Everything Bared (Six-Alarm Sexy) (2 page)

Several windows snapped shut, but within seconds, they all reopened. Her show was a hit.

After unclipping the garters, she wiggled the boy shorts off her hips and down her legs. Free at last, she turned and knelt on the chair, lifting her ass to the windows behind her. Those in front were treated to her swaying breasts.

With her juices sealing her thighs together, she couldn’t believe the charge she was getting from this. It felt very real, but in a rational part of her brain, she hoped it wasn’t. What kind of person got off on exposing herself to strangers this way? She should be embarrassed, ashamed even.

But the truth was—she
was
getting off on it. Already she could feel the buzz of an orgasm building in her belly.

She slipped her knees off the chair, straddling it, but not sitting down. She used her hands on the back of the seat to balance herself and trapped her breasts between her arms. With her eyes on the window in front of her, she licked the top of each breast.

Heat drilled into her ass from behind where she could sense the broad-shouldered man’s gaze on her. Her pussy clenched with need. The need to be filled. The need for release. Should she use a toy? Could she go that far with people watching her? She’d had sex in the fetish clubs before, but this seemed different. Much different.

Over her shoulder, she saw the man’s window closing. Desperation gripped her. She had to see his face. Did she know him? Was he the owner of the voice? The voice that seemed so familiar even though she couldn’t place it.

Throwing herself backward, she flattened her cheek against the window, managing a glimpse before it closed with a bang.

But she’d seen enough of the man’s square jaw, crystal blue eyes, and chestnut brown hair to know exactly who he was.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

All the windows snapped shut. The music stopped and the lights turned off. In the dark, the voice, now hoarse and raw, said, “We’re done here, Danielle.”

She knew exactly who the voice belonged to, who the chiseled jaw and blue eyes belonged to: William Caldwell IV.

Fuck.

Bang! Bang! “K9, wake up!”

What the hell?
Dani opened her eyes, disoriented and confused. Coco lunged between the seats to perch on her lap as she barked at the window, her tail wagging in welcome. Jamie.

Muffling a groan, Dani opened the door to let Coco out, then did a quick check to make sure her clothes were all in the right place before following the dog. “Hey, LJ. Heading home?”

“Yeah. What are you still doing here?”

She crossed her arms and looked away. It was bad enough her boss had caught her sleeping in her car, fantasizing about his brother. There was no need to add to her humiliation.

“Tell me what’s going on.”

When she turned to face him, the hard set of his jaw told her he wasn’t going to let this drop. “My apartment sustained some damage from the earthquake. It’s being renovated and reinforced. Until the work is finished, I can’t live there.”

His blue eyes, so like his brother’s, bore into her. “Where’ve you been staying since then?”

“Mostly here. But now that we’re back on regular rotation, Coco and I have been hanging out at the park.”

“And you’re sleeping in your car? Shit. Why didn’t you say something? And what about your sister or your mom? Can’t you stay with one of them?”

“Monica is really allergic to dogs. I’m talking anaphylactic shock. And my mom? I tried that. It lasted a day.” She loved her mother, but the constant nagging and harping about her job, her lack of kids, and the misguided worries about her sexual orientation were just—no. She shook her head. “I’d rather sleep under a bridge than spend another night there.”

“How long until you can move back home?”

“A month or so.”

“This isn’t healthy for you or Coco. There has to be a better solution than living in your car.”

She crouched down to pet her dog and laughed when Coco licked her face. Yep. They were two of a kind. She didn’t need anyone else. “You should go home to Erica and that precious little girl of yours. Coco and I will be fine. We always are.”

Jamie squatted and scratched Coco behind the ears. “Well, for now you’re coming home with me. Erica would kill me if she found out I’d left you here. And Chloe will love the chance to play with Coco.”

“I can’t stay with you, Jamie. We’re friends and all, but you’re still my boss.”

Coco whined when Jamie stopped scratching her, his hand frozen. Dani caught the gleam in his eye. “Come home with me for the day,” he said. “I’ve got the perfect solution. First, you’ll sleep, then after supper, I’ll take you to your new home.”

Oh no. It was never good when Jamie got that look. “Whatever it is you’re thinking, stop,” she said, her voice stern.

He pushed to his feet, a grin cracking his face. “Trust me.”

William Caldwell threw his keys onto the new granite kitchen counter and loosened his tie with a sharp tug. The meeting with the company’s union leader had been a bitch, sapping all his energy. He believed in the value of unions, but he also believed that Stephen Torval was a dick. The man flat out refused each and every concession William offered the union members on behalf of Caldwell Fine Furnishings.

His father, William Caldwell III, was much loved by the company’s employees, mostly because he gave them everything they wanted. His focus was and always had been on the designs, on the products, and despite being CEO, he’d always left the money matters in the hands of the finance department. Since being appointed Chief Financial Officer last year, William had made changes and had corrected some of the financial missteps taken by the previous CFO, but the company still had a long way to go before it was in the black again.

If he accepted all the union’s demands as is, Caldwell Fine Furnishings would go under. Somehow, he had to get Torval to understand that, so the true negotiations could begin. He wanted the employees to be happy, but he also wanted them to have jobs. His family had sacrificed a lot so that he could become a CPA, and he refused to let them down. If Caldwell Fine Furnishings didn’t return to profitability within the next two years, he’d refuse to let his father nominate him as CEO.

