by Cathryn Fox
“Want to get out of here? Go somewhere a little quieter?” he asks.
“But we ordered.”
He smooths his hand over his tie again. “I’ll take care of it. What’s important right now is if you want to leave.”
I hesitate for a second, not wanting to ruin this date, but not wanting stay here a minute longer either. “Yes, please.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Tate
I PUT MY hand on the small of her back as I lead her out of the restaurant. I stop to talk to Katrina, the hostess I just stood up for, and tell her to put the food on my tab, package it up and take it back to the dorms for her and her boyfriend. We step into the lobby and Summer gives me a grateful smile. I smooth my hair back and lead her toward the elevators, both of us momentarily lost in our own thoughts.
Here I thought she would have been more comfortable in a room full of wealthy people, seeing as she’s soon going to own half my grandfather’s estate if I don’t do something about it. But she wasn’t relaxed at all. Sure, she maintained her composure, was poised and beautiful the whole time, but her body language spoke volumes. She wasn’t comfortable. Why would a con out to steal millions be out of place in a classy restaurant? Oh, maybe because she was afraid to run in to some other rich guy she bamboozled in the past.
“What just happened in there?” she asks, her voice low, a bit strained.
“You didn’t like the way they were treating the hostess, and neither did I.” Anger burns through my blood. I’ve worked in the service industry trenches for years, and I know what it’s like to be treated poorly.
“I used to be a waitress,” she tells me, and from the way she’s scrunching up her face, it’s clear she’s been in the hostess’s shoes before. “I’m sure as a bartender, you get your fair share of unruly clients, and unwanted advances.”
“Yeah,” I say. As a powerhouse lawyer I do, too, but I keep that to myself.
“What did you say to those guys?” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, and it draws my attention as she worries her teeth over it. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I told them they were being a bunch of assholes to the hostess, and if they kept it up, I knew a hotshot lawyer who would make a public mockery of them.” The corner of my mouth turns up in a grin. “Then I told them if that didn’t scare them, I knew where their wives were.”
Her small laugh curls around me, through me, warms me from the inside out, and I take a sidelong look at her, in time to see her put her small hand over her mouth, looking so damn adorable as she tries to quiet her laugh, it’s all I can do not to drag her to me and kiss the hell out of her.
“Then I told them to apologize.”
She puts her hand on my arm, and her touch stops me in my tracks. I turn to face her and the sincerity in her eyes hits me like a double shot of tequila, making me a bit unstable.
“Thank you,” she says softly, glancing at her feet. Her mouth turns down, so soft and lush, I ache to feel it under mine. “I’m sorry it ruined our nice dinner.”
“Dinner’s not over,” I announce sharply, shaking thoughts from my head that shouldn’t be there.
“Oh,” she says, and looks at the elevators I just led her to. “I thought—”
“As much as I like you in this dress, you’re going to your room to take it off.” Her eyes widen, and my cock jumps as I envision her taking it off for me, slowly, seductively. “You’ll need jeans and a sweater for where we’re going.”
“Where might that be?” Her inviting gaze rakes over me, and a groan of pure torture catches in my throat.
“You’ll see.” I could take her to her room and seduce her. She looks about as ready for it as I am. I’m not slowing this seduction down because I want to spend a bit more time with her. No, that’s not it at all. I’d rather do it in my chalet, on my turf. That way after I take her to her knees, and out her for the con she really is, she can think about how much she hurt my granddad on the walk back to her penthouse, which I plan to have packed up before she even gets there.
“What about you?” Her eyes linger on me. “Are you going to change?”
“Yes.”
She glances toward the front sliding doors where three doormen stand waiting. “Where are the staff quarters located?”
“Not too far from here,” I say. Not that I’m staying in them. No, I’m in one of Granddad’s private chalets just down the road from this hotel, and that’s where I plan to take her, right after I grab us some takeout. The sooner I get this seduction under way, the sooner I can get away from her...from temptation.
Shit.
“I can make my own way back to my room.”
“I—” Granddad pounded manners into me, and letting her walk back to her room unaccompanied on a date isn’t something I’d normally do. Then again this isn’t a real date, but still.
She puts her hand on my chest, and my heart pounds fast. Can she feel it? Feel what her touch does to me?
“I’m a big girl, Tate. Go ahead and run back to your quarters and get changed,” she says. I’m about to protest again, but she looks like she needs a minute to herself after the incident in the restaurant. It obviously shook her up. I can imagine a beautiful girl like her has been the subject of much taunting during her waitressing years. I might be trying to take her down, but I’m not a total asshole—not all the time anyway.
My gaze moves over her pretty face. “You sure?”
“Yes, we can meet in the lobby, say thirty minutes?”
“I can be fast,” I say and step into her. Like I said, the sooner I get this done the better. Being fast has nothing to do with wanting to get back to her as quickly as possible. I touch the sleeve of her dress, run my fingers over it. A low whimper catches in her throat. Yeah, I’m getting to her as much as she’s getting to me. That much is obvious. “But if you want thirty minutes, I can be slow,” I say, and she blinks up at me, like she’s trying to figure out whether I’m talking about sex or not.
