He winks at her as I take her hand in mine and lead her away from him. “I promise I won’t bite, unless you ask me to,” I whisper as we get to the dancefloor.
She gasps as I jerk her body into my arms, making sure our bodies touch, so she can feel my desire for her.
GIA
I gasp as Ryker pulls me so close to him, I can feel his bulge pressing against me. “Ryker!”
“Say it again, Gia,” he whispers as he nuzzles my neck.
“Stop that!” I hiss at him as I look back to find Damien on the phone, not looking at us at all. I thought he’d be staring a hole in me but I was wrong.
Our little spat at the hotel turned into a hot bit of passion, he must feel he’s adequately fulfilled my needs. But he’s wrong. Ryker brings out needs in me only he can fill.
Pulling his head back, he looks at me as we sway back and forth to the slow song. “If you don’t want to become a notch on my bedpost, as you said earlier, what would you like to become?”
“I don’t know why you’d bother asking me that question. You told me you were going to Mars and that’s where you’d be getting serious with a woman. You know I’m not going, so what the hell does it matter what I want?” I ask him as he smiles at me and I hate how attractive I find him.
“I’d just like to know,” he says then spins us around. “Humor me, will you?”
I decide to scare the man off. “I want you to fall in love with me, Ryker. I want you to marry me and forget about going to Mars. Stay here with me, forever. Leave that dream behind you.”
He chuckles then says, “You don’t expect much, do you? Have you asked that of Damien?”
“Why would I?” I ask. “He hasn’t asked me what it is I want.”
“You know, Gia. The Russians may not be going to allow people with imperfect backgrounds to go to Mars, but America holds no such regulations. You could go with me.” His dark eyes glisten as he looks at me and waits for what I’ll say next.
“You and me, Ryker. Like a team?” I ask, as if I’m really contemplating going with him.
“Something like that,” he says then we spin around again. “So, what would you think about doing that? I mean, he’d be gone on the first ship out of here. I could wait for you to get to me.”
“You seem like you’re being serious,” I say with a laugh. “Ryker, you know I can’t do that.”
“You can,” he says. “Those things Damien said about you, don’t make you unable to go. You should think about it.”
“Let’s just pretend for a moment that I’d do that. You and I get to Mars where Damien is and then what?” I ask as he spins us again.
“What will he care?” he asks as he smiles, wickedly. “He’ll have left you behind.”
“With all of his money,” I say as he seems to have forgotten about that.
“Money?” He shakes his head. “You are worth more than that. Why do you insist on thinking more about the financial gains that come with Damien than anything else? You’re brilliant and Mars could use a mind like yours.”
“And it will get it. But from Earth. I can make things for the people and animals here that I couldn’t up there. Don’t you see the big picture? There won’t be labs to work in. Plants to manufacture things in, won’t be available there. Everything will have to be shipped in. With the money he leaves me, I will be able to help the beings that go to Mars. I will be able to make the things that will make life there, better.”
One of his dark brows cock up. “I never thought about that.”
“I have,” I say and find him slowing the dance.
“You are very smart.” He licks his lips as he looks at me. “That’s very attractive.”
“Ryker, I know that woman you’ve brought with you is your personal assistant and your lover. I have no idea what you want with me, other than a quick roll in the hay. But I have my plan and I’m sticking with it. Damien is part of that plan.”
“I could be the same thing for you. Only better.” He looks at me as if that’s really a thing I might consider.
“I don’t trust you. I trust Damien,” I say then find the song has ended and yet he still sways with me as if music is playing. “We should take our seats, Ryker.”
Reluctantly, he lets me go. “Perhaps, if you’d just allow me to have a taste of you, then I could get you out of my head, Gia.”
I laugh as we walk back toward the table where our dates are waiting on us. “I’m afraid you’ll have to figure out another way to get me out of your head, Ryker.”
