by Jill Monroe
“Sounds covert. And fun. I did plenty of covert kinds of recon with my da—”
His hand stilled as he was reaching for his water glass. “Go on. It’s okay to talk about your father.”
She gave a dismissive shrug. “It was nothing. That’s behind me. I only wanted you to know the covert side of this job would be easy breezy.”
He glanced away. “Sometimes covert isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.”
She opened her mouth as if to question him further about his comment. But suddenly he didn’t want to think about his job, or Danni’s past, nor her father. Right now he only wanted to be with her. To hold her. Smell her hair. She felt right in his life. Her eyes followed him as he walked around their table toward her. Gently, he drew her up beside him. “Dance with me,” he urged.
He led her away from their table, and she pressed herself close to him, as if she liked being in his arms as much as he liked her there.
Tonight he didn’t want to be Eric Reynolds, head of casino security or anything else for that matter. Tonight he’d be the man who adored Danni.
Maybe that would be enough.
TWO DAYS LATER, Danni found herself walking the floor, the facade of green gambler surrounding her entire body. She made mental notes of when the staff grew bored, what occurrences drew their attention and received a hot kiss when she handed in her typed report to Eric. She loved being secure in his arms and warm in the knowledge that this man trusted her. More importantly, she’d earned his trust.
She pledged a vow right then. Temptation of the casino or not, she’d make herself be the kind of person who deserved someone like Eric Reynolds.
Today her job was to see which dealers she could distract. She’d gone with flashy and low-cut. She sidled up to a young male dealer.
“Is this a high stakes table?” she asked, her voice sexy. “I need someone who’ll go easy on me.”
To his credit, the dealer merely blinked at her not-so-subtle but innocently delivered sexual innuendo.
“The casino offers many ‘how-to’ classes,” he said, no-nonsense. With one quick glance at her cleavage, the dealer returned his attention to the game.
With a smile, she walked on. That dealer had passed her first simple test.
“Laying it on a little thick with that Southern drawl, aren’t you? Surely I taught you better than that.”
Danni spun on her heel to face her father eye-to-eye. Frustration and disappointment at seeing him here deprived her of the sense of accomplishment she’d begun to find in her job.
She dropped her expression of sweet Southern lady and tugged her dad by the arm into a corner. “How’d you get in here? The security at the front door would have recognized you for sure.”
“Tell your boyfriend his front door staff is weak.” His tone was playfully mocking.
Danni gasped. “How did you find out about Eric?”
Daniel Flynn shook his head. “Danni-bear, when are you going to stop underestimating your old man? Aren’t you happy to see me?”
Guilt instantly assailed her. “Of course I am. Let me grab my purse and we can get out of here. I’ll take you to lunch,” she said, reaching for his arm to draw him outside. Outside and very far away.
Her father stayed planted to the carpet. He gave the interior of the casino the once-over. “Nice gig you’ve got going here.”
She could imagine the opportunistic wheels begin to spin in her father’s head. No, not now. Why’d her dad have to show up when things were finally going so right in her life?
Danni shrugged, shooting for nonchalant. “It pays the bills. In fact, I’ll pay for lunch with my paycheck. Think of it as one more way to get money from a casino.”
Daniel’s eyes met hers, his expression serious. After her mother died, her father had only been serious about one thing. Money. “I have access to plenty of money from a casino, you know that. Just need a wee bit to get it out.”
Danni swallowed. Her father had just mentioned the one thing they never spoke of. Ever. She glanced around, paranoid someone would hear him.
“What’s the rest of their protection like here?” he asked, casual, like he wasn’t about to ask his daughter to help him rip off the casino where her boyfriend was the head of security.
“No,” she said firmly.
Surprise blanketed his face. People rarely told him no. She’d never had occasion to be so forceful with her father, and the sensation of it felt foreign to her. Behind her back, Danni began twisting her fingers together.
He scanned the layout of the room as if he hadn’t heard her, his examination more calculating this time. “I think my best shot will be at craps. Be a dear and borrow a pair of their dice, would you?”
It was always borrow. Never steal. Another of the Flynn Family coping techniques. Anguish tore at her heart. She couldn’t lose everything that she’d gained. Her father could ruin it all.
“No, Dad, I won’t help you do it. You shouldn’t even be here. You’re violating your parole.” She dug a finger into his chest. “You promised me you’d go straight this time. Didn’t you read the brochures I brought you from the horticulture program?”
He shifted easily from one foot to the other, as if he were anxious to get started. Anxious to destroy what she’d begun to build. “I’ll have plenty of time to do that after I get my money. You know that, Danni. You’ve always known I wasn’t going to leave it with the Swiss. I’ve waited for a long time.”
She sucked in a breath. Danni gave an uncomfortable sideways glance, making sure there were no curious eyes or ears close by. Casino security was state-of-the-art. She’d witnessed it herself now in her new role here.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
Her father reached out and grabbed her around the arm. “The dice, Danni. You owe me that.”
“Is there a problem?”
Relief and guilt assailed her. Relief because that strong reassuring voice was Eric’s. Guilt because she knew her father was right. She owed him.
