by Tessa Bailey
Julie Piper. A hellcat disguised as Tinker Bell.
After the condition she’d left him in last night, he’d woken from his shitty attempt at sleep with the intention of finding her and laying more groundwork. Whatever the reason, he wanted the stuck-up rich girl in his bed. Like hell. And when something pulled him from his casual indifference long enough to make him want it, he went after the damn thing with single-minded determination.
It was this driven intensity that had pulled him out of the backwoods slums of rural Tennessee and made him a SWAT team leader in bustling Atlanta. A position he didn’t take lightly or for granted. He knew how easily his life could have gone the other way. If he’d let it.
Yes, Reed didn’t make a habit of allowing obstacles to come between him and the thing he wanted. However, this appeared to the first time that specific something was a someone. He didn’t have time to question the anomaly, though. Not if he wanted enough time to work the blonde out of his system. He had a feeling it would take longer than a week to rid himself of the clawing lust she’d cursed him with, but a week was all he had. Time was of the essence. If avoiding him was her plan, he would simply have to make it difficult for her.
After breakfast, he’d gone for a three-mile run outside on the resort grounds in an attempt to dull the sexual frustration. It hadn’t worked. Not at all. He figured unless he could get Julie to give in to their mutual need, he’d wear out the soles in his sneakers before the week ended.
Jesus, the way she’d pumped those hips as she came… Reed gritted his teeth at the memory. He’d wanted to push those panties to the side and give her a good, hard fuck against the door. The first in a series of many good, hard fucks he planned on giving her. The only thing that held him back was the chance that she actually thought he was Logan. Oh, he knew she’d convinced herself of it, at least partly. Call him arrogant, but he knew when a woman was interested in what he had to offer. Julie was interested. Now he had to convince her of that.
The alternative would be to abandon the chase. Let her and Golden Boy hook up, like everyone probably assumed they would. Hell, they looked like a goddamn Banana Republic advertisement standing next to each other. Reed paused in the center of the lobby, deciding which direction he would take to find Julie. He also took that moment to erase the image of Julie and Logan together. He’d never been jealous a day in his life, not over a woman. The feeling had to go and there was only one way to get rid of it.
Realizing he had no clue where Julie would be in the middle of the day, he drew his wedding itinerary out of his jeans pocket with a heavy sigh. He was carrying around a damn wedding itinerary. On pink and gold stationery with the words “True love doesn’t have a happy ending because it never ends” in raised script along the top. God help him if his team ever saw it. The very idea made him feel ill.
His gaze narrowed on the list. The next planned meeting wasn’t until six o’clock. Wine and Dine Welcome at Spago. Reed groaned inwardly. He’d rather chug nails. Would it be so much to ask for a Beers and Wings night? Or an Everyone Plan Your Own Shit Because We’re All Adults and Don’t Require a Glittery Schedule night?
He considered his options. He could go check her room, although he wasn’t likely to find her there in the middle of the afternoon. Turning on his heel, he headed in the direction of Spago. Julie didn’t seem the type to sit still for five minutes. Her being the maid of honor and all, he had a feeling he would find her already decorating for tonight’s event, unable to stop herself from being a way hotter version of Martha Stewart. A walk to the other side of the hotel proved his theory correct. When he ducked under the doorjamb into the lounge, he found her halfway up a ladder hanging a string of garden lights. Her calf muscles flexed as she pushed higher to reach the ceiling, her dress billowing mid-thigh.
His pulse kicked up at the thought of surprising her with his tongue trailing up her thigh. He could love her with his mouth right where she stood. Reluctantly, he decided against it. If he startled her and she fell off the ladder, it wouldn’t exactly help his cause. Having made the decision to wait until she descended, Reed leaned against the doorjamb and watched her impatiently as she changed the placement of the lights six different times. Then her cell phone rang, making her jump and wobble on the ladder. Reed sprang forward, but she caught herself in time and answered on the third ring. He slumped back against the door with a slowly released breath.
