Chasing Mrs. Right (16 page)
How could she have mistaken that man for Nathan? Sure, they had freakishly similar bodies—or at least what she pictured Nathan’s body would look like—and similar hair, but this man had
tattoos
. Elle nearly whimpered at the sight of so much ink. Even from this distance, she could tell it was really well done—more artwork than branding. Good God, he practically had a neon sign over his head that screamed “Bad Boy.”
He was exactly the type of man she would have chosen for herself.
Making him exactly the type of man she’d vowed to avoid at any cost. And she’d almost slept with him.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
A thick band tightened around her chest, making it impossible to catch a full breath. Spots danced over her vision as she fought to inhale. She was going to die right here in Nathan’s loft. They’d find her naked body and that’s what she’d be known as until the end of time—the woman who died in the middle of a botched seduction of the wrong man. Her mother would bring her back from the dead just to kill her for the embarrassment to the family.
Elle swayed, smacking into the wall with her back. Not enough air. She clawed at her chest, desperate for oxygen. A hand grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into gorgeous brown eyes. “Breathe, babe. Big inhale, hold it, now exhale.”
Air rushed into her lungs, so much it made her light-headed. Elle shuddered at the strength of his fingers digging into her jaw. It didn’t hurt, but there was no mistaking the possibilities they held. Heck, hadn’t she seen that all too well just five minutes ago? “Get away from me,” she wheezed, smacking his hands away.
He let go of her, but he didn’t move back nearly enough. “What’s wrong?”
What was wrong?
Everything
was wrong. Right about now she was supposed to be making love to Nathan, not standing naked in front of a stranger. His gaze flicked over her chest and she immediately tried to cover her breasts with her hands. “This isn’t happening.”
Maybe this was all a fever dream. That had to be it. She was probably safely tucked away in her bed, tossing and turning and twisting up the sheets. Elle closed her eyes and then opened them again. That too-masculine face still dominated her vision, perfectly shaped lips turning down in a frown. Why was she noticing his lips? “Oh God, this
is
happening.”
The guy crossed his arms over his chest, which only served to remind her that he was naked. Against her will, her eyes skated down his nicely muscled torso and got stuck right around his hips. It didn’t help that he was still aroused.
Time to go, Elle.
“Wait.” He reached for her again, but she scrambled back, desperate to stay out of reach. God only knew what would happen if she had his hands on her again. “Please don’t go.”
The man held out his arms as if he were trying to calm a skittish horse. Elle didn’t like that mental comparison. At all. She started sliding sideways away from him. “This was a mistake. A terrible mistake.” And she had to get out of there.
“Like hell it was.”
She snatched up her lingerie then changed her mind, tossing it on the floor and grabbing the sheet he’d kicked off the bed. She wrapped it around her body. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. Right? Right.”
“It might help if you told me what’s going on.”
Elle forced her gaze back to his face.
What’s going on?
It felt pretty obvious to her. She’d almost had sex with a stranger. If he hadn’t said anything, she would have. Her breathing got all choppy again just thinking about the implications. “You’re not Nathan,” she choked out.
He dropped heavily onto the bed, emotions flickering over his face. Shock. Horror. Guilt. Something that might be regret.
She pressed her fingers to her mouth. “I have to go. I’m sorry.” And then she fled, closing the door softly behind her.
Chapter Two
You’re not Nathan.
A terrible idea had blossomed in his mind the second the words left that gorgeous mouth of hers. He hadn’t just hooked up with his brother’s girlfriend, had he? Christ, he’d even
liked
it. This was not okay.
Gabe bolted off the bed. No way was she getting away that easily. Not without some sort of explanation. He pulled on his pants and threw open the door.
The loft, of course, was empty.
Ignoring the little voice inside demanding he give up and crawl back into bed, he marched to the other bedroom and banged on the door. “You better be goddamned decent, Nathan.” When his little brother grumbled a response, Gabe strode into the room. “Get up.”
