No Strings... (6 page)

He’d just verbally staked a claim to Hattie and her matchmaking knowledge—which they’ve done plenty of times in the past to make sure the other person didn’t latch on to the same idea, too. Now Chloe just had to find a bigger and better hook for her own presentation. She had something in mind, but wasn’t quite ready to share her concept just yet.

Back inside the hotel, they entered the room for the charades just as the men and women were in the process of dividing into teams. Chloe intended to sit on the sidelines and just enjoy the show, but when one of the teams came up short a couple, she and Aiden were recruited to play. With a little alcohol in her system, it didn’t take long for her to put the incident at the greenhouse out of her mind, loosen up and get into the spirit of the game...and the competition.

Each couple drew a phrase from a large glass bowl, and a timer was set for three minutes. Back and forth the teams battled for supremacy, playacting the expression or sentence they’d been given, which ranged from a couple having sex on a sandy beach, skinny dipping in the ocean, impatient newlyweds on their wedding night, to a couple playing nurse and doctor.

More rum cocktails were served, and inhibitions were shed as everyone got into character to execute their scenes. The sketches were at times bawdy and X-rated, and hilarious to watch unfold as different guesses were shouted out. Chloe’s sides ached from so much laughter.

She and Aiden managed to avoid being chosen until the very end of the game, when it came down to a win-or-lose tiebreaker for their group. Since they were the only couple who hadn’t performed, it was up to them to score the last point in order for their team to win.

“Bring it on!” someone on their team cheered as Chloe and Aiden stepped up to the small staging area.

Chloe flashed Aiden a sassy smile. “You know I don’t like to lose at anything, so you’d better bring your A-game.”

“You’re such an overachiever,” he teased as he reached into the glass bowl and randomly withdrew one of the crumpled pieces of paper.

She rubbed her hands together. “Failure is not an option for me.”

He unfolded the paper, silently read their phrase and grinned like a tempting rogue. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

Judging by the sinful look on his face, Chloe was certain he’d selected one of the more daring expressions—but then again, this
was
risqué charades so she’d expected something outrageous. “You know I love a good challenge.”

“Well, then, here you go.” He revealed the act they had to execute.

Making out in the backseat of a car.

Getting their team to guess “backseat of a car” was a fairly easy process and took less than thirty seconds of their time. After that Chloe and Aiden embraced in order to playact the first part of the parody. Their bodies entwined and Aiden ran his flattened palms up and down her back while she threaded her fingers through his hair in an attempt to look like frenzied teenagers in the throes of passion. The only thing
not
touching were their lips. Chloe was pretty certain that Aiden was trying to avoid a repeat performance of yesterday’s kiss.

Unfortunately, everyone on their team shouted out words that were close to the phrase, but not an exact match. There was groping, feeling up, hugging and heavy petting, but no “making out.”

“You have one minute left,” someone yelled.

With time running out, and the lingering effects of the love potion drink coursing through Chloe’s system and bolstering her courage, she decided to give their onlookers the real deal. No way was she going to let them lose this one last point because she hadn’t given all she had to beat the competition. Not if she could help it.

Sliding her fingers around to the back of Aiden’s head, she pulled his mouth down to hers. The moment their lips touched, everything around Chloe faded away, except for her desire for this man who tempted her like no other. There was no hesitation on his part, either, just a mutual hunger that promised all sorts of wanton pleasure.

Despite having an audience, there was nothing sweet or chaste about this kiss. With a rumbling groan she felt, more than heard from Aiden, his tongue touched and tangled with hers, sweeping deep inside her mouth to dominate and possess. His hands got into the action, too, skimming along the outside of her thighs and grabbing her ass to simulate the phrase that no one had guessed yet.

Excitement sent Chloe’s pulse racing and had her body melting into a pool of lust and need. Kissing Aiden was akin to the most delicious kind of foreplay, providing a hot tease of what other carnal delights his mouth and tongue were capable of giving.

Lost in pure unadulterated sensation, she was having a difficult time remembering that they were playing charades, that this was all pretend for the sake of a game. Her attraction to Aiden was real and undeniable, and in that wild moment of abandon, she wasn’t sure she wanted to resist him any longer.

