Strong and Sexy.2 (3 page)

His chest pressed into hers, and his arms, when he lifted them, surrounded her. Oh, God. Someone here did look at her, did see her... desire her.

He was going to kiss her.

“Oh,” she whispered, thrilled, even as her breath backed up in her throat. Yes, he was going to kiss her and she hadn’t had to ask. That was the very best kind, and she stared at his mouth. “Thank you,” she whispered. Thank you? God, be quiet. Don’t ramble now! “I’m just so glad—I mean...”

His mouth curved quizzically. It was a good mouth, an enticing mouth. Despite her reservations, despite the insane evening, she couldn’t wait to feel it on hers, to have him take her out of herself and make her feel wanted. Waiting for it, she closed her eyes, and—

“Here you go.”

She opened her eyes and met his golden ones.

He’d pulled something off the shelf behind her and was handing it to her.

A towel.

“You’ve got to be soaked through,” he said.

Well, her brain certainly. She took the towel and pressed it to her torso, because yes, she was soaked through. And that was the reason her nipples had gone all happy. The only reason.

God, she really was an idiot.

Pulling yet another towel off the shelf, he glided the soft material along her throat. “I’m really so sorry,” he murmured, his gaze on the task at hand.

Which was not kissing her.

“It’s okay.” Maturely, she closed her eyes again and wished for a huge, giant hole to swallow her up. “It wasn’t your fault.”

She heard him toss the towel aside, but she didn’t open her eyes. Couldn’t bring herself to. Until she felt his hand, his big, warm hand, cup her jaw. His fingertips were at her hairline now, just the simple, easy touch making her knees a little wobbly.

Damn champagne.

“Why do you look so familiar?” His mouth was close to her ear, close enough to cause a whole series of hopeful shivers to rack her body. He was rock-solid against her, all corded muscle and testosterone.

Lots of testosterone.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, still hoping for a big hole to take her.

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Completely.” Except, you know, not.

“Because I can’t help but think I’m missing something here.”

Yes, yes, he was missing something. He’d missed her whole pathetic attempt at a kiss seduction, for instance. And the fact that she was totally, one hundred percent out of her league here with him. But his eyes were deep, so very deep, and leveled right on hers, evenly, patiently, giving her the sense that he was always even, always patient. Never rattled or ruffled.

She wanted to be never rattled or ruffled.

“Am I?” His thumb glided over her skin, sending all her erogenous zones into tap-dance mode. “Missing something?”

“Yes. N-no. I mean...”

He smiled. And not just a curving of his lips, but with his whole face. His eyes lit, those laugh lines fanned out, and damn, that sexy dimple. “Yeah,” he murmured. “Definitely missing something.”

“I’m a little crazy tonight,” she admitted.

“A little crazy once in a while isn’t a bad thing.”

Oh boy. She’d bet the bank he knew how to coax a woman into doing a whole host of crazy stuff. Just the thought made her feel a little warm, and a nervous laugh escaped.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?”

She had to let out another laugh, but he didn’t as he traced a finger over her lower lip. “You are,” he murmured.

Beautiful? Or crazy?

“You going to tell me what brought you to this closet?”

“I was garnering my courage.”

“For?”

Well wasn’t that just the question of the night, as there were so many, many things she’d needed courage for, not the least of which was standing here in front of him and telling him what she really wanted. A kiss...

“Talk to me.”

She licked her lips. “There’s a man and a woman in that first office down the hall. Together. And they’re... not talking.”

“Ah.” A fond smile crossed his mouth. “You must have found Noah and Bailey. They’ve just come home from their honeymoon. So yeah, I seriously doubt they’re... talking.”

“Yeah. See...” She gnawed on her lower lip. “I was hoping for that.”

“Talking.”

“No. The not talking.”

Silence.

And then more silence.

Oh, God.

Slowly she tipped her head up and looked at him, but he wasn’t laughing at her.

A good start, she figured.

In fact, his eyes were no longer smiling at all, but full of a heart-stopping heat. “Can you repeat that request?” he asked.

Well, yes, she could, but it would make his possible rejection that much harder to take. “I was wondering your stance on being seduced by a woman who isn’t really so good at this sort of thing, but wants to be better...”

He blinked. “Just to be clear.” His voice was soft, gravelly, and did things to every erogenous zone in her body. “Is this you coming on to me?”

“Oh, God.” She covered her face. “If you don’t know, then I’m even worse at this than I thought. Yes. Yes, that’s what I’m pathetically attempting to do. Come on to you, a complete stranger in a closet, but now I’m hearing it as you must be hearing it, and I sound like the lunatic that everyone thinks I am, and—”

His hands settled on her bare arms, gliding up, down, and then back up again, over her shoulders to her face, where he gently pulled her hands away so he could see her.

“I saw the mistletoe,” she rushed to explain. “It’s everywhere. And people were kissing. And I couldn’t get kissing off my mind... God. Forget it, okay? Just forget me.” She took a step back, but because this was her, she tripped over something on the floor behind her. She’d have fallen on her ass if he hadn’t held her upright. “Thanks,” she managed. “But I need to go now. I really need to go—”

He put a finger to her lips.

Right. Stop talking. Good idea.

His eyes, still hot, and also a little amused—because that’s what she wanted to see in a man’s eyes after she’d tried to seduce him, amusement—locked onto hers. She couldn’t look away. There was just something about the way he was taking her in, as if he could see so much more than she’d intended him to. “Seriously. I’ve—”

He turned away.

Okaaaay... “Got to go.”