Daniel dropped his hand from her arm, and stuck his hand toward Eric to shake.
“Eric, this is my father, Daniel Flynn.” She strove for easygoing, even though she was introducing the head of casino security to a man who could be one of the most notorious flimflam men to grace Nevada. “Dad, Eric Reynolds.”
The two men shook hands, and Danni quickly searched Eric’s face for any signs of alarm or disgust. Instead, he only appeared tired and weary. Her urge to smooth the hair from his face and caress his cheek felt normal. Yes. Perhaps she wasn’t overreacting and making a scene right now. Although she felt there was a huge neon sign above her head proclaiming thief—don’t trust.
“Nice to meet you, but I must be off.” Daniel gave her a kiss to the temple. “Remember what we talked about. I’ll need that by Friday.”
“What’s with Friday?” Eric asked after her father sauntered out of earshot, his expression momentarily fierce.
She shrugged. “Nothing. My father asked me for a favor, but I told him no can do.”
“You okay?” he asked, back to being her gentle lover.
She nodded, plastering on a smile. “Fine. Sometimes my dad can be…over-the-top. Listen, I should explain—”
Eric gently placed his finger over her lips. “You don’t have to. You told me your father’s name before. And I alerted the front door staff that he may show up here.”
She blinked in surprise. “You did? How did you know?”
“I googled you.”
The idea of Eric googling her the way Cassie had suggested so many times struck her as so funny that it took her a moment to stop laughing.
Then she realized Eric had been so thoughtful he actually cleared her father’s entrance into the casino. For her. Oh, he probably had posted a notice for an available security staff person to follow her father’s every step to make sure no money “left” the casino, but Eric’s gesture was so overwhelming that all laughter faded.
/> “You’re really great, you know that?” she said, as she threaded her fingers through his.
“All part of the service,” he noted, lowering his head, his scent surrounding her.
“You kiss me too much in here and my cover will be blown in front of the staff. They’ll know I’m working for you.”
Eric shook his head, but his eyes didn’t meet hers. “That won’t matter much longer anyway.”
She loved him.
The thought hit her so quickly and so suddenly she forgot to ask him why it wouldn’t matter about the staff knowing she was his girlfriend. And it scared her.
What she felt for him was not a this-is-love…time-to-get-dysfunctional. More of a this-is-love…WOW. Enjoy it. She planned to enjoy it right now.
“I have a break coming up,” she said, shooting for seductive in her tone.
Sensual darkness filled his eyes. “I think I can work a business meeting in my suite into the schedule.”
CASSIE’S LAST APPOINTMENT had already left, and she was settling down to perform her favorite task of the day—straightening up her desk. Her receptionist buzzed in as she was aligning her notepads.
“There’s a man here to see you,” Heather said.
Cassie glanced up at the clock over the door. Sometimes she could fit in walk-ins. Relationship trouble didn’t follow a nine-to-five schedule. But tonight Cassie had an appointment at a day spa, and she was up for some glam time.
“Sorry, Heather. Make an appointment. I can’t fit him in today.”
“He says it’s personal. Something about a tape on the Internet.”
Dirk.
The man was like a bad penny. Bad everything. And yet her body still hungered for him as if he held the source for chocolate.
She sighed in resignation. “Okay, let him in, and please lock up.”
“You don’t want me to stay?” Heather asked. For safety reasons, it was policy Cassie never stayed alone in the office.
“No, it’s okay. This is someone I knew from high school.” Even though the effort was wasted on Dirk, Cassie smoothed her hair and straightened her skirt, the soft hum of anticipation buzzing in her blood.
The doorknob turned and Dirk walked through the door. Jeans, T-shirt. A million men wore those same items every day. None of those guys looked half as good as Dirk did right now. Entering her office. Invading her personal space. She shrank back against her chair.
His steps slowed as he saw her, and a smile spread across his rugged face. “I like you in your counselor uniform.”
Cassie glanced down at her plain black skirt, sensible shoes and white V-neck blouse. With her hair in a knot on the top of her head it could definitely be classified as the uniform she wore to work.
Dirk shut the door behind him. “I think I’m on to something with the tape. You remember that roommate I had second semester of our sophomore year?”
She had a vague image in her mind—blond, short, hair already thinning. The type of man prone to a large gut by the time he was thirty. She nodded.
“What was his name?” Dirk asked.
She couldn’t remember. “He was such a jerk you moved out after only a couple of weeks.”
Dirk nodded. “That’s right. I can’t remember his name either. I think maybe if we watch the tape together, it might remind us.”
“You think he’s the one?” she asked, trying to ignore the hardening of her nipples at his suggestion of viewing the tape together.
“I’m almost positive. He had a thing for you.”
Cassie shuddered. “Yuck. Why’d you have to tell me that? The guy was so creepy.” Her whole body revolted as she remembered the spine-chilling way the guy used to follow her with his eyes. Twice she spotted him skulking outside one of her classes.
“And the kind of guy who’d steal another man’s things.”
With a heavy sigh, Cassie jiggled the mouse to wake up her computer, then typed in the Web site with their lovemaking uploaded on it. She didn’t want to do this, but if watching this could jog their memories of this guy’s name, and getting the tape back, she’d do it.
