by Jess Dee
The next three attempts at contacting Riley proved just as successful as the first two.
Later, Lexi sat at dinner with Leona, feeling disheartened and disillusioned. The sooner she could meet Riley, the sooner she could convince him to donate the fifty thousand and the sooner she could start up the project.
It was a good program. She’d spent months drawing up the plans, which had approval from both the hospital board and the ward staff. A couple of nurses had even signed up to help. Now she needed the funding to get it off the ground—and she’d yet to make contact with the most probable source of that funding.
All her efforts today had come to nothing. Well, nothing except tripping in the lobby and landing with her nose mashed into the spectacular chest of “Superhunk”.
Not a bad result, all things considered.
“Yoo-hoo. Hello? Earth to Lexi?” Leona waved her hand in front of Lexi’s eyes.
Lexi blinked and grinned. “Sorry, I zoned out on you for a minute there.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“I guess I’m obsessing a little.” She looked sheepishly at Leona. “I’ve just got to find Riley, Lee. He’s right here, so close I can almost touch him.”
“Don’t you ever get tired of trying to raise money for POWS?” Leona asked, referring to the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Ward at Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs Hospital, where she worked as a pediatrician and Lexi worked as a social worker. “It’s not even part of your job description.”
“So tired I can hardly limp out of bed some mornings,” Lexi answered. “It’s just something I need to do. It’s like I can’t rest until I’ve done my bit to help.”
“Retribution?”
Lexi shrugged. “In a sense, I suppose. I’ve been there, I know what it’s like. Now I can use that knowledge to make the journey a little less tough for someone else.”
“Your sister found it tougher,” Leona pointed out. “She had leukemia.”
“That is such a doctor comment to make. You only see the patient’s point of view,” Lexi griped good-naturedly, knowing Leona was teasing her. “Never mind the siblings and the rest of the family who go through the trauma of cancer.”
Leona grinned. “Yeah, doctors. Go figure. Why would we want to focus all our attention on a sick child when there’s a whole family out there who needs some loving care?”
Lexi smiled back. Leona always included the whole family in her treatment plan. As a general rule, doctors weren’t trained to look after the emotional needs of the patient’s family. As a social worker, Lexi was—but she knew she hadn’t done a good enough job.
Not yet. When she finished raising money for the sibling program, when she could provide better support for the brothers and sisters of children with cancer, then she’d put a little less pressure on herself.
“Lex,” Leona said, her tone more serious. “I think you’re moving too fast on this one. You’ve got too much riding on the program to screw it up. Wait for Wednesday to see Riley. Meet him when you’re more prepared, when you have all your files and information with you.”
“You’re right, Lee. I know you are.” Lexi squirmed in her seat. “It’s just that he’s here, in the same hotel… I can’t wait. I have to see him.”
“I think you’re being impulsive,” her friend warned. “You know how you tend to say the wrong thing when emotion takes over. Your mouth just runs off without you.”
Darn. She did tend to shoot off her mouth when she got excited, and meeting Riley was definitely something worth getting excited about. He was, after all, the person voted most likely to sponsor her program. So the chances were high she could say something she’d regret. But, c’mon. How could she not seize the moment? How could she let the opportunity of a lifetime blow right past her?
“I’ve got to do it, Lee. I’ve got to make the most of this time. Destiny’s given me this chance. I’m going to jump at it. Of course, I’ll go to the appointment as well. I’d never cancel that.” Excitement churned in her belly. “Look, I promise I’ll check every word that comes out of my mouth. I will be the paragon of tact and diplomacy, but mark my words. On Wednesday, when I walk into his office, it will not be the first time I meet Mr.
Riley. That I promise you.”
—
AJ’s day had been a bitch. What started out as a friendly merger had almost turned into a hostile takeover. So much for talking numbers. The owner of the small company Riley Corporation planned to purchase had suddenly gotten cold feet and flat-out refused their more than generous offer.
