Be My Bad Boy (3 page)

She leaned on the
railing and watched the fountain as she thought about him. Her heart started
pounding as she imagined kissing him. If it did turn out to be him, and he made
good on what his texts promised, she’d forgive him for his earlier
behavior…eventually. She started to text again and changed her mind a few times
before finally hitting send.

What else?

Again, he made her
wait.
Make you tremble, get you wet, bend
you over a table and take you.

She almost dropped
her phone, so she moved away from the railing to protect the innocent
bystanders below her. Did he suspect he’d already gotten her wet? She liked his
style, and she wanted him. But who was he? Was he handsome? How did they know
each other? The man dressed all in black had intrigued her, but what if this
was someone else? That idea excited her too.

Tell me where.
She almost hadn’t done
it. Would he reply? If she didn’t feel safe, she wasn’t obligated to go find
him and there were enough people around in case he didn’t care for a refusal.
She’d see what he said and judge from there.

Chapter Three

Katie waited ten
minutes for a reply. She had a glass of punch and several mini quiches. She
made small talk with a couple of people she knew and met a few spouses. The
evening was likely to become boring again if he didn’t hurry up and make
another move.

She frowned. For
someone with such ardent desires he seemed to have more patience than she did. Still,
her arousal kept her there, even though she considered leaving so she could go
home to the reliable comfort of one of her vibrators.

Her frustration
actually made her wetter as she slowly circled the room. She searched every male
face between impatient glances at her phone. Had he only been toying with her?
Was it truly a prank or had he chickened out for some reason? She hoped he
wasn’t married. She didn’t believe she had any exes who would be disgruntled
enough to go to these lengths simply to vex her.

She sighed as she
lowered her phone. She had no time for men with confidence issues or little
boys who only wanted to play games. Did he think she wouldn’t be attracted to
him? Would he have gone to this much trouble if he suspected that? She didn’t
think he would have dared attempt this little feat if he weren’t good-looking.

Her heart raced as
the next text came in.
If you come to me,
I will make love to you. Be sure, my love. Don’t tease me.

My
love?
That
caught her more off guard than his racy comments. Who was he? Was he going for
seduction or romance? She would prefer both, but the slight change in his tone
perplexed her. What if he was an obsessed student or something? He could be
dangerous. One look could inspire lust and desire, but love? Stalkers could
obtain things like addresses and phone numbers easily enough. She didn’t want
to hear talk of love from a man she might have only talked to once or twice in
her life.

I’m not sure. I’m scared. I don’t know you. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
to tease.
After a few seconds, she sent another
message.
If we know each other, just tell
me who you are. It’ll be okay.

This time, he
responded right away.

Don’t be afraid. You do know me.
Where I was born,
my middle name, my date of birth.

She did? She thought
quickly and came up with lots of men who fit that list. She tapped her foot as
her mind raced.

But you won’t tell me?

She got another fast
response.
Not yet. Trust that I’m telling
you the truth. Please.

What could she say back
to that? Was he going to come up to her and ask her to dance? Couples had
started filling the dance floor at the far end of the lobby. She moved back
toward the stairs. Should she go back down to the first floor? None of the men
looked at her, and she couldn’t find the man in black. She kept looking down at
her phone.

A moment later she felt
hot breath on her neck. “Don’t you think my fingers should be doing something
else?”

She turned and looked
into the eyes of the masked man.
“Perhaps.
You should
probably introduce yourself first.”

He drew close and
took her hand. He kissed her wrist and let his tongue play over her pulse. “You
truly do look
ravishable
.”

“I think you mean
‘ravishing’. And I wasn’t looking for a compliment. I was asking for a name.”

He stepped even closer
to her and placed her hand over his heart. He leaned into her hair. “I know
what I said, and it’s exactly what I meant. I can feel how much you want me, so
why does my name matter anymore than yours does?”

He spoke in a low,
husky voice, but she did know that voice from somewhere. Or did she? The
familiarity was vague. He didn’t have a discernable accent. He had that flat
way of speaking common to lots of states in the middle of the country. She
looked into his eyes. They were hazel and green with flecks of gold, beautiful
and hypnotizing. How could she forget eyes like that? Perhaps they had only
spoken on the phone. Everyone sounded a little bit different on the phone. “So
you do know my name?”

“Katie,” he
whispered. He said her name with amazing tenderness. The word had slipped from
his lips in a way that made her feel like she was being caressed intimately.

“How did you get my
phone number?” she asked once she had recovered her ability to breathe.

“Do you really care?”

“Yes. The things you
seem to think don’t matter are important from my point of view.”

“Are they? I think
I’ll lose some of my appeal if I tell you too much.”

She moved past him
and walked over to the chocolate fountain near the top of the stairs. Taking a
strawberry she dipped it in chocolate before placing it on a plate to let the
chocolate set. “Tell me how you got my number if you want to keep talking to
me.”

“You gave it to me.”

She concentrated on
eating the strawberry to hide her surprise and give
herself
another moment to think. Who was he? She gave out her cell number to friends
only. She swallowed and suddenly remembered the fundraiser she’d organized
earlier in the year. She’d put her cell number in the email to all the
volunteers. She’d had the departmental credit card, so she’d asked all of them
to call her whenever supplies were needed that week. If she remembered
correctly, there had been thirty-five volunteers.

