Blair studied him for a long moment and, seeming to decide he wasn’t exaggerating his ignorance of the man, leaned forward, bringing her mouth enticingly close. “I’m a journalist.” She followed the admission up with a risk taker’s grin that made his gut clench.
He locked his hands on the edge of his chair to keep from caging her face in his hands and tasting the lush mouth he found so damn tempting. He swallowed hard. “And you’re working on a story that has to do with him?”
She nodded hesitantly.
A smile came slowly to his lips. “So what would it be worth to you if I told you where they’ll be meeting later tonight?”
Doubt flashed across her face, followed quickly by suspicion. “And how would you know that?”
“I heard them talking by the pool earlier,” he lied smoothly. She’d be giving him an even more apprehensive look if he mentioned that he could overhear every bit of their conversation from across the room. “Have dinner with me,” he pleaded, not wanting to lose the spark of attraction between them before it had barely started to burn.
“You really heard them talking about meeting up later? In one of their rooms?”
Drew shook his head, his grin widening. “Dinner?”
“You’re not screwing with me?”
“Nope.” He knew he had her the moment her shoulders slipped a little.
She pursed her lips. “If I say yes, you’re not going to turn into some egotistical jerk on me, are you?”
“I do cocky pretty well, but I lack the self-absorbed edge to really pull off egotistical.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, unconvinced, but trying not to smile. She drummed her fingers on the edge of the counter, then finally, “Okay.”
Drew beamed, damn thankful when the hostess appeared to escort them to a table before Blair could change her mind.
Blair stumbled, catching herself before whatever she tripped over sent her sprawling to the ground. Thick shadows bordered the line of trees that separated the golf course from the lit pathways of the resort. She’d been hanging around for nearly half an hour and hadn’t caught so much as a peek at Jonas Holson. If Drew hadn’t been so convincing, she might have assumed by now that he’d made the whole rendezvous thing up just to have dinner with her.
She’d been enjoying herself so much, she’d been sorely tempted to blow off checking up on Jonas to spend the rest of the evening with Drew. It had been forever since she’d found it so easy to talk and laugh with someone she’d just met. Not to mention the sizzle that started deep in her belly every time Drew’s devastating smile worked a little deeper under her skin. More than once an innocent touch triggered a chain reaction that made her tremble just a bit on the inside. All it took was a long, heated look from the man and she was picturing the two of them back on the beach—with a lot less clothing on.
Blair hadn’t contemplated blowing off a story since committing to building her career. The impulse to do so tonight had been brief, but intense. Intense and tangled around scorching images of how good she bet Drew was with his mouth.
Instead of giving in, a fact her body didn’t seem willing to forgive her for judging by the tension stretched taut beneath her skin, she was skulking around in the dark. Reminding herself that she was here for the story didn’t erase the distracting memory of Drew trying to coax her to stay for one more drink. He’d only laughed when she commented on him hoping to get her drunk.
Blair smacked the back of her shoulder, feeling the prick of a mosquito a second too late. Cursing, she edged a little farther from the trees, scanning the surrounding area for the hundredth time. Music from one of the resort’s nightspots drifted on the air, dulled only by the sound of the surf.
She checked the time on her cell phone and sighed. If Drew had overheard Jonas correctly, then either he’d changed his mind about the cloak-and-dagger meeting or they were running late.
A twig snapped behind her.
Blair whirled around, scrambling back a step at the same time. Then another. Her pulse kicked up, and she scanned the shadowy tree line. Probably just an animal, she decided. That didn’t stop her from closing her fist around the cell phone in case she needed to throw it at something—or someone.
Nothing stirred beyond the leaves swaying in a soft gust of wind that tugged at the hair she’d swept back from her face. She couldn’t force her spine to relax and stared intently at the surrounding shadows until they blurred into a long black mass that seemed far more threatening than it had moments ago. Telling herself she was overreacting did squat to slow her racing heart.
A muffled thump that she wished like hell had been accompanied by the chatter or growl of some nocturnal creature, made her stumble backwards.
She came up against something hard and warm. A startled cry broke past her lips, and she jerked around only to be steadied by two strong hands that she recoiled from on instinct.
“Jumpy, aren’t you?”
Blair scowled at Drew. “What are you doing here?” She sucked in another breath, replenishing the lungs that had emptied in a single rush the minute she’d bumped into him. “You scared the crap out of me.”
He grinned. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.” Even in the dark, his mischievous expression was unmistakable.
“Pepper spray is much more effective.” He nodded to the slim phone clasped so tightly in her palm her fingers hurt. The same one she’d been two seconds shy of chucking at him.
Since he had a point—the same one Braxton had pounded into her head—and because she normally kept some in her purse, she didn’t bother to disagree. As her heart settled into its normal rhythm, she realized how close they stood. She had to tip her face up to meet his gaze, the top of her head barely reaching his chin.
She glimpsed the same playfulness on his face that she’d enjoyed at dinner. Along with something else. Something that made her achingly aware of how alone they were, tucked in the shadows that no longer felt so threatening. Not now. Not with him.