Damn fool didn’t have the sense to realize Riley Corporation was the best thing that could have happened to him. In six months, AJ expected to see a one hundred percent growth in profit, then double that in double the time. Good thing Matt had been there to talk a bit of sense into the bloke, because his own input today had been somewhat less than impressive. He could barely string an intelligible sentence together, let alone argue with the dumbass kid.
He’d been all screwed up since he’d caught her in the lobby this morning. Christ, the effect Lexi Tanner had on him. Only a miracle had prevented him from jumping her right there at the reception desk.
Four months earlier, he’d had a similar reaction to her. He’d attended a fundraising exhibition for POWS, organized by Lexi. Her brother, Daniel Tanner, had been the featured photographer. The minute AJ walked into the gallery he’d noticed her. She was hard to miss. She’d pulled his attention toward her with gravitational force, and for the next hour he’d been aware of her every movement.
During the process of purchasing several of Tanner’s outstanding photographs—a charitable obligation to which he felt committed—he’d gathered as much information as he could about the social worker. Then he’d left, knowing one thing: Lexi symbolized big trouble. She embodied everything he had to stay far away from.
Unless, of course, he was willing to send himself to hell and back—for a second time.
AJ beeped the remote alarm of the rental car and caught the hotel lift up from the parking garage, almost tasting the double scotch waiting for him in his room. Fate had different ideas. The lift stopped at the ground floor and several people climbed in—including Lexi Tanner and her friend, Dr. someone or other. For the second time that day, his body heated to a dangerous level.
Christ, she was gorgeous. Her hair tumbled down her back in a shower of golden curls. Full lips, a slightly tilted nose and thick black lashes made up a beautiful face. She probably reached around five-eight in heels and had curves in all the right places. Real, womanly curves.
He stared, unable to look away.
As she caught sight of him, she froze. The air between them sizzled and ignited. She consumed his senses. She stood close, so close he caught the scent of her perfume again.
It was spicy and sexy and he’d smelled it the whole day. Some of it must have rubbed off on his jacket earlier when she’d tumbled into his arms.
Words were spoken. He didn’t hear them. All his senses focused on her. Lexi apparently experienced the same phenomenon. Only when the doctor nudged her and said aloud, “Nineteen, please, and I’m on five,” did he realized someone had asked her floor number.
A startled-looking Lexi turned to the man in question. She flashed him a smile. “I’m sorry. Nineteen, please.”
If she smiled at him like that, even once, he’d have her backed up against the wall, her hands pinned at her sides and her chest squashed into his, before she had a chance to take another breath.
“What is with you today?” The doctor asked her. “That is about the fourth time you’ve zoned out on me.”
Lexi turned back to AJ. The temperature climbed five degrees. He reached for his tie, loosening the knot at the base of his throat. Surely it would help him breathe? Her very presence penetrated deep in his body.
“Sorry, I’m a little sidetracked,” she answered, still staring at him.
A bell rung. “That’s my floor,” her friend said. “Look, I’ll se
e you at breakfast. Good luck, I hope you find him.”
Find him? Who the fuck was she looking for? Last he’d heard, she wasn’t involved with anyone. Ah, shit. Jealousy didn’t sit well with him. He didn’t want to show interest in Lexi. So why did the thought of her looking for another man have sparks of rage exploding in his gut?
Her gaze settled on his face. “Hello.” She kept her voice low; aimed it at him and nobody else.
He nodded, shifted so someone behind him could get out of the lift, but did not look away.
She smiled. “I hoped I’d bump into you again.”
He lifted an eyebrow, unable to speak—such was the effect of her presence on him.
“I wanted to thank you.”
The lift dinged, signaling his floor. He stood motionless. How could he move? Her eyes pinned him down. They were an unexpected stormy grey. This morning they’d been a deep sapphire blue.
