by Skye Jordan
She was seriously tipsy on both the wine and Ian’s attention. He was surprisingly easy to be with. So much so, he almost made her forget about the dilemma facing her.
“Okay, I give up.” A half hour had passed by the time he pushed the platter of fajitas away, drained the last of his beer, and braced his elbows on the bar. He looked into her eyes with the kind of focus she lavished on a congressional brief. “What do you do for a living?”
Tessa sobered a little and braced for the conversational tone to shift. “I’m, um, an attorney.”
Surprise drifted through his eyes. His mouth flickered between a smile and disbelief. “An attorney?” His gaze drifted over her face, down her neck, and rested on the front of her blouse. Tessa swore her breasts tightened under his gaze. “That’s…fucking impressive.”
“It is?”
“Hell, yeah. Holy shit. That’s why you were pissed about my shark comment.” He thought that was funny. When his laughter faded, he mused again, “Personal business with an attorney? I hope everything’s okay with his family.”
It would be if she could just get his signature on a few pieces of paper. But she wasn’t feeling so upset over the fact that would have to wait. Tessa’s brain was floating in a little halo of happiness, and she didn’t want it to end. At least not until it absolutely had to. “I can’t… I mean, it’s…”
“Personal.”
“Right.”
“I get it. Confidentiality and all that.”
His gaze turned to the bar, where their hands almost touched. He lifted one finger and stroked it across hers. The touch created a sizzle in her gut, and when he looked her in the eye again, she wished she could see the heavy-lidded look he wore now while he had his arms wrapped around her, sweat beading on his face, his hips driving between her thighs. The thought made her sex clench, and she shifted on her stool to relieve the ache.
“Makes sense, I guess,” he said. “That guy probably needs a few attorneys on retainer.”
“Why do you say that?”
Ian shook his head. “I don’t want to cause any problems—”
“I’m not his attorney. I just need to see him on personal business.”
Ian’s gaze sharpened. “Are you two involved? Or were involved?”
“No. I’ve never even met him. And it looks like I’m not going to meet him on this trip either. So go ahead, give me your opinion.”
He dropped his gaze to their hands and curled his fingers around hers. The small show of interest, in this setting, with these people around them, electrified her.
“He’s not the nicest guy,” Ian said. “In fact, he’s an ass who pisses people off everywhere he goes. He’s a condescending, arrogant prick, which I realize is a shitty thing to say about someone, but it’s not exactly a secret.”
Something released in Tessa’s chest. “Yeah?”
“Unfortunately, yeah.”
“That’s the impression I’ve gotten too. And to tell you the truth, I’m glad.”
He lifted a brow, and one side of his mouth quirked in tandem. “Glad?”
“Yeah. That makes what I need to do a little easier.”
“Oooo, that’s cryptic.” He slipped his other hand beneath Tessa’s until hers was sandwiched gently between his. The possibility of something actually happening between them flashed in her head—just a quick, passionate image of naked bodies. God, it had been so long.
“So if he doesn’t come back,” she said, “will you see him again? I mean, will you work with him again?”
“I’m pretty sure he’s not coming back, but no, I have no interest in either seeing him or working with him again.”
That was good news and bad news. If he wasn’t coming back, Tessa would have to hunt him down. But that also meant that one-on-one time with Ian wouldn’t get back to Zach and cause problems down the line.
“Now, tell me about your daughter,” he said. “What’s her name?”
A hot spot burned in her heart. “Sophia…” She glanced at her watch and found it after eleven. “Oh, wow. How did it get so late?”
He squeezed her fingers and stroked the back of her hand. “Time flies…”
When you’re having fun. The rest of the saying hung between them. And oh, how Tessa wanted to say yes to fun with this man.
“I’d better get going.” She said the words but didn’t pull her hand from his. Couldn’t make herself stand and turn away.
“Where are you staying?” Ian asked. “We can catch an Uber or walk if you’re close enough.”
She didn’t know what to think of that offer. He certainly couldn’t come back to the condo with her.
“Hey,” he said, reading her confusion. “I just want to make sure you get back to your daughter safe and sound, okay? I don’t expect you to invite me in.”
She laughed softly, as if he hadn’t nailed her thoughts. “That’s sweet, but you don’t have to.” She stood and glanced around at the still-crowded club and all the women prepared to tackle Ian at their first opportunity. “There are a lot of gorgeous women waiting for your attention.”
“Too bad for them that you’re the only gorgeous woman I want to attend to.”
He stood and swung an arm around her shoulders and turned her toward the door. On their way toward the exit, he paused at the table where he’d been sitting earlier.
“Hey, guys. This is Tessa. Tessa, this is Josh and Grace. This is Tucker.”
Josh and Grace both offered a friendly hello. Tucker gave Tessa a distracted “Hey” but looked at Ian like he’d grown a second head. She knew he was thinking Why her?
“Tessa’s an attorney, not a studio executive,” Ian told them.
“Ah,” Josh and Grace said in unison. Tucker still had that dumbstruck look on his face.
“I’m going to walk her home, then head to the hotel. I’ll catch you all tomorrow.”
