by Cindy Dees
“What are you doing?” Silver cried. “I need to be available in case Saul or someone associated with my show calls me.”
“It’s ten o’clock at night. They can call you tomorrow.”
“The music business doesn’t observe normal working hours.”
“If folks in the biz want you bad enough, they will from now on.”
“But that’s the problem,” she half-whispered. “I don’t think they want me that bad.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You were a hell of a singer. For what it’s worth, I liked your songs.”
She looked up at him sharply. “You’re just saying that to be nice.”
“Do I look like the kind of guy who’d admit to liking a teenybopper pop princess just to be nice?”
“I wasn’t a teenybopper!”
“Fine. You were a teenaged bad girl.”
She subsided, grinning. “Guilty as charged.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. I flew twenty hours to get here. What say we hit the sack?”
“Now that you mention it, this has been a big day.” She stood up, starting across the living room toward the second bedroom.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To bed?” she replied questioningly.
“Bed’s that way,” he said, pointing at the master bedroom on the other side of the suite.
“That’s the master suite. You take it. I’ll take one of the other bedrooms.”
“Didn’t you hear me earlier? I said you don’t get to be out of my sight for a while. That’s a ’round the clock proposition, darlin’.”
She turned and stared at him. “You want me to sleep with you?”
“In the same room, at any rate. You can have the bed. I’ll take the recliner.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’ll be fine in my own room.”
He crossed his arms and stared at her implacably. “You wanna die, be my guest.”
Her gaze wavered. Fell. Her hand stole to her abdomen, and she reluctantly nodded her acquiescence at him. He said more gently, “It’s just for a few weeks. Until the cops catch this guy. The police have been notified of the attacks on you, right?”
“I suppose so. Mark said he’d take care of it.”
Austin grunted skeptically. “Great. In that case, I’ll call the LVMPD first thing in the morning to make sure they’re aware you’ve got a stalker.”
“Mark’s not that awful. You just caught him having a bad moment today.”
Austin snorted. “He had a number of bad moments today. And a couple of them could have cost you your life.”
Silver walked away from him across the expanse of plush carpet. Her legs were surprisingly long in proportion to her diminutive height. She might be small, but everything was emphatically in exactly the right place.
Without warning, she glanced back over her shoulder and caught him red-handed staring at her juicy little tush and made-for-sex legs. Damned if the corner of her mouth didn’t tilt up knowingly. Little flirt. If he wasn’t mistaken, there was an extra sashay to her hips as she continued on into his bedroom.
While she climbed into the king-sized bed and snuggled in under the down comforter, he pulled the heavy drapes across both walls of floor-to-ceiling windows. He had a great view down the Strip from here, but that represented danger. If he could see all those other hotel windows, it meant a whole lot of people could look back at him. Or at Silver.
He grabbed a blanket and pillow out of the closet and stretched out in the large leather recliner next to the window. It might not be the luxury bed Silver was enjoying but compared to a canvas camp cot or the cold, rocky ground of Afghanistan’s harsh mountains, this chair was heaven on earth.
Silver’s voice came out of the darkness. “I feel bad about this. You ought to be sleeping in your own bed.”
“Honey, I haven’t been this comfortable in two years.”
“All the more reason you ought to be over here.”
“With you?” Why the words popped out of his mouth, he had no idea. Silver went dead silent, and the darkness lay heavy between them all of a sudden. He sighed. “I’m sorry. That was out of line.”
Her voice floated thoughtfully out of the dark. “No, it wasn’t. And in answer to your question, why not with me? We’re both adults, and this bed could sleep six. Heck, given some of the parties that have happened up here, it probably has slept six.”
He chuckled, grateful for an excuse to cover his shock at the invitation to join her. Surely she didn’t have a long night of hot sex in mind. Even he wasn’t that lucky.
