“Would it?” he asked quietly. “Even if we weren’t acquaintances before, we certainly are now. I have no family in the area. I have no close friends that are easily accessible, and I don’t date. If they decided to try again, targeting you is the only real choice. They’ve pushed you into my life, and I can no longer call you a stranger. It would be no small thing for them to request a million dollars for you. That’s pocket change to me. I’d shell it out without a second thought.”
A million dollars was pocket change to him? I almost asked how much he was worth and decided that I really didn’t want to know the answer. “All of that assumes that they’ll even try again. They’ve already failed, and they know that the police are investigating and that I’m being watched.”
“But if you decide that you don’t want my protection, you won’t be watched anymore. My head of security did his research. They weren’t there by chance. That same van has been tailing me for days. It’s quite possible that they were going to try and take me hostage and demand that my company pay for my return, but you became a much easier target. You still are an easier target. They’ve put in an awful lot of effort to give up after one failed attempt. The police don’t have their names or identities. They choose another vehicle, and they´ll try again.”
Shuddering, I pushed my plate away. I had suddenly lost my appetite. As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. It didn’t make sense that they saw me and hatched a kidnapping scheme. Of course they’d planned something. It was too much to be a coincidence.
Sandra came in and cleared our plates. “Will there be anything else that you’d like to enjoy?’ she asked seductively. I couldn’t help but glare at her. I know I wasn’t gorgeous, but I wasn’t invisible.
“Sloan?” he asked in a low voice. “Would you care for dessert?”
He probably didn’t mean a piece of chocolate cake. Reddening, I shook my head, and he smiled at Sandra. “Some privacy then. Thank you for your services.”
Was it my imagination or was she snarling at me with her eyes? I tried to return the look, but she only rolled her eyes and stalked out of the room. “I think she was disappointed,” I said dryly. Pushing my chair back, I folded the napkin and placed it on the table.
Lucas stood as well. “Going somewhere?”
“The meal is over,” I said, confused. “I figured we were done.”
“We’re not. I think that the only reason I am where I am now is because I’m a careful man. I’m not willing to take any chances.” He moved slowly around the table, and I was torn between the urge to flee and stand my ground. “I have the means to protect you. You should take advantage.”
He closed the distance between us. As I leaned against the table, his hands settled on my hips, and I couldn’t help but place my hands on his chest. I couldn’t explain the pull I felt towards him, but it seemed that I was powerless to stop it. “Is that the only thing I should be taking advantage of?” I asked breathlessly.
Chuckling, he slipped his hands under my top and skimmed the pads of fingers across my skin. His hands were strangely rough, and they awoke every nerve in my body. Desire coiled low in my belly, and I arched my back.
“Do you know what I was thinking when I saw you for the first time at Club 9?” he whispered in my ear. My head rolled to the side, as his fingers caressed my belly. A single finger skimmed under the waistband of my jeans, and I moaned.
Fuck. Anyone who looked up right now would think that I was ready to take him right on the table. Maybe I was.
“I wanted to know what you would sound like when I touched you. I wanted to know where all your sensitive spots were. I wanted to know how you would react to my touch. I wanted to slide my hand under that dress and see just how wet you were.”
I tried desperately to find my grip on reality. “You didn’t even know who I was.” His body was warm and hard beneath my touch. I wanted to be as brave as he was. I wanted to lift his shirt and press my lips to his chest.
“Knowing who you are doesn’t change the way my cock reacts to you,” he said harshly as he pulled me from the table. I’d barely had time to react before he sat in a chair and pulled me across his lap. As I straddled him, I couldn’t help but buck my pussy against him. We were both fully clothed, but I was desperate for any kind of relief.
“Tell me what you like, Sloan. I’ll take you anyway you want tonight. I’ll fuck you senseless right across this table. No one will bother us.” He fisted my hair and yanked my head back so he could graze teeth down my neck.
He hadn’t even kissed me, but I already belonged to him. Every bone in my body screamed for his touch, but in the middle of the sexual haze that surrounded us, a single moment of clarity had me arching away from his body. I wasn’t some toy for him to amuse himself with.
“And when I no longer need your protection? What happens to me then?”
He frowned, but he didn’t stop touching me. Sliding the hem of my shirt up even higher, he grazed his thumb over my bra. My nipples immediately puckered. “What do you mean?” he asked quietly.
“You know damn well what I’m asking. You use your money and charm to seduce women, but how long does it last? One night. One week? Maybe a month if they’re lucky?”
“Tell me that you don’t want me,” he commanded as he dug his fingers into my sides. “Tell me that you’re not curious about us?”
“I want you. More than I’ve ever wanted anyone. So much so that it doesn’t even make sense to me, but I’m not going to be just a tally for you.” I yanked his hands away and slid off his lap. The more space I put between us, the more I could think clearly.
“I see,” he said quietly. “You want romantic dinners and expensive gifts. You want to show me off to your friends and hold hands in public.”
“I want to be treated with respect,” I said as I closed my fingers into a fist. “I’m not a whore. I’m not going to fuck you because I’m grateful that you want to protect me. I’m not a goddamn damsel in distress!”
