Or to be more precise, he’d know just how little she had on under it. Had he picked out the underwear?
“Don’t be stupid,” she muttered. The man was rich. He could have some personal shopper take care of details like that. Picking out lingerie was something a man did for a lover, not a one-night date.
Or whatever the hell this was. Was it really a date? Technically, it seemed that way but dates usually involved one party asking the other out, not one party blackmailing the other.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
Turning on her heel, she left the bathroom. The cool air caressed her bare arms and chilled, she rubbed her hands up and down them. Goose bumps broke out over her flesh and under the silk of her bra and dress, her nipples went stiff.
That was how Ethan walked in and found her, pacing the floor of her office, nibbling on her lower lip and walking around with a wide-eyed, worried look on her pretty face.
“You look beautiful.”
Startled, she spun around to face him. He stood in the open doorway, his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out to touch her. The green silk looked even better on her ripe curves than he’d imagined. Now he wanted to peel the dress away and see how she looked under it, to see if she was wearing the lingerie he’d picked out and then he wanted to peel her out of that and…
Getting ahead of yourself, Parker, he thought, frustrated.
He wasn’t sure exactly what Shawn had told his fiancée and he wasn’t about to ask. However, he had told Shawn that he wasn’t going to make Pam sleep with him. He had no intention of forcing anything from her beyond this date. If he was able to seduce her into sleeping with him, Ethan knew he wasn’t altruistic enough to pass up the opportunity but it would happen only if Pam wanted it to.
And shit, he seriously hoped she wanted it.
Under the fine wool pants of his suit, he could feel his body reacting and he almost shifted away. He’d been hiding his physical reaction to her for damn near four years now and it was second habit.
But even if she hadn’t figured it out, by the end of the night, she was going to know how much he wanted her. Hiding from her now seemed pointless. So instead of shifting away, he closed the distance between them and caught one long curl in his hand. She’d scooped up most of her hair and twisted it on top of her head but a few wispy curls had escaped to frame her face and cascade in soft spirals down her neck. She tensed but didn’t pull away.
Ethan watched her eyes widen and then she slid her tongue out, licking her lips. At some point, she’d put lipstick on. He could still see the faint rose color on her lips but it was fading fast. If he thought he could get by with it without scaring her off completely, Ethan would have kissed the rest of her lipstick away.
But she watched him with wide, worried eyes and Ethan felt his heart twist in his chest. “Don’t look so worried,” he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
At that, a ghost of a smile appeared on her lips but it wasn’t a happy one. “I’m basically being blackmailed into spending a night with you and I’m not supposed to look worried? Sorry but they didn’t teach the etiquette of whoring at UMass.”
Ethan curved a hand over her neck and used his thumb to force her gaze up to his. His voice was a little harder than he intended when he said, “Don’t. You’re not a whore.” He couldn’t help it though—the fury that flooded him was so strong, he wanted to tear something apart with his bare hands.
No, he really hadn’t wanted to discuss this and he really didn’t feel like getting into this conversation. But it looked like he didn’t have a choice. “Exactly what did Shawn tell you?”
She grimaced. “He owes you a hell of a lot of money and you want it. Either I sleep with you or you call in the loan.” She sighed and glanced around the office, her gaze lingering on the one-way glass window that looked out over the club. It was early yet but it was already hopping. The music was vibrating through her office. She could hear and feel the deep, throbbing rhythm.
“Is that what he told you? Exactly?”
Her green eyes met his and then danced away. “Not word for word.” Blowing out a breath, she admitted, “Okay, he said that you didn’t plan on making me sleep with you but he seemed to think you were going to ask. And the feeling I got from him was that I need to do whatever will make you happy so you won’t call in that loan.”
“I told him I wasn’t going to make you sleep with me,” Ethan said softly. “I was pretty damn clear on that.”
Pam was so damn nervous, she thought she might get sick. It took a minute before his words actually made sense in her head and then she blinked, staring at his face. “So you’re going to forget about that kind of money just because you want the pleasure of my company for a few hours?” she said, her voice dry. Yeah, so Shawn hadn’t exactly said she had to sleep with him but the implication had been there.
He slid a hand around her shoulder, down her back and pulled her up close to him. Under that sexy suit of his, his body was hard and Pam gasped as he aligned their bodies. “I’ve wanted the pleasure of your company for the past four years,” he murmured, dipping his head to press a kiss to her shoulder. “But the few times I tried to get you to go out with me, you wouldn’t give me the time of day.”
Her mind whirled and she gaped at him as she finally remembered what he was talking about. He had asked her out a couple of times but it had been in an almost off-hand manner, as though he hadn’t meant it. And she’d been dating Shawn. Besides, Ethan made her damn nervous. Swallowing the knot in her throat, she eased away from him. “I don’t think a date with me is worth two hundred fifty thousand dollars,” she said flatly. “I don’t think sex with me would be worth that.”
He traced a finger along the neckline of her dress and she trembled. Her nipples, already stiff, started to throb and she went hot as his gaze lowered, fastening on the bodice of her dress. “Oh, I think you’re wrong,” he said, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat.
