by Lexi C. Foss
“Not going to happen.” And then she said to Will, “And don’t give me that look. You’re leaving as soon as I get off the phone.”
“Are you this bossy in bed? Because that could make things interesting, darlin’.” The deep drawl was filled with a sensual promise that made Rachel grumble an unflattering remark.
“I need to go deal with him.” She hung up without saying good-bye.
12
Playing Hide-and-Seek
Evan took Kristin out on the solo date today while the rest of us wandered around the hotel and filmed various scenes. Most of it was scripted by the writers and made to give the show an air of drama. The evening ended in the pool, where several of the girls grilled me about my kiss yesterday with New Orleans’s hottest prince. By the end of it all, I was more than ready for some alone time, but I found a handsome man waiting for me in my room instead. Someone has a skeleton key.
“Hello, Mister Mershano.”
“Good evening, Miss Summers.” Evan was on the bed in a pair of black slacks and a white dress shirt. The fabric was rolled to his elbows, exposing muscular forearms, and the top button of his shirt was undone with his masculine throat on display. His tie and jacket were on the chair, and his shoes were by the desk. “I hear you have a few contract amendments?”
I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah. Rachel's adding some business management language, and I want to keep the phone.”
“The phone doesn’t need to be in the contract, but the business details are fine. I have no intention of being involved in your firm. Marketing is not my forte.”
“Doesn’t hurt to add the phone, too. It’s to help keep me sane over the next few months.” I pulled off my swimsuit cover and hung it on the wardrobe to dry before grabbing a pair of black shorts, a thong, and a white top from my suitcase. “I wasn’t expecting you, so give me at least five minutes to shower and change. Then we’ll go over the contract.”
His eyes were on my breasts. The black string bikini top was held together by a silver clasp in the front. The desire in his gaze said he approved. “I don’t have it back yet. Garrett is reviewing the changes Miss Dawson made first.”
“So Will brought it back for him to review?”
“No, he’s still in Chicago with your friend. I think they’re on a conference call negotiating the changes right now. I should have the finalized contract in the morning.”
“They’re talking right now?”
“That’s what Will told me five minutes ago.”
“And he’s with Rachel?”
“Yeah, at her apartment. He never checked into the hotel, so I assume he stayed over last night. Why?”
My eyebrows met my hairline. That didn’t sound like my best friend. “She let him stay over?”
“Knowing Will, he insisted.”
Oh God. “She’s going to kill me.” I picked up the phone Evan gave me and dialed Rachel’s number. She shot me a text as it went to voicemail.
Conferencing with Garrett. You owe me BIG TIME.
“Shit.” I set the phone down. “Yeah, I’m going to take a shower.” His gaze was a warm caress against my skin all the way to the bathroom. I half expected him to join me, but he didn’t. The offer wasn’t made or insinuated, but I wouldn’t have kicked him out if he tried. The man was the epitome of temptation.
I got dressed after rinsing off all the chlorine and grabbed my brush on my way back into the bedroom. His bedroom eyes left no question as to what he was thinking about when he took in my braless breasts and exposed legs. I hopped up beside him on the bed and fell into the pillows. His arm was hooked behind his head and one knee was drawn up. So fucking hot.
“So if you’re not here about the contract, why did you stop by?”
“I’m hiding from my parents.”
“You own the hotel, and you chose my room to hide in? I’m flattered.”
He smiled. “With you dressed like that? I might have to hide in here more often.”
“You’re welcome anytime, as long as I can keep the phone. Which reminds me, I’ll need a charger.” I turned it off to reserve the power, but it wouldn’t last long.
“Demanding little thing, aren’t you?” He rolled onto his side, keeping that arm tucked under his head while the other fell over his flat abdomen. “What if I want something in return?”
“Such as?”
He brushed his knuckles over my cheek and down my neck, pausing at my collarbone. “Kissing with a little light petting might encourage me to get you that phone charger sooner rather than later.”
