Several of them did, including Drew. Chase had plenty of copies of both that, and the maps he’d made of the hotel and the sightseeing route for tomorrow. Drew decided to look at the lists tomorrow but had Chase plug his computer into the TV so they could all look at the maps together.
There was a lot of good information Chase had gathered, but Drew decided to see if he could get a more detailed map of the hotel tomorrow morning at the strategy meeting.
Before they broke up for the night he asked Rachel and Alyssa to send him the photos of the people they’d seen in common on the pictures. And he asked Chase to send him an electronic copy of the contestant lists. He wanted to share those, tomorrow morning, with whatever security was gathered.
Mr. Clark might be able to use the pictures to see if any of those people showed up on the hotel security feed.
Lily was exhausted by the time they got back to their room. The day had taken a toll on her. She’d had to be on and perky all day and then the rattlesnake had freaked her out more than she’d let on. She knew she could have killed it, but she was glad the guys had done it. And when Katie had been squeamish about it, Lily hadn’t hesitated to leave the room and let the men deal with the mess.
She didn’t like the fact that they were still in danger, whoever it was that Ronald was working for, were not nice people. They clearly didn’t care if there were rattlers roaming the halls. She hoped like hell someone could figure out what was going on and stop these madmen.
Lily quickly got ready for bed and joined Drew in his room. No way in hell was she sleeping alone. When she got to his room he was studying the lists Chase had given him. She knew he might want to stay up longer, but she needed his warmth, her blood felt like it was ice water.
“Come to bed Drew, you need sleep before you meet with everyone tomorrow.”
“I need to figure out who is trying to hurt you, Lily. Go ahead to bed, I’ll join you in a while.” He waved his hand vaguely toward the bed, not taking his gaze from the papers.
Lily got behind him, wrapped her arms around him, and laid her head on his back. “No, Drew, please come to bed. I need you to help me feel safe.”
He must have noticed the tremble in her voice because he put the papers down and turned in her arms. “I’m going to keep you safe, Lily.”
“I know, but I just feel cold. You could warm me up. I have more condoms.” She held out her hand to show him.
“Oh, Lily you don’t have to bribe me with sex.”
She looked up through her lashes at him. “No bribery. I just think I’ll sleep better if we indulge. Don’t you think?”
He laughed a strangled laugh. “It would relax us, and warm you up. It’s been kind of a tense day.”
She gave him a sultry smile and started pulling at his sweats. He’d already taken off his high tops, so it didn’t take her long to get him undressed. When she dropped the hotel robe to the floor she saw him swallow. It was very gratifying to see he liked the skimpy negligee.
“You are so gorgeous and I’m very glad that Ronald never got to see you in this. Nothing, no amount of money is worth this sight.”
She thrilled at his words. “I’m happy to be showing it to you, too. Ronald and I never totally clicked like you and I do. It was always a chore to be intimate with him.”
Drew put his fingers to her lips. “Let’s not talk about the not so dearly departed.”
She kissed his fingers and smiled. “Excellent idea.”
Lily let Drew wrap his arms around her and pull her in close to kiss her. She quickly engaged, but as they tasted each other she inched him ever so slowly toward the bed. Lips and tongue began the dance, and she wanted to continue it with him on his back, and her on top.
She wanted to set the pace and ride him. He’d taken the reins before in their love making, but now it was her turn, again. When she got him to the bed she nudged him down and followed. She rose up and straddled him so her hot core was almost where she wanted it, but first she tossed all but one condom on the bedside table and then tore open the last one. She took her time rolling it on him, teasing him as much as he could stand, without him trying to usurp her.
When she had them both fully protected, she rose up and slid down along his hot length, and he slid right into her wet channel, filling her gloriously. She arched her back and he slid in a tiny bit further and groaned.
