Under Wraps (8 page)

Near her.

Her heart beat faster, and for once, it wasn't simply because of his proximity. New worries crawled up her spine as she began to grasp the implications of Alec's possible guilt. She gripped the afghan tighter to her chest to ward off a sudden chill.

“Alec is a Princeton graduate,” she reminded Jake. Not that she wanted to defend her ex-boyfriend, per se. But she wanted Jake to know she hadn't chosen a total loser.

“Actually, he lied about that.” Jake flipped his screen
around for her to see, showing her a brief background sheet on Alec Mason. “He doesn't have a criminal background, but it looks like he's bluffed his way into most of his jobs with padded résumés.”

Marnie scanned the highlights of Alec's career as Jake spoke, trying to absorb the fact that her ex had betrayed her on even more levels. The ground shifted under her feet, and this time it didn't have anything to do with Jake or Alec. Instead, she simply felt like the world's biggest fool for trusting men in the first place.

“I used to think it was a good quality to see the best in people.” How many times had she counseled friends to look on the bright side? How often had she told herself that life's obstacles were merely road signs to take a new and more exciting path? “I had no idea it made me so—”

She couldn't decide on any one word that would describe how she felt right now. Alec's face grinned at her almost as if he knew he could take her heart for a ride and get away with it.

“Hey.” Jake set the laptop aside as he reached for her. Putting an arm around her waist, he pulled her close. “It is a good quality to see the best in people. I tend to see the worst, and I can tell you that has bitten me in the ass more times than I can count.”

Her eyes burned, but she refused to feel sorry for herself.

“At least no one ever takes you for a sucker.” That was the word she'd been looking for. She'd been a total sucker where Alec had been concerned. “You've never been taken in by someone who wants to use you.”

“No. But I've been roped in by ideas and institutions, believing in the police force or the military only to be disillusioned when there's corruption.” He planted a kiss on her hair, a gentle comfort that twined around her heart in spite of the dark cloud that had settled on her mood. “If everybody chose to see the downside of those places, they wouldn't be half as effective as they are.”

“I just need to have more realistic expectations.” Starting right now. Instead of baring her soul along with her body, she should be retreating. Building boundaries and erecting defenses so she didn't get sucked into thinking her time with Jake meant anything more than…sex.

Standing, she knew it would be safer for her heart not to accept comforting kisses from this man who had a cynical side a mile wide.

Jake stared up at her in the firelight. The room had turned fully dark otherwise.

“I'll just finish up here and then we can figure out a game plan for dinner.” He grabbed the laptop again, appearing to focus on the task at hand.

Just like she needed to.

“Good.” Wrapping the afghan more securely around herself, she headed for the shower to wash away the tantalizing scent of him that clung to her skin. “The sooner we can find out who's trying to frame me the better.”

Finding out who did it—and sending his or her ass to jail—would be her first chance to prove she wasn't the sucker they'd taken her for.

A
LEX WOULD BE FURIOUS
if he showed up now.

Lianna thought as much, but could not find the will to push Rico away since his hands were finally on her. She'd noticed him in the dining hall the night before. Had flirted with him when Alex—once again—hadn't bothered to show up for their rendezvous. She knew now that Alex must be a player. Maybe he got off on the idea that a woman was waiting for him at a sexy hotel. Well, not any more. She'd captured another man's attention. A man who seemed so vivid, real and sexy that she had trouble recalling what Alex McMahon even looked like.

No more waiting around for a man who shared her interests. She would follow her passions.

“You kiss like an angel.” Rico came up for air long enough to whisper soft words in her ear.

He was a sight to see as he hovered over her, his dark Latin looks and tawny eyes enough to make her melt. But he also listened when she spoke. Made eye contact
instead of lingering over her breasts the way men on the prowl did.

The warmth of his caress on her hip soothed the bite of the hardware poking into her back as she leaned against a huge apothecary cabinet tucked into an alcove down a quiet little corridor outside the billiard room. She'd played Rico for a kiss to be administered wherever the winner chose, and while she'd heard some of those games had turned wild in a hurry when other guests played, Rico's request after winning had been for a traditional lip-lock.

Lianna hadn't decided if that was because he was a gentleman, or if he knew his persuasive powers of kissing would win him whatever he wanted in the long run. But was she really ready for more with a man she'd only just met?

Cold feet shouldn't happen when the rest of her body burned so hot, but there it was. She felt nervous. Vulnerable.

For a lawyer with a reputation as a shark in the courtroom, the feelings were uncomfortable.

“I shouldn't have played that game with you,” she blurted loud enough that her raging hormones would hear her over the rush of her heartbeat.

Edging back a fraction, she gazed up at him by the flickering flame of a gaslight sconce on the wall to her right.

He loomed over her, broad-chested and infinitely appealing in his servant's tunic and breeches that revealed a—um—great deal of manhood. It was difficult to gauge his expression through the colored contacts he wore that
made him indistinguishable from his brother. Apparently the two of them enjoyed being totally identical when they came here. Lianna had learned that, under the contacts, Raul's eyes were brown and Rico's were blue.

