Be My Bad Boy (2 page)

So deep was he in his
plotting that Peter only just noticed that Abigail had moved around her
colleagues and was sidling up to him.

“Hi. I’m Abby,” she
said.

“Hi.”
Abby?
Since when?
Once again he
felt how letting his true nature shine through had placed him in a completely
different category as far as women were concerned.

“Do you work here on
campus?”

“Yes, I do.” He
naturally had a slight Southern twang, but tonight he purposely hid it under a
flat Midwestern accent. In a way he was grateful for the chance to practice
before talking to Katie.

“Where?”

“Business
and Engineering.”

“Right
across the street from me.
I go over there all
the time. I’m Dr. Temple’s secretary. I’ve never seen you.”

“Lots of people have
never seen me.” He couldn’t resist teasing her and hoped she wouldn’t be upset
if she ever found out.

“Really?”
Her gaze traveled over his body again. “What do you do?”

A smile curved his
lips. “It’s a secret.”

“Is it?” She giggled.
“Any chance I can get it out of you?”

He took her hand and
planted a chaste kiss on the back. “Not tonight.” He nodded at everyone else
and moved away from her, weaving through onlookers on the edge of the dance
floor.

As much as he wanted
to immediately turn and find Katie, he made himself stroll casually to admire
an arrangement of flowers. They were mostly carnations and he frowned. Katie’s
favorite flower, how many times had he given them to her over the two months
they dated? Trouble was he hadn’t given her anything else. He and Katie had
never made love during the two months they had dated. He’d always stepped back
and eased up his advances every time she demurred or pulled away. That had been
the first of his many mistakes. She had misinterpreted his sweetness and
patience for lack of passion. Her mistaken assumption had turned her off, and she’d
given him cool responses to each move he made toward seduction. He knew now
that she’d actually wanted him to be more aggressive and show her just how much
he desired her, but because of the signals she’d sent out he hadn’t seen it that
way while they dated. He’d been concerned about moving too fast or scaring her
off. He had planned on waiting for her feelings to grow first because he
already knew he would never love another woman.

He stood back and
watched as a few more couples began dancing. His plan for Katie had seemed so
perfect in his mind. Once she grew to care for him more, he would confess his
true feelings and then they would make love for the first time. Learning that
she had been waiting to be seduced by him the entire time he had been courting
her in what she termed “such a sweet, old-fashioned way” had been a crushing
blow. She had been kind, but her disappointment had been obvious, especially
when she denied him a chance to prove he could be what she wanted. He could
have confessed then that he was far closer to her ideal than she knew. He could
have told her about his fondness for restraints and spankings, sex toys and
role-playing, but she probably would have laughed right in his face. He’d
initially held out little hope of convincing her they had both misread one
another completely. Now, he planned on taking his second chance with the kind
of confidence and strength she claimed she desired.

He ducked behind a
large column so he could watch her without being seen. If he could get her
alone tonight, he wouldn’t be afraid to touch her the way he’d always wanted
to. He would let his own passion show her no other man would ever love and
cherish her—or please her—the way he could.

He saw her across the
room and let his gaze run along the curve of her ass, wishing his hand could do
the same. He wanted to walk right over to her and gently smooth the silky
material before popping each perfect cheek. Would she enjoy it as much as he
did? The entire time they dated he had longed to bend her over the nearest
piece of furniture and spank her until she couldn’t take anymore. He emerged
from behind the column and walked further away from her. Perhaps tonight would
be the night.

Chapter Two

Katie watched the black
clad man with the nice ass move across the room, and frowned. Why hadn’t he
come over to her? The look he’d sent her way had left her momentarily
breathless, so she didn’t understand why he’d turned and walked away. Watching
him talk to another woman had bothered her, especially when he kissed her hand,
but then he’d walked away from her even though she obviously wanted to stay.
His behavior puzzled her. She couldn’t have been mistaken about the look in his
eyes. Hadn’t her smile been encouraging? Had he expected her to make the first
move?

Katie took a glass of
wine from the table against the wall and sipped it. She checked the room again
for anyone she knew, but she saw no one she wanted to talk to. Fact was she
wanted to talk to
him
. The look in the
man’s eyes had said he wanted nothing more than to sweep her into his arms and
kiss her until she begged him to stop. In fact, his eyes had held the promise
of far more than that, and the thought of being pressed up against that hard
body excited her. She liked to be pursued, and she’d been interested to see his
next move.

The man she’d been
talking
to
had been nice, but his conversation hadn’t
impressed her as much as his looks, and his departure didn’t bother her. Even
though she felt bad for her rudeness, she couldn’t do anything about it now.
Though he was twirling around the dance floor with one of the women
from the IT department, so she felt a little better—about that anyway.
She
couldn’t help feeling a little pissed off at the other man. He had brushed
against her, and she’d even felt his breath on her neck, so she’d looked at him
once he got past her. Black definitely suited him, and his tight pants left
nothing to her imagination. He looked like
Westley
from
The
Princess Bride.
He seemed to be her
age, so the outfit couldn’t be just a random coincidence. It was perfect in
every detail. For a moment there, she’d thought one of her kinkier fantasies
was about to come to life. Then the disappointment and dismay came as he walked
away.

