was still evident in his eyes now that she knew what to look for. God, she’d been blind not to have seen it before. “But I’m not going to settle for a night or two with you to scratch some itch you’re feeling just because it’s Valentine’s Day.”
If her skin hadn’t still hummed with the raw power of his touch, she might have given him hell for that comment. As it stood, she was simply determined to make him see the light. Drawing in a steadying breath, she wondered what Barbara would have suggested. They hadn’t brainstormed past the point of re-creating the scenes from Tori’s shoots.
“Most people would say that attraction is an excellent reason to explore an affair.” Swallowing her pride and the warm remnant of the sensual buzz he’d inspired, Tori gathered the belt of her coat and tied it. “But if you’re not interested, I’l
l just go see the lawyer about my paperwork and get out of your way.”
She picked up her leather binder and headed for the door, hoping Luke would act on whatever chemistry he apparently felt and take her on the desk. Against the wall. Anywhere would be fine.
But he remained where he was.
“Friends respect each other too much to have meaningless affairs,” he called after her. Confusing her.
“Friends also don’t tease each other with sex,” she reminded him.
“I’m not the one wearing the trench coat.”
Ah, damn.
Beaten in this round, Tori retreated until she could figure out what to do next. Because there wasn’t a chance she’d walk away from chemistry like this without trying to make Luke see things her way. Today only proved she’d been right to pursue him. But if he thought she’d serve up her heart on a silver platter for him first, or give up her man hunt before she knew if there could be anything more than sex between them, he had another think coming.
“WHO WAS THAT AND DOES she have a sister?”
Luke had still been trying to screw his head on straight when the law firm’s only resident senior partner barged into Luke’s short-term office. DanWalker had been with the firm for as long as Luke. They’d started at the New York branch together and had been friends ever since they’d been stuck doing a few overnight stints in the firm’s law library during those early years.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Luke picked up his phone and pressed some random numbers while rattling around the papers on his desk. “I’m really swamped.”
Dan walked to the desk and depressed the button to disconnect the call Luke hadn’t really been making anyhow.
“We reviewed case loads this morning, remember? You’re not busy.” He pulled the receiver out of Luke’s hand and returned it to the cradle. “Now fess up. Who’s the hot chick?”
“No one you need to know.” Luke knew how Dan dated. The guy had a new girlfriend every other month. There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d let him near Tori.
