She responded with a slow, sexy smile. “I’m ready to see what moves you’ve got on the dance floor.”
If she kept looking at him like that, he was going to have a hard time on the dance floor, for damn sure. “You want to put your money where your mouth is?”
“What do you mean?”
He deepened his voice. “Well, if I perform beyond your expectations, I get something.” He wanted her to play. He might be able to get her to admit something if he posed it as a game. Something told him she wouldn’t be interested if it wasn’t a challenge.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Something like what?”
“I don’t know yet, but nothing you won’t want to give.”
“There’s that modesty again.” She laughed. “What if you disappoint me?”
He chuckled. “That would never happen. But if, for the sake of argument, you’re less than impressed, then you get something.” He glanced at her and flashed her his megawatt smile. “What do you say? Want to live dangerously?”
She reached over and put her hand on his thigh. “It’s a bet.”
The simple contact of her warm hand on his pant leg sent shock waves through his system. If she moved it any higher, they were going to have a serious problem. A moment later, she took it back, and he felt an immediate sense of loss.
He passed the valet stand and pulled into the parking lot. He hated anyone else driving his vehicle. It meant they had access, and access led to trouble. He came around to her side and held the door for her, offering her a hand out.
“You are such a gentleman. Your mother would be so proud,” she said as she let him help her out of the car
“She would be if she were alive.”
She turned to him and put her hand on his chest. “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
He put his hand over hers. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.” He smiled at her, then took her hand in his and walked toward the club. The long line was filled with beautiful, young people standing behind a red velvet rope, waiting to get into the hottest club in the Hamptons.
They bypassed the line, walked right to the door, and stopped in front of a colossus of a man. The bouncer took one look at Mitch, and his stone-cold face broke into a radiant smile. “My man. It’s good to see you. Where you been keeping yourself?”
“Been busy, Tank. How are things with you? How’s Tanya and the baby?”
“Tanya’s doing great, and my little angel is growing by the day. Unbelievable, man. You need to get yourself one. Kids change everything,” Tank said as he shook his head.
Mitch laughed. “Someday maybe. Tank, this is Carrie. Carrie, Tank.”
“Nice to meet you, Tank,” she said and offered her hand. Tank’s hand completely engulfed hers. “The pleasure is mine, beautiful lady. You two have a wonderful time tonight.” He let go of her hand and moved the velvet rope aside. Tank ushered Carrie in and then bumped Mitch with his shoulder to keep him outside for a minute. “She’s one hot babe. You take good care of her in there. It’s the beginning of summer, and all the crazies are out tonight. Be on your toes.”
He glanced up at Tank and saw the man was serious. After serving together, they implicitly trusted each other. “Roger that, Tank. Thanks for the heads up.”
Tank nodded and let him go. Mitch put his arm around Carrie’s waist, whose real name he still didn’t know, and walked into the club. Apparently, he would need to be on his guard tonight in more ways than one.
Chapter Sixteen
Alex loved the fact that she had just walked into the hottest club in the Hamptons with the sexiest man around without having to rely on her family name. As an underage teen, she just had to show up at a club, and they’d let her in. She was after all a Buchanan of the California Buchanan’s, great, great, granddaughter of Andrew Buchanan, who had made a fortune in oil and railroads along with Rockefeller and Carnegie. She’d taken great pains to step away from that life, and now no one even recognized her. She was thankful that social media hadn’t been as prevalent when she was in her obnoxious teen years.
Mitch hadn’t noticed, but he’d garnered a lot of attention from the line outside. More than one female head had swiveled in his direction. And she didn’t blame them one bit. He looked amazing in his dark jeans and a crisp white shirt that showed off his tan. He’d left his blazer in the car and had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to reveal his well-muscled forearms. Tonight, she had the hottest arm candy in the club, and she planned to enjoy every minute of it.
