Adrienne Giordano

by Relentless Pursuit

“I’ll say.”

  “She’s weakening,” he sang.

  Kristen leaned back, waved her hand in front of his face. Nothing. “Can you see anything?”

  “Nope. Start stripping.”

  I must be out of my mind. “Let me close the blinds.”

  “Hello? We’re thirty-five floors up and I’m blindfolded. Leave them.”

  She bit her bottom lip. Why not? No one could see. She slipped out of her T-shirt and tossed it on the floor. “Shirt is gone.”

  “We need a stripper pole in here.”

  “Forget it, sailor. Nice try though.”

  “Give my horny ass credit for the attempt.”

  The urge to bury herself under the covers consumed her and she breathed in. “Billy?”

  “Right here.”

  “This feels weird. Like I’m forcing it.”

  He sat up, blindfold still on. “We don’t have to do this. The point is for you to be comfortable.”

  She nodded, but he couldn’t see, so she grabbed his hand and kissed it. “I know. What if we, well, just snuggled for a bit? I’ll take my clothes off and we’ll just lay here. Would that be okay?”

  He flopped onto the bed again. “Come to me, dahling.”

  Complete lunatic. Talk about innovative though. “Okay. This might work. We’ll just cuddle. See what happens.”

  He smiled. “As long as we cuddle the right parts, I’m all over it.”

  For this, she laughed.

  Ten minutes later, they were still lying there, Billy naked and Kristen in only her bra and panties, wrapped around each other, skin to skin—with the lights on—and she couldn’t stop grinning because his erection was poking her thigh. He wanted her.

  And she was almost naked.

  With the lights on.

  She roamed her hand over his hip. “I love this.”

  “It’s not too shabby.”

  “Um, how disappointed would you be if we just did this? No sex.”

  He shrugged. “Pretty darn disappointed. My physical state cannot be a mystery to you. But if you’re not ready, we’ll wait. The point of this pseudo waterboarding session is for you to be comfortable. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time I took matters into my own hands, so to speak.”

  She dipped her head into his chest and laughed. “You really need to use that filter.”

  “Why? It’s the truth. I mean, I can’t stay in this condition.”

  Horrifyingly too much information. “But some things I don’t need to know. Okay?”

  “I’m all about pleasing you so I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

  Not in this lifetime did she imagine him able to stay quiet. “You’ll keep your mouth shut? Really?”

  “Ease up, girlfriend. I’m trying here. Bad enough I’m not getting laid.”

  He was grinning though. Teasing her. This man was too sweet to break her heart. From somewhere inside her, she believed it.

  Or was at least starting to.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Billy drove Tom Dante’s borrowed Mercedes into the BMW dealership and found a spot right in front of the three-stories of windows lining the façade of the building. The sales guys would be tracking them to see what they were driving and what they would see was a hundred thousand dollar car that didn’t necessarily stand out like Kristen’s Aston would.

  “Okay, sweet cheeks. Time to car shop.”

  They’d been trailing old Alex all morning in the P.O.S. sedan and when he went to the same park he’d visited two days ago, Billy decided to cut bait on Alex and trail the guy he had met with. Besides, Kristen wanted the 4-1-1 on why Billy was so bent on Alex and he thought following the other guy would distract her. Right now, he wasn’t ready to fess up to the beefhead in the shed and Alex using the same Arabic word. Eventually, he’d have to tell her, but then he’d also have to explain why he’d never shared the shed incident. And he wasn’t ready for that.

  Alex’s buddy led them back to the BMW dealership from their last journey.

  “So, we’re car shopping?” Kristen asked.

  “Pretend car shopping. I’m buying my gorgeous fiancé—that’s you, by the way—a BMW for her birthday.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “M.H., just go with it. It’s a cover story. I need to get eyes on this guy.”

  “I’ve always liked Beemers.”

  “Maybe a convertible. Like your Aston.” He tweaked her nose. “You’ll have to wear a hat with that fair skin.”