Her decision was absolute craziness, she knew. The risks involved were enormous, but being here on this secluded island, where no one knew who they were, was to their benefit, as well. Far away from work, prying eyes, and rules and restrictions, they had the perfect opportunity to finally indulge in what they both wanted—each other—without the worry of being caught. A quickie affair to diminish all the sexual tension burning between them. They could return to Boston and the firm with a clear head, completely focused on their respective campaigns.

Outside of her current sensual universe, she heard cheers and catcalls because of their avid embrace, and finally, through all the commotion, someone shouted out the correct phrase, “making out in the backseat of a car,” giving their team the last point they needed to win the entire game.

She pulled back and ended the kiss, and for a long moment they stared at one another, breathless and aroused, while their team celebrated their success around them.

“I’m beginning to think that maybe you really are an exhibitionist,” she said, referring to the comment he’d made to her last night on the dance floor. “You quite enjoyed that kiss and certainly didn’t hold back.”

He didn’t deny her allegation as he slowly released her, so that their bodies were no longer intimately entangled. “I’ll admit, you have a good game strategy, Reiss.”

She flashed him a daring grin full of sass. “Who said that kiss was a game?”

With that, she walked away from him. She could feel Aiden staring after her, pondering her parting remark, and knew she’d just given him a whole lot to think about—which is exactly what she’d intended. Because tonight, at dinner, she was going to turn up the heat and let him decide if he was interested in taking the bait.

6

A
IDEN
ESCORTED
C
HLOE
toward the large ballroom hosting one of tonight’s dining options, excruciatingly aware of her, in every way. It wasn’t so much what she was wearing, though the chocolate-brown dress definitely drew his attention. The top portion fell off of one shoulder, revealing an alluring expanse of creamy skin, and the fitted skirt showcased her toned ass and ended just above her knee, accentuating her long, slender legs. Her four-inch heels were the strappy kind that wrapped around her ankles and screamed
fuck me, please.

The thought of doing just that made him hot and hard.

She’d worn her hair piled up on her head, giving her a slightly tousled look and exposed the elegant line of her throat. An assortment of gold bangles encircled her wrist and a pair of shiny gold hoops dangled from her ears. Her green-gold eyes were full of mystery, like a siren experienced in luring a man to commit all sorts of carnal sins.

But what was making it difficult to function was the air of confidence she moved with. It made him wonder what she was up to, though he definitely had a clue. Especially after the subtle challenge she’d issued that afternoon that had him seriously considering crossing some very strict personal and professional boundaries with her.

Normally, he wrestled with his conscience when it came to wanting Chloe, but right now the only voice in his head was his brother Sam’s, telling Aiden to stop overanalyzing things, that giving in to his desire for Chloe was all about feel-good sex, not a lifetime commitment.

Maybe, just maybe, for once his brother was right.

Tonight, they’d been given the choice between attending a Murder Mystery Fete, or a Truth or Dare Soiree—both events had been designed to create more social interaction between couples and singles. Since neither one of them were mystery buffs, they’d both decided on the latter, and as they stepped into a ballroom decorated in red and black tones, with sheer draping and candles flickering everywhere, a bubbly hostess greeted them.

“Welcome to the Truth or Dare Soiree. I see the two of you are a couple,” the young woman said as she glanced at their matching red wristbands. “That gives you two options tonight. Would you like a group table to share with other couples, or a private table for two?”

Aiden knew there was security in large numbers, which the group table would provide, but he didn’t want to go the safe route with Chloe tonight. Between all the sexual tension that had thrummed between them in the greenhouse, and later at the risqué charades, he was more than ready to kick things between them up a notch or two.

“We’ll take one of the private tables.”

The approving smile that Chloe gave Aiden told him he’d made the right decision. They followed the hostess to one of the secluded tables at the back of the room. Instead of taking the chair across from Chloe, he settled into the seat next to hers. Beneath the table, their thighs brushed, and neither one of them moved or shied away from the intimate contact.

“Here is a list of meal options,” the hostess said, handing them each a menu before she indicated a tray with a few items on it. “As for the truth-or-dare part of tonight’s dinner, it’s a very simple game that will require you both to answer a truth, or accept a dare, depending on what the roll of the die reveals.”

On the tray was a red cube stamped with the words
Truth
and
Dare
on each of the six sides. Next to that were four tall silver cylinders holding long wooden sticks. Each cylinder was marked TRUTH or DARE, along with the “mild” or “wild” option in each category.

