It all sounded good in her head, but Ray knew it was nothing more than idle chatter on her part. She’d been out of her mind to let things go as far as they had. Likewise, she’d be out of her mind to end it.
With resolve fueling her smile, Ray approved of her reflection in the mirror. She gathered her things and left the powder room.
“Well, well, I’d heard Barker was here with a beauty, and I see that was no exaggeration.”
Ray slowed her steps down the lonely corridor and turned to the man who had spoken behind her. There was no need for introductions. The man before her was an older but otherwise similar image of the one who had jostled her and Barker on the dance floor earlier. Like father, like son, she silently sneered.
“Dale Grant,” the man said, “Barker’s uncle.”
She made no attempt at giving her name, but the elder Grant didn’t miss a beat, moving the conversation along. Dale Grant’s grin held more calculation than warmth. “I must say, my nephew never fails to make a statement—professionally or personally.”
Ray turned to continue down the hall.
“He’s outdone himself this time, though, bringing a girl like you around his family and their friends.”
“You’re about to fall through that thin ice you’re skating on, Dale.”
Ray tried not to appear too relieved at the sight of Monika Grant heading toward them. She was pretty sure she’d failed at the task.
“Monika, this girl—”
“Shut it, Dale.” Monika didn’t stop until she had thoroughly invaded her brother-in-law’s personal space. “You and your little boy should learn how to conduct yourselves around civilized people before you wind up leaving your own party in an ambulance.”
“You’ve got some nerve speaking to me like this in my own home—”
“I’ll have more than nerve, Dale. I’ll have a hand putting you and my whiny nephew in that ambulance I just told you about.”
Dale’s lip curled and his lean frame seemed to swell with temper. “It’s very cute of you to come to Miss Keats’s aid, but I’m sure girls like her have a lot of experience taking care of themselves.”
“Mmm... I agree, Dale.” Monika gave a worthy sneer of her own. “Any girl can become an expert with handling pigs if she has the misfortune of running into enough of them.”
Dale Grant stiffened, but he wasn’t done. He favored his sister-in-law with a loathing stare. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’d approve of Barker bringing a girl like this home.”
* * *
Barker chose to head to the powder room and wait for Ray instead of spending more time inside the party. His mother would understand. Her actual birthday celebration would be upon them soon enough. Besides, he was damn well ready to grab Ray and get the hell out of there. It had been a mistake to bring her there. While much of his family was a decent enough bunch, the few that made his teeth ache were enough to warrant skipping any occasion that called for them all to come together.
Barker took the turn leading to the guest washroom corridor at a relaxed stride that mirrored his mood just then. The party hadn’t been a complete waste. Besides seeing his mother happy and dazzling that night, the talk with Steven Saltzman had been an enlightening one. The man had his entire hand in something that had him tap dancing on a cloud, and it was all taking place in the part of town Barker was investigating with little success. Barker’s spot-on perception told him that Steven Saltzman could be the key to breaking that investigation wide open.
All of that could rest for now, Barker decided. A smile tugged his mouth when he saw Ray at the end of the long hall. The gesture died a slow death when he saw who joined her. His expression was unreadable for only a few moments before he saw his mother slap his uncle full across the face.
* * *
Ray gasped when she heard her name, hard and clipped, on Barker’s voice. “I think he saw that,” she said to Monika Grant.
“Get him out of here. Preferably all the way out,” Monika ordered.
Ray was torn between wanting to catch up to Barker before his long strides closed in on them, and not wanting to leave Monika with her loathsome brother-in-law.
“Go!” Monika took the decision from the younger woman’s hands.
Ray sprang into action, approaching Barker with a smile before he reached the other end of the hall.
“It’s getting late and I’m all partied out—”
“What’d Dale say to you?”
Ray ignored the chill Barker’s question sent down her back. “It’s not important. Come on, let’s—”
Barker squeezed Ray’s hands gently and then set her aside.
“Barker, please.” Ray stayed behind when she saw that Monika Grant was already on the way to offer her assistance. She noted that Dale Grant held his ground at the end of the hall.
“Bari.” Monika pressed her hands flat and firm to her son’s chest. “Look at me, baby.” She waited until her instructions were followed. “Now, why don’t you go take this lovely girl home and leave your idiot uncle to me?”
“Can’t do that.” Barker’s voice was like stone.
“Would you feel better if I showed you two out?” Monika offered.
Barker’s dark eyes remained fixed down the hall. “I’d feel better if I showed him out.”
“And any other time, I’d enjoy seeing that.” Monika patted his cheek. “But I’d rather you spend the rest of the night wooing this beauty, who I strongly suspect is about to be my daughter-in-law.”
Thoughts of doing bodily harm to his uncle began to evaporate, and Barker smiled. “It’s too easy for you to throw me off track.”
“Don’t blame me.” Monika lifted her shoulders slowly and sent a look to Rayelle.
“Right.” Barker smiled, offering his mother an arm. “Walk us out?”
Monika took the offered arm, squeezed it and sent a dismissive wave to Dale Grant, who stood seething at the end of the hall.
