“Come dance with me, Asia.” And before she could decline, Lance took her hands in his and led her toward the dance floor.
The moment Lance took Asia into his arms, she whispered, “You, Lance Montgomery, are an arrogant ass.”
Lance was not stunned by her words, nor was he surprised. “And you, Asia Fowler, are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting.”
She glared up at him. “I’m sure you said the same thing to Rachel Cason that night.” The moment they left her lips, Asia wished she could take back the words. The last thing she wanted was for him to know how much his actions that night had hurt her.
“No, I didn’t tell her that. In fact I asked her to leave seconds after you did. The only woman who shared my bed that night was you.”
“Am I supposed to believe that?”
“I’m hoping that you do, since it’s the truth. I wronged you, and I want to apologize—”
“Spare me any explanations, and there is no need to apologize. Your true colors came out that night, Lance. I was operating with blinders on, but now I see clearly. All I was to you was a conquest, a challenge, someone you wanted to bring down a peg or two. Well, now the game is over, and I hope you got all the satisfaction that you wanted, and I pray after tonight we won’t ever see each other again. In fact, I’m going to make it a point that our paths don’t cross again.”
She’d stopped dancing and had started to walk off. The only thing he could think about was that she was fighting him, putting distance between them, and he refused to let that happen. With a mixture of panic and desperation, he took her hand in his and quickly led her off the dance floor to a deserted area outside the hall. He pulled her beneath an empty stairway.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asked when they came to a stop, snatching her hand from his. “How dare you—?”
His mouth swooped down on hers, seizing it in a sensuous assault, grinding her lips apart, forcing them to open to him. At first she resisted, as he had expected, but soon he felt the fight leave her, and her mouth slowly opened beneath his. Moments later, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body close to his.
He deepened the kiss as his mouth moved urgently and greedily on hers. He would melt her defenses and put a crack in that wall she had erected.
Lance heard a sound, almost a clicking and lifted his head. When he looked down at Asia, her eyes darkened in absolute passion. Then when it hit her what they had done, she stared up at him in seemingly stunned anger. She raised her hand and slapped him. “You had no right to do that,” she said in blazing fury. “I am an engaged woman,” she said, backing up a step. “How dare you continue this game!”
Something snapped within Lance. He recovered the distance. “This is not a game, Asia. I love you.”
“Love!” she choked out the word. “Give me a break. You wouldn’t know the meaning of the word if it came up and bit you in the ass. I hate you,” she all but screamed, not caring who was around to hear her words. Her chest rose and fell in sharp, fuming breaths. She took another step back. “And I’m warning you not to ever come near me again, Lance. If you do, you’ll be sorry.”
She turned and quickly walked away toward the ballroom, but not before Lance saw her tears.
Lance let himself into his hotel room. Tonight had not turned out completely the way he had wanted, but it was a start. Asia was angry with him; she was convinced she hated him. Those things he was pretty damn sure about. Another thing he was certain of was, besides those emotions, she also loved him.
Only a woman in love could have responded to him the way she had. He had known the exact moment she ceased to resist him and relinquished her entire being to him. Had they been alone near a bed, they would have made heated love on it. The one thing he knew about Asia was that she was not an impulsive person. Nor was she someone driven by passion to be reckless. She was a strong advocator that women should demand respect, love, and loyalty from the men in their lives; they should be in complete charge of every aspect of their life and under no circumstances should they let a man take advantage or get over.
Yet tonight, she had been driven by passion enough to give in to a need to kiss him, a man she considered her enemy. There was only one reason why she would do such a thing. Deep down, she loved him just as much as he loved her. But her hurt, pain, and anger were burying that love.
He reached up and rubbed the side of his face. It was still stinging from her slap. A bark of laughter erupted from his throat. Damn, but he’d deserved it. But to put it more bluntly, he and Asia deserved each other. And the way she had wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned his name into his mouth proved she wasn’t as immune to him as she wanted to be.
And that key would eventually reopen her heart—their intense desire for each other, their passion. If for one minute she thought of having a future with any one but him, then she had another thought coming. It was time to take things to the next level. Her warning for him to stay away from her meant nothing. The threat had fallen on deaf ears. Although the risk was large, the rewards in the end would be greater. And he had his eye on the ultimate prize.
Asia.
The woman he loved more than life itself. If he doubted that fact before tonight, after seeing her again, tasting her, inhaling her scent, and touching her, he knew it to be a definite.
He checked his watch. Pulling out his briefcase, he opened it up and retrieved the document that Carl had faxed to him last week. He slowly glanced over it, studying it in detail.
Then Lance smiled as he began planning his next strategy.
6
Carrie
“Talk to me, Carrie. What’s going on? Why are you leaving?”
Carrie paused in her packing and met her brother’s intense stare. “There’s nothing going on, Logan. I just want to get away for a while, no biggie. You know me—it happens sometimes. A couple of months ago, I went to Chicago and spent some time with Lance. Now I want to go spend some time with Pops in Gary for the holidays. Quit worrying! I’m fine.”
