His Distraction

by Tanya Gallagher

Hell yes.

  “As long as you don’t mind.”

  Bea pursed her lips for a second, but before she could say anything, Vanessa smiled. “Let’s go.”

  From their spot on the dance floor, Jeremy could appreciate the venue. The Neptune used to be a single-screen movie house, but the Seattle Theatre Group had converted it into a performing arts venue a few years back. Ornate woodwork covered the walls of the cozy, warm theater, with statues and reliefs dating back to the twenties visible from both the ground floor and the balcony. High above the dance floor, Neptune’s face was set into the ceiling, with glass eyes looking down on them all.

  Jeremy grinned at the Greek god, then cast his gaze to the right where Vanessa practically glowed. He knew he should pay attention to the show, which had started with grand effect, but now that he was here, he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Vanessa. It wasn’t just that she was the best dancer in the room, though she was. It was that she was the one having the most fun.

  Vanessa smiled like she was lit from within, dancing like an angel made for the stage lights. She raised her arms above her head and swirled her hips in sensual, hypnotizing circles. She moved like she’d be a dream to fuck, completely unselfconscious as she danced, her body fluid and caught up in the moment. A woman who moved like that gave everything she had in bed, and Jeremy wanted to know what she could do. His cock begged to be inside her.

  As if she felt his gaze, Vanessa lifted her eyes to meet his. The air crackled again, snapping between them like it had the moment she’d first laid eyes on him, but there was a familiarity to it, too. A recognition, like she saw past his job and his money and just saw him.

  They’d been through a lot together in these past few weeks.

  Vanessa caught his eye and grinned. Jeremy’s heart—goddamn it—slammed against his chest. The things he had done for this woman—running with preteens, begging her to come back—he was starting to think it was all worth it. She was starting to crack.

  Jeremy kept his hands to himself like a gentleman, willing himself not to touch Vanessa just yet. Not until he knew she wasn’t still pissed about this afternoon. But when Bea slipped away, presumably to the restroom, Vanessa reached through the crush of bodies and caught his hand.

  “Why aren’t you dancing with me?” The corners of her mouth did a beautiful thing, lifting with her challenge.

  Guess he was forgiven for earlier.

  Vanessa turned back to the stage, and he slipped behind her, his front facing her naked back. Should he touch her? God knows he wanted to. And that grin was an invitation.

  Slowly he eased his hands onto her hips, smoothing a thumb along the delicate skin over her ribs. An inch higher and he’d be able to reach the swell of her breast.

  “Is this okay?” he whispered into her ear. The heady scent of her—the rush of sweetness in his lungs—made him half dizzy.

  “Of course.”

  His breath caught as she leaned into him, reaching her hands into the air. This time, instead of swaying them in time to the music, she snaked them around his neck.

  Jesus. Yes. When her fingers stroked the back of his head, Jeremy wrapped an arm around her stomach, pulling her back against an erection he had no interest in hiding. Vanessa gasped and gripped his neck tighter.

  She ground her hips against his hard body, feeling him, spurring him on. What was this woman going to do to him? Every electric touch of her hands sent a wave of pleasure through him. Whatever line she’d drawn between them in the past, she was erasing it now, almost like she could let it happen if she could pretend not to see. But they were on the floor, dancing to their own beat anyway, with music wrapped around them, and their clothes the only thing keeping them from fucking. Well, that and the crowd.

  When Jeremy leaned down to whisper in Vanessa’s ear, his voice was hoarse with desire. “It is an absolute pleasure to watch you do something for yourself for a change.”

  “Mmm,” she agreed.

  “Want to get some air?”

  She smiled, her voice a purr. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  On the street outside of The Neptune, Jeremy felt underwater—his ears still ringing with the noise from the concert inside. Somehow Vanessa’s hand was on his arm, leaning on him as she balanced in her heels. She shivered in the cool night air, and he drew her closer to his side, leading them around the corner past the local deli. It didn’t matter where they went—it just needed to be away. To be quiet, so he could hear her, so he could feel her tremble against him.