I too have to figure out a way to get him out of my head. Having sex with him will only plant him in my head that much deeper. And I can’t have that!
RYKER
As our waiter takes the order, I find Damien’s dominance over Gia infuriating. “No, you won’t have the shrimp. Gia. Bring her the filet mignon and broccoli, no butter or cheese, steamed only. She can have a small amount of whole grain rice as well. She’s had too much alcohol tonight, so bring her water. I’ll have a lobster, baked potato, loaded with everything, a steak kabob on the side and a Long Island Iced Tea.”
I don’t say a word as Gia looks down. Then the waiter looks at me and I gesture to Bridget. “Go ahead, Bridget.”
She rattles off what she wants and I can’t stop looking at Gia and how she’s fidgeting in her seat. After telling the waiter what I want, I find Damien pulling his cell out, yet again, the fifth time already, and holding up a finger as he gets up and walks away from the table.
“Will that be all?” the waiter asks us.
“No,” I say. “Gia, order whatever the hell you really want to. It’s not as if Damien will be paying any damn attention to what you’re brought, anyway.”
She smiles at me. “Do you really think so?”
“I do,” I say as I look at her and see her eyes brighten up. “Get what you want.”
“Okay, the shrimp and a loaded baked potato and a glass of white wine, please. I hate broccoli.” She smiles as she looks at the waiter.
He nods and off he goes. I watch her face begin to glow. “You should learn how to tell him to shut the hell up, Gia,” I tell her then lean over to Bridget. “Can you leave us alone?”
“I need to powder my nose again,” she says as she gets up and leaves.
“I should learn how to do that,” Gia says then I find her looking out the door to the balcony.
“Would you like to check that out?” I ask as I get up to take her outside. “It’s nice out, tonight.”
“I should wait for Damien,” she says and I pull her chair out anyway.
“You’d be waiting all night,” I say as I take her hand and tuck it into the crook of my arm. “And I’d like to get a breath of fresh air myself.”
“You have a lot to say about Damien but you too are neglecting your date, Ryker.”
“I have danced with her once,” I say, in my defense. “And she’s not really into me. I can tell.”
“So can I,” she whispers as she leans in close. “What’s the real deal between you two?”
“Kiss me and I’ll tell you all you want to know,” I tell her as I open the French doors to the balcony, finding no one else on it.
She bats my chest, lightly as she giggles. “Why are you so silly?”
“Why are you so beautiful and smart in all the right ways, save one?” I ask her as I close the door behind us and move her to the railing. Leaning her back against it, I wrap my arms around her. “You feel perfect like this.”
“But you need to let me go. This isn’t okay, Ryker,” she says as she pushes at my chest.
“I’m not doing anything I wasn’t doing on that dancefloor, Gia. The more I’m around you, the more I find fascinating about you. You have to know that Damien is messing around.”
She stops pushing me as she looks into my eyes. “What makes you say that?”
“Who the hell does he talk to on the phone that much?” I ask her as she looks to one side of me.
She pushes my ch
est hard. “Here he comes!”
I step back and watch him open the door. “There you two are. Dinner is served and we need to eat and get out of here.”
“What’s the rush?” I ask him as we make our way to the door, my hand on the small of her back.
He looks at where my hand is as we pass him. “I have to get to my friend. Another crisis, I’m afraid.”
I don’t say a word as we go back to our table but one thought is floating into my brain. Gia will be alone in their hotel room!
“Too bad,” I say. “I had planned on having a long evening. But I understand. Friends take precedence.”
“Over everyone, it seems,” Gia says as she takes the seat he holds out for her.
I sit in my chair and elbow Bridget, gently. “Seems we should hurry, Damien has things to do.”
“Okay.” She leans over and whispers, “I can take a cab home.”
“That would be best, wouldn’t it?” I ask her and she nods her answer.
With her off my plate, I can focus on getting Gia alone. Pulling my phone out, I discreetly tap in a message to my secretary, telling her to get me a suite at the same hotel they’re staying at.