A burst of reasoning tried to override the sluggish warmth curling down her backbone and settling in the deepest parts of her belly, a reminder that she was vulnerable out here. A dangerous place to be if Drew’s intentions were anything but aboveboard. Maybe that was why she felt compelled to apply the brakes for a minute, to give her head—and her hormones—a minute to cool. “What are you doing out here?”
“Looking for you,” he said hesitantly, and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Holson hasn’t put in an appearance.”
Drew tipped his head in the opposite direction. “He’s around the bend and up a ways, just arrived a minute ago. Considering how you were willing to dine with a stranger to get a chance to eavesdrop, I figured I’d better come find you.”
Blair crossed her arms.
“If I wanted to have my way with you, I would have cornered you on the beach instead of waiting hours to lure you out here.” He delivered the observation with only a hint of wickedness that both relaxed her and proved she wasn’t the only one good at reading people. “Or you could skip the clandestine meeting altogether and we could grab another drink. More dessert,” he prompted hopefully.
She laughed and shook her head. “Lead the way. To Holson,” she quickly added when he looked ready to cart her off to the resort’s nearest bar.
He started walking backwards. “A drink afterwards then?”
“You’re relentless.”
He rewarded her with another devastating smile. “Well, Pot, you’ve tailed a politician to an exclusive resort and are stalking through the woods at night to spy on him.”
“Point taken.”
With another irresistible grin, he backtracked along the eastern edge of the resort, skirting a discreetly disguised maintenance building. He paused at the far corner of the building. The sound of voices rose above the faraway drift of music and rushing waves.
Reaching back, Drew took her hand. The strength she felt in his soft grip spun a hot weave that wrapped aroun
d her midsection. One that pulled tighter with every brush of his thumb across the back of her hand.
He tugged her around the side of the building where a small copse of trees and the sprawling shadows they cast along the ground kept them hidden from the small group. Two of the men, who she easily identified as Jonas and his assistant, spoke heatedly. The third man she didn’t recognize, but looked like hired muscle.
It was the fourth man, however, who caught her full attention. Lawrence Watts. The retired cop had recently been released after serving a lengthy prison term for extortion. She knew from her homework Holson had tried to distance himself from Watts when things had gone bad years ago and had managed to escape being implicated.
They were close enough she could pick up on a bit of their exchange, recognizing the mention of one of Holson’s biggest campaign contributors. There had been a rumor his contributor wasn’t willingly backing him, and the sudden appearance of Watts certainly supported that theory. If Holson had used Watts in the past to move up the political ladder, he might not hesitate to use him again.
Her source had been more tight-lipped than usual, only going so far as to say that what Holson was into now made political corruption look like Little League. So either her source hadn’t known who Holson was meeting, or he didn’t think it important enough to mention.
Watts paced away from Holson, then pivoted around, closing the distance between the two men in three clipped strides. Whatever was said was spoken too low for her to overhear, but Watts’s body vibrated with a barely controlled fury.
She took a tentative step forward, wincing at the branch that cracked beneath her foot. Drew tensed beside her, his grip on her hand tightening. She watched him reach over his shoulder, only to stop and let his hand fall back to his side. His expression turned from curious to a granite alertness that had the hair on the back of her neck standing up.
“Check it out,” Holson growled, and she took a step closer to Drew.
She glanced from him to the men, only seeing Holson and Watts now. Where had the other two disappeared to?
A shiver of apprehension snaked down her spine, and she scanned the area, aware Holson and Watts were either whispering or no longer talking. Because they had finished their conversation? Or had they realized they weren’t as alone as they’d thought?
Drew pulled her closer to the trees, and she dug in her heels. She knew better than to push her luck, yet the journalist in her was loath to leave before she had gotten something more concrete on Holson.
Another sharp tug on her hand, and she followed—albeit reluctantly. She’d witnessed enough to know her source had set her on the right path, even if she was still missing some crucial pieces, namely the irrefutable ones that would expose whatever Holson was up to.
A sharp command that sounded like Go! cut through the night behind them. The thought of a one-on-one with Watts or Holson’s security detail, slammed her heart against her ribs.
Drew’s manacle-like grip yanked her into a run. They cut across the edge of the woods, nearly losing her sandal in the process, and hit another stone pathway she assumed led to the beach. She darted a look over her shoulder, not seeing anyone but hearing the sound of nearby foliage being trampled.
He dragged her into the woods, deeper this time, and pushed her behind a towering tree trunk. She could barely make out Drew’s outline, let alone figure out how he’d managed to lead them through the dark woods that fast without either of them tripping over an exposed root or running straight into a tree.
Drew released her hand, only to softly grip her waist. His warm breath rushed across her cheek. “Exactly how often do you do this kind of thing?”
Relieved to no longer hear anyone pursuing them and increasingly preoccupied with how little space separated her from Drew, Blair fumbled to remember the question. “Do you mean following a story in general or running through the woods with a man I hardly know?”
“Both.” She heard the smile in his voice.
“Again, this is a first for me.”
He planted his other hand against the tree, effectively caging her in. “I guess that’s lucky for me then.”