Lily smiled at the sexy sound and leaned forward so her breasts dangled above him. He took the hint and filled his hands, flicking his thumbs over her straining nipples. The sensations shot more warmth between her legs and she started to ride. Slowly at first, tensing her inner muscles, as she pulled up, squeezing him and making him hiss with pleasure.
His hands moved to her hips to encourage her to move faster and that suited her just fine, so she complied with his unspoken request. Faster and harder she went pleasuring herself and him at the same time. He used one hand to tweak one nipple and then the other and she felt her release gathering, so she rode harder, wanting him to join her when she came.
Drew rose up to meet her as she came down and his expression was tense, so she knew he was as close as she was. Her orgasm swamped her, and she tensed her muscles as tight as she could, so he followed her into the abyss. His cock pumped inside her as her muscles milked him of his seed. When the tension eased she lay down atop him, sweaty and spent.
Their hearts galloped in tandem and their breathing was rough. She reached back and pulled the sheets over the top of them, not yet ready to separate from their intimate coupling. He pulled her chin up so he could cover his mouth with hers. Kissing her softly, slowly like they had all night. She reveled in the touch, in the gentleness after their wild ride. Wishing they could stay like this forever in the sanctity of his room.
The world was waiting outside their door, where danger was lurking. But for now, she was relaxed, warm, and protected. Safe, she was safe.
Chapter 22
Drew woke to the alarm he’d set on his phone, grateful they’d gotten a good night’s sleep. Mr. Clark had texted him last night, while Lily was sending him to nirvana, to say they’d found one more basket that hadn’t been opened, the snake was peacefully sleeping. It was now also in pieces and had been removed from the room. The staff had said that was all the baskets they had been delivered, so Mr. Clark had decided not to go to the other two contestants’ rooms and bother them.
Lily was wrapped around him, sleeping deeply. He’d been concerned that maybe she was too keyed up to sleep but the bout of sex had used them both up and they’d slept well. Today was another day, and he had a meeting to be at in an hour. He needed a shower and coffee.
He didn’t want to wake Lily, but she would need to get dressed, so when the ladies and Chase descended she was ready. He thought the gentlest way to wake her would be with the smell of coffee, so he started some up in the tiny coffee maker in his room. He wondered if he should brew some in her tiny coffee pot too, but then decided to shower first and fill the second pot once he was dressed.
When he emerged from the shower she was sitting up in his bed, a cup of coffee in her hands. Her hair was a rat’s nest, from his hands last night, and she had on the hotel robe, her eyes sleepy and her lips curved in a Madonna-like smile. He leaned down to kiss her. She tasted like coffee and sexy woman.
“Good morning lovely lady, I see the coffee called out to you.”
“It did, I almost came to join you in the shower, but I couldn’t get beyond the coffee. If you’d woken me, we could have had morning sex in the shower.”
Drew swallowed hard at the seduction in her voice and turned to pour his own coffee. “Maybe next time when we don’t have hordes of people about to come into our room.”
She quickly looked at the bedside clock, then relaxed. “Plenty of time to get dressed.”
“Only because we didn’t have morning sex in the shower.”
She laughed, and the sound shimmered through him, igniting every nerve. “That’s probably true.”
He came back to the bed with his coffee and kissed her nose. “Definitely true. When I get you all wet and soapy in the shower, it’s not going to be a quick encounter. It will be a long, slow, slippery, experience, and then we’ll have to start over to get clean. We definitely would not be ready for guests any time soon.”
She shivered. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
He grinned at her. “Good.”
She looked at her almost empty coffee cup. “That tiny pot is not nearly enough coffee.”
“I was going to brew some in yours too, but you distracted me. Here you take the last in this one and I’ll start some in your pot. That should tide us over until the family arrives. They are going to hit the coffee shop downstairs and bring food and more coffee with them.”
Lily watched him pour the last of the pot into her cup with a greedy expression. “Excellent, even half of two of those tiny pots in these miniscule cups are not going to get me going. Although I did sleep well, did you?”