Nathan burrowed under one of the five pillows on his bed. “Go away.”
Gabe yanked off his blanket and smacked him on the back. “Up.”
“What the hell?” He lifted his head long enough to look at the digital clock on his nightstand. “Why am I awake at this ungodly hour?”
“You aren’t dating anyone, are you?” It was a long shot with Nathan’s history, but he’d never forgive himself if he’d nearly banged his brother’s girlfriend.
“What? No. Where would you get an idea like that?”
“You know a blonde? Gorgeous, rockin’ body, about yea high?” He held his hand up to his shoulder.
Nathan sat up and ran his hands over his face. “Could be a number of women I know.”
“This one would be nursing a thing for you.”
His little brother cringed. “My coordinator, Elle. Sweet girl, really nice—innocent even. She’s been throwing hints like crazy that she wants me to ask her out, but it’s just not there for me.”
Sweet
.
Nice
. While those words might work, Gabe didn’t believe the innocent part. She might be mostly a good girl, but good girls didn’t crawl into bed intent on seducing a man. Then again, what did he know? Gabe didn’t make a habit of associating with good girls.
“Elle.” He liked the way her name rolled off his tongue, though. Hell, he’d like to roll more than that off his tongue.
“Why are you asking?”
He considered lying, but he’d never get away with it. Especially with his brother. “You swear you don’t want her?”
“I would tell if you if I did.” Nathan narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on?”
Gabe took a deep breath and told him everything. When he finished, Nathan was laughing so hard his face turned a mottled shade of red. Seeing the horrified look on Elle’s face all over again, the perfect “o” of her pink lips when she’d turned on the light and got a look at him, Gabe barely resisted punching something—preferably his idiot brother’s face. “I don’t see what’s so goddamn hilarious.”
“Only you. This would only happen to you.” Nathan made an effort to be serious, but he couldn’t seem to stop grinning. “I never would have guessed she had a scheme like this in her. I’m actually kind of impressed.”
“Ha ha ha. So funny she freaked out in the middle of it, and ran off without even getting dressed first.” Gabe ran a hand through his hair and sat heavily on the side of Nathan’s bed. “Hell, man, she took your sheet.”
That sobered his brother up. “If she quits because of this, I’m not going to be happy.”
So it wasn’t just the loss of his 1,500-thread-count sheets that wiped the smile off his brother’s face. “None of this is my goddamn fault.”
Nathan frowned. “You’re more pissed about this than I’d expect.”
Despite being the younger brother, he’d always been overprotective of Gabe. They were all each other had. But that didn’t mean he wanted to get into the mushy stuff or explain how much it hurt to have Elle literally run from him after the glimpse of heaven she’d given him. “I just… She’s different.”
“Yes, she is, which is why I’m not going to be happy if she quits.” Nathan sighed and climbed out of bed. “Don’t suppose you started coffee before bursting in here? Because obviously I’m not getting any more sleep tonight.”
“Nope.”
“Sadist.”
“You act like you’re surprised.” Gabe followed him into the kitchen and grabbed a stool.
They both watched the coffee fill the pot, one drip at a time. It was only when he’d poured two cups that Nathan finally said, “It’s good to have you back.”
Gabe had been gone longer than normal this time around. It wasn’t planned, but everything that could go wrong had with the L.A. club. “It’s good to be home.” Or it had been until Elle climbed into his bed and then acted like she’d kissed a monster. Not exactly the most encouraging response.
As they drank their coffee, Gabe watched his brother. Nathan looked like shit. Oh, not that the average person would notice, but Gabe was family—he knew when something was wrong with his brother. It had been like this for a long time, but things seemed to be worse every time he came home. “How you doing?”
Nathan shrugged, just like he always did. “Fine. Working on something new and it’s kicking my ass.”
Gabe had the sneaking suspicion the source of his little brother’s demons was a woman from their past, but they never talked about it. “You say that, and then it ends up selling for a shit-ton of money.”