“Depends on whether you consider getting caught spying lucky,” she managed, though she wasn’t interested in talking anymore. Not when his mouth hovered tortuously above the curve of her neck. Warmth radiated from him, and the scent of his soap made her want to lean forward just to breathe him in. Though they were no longer running, her heart continued to pound for another reason altogether.
She lifted her hand, molding her palm to his chest.
His rough jaw grazed her cheek. “If it gets me alone in the dark with you, who am I to complain?”
She closed her eyes, her nerve endings sliding together in a hot tangle. His thigh slipped between hers, his upper body pressing her back against the tree. Drew played with the hem of her dress, but made no move to hike it up. His other hand curved around her lower ribs, his fingers brushing in wide strokes.
The lazy caress caught the underside of her breast, and she sucked in a breath. If they weren’t in the dark, he would have been able to see her nipples strain against her sleek bra and dress, and every rasp of friction across the sensitive peaks sent sparks of pleasure shooting through her.
He shifted closer and the firm tease of hard muscle against her sex jammed her arousal level through the roof. The urge to run her hands down his front, explore his athletic frame more thoroughly, overwhelmed her. Making out with a stranger—in the middle of the woods no less—was so far outside the norm for her she didn’t know how to stop the thrill of it from infusing her veins. Or that she even wanted to.
Drew caught her hand, slowing the trail of her fingers, as though he didn’t want her to rush. He dragged her hand lower, and lower, stopping when she brushed the snap of his pants. His grip tightened, a long exhale whispering across her ear.
She bit her lip and kept going, pausing where his pants stretched tight at his zipper. His fingers curled around hers, closing her palm around the hard length of his cock. He groaned softly, and fire crackled under her skin, burning hottest deep in her sex. She rubbed against the thigh still locked between hers and tipped her head back, seeking his mouth.
Drew tensed. “Don’t move,” he warned, then melted back into the shadows so quickly she might have imagined he’d been there at all.
She opened her mouth to call him back, but stopped. Exactly what kind of work was he in? He’d avoided the subject at dinner, but twice now he’d reacted quickly. Her earlier curiosity far surpassed casual interest now.
Blair strained to hear him moving around, but heard only the dull roar of surf and occasional movement of whatever nocturnal creatures scrambled in the trees overhead. Drew had to be standing perfectly still somewhere within reach. There was no way he could have moved away so soundlessly, was there? Her eyes had adjusted to the dark as much as they were going to and she couldn’t see Drew among the shadows.
She straightened away from the tree, her breaths coming faster. More than once a story had led her into unfamiliar territory, but this was a first. She took a tentative step forward, then realized she really wasn’t sure what direction they’d come from. She couldn’t see the point in Drew abandoning her, but some men got their rocks off on stupid shit. Still, she waited, giving him the benefit of the doubt.
“Let’s go.”
Blair jumped at the dark shape that paused in front of her before grabbing her hand. “How do you do that?”
“What?”
“Keep sneaking up on me like that. It’s weird.”
He moved slower this time, seeming to have no trouble at all navigating through the woods. Whatever field he worked in, it had to deal with some kind of nature or survival skills. How else could he move so effortlessly and without appearing to be hindered by the dark or the terrain?
She was grateful when the trees thinned and they emerged at the edge of a path and a staircase leading down to the beach. At least out in the op
en she didn’t need to rely on him to lead the way. The threat of discovery seemed to have passed, but Drew didn’t relinquish his hold on her. Her hand warmed in his grasp, and she took a step closer to him.
His head snapped up. “Damn, they’re persistent.” He motioned for them to take the stairs.
There wasn’t time to confirm they were still being followed. He tugged her down the steps after him and up the beach.
He stopped and faced her. “Still with me?”
Hearing nothing, she frowned. “Uh…yes?”
Drew dropped to the ground, taking her with him.
Clearly yes had been the wrong answer.
He rolled at the last second, pinning her beneath him. His body has taken the brunt of impact but she’d still been knocked breathless. Trapped beneath him and reminded of her earlier daydream, she couldn’t be sure that was entirely because of his maneuver.
His shoulders tensed under the grapple hold she had on his shoulders, but his smile remained devilish. “Here they come.”
And that was all the warning she got before he slanted his mouth across hers.
Warm and soft, his lips molded to hers. Her blood heated on contact and she couldn’t tamp down the faint whimper that slid up her throat the moment his tongue slipped across her bottom lip and pushed into her mouth.
One of his arms was trapped beneath her, his hand and fingers caressing the nape of her neck. The possessive hold tightened as the kiss moved from slow and tentative to dangerously explosive. She felt a groan rumble in his chest, and the answering wave of heat that swept through her at the primitive sound made her arch beneath him.
Blair draped her arm around his neck, dragging him closer. The man kissed the same way he flirted—sexy, playful, and when you let your guard down, he moved in for the kill. In under five seconds she’d gone from every muscle locking up at finding herself thrown to the ground to wanting to wrap herself around every inch of the powerful frame pressing her harder into the sand.
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