“I’m serious, Austin. If my life depends on you, I want you to be well-rested and ready to go in the morning. You’re a big man, and you’re not going to be comfortable in that chair all night. Come stretch out in bed. I trust you.”
Ahh. Well-rested. She was interested in him sleeping with her and nothing more. He mumbled under his breath, “Maybe you shouldn’t trust me.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Nothing,” he replied quickly.
“Don’t make me get up and come over there to drag you to bed.”
He laughed at that. “A little whisper of a thing like you? You couldn’t budge me if you tried.”
“Is that a dare?”
“What if it is?”
His sharp eyesight made out her shape rising out of the bed, and if he wasn’t mistaken, that was a mischievous grin on her face. Uh-oh.
Her legs were pale in the dark, and he focused on them as she prowled toward him, catlike. It was either that or look at the way the soft cotton of his T-shirt clung to her high, firm breasts and skimmed across her narrow waist and lush hips. Nope, the legs were a better bet. But damned if he didn’t wonder what they’d feel like wrapped around his hips, clinging tightly to him, urging him deeper into her—
She stopped beside the chair, and he stared up at her warily, hardly daring to breathe.
She purred, “So, if you won’t get out of the chair, I guess I’m getting into it with you.”
“But there’s no room—”
“Wanna bet?” She flung one leg across his lap and straddled his hips, her knees sinking into the cushions on either side of him.
“Uh, okay then. So I lose that bet.”
She reached down and used one finger to trace a random design on his chest through his T-shirt. “I dunno. From where I’m sitting, it looks like you might just have won the bet.”
He grinned up at her until her realized his hands had come to rest on her hips. He jerked them away. But where to put them?
The armrests put his hands perilously close to her rear end. Frankly, he feared for what she’d do next if he simply let his arms drag along the sides of the chair.
She solved his problem by leaning forward until she fell against his chest and his arms shot up reflexively to catch her.
New problem. Soft parts of her were rubbing against hard parts of him that really didn’t need that kind of encouragement at the moment. “Ready to come over to the bed and join me yet?” she murmured.
“You’re not fighting fair!” he protested.
“Is there a rule in the bodyguard handbook that says I have to fight fair? Because I distinctly recall in the single girl’s guide to men that it says the girl doesn’t have to fight fair.”
“Where is this guide? I think I need to study up on it.”
She laughed up at him. “That’s not how it works. We women know the rules we play by, and it’s your job as a man to figure them out for yourself.”
Her laughter rocked her against him in ways and in places that seriously didn’t need to be rocked against. He groaned under his breath. “I’m getting a real good idea of the rules of engagement you’re operating under.”
“Excellent.” And then the minx kissed him.
Not a first, chaste getting-to-know-you kiss, not even a flirty, slightly-drunk-and-you’re-cute kiss. Nope. This was a checkout-your-tonsils, hot-sex-to-follow, I’m-gonna-eat-y
ou-alive kiss. And having not been kissed in far, far too long, it was more kiss than he could handle and manage to stay calm.
His entire body temperature spiked, and his hands suddenly developed a mind of their own, roaming up her back restlessly. They slipped under her T-shirt, and silky flesh slid beneath his palms so smooth and sleek it stole his breath away.
And her mouth…oh my, her mouth. She sucked on his lower lip, her tongue playing across his flesh, all wet and slick and hot. He about shot out of the chair, it turned him on so intensely. And then her hands were on either side of his head, and she angled her head so she could plunge that clever tongue of hers into every nook and cranny of his starving mouth.
He was absolutely prepared to devour her whole and not think twice about it. Not that the lady seemed to find that an unpleasant idea. She was squirming all over him, making little sighing and moaning sounds that were going to cause him to embarrass himself if she didn’t slow down a bit here. After all, it had been a very long time since he’d been with a woman.
She breathed his name on a note of wonder. “Austin. Who’d have guessed a man like you could kiss like this!”
“What do you mean, a man like me?”
Her smile flashed down at him. “You know. Straightlaced. Square.”
