by Mari Carr, Red Phoenix, Angel Payne, Sierra Cartwright, Jenna Jacob, Victoria Blue
I pointed at my glass, now half-drained. How had that happened? “Whatever you say. I’m going to stick to the old standby. But I really like the pretty copper cup.”
“Only a female would appreciate the cup and not the drink inside.” His words, still quiet, were joined by teasing lights in his eyes, dancing over the mug’s rim as he took another taste.
“Who said I didn’t appreciate the drink? I’ve never even tried one.”
“Well, then. Let’s remedy that.”
He stepped closer to me, the mug still clutched in his hand. Something about him, an energy I didn’t dare deny, forced my gaze up to his face. I couldn’t tear my eyes from him as he slowly raised his drink to my lips. Out of instinct, I put my hand on top of his, though let him tilt the cup until ice cold liquor wet my tongue. A riot of tastes bombarded. Ginger and lime and vodka, tangling in a mix of smooth and zesty, making my nose tickle and my blood warm.
The drink…was just like him. A thousand different things blended beneath one sleek copper-and-gold package.
More, please.
I watched his pupils dilate as I let the sip slide in, then started to pull away. Despite my thirst, for the drink and the man, I’d had enough.
Our hands lowered the cup back down, but our gazes never parted. In a brazen move, I dipped my tongue out to taste the sweetness left behind on my lips. Fletcher’s eyes grew wider—just before a sharp inhalation broke our woven spell. We both turned, to see Drake watching us with fascination. His mouth was partly open, his stare enraptured…probably a mirror image of my own.
“That was fantastic,” he growled.
Fletcher echoed the low snarl. “You read my mind. I had a few other words in there, but yeah—fantastic.”
Warning bells sounded in my subconscious. Ohhhh, man. We were dancing, and not in a good way. Or maybe jumping. Back and forth. Appropriate. Inappropriate. Appropriate. Waaaay inappropriate.
“Is it warm in here?” Drake, clearly trying to lighten the sensual aftermath, stepped from behind the bar and stalked to the climate control pad on the wall. As he adjusted the temperature down by a few degrees, I investigated the rest of the suite. There was a small kitchenette with a breakfast bar, and a sitting area with the wet bar and small conference table, as well as a beautiful sectional sofa facing a fireplace and a huge, wall-mounted monitor. The suite’s two bedrooms were off to each side.
“Hey, guys?” I pivoted back toward them. “If I’m in the one room, and there’s only one other room left, does one of you have to sleep on the couch?”
They shrugged in unison. I instantly saw they hadn’t given it a moment’s thought.
“Ohhh, no. That’s not going to work. At all. I should take the sofa and you guys should take the rooms. I’ll move my bag out into the foyer.”
Drake blocked my beeline back to the room containing my things. “You will do no such thing.”
“The heck I won’t. It’s not fair, Drake. Your expense account is taking the hit for this palace. I’m the third wheel. I’ll take the sofa”.
“Talia.”
Crap. There was that tone again. How did he manage to freeze my thoughts by just intoning my name? It was starting to tick me off. I wasn’t some child getting into mischief. This was something altogether different.
But dammit if I didn’t just stand there, staring at him with wide eyes.
“I’ve done two tours in the Middle East. I’ve slept on dirt, sand, and steel. Sleeping on a very plush sofa isn’t going to be a hardship. Now no more arguing.”
He didn’t wait for a retort. Just headed back over to the bar and finished his beer in silence.
Okay, then.
Stewing a little, I plopped down on the sofa with my margarita and rested my head back on the low cushions. He was probably right. This thing would be great to sleep on. I was totally talking myself down so it didn’t feel like I had just been chastised like an errant teenager. My inner independent woman roared at me to go stand up for myself and push the issue. But the tired, overworked girl said just let it go. I finished the rest of my drink in one gulp.
“Ready when you are.” I smoothed my dress as I waited for the guys to grab their wallets.
“Let’s go see what we can find out.”