Cupping her chin in his hand, he held her gaze as he continued. “I want to sleep with you. More than you could ever begin to understand.” His thumb rubbed over her lower lip and Pam shivered. Man, he stared at her like she was the only person in his entire universe, she thought, a little dazed. “And if I think I can convince you to spend the entire night with me, I’m going to.” Dipping his head, he licked her lower lip and then murmured against her lips, “I could take you places you’ve only dreamed about, pretty lady, and you’d love every second of it.”
Slowly, he lifted his head, holding her gaze as he added, “But it’s your choice.”
Then he let go and stepped back, slipping his hands into his pockets.
“Regardless, all I expect from you is a few hours with you where you don’t leave the second I look at you, where you actually talk to me. And I don’t lie—end of the night, no matter how it goes, I’ll give Shawn back the deed to the club and you two can get back to wedding plans.”
Wedding plans? Her mouth twisted. She still hadn’t come to grips with what had changed in her life over the past seventy-two hours but she did know there was no wedding in her near future. Her assistant had been on the phone half the day cancelling the rentals of the church, the reception hall and talking with the travel agent about getting back the deposit they’d put down on their honeymoon.
“There isn’t going to be a wedding,” she said shortly, shrugging as though she’d changed her plans for the night instead of the rest of her life.
Turning away to get her purse, she missed seeing Ethan’s eyes widen. He rocked back on his heels and hoped like hell she couldn’t read him very well. She looked absolutely miserable so probably wouldn’t appreciate him rubbing his hands together with glee.
“Called it off, did he?” he asked mildly.
She shot him a look that would have emasculated a lesser man. “Hell no. I called it off.”
“Over this?” He gestured to the club.
Her lip curled in disgust. �
�No. Because of this.” She gestured to him. “I don’t know how the hell you came up with this harebrained idea and I don’t care. I don’t know what the hell you said to Shawn about this, and right now, I don’t care. I just want to keep my club—my club. I still own half of it, regardless of what Shawn used as collateral. My name is on the deed and I run this place. Am I pissed over the money deal? Hell yes. But that’s not why I called it off.” She was pissed. The thought of losing her club made her sick inside. But by tomorrow she’d own all of it and Shawn would be out of the picture. It still twisted her heart though, thinking of what Shawn had been willing to do just so he wouldn’t have to pay Ethan the money he owed him.
Her voice was husky as she added, “I called it off because I’m not going to marry a man who thinks the way of solving his problems is to slut out his fiancée.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed then went icy. A chill raced down her back and she almost took a step back as he closed the distance between them. His hand came up again, cupping her chin and this time he squeezed lightly. He didn’t hurt her but it was clear that he wasn’t going to let her go either. “Don’t do that again, Pam,” he whispered softly. “What happens at the end of the night is your choice.”
Refusing to let him intimidate her, she snapped, “Call it whatever you like. He basically sold me for one night. One helluva a price tag, though. Maybe I should be flattered. You actually think I’m worth a quarter of a million dollars? It’s almost mind boggling.”
“I don’t give a damn about the money,” Ethan said as he skimmed his fingers along her jaw and then cupped his hand over the back of her neck. “It has nothing to do with the club, with money or with Shawn. It has to do with the fact that my dick gets hard every time I see you and I’m going crazy with it.”
He dipped his head, nuzzled her neck. His breath was warm along her flesh as he murmured in her ear, “I tried getting your attention the nice way but all you ever do is ignore me. One night with you, Pam. That’s all I’m asking and if you don’t want to have sex with me, it changes nothing. I don’t blackmail a woman into my bed.”
He kissed her then and Pam could have sworn her hair was singed by the heat of it. There was no denying that heat as he forced her mouth open and kissed her deeply, roughly and thoroughly. He slid his hands around her body and jerked her flat against him. One palm opened at the base of her spine, forcing her lower body up against his. Ethan buried his other hand in her hair, dislodging the clip so that it fell unnoticed to the floor.
Through the layers of silk and wool, she felt every detail of his body—a wide, muscled chest, a hard-planed abdomen and the thick length of his cock pressing against her belly and moving in a rhythm that left no doubt in her mind of just what he wanted. Her—naked and spread out underneath him. His tongue rubbed against hers and despite herself, Pam moaned, arching into him as she slid her hands up over his shoulders to clutch him close.
He pulled back slowly and Pam had to consciously make herself let go of him. She didn’t want to—she wanted to be pressed back against him and reveling in his obvious hunger. He slid his finger under her chin and Pam swallowed as she looked up and met his golden eyes. They gleamed against the soft mellow tan of his skin and his black hair fell into his eyes. Without realizing what she was doing, she reached and pushed his hair back out of his face. He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “You’re not whoring yourself, Pam. Don’t say anything like that again. I don’t like it. What happens at the end of the night is totally your call.”
Chapter Four
She hadn’t thought it would be possible to relax. Not around Ethan and definitely not under these circumstances. He’d always made her so damn edgy, with the way he watched her, how intense he was.
This almost seemed another side of him. He was charming, he made her laugh and he showed her more romance during dinner than Shawn ever had.
Ethan opened and held the door for her. When she needed to go to the ladies room, he rose from his chair and when he saw her returning¸ again, he stood.