“Once you roll the die, your partner will pick one of the wooden sticks from the corresponding container,” the hostess went on to explain. “They will then read aloud the truth or dare printed on the stick, and the other person must either answer the question or complete the task. Most important, have fun!”

“Thank you,” Chloe said, and picked up her menu to peruse the meal options.

Aiden followed her lead, and when the waiter arrived at their table, he ordered the rib-eye steak and potatoes, and Chloe opted for the grilled salmon and rice pilaf. When they were offered either wine or champagne, he went for the cabernet, while Chloe asked for an iced tea, citing that she’d consumed way too many love potions cocktails that afternoon.

Once the waiter was gone and they were alone again, Chloe eyed the red die on the tray, a very vixenlike smile curving her mouth. “So, shall we play?” she asked him.

He took a drink of his cabernet and quirked a brow at her. “Are you sure you want to?”

She leaned a bit closer, amusement shimmering in her gaze. “What, are you afraid of having to give up deep, dark secrets?”

“I have no problem sharing truths,” he replied. The loose top portion of her dress slipped a bit lower on her arm, distracting him a moment with the urge to trail his fingers along that smooth, tanned skin, all the way up to the side of her neck. “I’m just thinking of what dares might be in store for us.”

“I can handle
any
dare thrown my way,” she said boldly. “How about you?”

“Oh, absolutely.” He waved a hand toward the game items. “By all means, ladies first.”

She rolled the single red die, and the word
Truth
remained faceup. Deciding to go easy on Chloe for the first round, Aiden selected a wooden stick from the “mild” category.

He read the question out loud. “What is the reason why your last
serious
relationship ended?” Recalling their vague conversation on the plane about the guy she’d been dating, he acted on a hunch. “And I don’t think that guy I saw you with at the Executive Bar counts.”

Her body language stiffened slightly, enough to tell Aiden that she’d been about to go the easy and superficial route with her reply. “Why not?”

He met her gaze and held it directly, not at all put off by the defensive tone of her voice. “Because I get the impression that he was more of a temporary thing, than someone you’d been committed to.”

She glanced away, and when she hesitated, he knew he’d assumed correctly. She absently bit the corner of her lip and he was struck at how vulnerable she looked in that moment, an emotion he never would have equated with the strong, always self-assured Chloe, had he not witnessed it himself.

Clearly, she didn’t want to discuss her last serious relationship. But Aiden was suddenly intrigued and wanted to find out what had happened that had made her so guarded, and how her past experience had shaped her current views on relationships, as his own divorce had.

“Spill the truth, Reiss,” he said, adding just enough of a challenge to his voice that he knew she’d never back down from. “That’s the name of this game.”

Schooling her features into an indifferent expression, she shrugged her bared shoulder. “I broke up with Neil because he was a real asshole.”

Aiden smirked. Okay, that was succinct, he thought, more curious than ever. But being an asshole translated to many things, and she’d just avoided the truth of the matter with a vague reply. “You’re cheating,” he murmured as he swirled his red wine in his glass. “And I’ve never pegged you for someone who would skirt any issue.”

That bit of prompting made her chin jut out stubbornly, and he waited patiently to see which direction she decided to take this conversation—avoid it completely, or give him a glimpse of something personal, and clearly, painful for her.

“Obviously, Neil isn’t someone I like to talk about. If I could, I’d erase the eighteen months we were together.” She paused, as if deciding what she wanted to reveal, then spoke again. “I met him my junior year in college, and everything was fine our first year together, until we got engaged, and then he...changed.”

Aiden was very familiar with how people could change, how someone
he’d
trusted so implicitly could betray him so completely and leave him with devastating regrets that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He never, ever, wanted to be blindsided like that again.

So yeah, he understood that kind of deception, and was surprised that he and Chloe shared a very similar past. The revelation was unexpected, and made him feel a strange, emotional bond with her.

The waiter came by with their dinner salads, and once he was gone Aiden returned to their conversation. “How did he change?” he asked gently.

“At first, it was all very subtle and I didn’t even realize what he was doing,” she said as she pushed her lettuce leaves around on her plate before taking a small bite. “But little by little, he started controlling every aspect of my life. Since we were engaged, it seemed logical to me that we open joint checking and savings accounts together. He monitored everything, which I didn’t have a problem with until he started criticizing me for spending even a penny more over
his
budget, even if it was basic necessities that I needed. Yet he never had to account for anything. He obsessively checked my texts and emails, and accused me of sneaking around on him when he had no evidence. He caused problems at the ad agency where I was working, and alienated all my friends so I had no one left but him.”

