What would I touch first? Her tits were just begging to be held, but I also desperately needed to fill my palms with her ass. I wanted to pull out the clip that held her curls and yank her hair back until I could press my lips to the column of her neck. I wanted to yank her dress up and discover what kind of treasures she was hiding underneath. Would she be hiding a black lacy thong? Pearly white panties with bows? Maybe she was naked underneath, and I could sink my fingers inside her.
I was the kind of man who didn’t have to look far for a beautiful body to warm my bed, but there was a distinctive downfall to having so many women to choose from. It took more work to excite me, but one look at her, and my cock was already rising to the occasion.
Fuck. The blonde that I’d tied to my bed last night didn’t even have this effect on me, and she’d been very talented with her mouth.
The mystery woman’s friend said something in her ear, and she looked right at me. When her gaze met mine, I saw her eyes widen as she took me in. Her lips parted in surprise, and she suddenly whirled around. Amused, I straightened and started walking to the stairwell. I craved her. I’d pull her on the dance floor and hold her against me. It was so crowded tonight that I could easily flick my fingers over her clit until she came in the middle of all the other horny dancers.
Then I’d take her home and fuck her until she screamed.
Just as I reached the top of the stairwell, the bouncer grabbed my arm. “Mr. Montgomery? There’s a phone call for you.”
Of course there was. With a sigh, I headed back to the VIP room where the young waitress handed me the phone. She was a cute little brunette with a smile that said she knew she was attractive. If there was one good thing I could say about the club, it was that the owner knew how to staff it.
The glass separated me from the rest of the clubbers, but the floor still vibrated with the base, and I could still faintly hear the music. At the back, a private bar was fully stocked with only the finest liquors.
“Montgomery,” I growled into the receiver.
“You’re not picking up your cell,” Steinburg growled. Howard Steinburg was my Vice President of operations, and he’d been stressing over the investment meeting. While it was my money to do as I pleased, investing in Club 9 would have been a public move. He was concerned about how it would reflect on my character and my company.
Steinburg worried too much, but that’s why I kept him on.
“It’s a club,” I growled. “I can barely hear my own thoughts, let alone my damn phone. What is so important that it couldn’t wait until morning?”
“How did the meeting go?” Steinburg was a good twenty years older than my own thirty-two. He always liked to say that he was too old for pleasantries.
I turned around to watch the dancers below. “The numbers are good. The club has done well for the past six months, but I have a feeling it’s just a trend. In a few more months, it’ll be old news, and it’ll die just like the other ninety percent of the clubs in the city. I told the owner that I would think about it, but I don’t think it’s going to make me any money.”
Steinburg sighed in relief, and I couldn’t help but smile. I wasn’t exactly the golden child of the media, but the press wasn’t knocking down my door in search of scandal. The city had come to know me as a perpetual bachelor and playboy, but I didn’t break hearts or cause drama. Still, Steinburg made sure that my PR agents stayed on top of things. He’d been pissed when I told him that the manager of Club 9 had invited me to an investment meeting.
I was careful with where I invested my money, and I fielded offers on a weekly basis. It was rare for me to actually attend these meetings, but Club 9 was all the rage these days, and while I wouldn’t be investing, I was happy that I took the meeting.
As Steinburg blabbered on about how I had made the right decision, my mind wandered to the delicious treat downstairs. “Steinburg,” I said abruptly. “This is all stuff that you can tell me on Monday during normal business hours. Go to bed. Men your age went to sleep hours ago.”
“One day, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to my age and you won’t think those jokes are so funny,” he snapped. Without bothering to say goodbye, he hung up the phone. I chuckled as I put the phone back on the receiver and headed out of the room. The small second floor lounge served as overflow, but because it didn’t have a bar or dance floor, it was mostly for people trying to take phone calls or hide from club creepers. The glass windows separated it from the VIP room, but heavy curtains obstructed the view.
Leaning over the bannister again, I scanned the main floor for the woman, but she was nowhere to be found. Irritated that I had lost her, I headed back to the VIP lounge to exit out the back private entrance of the club.
My faithful driver, Danny O’Brien, had been with me for almost five years now. Although he’d moved from Ireland more than a decade ago, he still held fast to his Irish accent. He told me it was because it drove women crazy, but I had a feeling that Danny felt a little lost sometimes. Like everybody else, he needed something to remind him of home. A man in his late forties, he’d been married to the same woman since he was eighteen years old.
His wife was terrifying.
“Going home alone, Mr. Montgomery?” Danny was one of the few members of the staff who spoke freely to me. Although he was always polite, he rarely filtered his words.
I was not a fan of the backseat, so unless I was making a public appearance somewhere or riding with another passenger, I almost always sat up in the front with Danny. I was much more comfortable in the driver’s seat, but I always had Danny drive me when I knew that I would be drinking.
“It wasn’t a successful night,” I muttered before ducking into the car. The dark steel colored Bentley Continental GTC was my favorite car in my collection.
“Unsuccessful because you’re going home alone or because the investment didn’t work out like you wanted?” Danny teased as he started the car. The engine purred rather than roared, and I settled back in the leather seat.
