Almost Naked, Inc.

by Karen Anders

  “Yes, of course there is, but it’s going to take a lot more work.”

  “How much time do you think?”

  “You’ll have to contact each buyer, whereas at an exhibition they are readily available.”

  “So, I have tons of fabric and no buyers. I didn’t think this would be a problem. Matt’s going to kill me.”

  “So, an all-expenses-paid trip to Cambridge. I charge a hefty consulting rate.”

  “No problem.”

  “How can I turn that down? Sounds like a great challenge. I’ve always wanted to start at the ground floor of a business,” Naomi said in a teasing voice.

  Bridget silently thanked her for the attempt at levity. But, unfortunately, Bridget couldn’t find anything amusing about her predicament. “Thank you so much, Naomi, I’m desperate.”

  “A little tip for you, girlfriend. In the marketing world, don’t let anyone know that you’re desperate.”

  NAOMI’S WORDS CAME BACK TO HER when Bridget heard Matt’s voice down in her aunt’s foyer. It was also true in the relationship department. She’d spent too much time thinking about Matt and her renewed connection with him. She lamented the years she’d lost touch with him, sorry that she hadn’t kept up with his friendship. It was the warmth in those damn arresting eyes that had drawn her back into that need she’d had as a child.

  She’d wanted Matt’s approval. He gave it freely without any strings attached. Her mother had pushed her so hard when she’d been a little girl, it was all Bridget knew. She had to be the best, she had to succeed. It was Matt who had been the calm water in the eye of the hurricane that was her mother. She really thought she might have turned out a cold, shallow, selfish bitch if it hadn’t been for Matt.So, it had been easy to slip back into confiding in him, rebuilding that personal and emotional relationship she’d had with him, adding the more complicated physical one. But Bridget wondered what Matt thought about it all. Perhaps he found her ambitions and her jockeying to get ahead pathetic. It served her right. Matt had never coveted fame and fortune, but it had dropped into his lap. It seemed poetic justice that it had eluded her.

  She had been just about ready to jump in the shower. It was Thursday morning, two days since she’d talked to Naomi, and her new business manager would arrive at Logan at one o’clock today. That was only three hours from now and Bridget just didn’t have the time, or the right frame of mind to deal with Matt.

  Plus it had been two days since she’d seen him.

  Two days!

  It wasn’t as if she’d expected flowers and candy or for Matt to declare his undying love, but some contact would have been nice. She’d even gone over to his house and knocked, then banged, but he hadn’t answered, though his car was in the driveway.

  She had thought about climbing the dangerous trellis just to be able to tell him off, but in a lucid break in her snit she decided it wasn’t worth a broken neck.

  She’d also had the thought that perhaps if she had climbed the trellis that Donna Karan woman would be in his bed. Maybe he had some kind of relationship with her for all Bridget knew. She hadn’t seen Matt since she was sixteen. Twelve years was a lot of time.

  So she was feeling especially cranky and out of sorts when she heard his voice. He continued to talk to her aunt, the sound of his sexy voice drifting up to her room. She closed her eyes.

  “Bridget?” His voice so close made her jump. She whirled around to find him standing in her doorway. Why did he have to look so disarmingly cute, so sinfully sexy with his spiky black hair and upturned eyes?

  “Look, you have every right to be mad. I rushed out on you after we had sex and I’ve ignored you the past few days. I’m sorry.”

  Her jaw dropped open and she stared at him. He’d come right to the point. No cute sashaying, no trying to wheedle back into her good graces, none of that juvenile guy stuff she hated.

  He waved his hand as he came into the room and closed the door. “I don’t believe in subterfuge, Bridget. It only gets in the way.” He stopped in front of her. “The trouble is I was working and I get crazy when I work. Sometimes a couple of days pass before I realize it.”

  Jeez, he was killing her. She could feel the heat of his body, could smell his clean, masculine scent.

  He stepped closer, wreaking havoc with her hormones and common sense.

  “You kept bothering me, though.”