“The
fundraiser.”

“Pardon?”

“You helped with the
fundraiser in February.”

He smiled. “I did.
You did a marvelous job.”

“Thank you.” She felt
a little safer now. At least he had some credentials. University employees all
had to submit to background checks. “It was fun.”

“You do look lovely
tonight.
Very different, but very beautiful.”

“Not really my color,
but it was the only one that didn’t push my breasts all the way up my nose.”
What else could she say? What could she ask to make him give her more of a
clue? “You look wonderful.
Westley
from
The Princess Bride
,
right?”

“I admit it.” He gave
a bow.
“With pride.”

The bow and his words
showed he knew the movie. All her friends and most of her co-workers knew she
loved it, so that didn’t help a lot. Had she mentioned it one night while
working on the fundraiser? She had often curled up with the DVD playing after
long days that month. Was she flattering herself too much? She didn’t think so.
He must have chosen the costume purposely. She liked the effort it showed. This
man had a very seductive charm. “It’s a good choice.”

He chuckled. “You
have no idea who I am, do you, my dear?”

She didn’t like not
having the upper hand while flirting. “Yes, I do.” She tried to sound bold and
confident. Why was he so amused? “You helped us with our fundraiser. You work
here.”

“What department?”

She hesitated and
pretended to search her memory. “That’s a trick question. You didn’t tell me.”

“You know where I
work. You’re bluffing.”

“I am not!”

He turned away from
the other guests and led her down the hall. “Then tell me my name.”

“Where are we going?”

“Someplace we can
talk.”

“We are talking.”

“Yes, you were about
to tell me my name, I believe.”

“
Rumpelstiltskin
.”

“You’re so cute when
you’re flustered.”

“I am not flustered!
Is it so strange to want to know a guy’s name when he starts sending you dirty
texts?”

“Not really. At least
you admit you don’t know my name.”

She let her breath
out in a huff.
“Fine.
I don’t know it, but I don’t see
what the big deal is.” She reached for his mask.

He grabbed her hands
and pushed her into the corner.
His lips covering hers in a
searing kiss.
His mouth banished every sane thought from her head. “Not
so fast, my dear.”

“
You’re
telling
me
not to
go so fast. That’s a laugh.”

He smiled. “Perfect.
We always have a good laugh together.”

“What?”

“Every single time we
talk, you make me laugh. I love your sense of humor.”

His body pressed
close proved hard to ignore. “That’s nice to know.”

His eyes kept
searching hers. She couldn’t look away. No man had ever made her feel like
this. As much as she was enjoying the banter, she wanted to be alone with him. As
she looked at his mouth, she also wanted to persuade him to make good on his
earlier promises.

She licked her lips
and started to say something, but he stopped her with a slow and sensuous kiss.
This one burned as much as his first one had, but in a completely different
way. Something in his embrace called to her heart. She felt lost in him. She
didn’t even care if anyone saw them in the darkened corner.

When their lips parted, she said, “There was something you said you
wanted to do to me. Several things, if I’m not mistaken?”

He put his lips to
her ear. “You’re not.”

He pulled her all the
way to the end of the hall and up to the third floor. He drew her down that
hallway to another flight of stairs. They ascended again, and he brought her to
a door finally. To her surprise, they ended up in a bedroom.

As romantic, and
convenient, as this was, she was puzzled. “Why is there a bedroom here?”

“Guest rooms for
visiting professors. They’re all vacant for now.”

Dim light filled the
bedroom, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust, but she knew his eyes never
left her as she looked around. She could feel his gaze burn against her skin. She
looked up into his face. His hungry look told her he would know exactly how to
please her. He searched her face with a mysterious smile playing across his
lips. Again, she felt his hesitation was a purposeful tease. He liked making
her wait, and thoughts of the pleasure to come made her ache with need. It had
been far too long since she’d had sex, especially with a man this tempting. Desire
coiled deep inside her as she waited for his touch and soon began to long for
it.

“So you wanted to
talk?” she asked, and her voice was husky.

“If
you like.
Other thoughts are occurring to me
now.”

“Yes. You did hint at
a few things earlier.” She leaned forward to encourage him. He caressed her
cheek before moving behind her. His arms slid around her waist. He nuzzled her
neck and began to kiss her gently.

She moved into his
embrace. His hot lips made her shiver as they moved over the sensitive skin of
her neck. A sigh escape her lips as his mouth traveled very slowly down to her
shoulder and then back up her neck again. Her knees quivered when he nibbled a
spot behind her ear. Tightening his grip around her waist, he pressed the full
length of his body into her. His hands ran up her body, appreciating every
curve. Cupping her breasts, he pressed his hardened cock against her. She rubbed
her ass over him and felt how thick he was. Another squeeze of her breasts as
his lips continued the sensually sweet teasing of her neck set her on fire. She
wanted him to rip her dress right off and take her that very moment. She was so
wet she could hardly believe his mouth had only touched her neck. What would it
be like when he explored the rest of her? He flicked his thumbs across her
nipples, which also responded to this touch. Bursts of pleasure spread through
her, and the pulsing need in her belly only grew worse. She gasped, and he
chuckled, kissing her cheek playfully.

How had this man
slipped under her radar? “Who are you? I can’t believe I didn’t notice you
before.”