He dug his fingers into the tight cords of muscle on the sides of his neck and angled his head to relieve some of the tension. Not having much success, he pulled a crystal tumbler out of the cabinet, added some ice and two fingers of Glenlivet. Although the scotch might help, at times like this, the only thing that really relieved his stress was a good fuck. But as CFO of his family’s company, he could hardly go clubbing and pick up a slightly slutty, wholly willing woman to have a sordid one-night stand. If Torval or any of the other union leaders found out, they’d be sure to use it against William and Caldwell Fine Furnishings. Until this mess was settled, William would be a monk. Then he’d settle on a nice society girlfriend, and after a year of dating, he’d marry her. They’d get a house on a golf course, get a membership at a top tennis club, and when it was time for his father to step down and him to take over as CEO, he’d look the part.

Yeah, he had his whole future figured out. Quiet. Civilized. Orderly.

In his bedroom, he removed his shoes and socks, placed the shoes at the foot of his bed, then headed to the living room. He glanced briefly at the closed door to the second bedroom, the room his brother Jamie had occupied for almost a year before reconciling with his wife, Erica. William was happy they’d patched things up. They deserved to be happy, and his niece Chloe deserved to have both her parents. Still, as hard as it had been to get used to having a roommate, he missed his brother. It was too damn quiet.

To fill the void, he switched on the television to watch
Mad Money
. Since he managed the company’s stock portfolio, he had to stay abreast of all the latest news and trends.
Mad Money
’s advice wasn’t always the best, but the entertainment factor was top-notch. He extended the footrest of his new massage chair and took a healthy slug of his scotch, relaxing for the first time that day.

Someone knocked on the door.

William dropped his head back and groaned. It was probably his neighbor, old Mrs. Norris, coming to complain about the couple with kids on the floor above. He set the tumbler on the coffee table and pushed to his feet. Without bothering to check through the peephole, he plastered a benevolent smile on his face and swung open the door. But it wasn’t Mrs. Norris.

Jamie grinned. “Hey, bro.”

“Hi, Will,” Danielle Harris said at the same time.

William stared open-mouthed at his visitors. Jamie stood outside his door, more nervous than William had seen him since his wedding day five years ago. His gaze slid to Danielle, who smacked her chewing gum and blew a bubble, sucking it into her mouth when it popped. He found himself entranced by the light shimmering on her wet lips.

“Woof!”

William jumped at the sharp bark and tracked the sound to the dog sitting at Danielle’s feet. Several months before, he’d had the misfortune of meeting Danielle’s search-and-rescue canine partner, Coco, at a party, where she’d taken an instant liking to his groin. He grimaced at the memory. The dog’s sharp teeth in such close proximity to his cock had done nothing to get him over his dislike of large dogs.

What the hell was this ragtag trio doing at his condo?

Jamie cleared his throat. “You going to invite us in or what?”

“Yeah. Come in,” William said, stepping back.

Jamie reached to the side and swung two duffle bags over his shoulders. William frowned. Had Jamie and Erica split up again? Shit.

“Here, take this,” Danielle said, dumping two dog dishes and what had to be a forty-pound bag of dry dog food into his arms.

Stunned, William stumbled back under the unexpected and unwieldy weight.
What the fuck was going on?

They tramped into his condo, the dog’s claws clicking on—and no doubt scratching—his newly varnished hardwood floors. His brother had better have a damn good reason for this.

William dropped the bag of food and the dishes onto the floor and joined his visitors. He frowned when he entered the living room. Jamie was sprawled in his massage chair while Danielle and Coco had made themselves at home on his new leather couch.

Danielle’s eyes twinkled in the prettiest way. “Worried about something, Will?”

Her voice flowed over his skin and straight to his groin. Did she have to call him Will? He swore she did it just to irritate him. Beautiful and annoying as hell, the woman would do or say anything to shove him off balance. She’d proven that when she’d flashed him more than cleavage at Jamie’s welcome home party where they’d been surrounded by his family.

He wanted to kick the whole lot of them out of his home, but he owed Jamie. More than that, he genuinely liked his brother and was more than a little curious about why he’d brought Danielle here… with her
dog
.

Seeing Jamie eye the tumbler on the coffee table, William’s manners kicked in. “Can I get you something to drink?”

Danielle leaned forward to grab his glass off the table. The movement made her blouse gape, exposing the tops of her breasts. He gritted his teeth against the wave of sexual awareness that threatened to harden his cock.
Damn that woman. Did she have to be so alluring?

She brought the tumbler to her nose and scrunched up her face. “Jeez, Will. Were you adopted or something?”

Jamie burst out laughing. “Something I’ve wondered about myself. Got anything us simple blue-collar folks might like?”

“Fuck off,” William said without heat. His brothers were always ribbing him about his tastes. He grabbed two Redhook beers from the fridge, unscrewed the caps and handed them to his uninvited guests.

“You like beer?” Danielle asked.

“Not really.”

“So you buy these for…?”

“My brothers. Tori likes white wine. Mom and Dad prefer red.”

She smiled. “Well, for the record, I like Corona with fresh lime.”

“And I need to know that why?”

Her gaze shot to Jamie and she raised her brows in a signal of some sort. Jamie chugged his beer as though needing fortification.

He and Jamie were as close as two brothers could be, but they were exact opposites in personality. Whenever William had gotten into trouble, Jamie had been the cause. As children, Jamie had manipulated him into one harebrained scheme after another. Later, as young men, they’d partied together. He shuddered, just thinking about some of the more adventurous clubs Jamie had dragged him to.

“Do I need to sit down for this?” William drawled.

Jamie shrugged. “Probably.”

The only available spot was on the couch next to Danielle and the dog.
Not in this lifetime.
“Just spit it out,” he said.

Jamie pushed the footrest down and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. He locked gazes with William. “Dani’s apartment building got damaged in the quake and she needs a place to stay.”

William’s eyes shifted to Danielle, but she had her face buried in the dog’s scruff.