After another sip of
wine, she leaned against one of the pillars and tried to locate him in the
crowd. He had brushed against her to get her attention. She knew he had. He’d
turned back and looked right at her once he reached the punch bowl. He’d
probably spotted her, decided she was attractive, and then enacted a very
simple plan to get her attention. But if that were the case, where was he now?
She looked down into her glass and then began to circle the dance floor. She
imagined him coming up behind her, taking the glass out of her hands, and then
whisking her onto the dance floor. Instead of this fantasy coming true, a woman
beside her shrieked with laughter and stumbled into her. She spotted the man in
black while trying to keep herself and the woman from tumbling over. He smiled
but made no move toward her. She moved away after accepting a mumbled apology
from the woman and her escort.

Why hadn’t he come
over since he was evidently keeping an eye on her? She watched him cross the
room and walk up the stairs. He didn’t speak to anyone. When he reached the
top, he turned to survey the room. He smiled at her again before walking
further away from her, though he kept his head turned for a few paces so they
could maintain eye contact. Did he plan on spending the entire night catching
her eye and smiling at her? This game was already losing its appeal. She
finished her wine and set the glass on a tray when one of the caterers passed
her. The man did have an amazing body, but now she was more than just a little
pissed off. Though she couldn’t be sure why, she knew he was purposely teasing
her. Instead of laughing and dancing, she was being taunted and toyed with.
She’d really been looking forward to this night, and the swelling music made
her want to dance even more.

Katie turned as another
man came up and began talking to her. He was handsome, very tall, and dressed
in Elizabethan clothes. She didn’t like tights much on men, but she hoped the
period garb was a sign of intelligence, as she hadn’t encountered much of that
this evening. She gave him her full attention, turning the frown into a smile.
If the man in the mask wanted to talk, he’d have to come to her. She would not
follow him around all night, no matter how hot he was or how much she wanted to
run her hands over that fabulous ass.

“Katie,
right?”

“Yes.”

“Philip.” He extended
his hand, and she shook it. “You trained me for a couple of days. I work in the
academic advisor’s office.”

She stared at him for
a moment, and then she recognized him. “Oh yes. You didn’t have the beard
then.”

“My girlfriend wanted
me to grow it. I’ve adjusted to it.”

“Well, it looks nice.
You’re liking
the job?”

“Oh yes. Everyone’s
wonderful.”

“They’re very
friendly over there. I like doing the training program. It’s a great way to get
to know people from all over campus.”

“It looks great in
here. I came to see a play once, and it’s like a different building.”

She took a long look
around. She didn’t remember what it had looked like before, as she hadn’t been
in it since it was remodeled. “It does look nice. I like the masks tucked into
the floral arrangements. They’re so gorgeous and fun.”

“Aren’t they great?
Someone said the theater students made all of them. They were going to give
them out so everyone would have a mask, but there was a leak in the storage
room, or something like that, and most of them were damaged so they just threw
the remaining ones up as decoration.”

“Hmmm.
It might have been fun if everyone were masked.” At that moment, her
phone vibrated. She ignored it at first and turned to say something else when a
very animated woman came and dragged her Shakespearean companion away after
offering only a brief apology. She pulled it out of the tiny pouch she’d chosen
to use as a purse, dropping her keys in the process. She knelt to pick them up,
and as she rose she saw him above her on the second-floor balcony again. His
gaze went straight down her cleavage. She raised an eyebrow saucily and then
turned away from him. Had he done a circle around the balcony and come back?
Had he been eyeing her the whole time? She didn’t want a man who would stare at
her like a sad stalker. She wanted some action tonight. She looked down at her
phone, and this time both her eyebrows went up.

I want to ravish the beauty in pink.

She did not recognize
the number, but it was a local area code. Had she told anyone she was coming tonight?
She never wore pink, so this message had to be from someone in the room, unless
it was a highly coincidental wrong number. She hadn’t set her bag down
anywhere, and she had kept it with her in the stall when she went to the
bathroom. So, someone at the party knew her well enough to have her phone
number.

Frowning, she
fingered the reply button, unsure what to say back. Was this a joke? Were her
friends trying to get a rise out of her? None of them had shown any interest in
the party, and she hadn’t said a word about wanting to go. No one was paying
any attention to her. Who could it be? The man in black had disappeared.
However, it had to be someone else because she doubted she knew him. His body
would be hard for any woman to ignore.

Her phone vibrated
again.
Glad I have your attention, but I
want more than that.

She looked around a
second time, turning to take in the whole room, but still no one seemed to be
watching her. She sent a text back.

What do you want?

She waited three
whole minutes for the reply, circling the dance floor again as she searched the
balcony. She could get into a game like this, but she wished she knew the
rules. She’d been on the verge of stuffing her phone in her bag and storming off
to find more obliging, and tangible, company when her phone vibrated again.

To pull you into a darkened room, lift up your skirt, and find out
how you taste.

Her face grew hot,
but in a good way. She’d expected something more teasing or subtle. Katie felt
the dampness in her panties as she shifted her stance. She scanned the balcony again.
She moved to the stairs and went up. She looked over the entire room carefully.
But she didn’t see the masked man. Couldn’t it be him? The text had come right
after he disappeared. He didn’t look familiar, but then again she could only
see his mouth.

Her pussy throbbed as
she thought about that mouth and what her mysterious texting man said he wanted
to do to her. She hadn’t had good sex in quite a while, and though she hadn’t
come here looking for it, she wouldn’t turn him down if he would only get his
butt in gear and make a move. Teasing intrigued her, but she was ready for some
action. The desire expressed in the text fit perfectly with the way he had been
gazing at her. How had he gotten her number? She thought about his body again,
still convinced she would have remembered meeting someone like him.