  Bridget stiffened. “I knocked on your door only once.”

  He smiled as if her indignation was a great source of amusement to him. “I wasn’t talking about you literally bothering me. I was talking about how I couldn’t stop thinking about doing this.”

  He lowered his head, the light in his eyes dancing with need, and the moment their lips touched she gave herself over to the exquisite feel of his mouth on hers, the rich, addictive taste of him on her tongue, and the promise of pleasures untold as he deepened the kiss even more.

  A shameless moan rumbled up from her throat, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and arched against him. She felt his hard, thick erection at the crux of her thighs, reveled in it and grew wet with wanting.

  He wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her onto the bed. She watched the play of pleasure across his face as his hands slid up her sides. When he reached her breasts, his palms kneaded the slopes and his thumbs lazily circled her hypersensitive nipples.

  She threaded her fingers through the soft strands of his hair and groaned as his lips burned a path across her jaw, along her throat. “Matt.”

  For a moment they just lay there, breathing heavily together, their chests rising and falling. Finally, Matt lifted up on one elbow and stared down into her eyes.

  “You doing okay?” he asked, and gently brushed a strand of hair off her cheek with his fingers.

  The warmth and compassion in his touch lingered, wrapping intimately around her heart, urging her to divulge her personal thoughts. She bit her lip. “What happened to us, Matt?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why didn’t we stay friends?”

  “I don’t know. We drifted apart. You had the pageants and after the stunt you pulled with the unauthorized party, your mother refused to let you visit your aunt.”

  “I have this feeling my mother wants to keep us apart. Did you see how she reacted at Aunt Ida’s birthday party?”

  The genuine caring reflected in his striking eyes was nearly her undoing. “I told you she didn’t like me.”

  “But why?”

  “I think she sees me as a threat, Bridget. Then, she didn’t want you distracted from her obsession to see you crowned Miss National. Now, she simply doesn’t want you distracted. Period.”

  “I wanted that crown, too, Matt. You talk like I was her beauty-queen slave.” Her voice trembled, another show of emotion that slipped past her barriers.

  “You’ve been entered in pageants since you were six, Bridget. How would you know what you wanted?”

  “I know what I want. Don’t try to confuse me. We’re in a business venture together and we’re in bed together.”

  “It’s more than sexual.”

  “I know. I didn’t even realize how lonely I was until I saw you again.”

  “It breaks my heart to think that you have been lonely, sweetheart.”

  “You’re so sweet, Matt.”

  “Not that sweet. I did ignore you for two days.”

  “Yes, you did. But I understand why. You’ll have to make it up to me for leaving so quickly after making love to me. Also, I need to tell you that the woman you were with saw me.”

  “She did? She didn’t mention it.”

  “So who is that woman?”

  “She’s my wife.”

  Bridget jerked, her hands coming up to push against Matt’s chest. She felt satisfied at the thud he made when he hit the floor.

  Leaning over the edge of the bed, she glared at him. “What the hell did you say?”

  6

  MATT KNEW HE WAS IN DEEP trouble the
moment he saw those stormy blue eyes and realized what he’d said. It was easy to rectify with a simple explanation. Although he’d been in trouble with a woman before, it hadn’t scared him.

  Bridget Cole, on the other hand, terrified him.He reached up and grabbed at her before she could scoot away. With a soft exclamation, Bridget slipped off the bed onto his chest.

  “A slip of the tongue. She’s my ex-wife,” he said.

  She stared at him a moment and the enormous relief he saw in her eyes made something coil tight and dangerous in his gut.

  “Some people would think that was a Freudian slip and you really wanted to be married to her again.”

  “Believe me. It was an honest mistake. Emily and I don’t work as a married couple. I’m much more interested in discussing how lovely your eyes are, or how sweet you taste.”

  “Wait just a second, Mr. Smoothie. Not so fast. Why didn’t you tell me you were married?”

  “It’s a part of my life that’s over. We didn’t even make it to our first anniversary. I’ve gotten past it. She works at MIT, too.”

