Into the Night (13 page)

“Another article on dating trends?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, yes,” she said, and sighed in resignation. “What can I say? It pays the bills until something better comes along.”

And Nathan knew exactly what Nicole was hoping for—a breakout exposé on Preston Sloane and his predilection for underage girls. But even though Nathan had agreed to work undercover with Nicole, there were no guarantees that his case would lead to a big story—most likely, it wouldn’t. Many had tried to bring down Sloane, and so far all had failed. Nathan didn’t think Nicole would have any better luck. In fact, once they made their way into Sloane’s estate and located Angela, they were out of there. He wasn’t about to let Nicole stick around for the fallout that would undoubtedly occur when Sloane realized he’d been duped just so she could get her story.

“Our first outing with Sloane will be Saturday night at his club, so we’ll spend tomorrow discussing our strategy, and I’ll give you the details of what you need to know about Angela Ramsey. Unless you already know everything?” he said, referring to the information she’d pilfered from his case file.

A pink flush of chagrin swept across her cheeks. “I think it would be smart to let you brief me so I know as much as possible about the case and the girl we’re looking for.”

He nodded in agreement. “Come on, let’s head over to your place so you can get your stuff.” He started for the front door of the suite, hoping like hell he wasn’t making a huge mistake by allowing Nicole to go undercover with him.

Chapter Eight

By the time they returned to Nathan’s suite, it was nearing midnight. For Nicole, it had been an interesting night, filled with all sorts of revelations, along with a compromise struck between two people who needed each other to get what they ultimately wanted.

She still didn’t know a whole lot about Nathan and his personal case involving Angela Ramsey—just the brief information she’d read from his case file. But before they went undercover at Sloane’s private club this weekend, she intended to discover those details so she understood who, exactly, they were searching for, and why.

At her apartment she’d packed a suitcase with clothes and toiletries, and gathered her laptop and her own files of information on Preston Sloane to take with her. During that time, Nathan had waited for her out in the living room and talked to her roommate, Michelle. Her friend definitely wasn’t happy about Nicole’s decision to go undercover for such a risky story, especially without their editor’s knowledge and approval, but Michelle understood Nicole’s reasons for doing so.

Now, back at Nathan’s place, she finished putting her clothes and personal things away in the guest bedroom and adjoining bathroom, then changed into the pajama shorts and tank top she slept in. She headed back out into the main rooms and found Nathan in the kitchen, leaning against the granite counter and eating a late-night snack of what looked like a bowl of Frosted Flakes cereal.

He frowned at her when he saw what she was wearing, even as his gaze seared a path from her chest to her bare thighs. Her breasts swelled in response to that visual caress, and her nipples hardened against the soft cotton tee. A muscle in his jaw ticced, as if he was annoyed with himself for being so drawn to her, and he lifted his heated gaze back to hers.

“Can you put on a robe, or something?” he asked, his gruff tone belying the sudden carnal heat reflected in his eyes.

His request surprised her, considering he’d already seen her completely naked. Then again, he’d been oddly tense around her since they’d struck their deal earlier, making it more than clear that he wasn’t thrilled with their arrangement. That for him, forging an alliance to integrate them into Sloane’s world was the lesser of two evils.

She headed to the refrigerator and pulled out a cold bottle of water before turning to face him again, noticing that he was still dressed in the shirt and jeans he’d changed into earlier to accompany her to her apartment.

“Why?” she asked, blinking oh-so-innocently. “Can you see through my clothes?”

His eyes dropped to her unbound breasts again. “Having you run around in your skimpy pajamas is distracting as hell.”

His admission pleased Nicole. That feminine part of her was thrilled he still wanted her, even if he was fighting the attraction. Since seeing her again at the art gallery, he’d been attempting to keep a physical distance between them and trying to maintain a business relationship, and she liked it that she could shake him up a bit.

“I’m wearing a tank top and shorts, not a sexy negligee,” she said with a quirk of her lips, then took a long drink of her chilled water. “Besides, I don’t own a robe. I’ve never had the need for one and I don’t like feeling all bundled up and confined.”

“Great,” he muttered irritably, and finished off his cereal in two big spoonfuls. He rinsed his bowl, set it in the sink, then stalked off into the other room.

More amused than offended by his brusque attitude, she followed behind him, enjoying the decadent way her bare toes sank into the plush cream carpeting. “I have to ask, are you going to be this uptight every time we’re together or when we’re around Sloane?”

He spun around and shot her a look of annoyance that she’d dare insinuate he was the least bit on edge because of her. “When I’m working on a case, I’m
focused,
not uptight.”

She almost laughed, but sensed that her finding humor in the situation would only agitate him more. “Well, it comes across the same way, and that scowl creasing your brows isn’t very attractive. You’re going to have to relax and loosen up when we’re together, and try to act like you want me and that there’s plenty of hot chemistry between us. Sloane is expecting to see that.”

He stiffened as if she’d prodded him with a hot brand, and the depths of his eyes sparked with a hunger that was too restrained for her liking. “I don’t need to pretend.”

“Really? You could have fooled me considering you’ve been dodging me like a bullet with your name on it,” she said in a teasing drawl, deliberately tempting him. Setting her bottle of water on the coffee table, she circled Nathan until she was standing behind him and had to resist the urge to press her body flush against his gorgeous, muscular backside. Instead, she stood up on her toes and whispered seductively in his ear, “If you want me, prove it.”

Nicole’s inviting words shot through Nathan like a red-hot dare, an irresistible challenge that quickened his pulse and spurred him into immediate action. He turned around, and quick as a flash he had an arm wrapped around her back and her soft, lush body crushed to his. He splayed his other hand at the back of her head to take control, and she gasped in surprise at his quick, aggressive tactics. The last thing he saw was her sultry smile of satisfaction as he slanted his mouth across hers and gave her exactly what she’d been angling for—irrefutable proof that he still wanted her.