Gia seems pissed as she stabs a piece of shrimp. “Will you be gone all night long again?”
“I might. Why?” he asks her as he barely looks her way. And just like I thought, he doesn’t notice she doesn’t have the meal he ordered for her.
“No reason. A girl just likes to know when her boyfriend will be coming home, that’s all,” she says and stabs another shrimp. It’s plain to see, she’s pretending the shrimps are him.
“If I told you an approximate time, I’d be lying. You don’t want me to lie to you, do you?” he asks her and I see my secretary has replied back that she got me a suite and I can check in when I get there.
I smile as I put my cell back in my pocket and ask, “If you’re in a hurry, Damien, I can have my driver drop Gia off. It’s not a problem. I can also get you one of our private cars to take you where ever it is you’re going.”
I have a million dollars that says he won’t take the car I’m offering him!
He hesitates as he was about to eat a forkful of lobster. “Are you taking Bridget home with you for the night?”
“Yes,” I lie. “We could drop Gia off before we go back to my place. I promised Bridget she could stay the night with me.”
“Sure, you can give Gia a ride to the hotel,” he says then takes the bite.
“And should I call my service about getting you a car?” I ask and watch his head shake.
“I’ll take a cab. Don’t worry about me,” he says as he gestures to Gia. “Just drop her off for me. That’ll be enough. What time should I be at your office tomorrow to get to the paperwork on our deal?”
“Whenever you’d like to. The earlier the better,” I tell him as I watch Gia becoming angrier with him.
He’s oblivious to it or doesn’t give a shit. The latter I bet.
“I’ll shoot by the suite in the morning and change my clothes then be there about nine thirty. Will that be fine?” he asks as he doesn’t realize he’s just told us that he’ll be spending the night with his friend instead of Gia.
She got it too and is looking at her plate like she wants to pick it up and throw it. “Shoot by the suite?” she asks between gritted teeth.
He looks at her and then down at her plate, finding five shrimp tails and three uneaten shrimp, and her half-eaten baked potato. His eyes roam to the glass of white wine instead of water and his cheeks go red. “When did you change your order?”
“When you left the table,” she meets his icy stare and the two have a silent war, using only their eyes. He wins when she averts hers.
“Please see that she has no more alcohol. It gives her a headache in the morning if she does,” he says as he looks at me. “She forgets that so easily.”
“It happened once,” she says then takes a long drink from the glass.
“And you’d have that happen again?” he asks as he glances sideways at her. “Foolish of you, don’t you think?”
Her eyes roll to one side as she sighs and places her napkin over her plate. It’s plain to see she’s lost her appetite. And who could blame her?
GIA
Standing outside of the restaurant, I watch Damien get into a cab while we wait for Ryker’s driver to bring the car to us. He doesn’t even bother to wave goodbye, he just gets on his phone as the cab pulls away.
“Have you met this friend of his?” Ryker asks as another cab pulls up and I watch Bridget get into the backseat. Ryker hands the driver some money and waves at Bridget as she leaves.
“I thought you were taking her home with you,” I say as a black BMW pulls up and Ryker opens the back door.
“Get in and I’ll explain why I lied to Damien,” he says as he pulls my hand to make me move.
“But I don’t understand and I don’t think being alone with you is a good idea, either.”
He slides in beside me and closes the door. “We aren’t alone. The diver is here.”
“Where to, sir?” the driver asks.
“The four seasons,” he answers and leans back, laying his arm along the back of the seat. “I took a room there for the night. The long drive back to Sebastian isn’t a thing I’m up for tonight.”
“Sebastien?” I ask. “You don’t live in Orlando?”
“No, my estate is on the coast. You should come for a visit. Oh, and Damien too, of course.” He smiles at me and I find it to be sexy with a side of contriving.
“And you lied to Damien, why?” I ask him as I move over a bit.
