Beauty from Pain (7 page)

She resists as I try to pull her feet into my
lap. “What are you doing?”

“
What does it look like? I’m going
to rub your feet while we wait for Daniel.”

“
You don’t have to do
that.”

“
I know I don’t have to. I want
to.”

She gives in and twists on the bench to put
her feet in my lap. I slip off her shoes and begin rubbing the
first foot. “If you say yes, I will pamper you everyday like a
princess.”

She laughs, clearly not realizing how serious
I am. “That certainly sweetens the offer and makes it more
tempting.”

I slide my palm from her foot up her calf. “I
don’t want my offer to be tempting. I want it to be irresistible,
so tell me what it will take for you to say yes.”

She studies me and grins. “I need time, and I
need to know you better.”

She’s always guarded, but I’m impatient, so
the time she needs for getting to know me is the one thing I don’t
want to give her. Doesn’t she understand we can do that after she
agrees?

In a fine example of Daniel’s
impeccably wrong timing, he pulls
up
as I am trying to warm Paige to
the idea of us. I slip her shoes back onto her feet. When she
stands, I scoop her
in my arms
and carry her to the car where Daniel is waiting
with the opened door.

Her arms are around my neck and she gives me a
disapproving look. “I think this is a little over the
top.”

“
I tend to be that way, and you’d
do well to remember that. I meant it when I said I didn’t want you
in pain and I’d pamper you like a princess.”

She giggles again like that seventeen-year-old
girl she pretended to be earlier. “I think I could’ve managed the
few steps it would’ve taken me to get to the car.”

We slide across the backseat. “This is me
trying to persuade you to say yes, Paige.”

“
I thank you, but it’s quite
unnecessary. And I hope you don’t think you’re carrying me from the
car into the club because that’s not happening.”

“
We’ll see.”

Daniel stops on the street in front of The
Blues Club. “I’m not getting out unless I’m walking on my own. No
sneaking to scoop me up again. Got it, Jack?”

I whirl around before I get out of the car.
She has called me Jack for a second time. “Yes, ma’am.”

I get out of the car and offer my hand. “Thank
you.”

She’s standing in front of me and I can’t
resist asking, “Why do you call me Jack?”

“
I don’t know. It’s something my
mom has always said, so I say it too. Sort of like when I asked you
if you wanted to dance when we were trying to dodge around each
other.”

“
Oh.”

We walk into the club and sit at a table close
to the stage. There is a full band tonight and I recognize “Every
Breath You Take” by The Police.

Paige pecks the tabletop with her fingertips
to the beat and a waitress comes to our table. We’re sitting right
next to the speakers, so she yells out over the music, “What can I
get for you?”

Paige smiles and winks at me when she places
her order. “I’ll have a screaming orgasm, please.” Hell, yeah.
She’ll have plenty of those over the next few months if I have
anything to do with it.

“
And for you?”

Interesting drink choice. Interesting enough
that I think I might need to try one. I stare at Paige as I call
out my order. “I’ll have a screaming orgasm also.”

I slip out of my jacket and toss it across the
empty chair next to me. “Do you always wear a suit?”

“
I do when I have business
meetings.”

“
I didn’t realize you had a
meeting tonight.”

“
It was a brief one.” She watches
as I loosen the knot of my tie and unfasten the top button of my
shirt. I unbutton my sleeves and roll them up on my forearms. “You
don’t like the suit?”

“
I like it very much, but I’m
curious to see what else you wear.”

“
Then I guess you’ll have to see
me again so you can find out.”

Our waitress returns with our
drinks and I pass her my card to start a tab. “I’ll be
suitless
for the next
few days. Would you like to come out to the estate where I’m
staying for a visit tomorrow? I’d love to give you a tour of the
vineyard.”

She takes a drink of her screaming orgasm as
she watches me over the rim of her glass. “Okay.”

Another yes. It isn’t the one I want, but it’s
a start and could lead to the one I’m desperate to hear. “Perfect.
If I pick you up around ten, that will give us time to drive back
for lunch. Does that work for you?”

One-on-one time is what I need to persuade her
to accept, so tomorrow I will get the yes I so desire.

7

Laurelyn Prescott

Four screaming orgasms later, which is two more
than I usually have, Lachlan and I slide into the backseat of his
car. I only make it to the middle of the seat as I glide across, so
our legs are touching when he gets in beside me. The only thing
separating our skin is the fabric of his trousers, but his touch
sends a thrill of excitement throughout my body.

Daniel peers at Lachlan through the rearview
mirror. “Where to, sir?”

He surveys me for an answer. I think he’s
hoping I’ll tell him I want to go home with him tonight, but I
don’t. I haven’t agreed to this insanity yet.

“
To Miss Beckett’s,” he tells
Daniel.

I’m feeling the effects of my four cocktails.
Liquid courage pulsates through my veins. I feel brave. And flirty.
I put my hand on Lachlan’s thigh and use my fingertip to trace an
imaginary infinity symbol. I feel the muscle in his thigh grow taut
through his pants. “Mr. Henry, does Daniel have any idea what it is
you do with the women you keep in your company?”

Without being asked, Daniel reaches for the
control on the radio and increases the volume of the music in the
front of the car. I hear “Talk Dirty To Me” for a brief second
before he changes the station to classical. Or maybe opera. I’m too
buzzed to tell. Either way, I don’t care for it.

I lean forward. “Daniel. Change it back to
Poison.”

I see him eye his employer in the rearview
mirror. Lachlan gives him a curt nod and I hear Bret Michaels
singing again.

“
I love this song.”

“
I do too, but I’d like it much
better if you were singing it to me instead of Poison.”