He didn’t say anything, but his eyes hardened as they swept over me. “I’ll get my security to assign you two men to keep an eye on you. I promise more discretion than the last men showed,” he finally said.
I guess I had my answer. I was good for quick ride but nothing more. “Thank you. I appreciate that. If you don’t mind, I’m ready to go home now.”
He nodded and stood, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Had he pushed, even a little, I knew that I would have melted in his arms.
And I wouldn’t have even cared if I regretted in later.
Chapter 8
Lucas
By the time Monday morning rolled around, I was feeling rough. Sloan stayed in my head all weekend. I wasn’t even mildly interested in inviting another woman to warm my bed. At least she’d agreed to the protection detail.
Gripping my coffee like a lifeline, I exited the elevator and walked in on Torrence staring at an unsuspecting Cecilia. She was bent over the desk, fumbling through her papers, and he had a clear view of her cleavage. “Is this really how my week is going to start?” I grumbled as I pushed past him.
“You’re late,” he snapped in return as he followed me to the office. Startled, Cecilia looked up sharply and immediately blushed. “Good morning Mr. Montgomery. Good morning Mr. Torrence.”
“I thought I told you to call me Drew,” he said with an easy smile.
“Torrence,” I said in a warning voice. He gave her one last smile before following me into my office. “You should really just ask her out and put me out of my misery,” I grumbled as I dropped my briefcase to the floor.
“Who pissed in your cheerios this morning?” he asked with narrow eyes. “I emailed you a detailed background check on Sloan Whitlow. Nothing raised any red flags. I hired two men outside the agency to follow her. They’re ex-military, so they should stay out of sight. I also swept all the conference rooms.”
I froze and stared at him. I’d only asked him to check one room. If he checked them al
l, then he found something. “I want signal jammers installed everywhere on this floor. Hell, maybe even the whole damn building. This week.”
Torrence shrugged and tossed the little gadget on my desk. “The bug itself is pretty cheap, and it doesn’t have much range. I’d say someone would have had to be within two floors of the room to hear anything.”
It relieved me to know that it may not have been the board members, but it opened up the pool of suspects to anyone in my building. Only the top floor was restricted. I tipped my coffee mug back and wished desperately it was something stronger.
“Hire whoever you need to help you find the mole. I want it kept quiet, but I want them found immediately.”
“Whoever put it there will already know that you found it. We won’t exactly be taking them by surprise,” Torrence noted. “But it’ll be easier to find them if they’re nervous. I know of a few guys who could help.”
“Someone who will blend in, please. Your poker buddies look like ex-cons.” In fact, many of Torrence’s contacts were ex-cons, but some were military and a little rough around the edges.
He nodded his head and stared at me for a moment. “Do you really think I should ask her out?”
“Torrence, you’re a grown man. Please don’t ask me these questions.”
“But—“
“Leave,” I growled. I sure as hell didn’t want to deal with anyone’s love life right now. Catching sight of the clock on the wall, I hissed. I had a meeting starting in five minutes.
So much for enjoying my coffee and trying to get my thoughts together. Grabbing my notebook and pen, I tried to clear my mind and pull myself together.
The marketing department had pulled together some new ideas of Montgomery’s new line of camping equipment. I’d acquired Galavant Supplies two years ago, but I was just now trying to give it my full attention. Most of the marketing ideas were polished and approved by Steinburg before they crossed my desk, but I liked to make the rounds to all the departments and judge how they were progressing and working with each other.
Walsh met me in the elevator. “Good morning, Mr. Montgomery,” he said eagerly. “I’ve picked up your suits from the dry cleaning and sent flowers to Mrs. Addison for her birthday.”
Helen Addison was the only female member of the board, but she was also the most terrifying. Normally I’d made it a point to never forget her birthday in order to stay on her good side, but this year it had completely slipped my mind.
“Thank you,” I said gruffly to Walsh. He was irritating, but he was on top of his game.
“There’s one last thing,” he said nervously. Cecilia has an engagement lined up for you this weekend, and I’ve been looking at the recent blog posts about you.”
I put my hand out to stop the elevator doors from closing. “People blog about me?”
“Oh yes. The average person gets their news from social media. Anyway, you haven’t brought a date with you anywhere in public for the last couple of months. Some are saying that you’re hiding a real relationship. Some are speculating that your gay, and a few are wondering if your annual membership to an escort service ran out.”
Narrowing my eyes, I glared at him. “Excuse me? All of these rumors are popping up just because I’ve showed up to one or two events alone?”
“Seven,” Walsh said quietly. “You’ve showed up to seven events alone. I know it’s not my place, but you should really have a date this weekend.”
I didn’t cater my personal life around the whims of the media, but an idea was forming in my head. The more I thought about it, the more wicked it became. “Write this down.”
He quickly pulled out his phone and waited expectedly.
“A green dress. Sexy but still appropriate for the function. Have the saleswoman call me when you get there so I can give her the measurements. I’m also going to need a dozen red roses.”
“You’re going to buy a dress for your date?”
