My Sexiest Mistake

by Kristin Hardy

MANHATTAN WAS ITS USUAL crowded, cluttered, exciting self. Ryan stepped out of the car in front of the Essex Midtown, stretching her stiff muscles and watching the bellhops scramble to take their luggage. Amazing the treatment money brought, Ryan thought, as Cade handed his keys to the valets.

  He caught her staring. “What?” he asked as they walked through the front doors and toward the registration desk.She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just thinking about how they would have acted if I’d driven up in my Toyota.”

  “Jealousy is so unbecoming. Look at it this way. I’m just trying to make sure that you’re treated properly while you’re on the eTrain account. It’s my job to keep you happy.” They stopped in the registration line and he eyed her up and down. “Interesting that we continually seem to meet up in hotels, don’t you think?”

  Ryan threw him a sharp look. “Don’t start with me, or you’ll undo all the good collegial feelings I built up for you during the drive.”

  “Okay,” Cade said, “next topic. What’s on the docket for this little shindig?”

  “There’s a mixer at six-thirty. Tomorrow, I think sessions start at eight and run through six.”

  “Okay.” A redheaded desk clerk beckoned to him. He started to walk over then abruptly stopped and turned. “Want to have dinner?”

  Caught by surprise, she only blinked. “Dinner?”

  “You know, when you sit down at a table and eat?”

  “Miss?” A different clerk waved to Ryan. Cade held up a hand to the redhead and glanced back at her. The people in line behind her shifted restlessly.

  Ryan gave up. “Um sure, I guess.”

  He flashed a grin. “Good. We can catch up with each other at the mixer and go from there.”

  Trying not to think about the little bolt of excitement that his grin had sent through her, Ryan walked up to the desk clerk. Just then, the previous guest returned to contest the room rate. So it was that she was back in line when Cade walked by with his room folio.

  “What happened?”

  Ryan pointed to the guest, who was now arguing fervently with the clerk.

  “Oh.” Cade paused to watch for a moment. “Do you want me to stay?”

  “No, go on up. We can meet at the mixer, like you said.”

  “Sounds good.” He gave a wave to flag down the bellhop and glanced back at her. “See you later.”

  Ryan couldn’t help watching him walk away. The man had himself a fine rear view. She jumped when the person behind her gave her a nudge to make her notice the desk clerk calling her. She walked up to the counter and set her purse down. “Checking in, name of Ryan Donnelly.”

  “Sorry for the delay, ma’am. Let’s just bring up your name,” said the clerk, a young man with a brilliant smile whose name badge said he hailed from Auckland, New Zealand. “Donnelly, Donnelly, Donnelly…hmm.” He clicked keys rapidly, then frowned and typed some more.

  She felt a flutter of disquiet and dug through her briefcase for the folder that held her confirmation. “Is there something wrong with the reservation? I checked it yesterday.”

  “Well, it appears to have been changed since then. Looks like you’ve been upgraded to concierge level, in room…oh, that’s it.” He looked at her and smiled. “You don’t need to check in. Apparently you’re already registered in the suite of one of our guests.”

  “That’s wrong,” she said positively. “You must have mixed me up with another guest. Check again, please.”

  “I already have, ma’am. We have you listed in the suite of a Cade Douglas.”

  For a beat, everything seemed to stop, then the blood rushed to her cheeks. “I didn’t authorize a change to my room.” Her voice was quiet but anger slammed through her.

  “I see that here. Mr. Douglas is an Essex Rewards member. It appears that one of our reservations operators made the change as a courtesy.” He clicked the keys some more. “Normally, we could put you back in a single room, but unfortunately, we’re fully booked because of the conference. We’ll be happy to get you a reservation at another hotel in Manhattan.” He stopped a moment and frowned. “Only thing is, I happen to know there aren’t any openings close by. It’s just a bad week. We can look, but it will be a few minutes. Do you want me to do that?”

  Ryan forced her jaw to move. “Not just yet. What is the number of the suite I’m supposed to be in?”

  “May I see your identification, ma’am?”