“Fifteen...” she says on a breathless whisper. “Fifteen is good.”
“Okay,” I say, and usher her onto the elevator when it arrives. I watch her, and before the doors shut, I say, “Keep your hair up.”
I grin as I walk away. Oh yeah, I love seeing the long column of her neck, and I want to be the one to pull that clip free to let her mess of curls fall over her shoulders. I grab my coat from the bellman who took it earlier, and step outside, the cold air like a punch to my throbbing dick, knocking some sense back into me, thankfully.
The wind blows as I hurry to my chalet, the snow crunching beneath my shoes on the winding pathway. I hurry inside, turn the heat up a bit more, wanting it warm for when we arrive, and check the logs in the grate. The perfect setup for a seduction. I change into a pair of jeans and a sweater, and then I tug on my Sorels and ski jacket.
I check the time and hurry back outside, wanting to keep my word that I’d only be fifteen minutes. I enter the lobby and find Summer dressed in a different coat, one that reaches her knees, and a big pair of boots with fur peeking out of the tops. Goddammit, how she can make that look sexy is beyond me. Her eyes are searching for me, like she can’t wait to be with me again. A wave of need builds inside me at that realization. Why the hell do I like the idea of her needing me so much? I stare at her slightly parted lips for a moment, and resist the urge to stalk over there, grab her and plunder her mouth already. I exhale slowly to get myself together.
She turns her back to me and I hurry toward her. I bend to put my mouth near her ear. “Fifteen minutes,” I say, as her scent teases and torments my senses. “I’m a man of my word.”
She spins and the smile that lights up her face fucks me over big-time. Her eyes drop to take in my casual wear, and her smile widens as she taps her chin. “I can’t decide which I like more, the dressed-up version of Tate or this dressed-down version.”
>
“Once you see me naked, there will be no competition,” I tease, and wonder if I’m going to get a punch to the nuts for my crudeness.
“Cocky much?” she teases in return.
“Cocky? That’s one way to put it.” She stares up at me like she doesn’t know how to respond, so I lean into her again and say, “But that’ll cost you more than a drink.”
She whacks me. “I told you, you didn’t have to buy me a drink.”
“I wanted to.” My stomach takes that moment to rumble. I put my hand on the small of her back, and lead her to the door. I hand the doorman a couple bills as she pulls a hat and mitts from her pocket.
“Is it far?”
I point to the lodge down the road. “Right there. You up for the walk?”
“Absolutely,” she says, and I kind of like that she’s a trooper, not one of those pampered women who needs to be shuttled everywhere.
She pulls her sleeve back and shows me her Fitbit. “Every step counts.”
I laugh. “You don’t need to count your steps,” I say as we head toward the lodge. “You’re perfect just the way you are.”
She glances down, averts my gaze. What is it with her? Does she not know how to take a compliment, or is she never complimented? A girl like her should always be admired.
Shit. What am I saying? She’s a con and you’d be wise to remember that.
Our breath fogs in front of our faces as we hurry along the busy path, people coming and going all hours at the bustling resort. We reach the big log-built lodge and I usher her in. In the center of the room, a fire burns in the hearth, and tons of people are around it playing board games, cards or just sitting and chatting. Off to one side a group of teens are laughing and playing some sort of rope game that requires them to contort their bodies. At numerous tables, people are eating cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chili dogs, French fries and onion rings.
“Not quite as classy, but the food is amazing,” I say. “I used to eat here all the time.” Not a lie. When I was a teen this was my favorite hangout.
Her eyes widen as she takes it all in. “I can see why, it looks so good.”
“Go warm yourself by the fire and I’ll put an order in for us.”
She nods, and I watch her walk away, unable to tear my gaze from her, until someone at the counter asks me if I want to order. I make my way over, and since I don’t know what Summer will like, I order a bunch of everything—to go—then hand over a stack of cash.
After I pay, I turn back around, and go ramrod straight when I see the group of teens, four guys and four girls, dragging Summer into the game they’re playing. Looks like she chose the wrong table to sit at—the one right next to theirs.
“Tate, save me,” she says as they try to persuade her to join them. I have no idea what’s happening, so I wander over to check it out.
“What’s going on?” I ask, as I step up to them.
Summer glances at me with pleading eyes. “They want me to play some rope game.”
I look back at the group of friends, the grins on their faces telling me they’re having a great time. Probably on a winter break from school and making their own fun for a night. Reminds me of when I used to come here as a teenager.
“Here’s how it works,” a blonde girl around seventeen says as she holds out two ropes, both looped at the ends. “You put your hands in here—” she slips her hands in the loops to demonstrate “—and then you thread the other rope through, and your partner...” She turns to face a guy I assume is her boyfriend from the way he looks at her. “Loops his hands through his like this.” She smiles at us, holding her hands up to show us the ropes. “Now you have to get out of it.” The two start twisting, and climbing through the rope, and everyone laughs as they fall to the floor, all tangled up.
