The woman’s voice stopped. Audrey peered over Reese’s shoulder at the beautiful blonde in a slinky ice-gray dress, accompanied by a gorgeous brunette. They stared at Audrey in surprise, then at Reese.
Audrey looked up at Reese’s face and saw the annoyance in his eyes.
She pushed away from him. How had she forgotten who he was? He was the ultimate playboy, the quintessential player. She was a nobody who was a bed warmer. Of course.
“You should go back to the party,” she said in a brisk voice, straightening his lapels.
“Audrey,” he began, following her.
“Just leave me alone,” Audrey said, shaking her head. She walked down the hall to the elevator and hammered at the button.
“Reese? What’s going on?” one of the women asked. She had a thick and sultry European accent. “Are you coming back inside?”
The voices down the hall lowered to a murmur, and she could hear Reese’s low baritone mixing with the women’s voices, though she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Audrey pushed the button again. It didn’t arrive fast enough for her. With a hateful glare at the elevator, she headed to the fire exit and began to head down the stairs.
She just had to get out of there. Away from Reese and the inevitable women who crawled all over him. Away from the party and Brontë’s happiness that ate at her.
Away from the memory of that comforting hug, and that wonderful kiss. It was nice that Reese wanted her in his bed, but she couldn’t deal with the women crawling all over him.
Not when he wasn’t hers. Not when her heart would break every time he dated someone else, because she’d given her heart and he hadn’t. She couldn’t do it.
***
In retrospect, taking the stairs in a pair of heels—no matter how sensible—from the thirtieth floor? Not her best idea. But she continued to trudge down the stairs, her heart heavier with every flight. By the time she got to the bottom, she was exhausted—mentally and physically.
Which was why, when she opened the door to the fire escape and saw Reese standing there alone, she groaned. So much for her legendary composure.
Reese grinned at her, holding the door open. “Get your exercise in?”
“Shut up.”
“The rest of the world takes the elevator.”
“Just shut up.”
“Not until you and I have a little talk.”
She sighed, then crossed her arms over her chest. “What could we possibly have to talk about? We slept together. It was no big deal. You left. End of story.”
“I left because you went out with another man,” he said flatly. “And you were excited about it. So how about we talk about that?”
“You’re blaming me?” She gave him an incredulous look. “Are you serious? You’re the one who ran like a chicken.”
His jaw clenched. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, that’s so.”
“Who’s the one who just took the stairs for thirty floors?”
She gritted her teeth.
“Now quit changing the subject.”
“I went out with Cade because he asked, all right?” She jabbed at his chest with a finger. “And I didn’t realize that I’d fallen for someone else until I couldn’t stop thinking about you at dinner.”
His hard expression softened, and that roguish grin returned to his face. “So you fell for me, huh? I bet Cade hated that.”
Her face flamed with color. Should she backtrack on her story? Or just keep going? “Cade was relieved because he thinks of me as a little sister,” she said in a matter-of-fact voice. “And then he slept with Daphne later that night.”
Reese leaned against the stairwell, propping one arm up against the door. “I can think of someone who was at that cabin that didn’t think of you like a little sister.”
“So can I,” she said wryly.
“So how is it that you fell for all this”—he paused and gestured at himself —“And yet you still keep running away from me?”
“Because I can’t do this, Reese. Just because I was stupid enough to fall in love with you doesn’t mean that I want to end right up in your bed again when I know it’s not a permanent thing. And I wouldn’t try to force you into anything because that’s unfair. One-sided romances always are.”
He reached out and touched her cheek, then pulled her close. “So you fell in love with me, huh?”
She weakly pushed at him. It felt too good to have his arms around her. “Reese, don’t.”
“What if I told you that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you?” He leaned in and grazed his lips against the shell of her ear. “What if I told you I keep comparing every woman I meet to you and they all come up lacking? What if I told you that I haven’t even given the thought of another woman any consideration since I left your side?”
A wry smile touched her mouth. “It’s only been a week. I’d say you’re a normal man.”
“Ah, but I’m not a normal man. I’m the billionaire gigolo Reese Durham,” he teased. “Your words, I believe. And a week for me is an eternity, especially when it’s a week without you.” He leaned in and lightly kissed her jawline. “And what if I told you that maybe I’d fallen for you the moment you kissed me like you wanted to make me never forget you? What would you say then?”
She shivered, leaning into his mouth. Her fingers curled at the lapels of his suit again, but she said nothing. She didn’t want to break the spell.
“What if I told you,” Reese murmured, kissing along her jaw until he got to her mouth,“that I was willing to try a committed relationship with you? Just you and me against the world.”
A tremble swept through her. “I’d say not to lie about things like that.”
“Firecracker, you know I’m many things, but I’ve never been a liar.” He lightly kissed her mouth. “How about it?”
She twisted her hands in the front of his suit and kissed him hard. “I’d say let’s go for it.”