Chapter 9
They’d been driving in silence for just over fifteen minutes when Ray spoke. The silence hadn’t been strained in spite of the budding drama before they left the party. Ray supposed they were both just too exhausted for conversation. She hadn’t exactly realized how wiped she was until she’d settled onto the heated suede seats of Barker’s Jeep. The warmth was soothing, as was the added comfort of fine jazz that wafted through the state-of-the-art sound system. It all lulled her into a sense of complete and pampered serenity.
It had taken just over fifteen minutes to realize they’d missed the exit she had expected Barker to take to get her back home. Given the way the night had turned out, she wondered if he was simply taking a longer route to let off steam through the drive.
“Are we going to another party?” she asked when he took another exit altogether.
“Going to my place,” he said.
Ray had no reply, not that she could’ve given one that’d be worth anything with her heart in her throat the way it was. With a mental jolt, she reminded herself unnecessarily that this wasn’t the first trip she’d made back to a man’s place following a party.
Girls like me are used to such things—the phrase had her cringing more for summoning it than over the fact that Barker’s uncle had used it less than an hour earlier. She supposed that was the motivation behind the impromptu visit. Barker wanted to question her further about the run-in.
Before leaving the Grant mansion, Ray had overheard Monika Grant forbidding her son to follow up the night with any questions about what Dale Grant had said. Ray could tell by Barker’s half-hearted agreement that he wasn’t all that interested in honoring his part of the deal. She guessed they’d do well to go on and get the conversation started on the way to his place, but the plan was waylaid as they arrived at their destination.
Like the side of town where Dale Grant’s
deluxe spread was located, Ray had visited the Old City area Barker drove through now enough to know that it was another of the upscale locales. The spot was a huge draw for young professionals and those earning high six-figure salaries. The small borough just off the exit held a quaint old-world feel. Snow and festive twinkling lights cluttered in the corners of shop windows and around stately iron lampposts that spilled additional golden light to the ground. It added a heightened holiday air to the environment.
Barker stopped the Jeep beneath one of the towering posts, and like that, Ray’s mind was back on the night’s less-than-enjoyable moments. Barker left the car without a word and came around to open the passenger door.
“Can you make it up the steps in those, or should I carry you?” He sent a skeptical look toward the alluring heels she had selected for the evening.
The amused tinge to the question eased a layer of the tension Ray had been laboring under for much of the night.
“I can make it.” Still, she took a steadying breath while eyeing the wide stone steps leading to the set of rust-colored doors behind tinted glass ones.
“Let’s go then.”
Together, they tackled the snowy path. Barker took Ray’s arm near the porch while he unlocked the doors.
“Wow... I’ll bet these two sets of doors come in handy,” Ray teased.
Barker took it with good humor, his laughter easing yet another layer of Ray’s tension.
“For all the good they do me,” he said. “My neighbors prefer bypassing the TV and getting their news right from the source—one of ’em, anyway.”
“Your neighbors sound like smart people.”
“In the summer it’s just easier to leave the heavy doors open when I’m home.” Following another wave, he directed her to precede him into the house.
The place suited him, Ray thought. There were tons of papers, books, journals and notebooks strewn across tables and stacked in corners on gleaming hardwoods. The place could’ve easily been declared a warzone, but Ray could see there was a method to the madness. Spacious and stark, it managed to carry off a cozy warmth that was both inspiring and welcoming. It made Ray want to curl up in fuzzy socks with a mug of something hot and delicious and settle in with a story that would teleport her into another world.
Ray zoned back into the present to find Barker’s unreadable stare fixed on her. He poured himself a drink from the small yet well-stocked and sturdy-looking cart across the living room. She spared another look around, scanning the crowded shelves lining the walls.
“Nice place,” she said.
“Thanks. You can put your coat anywhere.”
Glad for something to do, Ray removed her coat while Barker finished his drink. He went to take one of the lived-in armchairs that flanked the long sofa. Its fine tweed fabric gave an unpretentious quality to the room.
“Drink?” Barker offered when Ray turned from setting down her coat.
“I’m good.”
With a shrug, Barker drained the contents of his glass in one long swallow and set the stout glass on an end table. The noise was more pronounced in the quiet. He offered his hand and Ray accepted without comment. She settled over him on the chair, her knees straddling his hips. The dress drew up to bunch at her waist, leaving her thighs bare but for the silken hose covering them.
Barker appreciated the barrier. There were things he wanted to say to her. He needed every bit of help he could summon to strengthen his willpower against her. The keyhole cut in the bodice, however, was a temptation all its own, and he had pitiful willpower against ignoring it, especially when it shelved her gorgeous breasts with such enticement. As though tugged by some unseen thread, his fingers found their way to the cut-out, where they fondled the supple honey-toned flesh. Her every breath sent the mounds heaving and enveloping his fingers when they dipped into the valley between.
Content, Barker rested his head back on his chair and delighted in the sensation of his fingers snug and warm where they rested. His thumb made lazy circles across her nipple and he smiled, feeling the bud firming in response.
