Forget You
Page 3
She faltered. “What did you say?”
“We’re seated at table fifty-three. It’s on the right.”
“What’s the rush?”
“We’re beating the crowd.”
Sophie scanned the mostly empty room. Her puzzled expression morphed into exasperation. “Yeah, I can see how everyone is running to their seats.” She sat down at their table. The slit in the gown widened and exposed a generous amount of her silky-looking thigh.
A guy around King’s age passed by with his date. His gaze drifted over Sophie’s legs and lingered on her breasts. He met King’s direct stare and quickly averted his attention.
Asshole. King scooted her chair farther under the table.
She nudged his arm. “Why are you staring at that guy? Do you know him?”
“No.” King sat next to her. Neither would she. Hell would freeze over before that guy or anyone like him made a move on Sophie.
three
SOPHIE TOOK A bite of dry, herbed chicken and forced down a cube of red potato. Lack of friendliness from the people sitting around her sucked even more palatability from the poorly seasoned meal.
The three other couples at the table with them had shown up together. They’d exchanged polite hellos with her and King, then proceeded to chat strictly among themselves.
Not that she had much to add to their conversation. Ski vacations, problems with nannies, and recommendations for landscapers weren’t remotely issues in her life. She’d at least expected King to talk to her, but since they’d arrived, his attitude had steadily taken a one-eighty. She pushed around a spear of steamed broccoli on her plate. Appetite gone, she set down her fork. Other than to ask for the salt, King hadn’t spoken a word during the entire meal. Not socializing wasn’t like him.
Servers wearing formal black-and-white uniforms cleared the plates away in preparation for dessert.
The other couples at the table segued into a conversation about their busy schedules. One of the women was in charge of organizing a realtor’s conference. Someone else mentioned an upcoming college reunion. Both spoke of their waning interest in contacting the hotel about booking space for events.
King stirred his coffee, seemingly oblivious to what the couples were discussing.
He should listen. It could be helpful for him to hear their opinions. Sophie leaned toward him.
A young blond server swooped in with dessert.
The plate grazed Sophie and chocolate layer cake smeared over her breasts.
The server stood, mouth agape. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry!”
Cold whipped cream seeped through the thin fabric, freezing Sophie’s nipples. Crap. She was sporting massive headlights. Her cheeks burned.
King did a double take at her chest. He cleared his throat and looked back at his coffee.
The other couples’ stares reflected judgment.
Everyone at the table, including King, probably viewed her as a klutz. Humiliation fully bloomed inside her. Sophie focused on dabbing away the mess. “I better take care of this.” She snagged her clutch from the table and dashed from the ballroom.
In the bathroom stall, she slid down the straps of the gown. Gooey chocolate and cream streaked her chest and stained the bodice. Hopefully, the dress wasn’t as ruined as her night with King. He was so aloof. Maybe his change of attitude was because he regretted his decision to bring her. The women he dated knew how to act, what to say, and they didn’t wear dessert at the end of dinner.
As she used damp paper towels to clean up, two women came in and stood in front of the counter with sinks just outside her stall.
One of them was in rant mode. “I should have known tonight was all about business for my husband and not us having a date night. When we got here, he snuck upstairs to see the new restaurant they’re building. Ever since he came down, he hasn’t been thrilled. Darn. I forgot my lipstick. Can I borrow yours?”
An issue with the restaurant. Sophie’s heart sped up. That was a problem. King needed to know about this. She slipped the shoulder straps of her gown back up. Maybe she could pry more information from the woman. She tugged on the side zipper of her dress, but it refused to budge.
The woman continued talking to her friend. “I’m as good as invisible. He’s going to be glued to his phone for the rest of the night.” The women’s footsteps signaled they were headed out. “He called . . .”
The bathroom door shut.
The zipper unsnagged. Sophie grabbed her clutch from the hook on the stall door. She hurried out of the ladies’ room and into a wall of muscle.
King gripped her arms. “You were taking so long I came to check on you. Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She peeked over his shoulder, but she couldn’t distinguish the women who’d just left from the crowd mingling in the lobby.
His concerned frown morphed into a scowl. “Who are you looking for?”
The way he was acting, she shouldn’t tell him anything. She tamped down irritation and led him off to the side. “I overheard a conversation. A woman said her husband snuck upstairs to see the restaurant. Something bothered him, but she didn’t say what.”
“Are they attending the gala?”
“I’m not sure.”
He glanced toward the ballroom. “We should head back to our table.”
“Don’t you want to poke around upstairs?”
His brows shot up. “Are you serious?”
Was that too bold? Prickles of embarrassment crept over her. “Yes, but if you don’t thi—”
He nudged her inside an open elevator. “Of course I do. I’m just amazed you’re up for it.” He regarded her as if he were seeing her for the first time and liked what he’d discovered. “You’re full of surprises tonight.”
She warmed under his intense stare. “We should get off two floors below the restaurant and take the stairs.” She pushed the button for the eighth floor. “That way, security might not notice us.”
“Sounds like you have experience with breaking and entering.”