“I’m good at what I do.” He finally grinned. “So how was L.A.? Took your ass long enough to get back here.”
“It was a mess. The G.M. I hired had a thing for pretty redheaded bartenders with more tits than sense, and he was skimming off the top. I finally had to fire the whole lot of them.” A month. A whole damn month to find a decent replacement. “But I found a chick who knows her stuff. Lynn doesn’t take shit from anyone.” Gabe needed a ballbuster to keep all those high-strung bartenders in line.
“How long you sticking around this time?”
“No idea. I’m going to need to visit the rest of the clubs soon—make sure things are running smoothly. You know, the usual.” He tried to do a tour of the clubs he owned at least two or three times a year. It was too easy for things to slip under the radar when he wasn’t around. Then again, he might actually have a new reason to stick around Spokane now. “So tell me about Elle.”
Nathan set his cup down. “Like I said, she’s a good girl. Works hard, though I don’t know much about her private life. I served with her brother in Iraq. He’s a good guy, a better soldier. I can tell you right now Ian won’t like you sniffing around his precious little sister.”
What big brother would? Gabe wasn’t exactly the kind of man women took home to meet their parents. He had the hard life written all over him, from the way he carried himself to the ink on his skin. Always had. The thought made him want to snarl. “She’s the one who started this.”
“Hey, I’m not arguing with you. All I’m asking is, how far do you plan on taking it?”
It was something he hadn’t considered. Gabe took a drink of the cooling coffee. There were too many variables to say for sure. All he knew was that he didn’t want his last sight of Elle to be her fleeing from him. “I don’t know, but I want to find out.”
“Then I suppose you’ll need to ask her out.”
Again, the look on her face appeared in his head. “I doubt she’d say yes.”
“And when has a little thing like ‘no’ stood in the way of your goal?”
If Gabe were put off by rejection, he never would have gotten their first nightclub off the ground, inherited money or no. Hell, even if he’d been able to start that first club, there wouldn’t be clubs in all the major West Coast cities. He grinned. “A good point, little brother, a very good point.”
Want more? Grab your copy of
Wrong Bed, Right Guy
today!
And watch for Nathan’s book,
coming Summer 2013!
Eight years ago, former Army sergeant Nathan Schultz let the love of his life disappear without a fight. After watching everyone around him find happiness while he slipped further away, he’s finally ready to fight for Chelsea Callaghan—and he’s not afraid to play dirty.
Chelsea has always followed her conservative family’s rules—with one heartbreaking exception. When she receives an invitation to an old high school friend’s wedding, she knows who’s to blame. Though she goes solely to give Nathan a piece of her mind, he blackmails her into staying the entire week. With him.
There’s no way she’ll bow to Nathan’s will without making him pay. Unfortunately, revenge is a dish best served fully clothed, and they can’t be in the same room without losing theirs. As insatiable, anger-fueled lust shifts into something more, they begin to lose sight of why they can’t be together. But with so many unforgivable wrongs between them, can Nathan and Chelsea ever make things right?
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, as always, to God.
A huge, gigantic, OMG thank-you to Heather Howland. Each book is a journey, and this one was longer and far more winding than most. Thank you for the countless e-mails and brainstorming sessions, and for never once questioning that this book would be awesome. I couldn’t have done it without you.
To Liz, for helping when we couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
To Tahra, for going through the earlier versions of this book, and to Haleigh for going through the more recent ones. You both helped me get Ian and Roxanne to where they needed to be.
To Seleste, for being there through this wild ride and letting me vent and squee and everything in between. You’re the best friend a crazy kid like me could ask for.
To Ben and Deece, for never blinking when I text/e-mail/call with truly strange questions.
About the Author
New York Times
and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her favorites then were the rather epic adventures of The Three Bears, but at age twelve, she discovered romance novels and never looked back. When not writing sexy contemporary and speculative romance novels, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her wee ones, ogling men, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
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