Help Me (9 page)

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By the time we got back to the club, I was ready to face anything with Trey by my side. He wouldn’t tell me the details of his plan, but he assured me it would work and I believed him. We went inside and found ourselves in the middle of some kind of scavenger hunt. Well-dressed couples hurried past us in every direction, in hot pursuit of something. No one would stop long enough to explain to game, so we just tried to keep from getting run over and made our way upstairs to the game room.

Alexei was on duty in the hallway and I stiffened as we swept past him, but he never so much as glanced in my direction.

We went into the room and sat down on a loveseat that left our legs touching.

“Now what?”

“Now we wait.”

“For?”

“For him to forget how long we’ve been in here.”

“Him meaning Alexei?”

“Yup.”

I crossed my legs. “And what will that do?”

“It’ll sell the bit better if he thinks we’ve been in here boozing it up for a while.”

“Huh?”

“Just trust me.”

I shook my head. “You’re having too much fun, Trey.”

He grinned. “Only because you’re here.”

“You’re also full of shit.”

He plucked a hair off the bottom of my skirt. “True. But in this case it’s true. I’ve never met anyone like you before, Amanda.”

“I’m sure.”

“I mean that in a good way.”

“You barely know me.”

“I know enough.”

“Such as?”

He turned a little so we were looking into each other’s eyes. “Like how brave you are.”

I snorted. “Oh yeah, I’m a big damn hero.”

Trey put his hand on my knee. “You are.”

“No, I’m just a scared ‘little mouse’ like you called me yesterday.”

“I was wrong. When mice get scared they hide. When you got scared you strutted in here ready to do battle. That’s brave.”

“And kind of dumb.”

“Sort of. But no less brave. I’d be honored to have a girl like you search for me. I believe you’d burn this building to the ground if that’s what it took to find your sister. And it’s amazing.” He shook his head and gazed deep into my soul. “How could I not help you.”

A reply caught in my throat and I just croaked out, “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me when we’re having drinks with Kat and talking about the crazy thing you did to make sure she was okay.”

“It’s a deal.”

He paused for a second and then slid his hand up over my thigh. “Just so you don’t think I’m a boy scout, there’s another reason I’m glad I met you.”

“What’s that?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew.

“You’re one of the sexiest women I’ve ever met. And you’re so real. Even as we’re lying to everyone around us, I see the real you and I just…want to touch her. Whatever happens, you need to remember that you’re so much braver and sexier than you know.”

My eyes slid shut as his hand reached my waist and continued up. “Yesterday you stopped yourself.”

“I know. And I think I was right to. But damn it, I don’t want to do the right thing now.”

“What do you want?”

“You.”

I sighed and opened my eyes. Trey was staring at me, with such heated desire in his eyes that I couldn’t look away. No one had ever looked at me like that before and it was more intoxicating than any of the many glasses of wine I’d had.

“Trey…” I breathed.

“Don’t say anything. I’m going to kiss you.”

My lips parted, but I didn’t speak. His hand grazed my breast and kept going. He held my chin between two fingers and pulled my face towards his. His lips were soft and sweet against mine at first. But soon, when he saw I wasn’t pulling away, the kiss deepened. Trey’s tongue invaded my mouth and claimed the space for his own.

I wrapped my arms around him, interlocking my fingers behind his back, enjoying the rhythmic slide of his muscles as he moved. While our mouths learned each other, Trey tangled a hand in my hair and held me immobilized in his strong grip. But instead of restrictive, it felt freeing. He led every motion. Sucking on my tongue and nibbling on my lower lip.

Each second stoked the flames of passion inside me until I couldn’t take it anymore. I groaned against his mouth and brazenly shifted so I was sitting in his lap. Trey made a hungry sound as my ass settled against him, and I felt his arousal straining to break free between us.

“Amanda,” he said after kissing me breathless, “We have to stop.”

I managed to hear him through the haze of desire that filled my brain. “Why?”

“Because if we don’t stop now, I’m not going to stop at all.”

For a brief moment I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t care about anyone or anything but the way I felt with Trey touching me. It was horrible and selfish and none of that mattered. “So don’t stop.” To make my meaning clear, I began to roll my hips against him, sliding us together and apart over and over again.

It was his turn to groan, then. “If you don’t get off me right now I’m going to flip you over and take you right here on this couch. In front of the cameras and with who knows how many people in hearing distance.”

That, finally, was enough to bring me back to my senses. “Shit,” I said, jumping up. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head and held my hand. “Don’t be. I’m not. But this isn’t the place or time.”

“You’re right.” I stepped away to compose myself and smooth down my dress as my heart continued to thunder in my chest. “We should um…do that thing you mentioned earlier.”

He smirked. “I’m not taking that bait, Amanda.”

I giggled. “You know what I mean.”

And just like that, we were back on track. The attraction wasn’t gone, but it faded to a low simmer, enough for me to remember why we were here. I walked over to the window and looked out. The neighborhood was quiet, even this early and all I could see was dark windows and a park in the next block where someone was walking a dog.

“Okay,” Trey said after a while, “Do you know how to play pool?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“No.”

“Well, I do.”

“Good. You get started and I’ll put my brilliant scheme into action.”

I rolled my eyes, but did as he said. The table was already setup, so I just had to pull a cue off the wall and get into position for my first shot.

But just as I was leaning over the table, Trey grabbed me from behind and spun me around before jumping onto the table in a bizarre leap. He landed hard and flailed for a while, sending my cue and most of the balls flying around the room. The clattering against the gleaming wood floors and furniture was incredibly loud and I yelped. “What the hell are you doing?”