“You regret a kiss?” He frowned, his hands disappearing from her body even though his hips remained a mere inch from hers. “From the way you followed me around today, I had every reason to believe—”

“I know.” She didn't want to think about the way she'd flung herself at him. Or flirted shamelessly with any number of guys since showing up here. “The kiss was great. It's just that I had told someone I'd meet them here and when he didn't show tonight, I figured I deserved to have fun anyway.”

Rico's hips closed that last inch, his hands returning to her waist.

“You do,” he agreed. “And I'll bet I can make you forget all about him by morning.”

The rush of longing came at her so hard she had to swallow the urge to rub up against him like a cat and forget all about her niggling conscience.

In the background, she could hear a woman's shriek of laugher emanating from the billiard room and wondered if the stakes had gone up in the gaming area. Usually they waited to play games for articles of clothing until after dinner had been served, but some folks got rowdy early. It wasn't uncommon to spot a man coming from the hall minus garments that he'd lost in a game.

Or a woman as she streaked by in a corset. Or less.

“But I'm on the rebound from a divorce.” Lianna had
no idea what had come over her to pour her heart out to the hottest guy she'd ever been fortunate enough to kiss. But there it was. Apparently she wasn't too jaded for an attack of scruples. “So I can't trust my emotions so well where men are concerned. And for that matter, my ex cheated on me at the end of the marriage. I hate to do to someone else what he did to me, even if I don't know this guy that I planned to meet here very well.”

Rico blinked, his long lashes sweeping low to fan over his burnished bronze skin as the light from the flickering sconce cast stark shadows on his strong features. In the narrow alcove, he blocked her view of all else besides him.

“Lianna.” His thumb smoothed a gently teasing caress along the bottom of her corset where it rested on her hip. With a little pressure, he could have slid it underneath that seam, even though her gown still would have been in the way. There was something endlessly tantalizing about a man navigating his way through that many layers to unveil you.

“Hmm?” She tried not to sway with the hypnotic power of his touch. She had noble intentions for once, damn it.

“Most everyone here is on a rebound of some sort or another.” Perhaps he spied her confusion because he explained himself. “How many people would come to places like this just for the hookups? A few. But the Marquis packs the rooms every week because most of the guests need a complete escape. Here, you can forget about your job that's going poorly or your ex who cheated, or a wife who didn't want any part of a noisy,
cantankerous clan of six brothers and decided she'd rather go out for groceries and never come back.”

“There are six of you?” The mind reeled at the vision of so many studly males in one family.

“Who said I was talking about me?” He winked and something about the gesture made her realize he was the more outgoing of the twins—the one who liked to party. The hell-raiser. “It was Raul's wife who took off, but yes, I have five brothers. My point is that there is nothing wrong with getting caught up in the moment when you are not married. This man who did not show up to meet you does not have any right to claim you.”

Persuasive fingers trailed lightly over her hip, the heat of his touch penetrating the rose-colored taffeta and two layers of underskirts. He'd taken such care to ease her conscience. If he was so considerate of her needs now, what might he be like in bed when her needs would be more obvious and far easier to address?

A little breathless gasp robbed her of speech for a moment. Purposely, she leaned more heavily into the apothecary cabinet behind her, allowing the hardware of the drawers to poke against her uncomfortably and remind her that she couldn't just slide into his arms for the night.

“In theory, I agree,” she admitted. “But in practice, I'll feel better if I send him a note and let him know my intentions before we, er, kiss again.”

“I have a phone,” Rico admitted softly, leaning close to nip her ear with a gentle bite. “You can call him from my room.”

“Doesn't that seem a bit wicked?” Her eyelids fell to half-mast as she swayed against him.

“It's Christmastime, Lianna. And you've been a very, very good girl.” Rico rubbed a path up her ribs to the underside of her breast as he kissed her neck. “Don't deny yourself the reward you deserve.”

She felt her resolve slipping along with her red velvet maid's uniform that borrowed liberally from the wardrobes of Mrs. Claus and a Victoria's Secret catalog. The low-cut, fur-lined bodice inched down until it barely covered her breasts. Her nipples peaked against the fluffy white trim of her outfit. “I wasn't
always
a good girl,” she confessed, wanton heat swirling along her skin as he tugged the costume down a fraction of an inch more, exposing her to his waiting tongue.

Desire pooled in her womb as he drew one stiff peak into his mouth and flicked it again and again. By the time he relinquished her breast and tugged her dress back up to cover her, she was such a trembling mass of nerve endings, she couldn't have denied him if she tried.

“I bet I'll enjoy hearing about the times you were naughty just as much as the times you were nice,” he assured her in a low growl. “But you're going to have to sit on my lap the whole time.”

He palmed her bottom in his hands and gave each cheek a little spank. He caught her squeal of surprise in a kiss, silencing her as he passed her his cell phone.