The curiosity in his expression almost made her spill one of the sins of her youth. In her college days, she and her friends had figured out how to dodge the security cameras on the roof of their dorm to hide their stash of alcohol. Back then, she hadn’t always done the expected or played it safe. She’d tried new things, taken more chances.
The bravado she’d once possessed rose up. “I’m not confessing anything.”
“I’m sure I can convince you.” A grin that never failed to make her day lit up his gorgeous face.
“You can try.”
“Maybe I will.” The friendly challenge in his eyes made her tingle.
What would happen if she closed the distance, pressed her lips to his, and told him he should do all he could to make her tell her most intimate secrets?
The elevator opened.
They walked briskly down the hall past closed hotel room doors and into the stairwell.
On the tenth floor, King opened the door that led directly into the restaurant and glanced out. “We’re good.”
They walked from the corner into the expansive room surrounded by windows. Starlight illuminated the construction tarp sectioning off areas in the darkened, glass-walled space.
As they passed the elevator, nestled into a solid wall on the left, Sophie wobbled on the uneven surface. Her stiletto heels scraped over the concrete ground.
“Watch your step.” King activated the flashlight on his phone. “Loose nails are all over the place.” He intertwined his fingers with hers.
Sophie’s heart tripped. Act natural. It wasn’t a big deal. He was just holding on to her in case she stumbled. “Notice anything unusual?”
“Other than the place not being secured properly, no.”
She followed him around a corner framed out of metal. Unfinished walls housed two rows of tall wooden crates along with pallets stacked with boxes. “Do you think lack of security was what the woman’s husband was upset about?”
The elevator chimed its arrival. Footsteps approached the entrance to the restaurant construction site.
King shut off the light and hauled Sophie between the crates. As the steps came closer, he grasped her hips and pulled her firmly back against him.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” a woman said. “I have to be downstairs in twenty minutes.”
“That’s good enough for me,” a man with a Southern drawl replied. “Baby, I’ve been dreaming about tasting you all day.”
Clothing rustled.
The air froze inside Sophie’s lungs. They weren’t about to . . . ?
“Oh . . . yes.” The woman’s throaty purrs obliterated doubt.
Sophie fought the urge to squirm. She should cover her ears, but with all the noise those two were making, she’d still hear them. Was it odd she wanted to peek?
The couple’s needy moans grew louder.
Memories of Sophie’s last erotic dream about King floated in. Her sitting on his desk. Him sweeping soft kisses down her throat as he inched up her dress.
“There. Right there.” The woman panted. “Gilly, yes . . . yes. Yes!”
A zipper tore open. What sounded like the ripping of a condom package joined the couple’s heavy breathing. Moments later, skin slapped skin.
“Oh . . . oh.” The woman wailed. “Harder. Harder!”
Heat pooled in Sophie’s belly. Her imagination grew bolder as she envisioned the couple having sex. Want curled inside of her like a tightly wound spring. Every imagined thrust made her sex pulse.
King’s grip on her hips snatched Sophie back into reality. Her ass was pressed against King’s front. And he had an erection. The heat of embarrassment crept into her face.
King’s low groan held hints of torture and want.
Sophie’s own feminine power sizzled through her. King had never not dictated the next move. He was always cool and confident, and yet she did this to him. What was he like out of control? Desire and curiosity got the better of her. She circled her hips.
His cock pressed more firmly to her lower spine. “Sophie?” Huskiness filled his voice.
Carefully, as if testing the waters, he joined her in a slow grind.
They easily fell into sync. With every rhythmic roll of their hips, need built inside of Sophie. Suddenly, she was fully transported into the other couple’s experience. It was she and King caught up in their own clandestine liaison and feeling the thrill of the risk. It was King, naked and powerful, satisfying her with his thick, hard cock. Sophie’s sex clenched. She needed to come so badly the ache threatened to cause tears.
As if he’d heard her, King eased his hand into the slit of her dress. He traced over the thin cord of the thong on her hip and stroked down her inner thigh.
“Do it.” The whispered plea slipped past her lips. Playing this out with him was so wrong, but she didn’t want to stop. His cock, swelling against her back, brought a rush of erotic sensation. She lost her grip on the clutch and it fell from her hand.
Moans of passion from the other couple masked its thump to the floor.
King swept a kiss over her ear. “Open your legs.”
Sophie obeyed.
King shook with an unsteady breath.
He’d fought hard to keep his shit together as he’d listened to the couple. He’d lost it when Sophie had ground her hips against him. Was she fantasizing about joining the man and woman for a threesome? Or having sex with him? He glided up and down the seam of her sex. His control wavered as she quivered in his arms. It didn’t matter what she imagined. In reality, he would make her come.
The woman on the other side wailed. “More. I need more.”
He slid his fingers into Sophie. She undulated her hips. The slick wetness of her sex closed and pulsed. His dick throbbed. If only he were inside of her . . . but right now, this was about pleasing Sophie. He circled her clit.
She clutched his thighs and whimpered.
Grasping her chin, he turned her face toward him. King thrust his tongue into her mouth and sank his fingers deeper.
