by Cathryn Fox
“Does this feel wrong?” he asked around their heated kisses. He was hurrying the intimacy along this morning, going faster than he would have liked, but damned if he didn’t have a point to prove.
“Yes, no…I don’t know,” she said on a moan.
“Is it yes or no, sweetheart?”
He buried his face in her neck and tasted her skin. Jesus, he could spend the day in this elevator lost in her.
“No…” she whispered.
“So none of this feels wrong, like it’s a mistake?” he asked.
A sexy noise crawled out of her throat, as she tossed her head from side to side, mussing her hair on her shoulders and making her look so damn sexy.
He buried his lips in the soft hollow of her throat, breathing in the sweet scent of her skin. He cupped her cheek, then ran his hands down her arms.
“No, it doesn’t,” she finally said.
He stepped back, and pressed the button to put the elevator into motion again.
Looking shaky and properly kissed, she pulled her lipstick from her purse and reapplied. As he watched it skid across her plump lips, he drove his hand into his pocket to adjust his still hard cock. She recapped it, tossed it into her purse and looked at him.
“What?” she asked, her chest rising and falling as she struggled for air. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He moved closer, until he could feel her body heat. “None of this is wrong, Andi, and I want more.”
She swallowed. Hard. “More?”
“Yeah, more. I want you in my bed for the rest of the week.” He wagged a finger back and forth between their bodies. “Is there a reason we can’t make that happen?” He waited for a response and when none came, he pressed. “Andi?” A beat passed and then he said, “If there is, tell me now and I won’t ask again.”
The elevator stopped and he stepped away, leaning against the back wall as the doors split. He could feel her eyes still on him and could almost hear the wheels spinning in her head when Nathan stepped in, his curious gaze darting back and forth between the two of them.
“Elevator is acting up again,” Ryan explained, smoothing his hair back. “We got banged around.” A sound caught in Andi’s throat and it was all he could do not to look at her and grin.
Nathan nodded, satisfied by the answer. “What happened to you last night?” He pointed a long, thin finger, and waved it up and down the length of Ryan. “You never came back to collect your prize.”
“Prize?”
He clapped his hands together, his smile wide. “You won the male model contest.”
Andi shifted slightly turning from them, but not before he caught her lips twitching. Oh, she liked that, did she? What kind of game was she playing?
He turned back to Nathan. “What’s the prize?” he asked.
“A trophy for your mantle.”
That’s just what he wanted to put next to his writing prizes. “Sounds great,” he said.
“And free admission and dinner tickets to Friday night’s awards ceremony.”
“Yeah?”
“A man does have to eat,” Nathan said.
“Why, yes he does.”
“And hanging out with all those gorgeous romance novelists is an added perk, don’t you think?” Nathan added.
“Yeah, and with any luck they’ll be serving T-bone. My favorite.”
Andi made another noise, and Nathan turned to her, his brow furrowed. She avoided direct eye contact with him and continued to stare at the number panel like it held all the answers to the universe. The elevator came to a hard halt and doors opened again, depositing them on the lobby level.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Andi said, and pushed past the two.
“I’ll catch up with you later, Andi. Think about what I said.”
She stopped for a second, her back to him, and then when she heard her name in the crowd, she hurried out.
Nathan followed her. “I’ll mention the elevator to management. Unless of course you’d rather I didn’t.” He grinned and gave a little finger wave as he exited. The doors shut and Ryan went up a floor to the gym area.
Who was Andi Palmer and who did she think he was?
Flyboy.
He dug his phone from his bag, and pulled up his contacts. He fired off a text to his brother despite the fact that he wanted to talk to him on the phone. Was it possible that she thought he was Nolan? The elevator bumped, stilled then, opened on his floor. He climbed off and walked the length of the hall. Glass panels displayed exercise equipment and his phone rang as he reached for the door.
He swiped the screen and saw his brother’s face pop up. “Hey, what’s up?” Ryan asked.