“Square? I’m not square. I’m as wild as the next guy.” Besides. Who was she to talk about being straightlaced?
Her laughter tinkled around him like silver bells. “You are not wild. You’re Mr. Law-and-Order, do-the-right-thing guy. I bet you sort your socks by color and fold your underwear in perfect squares. You’re the epitome of not-wild.”
“Hey!”
She shrugged, and the movement made his breath catch as her breasts rubbed tantalizingly against his chest. “Trust me. I know wild. And you’re not it.”
If only she knew some of the things he’d done in his life. He could tell her about missions so daring they’d curl her toes. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d dived into death defying stunts without a second thought. He murmured. “You think messing around with fast cars and dabbling in a few drugs makes a guy wild? You have no idea what wild really is, little girl.”
“Oh, yeah? And are you gonna show me?”
Man, he was tempted. Really, really tempted. But from somewhere way deep inside him, a kernel of the self-control she’d accused him of reared its ugly head. He answered her lightly, “Honey, you couldn’t handle it.”
“Hah! Chicken!”
He smiled up at her knowingly. “I’m not going to bother responding to that because even you know I’m no coward.”
Her expression softened, and her gaze grew serious. Aww, jeez. Did she have to go all feminine and sweet on him? That was so much harder to resist than the brazen hussy. “You’re right,” she murmured. “You’re no coward, Austin Dearing.”
He couldn’t help it. He tugged her close. He had to kiss his name on her lips.
It tasted sweet, like peach ice cream on a lazy summer day. And he was lost.
Chapter 7
Silver’s breath hitched as Austin looked up at her like she was some kind of goddess—whom he was about to devour for lunch. It was a heady thing to be looked at like that. Maybe he was right. Maybe she had underestimated him. A thrill of trepidation raced through her. She’d thought all those guys in her youth were wild and dangerous…but suddenly, she wondered. Maybe they’d been the pretenders. Maybe she’d finally found the real deal.
A struggle broke out on Austin’s shadowed face and she watched it play across his features in fascination. “What?” she murmured.
He blinked up at her. “I beg your pardon?”
“Ever the gentleman, my dangerous Austin. What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” He sounded startled. “Nothing’s wrong.”
She smoothed her fingertips across his furrowed brow. “A word of advice. You can’t lie for squat.”
He lurched between her knees. “I can, too. I’m highly trained in the art of dissembling. I know all the body language that conveys sincerity. I know how to hide the signals of a lie. I even know how to fool a lie detector machine.”
“Sorry. I’m not buying it. So give. What’s wrong?”
He sighed. “I can think of several things wrong with this scenario.”
She felt him pulling away from her, and panic erupted in her gut. Not him, too! He wouldn’t leave her, would he? Her fingers tightened convulsively on his shoulders.
“Easy, honey,” he murmured low. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe with me.”
As her death grip on him relaxed, it belatedly occurred to her to wonder how he’d known why she’d panicked. She became aware of his big hand stroking down her spine like he was gentling a skittish wild animal. In spite of herself, the tension drained from her under his soothing touch.
“What’s so wrong with this…scenario?” she asked.
He sighed. “First, I work for you. It’s not ethical to fool around with you.”
“You work for my father,” she countered. “I figure that means you and I can do whatever we want.”
He ignored her argument and pressed on. “Second, I’m only here for a few months, and then I’ll go back to my job overseas.”
Darn it! She’d finally plunged in and dared to take a chance, and now he was rejecting her? He was the guy who’d emboldened her to do something like this in the first place. She just couldn’t win for losing. Especially when it came to love.
Trying—and failing—to keep desperation out of her voice, she replied, “All the more reason not to waste time tap-dancing around each other and just do what feels good.”
Doggedly, he continued. “You’re a celebrity. I’ve spent the past decade watching your life unfold in the tabloids. I look at you and I see this face I know, but I have no idea who the person underneath is. It’s like you’re not even a real person. I’ve gotta say, I’m not interested in being with a plastic pop star.”
