He kept one eye on the door for the blonde from the restaurant, and kept the other eye on the brunette at the next table over. He was perfectly aware that some women paid the price tag to sit in the VIP lounge with the sole purpose of hunting rich men, but he was not opposed to using them for temporary companionship should he be interested.
He noticed that the brunette was eying him like he was a last meal for a dying man—well, woman—and while he found her interest and desire appealing, desperation was really not attractive, regardless of her cup size.
He deliberately turned away from her with his whole body, and scanned the rest of the room. It was mostly occupied with men in their sixties accompanied by women in their twenties, and Draco had gotten very good at determining who was a trophy wife and who was a rent-a-date. He himself always paid for a date one way or the other, but he never had to rent one outright.
There were very few prospects that night that he would have considered taking home, and he hoped even harder that the young waitress would show up. He closed his eyes and pictured her walking away from him at the restaurant again, and felt the same tingle in his groin as he remembered the definition in her calf muscles and the shimmy in her breasts when she giggled. He disliked having to touch himself when he started thinking about someone, but it was certainly a better option than going to sleep horny.
After he drained the glass, he pulled out the limited food menu and ordered the charcuterie and cheese plate to go with his next drink. The Scotch usually left him feeling full just by itself, so he switched to an extra dirty martini with the snack.
As he nibbled and sipped, the young woman strolled in wearing that same short tight black skirt with the stilettos still on. As she approached his table, he also noticed that she had unfastened one extra button on her blouse and he had a perfect view of ample cleavage cupped in lace. He groaned quietly to himself and grinned up at her. He had not been certain she would show, but he promised himself that he would make it worth her time and effort.
Just as she reached the chair opposite him, another patron approached her from the back and started pawing at her hips drunkenly. She tried to politely swerve out of his way, but he seemed to track her body with his eager hands. She flashed a quick panicked look at Draco, and he reacted instantly, leaping up so fast that he knocked his chair backwards onto the floor.
Now the entire bar was watching the commotion, but Draco paid no attention to the crowd. He strode over angrily, and stood over the other man by a good five inches.
“Take your hands off her,” he warned.
“Man, she don’t b’long to you,” he slurred.
“She belongs to herself, and I believe she would like you to leave,” he warned again, this time his voice dropping an octave.
“Naw man, she likes me,” he drooled.
“Miss, are you pleased with his attentions?” Draco asked loudly and sarcastically.
“N-N-No, I’m not…” the poor overwhelmed girl stuttered.
“It’s time for you to leave,” Draco stated to the offender.
“No, I can shtay, it’s a free country. Now leave ush alone man, or I’ll call sh’curity.” His slurring was getting worse.
“I own this bar and I own the security company who contracts here. Go ahead.” Draco leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, letting his bulging biceps speak for themselves. His dark eyes flashed anger and his thick curls covered his forehead.
The drunken man poked Draco in the chest. “You ain’t shpecial, man, you don’t own nothing.”
“Do. Not. Touch. Me.” Draco spat out each word.
The man squinted at him and poked again.
“I said don’t touch me,” Draco uncrossed his arms and hung them loosely at his side, hands balled into fists. He was now royally pissed that his date had been sidelined before it really even began.
The man slapped Draco’s solid chest with his open palm, and Draco’s fist connected with the man’s jaw with a wet thud. The young lady gasped and jumped out of the way as the drunken man reeled backwards and then came back up swinging wildly at the empty air that surrounded Draco. Draco swung again and the man fell backwards to the floor, out cold. He whirled around to check on the woman at the center of the scuffle and she had vanished into thin air.
Draco dropped to the chair and groaned, rubbing his sore knuckles with his opposite palm. Before he knew what had transpired, his date had been ruined, his fist was sore, and now there seemed to be two armed police officers headed his direction. The cops sized up Draco’s imposing physique and mentally measured the unconscious man on the floor.
In short order, Draco found himself under arrest.
As the officers clicked the handcuffs in place, Draco nodded to the bartender, who indeed did work for Draco in a roundabout way since Draco had been telling the truth about owning the bar, and told him to call his lawyers.
Chapter Four
The next morning Taylor arrived to work at her normal time, just before seven. She was startled to see two of the partners already deep in conversation in one of the conference rooms. The phone was lit up to indicate that there was a conference call in progress but she could barely hear any other voices besides the two partners, who were speaking at a volume just shy of yelling.
“Please calm down, Sir,” one said. “We will handle this. You need to get ahold of yourself and tell us what happened.”
The muffled voice from the phone rumbled something in a deep baritone, and she saw both partners look at each other and then rub their hands over their eyes. It certainly looked as though the two of them had been up and at the office for several hours, judging from the scattering of empty coffee cups.
Taylor turned on her heel abruptly and walked the long way around to her office. She was not ready to deal with any of that just yet, and she knew that if they saw her, she would be immediately dragged into the crisis.
