Wicked Pleasures

by Tori Carrington

  Stuart put it on the table between them. “I’m afraid I can’t accept it.”

  Damn. He was going to make him honor the remaining months on his contract.

  “Because I’ve decided to give you that promotion.”

  Will did blink then. “Excuse me?”

  Nealon chuckled. “You seem surprised. Why? Did you think I was going to give you grief because things ended badly between you and my daughter?” He shook his head. “This is on your merit, Sexton. And like I said before, I’ve had my eye on you for a while.”

  He had? It was?

  Will’s grin was so wide it nearly hurt his face. He thrust his hand out and animatedly shook Nealon’s. “Thank you, sir. You don’t know how happy you’ve just made me.”

  Stuart chuckled again. “Oh, I don’t know,” he said, apparently almost losing his balance from Will’s enthusiastic hand shaking. “I think I have an idea.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” Will released him.

  Stuart turned toward the door and together they walked out into the hall. “Now, about this matter with my daughter…”

  Both men laughed while the remainder of the staff looked on with puzzled interest.

  19

  IT WAS HARD TO BELIEVE it was mid-September already. Renae pulled open the door to Women Only at a bit before 8:00 a.m. on a crisp Saturday morning, giving a brief shiver as she hurried into the shop, the clinking of metal disks accompanying her. To her surprise, Lucky had already opened up, the lights were on, and coffee was brewing. Only a week to go before her friend officially opened her own shop downtown, which meant all too soon Renae wouldn’t be able to enjoy the other woman’s help anymore.

  She shrugged out of the jacket she’d been forced to put on over her belly-dancer costume, grimacing as she wished she had thought to get her clothes out of the community dryer at her apartment building last night. But she’d instead fallen asleep while poring over the contracts that Ginger had drawn up. One gave her an opening five percent interest in the shop, and the other allowed for her to buy another forty-six percent controlling interest over the next five years. She’d been so obsessed with the contracts not because she was afraid the legalese was in question, but because the papers represented so many of her dreams realized.

  She’d been so engaged she’d woken up that morning with her cheek pressed against the top staple holding the legal documents together and she still sported a dent there. She absently rubbed at it, remembering that when she’d taken her clothes from the dryer that morning they’d been wrinkled beyond repair. In fact, she planned on washing them over completely rather than attempting to iron them.

  Which left her wearing her belly-dancer costume to work yet again this morning.

  Her steps faltered as she remembered that it had been in a similar situation that the flirtation between her and Will had taken a serious, more intense turn.

  Will…

  Not a minute ticked by that he wasn’t somewhere on the fringes of her thoughts despite that it had been nearly three weeks since she’d last seen him. Through what had gone on during that time—implementing her plans for Women Only, searching for an apartment, moving into her new place, collecting her things from Tabitha’s condo, even though Tabitha had since ended it with Nina after discovering she had been every bit as manipulative and psychotic as Renae had warned her—there Will was, indelibly branded into the chambers of her heart. Unforgettable. Lingering. More than just a notch in her headboard, but rather a vital part of her emotional past. Simply because he had shown her, for a brief, precious period of time, what it was like to love.

  Some might call her silly. After all, their relationship had been conducted mostly in bed. But she knew her own heart. And she knew with every cell of it that, while she wasn’t looking, she’d fallen in love with the infuriatingly handsome British surgeon.

  She tucked her jacket behind the counter, wondering where he’d been when she’d collected her things from the condo. She’d tried to argue that she hadn’t purposely scheduled her visit to the complex for the same time when they’d met up there all those times. But her attempts failed miserably if only because of the deep regret she’d felt when she’d loaded the last of her belongings into her convertible and neither him nor his SUV had been anywhere to be seen.

  “Oh! I didn’t hear you come in.”

  Renae smiled at the latest addition to the Women Only family, who’d just stepped out of the dance room. “You’re here early,” she said, “especially considering you weren’t scheduled to come in today.”

  Lucky came out right after Jenny. “I called her in.”

  Renae was puzzled but didn’t question the action. “Are the students all set?”

  Lucky and Jenny shared a look then grinned at her. “All ready.”

  Renae squinted at them. They were acting a little strange this morning.

  “Okay. Well, then, I guess I’d better get in there and start the lesson.”