“Both,” I said wryly. “I had my eyes on a beautiful wallflower, but Steinburg had to call and pull me away. I lost her.”
“Wallflower? That’ll be different,” Danny commented with a sly grin.
As we pulled out to the main street, several police cars flew past us with their lights flashing. “Just because you have to go home to the same woman every night doesn’t give you the right to judge my own love life,” I muttered as I watched the police cars. They were pulling into the club parking lot. What had happened?
“I get to go home to the same woman ever night,” Danny corrected. “And it’s not really a love life unless you actually cultivate more than a one-night stand.”
“Turn around.” I wanted to see what all the commotion was all about.
Danny obeyed without comment and within minutes, he parked close to the police cars. “What happened here?”
“That’s what I intend to find out. Stay here and keep the engine running. I won’t be long.” Exiting the car, I walked slowly to the closest officer as I took in the scene. A small crowd had gathered, and the police were still taping off a small section of the parking lot. In the middle of everything, one officer was draping a blanket across the shoulders of a woman.
My wallflower. As I took in the tangled mess of curls and green dress, I felt an invisible fist punch me in the stomach. “Excuse me. What’s going on?”
“No questions,” the officer said gruffly as he tried to wave me away.
“I’m Lucas Montgomery,” I said quietly. “I was just inside a few minutes ago.” It was rare for me to drop my name like that. Normally people knew who I was, and if they didn’t know, I didn’t care to tell them.
The officer’s eyes widened. “Did you just say Montgomery? Hold on just a minute. Don’t move.” He ran over to someone else and, after a few seconds of conversation, waved me in. I ducked under the tape.
“Mr. Montgomery, I’m Detective Allen. Are you familiar with a Sloan Whitlow?”
I noted that the detective had flipped open a notepad. “I’m not,” I said slowly.
The detective pointed to the woman behind him. Paramedics were still checking Sloan out. “That’s her. You have no idea who she is?”
“I saw her in the club, but I’ve never seen her before tonight, and I didn’t know her name. If you’re asking if I witnessed anything, the answer is no. I’m just here out of curiosity.”
“Curiosity, huh? Are you the Montgomery from Montgomery Industries?” Allen asked. His eyes gazed at me shrewdly.
I knew when I was being interrogated. Peeved, I shook my head. “I’m not answering any more questions until you tell me what happened. Otherwise, you can talk to my lawyer.”
“I apologize for the third degree, Mr. Montgomery. You’re not a suspect, but it took me by surprise when you showed up at the crime scene. Ms. Whitlow contends that while she was at her car, two men tried to abduct her. They said that Lucas Montgomery would pay for her return. She says that she has no idea who you are or what you do. She must have fought like hell to get away.”
“Is she okay?”
“A few scrapes from the pavement. Nothing severe. She’s a very lucky woman. Do you think she knows who you are?”
Immediately, I clenched my teeth. “She’s probably telling the truth. I did see her at the club, and I may have exhibited some signs of interest. Anyone watching me may have misconstrued that.”
“Did you walk to her? Dance with her? Buy her a drink?”
“No,” I said softly. “She was by the bar on the first floor, and I was on the second floor by the stairs leading up to the VIP room. I just watched her.”
“It must have been some look that you gave her,” the detective said softly. “Leave a number where we can contact you if we need to. There are cameras in the parking lot, but apparently the men were masked. We may have some further questions for you.”
I rattled off my cellphone number as I stared at Sloan. As if she knew that I was watching her, she turned her head and locked eyes with me. Her mouth parted in surprise, and I knew that she recognized me from the bar.
Rather than go talk to her, I thanked the officer and headed back to my car. I wasn’t quite ready to speak to her yet, but I did need to get more information about her. If she had been harmed because of me, I wanted to keep an eye on her. And if she were running some kind of game, I wanted to know.
There was just something about her that I wasn’t quite ready to let go of yet.
Chapter 3
Sloan
The blue lights flashed around me, and I wrapped the blanket tighter around my body. The officer took my statement, and the paramedic kept urging me to go to the hospital. The attack kept flashing in my mind.
“Damn. Lucas Montgomery is going to pay handsomely for your safe return.”
It couldn’t have lasted more than a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. My skin still burned from where I’d scraped it on the pavement, and loose gravel still bit into the palms of my hand.
The paramedic interrupted my thoughts, and I blinked. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.”
“That’s okay. There isn’t a whole lot more we can do, but if you feel any type of unusual pain, you need to get to a hospital. Do you understand?”
I nodded my head and tried to smile at him. As he packed his bag, I felt the heat of someone staring at me. Turning my head, I felt shock jolt through me. The gorgeous stranger from the club was speaking to the detective and watching me. Dropping the blanket from my shoulders, I took a couple steps towards him, but he had already turned and disappeared into the crowd.
“Excuse me, Detective? Who was that man that you were just speaking with?”
Detective Allen gazed at me steadily. “Why? Do you recognize him?”
Immediately, I flushed. After everything that had happened, I felt strange telling the detective that I needed the name of the man that made me wet with just one look. “He was watching me at the club,” I said lamely.
