by Kate Benitez
Leo accepted the two beers from the bartender. “I’d appreciate it if I could get a look at the raw tape after you’ve finished. I’m interested in his campaign financing.”
Gulliver took the Sam Adams with a wince. “You know he’s footing the bill for tonight, you can indulge in something craft…”
Leo took a deep drink and gave Gulliver the side eye. “Do you have something against Mr. Adams?”
“No, but I don’t have anything against a good sour beer with twelve percent alcohol either,” Gulliver countered with a swig of the proffered beer. “Why his finances?”
Leo’s thumb played with a loose corner of the label on his bottle, peeling the gold-trimmed paper before smoothing it back again. “I have a client who has questions about it. Also, tonight when I offered to give him money, he pretty much turned me down. He claimed to be well set already.”
Gulliver took another deep drink of the beer. “That’s not what his campaign looked like two months ago.”
Leo shook his head. “No, I didn’t think so either.”
Gulliver’s eyes scanned the women surrounding them at the bar. More than one were trying to catch his eye, but Leo noted that Gulliver was simply enjoying the view. Handsome bastard that he was, Leo was sure he’d pick one of them, eventually. His money was on the curvy redhead in the green dress. Gulliver never could turn down a redhead.
“Well, those finances were old, and it wouldn’t be the first time a candidate sandbagged his finances to encourage donations. It’s a fairly old trick.”
Leo considered that. “But it if that was the point, why not court me? I offered myself as a young, silent donor, who wanted to know more about his views. All I got was the elevator speech.”
Gulliver threw a smile at the redhead, and Leo knew the time with his friend was growing short. However, when Gulliver looked back at Leo, his eyes were focused. “Thanks for the lead, my friend. I’ll give you what I get after I get it. For now, however, a siren is calling my name.”
Leo watched as Gulliver left him for the night’s entertainment then he turned back to the bartender, looking to refill his drink. Maybe he would try something with a little more heft than his standard Sam. As he waited for the drink that was apparently smooth and small batch to arrive, Leo scanned the crowd that had settled in at the bar.
At the other end, the model languished her body against the hardwood in a practiced fashion. Her breasts were on full display, though her attention was devoted to a tall man who looked a little nondescript for someone of her stature. Beyond the couple was a woman in a purple dress and rhinestone mask. Leo’s attention was suddenly on high alert.
Damn, but she looked beautiful. She put the model to shame. The dress fitted her like a second skin, and her ornate mask brought a smile to Leo’s lips. It almost covered the top half of her face and looked stunning among the sea of plain black masks around them. The deep purple background was framed with silver and sparkling diamante and had a wispy purple feather fixed on one side. The woman must have planned for this party for a good while to have found such a striking accessory. And her cleavage was on full display, lush and natural, just how Leo liked it. In fact, she reminded him a little of Anneliese, though his secretary would never wear a dress like that, and her hair extensions would definitely be out of her price range. Leo paid her well, but he’d also done his research after the extensions case had walked through his door. Those things were ridiculously expensive.
When the woman looked at him, she froze like a deer in the headlights. Color rising to her cheeks and those breasts rose even higher in the neckline of the dress. One finger encouraging the material downward would have popped them out like opening a bottle of champagne—and Leo’s fingers itched to see if he was right.
He’d already gathered his beer to approach the woman when he saw the model slip something to the guy she was talking to. The man then deftly added it to one of the two mango-colored martinis in front of him. Leo’s eyes locked on the doctored drink, and his fears were confirmed when the man handed it to the girl in the purple dress. They were sharing cheers as he approached them.
“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” Leo asked the woman. Her green eyes blinked up at him, sharp and sensual. Damn, she was even better up close. Saving her from being drugged was going to vastly improve his evening. She was tall enough, even taller in those heels, with athletically toned legs he hadn’t been able to see from his vantage point at the bar.
“I’m sure not, but you do remind me of someone,” she said with a smile. She attempted to go back to the man she’d been speaking with—the one about to drug her— he had to act fast if he was going to save her from taking a sip of the drink.
Leo took her elbow with an encouraging smile. “Why don’t we chat about how we know each other over at one of the cocktail tables. You look like you could use a seat.”
Again the woman smiled, but began to refuse, “Oh, thank you, but I just wanted to…”
Leo cut her off by leaning close and whispering in her ear—his voice easily two octaves lower than normal. “The man you’re with just added something to your drink. I don’t want to make a scene, but you should really leave his company before something bad happens.”
The tall man with her began to grumble at his back, but Leo ignored him. The woman stiffened, gripping his forearm tightly and asked, “Are you sure?”
She asked for confirmation in a very unemotional, almost professional way. Leo frowned slightly, but confirmed, “Yes, I watched him drop it in himself.”
She nodded, the stones on her mask glittering in the bar’s lighting, “Good.”
The man who’d spiked her drink shot a hand out to restrain Leo, his eyes dark with anger. “I’m sorry, man. We were in the middle of something. Why don’t you go take a hike.”