“Nice to meet you,” Tessa said before Ian led her toward the door. “Wow,” she murmured on an exhale. “Awkward.”
“Really?” he asked as they stepped out of the restaurant. “Why?”
“Maybe because you were obviously talking about me before you came over.”
“That’s because I was looking at you all night.”
She caught herself before she asked him why again. She’d been a rough pebble in a room full of sparkling diamonds tonight, and she found herself searching for the ulterior motive in his interest. Everyone had an agenda, but Tessa couldn’t fathom one for Ian in this situation. Maybe she’d just been in Washington too long. Maybe she’d just been misled too often.
He pulled her closer to his side, and the move felt oddly comforting considering they were total strangers. He had an ease about him, a low-key, mellow way that calmed her despite just meeting him. Tessa wondered if this was the reason Corinne had so many one-night stands when she was alive. She’d had the same easy-going, fun-loving personality Tessa felt in Ian. A personality she was drawn to but couldn’t quite embody herself. At least not without a little help from those living on the lighter side.
“Somehow it doesn’t feel like I just met you,” Ian said, strolling beside her. “Maybe because you’re so easy to be with.”
She smiled. “I was thinking the same thing about you.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Paradise Palisades. It’s just a few blocks—”
“I know where it is,” he said, grinning. “I’m staying right across the street at the Kapalua.”
“Ooooo,” she laughed with an eye roll. “Aren’t you fancy?”
“The studio takes good care of its employees.”
She liked the way he didn’t call himself a star. Liked how he treated everyone at the restaurant with respect—including the women who were evidently making him crazy. And she had to admit, the man felt damn good beside her. So she let her wine-infused brain rest, let the warm, soft air caress her skin and enjoyed the feel of having a man close as they started up the street.
“Tha
nks for a nice end to a long day,” she said.
“Same here. How old did you say Sophia was?”
The question pricked her momentary fantasy bubble, reminding her she wasn’t free to act like she was a single, grown adult with needs of her own. But whenever she thought of Sophia, Tessa knew she’d make that trade-off every single day of the week. “She’s three.”
“Hmm.” He shook his head. “I can’t even imagine. I know nothing about kids. Like…nothing. Will she be awake when you get back?”
“No. She and Abby probably fell asleep to a Disney movie.”
Ian’s laugh rumbled in his chest, making Tessa smile. “How long will you be in town?”
Yet another reminder. Their time together was going to come to a quick, abrupt end—in about two blocks. There was no point in extending this expensive trip if Zach had returned to LA.
“Well, now that I can’t do what I came to do,” she said, “I’ll probably leave tomorrow.”
“That’s too bad.” They crossed the last street toward her condo. “What kind of law do you practice?”
“Legislative.”
“Sorry, I have no idea what that is. I’m quite the conversationalist tonight. Don’t know anything about kids, don’t know anything about law…”
“That’s okay. I don’t know anything about show business. I write law.”
He frowned down at her. “You mean you practice law?”
“No, I write law. I write the bills that go to Congress and become a law.”
“Damn, politics. I think that’s my third strike.”
“Not at all,” she told him truthfully. “You’re as refreshing in my world as I am in yours.”
“That’s nice to hear. Can’t imagine how someone like me would stack up against all those lawyers and political types.”
Warmed by the glimmer of insecurity, she leaned into him. “Well. Very well.”
“Really? Because all I can remember right now is that cartoon with a bill named Bill, sitting at the bottom of the steps at one of the monuments.”
Tessa pictured the very cartoon he was talking about and started laughing. She laughed so hard, she had to stop walking and curved an arm over her burning gut.
“You know what I’m talking about?” He looked at the sky a second. “What was that called?”
Tessa pressed a hand to her knee to catch her breath. “Conjunction…”
But it struck her as so funny, she couldn’t finish. The wine had kicked in.
“Yes,” Ian said, grinning. “Conjunction Junction.” He pointed at her with a flourish. “Schoolhouse Rock.”
She continued laughing, only able to nod.
Ian laughed too. Then he started singing the Conjunction Junction song, and Tessa laughed so hard, she thought her gut would burst.
“St—stop…” She said, trying to catch her breath. “Oh my God. Stop.”
When she finally straightened, Ian cupped her face in his hands and wiped at her tears with his thumbs. “You’re right,” he said, his voice soft again. “I don’t think it matters how much we have in common, because it’s been a while since a woman made me laugh like this.”
Before she knew how it had happened, his body was right up against hers. His smile faded. His gaze slid to her mouth and his head lowered. Tessa sipped a breath of surprise just before his lips pressed against hers, firm and warm. Shock pulsed through her body, and she froze. He lifted his head, his eyelashes fluttered open for a millisecond before lowering again.
This time, instinct took over. Tessa pushed up on her toes to meet his kiss. A rough hum of approval vibrated in his throat, and the sound shivered through Tessa. Then he broke the kiss, tilted his head, and covered her mouth again, his heavier, more demanding. Edged with the same desperation infusing Tessa.
