Authors: Adrianne Byrd
Leigh smirked. “We’ve never met.”
“No?” he asked, dubious.
“I’m positive.”
“Do you want to remedy that?”
Ariel coughed to clear her throat.
“The three of us?” he amended.
Another woman, clearly one of the dancers, eased up behind him and slid her arm around his shoulder possessively.
“Make that four,” he amended again.
Both Leigh and Ariel stared at the handsome gigolo, stunned at the offer.
“Don’t worry, there’s plenty of me to go around,” he promised.
“I think we’ll pass.” Leigh grabbed Ariel’s arm. “Let’s go.”
Ariel refused to budge.
“Now, I know that you’re not actually considering taking this dude up on his offer.”
Ariel’s face flushed with embarrassment, but then she seemed to remember herself. “The party. We want a bachelorette party,” she demanded.
“Well, that might entail a lot more women than I’m used to, but I guess that I could give it a try. I hear there’s this little blue pill on the market.”
Leigh laughed. She was actually starting to find him amusing. “We’re not trying to hire you, silly. We’re trying to hire your club. Apparently, word around town is that you’re the best.”
“I happen to think so.”
“The
club
is the best.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, that, too.” He set his drink down on the bar. “Emilio, hit it again,” he said to the bartender and then returned his attention to them. “Ladies, I would love to help you out, because that’s the kind of guy I am. I love putting smiles on women’s faces. But The Dollhouse simply doesn’t do bachelorette parties.”
“And is there any reason why your
business
establishment actively practices discrimination?”
Mr. Hinton groaned. “Lawyer?”
Ariel smiled. “How did you guess?”
“The shark teeth gave you away.” He smiled to soften the insult and it worked.
Ariel just smiled back.
“I tell you ladies what,” Quentin said. “I’m going to help you out.”
“Oh?” Ariel crossed her arms.
“Yeah. And it’s not because of the threat of a lawsuit. That happens from time to time around here. Nah, I’m going to do this because I think I like you two, despite your reluctance to join me and Caramel Swirl here in a night of sexual bliss. So I’m going to introduce you to my close cousin and business partner.” Hinton turned toward the beautiful dancer. “Pardon me, sweetheart. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” He winked and then turned his attention back to Ariel and Leigh. “Ladies, follow me.”
Jeremy cut the security cameras on by remote in his office as he continued his conversation with his best friend. “You know, as your best man that puts me in charge of the bachelor party, right?”
“You don’t say?” Roy laughed. “Why, that thought never occurred to me.”
“Uh-huh. You cheap bastard. You just want a free party.”
“Free or not. You’re going to do it up, right?”
“You can count on your boy,” Jeremy said just as his gaze caught a familiar image on the screen.
Is that…?
He hopped up from the couch and used the remote again to zoom in. Despite experiencing so many false alarms over the past month, his heart still leaped to the center of his chest at the possibility of having found his Baby Girl.
It’s her.
“I was thinking that we could do a whole Comic-Con theme,” Roy said on the other line. “We can get The Dollhouse Dolls to dress up as—”
“Um, Roy. Let me call you back. Something just came up.”
Why is she talking to Quentin?
“Huh? Oh. Okay. Sure, man. Hit me back later when you get a moment.”
They’re on the move. Where are they going?
“Cool. Later.” Jeremy disconnected the call, and then raced out of the office.
No. No. No.
The last thing that any brother should ever do is leave their woman alone with his cousin. A pair of panties was just not safe within a three-mile radius of that man.
Hurry. Hurry.
Jeremy threw his weight into the door leading back to the main floor at the same moment that Quentin was about to push the door from the other side. The result was Q being knocked back on his ass, holding his nose. “Ah, man. I’m sorry about that,” he said, though truly he wasn’t all that concerned about his cousin at the moment. His attention was completely focused on his Baby Girl.
“Hey.”
Eyes wide, she gaped at him. “What are
you
doing here?”
“A little help here,” Q said.
“You two know each other?” Ariel asked, swinging her gaze between the two of them.
Quentin pulled his hand away from his face. “Uh, I think I’m bleeding here.”
Baby Girl looked about ready to faint. She turned to her friend. “We need to go.”
“What? No. We came here to get them to host your bachelorette party.”
Jeremy heart dropped. “Bachelorette party? You’re getting married?”
L
eigh’s brain struggled to process with what felt like an alternate reality. How was it that this man was standing here in front of her—and why was her heart trying to hammer its way out of her chest? “I, uh…” She glanced over at Ariel as if somehow her best friend could help her out of this mess, but how could she when she didn’t know the torrid details of the situation?
“You know what? Don’t bother,” Hinton said, struggling to get back to his feet. “I’ll help myself up.” He pulled himself up off the floor and then straightened his clothes. “What a selfish ass—”
“How do you two know each other?” Ariel pressed, crossing her arms in her cross-examination mode.
Leigh turned toward Ariel. “Let’s talk about it later. Let’s just go,” she hissed, but her low voice was drowned out by Beyoncé’s “Hip-Hop Star.”
Ariel cupped her ear and leaned over. “What?”
“Wait,” Hinton said, now swinging his own gaze like a pendulum. “Now I know where I’ve seen your face.”
“Ladies,” her one-time fling said authoritatively. “You don’t have to leave. You came here for a service. Um, I’m sure my cousin and I here—” he slapped Quentin on the back and passed a look at him “—will be able to work something out?”
Hinton blinked and then nodded as if some subtle message had been received. “Uh, absolutely!” He turned toward Ariel and turned up the charm. “I take it that you’re the maid of honor in charge of planning the bachelorette party.”