  Ryan struggled to hold on to her temper as she pulled out her driver’s license and slapped it down on the counter.

  “Thank you. You’re in room 4042. I can’t give you a key, though,” he said apologetically. “You’ll have to get it from Mr. Douglas.”

  She really was reaching the end of her rope. “Do I need a passkey to get up to concierge level?” she asked carefully. After all, it wasn’t the clerk’s fault. Oh no, she knew exactly whose fault it was.

  “Normally you use your room key, but we have passkeys for visitors.” He handed her the plastic card. “The elevators are just ahead to your left. If you change your mind about wanting to switch to another hotel, ma’am, just give us a call or come back down and we’ll take care of it. I’d suggest you do it quickly, though. There’s a big electronics conference in town at the Javits Center and rooms are almost nonexistent at the better hotels.”

  Ryan thanked him and left. It felt good to burn a little energy walking across the enormous lobby to the elevators. It helped her hold back from breaking something or screaming. The nerve of the man, she fumed. If he thought she was going to sleep with him just because they were in a hotel together, he was very much mistaken. She slid her passkey into the slot on the elevator control panel and punched the button for the fortieth floor. The car zoomed upward and Ryan stared at her furious face, reflected in the gold-toned mirrors that covered the elevator doors.

  Then the car stopped at the concierge level and she walked out onto the plush floor. The concierge sitting behind the desk looked at her inquiringly. “May I help you, ma’am?”

  “I’m looking for room 4042.”

  “And the name of the guest, ma’am?”

  Ryan wanted badly to hiss. Instead, she maintained her calm. “Cade Douglas.”

  “Ah. Down the hall and to the right.”

  Ryan headed swiftly down the hall to 4042 and knocked on the door so hard her knuckles hurt.

  Cade opened it a moment later, as she was nursing her bruised knuckles. “Hi. I wondered if you—”

  Ryan pushed past him into the room without waiting for an invitation. “Where in the hell do you get off screwing up my reservation and—” she broke off. It was a palace built into a glassed-in corner of the hotel. Windows faced two walls of the living room, offering a stunning view of midtown Manhattan and the East River. Conversational groupings of soft gray sofas and black chairs sat on an art deco patterned rug over deep burgundy carpet. Mottled silk wallpaper gleamed richly. Ahead, sliding doors opened onto a balcony surrounded by waist-high planters spilling over with vivid geraniums and lush ivy. To one side, an open door led into what she assumed was Cade’s room.

  And her garment bag sat just inside the door.

  Her fury reignited. “You are out of your mind if you think I’m going to sleep with you just because you got cute and put us into the same room. Did you really think I’m so stupid that I’d just roll over for you? Was that the whole reason you decided to come along on this trip? A trip that I had set up well in advance without you, thanks very much.” She paced as she talked, flattening a little path in the plush rug. “I can’t believe you. Thanks to you my reservation is gone and they can’t find another anywhere around here because of some big show in town. And I was stupid enough to actually like you for an hour or so this afternoon.” Her voice rose.

  “Are you finished?” Cade’s voice was deceptively calm, but his eyes sparked with temper.

  Ryan opened her mouth and shut it. “Please, by all means, talk. I’m dying to hear this one.”

  He smiled t
hinly. “Good. First of all, I asked my secretary to have them move you to concierge level as a courtesy gesture. I do a lot of traveling, so I get certain perks. I didn’t expect anything then and I still don’t.” Her skeptical sniff only tested his control further. “I got a suite for myself because I have some meetings with our venture cap people tomorrow and I needed a professional space. I never intended them to move you into my suite.”

  “Oh, sure.” Sarcasm dripped from her words.

  “It was an accident.”

  “An accident?” She stalked into his bedroom where her garment bag sat. “Oh, like it’s an accident that that’s sitting here?”

  Irritation flashed into his eyes. The fact that he couldn’t help just for an instant imagining her lying naked on his bed did nothing to improve his mood. “Do you think for one minute I’d believe that I could seduce you with an absurd story like this? Give me some credit.” He stalked toward her. Step by step she retreated until her back was against a connecting door. He gave a feral smile, leaning his forearms against the door on either side of her head. “When and if I decide to try to seduce you, trust me, I’ll be much more direct than that.”