“Yes, Mother. Still in Colorado. I’ll be here for the week, remember? Kady is getting m—” She paused and he watched her shoulders slump a little. “No, I…I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were counting on me to drive you to the church tonight… Yes, I’m aware Serena always made time to take you.” The lights fell to the ground from Julie’s suddenly lifeless fingers and Reed frowned. He didn’t like the tone her voice had taken on. It bothered him much more than it should. He resisted the urge to pull her down off the ladder and shake her until she smiled. A thought unlike him in every way. He wanted only one thing from her mouth, and it definitely wasn’t a smile.
Head tipping back, Julie sighed. “You’re right, Mother. Serena was one of a kind. Not everyone can be that perfect. Myself included.”
When Julie hung up, she stood stock-still on the ladder for several long moments. Reed couldn’t take her deflated posture anymore and cleared his throat into the silence, moving toward her in case she startled. She turned abruptly, blue eyes wide and damp, but didn’t fall. All at once, her chin went up and her mouth flattened in warning. He watched her process the fact that he’d overheard the call, not allowing himself to feel the creeping regret when her cheeks flamed and she averted her eyes, looking embarrassed.
Once again, the pit in his stomach widened. He wanted the girl from last night back. The one who’d threatened to cut off his balls. The one who’d kissed him with unleashed enthusiasm, legs wrapped around his hips like a steel vise. And damn it, for some unnamed reason he wanted to help her save face. If anyone knew about parents piling shit on the heads of their children, it was him. There was only one way to take away the hurt: replace it with something else. A hot Southern temper would do nicely.
“I can see your light-pink panties from down here, pixie girl. You waiting for me to reach up and sneak them off?” He made a hungry sound in his throat, circling the ladder without removing his gaze from between her legs. “From this angle, I could learn all your secrets. Come on, let’s see that sweet spot you’re hiding. Show me where my mouth will go to drive you fucking crazy.”
…
Julie’s breath felt trapped in her lungs. Every inch of her skin flamed hot, like it had been licked with fire. All remnants of frustration from her mother’s phone call seeped from her body as Reed launched his verbal attack from below. His gaze felt like a tangible thing. She felt it brush between her thighs as though he’d used his hand instead of hooded hazel eyes. When she recognized her desire to part her thighs even farther so he could look his fill, she sucked in a breath and descended from the ladder angrily. How dare he listen in on her phone call, then address her as though she hadn’t already turned down his advances once and for all? Regardless of the fact that she’d spent a restless night in her massive hotel bed, imagining what would have happened if she’d actually stayed in Reed’s room, he had no right being here now, discussing her lady parts like they were the soup of the day.
“Now you listen to me and you listen well, Mister Lawson.” She got right up in his face and pushed a finger into the center of his chest. When his mouth twitched at one end it only made her angrier. “If your mama didn’t see fit to teach you basic manners, that’s none of my concern, but that racket isn’t welcome around here.” She took back her finger and smoothed a hand down her skirt. “I assure you, my sweet spot will remain a secret to you, no matter what rolls off your tongue.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Set in stone.”
“Come closer, then.” He crooked his finger at her. “Let me talk in your ear for a while and we�
�ll see if you can keep your secrets, pixie.”
“Stop calling me that. It’s ridiculous and unfitting,” she huffed, amazed at how much she wanted to take him up on his offer. Oh, God, she wanted to feel the way she had last night. So bad. But it would be a cold day in hell before she gave in to his arrogant demands. Honestly, he acted as if her acquiescence was a foregone conclusion. Women must not turn him down very often. Why the thought only served to rile her temper, Julie didn’t care to explore. “I’m not interested. Keep your hands and thoughts to yourself.”
She could practically hear his jaw grinding. “How can I help you hang those lights if I keep my hands to myself?”
“I don’t recall asking for your help.”
“You’re getting it anyway.”