  “Story of my life.”

  He grinned. “Let’s go shopping. Honey.”

  The minute they walked through the sliding double doors into the slick, black-and-chrome-encased showroom, a salesman approached them. Billy held his arms wide. “My fiancé needs a hot car. I’m sure there’s nothing half as gorgeous as her, but do your best.”

  The sales guy glanced at Kristen then back to Billy. “Certainly. I’m Dave.” He stuck his hand out and Billy shook it.

  “I’m Jack. This is Elle.”

  “Nice to meet you Jack and Elle. Did you have a price point in mind?”

  “A lot.” Billy scanned the showroom and all the desks lining the far wall. No park guy.

  Dave took another gander at Kristen’s fancy dress and spiked heels and apparently determined she did, indeed, have that I’m-loaded look. “Let’s head over here. I have a nice 7 series you might like.”

  “This blue one is nice.” Kristen dragged her hand along the hood of the car like she’d done with her Aston that day in front of the hotel, and Billy breathed deep. Something about the way she did that always turned his thoughts carnal.

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah, honey, get in there. See what you think. Maybe we’ll drive it. I’m gonna check out the service department.”

  “Our service department is the best in Miami,” Dave said. “Ranked number one three years running.”

  “Even better. Take care of my girl while I check it out.”

  “He has a fetish with service department cleanliness,” Kristen said. “So high maintenance.”

  Billy cracked a smile at her theatrics and headed through yet another set of sliding doors. Another bank of windows separated the white walled room from the garage area. Three men stood at stations helping customers. No park guy. Check that off the list. He wandered around the room, looked out into the service bay where a couple of guys checked incoming cars. No park guy.

  “May I help you, sir?” one of the employees at a station asked.

  “I’m about to spend a ridiculous, flippin’ filthy amount of money on a car for my fiancé. I want to make sure the service department can handle all her hotness.”

  The service guy stared at him. Totally fudging deadpan. Not even a smile. He did tug on his collar, though, and Billy suppressed a laugh. People never knew what to do with him. Not that he minded. He liked knocking people off their perches and, according to Vic, that was no longer acceptable.

  Billy decided to put this poor schmo out of his misery. “You got a service manager around here?”

  “Certainly. Tim Dupont. He’s in his office. Let me get him.”

  You do that. Billy wandered a few feet and nosed around a corner where cars were being tended to. Unfortunately, most of the mechanics had their heads inside cars and he couldn’t see their faces.

  No matter. He didn’t think park guy was a mechanic anyway. Not with the gray dress slacks and oxford he’d been wearing that morning.

  “Sir?” a man’s voice called.

  Billy faced Tim Dupont, who wore gray dress slacks and an oxford shirt.

  Yeeha. Park Guy.

  After getting a tour of the service bays from Captain Tim, Billy decided to wrap his reconnoitering for the day. He grabbed M.H. and told Dave-the-salesman they’d be back after they checked out the Jaguars.

  Back to Dante they went and, in the boardroom, Billy stood in front of the white board staring at his notes on the two BMW car thefts. Kristen stood to his right, hands on hips, waiting for him to sa
y something. The quiet, sustained energy she exuded almost sent him into a sexual haze.

  Something about this woman, so cool under fire, made him want to rattle her.

  He gestured to the board. “There it is.”

  “What?”

  “See any similarities with the Beemers?”

  She studied the board. “No.”

  “Keep looking, M.H.”

  Her gaze zeroed in on it—atta, girl—and then moved to the next section on the board. “The keys.”

  “Yep.”

  “The thief had keys to both BMWs. The only other car the thief had a key to was the Jag. The rest were stolen using the antenna.”

  He turned back to the board. “My guess is Alex is working with Tim Dupont, AKA park guy, AKA service manager, to get duplicate keys made.”

  “And what? He’s paying the service manager for duplicates? How does he get the car information?”

  Billy stepped back, leaned against the table and dragged Kristen with him. She propped one hip against the table. Wow, she was close. He kept his gaze on the white board. Her simple presence continued to be a major distraction for his horny ass.