He groaned and his hand slid to her hip, then he tugged her leg around his waist. “Ah, that’s my girl.” The kiss became brutal and fierce. She wasn’t quite sure who was leading—her or him, only that they desperately needed each other in that moment. She moaned with need, pressing her body against him, her leg locking around his waist. Her skirt was hiking up and she didn’t care.
“So fucking sexy when you’re dressed up all subdued like this,” he groaned against her mouth. “Do they even know how fucking hot you are when you get riled?”
“Only you,” she breathed. “Only for you.”
“Good,” he growled, and kissed her hard again, pressing her against the stairwell door.
A throat cleared, and Audrey and Reese broke the kiss for a moment to look around. A bellhop stood in the doorway, giving them a red-faced look.
“Can I help you with something?” Reese asked, his hand not straying from Audrey’s hip.
“Sir, you’re in the middle of the hallway,” the bellhop protested.
Audrey bit at Reese’s ear, then whispered, “There’s a storage closet on the thirtieth floor, across from the ballroom.”
“Now you’re talking,” he told her. “Think we can make it up thirty flights?”
“How about we take the elevator this time?” She smoothed a hand over her bun and was thrilled when his gaze went there and got even hotter, as if she’d stroked his cock in public. Keeping a cool look on her flushed face, Audrey moved to the elevator and pushed the button, straightening her skirt. Reese followed behind her, and they waited, patiently. Quietly.
The elevator eventually dinged. They got in. No one else did. The door shut.
As soon as the door shut, they were all over each other again. Hands sliding under jackets, mouths locked, moans filling the air. Her hand stroked the front of his pants, feeling the hard length of his cock and glorying in it.
“Goddamn,” Reese growled when she did it again. “Fucking slowest elevator ever.”
“That’s why I took
the stairs,” she said with a giggle.
The doors finally opened and they stumbled out, hands still on each other. The hallway was blissfully empty, and Audrey headed down the hall in the opposite direction of the ballroom, toward a storage closet that held party decorations and cleaning supplies. Sure enough, the door was unlocked. She pushed it open and then gestured for Reese to follow her in.
“How’d you know this was here?”
She shrugged. “I usually have to keep an eye on the staff when there’s a shindig, and there’s always a shindig. You never know when someone’s going to need an emergency mop.”
“You’re so handy,” he said, and it sounded like the sexiest thing in the world.
She shut the door and locked it, a flush rolling through her body. “You say the sweetest things.”
He pulled her close and began to kiss her again, his mouth hot on hers. After a moment, he groaned and pressed his forehead against hers. “Fuck.”
“What is it?”
“No condom.”
“That doesn’t sound like you,” she teased.
He chuckled in the darkness. “I wasn’t planning on scoring. I just wanted to talk to you. Didn’t give a shit about anyone else.”
Her hand stroked along the front of his pants again. “I’ll take a chance. I’m feeling the need to gamble. I need you. Don’t care how.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.” Her hand slid to the front of his pants and slid his zipper down.
“Think I can get up that sexy little skirt of yours?”
She laughed as he pinned her against the wall. “You mean this sensible beige knee-length skirt?”
“The one that clings to your luscious ass and makes me think of all the dirty things I could be doing to you? That’s the one.” His hands dragged it upward, exposing her panties. “Ah, thank God you’re not wearing pantyhose.”
“It’s just me under here,” she agreed. She moaned when his fingers dipped into her panties and stroked her clit teasingly. “Oh, God, Reese, I need you so bad.”
“Then drop these,” he murmured.
She did, and then he was between her legs, his own pants around to his knees. She felt the heat of him nudge against her a second before he slid deep, and she cried out in sheer pleasure. “Oh, Reese!”
“Ah. Fuck. Firecracker, you feel too good.” He groaned and pressed his forehead against hers again. “I think I need to go bare into you from now on. You feel amazing.”
“I’ll get on the Pill,” she assured him.
“Good thing we’re in a committed relationship as of five minutes ago,” he told her. “Because I think I’m in heaven.” He thrust deep, shoving her up against the wall, and she cried out and clung to him. His strokes were hard and fast, and it was clear he wouldn’t last long. And she wanted it to be as rough and wild as he could make it, because she needed him so badly.
So she slid her hand between them and rested her finger against her clit. Every time he slammed into her, her finger rubbed against it, making her moan.
“Damn, firecracker,” he groaned. “Touching you drives me insane. Not gonna last long.”
“No,” she breathed, and then bit back a scream when she began to come, her pussy clenching.
He growled her name and thrust again. Then she was coming too, jerking hard and rough against her. She felt the wash of his seed inside her, and she shivered again.
When she tried to slide her leg down his hip and back to the floor, he stopped her. His hand continued to hold her in place, locked around his hip. As if he wanted to stay there forever. That was fine with her.
He leaned in and kissed her again, slow and tender. “I might have just made you pregnant,” he told her. “That was irresponsible of someone who prides herself on responsibility.”
“What can I say? You bring out the wild side in me,” she said, pleased and dopey from his loving. “Plus, that would be really bad luck.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he told her, and kissed her again, as if he couldn’t stop. “I might bring out the wild side in you, but you bring out the responsible side in me.”