  “I don’t understand why you didn’t think it was important enough to tell me…. Here I was going crazy thinking this woman—” She broke off, snapped her mouth shut.

  Matt’s heart felt as if it slipped…and settled, right into the place it had always belonged. “Part of my problem with the marriage was that she never really understood me. We never shared the kind of closeness I’ve only experienced with one woman in my life.”

  “Who is that?” Bridget demanded, ready to get up off him.

  He laughed and her eyes narrowed. “You.”

  Her eyes softened, and then flared to blue flame. “Oh. Good.” She lowered her head and took his mouth. She tasted raw, undiluted. Real. He wove his fingers through her hair. It felt like a silk waterfall. Erotic, tactile…cool to the touch.

  He brushed his mouth against her lips, then sucked her lower lip into his mouth. He was unable to resist, her mouth was so full and perfect, taunting him. “You taste delicious and forbidden,” he told her. “Too delectable to pass up.”

  She laughed against his mouth. “I have no protest to being eaten by you, Matt.”

  “Don’t tempt me.”

  He grinned when she rolled her eyes. “I think I like tempting you. I like watching your eyes go all glassy. When you look at me, it gives me chills.”

  “If you’re trying to make me crazy, you’re succeeding,” Matt said, cupping her face. “So stop it.”

  “Fine, you win.”

  “Good. I like to win.”

  That brought more laughter bubbling out of her and he decided that he liked the deep rich tone. He smiled against her lips as she crushed her mouth to his. The laughter quickly faded, however, as she slid her tongue into his mouth. He groaned and accepted the invasion willingly. She knew how to kiss a man.

  He was also startled to discover that her body aligned so perfectly with his. Knee-to-knee, hip-to-hip…and, most startlingly, pelvis-to-pelvis. A novel experience for his height.

  She wove her fingers through his hair, making his skin tingle as her nails raked his scalp, then angled her head and took the kiss deeper. He’d thought to taunt her a little, tease her a little and brighten up both of their days with a little harmless flirtation, just for the sheer fun of it.

  But the hunger she’d ignited in him had been something he hadn’t counted on. She made him feel downright…barbaric.

  He raised his hips off the floor, seeking harder contact with her. She gasped at the feel of him, so perfectly fitted to her and pushed back.

  His lips drifted down her chin, which she tilted, giving him all the access he could want to the soft skin of her throat. “I don’t have the words to tell you how much I want you.”

  “No words. Speechless.”

  He reared up, his breathing harsh and labored. He nuzzled his open mouth across her sleek skin, the taste of her overwhelming him as he moved his tongue over her breast.

  She arched, a tightly strung bow, to his mouth.

  Her small hands curled around his neck, brushing his throat, and he shivered.

  He was lost to everything except the taste of her, the supple sleek feel of her skin against his lips, and in his ears the only sound was the rhythm of her heart beating with his.

  Everywhere he felt her light touch against him, an awareness of her beyond anything he had ever experienced or ever imagined. And he’d imagined a lot with Bridget. Slanting her to him, one palm cupping her hip, the other still tangled in the unruly mass of her hair, he tasted her again and again. She had shaken his foundation down to the core and he knew. He knew that this couldn’t last, that she’d go jet-setting off as soon as she was back on her feet, but he couldn’t regret what they had done together.

  What he had fretted about had come to fruition. She was distracting him, drawing him away from his work. She was burrowing under his skin and he didn’t know how he was going to handle it later.

  Then he glanced at her face and thought he might drown in those eyes of hers. So bold, so honest…so full of want. For him.

  He watched her intently as he rolled her nipple between his fingers. Her pupils dilated, and her lips parted in a silent gasp. But her eyes remained open, and on him. Almost like a challenge. One he desperately wanted to be up to.

  “Touching you. It’s such a damn turn-on for me.”

  “Everything about you turns me on, Matt.”

  “Mmm, everything, huh?”