“
I’ve been known to take
requests.”

“
Me too. I can talk dirty by
request anytime.”

I become hypersensitive to everything about
this man. His breathing sounds louder and his scent stronger, so
masculine. I love the feel of his leg beneath my finger. “You
didn’t answer me. Does Daniel know what you do with
women?”

It’s dark and I can’t make out his expression.
“I pay Daniel to be available when I need him. He isn’t my
confidant, so we don’t discuss what I do with the women I
date.”

“
The women
you
date
,” I
whisper as I turn to stare out the window. The streetlights flash
like strobes as we pass. If I say yes, I will be number thirteen. I
can’t imagine that going well. Thirteen is always
unlucky.

He puts his hand on my knee and heat radiates
up my thigh. “I want to know what you’re thinking.”

His intimate gesture gains my full
attention
. “I would be number
thirteen.”

I’m not certain, but I think he’s amused by my
observation. “I suppose you would be.”

I’m superstitious. I always have been. “It’s
an unlucky number.”

“
I don’t think it is. I was born
on the thirteenth.”

If I do this, something will go wrong and this
man will hurt me. I know it as sure as I’m sitting here next to him
feeling how much he makes me want to say yes. “How can you think
it’s possible to have something this hot without one of us getting
burned?”

I see him grin in the darkness. “You think
this thing between us is hot?”

Daniel pulls to a stop in front of Ben’s
apartment building. I don’t reply to Lachlan—it’s never wise to
throw fuel on a fire already raging out of control.

Daniel opens the door and I get out of the car
behind Lachlan. We walk up the sidewalk to the building’s entrance
and he shocks me by reaching for my hand. It’s such a sweet and
intimate thing to do. “Do you have your own bedroom?”

“
No. Addison and I share the guest
room.”

“
Good.”

What? Did he think I was sharing a
bed with Ben? What if I were? He didn’t have a claim on me.
Yet.
“Where did you think I was
sleeping?”

“
I had no idea since these
apartments are so small. However, I do know your friend’s brother
would like nothing better than to have you in his bed. Then again,
so would I, so I don’t guess I have room to say much.”

There he goes again, saying
whatever is on his mind.
I’m not sure if I
should appreciate his honesty or brace myself for whatever might
come out of his mouth next. “Are you missing your filter, or is it
an Aussie thing to blurt out every inappropriate thought you
have?”

We’re standing at the entrance to the building
and I sense what’s coming next. I feel it in my bones. And my
groin. He’s going to kiss me. And I want him to. Badly.

But then that isn’t what he does.

He pushes me until my back is against the
building. He pins me with his hips so I’m trapped. There’s no
escape—not that I would try. His eyes dart from mine to my mouth,
then back up to my eyes. “I say exactly what’s on my mind because I
don’t have time for silly games. I told you I don’t do pretenses,
and this is me showing you what I mean. I want you to know exactly
what’s on my mind.”

It’s unnerving the way his eyes pierce mine.
“And what’s on your mind right now?”

His mouth is so close to mine, I feel his warm
breath on my lips. “Right now, all I’m thinking about is how I’m
going to get you in my bed so I can show you all the ways I can
make you come.”

Umm … yes, please and thank you.

He makes me want to get on all fours and crawl
like a tigress. I’m burning from the inside out, and he hasn’t even
kissed me yet. This man is talented. I wonder what he’d be able to
do if we weren’t standing in a very public place.

He takes my mouth with his hand and squeezes
my jaw inward before he rubs his thumb over my lips. “I’ve been
wanting to devour this mouth since the first time I saw
you.”

“
Then, why don’t you?” I feel
audacious so I issue a challenge. “I dare you.”

I watch his face as I wait for him
to take me up on my invite.
Come on, I
want you to do it.
My chest heaves up and
down so hard, I can see it moving in my peripheral vision, and my
breathing is embarrassingly loud. I’m stunned by my sudden and
unexpected urgency for him. I shove the bells and whistles I hear
aside—the ones alerting me to how wrong this is—because I don’t
want to heed my subconscious warnings. I only want to feel what
this man is offering—to make my fantasies come true.

The next moment, his lips are on mine and my
mouth opens to invite his tongue inside to play. His hand slides
from my face to the nape of my neck and pulls me hard against his
body, holding me prisoner. Through the thin material of my dress, I
can feel how hard he is for me.

His tongue finds mine and begins a slow,
seductive dance. This man knows how to kiss. He has the ability to
weaken my knees, and my body is no longer my own to control. It
belongs to him, to do with as he wishes. He’s my
puppeteer.

I moan against his mouth and he slides his
hands up the bare skin of my back through the opening of my dress.
His mouth leaves mine and he drags it across my face to hover over
my ear. “I can’t wait to have a naughty with you. You know it’s
only a matter of time, and when I do, I’m going to make you come so
hard.”

I hear the catch in my own breath. No one has
ever said anything like that to me, even Blake, and Lachlan’s
promise pools like pure liquid seduction between my
thighs.

His mouth is hovering over my ear when I hear
his husky voice again. “You want that, don’t you?”

“
Yes.” I don’t know whose voice I
hear, but it sounds nothing like mine—it’s that of a desperate
woman.

“
There’s no reason you have to be
in my bed for me to make you come.” He takes his hand out of the
back of my dress. I feel it slide around my waist down toward the
spot where I want his touch most. I pant with
anticipation.

I hear the sound of someone clearing his voice
and I jump because I’m startled. But Lachlan isn’t—he’s annoyed as
he drops his hand from its southern destination. He sighs heavily
and inspects the person interrupting us.