Leo’s jaw tightened in anger. “I can’t prove what you were in the middle of, man,” he said, stressing the word sarcastically, “but—”
Suddenly Leo was cut off mid-sentence by the brunette’s light hand. She reached around him to grab the doctored drink and looked at the man she’d been with. “Thank you so much for the drink, Dan, but I’ve run into an old acquaintance. I hope you don’t mind if we catch up for a bit. I promise I’ll see you later,” she finished with a smile.
Leo wanted to toss the drink in the man’s face.
On his part, the man she called Dan relaxed with a smile. “By all means, enjoy the conversation and the drink. I’ll be seeing you soon,” he said with intent. Leo was sure he’d said that because whatever was in that drink was going to drop the woman to the floor shortly, just in time for him to return and sweep her up.
Leo wanted to punch him, but he had no desire to unveil who he was, and his focus was on the woman who was currently feeling him up. Damn, but she was a sensual one.
As she linked arms with Leo, tossing a smile over her shoulder to the bastard at the bar, she tugged on his sleeve until he leaned down and gave her his ear. “Let’s get out of here,” she purred, and his whole body reacted to the sound of her voice. Deep and throaty, it contained an elemental breath of desire and need. In any event, his body was ready to service that want, but first, he had to be sure.
“Did you already drink one of those drinks he got you?”
She smiled. “One, and I accepted it directly from the bartender.”
He nodded down at the one currently in her hand. “So what do you plan to do with that?”
“I’d like to find out what he really stuck in it,” she explained, flagging down a waiter for some water in a to-go cup. After the man returned with a plastic-topped Styrofoam cup, she excused herself and headed to the bathroom with both drinks. A minute later she returned with only the to-go cup.
“Why don’t we get a cab?” Leo said.
She nodded, and her green eyes flashed behind the sparkling purple mask then arm-in-arm, they headed towards the exit.
Chapter 8
Leo and his mystery woman exited the h
otel and found themselves directly in front of a taxi stand. He nodded in agreement when the doorman asked if they wanted him to hail one.
“Where am I taking you?” Leo asked the woman. He wasn’t quite sure if she was going to answer him, though, as she bit her lip while she considered the question.
“I think you’re going to take me home,” she practically purred.
Leo eyed her up again, trying to assess her intoxication level. He noted that she stood all on her own and seemed completely in control of her senses. Maybe a little drunk, yes, but about ready to hit the floor from being drugged? No. She’d only had the one drink from the bartender and he assured himself that he wasn’t taking advantage of her in the least, being a few drinks in himself.
A cab pulled up, and Leo silently helped her in, his eyes fixed on the extra few inches of thigh that were exposed as she wiggled her ass into the back seat. That look confirmed it—those legs were beautiful the whole way up, and he couldn’t stop staring at her as she leaned forward and gave the driver directions. When she sat back, she reached out of the door and offered her hand to Leo. Even though he knew he should let her go on her own, to pay the cabbie and send her on her way, Leo just couldn’t say no to her invitation to join him.
He walked around, slid into the cab beside her without a word and as soon as the door closed, the driver took off into the night. The lights of the city flickered by as the cab moved slowly through the city traffic and as they came to the first stop light, she moved closer to him. Her toned thigh pressed lightly against his own. Leo felt his body warm to her touch and instinctively, he pressed his leg closer to hers.
Slowly, he ran a hand along the exposed skin of her thigh, feeling the smooth silk of her leg goose bump under his touch and Leo heard a low noise emanate from her throat. It was a groan of desire he was dying to hear again. When he encountered the Jersey edge of the purple dress, his finger dipped underneath the hem. It was a slight action—just the tip ran under the cloth, but everything in him wanted to take his hand higher. It was only the thought that he didn’t know who this woman was yet that stopped him from reaching his hand directly to the junction of her thighs and pressing his way to her pleasure.
Besides, her legs hadn’t quite opened to him, beckoning him further. Instead, she turned toward him. With both of their masks still in place, it was like kissing the unknown. He could see her eyes burned with need, and for a moment, something inside him ticked with awareness. Recognition perhaps? Before he could think it through, her plump lips were all he saw. He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers. The kiss was gentle at first, almost a little hesitant. They both felt each other out as the taxi continued to roll through town and the driver was either oblivious or unconcerned.
Suddenly the cab lurched forward and came to a sudden stop. The movement threw the woman more securely into Leo’s arms and instinctively, he wrapped them around her body, pulling her closer. Every smooth curve and plump asset pressed against him. With a growl, he took her mouth with all the pent-up desire he’d been harboring for the last month.
Again and again, he took her mouth as her body shifted completely onto his lap and her enthusiasm encouraged his own. She gently bit his bottom lip, and although he knew he couldn’t, Leo wanted to take her right there in the yellow cab, like some drunken college boy.
They shared one more deep kiss and finally broke apart when the cab driver cleared his throat from the front seat.
“This is the address, yes?” the cabbie asked.
Leo’s eyes never left the woman as she glanced out the window and gave a deep throaty “Yes.” She turned back toward him and asked, “Care to come up?”
He answered her by opening the door, lifting her to the sidewalk and following her out into the night. She stumbled and would have fallen to the sidewalk had Leo not caught her in time.
“Are you ok?” he asked, his eyes searching hers. Those once sharp and clear green eyes now seemed foggy and unsure.