Mitch took her hand and led the way through the crowd to the bar. The bass vibrated in her ribs. Strobe lights went off for a few seconds, and then colored lights came back, swirling over the crowd. The smell of alcohol, sweat, and she would swear, raging hormones, had her wound up already. Just thinking about those strong arms touching her, holding her, made her lady parts clench. She remembered what he looked like after his swim the other day, all wet muscles rippling in the sunlight.
There was no denying she wanted him, but the job had to come first. If she let things go too far, he would find out some of her secrets. Too bad she couldn’t just tell him what she was after, but from everything she’d managed to dig up about him with Leo’s help, he didn’t strike her as the type to throw away his reputation for a bit of fun. It was too bad—the sex would have been amazing. She was sure of it.
They reached the bar, and he pulled her up beside him. “Vodka?” he asked. When his breath grazed her ear, an involuntary shiver shot down her back. She nodded. He turned, waved the bartender over, and ordered two shots. When she looked up at him questioningly, he shrugged. “I figured you wouldn’t want to stand here and yell at each other over the music. We’ll have a drink and hit the dance floor. You can show me your moves…and I can show you mine.”
“I like the sound of that.” She was aware that somehow in the last minute he had run his hand up her back. It was now resting behind her neck. When he spoke to her, she could feel his breath on her ear. It was very sexy. She was finding it hard to concentrate. Down girl. This is work, she reminded herself, but a grin lit up her face for a second, nonetheless. God, some days she just loved her job.
She let out a deep breath and bit her lip. Focus. Get in the game. She ran through her plan again. Flirt a little, dance a little, and then take him to a quiet corner and chat a little. Ask questions to see what he was willing to reveal. Most importantly, get an invite to the party.
Their shots arrived, and he handed her one. She immediately felt the absence of his hand on her neck.
“Bottom’s up,” he said with a wink and then tossed back the shot.
She did the same and gave herself a moment to enjoy the exquisite burn that always accompanied a shot of vodka. It immediately pooled in her stomach, sending rays of warmth through her body. She grabbed his hand and led him to the dance floor. Once they reached the middle, she turned to face him. “Let’s see whatcha got,” she said and gave him her best sexy smile.
It might have been the vodka or the pounding beat or even a trick of the lights, but she could have sworn she saw a look of raw lust cross his face. More animal than human if that was possible. It was gone in an instant, but she had felt it in her core, as surely as she was standing there. And then he started to move.
She realized in an instant that he was right. He was much better than she had expected. As she started to move to the driving beat, he matched her motion for motion. It was almost obscene the way his body found hers at every turn. Even though the dance floor was full, he managed to move her around, making sure their bodies met exactly as he wanted them to, but never once touching her to do it. There was no doubt he was in charge and leading the dance. She was just along for the ride, and she was enjoying every minute of it.
One song led to the next, and she lost track of how long they were out there. She didn’t notice the crowd or the noise, just the beat and Mitch and his body moving with hers.
After a while, the music changed and slowed
, and Mitch immediately brought her in close. She was going to protest, tell him that she was sweaty and out of breath, but the words died on her lips when he put his hand behind her neck and brought his lips down to hover just over hers. She could feel his breath on her lips. She looked into his eyes. Neither of them said anything, but he silently communicated that he was waiting for her to close the distance, to say it was okay.
She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to do a whole lot more than that, but for the first time in a long while, fear spiked through her, making her heart crash against her ribs. She’d kissed marks in the past when it was necessary, but this was different. She’d never actually wanted to kiss one. Maybe she was in over her head.
Never.
She immediately shut that thought down and closed the gap.
The instant their lips touched, someone slammed into her back and sent her staggering off to the side. Mitch grabbed her by the arm to steady her. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, too startled to speak. Mitch turned to see who had hit her. These were the same guys from the end of the bar at the hotel, the ones who’d catcalled at her on the way in. They were totally trashed now and belligerent by the look of things. There was no telling which of them had shoved her.