It wasn’t just the impeccable manners, though they’d taken her by surprise. It was also the attentive way he watched her, the way he listened to her as though nothing else in the world existed.
The waiter appeared silently to refill her wine glass and, as he disappeared, she glanced up to see Ethan watching her with that focused, intent stare that always so unnerved her.
She recognized something in that gaze though, that she hadn’t seen before. Need. Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was nerves but she didn’t think so. There was something in that gaze she never would have expected to see. Not from him…and not directed at her. Unable to keep quiet, she said, “I don’t understand any of this, Ethan. I don’t understand it at all.”
He cocked a brow at her over the rim of his glass. He took a small drink and then set it down. “Come over here,” he murmured, his voice a low, sexy rumble that seemed to caress her bare skin as though he’d touched her.
Nervous, she slid across the booth toward him. It was a small booth in a small, dark restaurant, lit only by candles on the table and flickering flames in wall sconces. She stopped a few inches away and he closed the rest of the distance between them, a small, erotic smile on his lips. “Give me your hand,” he murmured.
Her hand was shaking as she laid it in his but she refused to acknowledge it. His fingers, strong and warm, closed around her wrist and he placed her hand, palm flat, against his thigh. “Have you ever seen something you wanted so bad it haunted your days and nights? Something you wanted but couldn’t have? That kind of thing turns into an obsession real fast, Pam and I’ve had an obsession for you since the night I saw you dancing with Shawn.”
As he spoke, he eased her hand higher up on his thigh and she felt the muscles under her hand, the heat of his skin. She gulped, mouth gone dry but he didn’t move her hand any higher. He left it there, his fingers idly stroking her wrist, almost lazily. “I asked you to dance with me. Do you remember?”
Nerves jangled inside her. Yes, she remembered. It was the first time she’d ever spoken to him. He’d been so amazingly sexy and so confident that she couldn’t understand why he’d asked her to dance. The only thing that had made sense was that small, arrogant smile on his lips and as he’d asked, his smile had widened just a little. Almost as though the idea of dancing with her had amused him. When she’d refused, that smile hadn’t changed at all and it wasn’t until he was a good ten feet away that she’d breathed easier.
“I remember,” she murmured.
“Why did you tell me no?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.” Then she frowned a little, glancing at him. “That’s not true. You made me nervous.”
“Why?”
It had to have been the wine behind her reply, “Because I don’t know how to handle men like you.”
He shifted under her hand, slumping back just a little in the seat. His lids drooped low over his eyes as he said softly, “The same way you handle any other man, Pam.”
“The same way,” she replied. Then she shook her head. He was too different from what she was used to. She gravitated toward easygoing guys, the kind who made her laugh, who made her feel comfortable. Although she was a lot more comfortable with Ethan tonight than she’d expected. If Shawn had been here with her…oh, now that was the totally wrong thing to think about.
She might have been too nervous even with three glasses of wine in her system but add her outrage with Shawn into the mix and that was enough to give her a burst of courage she never would have had under normal circumstances. She slid her fingers the rest of the way up his thigh, watching his face from beneath her lashes. When she closed her fingers around his cock and massaged him through his clothes, his head fell back and he hissed out a harsh breath between his teeth.
His hand closed over her wrist and she thought for a second that he might pull her hand away but instead, he straightened in the seat and pressed her palm tighter against him
. His heavy-lidded gaze remained on her face even as the waiter approached. When Pam would have jerked her hand away, he kept his grip tight on her wrist and wouldn’t let her.
“Will there be anything else, Mr. Parker?”
A slow, sensual smiled curved his lips and he never once looked away from her face as he murmured, “Not here.”
* * * * *
She hadn’t just done that, Pam thought, mortified as Ethan guided her outside.
As though he seemed to understand how nervous she was, Ethan made no mention of that little incident as he led her to the long black limo waiting at the curb.
They slid into the car and as she settled on the plush leather, Ethan asked, “Have you ever been to the Bash before?”
Pam shook her head. “I’d asked…” her voice trailed off and she glanced at Ethan. Any time she mentioned Shawn’s name, the man’s face took on an icy cast. It was sexy, but at the same time, a little unsettling. It also had a very weird effect on her, the kind of effect that made her want to say Shawn’s name often, just to see what he’d do, just to see his eyes go chilly with anger…and possessiveness.
After finding out her fiancé was okay with her going out on a date with an uber-sexy guy like Ethan, seeing somebody get a little possessive felt kind of good. Although she still didn’t quite understand it, not coming from Ethan. She also didn’t understand the bratty streak he caused inside her. Pam wasn’t much for pulling the tiger’s tail, or so she’d thought.
It was confusing enough to make her a little nervous about answering him. Hesitating a little, she finally added, “I asked Shawn once or twice about going but he never wanted to.”
Which really didn’t make much sense. The man was a bit of a cheapskate but he could afford the ticket price. It was steep—tickets to the Midnight Madness Bash cost a thousand bucks a couple. But it all went to a home for battered women and children. A good cause and this was one of those places to be seen. Shawn did like being seen.
Drastic Measures Page 3