The pain in Chloe’s gaze spoke volumes. “Neil also developed an explosive temper I’d never seen before. He was so certain I was having an affair with one of the guys at the office, that one night when I stayed late with Simon to finish up a campaign for the next day, Neil came to the office and physically assaulted the poor guy in front of my coworkers. A few days later, I was conveniently laid off.”

Her mouth flattened into a thin, bitter line. “In short, he turned into an asshole. And I was so gullible and stupid I didn’t even see it coming until after he cost me my job at the agency.”

Instinctively, Aiden reached out and placed his hand over hers, giving it a comforting squeeze. “That doesn’t make you stupid, Chloe. Just trusting.”

“No,
stupid,
” she reiterated adamantly. “My mother has a history of hooking up with these same types of men, the kind that charm their way in, then take over everything. I saw it growing up, over and over again, and I swore I’d never let any man have that much control over my life... It’s kind of ironic though, the first guy I get really serious about ends up being a jerk who could have been handpicked by my mother.”

Finished with his salad, Aiden pushed his dish aside. “Where has your dad been in all this?”

A hint of sadness passed over her features. “He died in a motorcycle accident before I was born. I never had the chance to know him.”

“I’m sorry,” Aiden said, blown away by everything she’d just shared. “At least you found out about Neil’s tendencies before you married him.” Aiden hadn’t been that fortunate.

She stared at him as the waiter cleared their salad plates and set down their dinner dishes. Her expression turned contemplating, and he knew she was analyzing him now that she’d just laid herself bare emotionally.

“Why did you get divorced?” she asked as she picked up a piece of her salmon with her fork.

He took a bite of his steak. His rib eye was just the way he liked it—seared on the outside and medium rare inside. While he appreciated that Chloe had played the game fairly and had answered her question honestly, he didn’t want to add his own depressing story about his marriage and divorce to tonight’s conversation. And luckily, he had a legitimate excuse not to.

“I plead the fifth,” he said, and grinned at her. “The question about serious relationships was
yours
to answer, not mine.”

She wrinkled her cute little nose at him. “You suck, Landry.”

A teasing glimmer returned to her eyes and he chuckled. “Yeah, I do suck,” he said, purposely using the playful innuendo to lighten up their exchange. “Are you sure you want to have
that
discussion?”

“I’m sure it would be a far more enjoyable conversation than the one we just had,” she grumbled beneath her breath.

So, she was still holding a little bit of a grudge that she’d gotten the short end of the stick—so to speak—even though the very personal question had been selected randomly. “Isn’t that what this matchmaking resort, and these games we’re playing, are all about?” he asked, looking at the experience as the advertising executive he was. “Meeting someone you’re compatible with and having deep, meaningful discussions that dig deeper than all that superficial stuff that doesn’t matter when it comes to developing a long-term relationship?”

She arched a brow and pointed her fork at him. “If you’ll remember correctly, we weren’t originally wearing matching wristbands. So technically, you and I aren’t compatible, no matter what Hattie and that silly flower indicated today. So it really wasn’t necessary for me to give you all the details of my dysfunctional past with Neil, and my mother.”

He couldn’t argue her point, but he didn’t regret pulling that particular question, or hearing her answer. Listening to her story gave him a whole new perspective on her strong-willed personality. Beneath her driven and focused attitude was a woman who’d been emotionally manipulated by a man she’d trusted, and now she channeled all her energy and passion into the one thing she could control—her career.

Yes, he now had a greater understanding of where her motivation to succeed came from, but it didn’t change the fact that her single-minded determination, to the exclusion of everything else in her life, made Chloe the exact kind of woman he’d never get involved with on an emotional level.

His physical attraction to her, however, was beginning to be a whole different issue.

“I know we probably have different views on fundamental and personal matters,” he said as he cut off another slice of steak, “but that hot kiss on the plane, and again this afternoon during charades, is more than enough proof that we’d be a perfect match in other ways.”

A sensual, knowing smile tipped up her lips. “Well, sexual chemistry wears off, and then you’re left with everything that doesn’t work in a long-term relationship.”

He held her gaze, deliberate and direct with his reply. “Who said anything about long-term?”