Fully, deliciously committed to the plan, Lianna tucked the phone into her cuff and told herself everything
would be all right. Rico was a once-in-a-lifetime man, and she deserved this night.

Alex had proven his lack of loyalty by ignoring her this week, showing more interest in having her spy on Jack and Marie than in coming up here to be with her himself.

For all she cared, the three of them could play their voyeur games without her. If Alex ever showed tonight, he could watch the redhead all by himself.

 

J
AKE WATCHED
M
ARNIE
from across the dining area, her green bustle twitching restlessly with every move of her hips as she walked toward the card parlor for the evening's entertainment.

The mood in the dining area had been raucous and bawdy, with guests flirting and dancing between courses. Now, as the tables were cleared away, some people lingered by the bar area to be close to the musicians who were dressed like holiday court jesters in red and green velvet jackets. Other guests moved toward the billiards lounge and card room to wait for the evening entertainment. Jake and Marnie had agreed to split up after the evening meal, hoping to find out more about the staff behind the scenes at the Marquis. The embezzlement of 2.5 million dollars had originated on a Marquis computer; of that much his people were certain. So as long as Marnie wore her mask around the hotel, he didn't mind her searching out leads on where staff offices were located and who had access to them. For his part, he would do the same. But all the while he wove his way toward the
library, he brooded over missing signs that Alec Mason might be more deeply involved in this mess.

“Looking for company?” a petite blonde in a vampy black dress asked him as he passed her in an archway between rooms.

Her gown was floor-length, but the insets down the sides were lace-up panels with nothing underneath, so you could see about an inch-and-a-half swath of naked flesh from knee to breast on either side of her.

“No.” The word came out sharper than he'd intended for a guy who needed to schmooze if he ever wanted answers. “Actually,” he said, changing tactics midstream, “do you know where I go to sign up for work here? Is there an office or do I just go to the front desk?”

“What kind of work are you looking for?” she asked, tossing her hair over one shoulder and angling a hip closer as she looked him up and down. “I've got a few jobs you'd be perfect for.”

How could he ever check out this place when flirtatious women put themselves in his path at every opportunity? His case came first, and his carnal thoughts were all for Marnie.

And even worse than this woman flirting with him was the fact that guys would swarm Marnie the second he wasn't attached to her side. Like right now in the card room.

“Sorry, I don't hire out to individuals, but thanks anyway.”

The vampy blonde crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

“I'll keep that in mind when you end up as my waiter
or my manservant tomorrow. Because the second you take on work for the Marquis, I will find you and make you do just what I want.” With another toss of her stick-straight hair, she stalked off on sky-high heels, full of dominatrix attitude.

Who were these people? Jake had seen some strip joints in his day and a few sleazy cathouses when he'd been stationed overseas, but he'd never run into an operation like this one. It had to be tough to keep it from turning into an all-out orgy on any given night, which would definitely make the place lose a lot of its character. But the people who stayed here seemed hip to the game—to push the boundaries of public displays without sliding into vulgarity.

In the billiards room, Jake saw a waiter serving drinks and figured he'd ask the guy where the offices were. Until he got closer and realized it wasn't just any waiter but the behemoth pretty boy who'd hit on Marnie earlier.

He'd just decided to get his information elsewhere when the guy turned around and saw him, his expression surprisingly blank considering they'd had a standoff just a couple of hours ago.

“Dude, I know that look and I can guarantee you've got me confused with my brother,” the guy said, easing past him with a tray full of empty glasses.

Jake did not appreciate the brush-off.

“Does that angle work on everyone? The old ‘I didn't do it and it must have been someone else' bit?”

He kept step with the waiter, figuring that if nothing
else, he'd follow him wherever he was going until he located the offices for the Marquis.

“No. Usually we just end up making twice as many enemies. But whatever Rico did to piss you off, just keep in mind he's my twin, not my responsibility.” The guy hardly noticed an exotic-looking brunette dressed in a gown that—no lie—appeared to made entirely of whipped cream. “So no need to follow me, okay? I'm Raul, and you've got the wrong brother. I'm mostly here under duress anyway, so I don't need trouble.”

Something about Raul's obliviousness to the whipped cream woman gave authenticity to his claims. Jake had a feeling that Rico's head would have been on a swivel if that walking dessert had just passed him.

“I'll take it up with your brother, then. But yes, I'm following you because I need to know where the offices for this place are located and shaking a straight answer out of this crowd is like pulling teeth.”

Raul grinned. “It's an affliction I call sex on the brain.” He nodded toward a back wall behind a fifteen-foot-high Christmas tree. “This way.”

Peace made with the guy, Jake appreciated the heads-up. He'd checked out most of the hotel on his own earlier that day, but he'd only succeeded in locating kitchens, storage and laundry rooms—no real base for operations. He'd begun to think the administrative area must be somewhere well hidden, a fact that would really limit computer access for his suspect.