“I didn’t realize a man could cause so much trouble with just one look,” the detective muttered. “That’s Lucas Montgomery.”
“What?” I gasped. “I don’t understand. Is he someone important?”
The detective snorted. “He owns Montgomery Industries. He’s one of the richest men in the city.”
“I don’t pay much attention to business,” I said softly. “What did he say to you? Does he know who attacked me?”
“He wanted to know what happened and if you were okay. Says he doesn’t know you and doesn’t know why someone would think that he’d pay ransom for you.”
Rubbing my arms, I nodded. An angry shout drew my attention past him to the crowd where Randi was screaming at an officer.
“She’s my roommate,” I said as I rushed over. “It’s okay.”
“Sloan!” Randi wailed. “What the hell happened? These assholes wouldn’t let me talk to you. Are you okay? Do I need to kill someone?”
“It’s her birthday. She’s a little drunk,” I apologized to the officer as I grabbed her arm. “Randi, maybe don’t offer to kill a police officer. I’m okay. I’ll explain everything later.”
“Ms. Whitlow, do you want an officer to escort you home?”
A shiver of fear slid down my spine. Was there any chance that the men knew where I lived? “It might be nice if someone followed us.” I swallowed hard and squeezed Randi’s arm.
“Officer Jackson will follow you,” the detective said with a nod. “Go home and try to get some sleep. I’ll let you know if I have any further questions.”
Nodding, I pulled Randi through the small taped off area. Before I could get in the car, she threw her arms around me.
“I was so scared when I saw all the police lights and couldn’t find you in the club,” she whispered in my ear.
Holding her tightly, my eyes scanned the parking lot for any sign of the would-be kidnappers or for Lucas Montgomery. “Come on,” I murmured. “Let’s go home.”
I desperately needed a shot of tequila and a long hot shower. Anything to help keep the nightmares that would surely haunt me tonight at bay.
By Monday, I had pushed Friday night’s horrific events to the back of my mind. Determined to focus on school, I’d spent most of the weekend in the library, and now the only thing that split my focus was the image of Lucas Montgomery.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn´t stop thinking of him. He’d looked at me like I was a main course.
I kind of wanted to be his main course.
“Hi, Sloan.”
Locking the front door to my apartment behind me, I turned to the sound of the soft spoken voice. Matthew was our next-door neighbor, but we didn’t know much about him. He looked to be somewhere in his thirties, and he was attractive in a dark and brooding way, but he rarely said more than just hello and goodbye. I had no idea what he did for a living, and I never saw anyone go in or out of the apartment with him. He kept strange hours, and we never heard a peep from his apartment. No television or music blaring. Trish felt sure that he was a serial killer.
“Hi, Matthew. How was your weekend?”
“Fine.” Without offering any more information, he opened his door and left me standing in the open courtyard.
I don’t even know why he bothered to say hi at all. Grumbling, I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and started walking towards my car. Our apartment building stood three stories high and surrounded the courtyard. The company did a good job of maintaining a small garden in the middle, so it was always pretty to look at. The top two levels had railed walk-ways that overlooked everything, but those of us on the first floor had a small patio where we could put out chairs. Because we were so close to the university, most of my neighbors were students, so we were all friendly with each other.
Matthew was an exception.
When I reached my car, I saw a dark car in the overflow parking spot near my apartment. It wouldn’t have caught my attention except that it ha
d been there all weekend. Every time I saw it, it looked like there was a person inside.
Like surveillance. Detective Allen had offered me security detail if I felt like I was in danger, but it seemed unlikely that the kidnappers would know where I lived, so I had turned it down. Maybe he was having me followed anyway.
They stayed parked as I pulled out of the complex, so I pushed that out of my mind as well. I had three classes today, and I hoped to squeeze in some time to work on my thesis.
Campus was in full swing by the time I pulled in to one of the student parking lots. Since it was early, most of the students rushed to class with cups of coffee in their hands. I had already had two cups this morning, and while I loved to stop at the campus coffee shop, I probably needed to cool it with the caffeine.
It wasn’t until my last class that I realized that I was being followed. When I passed the Business Center building, I could see their reflections in the tinted glass. When I stood in line at the dining hall, I saw them lounging by the entrance. And when I headed back to the library, I just had a feeling that if I turned around, they’d be no more than a few feet behind me.
Turning the corner, I bumped into a hard body. Books and papers spilled on the floor. “Watch where you’re going,” a younger woman snapped.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered. Bending down, I tried to help pick up her things, but I kept looking over my shoulder. “Did you see two guys in suits following me?”
“Paranoid much? Lay off the rooms.” She grabbed the book out of my hand and stalked off in a huff.
“Rude,” I muttered, but she was right. I did sound paranoid. Maybe I hadn’t shaken off the attack like I’d thought. Feeling like a crazy person, I gripped the strap of my bag and quickly climbed the steps to the library. Only people with student or faculty passes were allowed inside, so if anyone was following me, I’d lose them inside.
Montgomery Billionaire Series Page 2