Sophie bucked against his hand. Her moans hummed into him as she grasped his nape and kissed him harder. She followed the pace of his strokes with the roll of her hips. Slow . . . quick . . . even slower. She quivered in his arms as his own shudder of need rocked through him.
Raw desire permeated the air. It was so palpable his mouth watered at the prospect of tasting Sophie’s arousal.
He caressed down her throat to her breast. Earlier, when she was covered in dessert, it had taken every civil part of him not to follow her into the bathroom. He’d wanted to suck the chocolate and cream from her hard nipples. Fuck. He would have brought another dessert with him just to cover her in chocolate again and take his time licking it away.
Lust punched into him. King buried his face into the side of her neck. “Come for me, Sophie.”
“No.” She panted as she arched into his touch. “Not yet.” Her pussy fluttered and pulsed.
His balls grew tight. Sweat dampened his brow. She was so damn close. If they continued like this, he’d blow his load. She had to come. Now. He squeezed the peak of her breast as he feathered her clit.
Sophie’s sex clenched rapidly as she climaxed.
It would feel like heaven if he were inside her right then as she writhed in pleasure. Her knees buckled. Her whimpers penetrated the heartbeats exploding in his ears.
King clamped a hand over her mouth. “Shh. I’ve got you.”
Their harsh breathing was in sync as Sophie sank against him and he held her up.
“Tomorrow?” The guy murmured.
What sounded like the smacking of lips along with moans raised images of passionate kisses between the man and woman.
“Yes, tomorrow, but we have to go.” The woman said over the sounds of clothes rustling and zippers pulled shut. “Someone will miss us.”
Their hurried footfalls faded away.
An exhale rushed out of King. His breathing along with his heartbeat filled his ears. He wanted Sophie so badly he ached. “What happens now?”
Sophie turned around. Shadows covered her face, but desire as strong as his crackled like tangible energy between them. “I vote we finish this in private.”
He hadn’t intended to ask the question aloud. The answer was painfully clear. He’d put her safely in the limo, then he’d take a cab home, where he’d either relieve his misery himself in the shower or drink enough Gentleman Jack to help him forget what just happened.
She skimmed her palms up his chest. “King?”
He kissed her. Sophie’s delectable curves fit against him. The way she’d come apart in his arms earlier promised he’d experience uninhibited passion with her in bed. A vision of her under him, along with his cock pushing insistently against his slacks, decimated reason.
“Come on.” King led Sophie from the darkness of the restaurant.
He tapped the speed-dial function on his cell. “Carl, meet us at the Fifth Street exit.”
Sophie headed for the stairwell.
King tugged her the opposite direction. “Forget about security. We’re taking the fastest way out.”
Inside of the elevator, he pulled Sophie to him. Send her home. He still could, but the prospect of stripping off her dress and burying himself inside of her trapped him in the unyielding grip of sexual need.
She leaned against him. “I get why we’re taking the elevator, but why the side exit?”
“It’s the safest way for me to avoid getting arrested.”
“For what?”
“Knocking the shit out of anyone who gets in our way.”
“Stop teasing.”
“I’m not.” No one would prevent him from claiming every inch of her before the night was over. He caressed low on her ba
ck just above the curve of her ass. “You have no idea how much I want you.”
Her gaze darkened as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Maybe as badly as I want you.”
“We’ll see.” He swirled his tongue into her mouth. Her delicious taste saturated his senses. Kissing her was like a drug. Walk away. Hell. He couldn’t leave now if he tried.
four
IN THE ELEVATOR, Sophie lifted up to kiss him, and the slingbacks pinched her toes.
Meagan’s words from earlier slunk in. “I doubt you’ll be on your feet very long.”
The elevator opened.
Sophie shoved the recollection aside.
They went down a short vacant hallway and hurried out a glass door into the limousine.
The back door closed, and the car’s tinted windows shielded them from the outside world.
Carl settled into the driver’s seat. “Where to, sir?”
King looked to her as if seeking assent.
She knew exactly what she wanted. Him holding her, kissing her, making love to her. She leaned in and laid her hand on his chest.
King’s gaze zeroed in on her lips. “Take us to Grove Terrace. Raise the privacy screen.”
Grove Terrace? She’d never heard of the place. Kingman Partners maintained quarters for guests in the city. Was that where they were going?
The limo pulled from the curb and the tinted divider slid up between them and the driver.
King took possession of her mouth.
Questions or the need for answers were lost as she matched every stroke and glide of his tongue with her own.
He threaded his fingers into her hair. Pins loosened as he swept his lips down her cheek. “When you were in the ladies’ room, I couldn’t stop thinking about your breasts covered in chocolate.” He nipped her throat.
The light sting woke up every nerve in her body. “I thought you were mad at me.”
“No.” Openmouthed kisses followed the path of one of her dress straps as he pushed it down her shoulder. “I was angry about not being able to follow you and lick it off.”
Warmth from his mouth washed over her breast. Longing tormented her until his tongue swirled over her nipple. Desire blazed.