  Her heart thumped so loud she could hear it pounding. Her breath jerked unsteadily. “Don’t try to intimidate me.”

  “Don’t insult me.” God, he wanted to lean in and feel her body against him. He wanted to feel her moving under him, hear her cry out when she came like she had the last time they were together. He spun around and grabbed her garment bag and walked her into her room. “There. I’m sure you can unpack yourself. Here’s your passkey for the room.” He slapped the cards down on the dresser. “And in case you’re worried about your virtue, which I assure you, is perfectly safe, you’ll notice you have locks on both of your doors.”

  “Fine,” she snapped, and slammed the connecting door on her side. It was infantile, but satisfying. When the companion door on Cade’s side thudded into the latch, she jumped. Shortly after, she heard the front door shut, but she refused to examine why she felt bereft.

  IT WAS ONLY WHEN SHE WAS at a conference that she remembered how relentlessly boring they were, Ryan reflected, and how much she disliked what she did. It didn’t help that she spent the morning watching for Cade. He was either a very late sleeper or an early riser, because she hadn’t seen or heard a trace of him that morning. Now, she didn’t see him anywhere.

  The problem was, she was beginning to feel more and more foolish and unreasonable for blowing up at him. The hotel had made a mistake. The more she thought about it, the more probable it seemed. He was right, she thought with a little shiver of arousal. If he wanted to seduce her, it certainly wouldn’t be with the hotel equivalent of running out of gas on a lonely road. She had a growing suspicion that she’d made a perfect fool out of herself.Finally, at the afternoon coffee break she saw him. Approaching him took work, but she’d always believed that unpleasant things were best done quickly. Eating humble pie definitely fell into the category of unpleasant, she reflected as she crossed over to where he stood near the wall. His eyes flicked up as she approached, though his expression was noncommittal.

  “I was beginning to wonder if I was going to see you around here today,” she said brightly, feeling miserably uncomfortable. “How did your meetings go?”

  “Fine,” he said briefly, wondering what she’d cooked up now. Mouseketeer bright was not a normal part of Ryan’s repertoire, that much he knew about her. It put him on his guard. He’d spent the night tossing and turning, knowing she was near, unable to stop thinking about the first time he’d been in a hotel with her. “Enjoying yourself?”

  She moved her shoulders restlessly. “Not really. Some useful sessions, I guess. Nothing that’s blown my skirt up.”

  He flicked a glance at the skirt in question. She wore a vivid magenta suit today, the snug pencil skirt flowing up into the tight bolero jacket. It would take a lot of doing to blow that skirt up, he thought, but didn’t say it. The first few times he’d seen her, she’d been wearing suits in which the color shouted sex but the cut said don’t see me. Now both cut and color were sending the same message, one it would take a better man than him to ignore.

  Especially when she was sleeping a dozen feet from him.

  Just get it over with, Ryan, she told herself. Maybe if she said it quickly it wouldn’t be so bad. “Well, the real reason I came over here was that I owe you an apology.”

  “Come again?”

  She looked at him blankly.

  “I didn’t understand a word you said. Could you repeat it?”

  She gave him a narrow-eyed stare. “I wanted to apologize.”

  “Really?” He looked at her a moment, then put his coffee cup on a nearby table. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and shifting a few times to get into a comfortable position. “Go ahead.”

  “You’re not making this very easy.”

  “I’m not? Sorry. It’s just such a novel experience I wanted to savor it.”

  “Look, do you want to hear this apology or not?” she snapped.

  Cade grinned at the bright flare of temper in her eyes. “Now that’s a face I recognize. The Mouseketeer stuff was scaring me.”

  “It might surprise you to know that I rarely lose my temper with anyone,” she said icily.

  “I feel special, thanks. But really, don’t let me distract you,” he said encouragingly. “Please, continue.”