  “Still mad at me?” he asked. A few tendrils of her hair had fallen out of her ponytail, and he pushed them behind her ear. She paused and looked up at him, her blue-gray eyes dilated with lust. It was now or never. Jeremy kept his hand on the delicate line of her jaw and stepped closer to her, walking her backward until her shoulders pressed against the white brick wall of the building.

  Vanessa met his eye. “No, I’m not mad. I’m…” She broke off, and her pulse jumped against his palm. “You know how you said your distraction wasn’t my problem?” He nodded. “What if I want it to be?”

  Relief flooded through him. “Good god, Heart. I’ve waited a long time to hear you say that.”

  “Then why didn’t you kiss me last week?” she pouted.

  Jeremy laughed. “You weren’t ready yet.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “And I am now?”

  He smiled and leaned forward, his fingers still framing Vanessa’s face. “Let’s see.” He stopped an inch from her mouth, and Vanessa gave a desperate little moan. The outline of her breasts pressed against his chest, and everything slowed to a crawl as he breathed her in. Her lips were so close he could almost taste them. But he wouldn’t give her the last inch. She needed to come to him. He needed to know she wanted it, that he wasn’t the only one about to come apart at the seams.

  “You can be my distraction,” he whispered. “There’s nothing I want more.”

  You can be my everything.

  Vanessa’s gaze stayed on his lips for just a moment before hunger replaced the hesitation in her eyes. She shifted onto her toes to reach him, balancing herself with a palm against his chest, and the whole world lit on fire—just this overwhelming light that seemed to be everywhere—on this quiet street, inside his skin. Vanessa smelled like vanilla and coconut, and when she finally kissed him, she tasted like dessert.

  Her lips on his were a benediction, something sweet to wash away his sins. But her kiss was too gentle, almost probing. Not at all like the vixen he was desperate to unleash.

  Oh no. This was not going to do.

  Jeremy deepened the kiss, dragging a hand from Vanessa’s shoulder to her neck before burying it in her hair. This time she yielded, softening under the commanding pressure of his lips. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she let out a quiet moan that only sent more blood to his cock. She gave as good as she got, tangling her tongue with his, making every nerve in his body spark with awareness.

  Yes, and please, and thank you.

  He wasn’t going to be able to stop now that he’d tasted her, felt her rise up to meet him. Here she was—moving along with him—moaning quietly as if to say how very good this all was. How very good they were together. This woman was going to ruin him with all her sweetness.

  His heart beat under Vanessa’s hands, hard and fast and fit to burst. His chest pounded with lust, with a pleasure so profound he could swear he was almost vibrating.

  No—wait—Vanessa actually was vibrating. She broke the kiss, pulling away to reach for the phone in her purse.

  “Ah, shit.” Her mouth twisted with regret. “Bea’s looking for me. I should go.”

  He traced a finger over her lips. “Stay.” This time it was a request, not a command, and he could tell she wanted to.

  Instead, she shook her head. “Mr. Glass, I believe your cards are showing. Anyway, I hear you have a plane to catch in the morning.”

  A coarse laugh burst from him. “You are going to be the end of me, you kn
ow.”

  Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. She bit her lip before transforming into a smile. “Better to go down in flames than never feel the fire.”

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead before he released her. “Touché.”

  He watched her walk away, the streetlights shifting on her silky skin. Maybe she was right—he’d have her alone for the next forty-eight hours. A little anticipation couldn’t hurt. His throbbing hard-on, well, that was another story.

  Vanessa paused on the corner and called over her shoulder to him. “Just because I kissed you doesn’t mean you won.”

  His voice scraped like he was giving away all his secrets. “It means we both did, Heart. We both did.”

  Chapter 27

  Vanessa watched Jeremy’s back as he entered the security scanner in the airport, reassured as he passed through without being stopped by one of the hulking TSA agents guarding the line of travelers.

  Today Jeremy wore a pair of dark jeans and a T-shirt that clung to his chiseled body. A leather jacket set off his broad shoulders, and the scruff on his jaw highlighted his winking blue eyes.