I scooted closer, craving his intimate touch. “Upgrade light to heavy and you have yourself a deal, Mister Mershano.”
“I like the way you negotiate, Miss Summers.” His hand wrapped around my neck, and his thumb caressed the tender skin behind my ear.
“Feel free to proposition me anytime,” I whispered, his lips an inch from mine.
“Deal.” He took my mouth in a slow, burning kiss, sending butterflies to my lower belly. I closed the gap between our bodies by rolling onto him and forcing him onto his back. My nipples tightened as I aligned my chest with his and slid one leg between his thighs. My core met his hips, setting my veins on fire with sensation. He felt amazing beneath me—all hard, hot, aroused male.
I took control of our kiss, twisting my tongue with his in a way I knew drove a man mad. One of his hands fisted in my hair as the other went to my ass to press me harder against him. Bourbon notes hit my throat, making me moan. He had good taste in alcohol, and it paired well with the red wine I enjoyed earlier. I cradled his face between my hands, angling his lips the way I wanted them, and seduced him with my mouth. The squeeze on my backside told me he approved of my attentions.
I loved that he let me take the lead. Most men wanted to call the shots in and out of the bedroom, but Evan was proving to be an equal-opportunity lover. The kiss the other night was a mating of mouths, which ran at his pace. Tonight was about what I wanted, and the hard man beneath me had no qualms about it. I had no doubt he would eventually assert his dominance, as powerful men were wont to do, but he was letting me have my fun.
Buzzing hit my inner thighs, going straight to my clit. I bit off a groan and pulled back. “Do you need to answer that?”
“I should.” His fingers knotted in my hair and pulled me back down for another kiss, his tongue spearing my lips to take charge. I ran my hand through his hair, down his neck, and along his bulging bicep. The silk of his dress shirt was the perfect barrier, giving him the silk-over-steel feel. I trailed my fingers down to his exposed forearms and back up, luxuriating in every inch.
The vibrations started again, resulting in delicious sensations between my legs. If it were a few inches higher, it would be in the perfect location to make this all the more interesting. His hand slipped upward beneath my tank top to my bare back, those clever fingers working their way closer to my ribcage. I was about to sit up and pull off my shirt for easier access when his phone went off again. He growled deep in his chest, a pleasant surprise for my aching nipples.
“They’re not going to stop calling.” He traced my lower lip with his tongue.
“The vibrations are not bothering me.”
His grin was wicked. “I’ll have to remember that.” He restarted our kiss only to pull back as the buzzing began again. The hand under my shirt went to his pocket. “Don’t move.” He placed the phone to his ear. “Yes, Mother?”
“Where are you?” Either the volume was at full blast or Ellen was yelling.
“In the hotel.” He winked up at me. I held my lips a few tantalizing inches from him, ready to resume whenever he finished the call.
“Where in the hotel?”
“What does it matter?”
“Don’t give me that. You’re supposed to be taking this seriously.”
“I’m taking this very seriously.” His brown eyes were on my lips, the hand in my hair sliding down to wrap around my neck. “But I’m working right now.” I cocked
an eyebrow at that.
“Negotiations,” he mouthed.
“Right,” I mouthed back and nuzzled his chin. The hand around my neck tightened, as did his lower body.
“We need to discuss the filming schedule for the fourth episode.”
“What about it? Paul mentioned the yacht.”
“Well, now he wants to organize a dance class. Apparently you and the Latina girl were having some fun in The Quarter yesterday, and he wants to capitalize on it. He’s thinking about a competition where you take the most talented of them all to dinner.”
I stared at the phone. Latina girl? Really? And a dancing competition sounded like a way for Paul to embarrass everyone.
“Her name is Sarah, Mother. And I would rather go out on the yacht. Nix the dancing. There wouldn’t be a competition with the way she moves.” His compliment didn’t warm me as much as the irritation in his tone when correcting Ellen Mershano.