“Yep, like the dead. Your relaxation techniques worked like a charm.”
A slow smile slid across her face and lit up her eyes. “Happy to be of service.”
Desire slid through him, hot, and sharp, and demanding. “Now, you stop that. Come on let’s go to your room. The coffee can brew while you shower. We won’t have a lot of time after the briefing before the next sightseeing trip around Manhattan.”
“All right. I suppose that’s true. I’d much rather spend the day in here with you, than go traipse around being a tourist. We could think of new ways to ‘relax’. Handcuffs might be fun.”
Drew groaned as the vision of Lily stretched out on the bed unable to move while he enjoyed every inch of her body, filled his thoughts. “Lily, I beg you, stop. I have to go meet with a whole ton of security people, and I don’t want to be hard as a rock when I do.”
The woman had the gall to look him over and lick her lips. “I could help with that.”
He groaned. “No, we don’t have time, now get your sexy ass into the shower.”
She stood and stretched, a long sensuous movement that had his eyes crossing in lust, then she started for the door. Before she reached it she looked back over her shoulder and said, “And if I don’t, what are you going to do? Spank me?”
Dear God, the woman had him on a razor’s edge. Then she turned off the sexy like it was a switch and grinned at him standing there swamped in lust. “Coffee, you were going to make coffee.”
She skipped out of the door like a little girl, and he dragged the ragged scraps of his control back around him. Lord have mercy the woman was dangerous with a capital D. Then again, she’d given him some ideas for when this damn mess was over, maybe they could spend a few days trying out her ideas before they had to go back to their real lives.
He went to make coffee when he heard her shower come on, the idea of going back to their lives weighing heavily on his heart, he was going to miss her like crazy. He was totally certain of that, and not sure how he would be able to let her go. He had to remind himself, they were from totally different planets. He was a cowboy cop and she was a princess. He shook his head at the foolish thought, but it didn’t go away, she was high class, beautiful, and not for the likes of him.
Although she did seem pretty familiar with a hunting knife, and she’d made no bones about running out of the woods barefoot or picking up snakes. Maybe she had a side that was more down to earth. But no, he had to be strong, she wouldn’t be happy on a cattle ranch, she was meant for the bright lights of a city, even if it was in Montana.
When the coffee was brewing, he went back to his room to gather what he needed to take with him to the security meeting. He straightened his sheets and pulled the blankets over the top. Shoved the condom evidence deep in the larger trash can and took Lily’s negligee to her room. He didn’t need to advertise to his family that the two of them were intimate.
When everything was ready, he went over and poured himself another cup of coffee. Lily had opened the bathroom door and he could hear the hair dryer. They didn’t have much time before they had to face the day. The pageant would commence in earnest tomorrow, and he wondered if the powers of evil would stop then, or if their attempts would grow more desperate.
Regardless, time was of the essence, they needed to stop these people before someone else got hurt or killed. He was determined it would not be Lily, but he was ready to protect all the girls.
He heard Lily’s hair dryer turn off and noticed she was humming. He smiled at the tuneless sound, the girl wasn’t a great singer, it made her seem more real, less perfect.
There was a knock at the door and he looked out the peephole to see Katie wave. He opened the door and they all trooped in bringing a wave of coffee and pastry scents with them. His stomach growled as the sugary, yeasty smell enveloped him.
They set everything down on the counter by the TV since his table would barely hold two cups of coffee.
Rachel stuck her head into Lily’s door. “We have coffee and very bad for you, pastries, come have some.”
He heard Lily cheer, “Yay! I’ll be right there.”
They all dug in and Lily pushed her way through to grab an enormous cheese Danish. She took one bite and moaned in pleasure. “I haven’t had anything naughty like this, since I joined this damn pageant. The days of eating kale and salad and no carbs are over.”
Summer said, “But what if you win and then have to go on to the International pageant?”
Lily’s mouth dropped open. “Oh no! I don’t think I can do this for another six months. I can’t win. Someone else has to! Darn it Summer, why did you have to say that?”