Drake and Fletch each put a key card in their wallet. When I stretched out a hand for my own and was met with a pair of blank stares, my expression turned into a glare.
“Tolly?” Drake arched both brows. “Problem?”
“A key?” I prompted. “For me?”
“I only asked for two.”
“Excuse me?”
“Good idea.” Fletcher winked. “Now you can’t wander off.”
“Really? Because I seem like the wandering type?”
Drake’s brow furrowed. “She has a point.”
“Yeah. She does.”
I openly fumed. “She is also still here.”
“Another good point.” Fletcher tucked his wallet into his jacket. “But…you never know. You may just get tired of our asses and want to go off on your own.”
“Again…really?”
“Oh!” A lightbulb practically appeared in the air over his head. “I hear they have an amazing spa here, too. Maybe we should check that out while we’re downstairs. Schedule some services for the day after the show?”
“Great idea, brother. Since we have the jet and don’t have to worry about making a flight, we can stay all day. We could even spend the night again, if things go well—at the trade show.” He added the last of it as if Fletcher had kicked him from under an invisible table.
“I don’t know.” Unbelievably, I still sounded like the wet blanket. “I just can’t ever justify spending that kind of money for nothing.”
“Nothing?” Drake rebutted. “When was the last time you had a full body massage? I’m not sure I wouldn’t pay money for that. Or a facial? Or you could get your nails done…or whatever shit women do.” He waved a hand in the air to encompass the “shit” he was referring to. It pulled a little laugh out of me. He had so many adorable behaviors hidden under his tough exterior.
“Still seems like a waste of hard-earned money to me,” I persisted. “I can paint my own nails.”
I wasn’t completely filled in on their upbringings, but I came from a large family, where money was a constant topic at the dinner table. Or, should I say the lack of it, as in making what we had stretch for everyone. Massages? Pedicures? They weren’t part of my reality then, nor were they now.
The elevator ride was quiet. The guys both seemed wrapped up in their own thoughts. I wasn’t much for chatter, so I busied my attention with the hotel’s digital reader boards, discreet reminders of everything happening at the Nyte. The list was long, but a good portion of it was dedicated to events in conjunction with Cos Con. When those appeared, a thrill raced through my system. We’d worked so hard for this event, so I savored the excitement.
Once we were back on the ground floor—the only level that made complete sense in my book—Drake led the charge through the throng of guests and casino players. Fletcher was his wingman, but held my hand tightly, as he had in our suite. The action never even crossed my mind as being inappropriate until we got to the conference center entrance, and were back among our industry peers.
As soon as I pulled my hand back, Fletcher’s stare sharpened. “What?”
“What, what?”
And yet more sharpness, the azure glints turning to ice. “You really going to try that?” His hands slammed to the lean hips that made his torso a perfect V. “Why’d you pull away?”
I jabbed up my chin. This wasn’t like the dispute about the couch. We were back to real life now. Back to the shit that really mattered about this weekend. “I just don’t think this is the place. People will misunderstand.”
“Will they?”
“Why do you answer everything with another question? It’s infuriating.”
“There’s something I’d like to see.” His eyes glimmered with heated tho
ughts.
“What’s that?” Drake finally realized we were no longer right behind him and doubled back.
“Our little one,” Fletch clarified, “all fired up.”
“First of all, I’m not anyone’s ‘little one’. Second, you really don’t want to see the whole ‘fired up’ thing. I’m serious. You need to get that through your skulls, okay?” Your really gorgeous, very… “You guys just don’t understand what it’s like for a woman in the business world.” I lowered my voice so only they could hear me. “If people think we are together in any other way than we actually are, as business associates, all of the hard work I’ve done will be for nothing.”
“I can sense you’re serious about this, but I’m sorry, I still don’t get what you’re talking about.”
“You know damn well how people whisper about the girl in the office who slept her way to the top. I refuse to be that girl. I’ve worked so hard on this project for the past few months. Way too hard to have it all thrown away because a rumor started spreading that I didn’t earn whatever success we may have coming.”