  “Yes,” she said, her hands sliding hard over his biceps as she cupped his face, her thumbs rubbing at the skin of his cheeks. “The fire that is in your eyes right now. The color of them, the exotic slant, and your full mouth.” She leaned forward and kissed him gently, then changed the angle of her head and captured his mouth again.

  The sudden sound of the door opening and closing made them both stiffen.

  “My aunt?”

  “I don’t think so….”

  “Bridget?” A female voice called.

  “Ohmigod! It’s my mother.”

  Matt heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. “She’s coming right now.”

  Bridget was off him in a flash. “Matt, hide in the bathroom.” When he began to move, she hissed. “Never mind. It’s too late. Scoot under the bed.”

  “Bridget, I’m a grown man. You’re a grown woman.”

  “Please, Matt. It’s too embarrassing.”

  Matt had no more time to argue with her about the ridiculousness of a full-grown man hiding under the bed. It wasn’t as if they were sixteen years old for crying out loud. But to spare Bridget the comments he was sure her mother would make about having sex in the middle of the day, he slid under the bed just as Mrs. Cole opened Bridget’s door.

  It was a tight, uncomfortable fit, his chest wedged against the hard metal of the box spring. Dust tickled his nose and he turned his head and brought his hand up to rub it so he wouldn’t sneeze. Talk about humiliation.

  “There you are, you naughty girl,” Bridget’s mother said.

  “Mom. What a surprise.” Bridget’s feet moved from her position beside the bed to the footboard. He could only envision her taking her mother’s arm and moving her back toward the door as their feet met and moved away from the bed.

  “I bet it is. You’ve been in Cambridge all this time and didn’t call me for lunch?”

  He rubbed his nose again as their feet stopped just shy of the door.

  “I’m sorry about that, but how about I give you a call next week? I really can’t talk now, Mom. I’ve got an appointment.”

  “You know I’ve been waiting impatiently for news about your photo shoot in Puerto Rico. Let’s sit down and you can fill me in.”

  Matt almost groaned at the thought of having to hide up here through girl talk.

  “I can’t, Mom. As I just mentioned, I’ve got an appointment.”

  “What appointment?”

  “I’ve got to get to the airport and pick up a friend. Her pl
ane is due in an hour.”

  “Friend? What friend?”

  “Naomi from New York City.”

  “Your CPA?”

  “Yes, she’s consulting for me.”

  “On what?”

  “A business venture I’m working on with Matt.”

  “What? Has he done this? Convinced you to give up such a wonderful modeling career? Do you know what I sacrificed for you?”

  “As you’ve told me countless times. Look. I really don’t have time….”

  “Of all the ungrateful…What is going on, Bridget?”

  “I told you. I’m working for Matt.”

  “What does that loser next door have to do with your fashion career?”

  “He’s not a loser, Mom. He’s got his Ph.D., for Pete’s sake. He’s teaching at MIT.”

  “What exactly are you doing for him?”

  “Look, we can meet later to talk about this. I really have to go get in the shower.” Matt sighed in relief as their feet started to move again.

  “I’m not going anywhere until I’ve heard your answer,” her mother replied.

  “I’ve accepted a position to market a new fabric for him. Okay, Mother. Now let me walk you down to the front door.”

  “What? What do you know about starting a venture or marketing? Are you out of your mind? Is this what you’re doing? Drawing and making clothes?”

  Matt heard a rustle of paper.

  “Mother, calm down. It’s just temporary.”

  “Calm down. I knew that boy was trouble even back then. Always filling your head full of nonsense. As if all the beauty pageants were a waste of your time. I never saw such a rude—”

  “He didn’t fill my head full of nonsense. He helped me with my math and taught me all about astronomy.”

  “He was a troublemaker. Sounds like he hasn’t changed much.”

  “Mom! Please. I don’t have time for this. I’ve got to get in the shower and then go to the airport. Can’t we talk about this another time?”

  “No. Just what has happened with your contract with Kathleen Armstrong?”

  “She had to let me go.”

  “That’s hard to believe.”