“I think I’m the one who should be asking you that.” His brother sounded tired, compliments of too many hours in the air. The weeks off leading to Allie’s labor would be good for him. And if Allie had it her way, she’d have fixed Nolan up with a nice girl and waiting at the altar by the time Ryan returned home.
“Oh, yeah? What makes you say that?” An uneasy feeling moved through Ryan. For Nolan to call back so quickly, he obviously knew something about Andi, and Ryan had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what he heard.
“I made it to Allie’s last night and she said you were asking about Andi Palmer and now you just texted me about her?”
Ryan paused outside the gym and braced one hand on the glass wall. “So, you do know her, right?”
He grunted, a troubled tortured sound that tightened the knot in Ryan’s stomach. “Yeah, I know her. Andrea Palmer. She was Chase’s kid sister. She must go by Andi now.”
“It’s her pen name. She’s a writer.”
“I heard.”
Ryan paused, waiting for his brother to continue. When silence lingered, he asked, “What are you not telling me?”
“Look, I was a stupid, fucked up kid, okay.”
Shit, he really didn’t like the sound of this. “What did you do, Nolan?”
“I liked her. She was a nice kid, a bit of a tomboy who didn’t have many friends, but she was really, really sweet and kind. But then she came on to me, and it took me by surprise.”
Nolan was a jock back in the day, admired by many and a little too cocky for his own good. Everyone had different coping mechanisms, and acting like the cock of the walk was his way of handling the life they kept hidden from others. He wasn’t that guy anymore, but he’d been damaged and had done damage to others.
“You slept with her?” Ryan asked.
“No. Shit. I laughed at her.”
Ryan grabbed a fistful of hair and tugged. “Jesus, Nolan.”
“Yeah, like I said, I was a stupid, fucked up kid. I laughed and walked out of her house, leaving her hanging there. I could hear her tears as the door slammed shut. I felt like a total piece of shit ever since.”
“Why the hell did you laugh at her?”
“I don’t know. It just…I never expected someone like her to hit on me.”
“Someone like her?”
“She wasn’t really my type.”
“I thought every girl was your type.”
He went quiet for a long time, and then said quietly, “She was overweight, didn’t get a lot of attention from guys and somehow got it in her head that I liked her more than a friend.”
“Why?”
“I guess because I was always nice to her. She was my best friend’s sister so I used to carry on and tease her a lot. I think my laughing at her really fucked her over, though. I never saw her much after that, and she moved away a few years after high school.”
Ryan raked his hands through his hair. “You’re an asshole.”
“I was. But I’m not that guy anymore,” Nolan said, an almost pleading edge to his words.
No, he wasn’t. Out of necessity, they’d all grown up and changed after their parents had died.
“But that was a shitty thing to do.”
“I know and if I ever saw her again, I’d like to apologize. How is she?”
/>
“She’s good. I’m at a hotel in Vegas doing research and she’s here with a romance writers’ convention. We ran in to each other. Literally.”
Flyboy. Plan backfiring.
He pinched the bridge of his nose as understanding dawned. “Well, fuck me.”
“What?” Nolan asked.
“I believe she thinks I’m you.”
Now it all made sense. She thought he was Nolan, which meant she damn well knew he wasn’t a male model. He’d guess she’d walked him straight to the pageant for one reason and one reason only. Revenge. Well deserved revenge, for sure.
“Then I can’t imagine that reunion went over very well,” Nolan said, his voice low, laced with worry. “She hates me. For good reason.”
Oh, but in the end it did go over well. She’d played with him, teased him, and seduced him. Son of a bitch! Had she planned to take him to the edge and leave him hanging there, the way Nolan had left her?
Talk about a plan backfiring.
Chapter Seven
Andi rushed through the lobby looking for Jan. She adjusted her tote bag over her shoulder and smoothed shaky hands over her hair and skirt. God, she looked mussed and well kissed, and was sure everyone would pick up on it. Practicing her breathing exercises, she pulled in air and let it out slowly, working to calm her racing heart.