“I’m going to make it impossible for her to turn it down,” I said with a sly smile. “I’ve got a meeting. This is your priority. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” he said with a small salute. I snorted as the doors started to close. Just before they shut completely, I thrust my briefcase out.
“Walsh!” I called out.
“Yes, sir?”
“For the love of God, please take Cecilia.” He didn’t respond, and I couldn’t help but smile. Neither one could stand the other, but I didn’t trust Walsh to pick out something that wouldn’t be completely slutty.
The marketing staff was already assembled on the fourth floor meeting room by the time I got there. The department was so big that they spanned ten floors and were headed by eight different people. I had everything from ship building to baby supplies under my umbrella, and while each company retained their own marketing team, I liked to know that my own teams were supervising them.
“Good morning. Sorry I’m late,” I said as I slipped into the room. The chair at the head of the table was open, and I sat down heavily. “I’m just here to observe, so please continue as though I’m not present.”
I said that every time, but I doubted that it had any affect. I’m sure the meeting ran quite differently when I wasn’t around.
Someone slid a box of doughnuts my way, and I hesitated before grabbing one. It wasn’t often that I indulged, but the sugar rush wouldn’t hurt. I snagged a glazed one and settled back. The meeting started, and I aimlessly ran my pen over the paper.
Of course my little wallflower was looking for romance. Most women that I saw wanted more, but none of them dared ever say anything to me about it. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time a woman had turned me down.
“Most of the Galavant products are geared towards men. In fact, in their ten-year history, they’ve never had a single female in their advertising. I think it’s important to portray that the products are tough enough for men and women,” the girl said nervously up front. She pointed the remote to the screen at the front and an image appeared.
It was a beautiful woman, clearly a model, hiking up a mountain with a large bag strapped to her back. There wasn’t a single strand of blonde hair out of place, and her face was heavily made up. I immediately frowned. I could see where she was going with the idea, but it was all wrong.
“She’s too pretty,” I said out loud. “The average woman who goes camping will turn their noses up at that image. You want someone who isn’t as put together. Someone who doesn’t care if her hair isn’t perfect. Someone who isn’t going to worry about make-up. She’s not there to impress other people. She’s there to enjoy nature. She’s searching for solace and not approval from society.”
It was the first time I’d ever made a suggestion at one of the meetings, and a hush fell over the room. I pitied the poor young girl in the front. “It’s a good concept. I absolutely want to market equally to both sexes, but we’re not selling glamour. We’re selling equipment. The idea is excellent. You just need a new model. Someone with long and unruly curls. Someone with soft skin but tough eyes. A genuine smile. No skinny frames or large fake tits. A real woman.”
“That’s very specific,” she said nervously. “I’ll start a search immediately.”
It was specific. Too specific. Pissed that I’d let Sloan distract me from work, I nodded my head to encourage her to continue. If there was one thing that I prided myself in, it was my focus on the job.
Today I was thinking about her silky skin. The way she’d arched into my touch. The look in her eyes when she’d rubbed herself on my hard cock.
While the meeting droned on, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the email Torrence had sent me on Sloan.
Both her parents were still alive and living in Washington. Her mother was a school teacher and her father was an engineer. She had no siblings. Graduating at the top of her class, her undergrad professors had given her glowing recommendations to the graduate program. Torrence wasn’t wrong. Not only were there no red flags, bu
t there wasn’t even a traffic ticket to her name.
She’d lived with Randi Jones for the past two years. There was only one noted relationship. Victor Willis.
I made a note to check out this Victor Willis. I didn’t even bother trying to convince myself that it was for the case. I just wanted to know what he was like.
I wanted to see who Sloan Whitlow had said yes to.
Chapter 9
Sloan
My eyes slid over the paper as I mentally tried to rehearse what I was going to say to Dr. Elliot. I had a meeting in an hour, and if I couldn’t get him to approve of my paper thesis, I’d be even more behind. As it was, I was already having a hard enough time catching up.
I reached for the cereal, but the box slid across the counter. Frowning, I looked up to see Randi holding it up. “No breakfast until you tell me what happened with your date Friday night. You’ve spent all weekend avoiding me.”
“I’ve spent all weekend at the library. And it wasn’t a date.”
“When Lucas Montgomery takes you out on a Friday night, it’s a date. I can’t believe you’re not making a big deal about this. He is the number one hottest bachelor in the city, and he doesn’t take women out. Please tell me you climbed on top of him for a nice, long, hard ride. And then give me the details.”
“Randi!” I exclaimed as I snatched the cereal box. “Of course not!” Although I still wasn’t sure how I’d walked away from him. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt his hands on me. “He just took me out to dinner to convince me that I needed his protection until this whole thing blew over.”
“You’re not looking at me. When you don’t look at me, it’s because you’re lying. What are you not telling me?” She narrowed her eyes and stared at me. I felt a flush creep up my cheeks, and she gasped. “You dirty, dirty minx. You did do something scandalous with him! Details.”
I poured the cereal and shook my head. “There’s not a lot to tell. He made it clear that he wanted me, but you said it yourself. He doesn’t date. He fucks a woman for a short time and then moves on. I don’t do casual relationships.”
No Promises: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 68