She tugged on Mitch’s hand. “Let’s just go,” she said above the noise. “It’s not worth getting into a thing.”
He looked at the men who were flailing around, too drunk to dance, and then nodded. They’d just turned to leave, hand in hand, when a voice roared, “Look, it’s the hot babe from the hotel.” A guy stumbled past Mitch, weaving as he moved.
Alex tugged at Mitch, but the guy lurched in her direction. He started making lewd gestures and trying to rub his body against hers.
“Get off me,” she snarled. She grabbed Mitch’s arm. “Go before I hurt this asshole.” ”
Mitch immediately grabbed the guy’s arm. “You don’t want to do that, buddy.”
“Why the fuck not?” the guy yelled. “Have you seen her? She’s smokin’, and that dress…” His words came out in a slur. “Man, she’s beggin’ for it in that dress.”
Mitch acted before she did. Grabbing the guy’s arm, he twisted him around so he fell down to his knees on the dance floor. His mouth started opening and closing like a fish. His eyes were bulging out of his face.
The crowd moved back. His friends were all standing there, mouths open in shock. Alex glanced around, noticing several bouncers were on the way. “Mitch, let him go. It’s over.” As much as she wanted to pound the guy into next week, she didn’t need any trouble. She touched Mitch’s shoulder.
Mitch leaned down and said something into the guy’s ear that was impossible for her to hear. The guy’s face twisted in pain and then his body heaved. Great. The last thing she wanted was this guy’s puke on her shoes. The bouncers were fighting their way through the crowd. Damn. This could get ugly enough for the police to get involved. She wasn’t sticking around for that. “Mitch, we have to leave. Now.”
Mitch straightened up and then let the drunk guy’s arm go. The man instantly face-planted on the floor.
She grabbed Mitch’s arm, and he led her farther into the club, away from the drunk guy and the bouncers. Why weren’t they leaving? She tugged on her arm to get Mitch’s attention, but he held it firmly. He led them down a hallway and past the restrooms to a fire door. Before she could tell him to not, under any circumstances, open the door, he pressed the bar to do just that. No alarm sounded. The cool night air hit her face, and she took a deep, relieved breath.
Mitch brought her down the alley. There was a light above the door behind them but none at the end of the alleyway. The clouds were blocking the moon. He looked around and then leaned her against the wall of the building. He asked, “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Yes, fine.”
He ran his thumb gently over her lips, his eyes following the movement. “Are you sure he didn’t hurt you? It was a pretty hard knock.”
She found it hard to breathe, and her lips tingled where he touched them. “Yes.” Her voice was breathy to her own ears. She cleared her throat. “Thanks for taking care of that, but I could have handled it myself.”
He nodded. “I don’t doubt it, but what kind of gentleman would I be if I made you do that on our first date? The second or third date, all bets are off. You can even take care of me.” He offered her a sexy smile, and she smiled in return.
“I’ll remember that…assuming we have a second or third date.”
His eyes turned a smoky gray in the ambient light. “We will.”
“You’re awfully sure of yourself.”
The smiled stayed on his lips. “I know you were having fun in there. Your body responded to every move I made. Are you telling me you don’t want to go out with me again?” He moved his hands to bracket either side of her head and then leaned in. His lips were so close to hers she could feel his breath on her cheek again.
“I was dancing. I like to dance. Don’t confuse that with liking you. The jury’s still out on that one.”
A laugh rumbled out of his chest. “I see. What can I do to get a favorable verdict?”
Heat was spreading up from her core. She licked her lips, and his eyes darkened as they followed her tongue, melting any resistance she had left. She brought her hands up around his neck as he slanted his mouth over hers.
His lips were demanding. His kissed her and then kissed her again, nipping her bottom lip with his teeth. She parted her lips and his tongue swept in to dance with hers. Heat slammed her in waves. She shifted her weight, bringing her hips against his and then fisted her hands in his hair to hold him closer. She needed to feel the length of him against her.