“When was the last time someone told you no, Mr. Lawson?”
“Reed.” He scooped the lights off the floor and handed her one end. “And I don’t recall.”
Julie took the end he offered and climbed the ladder once more. When his attention dropped to her legs, she arched her eyebrow and indicated the opposite end of the room where more lights waited to be hung. After a moment when he looked to be debating whether or not to follow her instructions, he went with a sigh.
“How did you get stuck doing this?” he muttered, fishing through a wooden crate.
“Stuck?” She frowned. “I love doing this.”
“Jesus. What the hell for?”
Julie opened her mouth to reply, then realized no one had ever asked her that question. She’d always been a planner, an idea girl. But until her sister’s death four years ago, the planning had only been for fun events. Now, it applied to everything. Her parents, especially her mother, had taken Serena’s death hard and she’d been required to step up. Not only event planning for her father’s company, but helping her parents run their estate. Everything Serena had done so well. This kind of planning? This was pure pleasure, even if the strain of making everything perfect got to her from time to time.
After giving it careful thought, she answered slowly. “I suppose I like seeing people enjoy themselves, knowing I had a little something to do with it. Mood, lighting, and ambiance can make or break a party. Kady is a good friend and she deserves the best. That’s why.”
Reed made a noise in his throat.
“I don’t expect you to understand.”
“I understand the last part. Maybe.” He scowled at a curly pink ribbon that had attached itself to the end of his hammer. “But don’t you think we’d have an equally good time tipping back a few cold ones? Throwing a few hot dogs on the grill?”
“Maybe you haven’t had a chance to read your wedding itinerary thoroughly yet, but we do, in fact, have an outdoor soiree planned—”
“The word ‘soiree’ has no place near a grill.”
Julie pushed a tack into the wall using a little too much force and bent it. “No one is forcing you to go. I’m certainly not going to take attendance.” She turned with a hand perched on her hip. “If you hate this wedding business so much, why did you show up? I’m sure you could have made some excuse to blow it off.”
Reed’s expression remained impassive. “I might not decorate or plan sunset cocktail parties, but I show up for my friends and lend my support.” Julie felt herself soften toward him. Just a little. Then he went and mucked it right up. “I figure when a man is willing to pledge himself to a woman for all eternity, he needs as much support as he can damn well get.”
“It’s a good thing you’re not the best man.” She leaned back to study the placement of the lights. “You’d be about as useless as an ashtray on a motorbike.”
She thought she heard him chuckle behind her, then decided it was her imagination. “Sorority girls, huh? Let me guess. You were the relentlessly cheerful one in the group. The do-gooder who forced everyone out of bed, hungover on a Sunday morning, to go perform charity work.”
Julie refused to face him when she answered, certain the fact that he’d come uncomfortably close to the truth would show. “Which place of honor did you hold among your friends? Were you the one who pilfered the Hustler magazine for all the boys to ogle?”
“Who told you about that?”
“Lucky guess.”
Reed made a sound that suggested he didn’t believe her. “Anyway, it was a Penthouse. July issue.”
Julie laughed in surprise, then cut herself off. Her animated laugh had always caused people to look at her strangely. She’d once been told by her Sunday school teacher that she laughed loudly enough to distract Jesus from performing miracles. The gravest of sins, according to the older woman. As a child, she’d taken it to heart and tried to tone down her enthusiastic bursts of amusement, but they often caught her off guard. She cast a look over her shoulder and found Reed watching her with an odd expression on his face. Great. Something else for him to hold over my head.
She pinned an arrangement of flowers over where she’d placed the tack and searched for something to fill the sudden silence. “Penthouse, huh? Didn’t they sell good old-fashioned Playboy in Manchester?”
“Sure they did. But a man has to decide what he likes and stick with it.”
“And you’re one of those men?”
“You already know the answer to that.”