I imagined myself stepping down off a soapbox and it “poofing” into thin air. A crazy giggle erupted from my throat making both of the guys look at me like I was losing it.
“Okay, okay. I see where you’re coming from and I apologize for making you uncomfortable. I won’t slip again.”
“It’s not like that—” The thought of either one of them no longer flirting or sneaking in little touches here and there instantly made me sad.
Fletcher cocked his head to the side, trying to read me, while Drake just looked frustrated.
“I’m so confused right now.”
“It’s cool, D. I’ll explain in man-speak later. Let’s check in at the registration table and find out where they put us.”
While Fletcher spoke with the attendant at the desk, Drake grabbed a map showing the booth layout for the event, and I picked up our ID badges.
“Looks like we are in booth twenty-five in the “On the Rise” section. I don’t think I like that they have all of the new product lines in one spot. They should’ve put us throughout the hall.”
“I agree. I guess if we ever run a trade show we can do it better. In the meantime, twenty-five it is! According to the map, we’re just inside the east entrance to the hall. That makes up for the lumping us all together mistake, I think. We’ll either be the first thing people see when they come in or the last thing as they leave. I like it.” I lowered the map to find both Drake and Fletch just staring at me, grinning with approval.
“What?” Suddenly I felt self-conscious.
“Just appreciating your brilliance.”
I rolled my eyes and headed toward the east entrance of the hall. I could hear the guys talking to each other right behind me, so I knew they were in tow. The booth was just what we’d hoped for. The size was perfect and I really was pleased with the location. Drake checked to ensure we had electrical power routed to the area and we did a quick run through of the display.
When we finished in the exhibit hall we wound our way back through the casino to the spa. The men insisted we all schedule massages for the day after the show, knowing that standing on a concrete floor all day would take a toll on our bodies. My lower back was already hurting at the thought of it.
Back out in the casino, we wandered by a few banks of slot machines.
“Let’s test Lady Luck, what do you say?” Fletcher parked himself on the stool in front of the machine. “Lucky 7” was in red, white, and blue across the top and the promise of jackpot payouts lit up all around.
“How much is this per try?” I was never one for gambling—again, wasting money on skewed chance games just didn’t strike me as prudent.
Drake explained to me how you could play just one dollar, or up to three on each pull. Fletcher fed the machine a twenty and gave the big handle on the side a dramatic pull.
“I should’ve rubbed on you for luck first,” he said with a mischievous grin. The reels came to a halt, and just like that, three dollars were gone. He repeated the process, but before pulling the handle, stroked my hair for luck. Again—nothing.
“So much for me being a lucky charm.”
We stood by and watched twenty hard-earned dollars become nothing within five minutes. I just shook my head thinking “better him than me.” What was crazy though was the number of people within eyesight doing the exact same thing: pumping machines full of their hard-to-come-by cash in hopes of a bigger dream. I was amazed, and confused about what, exactly, I was missing.
“See, once you win, you want to keep going. You hope just for the chance that you might hit it again. It becomes addictive pretty fast.” Drake easily rested his hand on my lower back as we strolled and he tried to explain the fascination with gambling to me.
“Maybe you would like 21 more. Or maybe roulette?”
“I can’t see losing money, no matter how it happens. I just don’t think gambling is for me.”
“Fair enough. Do you want to get something to eat? Or look through the shops while we’re down here?”
“I’d really like to go to the room and prepare for tomorrow. I want to run over some key talking points a few times and maybe lose myself in that enormous tub I have in my bathroom. Do you have that on your side too?”
“You know what they say, Tolly? All work and no play—”
“Give her a break, Fletch. If she doesn’t want to gamble then so be it. It’s not for everyone.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s head up to the room then and we can order room service.”
“If you guys want to stay down here and play some more, I can go up to the room myself. I am an adult, after all.” I gave them a little smile, letting them know I wasn’t being ungrateful that they wanted to see to my every need, but that they should do what they wanted, too.