Summer is laughing with them. She seems to have a natural way with the teens... What the hell, we have some time to kill while we wait for our food. And more importantly, this might be a good way to further break the ice with Summer, get up close and personal before we go back to my place. “Should we give it a try?” I ask her.
“Come on, everyone who’s come in here tonight is trying it,” one of the teens tells me.
“Has anyone ever figured it out?” I ask as I shrug out of my coat.
The blonde who demonstrated shakes her head as she continues to try and free herself. After a few minutes she gives up, slides her hands from the loops and hands both ropes to us. “Come on, it’s fun.”
I take the ropes, and we both loop our hands through. I glance at Summer and try to strategize our first moves. “How did I ever get roped into this?”
“Ha-ha. Aren’t you clever?”
“I’d like to think so.”
Smiling, she rolls her eyes at me, then, when she puckers up that cute little nose of hers, I sense the competitive side to her. It matches mine.
“Okay, I think I have an idea. Sit on the floor,” she says.
“Bossy much?” I mumble, and she grins at me.
“Depends on who I’m with.”
I sit on the floor, as she takes charge. Goddammit, who knew a take-charge Summer would be so sexy? “Okay, I think I got it,” she says, and crawls over my lap and through the loop. She twists, and her damn ass is nearly in my face. I swallow. Either that or I’m about to bite my tongue off.
“Ah, what are you doing?” I ask.
“Did I get it?”
We hold our hands up, and we’ve only managed to make matters worse. “Well darn,” she says. “Now we need to reverse it.”
If she puts her ass in my face again, it just might be the end of me.
She puts her ass in my face again.
And it’s pretty close to being the end of me.
“We’re back to where we started,” I say.
She glares at me. “Do you have any ideas, Einstein?”
The group laughs, and Summer grins at me. “Yes, I have an idea.”
“Let’s hear it, then.”
“Stand up and turn around,” I say, and we both climb to our feet. “Arms above your head.”
She lifts her arms, and holy fuck, I love how she takes a command. Would she be so obliging in the bedroom? “Turn around.”
She turns, and I put my arms around the front of her. She leans into me, tucks that sweet little ass against my growing cock. “Try to pull your arms down as I pull up.”
We both make a move, only to find out our ropes are still twisted together.
“That didn’t work for me either, man,” the guy who demonstrated it a minute ago says. I glance at him and he gives me a lopsided grin. “But it sure was fun trying.” His girlfriend laughs and bats him in the stomach. He lets loose an oomph of air and bends forward.
“Any other bright ideas?” Summer asks.
Oh, plenty.
“Arms up,” I say. She lifts her arms. “Now turn back to me.” She does as I say, and there is a sexy pink flush on her face when her eyes meet mine. Her hair is a tumbling mess, coming out of the clip and falling over her shoulders. Goddammit, I can’t wait to release it all, grip it tight as I bring her mouth to mine. Kiss her until she’s begging for me, pleading with that one sexy word...please. A tremor rips through me, and zaps my aching balls as I picture her sprawled out on my bed, mine to do with as I please.
Fuck, maybe I should sleep with her. Take from her the way she’s taking from Granddad. Talk about logical reasoning at its worst. I shake my head. Yeah, I could justify it any way I want, but what it boils down to is this—I want to do dirty, wicked things with her. I want my mouth on her, my hands, my tongue. I want to spread her legs wide-open, and bury myself between her legs until morning. A week from tomorrow.
But that would make me a complete asshole.
“What if we step over it?” she asks, breathless.
I think about th
at for a minute, anything to get my mind off the way she’s wiggling against me, her scent teasing my senses, playing havoc with my restraint. Agreeing to this game is having the intended effect, but it was supposed to be only on her, not both of us.
“It’s worth a try.” She bends first and steps over the rope, putting both our hands behind her back. She’s flush up against me, trying to get free. “It’s impossible,” she says.
“Do you give up?” the blonde asks.
“No, I don’t give up, but we have to call it quits,” I say, and gesture toward the counter holding our take-out bags. “Our order was just called.”
The girl unhooks our hands, and tosses the rope over her shoulder. “That was...fun,” Summer says with a laugh as she bundles her hair back up, and clips it. I glance at her slender neck, as energy arcs between us. She touches her throat, like she’s well aware of the way she affects me.
“Thanks for playing with us,” the girl says. “Come back tomorrow night, see if you can do it then. We’ll probably have other games, too.”
“I’ll come back right after I look online,” I murmur, and Summer narrows her eyes at me.
“That’s cheating.”
“No, that’s called playing to win,” I say, and give her a wink. I grab our coats and hand hers over before we head toward the pickup counter.
She shrugs into her coat. “Do you always play to win?”
“Always,” I say, and step up to the counter to grab our food.
“So do I,” she says, her voice holding all kinds of promises, but her attention gets diverted when she sees the three big bags in front of us. “What did you order?” She goes up on her toes for a better look.
“I didn’t know what you liked.”
“So you ordered one of everything?”
“Something like that.”
“You’re crazy.” I’m beginning to believe so, too. I should just seduce her and end this now, before I do something I can only regret later. “Here, let me help,” she says.