After a few moments, the image of her naked breasts filled the screen. Dirk’s sexy backside was clearly visible as he kissed and licked her nipples.
Man, he’d been good at that.
Her breasts grew heavy and her nipples hardened at the remembered pleasure.
A moan escaped from the woman on the screen. Her.
“Was that fake?” Dirk asked behind her, so close she felt the heat from his body.
Her breathing shallowed. “No,” she said.
“You ready?” the taped Dirk asked, and the taped Cassie responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
In real life, the back of her neck began to tingle. She was reliving that moment from so many years ago. Reliving it as if it were happening right now.
Cassie was doing very intimate things on the tape, and standing beside the very man with whom she’d been doing those intimate things. She didn’t feel detached. She felt very, very involved.
Her muscles tensed. Her skin grew warm.
Stage One of Sexual Desire. Soon her pupils would dilate and the walls of her vagina would grow slick.
Stage Two.
Then she’d grab him by the shoulders and do him.
She seized the mouse and hit the red button on the window of the Web site, sending the sounds and sights away. “I’ve seen the tape. Seeing it together isn’t going to help us.”
Dirk turned toward her, the teasing look on his face vanished. Instead, raw hunger dwelled in his eyes. Raw hunger for her.
Something deep and elemental inside her responded.
She’d placed herself in a position only inches away from him when she’d yanked for the mouse. They were so close. With a groan, he pulled her fully into his arms. She met his mouth with ready abandon.
She should make herself stop. Tear herself away. But she didn’t.
Cassie was desperate to discover everything new and old about Dirk’s body. How he’d changed. How he was the same. She ran her hands up the muscles on his back. No shy, exploring girl. She touched him as a woman touched a man. The caress of a woman who wanted that man very much.
Her breathing grew harsh, her movements frantic. Cassie could think of nothing but getting Dirk’s shirt off his chest, and just how fast she could do it. She grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt and yanked it hard out of the waistband of his jeans. He followed suit, in too much of a hurry to fully remove her blouse—just unbuttoning it and smoothing the silky material to the side. Thankfully the bra had a front clasp.
Dirk shoved the papers on her desk aside and she scooted onto the top, her legs dangling at the knees. He followed her down, balancing his full weight on his forearms.
She twined her arms around his neck the same way she had on the tape, sinking her fingers into the silkiness of his hair. The weight of him on her body made her ache. The hard bulge of his erection made contact with all the right places.
His hand traveled up her thigh, pushing her skirt out of his way as he went. He found the barrier of her panties, and stopped.
She opened her eyes to see Dirk’s strained expression.
“Cassie, tell me you want me,” he said, his voice little more than a ragged groan.
Disappointment took away some of the sensual haze. Why did he have to talk? Why did he have to bring her to reality, make her acknowledge what she was feeling? A moment ago, she could have had raw, animalistic sex on the top of her desk with Dirk and written it off as heat of the moment.
Now, because he asked her to voice what she sought, she couldn’t write their sex off as anything but that she was a woman who wanted him.
And she desired him very, very much.
Cassie forced herself to drop her arms. She needed to make it animalistic again. “Dirk, if you’re not inside me in twenty seconds, I’m getting up off this desk.”
He made a sound between groaning an
d laughter. His hands framed her face and he met her gaze. “It will always be like this between us. It was always us,” he said. Then he dipped his head and kissed her. A kiss she felt zap to every point of her body.
His hand returned to her panties, slipping inside to stroke her. Despite her earlier bravado of getting off her desk if he didn’t get down to business soon, she was pretty much powerless to move. She only felt.
Felt the incredible sensations of pleasure as he gently caressed her, making her wetter. Felt the weight of him lift off of her as he unbuttoned his jeans and opened his fly. Felt the soft fabric of her panties brush against her clit as Dirk pushed them aside, in too much of a hurry to even drag them down her legs.
He teased her with the head of his erection until she arched and lifted her hips toward him. Then with a moan, he sunk inside her, filling her finally. No slow seduction. No leisurely buildup. Just hot, desperate sex.
Cassie almost expected him to start pounding away. But…nothing. She opened her eyes to look at him. The muscles of his shoulders and neck corded under the strain of him holding back. She met his gaze, seeing the wonder in his eyes that must mirror her own.
Then he moved. He pulled gradually out of her body, only to slowly thrust back inside, sliding against every sensitive spot along the way.
She sucked in a breath and her eyes drifted shut again as pleasure made her inner muscles grip him hard. He drew himself from her slickness only to thrust back. Dirk did this over and over again. Building her pleasure. His lips and tongue caressed every part of her sensitized body. Her face, her neck, her breasts.
His fingers and hands stroked and teased her skin until every nerve ending in her body ached for his touch. When Dirk found her clitoris with the soft pad of his thumb, her hips bucked. She wrapped her legs around his waist, urging him on.
“Now, Dirk. Harder. Faster. Now.”
He plunged into her. Her inner muscles clamped around him as wave after wave of pleasure took her over. Somewhere her brain registered that she was being loud, crying out in ecstasy. And she didn’t care.