“That’s a decent idea actually. Dude, let’s play a little roulette and then head up for dinner in the suite. Here, Tolly, take my key and we’ll see you in a bit, okay?”
Drake was looking at his best friend like he’d just sprouted another head. Clearly he wasn’t on board with the plan, but could tell Fletcher had something on his mind. He leaned in to me and very slowly gave me a whisper of a kiss on my cheek. He smelled so good standing so close to me, I wanted to grab onto his thick bicep and hold him in place for a few more seconds.
Not to be outdone, after I took the key from Fletcher, he repeated the process, but on my other cheek. One soft, easy, butterfly kiss ignited my blood stream like a branding iron instead. I swayed on my feet as he stepped away, already missing them both as they turned and walked deeper into the crowd of people.
I spun on my heel and headed to the elevators. Luckily, a car stood with its doors open and I was able to quickly escape to gather myself. What just happened back there? Of course they had been sneaking in little touches here and there, a brush of my hair off my shoulder while I spoke, the brief hand holding, standing so close I could feel their heat. But those were just kisses. Two of them to be exact. And my cheeks still burned where their lips had touched my skin. This train barreling down the tracks was about to be derailed. If I didn’t put my foot down soon, trouble would follow. Every little step over the line was going to add up to one gigantic mistake.
So why were my panties wet?
A flush spread across my face again at the realization of how turned on I was. Maybe I needed a cold shower instead of a warm, soothing bath.
I reached our suite and slid the key into the reader. With a small green light and a click of the lock, I was safely back inside and blissfully alone.
I ran a bath in the small-pool-sized tub. I took advantage of the products on the ledge and added some lavender bath salts to the flowing water. The amazing, calming scent filled the room in pillows of steam. It felt so good to get out of the clothes I’d been wearing all day as I left everything in a heap on the floor where I’d undressed.
So unlike me. But this whole trip so far was
so unlike me. From the massages on the plane, to standing up for myself in the convention hall, only to be swept away again by two innocent kisses on my cheek.
They just hadn’t felt that innocent. My thoughts in the moment certainly weren’t innocent either. As I soaked in the tub, I could still smell their colognes, feel their body heat, imagine what their touches would feel like on my body. I hadn’t been with a man since the disaster called Gavin and my body had grown lonely. And needy.
I floated in the tub and let a myriad of fantasies run through my mind. What would it be like to be with two men at one time? I’d never given it a moment’s thought before, but suddenly it was something I wanted to discover for myself. If only they weren’t the men I worked with. That in itself put the whole scenario back into focus. What on Earth was I thinking? The reality of the situation came crashing in unwelcomed. We could not keep crossing well-defined professional lines. My career was the most important thing in my life at the moment, and I was on the precipice of a huge leap forward. If the launch went well tomorrow, the sky would be the limit for me. I needed to keep my head in the game and my libido out of it. I just needed to get through dinner with them and then I would excuse myself and stay locked in my room for the rest of the night so I wouldn’t be tempted any more.
With a mental game plan in place, I lifted the drain with my toes and hopped in the shower to rinse off and wash my hair. I grabbed the fluffiest robe I had ever seen off the hook on the back of the door and wrapped myself in it like a baby. I combed out my long, dark hair and twisted it up into a makeshift bun on top of my head, tucking the ends in so it would stay in place.
I laid back on the bed, sinking into the down duvet and perfect pillows. Hotels always seemed to have the best pillows. My eyes grew so heavy I just couldn’t fight it anymore. I drifted off contently for a nap, wrapped in a sea of goose down and cotton.
I had left the door to my bedroom open when I fell asleep, so the sound of deep voices shook me awake. The sun had gone down outside, leaving the suite dim and peaceful. I didn’t want to wake up; my body felt like a lead weight, so calm and serene in that glorious bed. I knew I should get up, but I laid there with my eyes closed, listening to the men out in the living room.