“You saved me from embarrassing myself earlier. I’m blushing just thinking about it.” Yeah, her cheeks were flushed. Only she didn’t look embarrassed. Her eyes were hooded, her pupils dilated and the smoky irises oozed desire. Framed by the color in her cheeks and the natural pout of her lips, she looked positively wanton.
Around them, the lift emptied slowly.
“No problem.” Christ, he shouldn’t talk to her. He needed to get his ass the hell out of there.
She caught her lower lip between her teeth and nibbled, accentuating a sexy dimple on her left cheek. The action caught him in his stomach and left him reeling. He shifted again. His body stirred and blood thrummed in his ears.
Slowly releasing her lip, she said, “Dumb thing to do, tripping like that.” She smiled.
Not a friendly, grateful grin. No. This was a sensuous, knowing smile. A smile that told him she’d sussed him out, she knew his thoughts—and she found herself equally affected.
AJ was thirty-six years old, yet the look on her face reduced him to a kid. Need slammed into him and he knew against his better judgment that he had to have her.
He shrugged. “Accidents happen.”
The lift dinged. The doors slid open and closed again. Then there were two of them.
Two adults and the audible hum of awareness buzzing between them.
With no rationale to his thoughts, no premeditation to his movements, he did what he had to do. Stepping forward, he pushed a button. The lift ground to a halt somewhere between the seventeenth and eighteenth floors.
Her briefcase slid from her hand, landing on the floor with a soft thud.
“That the only reason you were hoping to bump into me?” he asked. “To thank me?”
“It was one of the reasons.”
“There were others?”
She nodded. “Just one other.” She raised her hand to his chest. Her slim fingers played provocatively with the buttons on his shirt.
“What…?” His question trailed off as she lowered her hand to his waist and stroked his stomach. Beneath her touch, his muscles contracted involuntarily.
“That’s what.” Her voice slid like velvet over his skin. “Before, in the lobby, when I touched you, you had the same reaction.”
“You took me by surprise. I didn’t expect you to touch me.”
“I didn’t expect you to respond.”
Christ, what had she expected? That she’d brush her hands down his shirt and he’d whistle a merry tune? “Did you expect me to respond this time?”
“I hoped,” she whispered as she toyed with his belt.
“I’m responding.” His voice sounded hoarser than he would have liked but when the entire life force in his body concentrated on his dick, it was damn near impossible to hold a rational conversation.
“I can see.”
Of course she could. He had a massive hard-on. If they’d taken separate lifts, she’d be able to see it. A bead of sweat formed on his back and trickled down between his shoulder blades. He shuddered with the need to touch her. She noticed and smiled again.
The sinuous, womanly smile that played havoc with his self-control.
Damn it. AJ was the master of control. Control meant predictability, and his life needed to be predictable. No more nasty surprises—ever. He’d learned the hard way some things could not be easily manipulated—but that which he could influence, he did.
Women were no exception to the rule.
So why did the ripple of her very delectable breasts make his logic take flight?
“If it helps, I’m responding too.” Her chest rose and fell unsteadily, pulling his attention downwards.
A button had popped open near the top of her tailored navy blouse. The sight of the full swell of milky skin beneath a wisp of black lace forced a groan from him. “Lady, there’s only one thing that can help me now.”
She let her arms to drop to her sides. “Oh? And what might that be?”
He barely heard her words. Her luscious lips softened, sending him a silent invitation.
Incapable of refusing the sultry request, AJ gave in. He sank a hand into her hair, his fist clenching involuntarily around the silken curls. Ever so slowly, he tugged, pulling her head closer. His eyes fixed on her mouth, on the full upper lip as it parted from the lower one. The puff of air from her mouth warmed his and he inhaled it seconds before his lips touched hers.
Then her mouth was on his, applying a subtle, prohibited pressure. He groaned as her body curved into him. Four months he’d waited to taste her. Four months of hot dreams and cold showers. Her lips parted beneath his tongue and he allowed himself a languorous minute of exploration, discovering the hot, moist secrets she hid behind those succulent lips. She tasted like dessert, wine and imported chocolate. Sweet, with a touch of exotic spice. Cinnamon, perhaps.