“I do?” That made her pleased, oddly enough.
“Yeah. Did Logan tell you that he and Hunter are investing in my cruise line?”
Her hands tightened on his jacket in excitement. “They are? You approached them?”
“I got some good advice from a very sensible woman,” he told her in a husky voice. “A very sensible woman who has a naughty side. And it’s the woman I happen to love.”
“You do?” Her voice was even softer, as if she couldn’t quite believe it.
“Yeah. Except she loses her head around me,” he said in a teasing voice, then pressed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Which is why I think I’m going to have to marry her.”
Her breath stopped. “You . . . what?”
“I mean it, Audrey.” He kissed her again, this time coaxing her mouth open with a lick of his tongue. “Marry me. Be my wife. I don’t want anyone but you. I love you. I love your spirit and your pride and that sexy figure of yours, and I can’t stand the thought of you getting away from me again. And if we’ve made a baby, then I want to marry its mother.”
“Aren’t you jumping the gun just a little? I thought I brought out your responsible side.”
“You do.”
“Proposing marriage after a few weeks isn’t very responsible!”
“I said you brought out my responsible side,” he said with a chuckle. “I didn’t say how big it was.” He leaned in and kissed until she was breathless. “Say yes, firecracker.”
She considered it a moment, then returned his kiss. “Tell me you love me again.”
“I love you,” he said, and it was husky and achingly sweet. “I love your good side and your naughty one.” He kissed her neck. “Especially your naughty one.”
She smiled. “It might be stronger than the good one from time to time.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.” He nipped at her collarbone again. “Now tell me you’ll marry me.”
“Yes.”
His hand clenched around her thigh, and he pressed his hips against hers. She felt his cock still buried inside her, still hard, and he began to thrust again. A moan built in her throat.
“I love you, Audrey,” he told her. “Wanna elope to Hawaii?”
She bit her lip, moaning with pleasure. “Is this a ploy to get me to agree to anal again?”
“Mmmm. Now that you mention it, we can save that for the honeymoon.”
She giggled.
“Now don’t distract me, woman. Do you, or do you not wanna elope to Hawaii?”
He was kissing her and his hips were rolling against her own in a way that was driving her to distraction. “I . . . I’ll have to ask for the time off.”
“I’ll talk to Logan,” he told her. “Or you can ask him at poker night.”
“Poker night?” she echoed, confused.
“Yeah. I’ll explain some other time, but it involves a non-disclosure.”
She was going to ask him exactly what he was talking about, but then he began to stroke deep inside her again, and Audrey found she didn’t care much about poker night or any other night at all.
As long as she was in Reese’s arms, it didn’t matter.
Epilogue
3 months later
Despite their closet declarations, they held off on any sort of commitment for several months.
It had been Audrey’s idea. Reese had been totally gung-ho about heading out to Hawaii the next morning on his private jet and dragging Audrey into a makeshift wedding. Except there had been Daphne to look after, and she didn’t feel comfortable leaving her twin while she was still in intensive care.
And then a few days later, she’d gotten her period, which eliminated any fear of pregnancy. After that, there’d been no need to rush, so Audrey had asked Reese if they could postpone for a little while. He’d agreed . . . as long as she’d move in with him.
Well, for the most part, Audrey amended with a wry smile, looking out the small window of the jet at the clouds below them. There were some things they still didn’t see eye-to-eye on. She looked over at Reese, sprawled on the leather chair in the private jet, and extended her hand. “I’m going to close my eyes and count to ten, and when I open them, my phone had better be back in my hand.”
“No.” And he wiggled his eyebrows at her, that infuriating man.
“Reese Durham,” she said in a warning tone. “I need to check my email and make sure there’s nothing that requires Logan’s immediate attention.”
“You told me yourself that Logan hired two additional assistants. Let one of them handle it.” He put a finger to his goatee, as if coming up with a brilliant idea. “Or, I know. You could quit and spend more time with your soon-to-be husband.”
She rolled her eyes at him and got up from her chair. “Don’t make me search you.”
“What a terrible prospect,” he said in a dry voice, and put his hands behind his head. “Do with me as you will, firecracker.”
“You are a frustrating man,” she told him, and began to pat him down, searching for her phone.
“And you’re a frustrating woman,” he said, dragging her down on top of him and ignoring her squeal of protest. “I told you that you work too hard.”
She flailed against him for a moment, but when his hands went to her breasts, she made a soft sound of pleasure and slid down next to him on the couch. “I’m not working too hard.”
“You are. Look at how exhausted you’ve been lately.” His fingers stroked her cheek absently. “Last night when I came home, you were asleep already.”
She yawned at the thought. “Your poker game ran late.”
“Not that late,” he told her. “I told Logan he’s working you too hard and I’m going to fuck him up if he runs you into the ground.”
Audrey groaned, burying her face in his shoulder. “You did not. Reese, he’s my boss!”
“I can be your boss.”
“No, you’re going to be my husband, remember?”
The Wrong Billionaire's Bed Page 24