Logan had a feeling that she wasn’t fine. She was running, but he had no idea what she was running from.
“Do you need anything, Carrie?”
Carrie met Logan’s gaze. She loved all three of her brothers, but it was Logan who tolerated her shit the most. And it was Logan who was quick to put her in her place when she needed it. He was the big brother every girl should have. If things had been different while growing up, he would have been there to protect her from the likes of Simon Anderson.
But he hadn’t.
“No, I don’t need anything, Logan. I’m fine. I’m just burned out. I’ve worked on a lot of tough cases this year and I need a break. That’s all. I’m taking a leave of absence from work and won’t be returning until the first of the year. I plan to go to Texas at some point and visit Lyle, and drop in on Lance in Chicago, just in case everyone is too busy to get together at Pops’ for Christmas.”
Logan nodded. He didn’t know his brothers’ plans for the holidays, but he had intended on going home like he and Carrie had done every year since they’d been reunited. He knew his father looked forward to it.
Sighing, Logan checked his watch. He had to get to the hospital. He had surgery in a few hours. “Call me when you get to Pops’, and let me know you made it there safe.”
“I will.”
He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. “Take care of yourself, Pint,” he said, calling her the nickname he had given her when she had first come home as a newborn from the hospital. She stood five-eight and had a willowy frame; he often got on her about not eating enough.
“I’ll take care of myself, Logan. I promise.”
Carrie snapped her seat belt in place and then leaned back as the crew prepared for takeoff. Her body shivered at the thought of leaving sunny Florida to head to icy cold Indiana. She had called Pops to let him know she was coming, and as she’d known, he’d been elated. He
told her that something was going on with Lance, but he wasn’t sure what. Lance hadn’t been to see him in a couple of weeks, but when he’d finally come around last weekend, he was acting like a changed man, although Pops couldn’t put his finger on what that change was.
Carrie settled in her seat, thinking that once she was settled in Gary, she would rent a car and drive into Chicago to see Lance. If something was going on with him, she needed to know about it. When she had visited him last month, she would swear he’d had woman problems. Lance would never let any female get under his skin. But still . . .
Thirty minutes later, the plane had leveled off in the air. The man sitting beside her was asleep, and she was grateful for that. She wasn’t in the mood for conversation.
She closed her eyes, and immediately began thinking about the photos that were tucked away in her carry-on. Although she had every reason to suspect that Simon was the person who sent them, she had to be sure they hadn’t fallen into someone else’s hands. She’d have to hire a private investigator to find out what she wanted to know. Logan was a highly respected physician in the Tampa Bay area, so she didn’t feel comfortable seeking out a private investigator there. She would take her chances with someone who operated a business somewhere in Indiana, not far from Gary. Although she was an innocent victim when the photos had been taken, she refused to let her brothers bear the shame and embarrassment of what had happened to her.
She also wanted a private investigator to find Edwina Montgomery. She wanted to look the woman in the face and tell her how her actions had almost destroyed her life.
She would return to Tampa the first of the year, secure in the knowledge that she had finally put the past behind her. Whoever was trying to blackmail her would be dealt with.
7
Connor
God has made all men to be happy.
—Epictetus
Connor Hargrove was a relatively happy man. And one thing he didn’t believe in was missing an opportunity, especially when it came to women. Right now, he was happily watching as Debra Ervin removed the last of her clothes, slid provocatively on the bed to lie on her back, and shamelessly gave him a good view of the sweetness between her legs.
For the past two months, she had played hard to get, and tonight he would show her it had been a waste of time once he got the only thing he’d wanted from her anyway.
He tossed his jeans aside and quickly put on a condom then crawled naked onto the bed to join her and to give her the best ride of her life. She would think twice before holding out on him again, especially if she was waiting to hear the words he never intended to say to any woman.
“You still won’t say it, will you, Connor?” she asked in a voice so thick with passion that he felt himself get harder.
“No,” he said before bending his head and kissing her lightly on the lips as he settled his body between her thighs. “I never say words I don’t mean just to get a woman’s stuff. Not even this is worth lying about.”
He saw disappointment in her eyes. She wasn’t the first who thought she could win his heart by way of his rod. Some women refused to accept that a happy man was a single man with no ties and who could slide between a glorious pair of legs without any hassles, commitments, or lies of love and affection.
“Love me, Connor.”
He fought to hide his irritation. Damn, he had to hand it to her: she was persistent. “I can’t do it, Debra. The only woman I love is my mama, so get over it and get ready for the best sex of your life.”
He wasn’t being arrogant. What he said was a fact.
He would make her giddy with pleasure, wet with joy, and screaming in ecstasy. He would also make her forget all this foolishness about only sleeping with men who loved her. He pulled her closer to him and began sinking into her wet warmth. When this was all over, she would realize he was a man who thrived on the physical and not the emotional. No linkage, just indulgence. There was nothing like a good hard workout in bed to keep your mind sharp. His sharp mind was what made him one of the best private investigators in the business.