“All right. I’ll talk to him. Oh, and have you thought about who will get the other key to your wing?”
His body went rigid. “Yes.”
“Who?”
“It’ll be a surprise, Mother. You like surprises.”
“Are you falling for one of them?” There was hope in Ellen’s voice that confused me. She was forcing her son to marry a woman from a dating show, yet that tone spoke of a mother who wanted happiness for her son. Maybe even love.
“I’m hanging up now. Good night.” He hit the end key and set the phone on the nightstand. His fingers combed through my hair as I rested on top of him. Those chocolate irises swirled with a hundred emotions. “This show is going to leave a black mark on my soul.”
13
Heavy-Petting Requirement
I scooted down and folded my arms on his chest to rest my chin on them. His hand drifted down to draw obscure patterns across my shoulders. The other was behind his head again as he stared down at me.
“So, say I didn’t exist. What would you do at the end of this show?” I wondered.
“I would propose to someone tolerable, give her a healthy dose of what reality would look like for her after the show, and hope like hell she’d call off the engagement.” He shrugged. “It’s harsh, but my life isn’t a fairy tale, like some might believe. I work a lot, I’m never home, and my job will always come first.”
All values I understood. “And if that failed?”
“Then I guess I would get married and have a relationship similar to my parents’, minus my father’s proclivities.” He had forgone the razor the last few days, and his chin was decorated with a delectable smattering of stubble. I wanted to rub my face against him like a cat. It would undoubtedly make me purr. “I would still be cheating on her, though. My job is a demanding mistress.”
“How are you getting by with all this filming and not working?”
“Delegation. My management team is going to require a long vacation when I get back into the swing of things.”
“Hence your planned dose of reality.”
His dimples made an appearance. “Exactly.”
“And do you feel bad eliminating the girls?” Because it seemed to bother him.
“Yes. No. I don’t know. It’s complicated. They’re here for my money and name, not me. But some of them are actually pretty nice, like your two friends. Lily and Patty. Tiffany is sweet, too.”
“Calling them my friends might be a bit of a stretch, as we just met, but yeah, they’re pretty down-to-earth. Some of the others, though, are pieces of work.” Georgiana was becoming my least favorite person here. She had a sharp tongue and a nasty personality. Amber wore a pretty exterior, but something about her wasn’t right. Yet . . . “You seem to like Amber, too.”
He scoffed. “My parents love Amber. I’m about seventy-five percent sure they paid her to be here.”
“What?”
“Call it a hunch. She’s exactly what my mom wants as a daughter-in-law, and my father has a penchant for southern blondes.” He shook his head. “I can’t prove it, but she’s saying all the right things. As if she was coached.”
“Or maybe she’s your soul mate.” I waggled my eyebrows at him. “I hear they exist.”
“Yeah? Maybe you’re my soul mate.”
The flutter in my chest was unexpected and unwelcome. I kept it light. “Nah, I’m just the negotiator.”
“A hot negotiator.” His hand stroked up and down my spine. “Visiting you might have to become a nightly thing. I haven’t felt this relaxed since the whole nightmare started.”
“I have that effect on people.” Sarcasm was my defense mechanism. His words were touching me in places they shouldn’t. “So what’s this about the yacht?”
“Episode four. Tomorrow is a Mississippi River cruise with the girls who didn’t go to Bourbon Street. Monday is elimination day, and Tuesday is yacht day with all fourteen of the final contestants. Unless Paul gets his way and we have a dance class instead.”
Well, that sounds wonderful. “So I’m adding wine to my list. At least two bottles with the phone charger.”
“Yeah? In exchange for more kissing and heavy petting?”
“Bring them with you tomorrow night and find out. As well as the contract. I need that so I can call my boss and give him the bad news.” I cringed at the thought of that conversation. “He’s going to hate me for giving no notice.” Explaining I was on a dating show would not help my case. Chances were he would laugh and assume it was all a joke.