Ryan wants to have a brief affair with me.
Sex with him never should have happened in the first place. But it had, and it was good. So very, very good. Cripes. Then again, maybe she should explore a week in his bed while she was in Vegas. Maybe having sex with him for the duration of the convention wasn’t such a bad idea. After all, why shouldn’t she continue to take what was denied her all those years ago?
Because I might fall for him again, and if he sees the real me, he’ll laugh and leave.
Then again, she was a big girl, knew the score, and no man had ever taken her to paradise the way he had. Besides, he said he didn’t believe in happily ever after, and walking down the aisle wasn’t in her future. Why the hell couldn’t she just close her emotions off to him, and continue to hide who she really was? Didn’t she deserve to have good sex at least once—or ten times—in her life? Imagine what it could do to help her as a writer, the things she could learn from him, especially if she wanted to dip into the hotter stuff. It was sort of a win/win, really.
How was that for faulty logic at its best?
She could only imagine what Rhonda, her best friend back in Cedar Point would think of this fiasco. She’d been there that day to pick up the pieces after Nolan had crushed her. It was all Andi could do not to let her friend go after him and crush something of his in return.
“Hey, earth to Andi,” Jan said, waving her hand in front of Andi’s face.
Andi blinked, then grabbed Jan’s arm. “Sorry, just thinking about my next plot.”
Jan laughed. “Yeah, well then I can’t wait to read it because from the look on your face something tells me it’s a hot one.”
She laughed, and wrapped her arm in her friend’s. “Come on, we don’t want to be late for the workshop.” They hurried down the hall, passing a few of the male models along the way. The image of Ryan in those tight pants bombarded her and she warred with guilt and pleasure. If she hadn’t done it, then he wouldn’t have made that big donation to literacy, so it really was all for the best. What was that she’d just thought about faulty logic?
She grabbed her tablet from her bag and booted it up as the speaker stepped to the podium to talk about marketing. She made notes for the first hour and a half. Her phone pinged. She grabbed it and her stomach dropped when she read the message from her roommate. We found an apartment. While she was happy Cammy had found the man of her dreams and was moving on with her life, it left Andi in a bad situation. Her savings were meager and she’d barely last two months on her own. Maybe she really should get serious about writing the hot stuff that was selling so well. Either that or she’d have to move back home, where she could handle the lower cost of living. Rhonda did offer her a place to stay until she got on her feet.
She tucked her phone away and turned her attention to the lecture just as it was wrapping up. The instructor handed out notes, and everyone began to pack up and head to their next session. She sat there, powering down her tablet and organizing her tote bag as the room cleared.
“Going to the luncheon?” Jan asked.
“Yeah, I’m starved. I haven’t eaten since last night.” T-bone. God. A moan caught in her throat.
“You okay?”
“Fine,” she said, but it was hard to get anything past Jan so she changed the subject, not quite ready to talk about Ryan. “Did you get that reversion clause in your contract changed?”
Jan stuffed her papers into her bag and started talking about the negotiations they were going through as they followed the lively group of authors out the door. The second they reached the hall, a fine shiver moved through her. Ryan was close. She scanned the room and found him standing a few feet away, watching her.
One look at the sexy way he leaned against the wall to the panty melting grin on his face, and she knew it probably wasn’t in her best interest to continue their week-long Vegas affair. He was still the wild boy from her past, and she would only end up hurt again. But boy oh boy, wouldn’t a week in his bed give her fuel for her books?
Jan nudged her. “Uh, who the hell is he and why is he looking like he’s been in the Nevada desert too long and you’re a big glass of water.”
“It’s a guy I know from back home.”
“So it was his room you were sneaking out of last night?”
Andi turned to Jan, her heart pounding. “Oh God. You heard about my walk of shame?”