Control, he reminded himself. Lose control, you lose yourself. He gave no more, holding himself rigid as her body sought to nestle into his. This had to be someone’s idea of a sick joke. Testing him to see if he could taste her and walk away unscathed.
Impossible. She’d already touched a part of him no one else had reached in years. If she applied even the tiniest amount of effort, she’d be his undoing. Somehow, he knew, she had the power to overcome every obstacle he threw her way. She’d blast away his barriers and access the one part of his life he hadn’t shared in a decade.
That couldn’t happen. Ever. Pain that deep should not be shared.
His body paid no heed to his thoughts. It reacted on pure instinct. She wrapped her leg around his, pushed her hips up into his groin and ground herself against his cock.
Ah, crap. She wasn’t making this easy.
As if sensing his reluctance, her arms crept around his neck and she clung. Her breasts pressed into his chest, the taut nipples a stark contradiction to the soft mounds beneath. She touched the tip of her tongue to his lower lip, compelling him to respond, to give as much as she could take.
For a nanosecond, he slackened his body and stilled his mouth against the erotic dance of her lips. Then four months of need and self-denial took over.
Blocking out his past, he groaned and hauled her against him, kissing her with the full, open-mouthed kiss she’d begged for. Her hot mouth curled his toes and flattened his resistance, rendering him powerless. He’d tasted her, and turning back ceased to be an option.
Desire rocketed through him, waking every tiny nerve ending. She moaned and the sound echoed through the elevator and, unfortunately, through his heart.
He dipped her backward, his arm supporting her lower back. Then he raked a hand down her chest, from the hollow in her neck to the deep “V” of her bra. The caress sent goosebumps rippling over her skin, and her back curved, propelling those incredible breasts upwards. Dazed by his need to taste them, he teased her blouse open, exposing her bra fully. His lips closed over the soft lace and he filled his mouth with the tip of a firm breast.
She gasped.
The sound gripped at his balls, yanking them tight beneath his cock. He suckled her and then nipped.
“Oh, God.”
When at last he lifted his head and pulled her upright again, she said not a word, merely stared at him, her eyes brimming with victory and passion. Without releasing her, he reached out and pressed another button. The lift dinged three times and began to move.
“Your room,” he said and registered vague surprise that he was coherent enough to form the words.
—
Desire coursed through her, hastening her steps. He walked so close his breath stirred the hair on her neck. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know his name and had never seen him before today. It didn’t matter that she’d probably never see him again. She wanted him tonight. Just for tonight, for one evening of potent, passionate pleasure.
Perhaps one night with him would be enough to stave off the persistent loneliness that cursed her. Enough to keep the yearning for a lover and partner at bay. A one-night stand in a hotel room was hardly the solution she sought, but a night with this sexy stranger was irresistible.
Primitive lust coursed through her. She hadn’t intended to seduce him but when she’d found herself alone in the lift with him, instinct had taken over. His desire for her had been so obvious, she’d simply offered him a sample of that which he’d been eyeing.
With shaking hands, she opened the door to her room. Instinct told her this, them, was right. Whatever happened was meant to be. There’d be no regret the next morning, no allusions made to a future together. It would just be for tonight, and it would be good.
Real good.
Although, a future together didn’t seem altogether terrible.
He followed her in and kicked the door shut. Shrugging off his jacket and tie, he turned and pinned her between himself and the wall. Then he kissed her, reducing her to a shivering mass. Her legs refused to hold her upright any longer and she slid to the floor in a boneless heap.
The wall supported the sudden weight of her head, and tilting her neck she found herself at eye level with his pelvis. His suit pants clearly outlined his erection. Heat radiated from it. Leaning forward, she nuzzled her nose into his groin and grazed her teeth over his length. He shuddered.