“I don’t know. I feel faint standing up.” She tried to pull away, but she had no strength.
“How much have you really had to drink?” he asked, keeping his grip on her tightly.
“It was only that one drink, I swear,” she said.
Leo’s gut churned as he realized that first drink probably hadn’t been clean either. One martini was not going to bring her down like this—no matter how much of a lightweight she may have been. He was considering his options when his eyes lifted up to the building they’d been dropped in front of. Suddenly, the night got even worse—worse than worse. He cleared his throat and shifted the woman in his arms as the cabbie exited his car and asked if everything was okay.
He turned back to the woman and said clearly and slowly, “I think we should get back in the cab and head to the hospital right away. We need to get you checked out. I think that guy drugged that first drink.”
“Why do you say that?” she said.
Leo pulled up the mask covering his eyes and let it sit on top of his head. The woman in his arms suddenly froze, her shoulders slumped, and her cheeks flushed. In her drugged state, it took her a moment, but after some hesitation, she removed her own mask and scanning his face, she said, “Leo? Is that you?”
Leo held on to her and took a small step backward—shocked as he realized who this gorgeous woman was, and embarrassed at what he’d been doing with her in the back seat of the cab.
“Holy shit! Anneliese? Yes, it’s me, but what the hell were you doing at that bar?”
Anneliese felt light-headed and staggered against him to stop herself from falling backward on her heels. She tried to hide her own embarrassment at what had just happened in the taxi—hiding her face by pressing her head against his muscular chest. Even though she knew it was her boss, the warmth of his body against hers gave her tingles in all the right places and inside, she hoped their lustful mood would continue. But it was brought to an abrupt end when Leo said so matter-of-factly, “Anneliese, you’ve been drugged.”
The comment cut through her embarrassment, and she looked up at him and replied, “Is that really you, Leo? And how come you’re so sure I’ve been drugged?” She figured she must really be out of it if she couldn’t tell if it was her boss she was snuggling, or what was happening to her own body.
“Trust me, Anneliese. It is me, and I don’t know what you were doing at that club, but you’ve only had one drink, and you can’t even stand up on your own two feet. Come on, let’s get you checked out. The cab is waiting,” he said, guiding her to the taxi as her body became even heavier and limp against him.
*****
As Anneliese got off at her usual T stop for work, she felt like riding the subway to the end of the line instead. She guessed that crazy bag lady opposite her had more than enough stories to keep her occupied for the duration, right? Leo couldn’t need her that badly.
Anneliese shook her head. That sounded dirty—for work. Surely Leo wouldn’t miss her if she just cut out for the day. She’d already wasted all the time she could—eating breakfast from a local bodega, taking a train twenty minutes later than normal, and walking very slowly up the hill. As her fingers punched in the security code on the keypad outside of the agency, Anneliese prayed that Leo was already out for the day on jobs. There must be a cheating husband to tail on a Monday morning, right? That was totally a great time to have sex with someone.
Anneliese’s face went bright red at the thought. She really needed to cut the fantasies out of her mind, but damn that cab ride had been a good one, a little cloudy, but mmm so good. Leo had claimed she’d been drugged at the party, and while she admitted she’d been a little drunker than she should’ve been after a single martini, she wasn’t convinced that she had been.
She pushed against the door, but it wouldn’t budge so her hand lifted again, and this time she pressed the buttons decisively until she heard the familiar buzz of the lock opening. She walked to her desk and set her bag down, planning on heading to the kitchen for som
e coffee, when a voice from the couches behind her made her jump about ten feet.
“You were drugged. I was right.”
She watched as Leo lifted himself from the couch, and suddenly she really wished she had that cup of coffee in her hand. It might have combated the chill that ran through her body hearing those words.
He approached her and rubbed his hands gently up and down her arms. She felt comforted rather than any sexual tension.
“Good morning to you too. What was I drugged with?” Her voice came out shaky.
Leo shook his head. “It’s a new concoction. I don’t think it has a street name yet, but the amount you consumed would have left you feeling very intoxicated and sexual. Another drink would have induced some numbness and amnesia. The lab tech said you were still in the fun stage of intoxication.”
For a moment, his eyes burned into hers, and the comforting weight of his arms turned into something that promised much more then they both turned tense and took a step away from one another.
Anneliese busied herself pulling a few things from her purse for the day. Her cell phone, her favorite pen, a few loose bobby pins. She wasn’t sure about the taxi ride now. The results confirmed why she hadn’t felt drugged, but they’d also tainted the moment between her and Leo. Had that been real? Had she forced it?
“It’s fine, Anneliese. You were drugged, and we were both unaware of who the other was. I’ve never thought you were a saint on the weekends.”
Anneliese felt her cheeks go red—with anger or embarrassment, she wasn’t quite sure.
“I think we should both agree to move beyond what happened in the cab. There’s something more important we need to talk about,” she said, ready to move forward, too.
“Why do you think you were drugged?” Leo leaned back against the closest gray couch.
Anneliese’s sought comfort in the abstract beach scene currently hanging on the left wall. Closing her eyes to pull herself together, she opened them again and looked directly at Leo.