The dancing had been enough foreplay. She was already wet. She wanted him inside of her, and she wanted it now.
He slid his hands down to her ass and pulled her hips hard against his. He moved her over his hard-on, making her groan as he deepened the kiss. Her breath was starting to come in little pants as he kept up the delicious rhythm with his hands. She was going to explode. She started to lift one leg to hook it around his hip so she could get better access, but he abruptly stopped kissing her and whirled around.
“Wha—?” She fell into his back, but he didn’t move a bit. It was like hitting a wall.
“Are we going to have a problem?” Mitch’s voice rumbled out of his chest. She peeked over his shoulder and saw the drunk guy from the club and a half-dozen of his friends. Shit. She’d been so wrapped up in Mitch, she hadn’t even heard them come through the fire door.
“You owe my man here an apology. You hurt his arm and his shoulder.” The largest guy on Mitch’s right came forward a step. “You need to make it right.”
“I think you must be mistaken. If anything, your friend here owes my friend an apology, but she’s willing to let it slide, so why don’t you all just fuck off?” Mitch said in a calm voice, but Alex could feel the shift in his body. He was getting ready to fight, and these guys were at the stage where they were mean drunks. This could go bad, and fast. She needed to figure a way out of this mess. The odds weren’t so good, no matter how drunk these men were, and she didn’t want to end up in the hospital or jail.
“Gentleman, why don’t we just call it a night, huh? No harm done,” Alex said as calmly as she could.
“No can do. Your boy here insulted my friend. All he was doin’ was admiring your smokin’ hot body. If you didn’t want the attention, you shouldn’t have dressed that way. That dress and those shoes just scream that you want some of this.” He gestured to his dick.
Alex bristled and started to move out from behind Mitch. She wasn’t about to put up with this type of shit from any man. “Listen here, asshole,” she started, but that was as far as she got. Mitch stepped forward and punched the guy in the face. It was a hard hit. The man just stood there stunned, and then he slowly crumpled to the ground. He was out cold.
“Anyone else want to try your luck?” Mitch snarled.
“Please give it a go. I haven’t had a good fight in ages.” Tank spoke up from the corner of the building. Alex hadn’t seen him until then, and neither had any of the drunk guys, but it was clear from Mitch’s stance that he must have known. Jesus, did this guy have some kind of super hearing? How else had he sensed Tank’s presence?
“Uh, we’ll just go. The guy that was farthest away put his hands up in a no-harm, no-foul gesture and started walking carefully back down the alley. Two of his friends reached for their fallen friend who had started to groan.
Mitch gave them all a hard look and then grabbed Alex’s arm and started around the corner. He and Tank exchanged a nod, but Mitch kept going with her in tow.
“Thanks, Tank,” she called over her shoulder.
“My pleasure, ma’am,” came the reply.
They were moving quickly across the parking lot to Mitch’s car. “Hey, slow down. I can’t move that fast in these heels. No need to run. Tank has everything under control back there.” She tried to tug free, but he wasn’t letting go. “Mitch, let go of my arm.”
“No.”
She frowned. “What? Did you just refuse to let go of my arm?”
“Yes.”
Alex twisted her body in toward Mitch’s arm, and after raising her other arm high, slammed into Mitch’s elbow. His hand immediately dropped from her arm, and she moved out of reach. “What the hell is your problem?” she demanded.
“My problem?” he barked as he rubbed his arm, “I could ask you the same question. What possessed you to open your mouth and engage with those assholes?”
“Excuse me? Engage with those...? Listen, I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I don’t need you to tell me what I can or can’t do. That guy was a total asshat, and I wasn’t going to put up with it.”
“I had the situation under control until you opened your mouth.”
“Are you for real? Until I opened my mouth?” She was practically screaming at him now, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Break and Enter: A Sexy, Thrilling Romantic Suspense (Callahan Security Series Book 1) Page 10