But he was rustling through one of the shelves. Then he bent to look lower and she tried not to look at his butt. She failed, of course. “Um, yeah. So I’ll see you around.” Or not. Hopefully not—

“Got it.” Straightening, he revealed what he held—a sprig of mistletoe.

“Oh,” she breathed. Her heart skipped a beat, then raced, beating so loud and hard she couldn’t hear anything but the blood pumping through her veins.

His mouth quirked slightly, but his eyes held hers, and in them wasn’t amusement so much as...

Pure staggering heat.

“Did you change your mind?” he asked.

Was he kidding? She wanted to jump him. Now. “No.”

With a smile that turned her bones to mush, he raised his arm so that the mistletoe was above their heads.

Oh, God.

“Your move,” he whispered.

She looked at his mouth, her own tingling in anticipation. “Maybe you could...”

“Oh, no. I’m not taking advantage of a woman in a closet, drenched in champagne.” He smiled. “But if she wanted to take advantage of me, now see, that’s a different story entirely.”

He was teasing her, his eyes lit with mischievousness and a wicked, wicked intent.

“I’m a klutz,” she whispered. “I might hurt you by accident.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. She laughed, and he closed his eyes and puckered up, making her laugh some more, making it okay for her to lean in...

And kiss him.

Shayne felt her mouth touch his. Oh yeah, life was good, damn good.

She was tentative. Jerky. As if maybe she hadn’t kissed in a while. It was the most arousing sensation, but right then and there, he knew. The one quick peck? Not going to be enough.

Dropping the mistletoe, he cupped her face, his fingers gliding into her silky hair to hold her head as he better lined them up.

Her hands lifted, hovering in the air for a beat before settling on his chest. A soft little murmur of wanting escaped her, and just like that, he went insta-hard. Her fingers dug into the material of his shirt, holding on just a little, telling him she felt the same, telling him he wasn’t alone in this odd sensation of not wanting to let go, not ever wanting to let go.

And he didn’t even know her name...

She opened her mouth a little, but that was all the invitation his tongue needed, and then her tongue and his were doing a slow dance, an age-old imitation of what he really wanted to be doing, and she was right there with him, and when they finally both pulled back, her eyes fluttered open. “Wow,” she whispered.

Yeah. Definitely wow.

“That was...” At a loss, she let out a low laugh. “I don’t even have the words.”

Him either. That kiss had just registered off the scale for first kisses. Not really understanding why, he stroked a strand of hair from her face, then left his fingers on her because she was tightening her grip on his shirt, tugging ever so slightly, her gaze back on his mouth...

“That was...” she repeated.

“Wow,” he reminded her.

“So wow.” She licked her lips, and then they lurched at each other and went at it again, deeper than before. Wetter.

Hotter.

Her hair fell the rest of the way, assisted by his fingers, and the second pencil hit the floor. She arched against him, bumping into the zipper of his pants. Apparently she liked what she felt behind that zipper because she let out a little gasping “oh,” and then a sound of pleasure from deep in her throat as her arms tightened around his neck, her hair flying all around them.

God. He was in a closet, with an entire lobby full of people on the other side, important people that he’d brought here with his family connections so that he could further Sky High Air’s business, and what was he doing?

Making out in a closet like a high-school kid.

Only there was nothing high school about the mystery kisser in his arms. Christ, no. She was all woman, straining up on the tiptoes of her one-heeled foot to get closer. Closer worked for him. He hoisted her just a little higher so that he could rock his hips into hers, so that her breasts pressed into his chest.

Her shoe hit the floor.

It didn’t stop her, didn’t stop either of them. She let go of his shirt to entwine her arms around his neck. He let go of her head to slide his hands down her arms, up her slim spine, bared by that dress so he was touching smooth, silky skin. Hauling her closer, he turned, pressing her back against the door, where they strained against each other some more, the champagne from her dress soaking into his shirt.

He didn’t care.

But she slowly pulled back, breathing hard. Her eyes fluttered open and landed on his, glazed and dazed. Her gloss was gone, her mascara smudged. One of the thin straps on her little black dress had slipped off her shoulder, hanging down to her elbow.

God, she was sweet. And hot. And such a sexy, wonderful mess.

“That was some powerful mistletoe,” she whispered.

He laughed. “I don’t think that had anything to do with the mistletoe.”

Her gaze locked on his lips. “No?”

“No.”

“Maybe we should make sure.”

That worked for him. The mistletoe lay where he’d dropped it, near their feet. He nudged it beneath the shelving unit, out of sight, prompting her to let out a low laugh that sounded like half anxiety, half anticipation as she stared up at him.

He stared back, tracing her temple with his finger, stroking a strand of hair back... and then suddenly they were leaping at each other again, mouths fused, hands fighting for purchase on each other—

Until a knock on the door behind them nearly gave him a heart attack. Jesus.

“Hello in there?” came a woman’s voice.

Maddie. Shit. Shayne pressed his forehead to the woman in his arms and closed his eyes.

“Hello?” Maddie called again. “Is anyone in there?”

Shayne set a finger to his mystery woman’s lips because maybe, if they were very, very quiet, maybe Maddie would go far, far away.

“Shayne, is that you?”

Ah, hell. Who was he kidding? It was Maddie, bulldog terrier. Once she’d locked her jaw on something, she never let go. “How did you know?”

Through the door, she laughed. “When are you going to learn that I know everything?”

“Know this. Go away.”

“Touchy, touchy. What are you doing in there?”

“Maddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Code Pink.”

“Did you say Code Yellow?”