Lily looked at her treat in horror.
Finally, she took another bite and smiled. “I refuse to win. I will not give up this delicious cheese Danish. I am going to eat every bite and lick my fingers. Then I’m going to drink that enormous coffee, to the very last drop. I don’t care. I refuse to care. If I win, I’ll decide what to do after that.”
Drew watched her gobble her Danish with glee, she was not feeling any guilt, that was for darn sure. He was glad, she was determined to do well in the pageant, but it clearly wasn’t her whole life. She seemed to love food and although she’d been eating very healthy when he found her, it was obvious that was for a very specific reason.
He liked her discipline but was glad to see she also liked to enjoy herself. He hoped all the coffee and sugar didn’t upset her stomach after so long of not indulging. She’d had coffee for a couple of days now and had relaxed her eating a little bit at a time since they got to New York, so he hoped she would be fine.
He looked at the time and then at his brothers. “We need to get a move on. Chase, ladies, we’ll be back soon with the new plans.”
Lily watched as the guys trooped out of the door on their way to the security meeting. She didn’t mind staying back, she’d seen enough last night, and it had made her tense and worried, so letting the men handle it was just fine with her. She wasn’t created to be a cop, that was for darn sure. She could hold her own if she needed to, but she was okay with letting someone else run the show.
Summer looked at her and said, “We need to get you camera ready, let’s get cracking.”
Alyssa asked, “Can we watch? I’m not much of a makeup person, but it would be fun to see the magic happen.”
Summer shrugged. “Fine with me.”
Lily had no qualms about them watching, so if Summer was good with it, so was she. “Come on over, we’ll have a makeup party.”
Chase grinned and gave an exaggerated shudder. “I think I’ll pass, I don’t want to have to turn in my man card.”
Katie laughed and punched him on the shoulder. “As if.” Then she looked over and said in a sultry voice. “I’ll just stay here and keep my guy company. Since I got to watch yesterday, and Summer’s already taught me some tricks.”
Chase’s eyebrows had shot up. “You’re going to keep me company?”
“Ye
s. I’ll give you something to think about the rest of the day, until we get back.”
Lily smirked, realizing Chase was going to be getting the same treatment she’d given to Drew earlier. The other women gave Katie verbal encouragement and some catcalls. Chase had the ability to look both nervous and excited at the same time.
Summer put Lily in the chair she’d used yesterday and laid all her ‘tools of beauty’ on the little table. Alyssa and Rachel sat in chairs where they could easily see what Summer was doing, without getting in the way. Lily had laid the outfit she was planning to wear today out on the bed, so all she needed to do was let Summer work her magic.
While Summer buzzed around her, explaining what she was doing to the other girls, Lily thought about what it would be like to have Drew as ‘her guy’. She decided that she wouldn’t mind that a bit, and began thinking about her life, and if maybe she was ready for some changes. Of course, she didn’t know if Drew was at all interested in that, but it wouldn’t hurt for her to think about it. Would it?
Chapter 23
The security summit, as Drew was calling it, lasted two hours. Mr. Clark had called in all of the hotel security staff, some private security, and the New York City police. As the meeting progressed he found out they’d even talked about bringing in the Feds, with the intrastate connections it would make sense.
The bodyguard for Ms. Utah had said she’d pulled him in after an attempted kidnapping, and the boyfriend of Ms. New Mexico related a similar story. Although he admitted that they’d not thought it had anything to do with the pageant and thought she’d been targeted by the sex trade, with them living so close to the Mexican border. They’d both been relieved to find out it was about the pageant.
They’d gone over all the information Drew had gathered and made lots more copies of the photos and Chase’s lists. No one had scoffed at his methods or thought processes. On the contrary, they’d all been very attentive and had thanked him for sharing what he’d learned.
Trusting Drew: Burlap and Barbed Wire Page 18