  Ryan drew a breath. This was excruciating. “I was out of line yesterday. I jumped to conclusions and I’m sorry. I should have gotten the facts first.” There. It was out. She was relieved to have it over with. “I’m, um, also sorry for implying that you were…that you might have been trying to…”

  “Get you between the sheets?” he offered helpfully. “Take you for a tumble? Boff your brains out?”

  Ryan scowled at him. “Look, if you’re just going to—”

  “Faking you out with a hotel room story is not my style,” Cade cut her off. “Believe me, when I go to seduce you, you won’t have any doubt.”

  How did he do that, she wondered. Without ever moving, he suddenly seemed much, much closer, close enough to start that slow buzz of arousal deep inside her.

  Cade’s gaze ran lazily down her body. “Of course, a person could start to think that the reason you’re bringing this all up is because you’re really hoping that I’ll do just that.”

  “You can get lost,” Ryan snapped.

  “I’d rather get lost with you. It seems to me that I still owe you dinner. How about tonight?”

  “Sorry, I have a date tonight,” she said with satisfaction. With Helene, but he didn’t need to know that.

  Cade raised his eyebrows. “Really?” The sting of jealousy took him by surprise.

  Something in his tone raised her hackles. “I’m sure it won’t put a crimp in your social life. You can always go out with Melissa.” As soon as she’d said it she could cheerfully have cut her tongue out.

  Cade gave her a blank look, then quickly glanced to where the cool blond conference organizer stood across the room. “Melissa? How did she come into the conversation?”

  “Well I thought…I just…” Ryan floundered. “I saw you two at the mixer last night. I just figured you went to dinner after.”

  The smile of pure enjoyment that spread over his face had her grinding her teeth. “I had no idea you were watching that closely. I was just asking Melissa about content resources. I suppose I could find out if she’s free for dinner tonight, though, now that you mention it,” he added thoughtfully.

  “That’s a little more information than I needed to know,” Ryan muttered.

  “Well, since it’s obviously been troubling you, you should know that I went out on my own last night,” he said, enjoying her discomfiture.

  It shouldn’t have made her feel better.

  It did.

  People began drifting out of the hall, back toward the meeting rooms. “Well, it looks like the sessions are starting again
, so I guess I’ll see you later,” Cade said, brushing his thumb across her lips. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  Ryan slanted him a cutting look as he walked away. “Don’t worry, Dad, I’ll be home before curfew.”

  10

  RYAN SMOOTHED DOWN HER swingy miniskirt as she walked through the hotel lobby, her hair a loose tumble of sable. The warm weather was like an aphrodisiac, making her blood run faster and her muscles loose. A bellhop turned to watch her as she walked past, though she suspected it had more to do with her low-cut summer sweater than anything else.

  The bar was mobbed with conventioneers, but it didn’t take her long to spot Helene; she was the chain-smoker sitting near the bar with a waiter dancing in close attendance. Helene grinned as Ryan shouldered her way through the crowd. “Hey kid, I was just about to give up on you,” she rasped and pulled Ryan in for a quick, hard hug.How ever much she might occasionally be pressured by her, Ryan thanked her lucky stars for Helene. The woman had believed in her when she was starting out, and had encouraged—and occasionally bullied—her through the early days. It wasn’t an act. It was real, she honestly did care.

  “It’s so good to see you.” Ryan squeezed Helene’s hands and dropped into a chair. “I’m sorry I’m late. The sessions ran over.”

  “I tried to call you but they said you weren’t staying here. If I’d known you were in another hotel we could have met there.”

  “No, I’m staying here. Figures he wouldn’t put my name on the room,” she muttered under her breath. She saw Helene’s eyebrows go up and she cursed herself. “It’s not what it sounds like. There was a mix-up with the reservations. I’m staying in a suite with a colleague.”

  “Oh really?” Helene drew out the words with relish.

  The waiter standing by the table cleared his throat. “What can I get you ladies?” he asked, setting down a bowl of pretzels and a couple of napkins.

  Helene leaned over to be heard over the hubbub. “I’ll have another glass of the chardonnay and my friend will have…” she looked at Ryan in question.