  For as many times as she’d seen him in different outfits, she had to wonder which was the real him. Was Jeremy Glass the controlled, tailored suits, the casual athletic clothes, or the leather that hinted at the bad boy inside? She scanned his body with a small grin. Maybe he was all of those things. He’d already proved to have so many more facets than she’d originally thought. Either way, it wasn’t fair that he looked so good. Vanessa had barely been able to sleep, especially after Bea’s grilling on the ride home.

  “I can’t believe you kissed him!” Bea sang, squeezing her hands on the steering wheel as she drove them to their apartment after the concert. “My best friend and the sex god. How was it?”

  Vanessa had opened her mouth and closed it again. What could she say?

  She still couldn’t believe that she’d kissed Jeremy. His words had echoed in her ears as she’d lifted onto her toes like some damn princess: No one wants a gentleman in bed.

  And it was true. She didn’t want a gentleman. Polite men had never made her body thrill like this, never made her heart pound as hard as it did for Jeremy Glass. Maybe it was because she had only ever been polite back.

  “It was…everything,” she finally told Bea. Because it was. She leaned her head on the car window to cool her thoughts. Now that she’d had a taste of passion, nothing else would do. That kiss with Jeremy had been deep and demanding…anything but polite. And she wanted more.

  On the far side of security, Jeremy reached for his carry-on bag, and Vanessa shivered with the knowledge of what it held inside: the new wearable vibrator, a copy of the swiveling one she had used on herself, a handful more. He’d brought a treasure trove of X Enterprises products to show to Yessir—enough to fulfill nearly every fantasy someone could dream up.

  Giving Jeremy Glass a suitcase full of sex toys was like handing a sharpshooter a loaded gun. Dangerous. Potentially explosive.

  “Miss?” Vanessa startled, turning to the man behind her who was gesturing at the X-ray machine. “You’re up.”

  “Right. Sorry.” She was fine. She could do this.

  She hefted her roller board bag and purse onto the conveyer belt and watched as they chugged down the line toward the dark tunnel under the X-ray. Then she followed Jeremy’s example, striding through the metal detector in her bare feet and heading to collect her luggage.

  “Ma’am? Is this your bag?” The stone-faced security agent gestured at her purse.

  “Yes,” she answered, her voice small.

  “Come with me.”

  Oh shit.

  She felt Jeremy’s gaze as she followed the agent to the far end of the conveyor belt.

  “Are there any liquids in this bag?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so. I put my toiletries in the plastic bin.” She pointed to where the rest of her luggage had piled up.

  The man nodded. “Okay. I’m just going to go through your bag, then. Let’s see what the scanner picked up.”

  The agent pulled out her wallet, her airplane ticket, and her Kindle, and her stomach dropped as she realized what was coming.

  Oh, Jesus.

  Out came the extra large box of condoms that she had carried as a token of appreciation for Yessir. Out came the three bottles of personal lubricant. The anal lube right on top. Of course.

  She couldn’t meet the man’s eyes. “They’re for a customer.”

  He cleared this throat, and her face burned. What kind of business did he think she was in? Could this day get any worse?

  Jeremy leaned over the table with a smirk on his face. “Don’t worry—I’m the customer.”

  Actually, yes. Today could get worse.

  “Thanks for nothing,” she grumbled to Jeremy as the security agent sent the bottles back through the X-ray machine. “He probably thinks I’m a hooker or something.”

  He grinned. “You’re much too classy.”

  “Oh, be quiet.”

  Jeremy nudged her shoulder as her belongings spit back out of the X-ray machine. “It’s okay. Just a rookie move.”

  She grabbed her gear. “Yeah, well, I would have known these things by now if I’d gone to college back East like I’d planned.”

  Jeremy lifted his eyebrows. “U Dub wasn’t your first choice?”

  She shrugged and followed Jeremy as he led them toward their gate with the familiarity of someone who had traveled many times before. Next to him, she felt like a neophyte. “I wanted to travel a bit, get away from everything I was used to. But when my parents got divorced, I couldn’t bear to leave my dad. He felt like the only thing I had left.”