Probably more than was wise.

At the moment, he didn’t give a damn.

Coaxing her mouth open for him didn’t take much effort, and as soon as her lips parted he didn’t hesitate to deepen the kiss. Their tongues touched, tangled—the sweet taste of her going straight to his head and hardening him in an instant. Hot and eager, she matched his unrestrained rhythm with her own reckless abandon, the alluring scent of her rising around him, seducing his senses and igniting a pulsing demand for more.

God, he’d been fighting his attraction to Nicole since the moment he’d laid eyes on her earlier that evening, and he was loath to admit that a part of him was still smarting from her hasty departure the night they’d slept together. Now it all coalesced into this one blistering kiss that made him want to brand her, and make her realize exactly what she’d walked away from.

The hand around her waist skimmed lower until he was cupping her bottom in his palm. His fingers kneaded the soft curve of her ass through the thin material of her shorts, wishing he was stroking bare flesh instead. A low, primitive growl rose in his throat, and he instinctively flexed his hips and pushed his erection against her mound, so there was no mistaking just how much she affected him. How much he desired her. Hell, he was burning up with the need to strip her naked and take her right there, on the carpet in front of the windows overlooking the Las Vegas Strip at night. With his cock buried to the hilt inside her slick heat and her screaming his name as she came.

The possessive urge rising within Nathan shocked him, and he struggled to rein himself back before he completely lost control—something this woman made him do way too often, and in so many ways. He ended the kiss with a gentle nip of his teeth on her soft lower lip before pulling back completely.

She moaned in protest.

Wrapping his fingers in the long, silky strands of the hair at the nape of her neck, he gently pulled her head back, exposing the smooth, tender flesh of her throat. Her lashes fluttered open, and she stared up at him, her face flushed and her parted lips damp from his ravenous kiss.

Pure, unadulterated lust slammed through him. All he wanted to do was dive back into another passionate kiss and immerse himself in the mind-numbing pleasure of being inside her again. The same need pounding at him also reflected in her eyes, and he knew without a doubt she’d let him have his way with her, a willing participant every step of the way.

Yet he hesitated, needing an answer to the one question he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about since they’d slept together. “Why did you leave in the middle of the night without telling me?”

She placed her hands on his chest and didn’t pretend not to understand the question. “I wanted to avoid an awkward morning-after scene.”

Her reply should have satisfied him; with any other woman he would have appreciated her being so considerate. Not so with Nicole, and he wasn’t ready to analyze why this particular woman had such a profound effect on him. “What makes you think it would have been awkward?”

Her shoulders lifted in a casual shrug, though he swore he saw a flash of regret in her gaze. “We both agreed that neither one of us was looking for a relationship, and I just thought it would be easier if I left before morning.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you thought wrong.”

She looked stunned by his reply, but before she could call him on the wealth of insinuation lingering in his comment, he released her from his embrace and moved away.

Dragging his fingers through his hair, he exhaled a deep, tired sigh. “It’s been a long night and it’s late,” he said, shifting to a more impersonal demeanor—which was exactly where his head should be considering they’d struck a business deal with the Ramsey case, and sex certainly wasn’t a part of their agreement. “We’ve got a lot to cover tomorrow, so get a good night’s sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”

With that, he turned and headed for his bedroom, certain
a good night’s sleep
would elude him.

*   *   *

Maybe you thought wrong.

Nicole lay in her bed, unable to sleep after that hot, hungry kiss she’d shared with Nathan and his very revealing comment hinting at the fact that he’d possibly wanted more than just their one night together—given the chance.

His admission had surprised her, and she couldn’t deny there had been many times that she’d wished she hadn’t snuck out on him the night they’d met. That she’d stayed until morning and seen where things had gone from there. Yet it was the deeper emotional possibilities with Nathan that had prompted her to slip out on him under the cover of darkness, and she couldn’t deny that their kiss tonight had rekindled a fire and need deep in her belly.

She shifted restlessly on the cool sheets, her body revved up and the ache between her thighs a result of all the sexual tension that had blazed between her and Nathan. The flames of need had all but consumed her, and she would have been thrilled if things had escalated into a round of steamy, demanding sex. While most guys would have taken full advantage of the situation and her willingness to go the distance, he’d instead put an end to their hot and heavy embrace.

Judging by the hard, thick length of the erection that had been pressing insistently against her mound, there was no mistaking just how much he desired her. The thought made her smile. Clearly, they both still wanted each other, so why not enjoy the benefit of being together for as long as it lasted? She still wasn’t in the market for anything serious, but she was a modern woman who had no qualms about embracing her sexual nature and all the pleasure that came from being with a hot, sexy man like Nathan.

Now she just had to sway Nathan to her way of thinking.

Satisfied with her decision, she finally fell asleep and woke up after nine in the morning feeling rested and ready to start on whatever the day would bring.

She took a shower, dried her hair straight, and applied a minimal amount of makeup to her face. Dressed in a pink top and white capris, she followed the rich smell of coffee beckoning to her and padded out into the living room. She found Nathan standing by the windows carrying on what appeared to be a deep, serious conversation with someone on his cell phone. Giving him a semblance of privacy, she continued quietly to the kitchen to make herself a much-needed cup of caffeine.

As she stirred cream into the dark, steaming liquid, her ears perked up when she heard him mention her name, and she couldn’t help but eavesdrop. Unfortunately, with only curt
yes
es and
no
s coming from his end of the exchange, she wasn’t able to decipher why she was part of the discussion.