“I heard everything, like how his room is haunted but the moans weren’t coming from any ghost.”
Andi buried her face in her hands, mortified.
Jan pulled them away. “My only question is why were you sneaking out? If I had a guy like that in my bed, I’d still be there…and I’d be taking notes. So get your ass back there, for both of us.”
Andi laughed. “You think?” Leave it to Jan to lighten the situation and make her feel better.
“Yeah, I think. Last night you were busy meeting with your editor, but I saw him dancing to Adam Levine. That guy’s got better moves than Jagger, and if I were you, I’d stay until I experienced every last one of them. Live the fantasy, girlfriend.”
Sounds like she missed one hell of a show. Then again, the one he put on for her later that night was undoubtedly the better of the two.
Jan shivered and hugged herself. “Although, if his room is haunted, maybe you should start having sex in yours instead. Either way, there has to be sex involved.” Jan turned and blatantly eyed Ryan. “Just look at him. He’s like a sex popsicle.”
A sex popsicle? Andi whacked her. “Stop staring.”
Jan turned back to Andi. “Fine, but if you don’t want him, can I have him?”
“I never said I didn’t want him,” she admitted, that admission shocking both her and Jan as she nibbled on her bottom lip.
Ryan pushed off the wall and moved toward her. Andi’s pulse leaped, and her entire body warmed. He kicked his long legs out, his pants shifting around the bulge below his belt.
“I won’t be far if you need me,” Jan said, stepping away to talk to a group of women near them.
“So, you know who I am then?” he said, when he reached her.
She shifted her bag and gripped the straps. “Yeah, Nolan,” she said stretching out his name. “Who now goes by Ryan.”
“And you knew all along? Since we first ran in to each other in the elevator?”
She nodded. He should be angry, but he didn’t look it. In fact, he looked more amused than upset.
“Which means you sent me to the male model contest knowing I wasn’t one. So why’d you do it? Just to get your kicks?”
“I know it wasn’t very nice of me, juvenile at best, and I’m sorry. I
don’t usually do things like that, but I wasn’t thinking straight. It’s just that you really hurt me when I was young and vulnerable, and it wasn’t to get my kicks, it was payback.”
“I know who you are too, Andi.” Sheesh, took him long enough. He stepped closer, crowding her. “What if I told you I’m not that guy?”
Did he mean he wasn’t that same guy from their youth? Honestly, did a leopard ever really change its spots? “It wasn’t a very nice thing of me to do, and again I’m sorry.”
“You’re right, it wasn’t a very nice thing to do.”
“Look—”
He held his hand up to cut her off, and his eyes smoldered with heat and promise. “Apology accepted, but I do expect you to make it up to me.”
She put one hand on her hip, to disguise the heat raging through her. Shouldn’t he be making it up to her? Then again, he sort of did that last night. “Oh, and exactly what do you have in mind?” she asked, despite her best interests. But she was curious dammit.
“Have dinner and drinks with me tonight.”
She hesitated. “I’m supposed to be meeting the girls tonight.” Mixing alcohol and Ryan at the same time was a combination made for disaster. Look at what happened last night. Heck, who was she kidding? Alcohol had nothing to do with her sleeping with him.
Jan, who was still hovering close by, and clearly listening to the conversation, waved a dismissive hand and said, “Hey, we have all week.”
Ryan looked at Jan, then back at her. “Did you hear that, Andi? You have all week.” He touched her hair, twirling a curl around his finger. His scent fell over her and she breathed it in. “We do, too. If you want.”
“I’m not…” Oh how tempting he made it sound. She lowered her voice. “Your proposal in the elevator said nothing about dating this week.” Seriously? That was where she drew the line? She was okay with crawling between the sheets with him, but dating put things over the top. How was sex less intimate than dating? She wasn’t sure, but at least in bed they didn’t need to get to know each other on a personal level. That might just lead to him seeing the real her, and the heartache she was striving to avoid.