Notorious

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  He didn’t go back to the suite until he had to change into his tux. Bracing himself for Keely to be parading around in something sexy or in nothing at all, he discovered she wasn’t even there.

  While he was taking his shower and getting dressed, he expected her to show up at any moment. Eventually his curiosity turned to irritation. She’d been invited to this wedding, and she’d damn sure better not be late. Then his irritation changed to concern. What if she’d gone back to the topless bar and taken that job, after all?

  When he’d seen her last she was headed off toward the hotel’s salon, but maybe she’d ducked out of that. He almost called Greg and Tina’s room to find out if Tina knew where Keely might be. But he didn’t really want to do that.

  Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, he struggled with his bow tie. In the few times he’d ever worn a tux, he’d never really learned how to tie the damn thing. With a growl of frustration, he pulled it loose and started over.

  A second before Keely spoke, he smelled her raspberry lotion. Instantly his groin tightened.

  “Need some help, cowboy?”

  He looked in the mirror and she was reflected there, leaning casually in the wide arch separating the bedroom and the bathroom.

  Her purse was slung over her shoulder and a shopping bag dangled from her hand. She looked as if she’d been outside—her hair was tousled and her cheeks were pink from the heat. She was also breathing fast, despite her relaxed pose against the doorway. The crocheted halter top she wore quivered with each breath she took, and he wondered if she’d hurried up here because she was running late or because she was eager to see him again.

  “That bow tie seems to be getting the better of you,” she said. “Don’t you have to be down there in a few minutes?”

  “Yep.” He met her gaze in the mirror and weighed the risk of having her help him tie it. “Are you going to have time to get ready?”

  “Sure. I have at least a half hour more than you do. I’ll get dressed after you leave. But you can’t go with your tie looking like that.” She put down her purse and her shopping bag and came toward him. “Turn around and let me see what I can do.”

  He assumed she’d learned the skill from hanging out with guys who regularly wore these monkey suits. Knowing Keely, she might be planning to turn this into a very seductive operation. Filled with misgivings, he faced her. “How was the manicure session?”

  “Lotus Blossom Pink.” She held up both hands to show him her nails.

  They were covered in a pearly color that reminded him of the inside of a seashell. Or the inside curve of her ear. Or the inside of…places he’d do well not to think about. Damn, but she smelled good.

  She stepped closer and took the ends of the bow tie in her pink-tipped fingers. “Now hold still,” she murmured.

  Oh, he’d hold still. He didn’t dare move a muscle. He just hoped that involuntary reactions wouldn’t take over. Some things he couldn’t control.

  Staring at a point over her head, he tried to block out all sensation, but he wasn’t having much luck. He was very much aware of the light, whispery sound of her breathing, the brush of her fingers and the scent of raspberries. If she leaned forward a fraction, her breasts would touch the front of his white pleated shirt. He clenched his hands at his sides.

  “Shoot,” she muttered.

  He glanced down and knew immediately that was a mistake. Keely could be the most provocative, tempting woman in the world when she tried. But right now, to his complete amazement, she wasn’t trying. And he discovered she could be just as irresistible when she didn’t try.

  All her concentration was on his tie, and she’d tucked her tongue into the corner of her mouth while she worked. Apparently she didn’t know much more about this process than he did, but she’d been willing to jump in and help. He found that endearing.

  Frowning fiercely, she pulled the tie this way and that.

  “Want me to try again?” he asked.

  “No, I’m going to get it. I’m just out of practice.”

  That meant she hadn’t been doing this favor for any man recently. Noah was glad to hear it.

  “There!” She stepped back with a huge smile of triumph. “I did it!”

  A lump of emotion stuck in his throat. He remembered seeing that expression on her face when she was nine years old. As a self-important twelve-year-old he’d been teaching her how to rope her horse as the gelding circled them in the corral. When she’d finally settled her loop over her horse’s head, she’d given him that exact grin.

  Her grin had turned to surprise when the rope had tightened and jerked her off her feet. He’d forgotten to tell her what to do after she’d roped the horse. Her skinned hands and knees were all his fault that day, and he’d blamed himself for weeks.

  He’d been worried about resisting Keely when she turned on her sexual charm, but he might have an even tougher time resisting her when she reminded him of the eager, happy little kid she used to be.

  “You look very nice, Noah,” she said softly. There was no taunt in her green eyes this time. Her compliment was simply and sincerely given as if she had no ulterior motive.

  He was lost. “Keely.” He gripped her arms, his fingers registering the warmth and smoothness of her skin.

  Awareness blazed in her eyes. “You have to go,” she said, her voice husky.

  “I have to kiss you first.”

  “Noah—”

  “I have to.” He settled his mouth over hers with a groan of relief. Yes. How he’d needed this kiss, ached for it. Yet it was a different kind of ache from the one he’d had the night before. There was a sexual edge to this longing, but it was more about cherishing her than making frenzied love to her. It was the kind of ache that scared the hell out of him.