  “That’s easy,” he said. “Someone probably looks at the VIN number through the windshield. Anyone can see it. Maybe our buddy Alex pays the service manager to look up the VIN number in the system and, once he finds the car, he gets the key codes and makes him a dupe.”

  Kristen scrunched her adorable nose. “It’s that easy?”

  “With honest people? No. The dealership is supposed to ask for ID before they make duplicate keys. In this case, the guy is on the take and he’s not worrying about ID.” Billy stepped back to the white board. “And look at this. Both guests were staying at the hotel a while. They may need some time to get keys made, so they want cars that will be around more than one night.”

  “Billy—”

  He held a finger up so he didn’t lose his thought. “How do these thieves know which BMWs to pick?”

  “Someone in my hotel is sharing guest information.”

  * * *

  Kristen stood staring at Billy, trying to absorb the idea that she needed to locate the one employee who revealed confidential data.

  Billy slid a chair out for her then dropped into one himself.

  “I guess we need to start questioning employees who have access to guest information? That’ll take hours.”

  “Or we start with Jess.”

  Kristen groaned. Would her sister do that? Steal guest information for her boyfriend? A guy she barely knew? Impossible. Even with their strained relationship Kristen refused to believe her sister would betray her for a guy who cheated on her. All of this was based on Billy’s assumption Alex was indeed involved. And if so…

  “Wait. Alex cheated on Jess with a desk clerk from the Ocean Blue. Maybe he’s getting guest information for that hotel from her?”

  “Makes sense.”

  “But the GM told me no cars had been stolen.”

  Billy tapped his fingertips together. “Not yet. He could be grooming her.”

  “Grooming?”

  “Getting her primed. Playing her. If this guy is a decent con he’d have been watching her, figuring out if she were vulnerable enough to fall for his line of crap. If so, by the time he gets done with her, she’ll be so love struck she’ll give him anything. Including guest information.”

  “But Jess is far from vulnerable.”

  Billy leaned forward and rested his hands on her knees. “Yeah, but she’s a party girl. Would anyone question her walking up to a computer in this hotel? Even if she was wasted?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Let’s find a way to talk to her without accusing. Maybe this richweed figured her for a mark and then backed off when he couldn’t get anything out of her.”

  * * *

  Kristen’s cell phone rang. “This is Kristen…now?…I’ll call him. Thanks.”

  She ended the call and immediately went to work looking for something on her phone. “The GM at the Ocean Blue left a message at the desk. Apparently he left me a voicemail while we were out. He just called again and needs to speak to me ASAP.”

  “Did he say what he wanted?”

  “No, but I’m about to find out.” She held the phone to her ear. “Rod? Kristen Dante returning your call…How can I help you?…When?…Do you mind if I put you on speaker? I have my security person with me.”

  Billy bolted upright. “What?”

  “They had two cars stolen today.”

  Hot da—diggity—dog.

  “Rod,” M.H. said, “I have Billy Tripp here. Billy, Rod Perkins.”

  “Rod, what kind of cars were they?”

  “One was a Jaguar and one a Mercedes.”

  Billy motioned like he was turning a key. If the Jag was stolen with a key, the thefts were probably connected.

  Kristen nodded. “Rod, I’m wondering if these thefts are related. Would you mind if Billy and I came over and took a look at your footage? If it’s the same two men, Billy has been able to implement security upgrades you might be interested in. Going forward, maybe we can somehow work together to protect our properties from these thefts.”

  “Come on over.” Rod hung up.

  “Abrupt guy,” Billy said.

  Kristen dropped her phone on the table. “He’s not winning any congeniality contests. That’s for sure. Let’s see what his footage has. Maybe it’ll tell us something.”

  “M.H., you’re extremely hot when you’re on a quest for justice.”

  “Yeah, well, I have the Senate Majority Leader about to pop in and I don’t need any drama. Right now, you and your blindfold are providing enough distractions.”