She could not stay hidden for long. As soon as she sat down and logged on to her laptop, the internal messaging indicator would tell them she was online. She grabbed a large cup of coffee from the breakroom first, and then punched the buttons that started her day. As soon as she was online, a message came through from one of the partners telling her to get into the conference room and to bring her laptop with her. She sighed deeply, undocked the machine, and grabbed her coffee on her way out the door.
Taylor crossed the threshold of the conference room and was barraged from all sides by both partners, a paralegal that she had not even seen before, and the deep voice from the phone.
“Look, Mister Morgan,” one partner tried to cut him off, “we can handle this. Why don’t you just calm down and we will have you bailed out shortly.”
The deep voice huffed loudly and swore at them. “You better damn well do that!”
On the other end of the call, the receiver slammed down.
The elder of the two partners turned to her and announced, “We have a new client as of last night.”
“It certainly seems that way,” she replied.
“Well, it’s not a new client per se, just a new headache for an existing client.”
“Anyone I know?”
“Probably not, but he’s going to be all yours. You make this case, you’ll make partner.”
Taylor’s deep blue eyes widened as she sat down and opened the laptop.
“Tell me what I need to know,” she answered.
“You might have heard of this man, or even seen him around at a client function here at the firm. Draco Morgan.”
“Damn,” she whispered under her breath. From what she knew of the man, he was huge trouble of the gorgeous kind.
“What happened? Someone rear end his Aston Martin or bump his Bentley?”
“He was arrested last night.”
“Oh shit.” She could not stop the words even as they escaped her lips.
“Yeah, something like that. It was a bar fight, and he knocked the other guy out cold. We don’t have a lot of details but
we’ll try to round up reliable witnesses.”
“Who will handle bail?”
“I’ll go over,” one of the partners offered. “That part should be handled by someone who actually is a partner. Our clients expect it.”
She nodded her agreement.
“And we’ll probably bring him straight here if he is willing.”
“Okay, I hope I’m ready for him. I hear he’s a handful.”
“Right you are.”
One partner gathered his things, dropped his computer off in his office, and headed out to retrieve the client. The other partner settled into his own office and the paralegal followed Taylor to hers.
Chapter Five
By the time the client and the partner returned to the office from the jail, Taylor and the paralegal had formed some sort of plan on managing the situation. Once word of the arrest hit the news media, it would be nearly impossible to keep them away and she was certain that was one of the first items Mister Morgan would want her to address.
Taylor was summoned back to the conference room with the paralegal in tow. When she rounded the corner and entered the room, her heart stopped and her feet did a little stutter-step at the doorway.
She had seen his picture on business journals and tabloids alike, but none of them had done him justice. Even in the rumpled Armani slacks and wrinkled Savile Row button down that had obviously been slept in, he was breathtaking. From his black mop of thick curls to his brooding dark eyes to his well-muscled chest and arms, he was a picture of masculinity.
Taylor did not know whether it was truly him or if it was the lack of any love life, but she felt her heart start beating with wild abandon, and her thighs tightened unexpectedly.
Draco looked up from the table to see the female lawyer enter the room, and the young lady from the night before dissolved from his memory. The lawyer was crisp and professional and at the same time could have turned any head in any room. In an instant, he realized how much time he had wasted with girls when there was women like this in the world.
Her grey suit was not expensive, but had been tailored perfectly to her curves, and the pale pink camisole that peeked out over the top jacket button lay silkily against her skin. The layers of clothing did not hide her full breasts or her trim waist or the swell of her hips. Her creamy complexion and long blonde hair only highlighted her deep blue eyes.
Despite his precarious situation and hellish night at the jail, he already felt that warmth in his groin that told him she was next.
He stood up from the opposite side of the table and extended a large hand in her direction.
“Draco Morgan,” he said by way of introducing himself.
“Taylor Skiles,” she replied, trying not to let her voice waiver as his hand enclosed hers.
“I understand you will be handling me,” he said with a wry grin.
“Something like that, Mister Morgan.”
“I think you can call me Draco. We’re about to get real friendly and spend a lot of time together.”
She was already uncomfortable in his presence, but his leering grin only made her heart beat faster against the inside of her ribs.
“Taylor, then.”
She took a deep breath as he finally released her hand. It was not his bank account that made her feel weak-kneed, nor was it the power he wielded in the business community. It was the sheer size and maleness of him. He seemed to fill the room and dwarf any other man in his presence.
She sat down opposite him to avoid any accidental contact, and let the paralegal sit at the head of the table in between them.
“What’s she doing here?” he nodded in the direction of the end of the table.
“Suzanne is a paralegal with the firm. She can help with any paperwork or documentation or logistics we need to work out. She is under the same privacy requirements as the lawyers here; have no fear.”
Suzanne tried to shrink from view until she was no longer the topic of conversation. Taylor used her frequently for her assistance, and had great faith in her, and would protect her if it came to that.