  Ah, the joys of Keely’s mouth—lips plump against his, responding, moistening, parting to let him stroke his tongue inside. His grip on her arms tightened, his fingers massaged that silky skin. And before he knew it, he’d slid both hands to her neck and untied her halter top.

  And then…then he went a little crazy, filling both hands with her magnificent breasts, kissing his way over her jaw and down her throat. Braced against the edge of the counter, he leaned down and claimed his prize.

  He grew dizzy from the pure pleasure of her breast in his mouth.

  And she tunneled her fingers through his hair and held him close. “Noah…” she said, gasping out his name. “You have to…leave.”

  Oh, no. He couldn’t leave now. Not when he’d found heaven.

  “You…should go.”

  With a murmur of protest he lifted his mouth and caressed one wet, erect nipple with his thumb while he moved to dampen the other with his tongue. Men had died for less reward than this. He could barely believe he was really cupping the weight of her beautiful breasts. Squeezing them with trembling fingers, he gave thanks for his good fortune as he tasted and tasted again, his mind numbed by the wonder of what was happening. The sensations bombarding him made his head buzz and his ears ring.

  And ring, and ring. Wow, that was some sensation, like a…telephone.

  Keely backed away from his embrace. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

  Dazed, he stared at her as she went over to get her purse and then proceeded to dig through it. A man could go crazy watching uncovered breasts like hers quiver. Finally she pulled a cell phone from the bottom of her purse.

  A cell phone?

  She pushed a button and shoved the phone back in her purse. Then she glanced up at him. “You’d better go,” she murmured.

  “What—” He paused to clear his throat. “What was that?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You have a cell phone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?” He couldn’t fit the cell phone in with her supposed rootless living style. Topless dancers moving from city to city didn’t have cell phones. Or did they?

  “It’s for work,” she said.

  Everything clicked into place for
him. “Keely, are you a call girl?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  He should have guessed she’d deny it, both now and the first time he’d asked her. What had he expected her to do, confess such a thing? “You are, aren’t you? And you were afraid to tell me.”

  “No, really. I—”

  “It’s okay.” He couldn’t blame her, not when every time he looked at her he wanted to take her to bed. After years of getting that reaction from men, she might have become convinced that was what she was born to do. “It’s not your fault that men want you,” he said. “Hell, look at me. I can’t keep my hands off you, and I promised myself I would.”

  “Noah, I’m telling you I’m not a call girl.”

  “And I’m telling you that I understand. We’ll work around it.”

  She threw up both hands. “Okay, believe what you want. But right now, you’d better get downstairs.” She stood. Her halter top had fallen until it was draped around her waist, but she made no move to retie it around her neck.

  “Yeah, I’d better get going.” But he couldn’t seem to stop looking at her. Light from the overhead fixture in the bathroom picked up the sheen of moisture on her breasts, moisture left there by his eager mouth. God help him, he wanted more.

  A call girl. That made it even more important that he not make love to her. She needed a completely platonic relationship with him if she had a prayer of changing her life. And so far he’d completely bombed out on the platonic thing.

  Gazing at him, she pulled the halter top off over her head and shook out her hair. “Unless you want a quickie before you go. On the house.”

  “No!” He backed toward the door, while his whole body screamed with frustration. “Listen, I should never have kissed you. I should never have gone beyond kissing you.” But, oh, God, was it fantastic. He could still taste her on his tongue. “Tomorrow we’ll map out a job strategy. I’m thinking something in sales.”

  She arched her eyebrows. “Because I already have sales experience, you mean? I guess that makes sense. If I can sell my body, I can sell widgets.”

  “That’s not what I meant!”

  “I must not be very good at selling my body, though.” She kicked off her sandals and began to peel off her capris. “I’ve offered it to you several times now and you keep turning me down.”

  His heart thudded in his chest as he watched her take off the last of her clothes. A quiver of need passed through him. “It’s very, very hard.”

  She laughed and glanced at his crotch. “I can see that.”

  “Hey! I didn’t mean—”

  “Men have told me all sorts of lies, Noah, but all I have to do is look at the fly of their pants and I know exactly what they’re thinking. It’s like those witching sticks some people use to find water. Men get around me and—boing!—that witching stick points right in my direction.” The devilish gleam was back in her eyes when she met his gaze. “If you decide you want to drill for water, come and see me. I’ll give you a special rate.”

  It took incredible willpower for him to turn away from a very naked, very tempting Keely and walk out of the suite. Somehow he did it.

  11

  NOAH WENT THROUGH the motions of seating people in the rows of white folding chairs on the grassy courtyard where the wedding would be held, but his thoughts were still back in the suite with Keely. He’d been stupid not to see the truth immediately. The interview she’d been going to in the topless bar might have been with some sort of Las Vegas madam. Or worse yet, a pimp. The thought made him shudder.

  Well, he was going to save her from that kind of life, just the way Richard Gere had saved Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Except Richard Gere had hired Julia Roberts for sex in the first place, so that had been part of the deal from the beginning.

  If you decide you want to drill for water, she’d said, her skin flushed with desire, her eyes issuing a definite invitation. Was he a total fool to be so chained to his principles? Probably. His friends would certainly say so. Keely would certainly say so.