He began pumping into her, lifting her hips to go even deeper, ignoring the pain of her fingernails digging into his back. He gripped her bottom when she began moaning his name, chanting disgracefully for him to do to her what he was doing anyway. And every so often, she would cry out that she wanted it hard.
He had no problem obliging. Hard was his middle name.
He increased the pace and began pumping into her like a madman, just the way she wanted it. She was tossing her head from side to side, delirious in passion, wrapping her legs around him tight, holding him captive ... as if he planned on going somewhere. Their movements became urgent, desperate. He leaned over and nipped at her lower lip, which caused her to scream. She suddenly shattered, convulsing around him, trying to hold him with her inner muscles. The feel of her body gripping him, milking him, made his own pleasure explode. He threw his head back and thrust into her deeper, then held still as sensations took over his body, raced through him, and made him think that inside of her was one place he wanted to visit again.
With panting breaths and drained bodies, they slowly regained control of their senses. He leaned over and kissed her one more time before withdrawing his body from hers. He slumped down beside her, exhausted yet satiated.
A short while later, his fingers began drifting, seeking her out between her legs. Dammit, she was hot, wet, and puffy again. He needed to beat her stuff down some more. Whipping off the used condom and tossing it in a nearby trash can, he quickly grabbed another one to put on. He had no intentions of being anyone’s baby daddy.
Without asking if she was ready for another round, he mounted her again. Not surprisingly, her legs parted for him like the Red Sea.
“Do you ever go down on a woman, Connor?”
He saw the hopeful gleam in her eyes. “No, I don’t go down—just in.”
And to prove his point, he swiftly entered her again, hearing her gasp. What he didn’t say was that he had no problems going down on a woman, but only a special woman. So far no special woman existed for him, and until she did, the only place his tongue was going was in a woman’s mouth.
“I will make you love me one of these days, Connor.”
He smiled as he began pumping, lifting his head just enough to meet her eyes. Evidently he hadn’t made things clear enough. “It won’t happen, Debra.”
He watched as she drew in a shaky, passionate breath. Sensations began overtaking her. “We’ll see,” she whispered.
Connor’s breathing deepened, and so did his thrusts. “We sure will.”
He spread his hand beneath her hips, deciding she talked too damn much. Her stuff was good but not enough to put up with the crap she was spouting. He decided that this would be his last time with her, and he might as well make it worth his while. He bent his head and began feasting on her breasts.
Within seconds, she screamed and creamed all over him as her orgasm hit her from all angles. He gripped her hips tightly as he thrust back and forth inside of her, catching up.
Finally, when he could breathe again, he withdrew and, without saying a word, got out of the bed. He began putting back on his clothes.
“I thought you were staying all night,” she said, glaring at him.
“I thought so, too, but I changed my mind.”
“Just like that?” she snapped.
He glanced up from buckling his belt, his expression serious. “Yeah, just like that. And let me give you some advice, Debra. Never tell a playa that your aim is to make him fall in love with you. Not that I think it’s possible, but I personally didn’t like hearing it. Besides, it makes me think that you could turn into a desperate woman, and desperate women are capable of doing just about anything.”
He grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair as he headed for the door. “I’ll be seeing you.”
“I hate you, Connor.”
He stopped, looked back over his shoulder and smiled. “Now
you get the picture, baby.”
He opened the door and walked out.
“Hey, Connor, we have a potential new client. Do you want to handle her case?” asked Brad Womack.
He, Brad, and another former Gary policeman by the name of Cameron Blue had quit the force to open up an investigative and security company in Portage. So far, business had been good— and he hoped it stayed that way.
“Why not? That last case was a piece of cake. The woman wanted proof that her old man was screwing around on her. The sad part about it was that he was screwing around on her with her brother.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” Connor pushed himself away from the metal file cabinet and walked over to his desk. “What you got?”
“Possible blackmail. She wouldn’t give me any specifics over the phone, just said she resides in Tampa, but wants things handled from here, since she’ll be visiting in the area for about a month.”
“That’s fine,” Connor said. “It’s not like we don’t need the business.” The rent for this building wasn’t cheap, and the cost for the remodeling they had done was still burning their pockets. But the three of them had agreed they wanted a classy place with state-of-the-art equipment. That was the only way they would draw in the type of clientele they wanted. So far, they took whatever they got, but he knew once they established a good reputation, the money for their services would start rolling in.
“So when is her appointment?” he asked, grabbing his Palm off the desk. So far they hadn’t discussed hiring another full-time secretary after Debra had quit two days ago. The guys had joked about it, saying he needed to stop banging the hired help.
“Friday at ten in the morning, and her name is Carrie Montgomery.”
Connor nodded.Geez, blackmail. He couldn’t help but wonder what secrets Ms. Montgomery was harboring that she had to pay someone to keep.
No More Playas Page 5