It does no good as he moves too. “So, he’d let me take you home.”
His hand moves over my knee and I shiver with how it fills me with heat. “And you wanted to because?”
“Because I want to be with you for a while longer. I enjoy your company, Gia. And I’d like to pick your brain some more. I bet you’re full of ideas. I need ideas and you have them. Get it?” He chuckles. “You have other things I need too but you seem not to be interested in that. Yet, anyway.”
“I really don’t have any more ideas. I’m afraid to disappoint you.”
His hand moves off my knee to stroke my cheek. “You can’t disappoint me.”
“Ryker, you need to keep your hands to yourself.” I take his hand away from my face and place it on his leg. “You seem to forget your place.”
With a groan, he looks away from me. “Why couldn’t I have met you first?”
“It doesn’t even matter.” I turn a bit to lean more on the door, so his leg isn’t touching mine. It’s making little zaps of lightning go through me and is very unnerving. I don’t know why that’s happening.
“I don’t know why you’re saying that. If I would’ve met you first, then I know I’d have you talked into going to Mars with me by now. You and I would make some nice looking kids, Gia.”
Heat fills my cheeks at his words. “Ryker, stop!”
“No,” he touches my cheek and I look at him. “We would. You should think about that. You and I, populating a new world.”
In his dark eyes, I see excitement. I never see that in Damien’s. I only see determination in his icy eyes. And Damien’s touch has never stirred me the way Ryker’s does.
“Well, I’m not going.” I turn away from him and look out the window.
The hotel is just ahead and the driver slows to turn into the parking area. I feel Ryker, staring at me. When we stop, he takes my hand and pulls me with him, out of the car. “Come with me to check in. I want a room near yours.”
“That’s not going to matter. I’m not coming to it,” I let him know.
“Oh, but you will. You see, I have things to offer you that Damien won’t.”
My body goes electric as my mind flies to what he could offer me that Damien won’t. But my mouth flies open, “I don’t care for anything you have to offer.”
“You will,” he says as he tugs me along.
/>
The desk clerk looks at me with a grin. “Miss Flynn. Is your evening going well?”
“Sure,” I say as Ryker won’t let my hand go.
“I want a room near hers. I have a reservation,” Ryker tells him.
The clerk looks at me and grins even more. “Okay, and the reservation is under?”
“Ryker Crawford.” He gives my hand a squeeze.
He’s more than excited and I hate the fact I’m going to ruin his little party idea. I really do hate it. I’d love to see what he has to offer me. I would. But I can’t do that. I can’t cheat on Damien.
Just as he finishes signing the paper, his phone rings and he takes it out as he accepts the keycard the clerk gives him. Pulling me along, he smiles as he answers the call, “Hello, what do you have for me?”
I hear nothing as he pulls me onto the elevator. “You can let my hand go, Ryker,” I whisper, after we’re on the thing and I’m trapped with him and couldn’t go anywhere if I wanted to.”
He shakes his head as he talks on the phone, “Fantastic. Take them to my place. My staff knows what to do. And thanks for doing that so quickly, Stella.” He looks at me with a huge smile. “Don’t you want to know who I’m talking about, Gia?”
“It’s not my business.” I look away from him.
He takes my chin and pulls my face back. “Don’t you care at all?”
“No,” I say and watch the elevator doors open. “Come on.”
We walk out of the elevator and he pulls me to his door. “Well, I wouldn’t tell you, even if you did ask me. It’s a secret. Just make plans to spend tomorrow night at my place in Sebastien. And Damien too.”
“Of course,” I say as he opens his door and pulls me inside his room.
“This is a nice suite,” he says as he pulls me along and I stop him.
“I’m going to go to my room. The one I share with Damien.”
“Why are you so faithful to that man? He isn’t to you.” He looks me dead in the eyes, testing me, I’m sure.
“You don’t know that.” I twist my hand until he lets it go.
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