Evan tucked a strand of hair behind my ear before tracing my jaw with the pad of his index finger. “Tell him I offered you a job you couldn’t refuse. It wouldn’t technically be a lie, and it saves you from explaining your involvement on the show.”
“Until he hears about it a few months from now.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Is your manager the kind of person who watches the Romance Network for Women?”
I laughed at the idea of Greg watching a cheesy romance film. “Yeah, he’s not the type.” But I saw his point. My boss would never know I went on this ridiculous show unless his wife watched it. “Does it break the contract if I tell him I’m working for you?”
He shrugged. “I’m not worried about it. If he looks into it, he’ll find out you’re on the show and assume that’s what you meant.”
“Then he’ll think I lied.” Better to tell Greg the truth about the show and bite my pride. Rachel was right about kissing any recommendations good-bye. Accepting his offer was a gamble, but the promise at the end was worth the risk. Spending time with him like this was an added bonus. He made an excellent pillow despite being ninety-five percent muscle. “When do you get time to work out?”
His hand was on my back again, exploring my shoulder blades and fondling my hair. “First thing in the morning. I like to run, but I lift at least three times a week. How about you? All these curves are underlined with some serious athleticism.”
I snorted. “I also run in the morning, but I haven’t since coming here. The curves are compliments of my mom. It doesn’t matter what I do; they stay. Not that I’m complaining.”
“You shouldn’t.” He palmed my ass and pulled me back up so our lips were only an inch apart. “They’re perfect.”
“Sweet talker.”
His fingers slid into my hair, knotting with my strands. “So about that heavy-petting requirement. I’m ready to fulfill that contractual obligation.”
I smiled against his mouth. “Are you?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He led with his tongue, twining it with mine in an open-mouthed kiss that was all passion and exploration. It was addictive, pulling me under a wave of seduction that threatened my senses. We couldn’t take this too far, not without the contract in place, but he lit my body on fire like no one else. I clung to his shoulders as he flipped me onto my back. His thigh remained between mine, tight against my hot center.
The friction was luscious, hitting me right where I needed it. He didn’t hold back, his palm gliding under my shirt to my chest. I arched i
nto him, loving that my breast more than filled his hand. He kissed a path to my neck, pausing to suckle the tender midpoint. Goosebumps rained down my arms in response, my body tingling from his touch. My neck had always been sensitive, a pleasure point that wasn’t as obvious as some of the others. He nibbled along my collarbone and down to my cleavage. “Heavy petting includes licking, right?”
“It does now.” My hands were in his hair as he lifted my shirt and took one stiff nipple into his hot mouth. I came off the bed at the impact, my body ridiculously responsive to his. That wicked tongue swirled, creating an inferno in my lower abdomen. A few minutes of foreplay and I was ready to explode. Not good. No one should be this attracted to a man. It wasn’t safe for womankind. He switched to the other breast, repeating his actions and making me squirm.
Orgasms were not part of our negotiation. Not tonight. I barely knew him. None of those realizations stopped the fire consuming my body. He was hazardous to my health, but in all the right ways. His phone started to vibrate again, this time on the wood, making an obnoxious sound neither of us could ignore.
With a sound of annoyance, he picked up the phone. His scowl turned into a grin. “Talk to me, Garrett.”
“Your girl has a good lawyer.” The phone was on speaker this time. “She drew up some stern language about your involvement in this firm you’re promising to fund. She also stated financial figures for the record and wants them in the contract.”
Finances weren’t something we discussed. This was why I had Rachel. She thought of specifics I failed to negotiate. Like how much he was going to lend me to start my firm. Probably important, Sarah. Good job.
Evan rolled onto his back beside me. “Yeah? Am I going to hate this provision?”
“It’s modest, but it’s more than I would want to give for this deal. Not when you could just keep the girl there without giving anything in return.”
I popped up onto my elbow, pulling down my shirt in the process, and made sure he could see how I felt about that statement. His lawyer sounded like an ass, and practical, too. A bad combination.