  Lucky cleared her throat. “Yes…I guess you’d better.”

  As soon as Renae moved past them, her friend grabbed Jenny’s arm and quickly pulled her away from the door.

  What was going on? You’d think the two of them were in cahoots or some—

  She stopped just inside the mirrored room with its gleaming wood floors, realizing exactly why the two women were acting the way they were. Namely because they were in cahoots. Because in place of her regular fifteen or so students stood one person.

  And Dr. Will Sexton had never looked so good.

  Renae began backing up toward the curtain.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Lucky’s voice came from behind her as she closed the door, a recent addition to the shop to stop the music from bothering the shop’s customers.

  Renae’s throat grew tight as her gaze flicked everywhere and stayed nowhere. To dozens and dozens of red roses set up throughout the room. To the large red floor pillows at Will’s feet that Lucky and Jenny must have taken from the other room and set up in here. To where the stereo played the same Sting CD Will had put on for her such a short time ago so she might dance for him—although if she remembered correctly, she hadn’t done a whole lot of dancing.

  Then, finally, with nowhere else to go, her gaze rested on Will himself.

  God, but the guy was stunning. Even more gorgeous than she remembered, in his dark slacks and tan polo shirt. His light brown hair was neatly combed but it still had that tousled look that had always driven her crazy. Especially when combined with his devil-may-care grin that even now made her toes curl in her sequined sandals.

  “Hi,” he said, then cleared his throat.

  Hi? She hadn’t seen him for three long weeks and now he was standing there, the room looking like it was, and all he had to say was “hi?”

  Renae suddenly felt dizzy.

  “Whoa,” he said, stepping forward until he was right in front of her. “I think we’ve discussed my incredible effect on beautiful women, but you don’t have to go demonstrating it for me.”

  Renae couldn’t help the silly smile that emerged. “Sorry. I haven’t had anything to eat yet this morning and…” And the lack of food had absolutely nothing to do with her dizziness. “What are you doing here?”

  Will straightened his shoulders, attempting to look affronted. “Why I’ve come for a belly-dancing lesson, of course.”

  Renae allowed her gaze to skim over his sexy frame, lingering at the width of his shoulders, the narrowness of his hips, and especially on the part of him that was even now tenting the front of his pants. “You’re dressed wrong.”

  “Would you prefer I undress?”

  He moved as if to take off his shirt and Renae quickly grasped his arm. “No, no.”

  She swallowed thickly. She didn’t think she was up for this. What was happening? What was he really doing there? What had happened with the resident? And why did she still want him so damn badly she was trembling inside?

  “Okay, so I’ll remain dressed for what I have to say. That�
��s all right. It’s probably better that way, anyway, or else I might end up saying none of what it’s taken me weeks to rehearse.”

  Renae stood frozen. “Weeks?”

  He grinned. “Uh-huh.”

  He’d spent weeks not only thinking about her but putting together something he wanted to say to her?

  She heard incidental noises coming from the other side of the door and she looked toward it, wondering if Lucky was regretting closing the thick wooden barrier because she couldn’t hear what was being said.

  And what was being said? What was Will trying to say? Renae couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around the fact that he was there at all much less comprehend what he wanted.

  “Well, then,” he said, clearing his throat. “I suppose since the girls went to all the trouble, we really should do this right.”

  Renae drew her brows together, looking at him as if he’d gone insane. “Do what right?”

  “Come…I’ll show you.”

  He grasped her hand and Renae was helpless to do anything else but follow him, however warily, across the floor to the pillows positioned in the middle of the room.

  Will dropped down to one knee in front of the pillows…and in front of her.

  Renae made a strangled sound, her heart thudding so hard in her chest she was afraid it might break through her rib cage.

  “Wait, wait…don’t say anything yet,” Will said, frantically patting his pockets, then appearing to remember something and pulling up a corner on one of the pillows instead. Renae stared at the square ring box, the air rushing from her lungs.

  She began backing away.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Will said, tugging her toward him again. “You’re not going anywhere until I’ve said what I came here to say.”

  “Will…I don’t—”

  “Shh. You don’t even know what it is yet.”

  No…but she was getting the sneaking suspicion of what it might be. And she wasn’t anywhere near—

  Will popped open the box and held it up to her.