His desire pumped excitement into her blood. The way he slid one hand into her hair and controlled the strength of the kiss while the other hand remained gentle on her jaw created a crazy contradiction that washed heat through her body. And when his tongue stroked her bottom lip, her mind disintegrated and her body reacted. She opened to him, met his tongue with her own, and melted. He tasted like beer and spices and hungry male heat. The dive and slide of his tongue stoked fire between her thighs. Her hands curled into his shirt while sounds of pleasure and desire hummed between them.
Then she was up against a wall, Ian’s body pressing into hers. She turned her head to catch her breath. His mouth slid over her cheek, to her jaw, then her neck. He had one arm around her waist, his forearm low on her back, pulling her hips against his. The bulky package between his legs rubbed low on her belly, and Tessa released his shirt with one hand to wrap her arm around his neck and draw herself higher.
“Jesus Christ.” He pressed his temple to her shoulder and murmured against her skin. “Come back to my room with me.”
Fear crept in, chilling the heat, but her mind was steeped in lust. “What?”
He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. The hand in her hair massaged her scalp, and it felt so damn good.
“Your daughter’s asleep,” he said. “I’m just across the street. You can leave any time.”
Her mind wouldn’t engage, and her automatic response was to deny, to reject, to return to what she knew. “I…um…”
He kissed her again, stroking his tongue into her mouth and rolling it with hers. His hips pressed and rocked until she whimpered. Then he broke the kiss abruptly. “Come to my room. I’m dying to see everything beneath this suit. Dying to taste you. Touch you. Feel you.”
“Oh my God.” His words created a column of heat straight through the center of her body, all of it pooling between her legs. “I don’t know… I mean, I don’t…” She hadn’t had anyone in her life since she’d discovered she would be responsible for the life, growth, and well-being of a child. And even when she had dated, the men hadn’t been anywhere near as charismatic as this one. In her awkwardness, she stuttered, “W-why?”
He laughed, the sound hot and playful. “You ask that a lot.” He rocked his hips against her again, and fire flared through her body, making her moan. “That’s why.”
She wasn’t built for this whole go-back-to-a-room-to-fuck-and-then-walk-away thing. “I, um…” She swallowed and winced a little. “I don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what? One night?”
“One night, or with a virtual stranger.”
“There’s always a first time.” His lids drooped a little lower, and his gaze rested on her mouth. “Don’t you want to let go of all the control you have to manage every day? Just for a little while? ’Cause I’m dying to watch you come apart at the seams. I promise you won’t walk away wanting for anything.”
And he lowered his head to assure her of that with his next kiss.
4
Tessa’s Mensa-qualifying IQ vanished into thin air. She got lost in the heat of his mouth, in the thrilling male taste of him. And as he turned her in a circle and stepped her toward his hotel, Tessa couldn’t come up with one decent reason not to sleep with him. In fact, she wanted to do exactly what he’d suggested—let go of control. Maintaining everyone else’s life while holding her own together was exhausting. For once, just for a little while, she wanted someone else to take the reins.
She pulled out of the kiss and reached into her pocket for her phone. “I should check in with my nanny.”
A grin exploded across his handsome face. “Do it.”
Then he stepped back, grabbed her hand, and set a deliberate pace across the street toward his hotel.
Tessa wanted to call Abby, but she didn’t want to wake Sophia, so she tapped out a quick text as they walked. How is everything? I may be later than I thought.
Then her brain chimed in. Oh my God. What am I doing?
They reached the front doors of the ritzy hotel just as her phone buzzed again, but there wasn’t a hiccup of doubt in Ian’s stride.
Abby’s message read, Everything’s fine. Sophia’s out cold in my bed
. Did you talk to him?
No. Long story.
Then why will you be late?
Tessa’s fingers froze. How did one phrase “Because I’m getting lucky with the hottest guy I’ve ever met” in a politically correct way?
Good for you, girl. Abby texted before Tessa could respond. Obviously, the twenty-one-year-old’s brain worked far faster in these situations than Tessa’s did. Enjoy yourself for a change. No worries, we’re fine here.
“Everything okay?” Ian asked, leading her into the grand lobby.
She closed the message screen. “Yes. She’s asleep. Abby took her to the museum this afternoon, and I spent the morning with her at the beach. She’s wiped out.”
Ian pressed the Up arrow at the elevators, then stepped behind her, circling his arms at her waist and pressing his lips to her neck. With her head light from the wine, Tessa closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder, absorbing the delicious sensations. Enjoying the moment of escape. And thinking maybe she should drink more often.
His big, warm hands stroked up her arms, over her shoulders. He lifted his head and murmured, “Do you have a picture of her?”
She turned her head and looked up at him. “What?”
Ian’s grin sparkled in his blue eyes. “Does she look like you?”
She smiled, but her heart tugged a little. “No, she doesn’t.”
“Let me see.”
That one little request turned her stomach into Fourth of July sparklers. The only man who ever wanted to see pictures of Sophia was Gordon. The elevator doors opened. Ian guided her inside, tapped the number 10, then leaned against the elevator wall and drew her between his legs. With his arms locked low on her waist, she was pressed intimately against him. And every time she felt him, she grew hungrier.