Before he could answer, Alexei came barreling into the room. His eyes darted all around and came to rest on Trey, who was still lying across the pool table after his belly flop. He muttered something into his headset in another language and stomped over to the table.

“Get up, drunk asshole.” He grabbed the back of Trey’s suit jacket and pulled him up.

“Hey, hey, calm down man,” Trey responded, twisting out of the other man’s grip quickly and flashing a grin at me. “I was just showing the lady some of my advanced pool techniques.”

Alexei glowered at him so hard I took a step back. “Listen, rich boy. Just because you have all the money in the world doesn’t mean you can break the rules here.”

“He’s sorry,” I piped in, overcoming my fear of being recognized.

The tall man turned to stare at me. “I wasn’t talking to you.” He paused and peered at me for a moment. “Do I know you?”

“Today’s just my second day here.”

He grunted. “You look familiar.”

Struggling to cover my panic, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I’m the ‘girl next door’ type. Everyone says that.”

“Hmm. Well, girl next door, if you want to get paid for tonight, keep your boyfriend here under control.”

Trey shoved him from behind. “Don’t you talk to her like that.”

Alexei spun around and the two men faced off. “Why? What are you going to do, hire someone to beat me up?”

“No.” He growled and rolled his shoulders. Gone was the silly playful Trey. He was a warrior now. “I’ll happily kick your ass myself.”

“Try it.”

“Guys, come on,” I pleaded pointlessly. Both men were ready to fight and nothing I said was going to penetrate the thick cloud of testosterone filling the room. I didn’t know how this was part of Trey’s plan, but without a way to stop them, I had to just see what happened.

And what happened is Trey swung a closed fist that collided with Alexei’s chin, hard. The guard let out a puff of air and pounced. In a second they were on the floor, grappling with each other. Punches and knees and elbows were thrown so fast I couldn’t keep track of who did what. But eventually it became clear that Alexei would win. He managed to straddle Trey and put an arm across his throat.

“Stop!” I screamed, desperate. If I’d stopped to think first, I would have just run away. But I didn’t. I picked up a discarded pool cue from the floor and brandished it in what I hoped was an intimidating way. “Get off him.”

Alexei loosened his grip, but didn’t release Trey. He stared at me and then began to laugh. “My heavens, I see why he likes you. Fierce little thing.”

I opened my mouth, shocked. I’d expected him to hit me or pull out a gun. Not be amused.

Before I could recover, Peter entered the room and shouted for all of us to be quiet. He pulled Alexei off and helped Trey up. “What is going on in here?”

Trey flexed his jaw a few times and crossed his arms. “Your boy here is misbehaving. Interrupting my special time with Amanda.”

I scoffed, figuring that wouldn’t work for a second, but I was wrong. I had clearly misjudged how much the Eden Club was willing to put up with from loyal members.

“Alexei, why did you come in this room?”

“I heard a commotion,” the other man said sullenly, all humor gone from his voice and face. “This idiot was trying to fuck the pool table I think.”

“Amanda, what was happening?”

“We were just playing around. Had a bit too much wine at dinner and Trey was just being silly. Alexei overreacted.” At this, I cast a disapproving glance at him, like the ‘fierce little thing’ he claimed to appreciate.

“I see.” Peter looked at all three of us in turn and then grunted. “Alexei, leave them alone. Mr. Heller, I apologize for the interruption. Please enjoy the rest of your evening.”

Trey walked over and draped an arm over my shoulder. “Oh, we will.”

The security guards left, closing the door behind them. I slapped Trey on the arm and glared at him. “That was your brilliant plan? Let that guy almost kill you?”

He chuckled. “I’m fine. This isn’t the first scrape I’ve gotten into with somebody in this place. A little fighting is acceptable. But you saw him. He doesn’t remember you. He had plenty of time to recall your face.”

“True. But that doesn’t mean he never will.”

“Nah. He’s done. This was a very memorable experience. Now
this
is how he’ll remember meeting you.”

I shook my head, bewildered. “You’re insane.”

“Maybe a little.”

With a sigh I straightened his tie. “What’s your next idea? Want to set a bomb off so we can sneak into Veronica’s office after everyone evacuates the building?”

“That’s not a bad suggestion, actually.”

“Trey, I was joking.”

“Me too,” he replied. “Mostly.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled. He was a little out of his mind, but now, more than ever, I was thankful that I’d met Trey. Not just because of whatever was happening between us, but because I saw he was willing to do whatever it took to keep me safe and help me find my sister.

“Seriously, what’s next?”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ve got another idea. No explosions necessary.”

“Should I be nervous?”

“Perhaps. Here’s the thing. Alexei is a dumbass. But Peter isn’t. He’s going to figure out what just happened doesn’t make sense. He’ll be back and we need to be ready.”

I fidgeted with the strap of my dress and looked around. “Okay, I’m nervous.”

“It’ll be fine. Just trust me.”

“I do trust you.

“I’m glad to hear that.” He ran his thumb over my lips slowly. “Time for part two of my plan.”

“Do tell.”

“It’s easier if I show you.”

“All right.”

“Good. Now all you have to do is take off your dress.”

To be continued in TRUST ME (SEDUCED BY DANGER #2)

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All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Clara Bayard is a wealthy business owner who, following the brutal death of her parents, used that wealth to create a secret identity and a lot of cool gadgets in order to protect the city she adores, and keep others from experiencing the same pain she did.

Wait, no. That’s Batman. 

Clara is a just a regular gal living in the Mid-Atlantic region. She loves writing sexy stories about flawed people doing exciting things. When she’s not writing she enjoys talking to strangers in bars and marathon-watching TV shows everyone else has seen already.