  Jeremy’s voice was earnest. “He’s lucky to have you.”

  Vanessa shifted. “Thanks.” The whole world waited, and she’d let everything hold her back—her mom, her dad, her responsibilities.

  “So where would you go?” Jeremy asked.

  “To travel?” He nodded, and she smiled. “Where wouldn’t I go? I’d probably start by eating a croissant on the banks of the Seine, and then go touch the glaciers in Iceland.”

  Jeremy’s blue eyes twinkled. “You’ve got good taste.”

  “I know.”

  And if he’d meant that she had good taste in him…well. That arrogance—that certainty that he wore like armor—had somehow shifted in her mind into hard-won confidence and skill. She couldn’t explain it—the way her logical side wanted to forget itself, to forgive all Jeremy’s worst habits and turn them into gold. She knew she should shutter herself away, put up a thousand walls to barricade her heart. And yet ever since last night—oh god, last night—she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  She held onto the images like a raft in the ocean, remembering the way the curves of her body had felt pressed against the solid plane of Jeremy’s chest. The way he’d danced, so hard for her that if they hadn’t been in a room full of strangers, she would have been almost nervous for what came next. The rational part of herself ripped away like cardboard in a hurricane, softening and yielding to his kiss. Last night had been a paradigm shift. Consider her world forever changed.

  If Vanessa wasn’t careful, she was going to do something stupid like lock herself in an airplane bathroom with Jeremy to join the Mile High Club. Because, yes, she wanted him to flirt with her—to kiss her again—but what came after? Sex? A relationship? Jeremy had said they could write their own story, but he didn’t seem like the type of man who would want a long-term commitment. And, anyway, she wasn’t the kind of girl to give away her heart. So that left them…where?

  “The good news,” Jeremy said, “is that today you get to start your domination.”

  She blushed as if he’d read her mind. “Domination?” she squeaked.

  “World domination.” His grin heated her chest. “And you get to start in LA.”

  “I have a proposition for you.” Jeremy looked over from the driver’s seat as he nosed the rental car
down Ocean Avenue on the way to their hotel.

  Vanessa pulled her eyes from the window and caught Jeremy’s gaze. Maybe she was still groggy from falling asleep on the plane because the word “proposition” coming out to Jeremy Glass’s mouth sounded like he was offering to do way more than play tour guide.

  “What’s that?” she managed to whisper. Out of the corner of her eye, the world streaked by in a blur of color. The sky overhead was cloudless and tinged with the magenta of sunset, so pretty it almost hurt to look at. Palm trees lined the streets, stretching toward the dipping sun like a prayer.

  Jeremy’s eyes crinkled like he knew the effect he had on her. “Well, I knew you wouldn’t like it if I took the liberty of making us dinner reservations, so I’m going to ask you first.”

  She grinned, finding her footing. “Whoever said you couldn’t teach an old dog new tricks?”

  He blew out an amused puff of air. “One of my favorite views in the city is at a seafood restaurant. I called ahead, and the chef can prepare a vegetarian option for you. If you want to try it.”

  She gasped. “How did you know?”

  “That you’re a vegetarian?” She nodded. “The Veggie Grill as your lunch choice. The way you haven’t eaten meat around me. I took a guess. Am I right?”

  Vanessa nodded, a lump lodged in her throat. He’d done this small, stupid thing for her. Noticing. Pulling favors for her.

  Jeremy cocked his head at her. “So is it for health? Or for the animals?”

  She blushed. “Ah, the infamous question.” Outside, a million cars streamed past them, and people strolled the sidewalks in shorts and T-shirts. The rental, small and warm, felt like a bubble in the middle of the tide. “A little of both, I guess. I don’t love the idea of killing something when I don’t have to.” She cleared her throat. “Sorry. I know not everyone feels that way. No judgment here.”

  “Nothing to apologize for,” Jeremy said softly. “Compassion is an admirable trait. So that’s a yes to dinner?”

  “That’s a yes.”