That made her pull back. Plastic? Her? She was a lot of things, but that was not one of them. “So because you’ve seen my face before, you don’t want a relationship with me?”
He scowled. “That’s not what I said.”
“Is it because I’m famous? I can’t help being Silver Rothchild. I belong to a rich, notorious family. So sue me. I happen to be a halfway decent singer, and I happen to be successful. So sue me again.”
“But that’s the point. I don’t want to be with the surface image of you. I want to know the real person beneath.”
“I am a real person! Right here. I’m me. Silver. I have thoughts and opinions and feelings and dreams in here.”
He replied gently, “And I need to know those parts of you before I jump into bed with you. I’m not interested in sleeping with a Rothchild heir or a famous pop singer. I want a real woman.”
The arrogance of the man! She was a real woman, dammit! She climbed off him angrily. “I offered myself to you, and all you can say is I’m not a real woman? Well, to hell with you, Austin Dearing. I don’t care how dangerous and wild you are. You have no idea what you’re missing out on!”
She stormed out into the living room, too furious to stay in the same room with him.
His voice came from directly behind her, and she about jumped out of her skin. “Honey, I know exactly what I’m missing out on.”
She whirled to face him, hurt coursing through her. “Then why are you turning me down?”
“What about Bubba?”
She stared at Austin, frustrated. Mark again.
“Our relationship is less serious than the press portrays it. And,” she added with a certain desperation, “neither of us thinks of it as exclusive.” She crossed her fingers and prayed Austin bought her explanation.
His hands came up as if to gather her into his arms but fell away without touching her. “I told you. I’m only here for a little while and then I’ll go back to my real life. You’re a pop star and I’m a soldier. This thing between us—it would never work.
”
“You are a coward, Austin. We’ll never know if it could’ve worked between us or not because you’re too afraid to take a chance on us. That’s a shame because I happen to think we could’ve been dynamite together.” Tears clogged the back of her throat all of a sudden. She finished lightly, “Your loss, big guy.”
“Silver…”
She turned away from him. She didn’t want to hear anything he had to say right now.
Thankfully, he fell silent. She padded over to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of tomato juice. She slugged down its thick tartness, and her stomach gave an ominous rumble. “Ugh.” She grabbed the edge of the wet bar to distract herself from the burgeoning urge to run for the bathroom.
Austin was beside her in an instant. “You okay?” He did touch her then, his hands skimming up her arms in concern.
She closed her eyes in pain. This was what she’d sacrificed by choosing to go this pregnancy alone—a partner and lover to share these moments with. The magnitude of doing the whole parenthood thing solo struck her full force in that moment of Austin’s quiet concern.
“No,” she mumbled, “I’m not okay.” As Austin took a step closer, preparatory to wrapping her in his arms, she stepped away hastily. “But I will be okay.” She straightened her spine determinedly. “I’ll be just fine on my own.”
She moved away from the comfort of his big, warm hands and marched back toward the bedroom. She’d made her choice, and now she had to live with it. She didn’t need any man’s help, thank you very much. They all ended up bailing out on her anyway.
At least Austin had been decent enough to tell her up front that he’d be abandoning her. She probably ought to be grateful to him for sparing her the pain when he just disappeared one day. He was right. They weren’t meant for one another. Falling for him would be a very, very bad idea.
But did he have to be such a damned gentleman about it? Didn’t he understand that it would’ve been so much easier to hate him if he’d been a bastard?
Rather than start another fight, she climbed back into his big bed. Predictably, Austin was right behind her, gliding into the master bedroom on silent bare feet. Except instead of settling in the recliner, he moved over to one of the windows and pulled the curtains back just enough to be able to look down on the Strip. He lounged against the wall and stared out into the night for a long time, his jaw hard and his gaze harder.