“So am I supposed to tell you what happened?”
“Well, I’m not interested in whether you did it or not. My job is to clear you of any legal implications, criminal or civil.”
“So you don’t want to know, or do you not care what actually happened?”
“It’s none of my business.”
“Well that seems odd since you’re my lawyer.”
“It’s standard procedure. Our job is not to root out any truth that may exist between the charges and the events. Our job is to send you home with a pat on the head.”
The sarcasm was dripping from her full pink lips, and he could not help but notice that this woman had nothing but disdain for him. He had every intention of changing her mind, even if only for one night.
“Well, it wasn’t my fault,” he said plainly.
“It never is, Sir.”
“You don’t seem to have a very high regard for me, Taylor.”
“I’m just here to do my job, Draco.”
“It doesn’t mean we can’t get along,” he offered.
“It doesn’t mean we have to, either.”
Suzanne just kept her eyes down at her keyboard, ready to take notes, as the two of them verbally sparred. At that point, the partner entered the room, and the sparring ceased so that the work could begin.
Chapter Six
The partner, with Taylor’s and Suzanne’s assistance, was able to put together a plan that seemed agreeable to Draco. He was not excited about any of the circumstances, but he could not “unring” the bell at that point.
After a while, Draco told everyone that he was going home for a shower and a good meal. He also knew he had to get in touch with Katherine so that she could alert his public relations team.
As soon as he arrived at his penthouse, he stripped out of the dirty wrinkled clothes and stepped under the hot water stream from several showerheads that dominated one side of the bathroom. It rinsed off the ink from being fingerprinted, and the general dirt from spending the night in the cell, but it could not remove the image of Taylor from his mind.
He had a strong feeling that there was a passion hidden, ignored and repressed, inside that buttoned up suit and sensible black pumps. As his mind lingered on the swell of her breasts and the curve of her hips, the warmth in his groin developed into a flame. He soaped himself and let his hand linger where it landed, until his cock was at full length and strength. He rubbed the lather over himself, playing with thoughts of her naked and on her knees in the shower. Just shy of his release, he stopped stroking and rinsed everything thoroughly.
After he wrapped himself in the silk bathrobe, he dialed up Katherine and explained the situation. He could hear the scowl on her face in her voice, but she agreed to handle the public relations without him having to come to the office. He figured the more he stayed hidden, the less likely it was that the paparazzi would find him.
After he passed that work onto Katherine, he called the law office to request that Taylor come to his place for more work. The partner of course agreed, and Taylor begrudgingly obliged the request.
When she got downstairs at her office building, there was a long black car parked out front with a suited gentleman standing by the back passenger door.
“Ms. Skiles?” he questioned.
“Yes?”
“I am to take you to Mister Morgan.”
She sighed. The wealth that this man threw away every day could have sustained a small country. She slid across the black leather seat, and the gentleman silently closed the door behind her. It seemed like only minutes in the cool plush interior, and they were parked again, this time in front of the most exclusive condo building in the city.
The gentleman opened the door for her, and directed her inside, telling her to go all the way to the back of the main floor and that security was expecting her in the penthouse. She followed the directions and pressed the PH button on the e
levator. The armed security guard inside the elevator rode in silence all the way to the top of the building.
Chapter Seven
Taylor smoothed her skirt down as Draco approached her, wearing his bathrobe. She rolled her eyes and tried not to listen to the heat surging through her bloodstream. He had cinched it tightly so she just prayed that it would stay together or that he had on boxer shorts underneath.
“So, Draco, what would you like to discuss?”
“First, lunch. Any requests? I could use a huge steak myself.”
“I don’t eat red meat,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“Well, the steak for me is nonnegotiable. What for you?”
She checked her watch and realized it was already past noon. And at that point, her stomach started rumbling.
“What are the options?”
“Well not only do I own this building, but I also own the restaurant downstairs. So pretty much whatever you want.”
“Do you have a menu?”
He strolled into the kitchen and returned with a printed page. After she chose a delicious sounding Caprese salad, he shook his head at her and placed the order downstairs for delivery. A short time later, they were settling down at the kitchen table to eat. She was still in her grey suit and he was still in his bathrobe. She had not figured out how to ask him to put on actual clothing.
“Why don’t you take your jacket off and get comfortable?” he offered, with his mouth full of steak.
She narrowed her gaze at him, and snippily replied, “As comfortable as you seem to be?”
He laughed with his hand over his full mouth. “I like your attitude. You’re not afraid of me, are you?”
“Afraid? No. Surprised? Not that either. You have that same attitude I see day in and day out with all my clients. Like the law doesn’t apply to you and you can buy your way out of any trouble you might create.”
“Ah, I see. That’s what you think of me, then?”
“Pretty much. But please don’t think that means I won’t do my best at the job.”
Taken By The Forbidden Highlander (Scottish Highlander Romance) Page 54