Not having heard him move across the room, she felt a jolt of shock when his big hands gripped the backs of her knees. Without warning, heat speared through her and pooled in her belly, tightening every muscle below her waist. Involuntarily, her eyelids fluttered closed and her breathing accelerated. No sound could be heard in the room beyond her pounding heart. It all happened in under five seconds. Rapid, coursing need. How did this man accomplish what no one else ever had?
“W-what are you doing?”
“I need to get to the bottom of something.” His thumbs began to massage small circles against her skin and she felt an answering tug in her nipples. “You knew it was me in the dark last night. I need you to admit it, pixie. For my sanity.”
Julie said nothing. Tossing and turning in her empty bed last night, she’d admitted as much to herself, but she loathed telling him the truth. Giving him the satisfaction of knowing how easily he could manipulate her body. His ego was big enough. “You’re wrong.”
He growled. “I’m right.”
“We’ve got ourselves a stalemate.” How she managed words was beyond her. Knowing Reed stood behind her, eye level with her bottom, hands wrapped around her legs, did funny things to her brain. “What do we do now?”
“I guess we find out how much higher you want my hands.”
Breath escaped her in a rush. “How do we find that out?”
“By being honest.”
She started to respond when one hand slipped higher and began kneading the inside of her thigh, just inches from her center, where she’d started to throb painfully in time with his hands. He kept it up for long moments, his big hand working her fevered flesh until she’d started to pant, chest shuddering with each breath. “I have been honest.”
His hand stopped moving and she just barely swallowed a whimper of protest. “You see how this is going to work? When you lie, I stop making you feel good.” He kneaded her once. “I know you like that. You’re giving off so much heat, you’re going to burn my hand.” She felt his lips at the back of her knee, planting a kiss. “Let’s start simple. Do you like what I’m doing right now?”
Julie recognized the moment of truth presenting itself. Did she like it? To say so would be an understatement. She felt like she might burst into flames. His hand, so skilled and capable, sat on her leg unmoving and she wanted to scream at him to keep going. He wanted her to admit she liked it first. Wanted her to admit she’d shamelessly begged him for more of his rough treatment last night in the darkness. Something she’d never done in her life. Especially with a man like Reed. Dark, dangerous…interested in only one thing. Never had a man treated her with anything less than respect. Reed, on the other hand, didn’t give a damn about her r
ecognizable last name. Where she came from. Whose names sat on the branches of her family tree.
He wanted to take her to bed. Plain and simple. She had no experience with men like him. Men who took what they wanted and damn the consequences. He represented the unknown, something terrifying for a routine-oriented girl like her. Until now, all her partners had been met through acquaintances after being thoroughly vetted. Or she met them at church on Sunday like most God-fearing Southern girls. She was on her own here. No one to guide her or warn her about the dangers of getting involved with a bad boy. If she wanted this, she could take it. It could be the adventure she’d been secretly wanting for so long. Her chance to cut loose.
But what came after?
“I asked you a question. Do you like the way I’m touching you?”
Don’t think about it, Julie. Live in the moment for once. “Yes, I-I like it.”
At once, his hand tightened on her thigh almost painfully, then slid a little higher. When the massage started again, he was so close to the barrier of her underwear, she had to bite her lip to keep from moaning. God, the thought of his hand touching her there…she suddenly needed it more than her next breath. Somehow she held her tongue and waited.
“Good. I like it, too. Too damn much.” He made a hungry sound. “The second you walked outside last night and let down all that hair, I wanted to fuck you. If you’d stayed any longer, you’d have been gripping the railing, screaming for God. You knew it, too, didn’t you?”
Julie gasped as his knuckles brushed over her aching core. “Yes. I knew.”
Through her damp panties, he sank a thick knuckle into her opening and twisted. Julie cried out, her hands flying to the rafter in front of her, seeking purchase when her knees threatened to buckle. “When you look at me, baby, do I strike you as the type of man who lets the woman he intends to fuck walk into another man’s hotel room?”