  * * *

  After reviewing the Ocean Blue theft footage and finding that, yes, indeed, it appeared to be the same men, Kristen left Billy to discuss security upgrades with Rod and came back to the hotel to wait for him.

  And here he was, knocking on the door to her suite, and all she wanted was to get her clothes off. Good grief. Normally all she wanted was clothes on. And worse, the man was totally distracting her from the important things. Like running her hotel.

  She swung the door open. “Hi.”

  “M.H., looking splendid tonight.”

  Nice of him to notice she’d put the low cut shirt on. She was so bad. Bad, bad, bad.

  She grabbed his arm, hauled him through the doorway and said, “Hurry up and tell me what happened so we can blindfold you.”

  Billy smacked his hands together, shook them in front of him and stared at the ceiling. “Thank you.” He dropped to his knees. “Thank you!”

  “Enough. I get it. Just tell me.”

  Moron that he was, he crawled to the sofa and she laughed at him. At least until he settled her on his lap. No you don’t. She made a move to slide off.

  “Nuh-uh,” he said, “we’ve talked about this. You are not going to crush me. Just sit here and quit squirming. Besides, you’re getting me excited.”

  “Filter!”

  “What? It’s the truth. You’re bound to feel the evidence at any second.”

  “Ooh!” Wow, that was something. Her cheeks burned, a fierce heat storming her system.

  “There you go.”

  “It’s rather unnerving.”

  Billy slid his hand up her legs in slow circular motions, and her want for him simmered slow and steady.

  “Enough to get you to strip without me in the blindfold?”

  “No.”

  “Dang it.”

  Leaning into him, she asked, “How did it go at Ocean Blue?”

  “The two cars stolen belong to guests who are both staying more than seven days.”

  Could be good news. “It ties into your theory about the thieves knowing the guests will be around long enough to get duplicate keys.”

  “Yep. Old Rod is going to bite the bullet on installing a signal jammer. His moral compass is not nearly as steady as yours.”

  “I’m no
t surprised. He runs a tight ship over there.”

  “And you don’t?”

  Was that a compliment? She wasn’t sure. Running a hotel required constant attention. In her world, days off didn’t exist. Her phone always rang. And she always answered. Still, she didn’t want to be on the same level as Rod Perkins. “Not like him. He’s brutal to work for.”

  “Eh, he doesn’t look so tough.”

  “Not to you. You play with AK-47s for a living.”

  Billy tilted his head, thought about it. “True. Oh, guess who I ran into while old Rod was giving me the tour?”

  “Who?”

  “Alex.”

  Could Alex being at the Ocean Blue the night of a car theft be a coincidence?

  Not a chance.

  “What was he doing?”

  “He entered the hotel while I was outside checking the front security.”

  Billy moved his hand up her leg again and, unable to concentrate, she tried to slide from his lap, but he held her in place. She gave up. Not such a hardship. “Probably the nightclub. He’s big into the clubs. Kind of early though.”

  “Or, maybe he was picking up the chick he cheated on Jess with. I tried to follow him, but I lost him in the lobby.”

  “What do you think?”

  The hand moved up to her waist. “I think after you’re done torturing me, I’m going to take a cold shower and download the list of addresses Alex visited in the last week.”

  “Why? We already know he’s been to the BMW dealership and is probably involved.”

  Finally, he shifted her from his lap, levered himself over her and she eased onto her back with him on top of her. He trailed kisses down her neck and all that heat came roaring back. He’s just too good at this.

  He glanced at her between kisses. “I can have Janet from my office run the addresses and see if she can get me names of the property owners. Then, Madame Hotness, we are going to cross-check the names against your employees and the ones at the Ocean Blue. If we find any matches, it might be a lead to finding the person leaking guest information.”

  “How long will that take?”

  “A day or two.”

  The kisses continued and she breathed in, tilted her head back and closed her eyes. So good. “I’m going to be devastated if one of my employees is involved in this.”