  She squeezed her eyes shut without seeing the contents.

  Oh God, oh God, oh God.

  “Renae Elizabeth Truesdale…would you do me the honor of accompanying me home to meet my parents?”

  Renae’s eyes flew open. “What did you just say?” She finally registered what the box held. Rather than a diamond solitaire, she was staring at a diamond navel ring.

  The unexpected gift made joy bubble inside her chest.

  “May I?” Will said, taking the ring out of the box.

  Renae looked at the red crystal navel ring she currently had on. “I’d like that.”

  After a few fumbled attempts, she decided she should let him off the hook. “Here…maybe it would be better if I do it.”

  She easily removed the one she had on and inserted the new one. The precious gem flashed in the warm overhead lights.

  “Mmm,” Will hummed, pressing his mouth against the ring and her stomach. A delicious shiver ran the length of Renae’s back as she knelt down in front of him so they could be face-to-face.

  “Where’s home,” she whispered, feeling so much love for the man in front of her that she virtually swam in it.

  His gaze swept over her face as if he couldn’t quite believe she was there. “London,” he said. “Actually it’s South London in a place called Southwark on the other side of the Thames.”

  “And you want me to go because…”

  “I want you to meet my family. You know, my parents, my four brothers and sisters. The whole lot, in fact.”

  Renae blinked, so overwhelmed with his nearness that she almost couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying. “And you want me to do that because…”

  He looked at her as if affronted by the question. “Because I love you, of course.”

  The matter-of-fact way he said the words—as if the state of his heart should have been obvious to her—made her almost burst with the urge to laugh deliriously.

  And, she realized, in a twisted kind of way, she had known he loved her.

  In her life, she had never been wanted so fully, so passionately by a man. During their short time together, he’d made her feel desired and needed in a way that at the time she had mistaken for lust. But lust didn’t last.

  Now, while she read physical need on Will’s face, she also saw love there, shining at her, drawing her in, making her feel warm in places that had nothing to do with sex.

  Then he was kissing her. And Renae was kissing him back.

  Within seconds they were sprawled across the pillows in a riot of clinking disks.

  His elbow caught her in the stomach when he reached for her breast.

  “Ouch.”

  “Apologies.”

  She accidentally got her fingers tangled in his hair and tried pulling them free.

  “Careful.”

  “Sorry.”

  Then they got it right, stroking and petting and hungrily kissing each other as if nothing else existed in the world. And in that one moment, nothing else did.

  Finally Will drew back, his breathing ragged, his blue eyes almost black with need.

  “And the resident?” she asked between attempts to catch her own breath.

  “The resident? Oh, Janet, you mean. History, her. The instant you came into my life. Only I didn’t realize it until she came back from L.A.” He drew a finger along the edge of her top, flicking a couple of the disks so that they clinked. “You seemed surprised to find a belly ring in the box,” he said, his gaze lifting to her. “Were you expecting something else?”

  Renae found it almost impossible to swallow when her body clamored so loudly for his. “I don’t know. Was there a possibility it could have been something else?”

  He gave her that lopsided grin she loved so much. Ignoring her question, he asked, “And suppose that it was—something else, I mean?”

  She didn’t blink as she held his gaze. “Well, then, I would have given you the only answer I could: yes.”

  He pulled her so close so fast they nearly fell off the pillows.

  Renae gasped.

  “Then we’ll have to go shopping for one together in London. Harrods, maybe. Yes, very definitely Harrods.” He pulled back to look at her. “Would you mind if the ceremony actually took place in Southwark? My mother would love that.”

  Renae twisted her lips, wondering if there was a time when she’d ever felt so complete, so happy, so incredibly aroused. “Oh, I don’t know. I guess it depends.”

  He raised his brows. “On what?”

  “On whether or not you still want me to be your wife once you find out I used to be a stripper.”

  He stared at her for a long, silent moment.

  Then he grinned. “A stripper, huh?”

  “Uh-huh. It was kind of a family trade.”

  He kissed her long and hard. “You realize you just gave me a great fantasy?”

  She took his hand and placed it solidly between her legs. “Will, I’m giving you the whole package.”

  “You wicked, wicked woman you…”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6149-9

  WICKED

  Copyright © 2004 by Lori and Tony Karayianni.

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