Whisper-soft moans found their way up from Ray’s throat. Her core clenched fiercely in response to the sensation that stirred when she moved against the wide, lengthy ridge of muscle straining his zipper. Ray threw back her head, clenching her teeth to stifle the moans he summoned from his stroking thumb.
“Ray?” He got no response, save her heightened moans, which were followed by a gasp.
“Ray?” That time, he squeezed her breast until she seemed to be tugged from her bliss. He smiled as her sex-drugged gaze slowly focused.
“What did my uncle say to you?”
Remnants of whatever erotic drug held her quickly dissipated. “Nothing important.” Ray knew full well he wouldn’t believe her if she said nothing.
Barker focused on his hand at her breast. The orb heaved with the same urgency as before, but he knew that urgency was fueled then by more unease than arousal.
“I’d like to know anyway.” His bottomless eyes remained fixed where he held her.
Ray braced. “I’d like it if you didn’t know.”
“And you shouldn’t be handling him on your own.”
“Your mother was there—”
“She shouldn’t be handling him either.”
Ray gave a playful tug to his collar. “Thanks for going into protection mode for us, but your mom and I aren’t so fragile that we can’t handle an ass like your uncle Dale.”
“I never said you couldn’t—I said you shouldn’t.”
Before Ray could tease Barker about his reporter’s sense for accuracy, she saw his expression turn even darker.
“He’s done this before. Whatever he said to you tonight would only be the beginning. I’d like for that not to happen. It wouldn’t be good for me to break an old man in half this close to Christmas.”
Ray laughed. “So, you make a habit of bringing unacceptable girls home close to the holidays?”
Barker didn’t find the remark funny. “I’ve never brought an unacceptable girl home—and neither did my dad, but that didn’t stop my uncle from escalating from snide remarks to trying to force himself on my mother.”
“Barker...” Ray shook her head. “How could you know that?”
Barker shrugged, continuing the sultry revolutions about her nipple. “My dad told me. The only reason my mom can hold me off is because I know my father already had the satisfaction of beating Dale half to death for it. I’m pretty sure my mother knows I wouldn’t mind finishing the job.”
“I’m sorry, Barker.” She soothed his jaw with slow brushes beneath her palm.
“Just do what you can to stay away from him, okay?”
She smirked. “That shouldn’t be hard. We don’t exactly run in the same circles, you know? I can’t imagine him frequenting the new Jazzy B’s dance studio or nightclub.” She was on the verge of laughter but saw Barker was still serious.
“As long as we’re together, the chances of seeing my uncle are still pretty high, and I expect us to be together for a very long time.”
Ray only swallowed visibly, trying and failing to speak.
Barker didn’t appear to be waiting on a response. Again, he rested his head on the back of the chair. “Don’t act like you don’t know I feel that way—that it’s been going that way for me. I’ve already told you as much. Hell, Ray, my mother can even see it. Won’t be long before the rest of my family does, too.”
Ray counted that as a fact. After all, hadn’t Dale Grant alluded to as much just before his sister-in-law intervened? “I can handle your uncle, Barker. I’ve got a tough skin.”
Barker didn’t doubt that, even if the look and feel of her completely disputed it. His dark eyes followed the path his fingers took down her arm, covered by the sheer material of her dress’s long, flaring sleeves. His gaze lifted when his f
ingers returned to her bodice and encircled the keyhole cut once again. Like before, he insinuated his fingers inside the heated dip between her breasts.
Barker used the spot for purchase and tugged on the bodice to encourage Ray to lean in until her mouth was fused to his. The kiss held an air of sweetness, but the moment was fleeting before the haze of full-on lust intervened. Their tongues tangled wildly, desperately and in search of supreme satisfaction. Barker’s thrusts were pounding, possessive, his tongue taking her mouth with an eagerness that showed no sign of easing in intensity. He could hear himself moaning low in response to the slow, lazier thrusts she treated him to. The rhythm was hypnotic, virtually spellbinding, as were Ray’s responsive breaths that carried a purring quality about them.
Her relaxed approach to their kiss merely heightened Barker’s fierce manner. He abandoned her bodice where he squeezed and fondled both her breasts. His thumbs were working her nipples into pouting peaks that seemed to beg for the kisses he gave to her mouth. She felt his wide palms curving over her thighs, and she silently cursed that she’d had to don stockings for the evening.
“Mmm-hmm.” She confirmed her approval when he gripped her bottom to draw her into a more snug fit across his lap.
Immediately, Ray resumed her sultry rotations, grinding with need across his arousal. Barker severed the kiss to drag his nose down the sleek line of her neck. All the while, he delighted in the confidence-boosting sounds she made. In moments, demand fueled his need and his grip on her bottom.
Ray realized he was milliseconds away from tearing away the fabric of her hose, which was sturdy yet could undoubtedly be ripped. She brought her hands to his in a staying gesture and smiled. She savored the power she held over the man who cursed his loss of control, and she pressed his very appealing face into the base of her throat while he seemed to be waiting for his breathing to level.
Barker pulled Ray into a fierce embrace then. “No going home tonight.”
“Okay.” She had no plans to argue and cherished their embrace as it caused her shoulders to slump and her eyelids to feel weighty.
Seductive Moments Page 10