  Then something else occurred to him. In her chosen profession as a hired lover, she wouldn’t go to bed with a man because she wanted him. Having sex because she wanted to might be a real treat for her, a vacation from the same-ol’, same-ol’.

  Now, there was a dangerous concept. If he truly believed that, he could start thinking that he’d be doing her a favor, giving her a chance for some mutual satisfaction for a change. That might be the only motivation he’d need to send him over the edge.

  Then Keely appeared and he wondered if he hadn’t toppled over the edge some time ago.

  If he hadn’t, this latest dress of hers would do the trick. A rush of possessiveness heated his skin as if he’d just opened an oven door, and he hurried over so that he’d be the one to escort her to her seat.

  She smiled as he approached. The smile was sly and seductive, and it put the final touch on a picture designed to bring him to his knees. She’d tamed her wild curls, pinning them on top of her head for a regal, sophisticated look. But it wasn’t any less sexy than the tousled style she usually wore. Maybe it was even more sexy, because he could imagine the fun of mussing her up.

  Rhinestone earrings and a small rhinestone-trimmed shoulder purse sparkled in the light from the tiki torches surrounding the courtyard. But the fit of her dress was the real showstopper. It shimmered over her body like mercury, outlining her hourglass figure to perfection. Made of an iridescent material, it rippled and flashed like a hologram with her every movement.

  Although the dress had a high-necked collar, a diamond-shaped cutout beneath the collar showed an impressive amount of cleavage. And the back of the dress was nonexistent except for that little band of a collar. Beneath it was a spectacular view of supple, golden skin sweeping down to her waist.

  Her skirt was ankle length, but a slit up the side ran to midthigh. Another few inches and it would graze the edge of her panties. That was assuming she wore any tonight. She had a wicked gleam in her eyes, so absolutely anything was possible.

  Pulse racing, he offered his arm. When she slipped her hand through and moved in close, he took a deep breath and nearly zoned out on raspberry lotion. “Where do you want to sit?” he asked.

  “On your lap,” she murmured.

  “Keely.” He thought his heart would pound right out of his chest.

  “Is that a yes or a no?” She flashed him another of her I-dareyou smiles.

  “You’re outrageous.”

  “And you’re turned on. I’ll bet your witching stick is twitching. I’ll bet you’re picturing all the possibilities right now.”

  “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” And she had a right to be. She was dead-on accurate about the state of his mind and his body.

  “It’s a safe bet that you’ll be thinking about me straddling you instead of listening to the ceremony. And speaking of that, I’ll sit on the groom’s side of the aisle. He asked me to the wedding, after all.”

  Taking another deep breath, Noah escorted her to the seats on the right side of the aisle.

  “And I can tell you’re just dying to know, so I’ll end the suspense. I’m not wearing panties. They ruined the line of the dress and it was too hot for panty hose. You can think about that while you’re standing at the altar trying not to look my way.”

  Swallowing hard, he halted near a row of chairs with a vacant seat. He noticed that most of the men in the vicinity had their attention firmly fixed on Keely. He lowered his voice. “Are you planning to throw out lines like that all night?”

  “I’m only trying to live up to your expectations, Noah. Do you like the dress?”

  “It’s…um…tight.”

  “Well, that’s on purpose, because if it was too loose you’d be able to see right down the front.” She drew closer and dropped her voice to a low purr. “I’m not wearing a bra, either.”

  He struggled for his next breath.

  She ran her index finger along his sleeve. “Does looking a
t me in this dress make you hot?”

  He cleared his throat.

  “I’ll take that as an affirmative. Besides, I know it does. I can tell by the way you’re breathing, sort of rough, like a car that needs to be tuned. I’d be glad to give you a tune-up, Noah.”

  “You’d better take your seat.”

  “Guess so.” She squeezed his arm briefly before turning toward the row of chairs. Then she glanced over her shoulder. “See you later, big guy,” she murmured, puckering her lips in a phantom kiss.

  Moments later he took his place at the altar with the other groomsmen. As the minister led Jenny and Brandon through their vows, he tried to pay attention to the ceremony. After all, that was the reason he was here—to witness his buddy getting married.

  But instead, he spent the entire ceremony exactly as Keely had predicted he would. He tried not to look at her, but he couldn’t help it. And every time his attention strayed in her direction, he thought about how little separated him from her naked body. Only one tight, silvery dress. A dress with no back and a slit up the side. Once the collar was unfastened, she’d be bare to the waist. And if they were alone, he could easily push aside that skirt….

  KEELY BECAME more caught up in the ceremony than she’d expected to be. She’d meant to concentrate on Noah and complete the seduction she’d started with her entrance. Instead, she found herself listening to the words of the ceremony, and for some stupid reason they were making her cry.

  She blinked back her tears. Maybe B.J.’s upcoming wedding was hitting her harder than she wanted to admit. When she thought of B.J. getting married without her being there, her stomach felt hollow. Years ago they’d talked about being maid of honor for each other. It had been a given. She wondered if B.J. had chosen her friend Sally for that job.