Ariel puffed out her chest. “I am.”
Hinton’s smile widened and his dimples winked. “No ring. Does that mean there’s no man in your life?”
Ariel’s back loosened as she shook her head.
“Would you like one to be?”
Ariel blushed. “Well…”
Leigh couldn’t believe what she was witnessing. This man had effortlessly cast her hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners best friend into some kind of deep trance.
“Ariel?” Leigh stretched a hand in front of her girl’s face and waved. She couldn’t break the spell.
Hinton moved forward and eased an arm around her waist. “Tell you what, why don’t you and me head over to the bar and you can tell me what you envisioned for your girl’s party?”
“Oh, okay,” Ariel said robotically, and allowed him to pull her away from Leigh’s side.
“Ariel,” Leigh snapped. “Ariel!” But her girl strolled off, stuck to the side of that charmer as if their bodies had suddenly been superglued together.
“Don’t worry,” the man whom she had once called Big Daddy said. “My cousin will take good care of her.”
“I think that’s what I’m afraid of,” Leigh said. “If I hadn’t seen that, I don’t think I would’ve ever believed it.”
“Yeah. Q is quite the ladies’ man. When I saw you on the security cameras, I thought that you were seconds from being snared by him, too.” His dark gaze roamed over her face. “I can’t have that.”
Seconds ago, Leigh thought the bass bumping through the club’s speakers would shatter her eardrums. Now, staring into his face, her heartbeat took on that thumping sound.
“Why don’t we go into my office and talk for a moment?” he offered.
“I don’t…” She glanced around in need of a rescue.
“Don’t worry. I don’t bite—unless requested.” He smiled.
Don’t do it
.
Don’t do it.
Despite the voice in the back of her head shouting as if the words echoed through a megaphone, Leigh nodded.
Wait
.
Was he casting the same spell on her as that Q guy had just done to Ariel?
Regardless of whether she was aware of what was happening, she still let him wrap his arm around her waist and lead her into his office.
Once there, she was instantly impressed by what could’ve easily doubled as a bachelor pad. Black leather couches, wet bar, huge plasma screen—a Ping-Pong table and an adjoining bathroom. There was another door. But it was closed and she had a sneaking suspicion that it was, in fact, a bedroom. “Nice office.”
He chuckled. “Thanks. I figured if you’re going to spend a lot of time at work then you might as well make yourself comfortable.” He flashed a smile and then closed the office door behind them. “Would you like to have a seat?”
Leigh glanced at the extremely comfortable-looking sofa. “Thanks. But I think I’ll stand.”
“Scared?” He
locked
the door. “What happened to the woman I met in Malibu with all that swagger? Don’t tell me that you’re afraid of little ol’ me?” He moved in close and invaded her personal space and sniffed her hair. “Surely you know I’m harmless.”
Leigh’s knees buckled as she inched away. “I’m not afraid, I just try to avoid traps.” She glanced around. “I don’t always succeed.” Her gaze was drawn to his wide chest as it shook from his rumbling laughter. She remembered vividly how it felt to lay her head against it
and
drag her nails across it.
“You know I should be bending you over my knee right now,” he said seriously.
“What?” Her eyes traveled up from his chest to his twinkling onyx gaze. “It wasn’t nice of you to leave me sleeping in a stranger’s house.” He cocked his head. “Thanks for getting me arrested.”
“Oh.” Leigh dropped her head as guilt rushed through her. “I’m sorry about that. There was a…communication glitch with a friend of mine.”
“Yeah, that
glitch
nearly broke my jaw.”
Leigh winced and forgot about the danger, moving closer to inspect his face for visible damage. Her recklessness led to her seduction by his devastating smile. “Glad to see that you’re concerned for a brother. Should I take this to mean that you care?” He closed another inch between them.
A warning siren went off in her head. Bells, whistles and bullhorns tried to snap her back to reality. But for some reason, she was unable to tear her eyes away from his mesmerizing gaze. “Now, why would I want to cause you any harm? I enjoyed…” She realized what she was about to confess, but had the presence of mind to realize that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to make out in a locked office in the back of a gentlemen’s club.
His lips spread wider as he erased the last inch, and bumped his chest up against hers. “You enjoyed what?” he whispered. “Or rather, which part?”
“I, uh…” She tried to get her legs to move, but instead she ended up leaning back until she fell against the door.
Her predator just smiled and planted his left hand on the side of her head and leaned in until his cool, minty breath caressed her face.
“Should I tell you what I enjoyed?”
The air thinned in Leigh’s lungs and she could have sworn her legs were slowly turning into Jell-O.
“I enjoyed all of it. From the moment I joined you on the dance floor…” he said, wrapping his right arm around the curve of her left hip. “Hell, even before then when I watched you move this incredible body—” he moved her hips forward so that they connected with his own “—all around the dance floor,” he continued. “I knew then that you were an exceptional woman.” He started moving their bodies to the music that just barely sounded through his office’s walls. His gaze lowered. “I knew by the way your breasts, your hips and your ass were talking to me that we would have wonderful—” his gaze roamed back to her face “—hot, sweaty—” he dipped and ground his hips
and
erection against her “—sex together.”
After another dip and grind, Leigh emitted a weak moan. Even through their clothes, his cock was rubbing her in all the right places.
“I especially liked when you pressed your finger up against my mouth and told me that you didn’t want to know my name or zodiac sign. You just wanted to go some place where I could just screw your brains out.”
“Ahhh.” She could feel her body’s honey dripping like fresh sap from a maple tree.
“You remember that, Baby Girl? Hmm?”
Dip
.
Grind.
Leigh nodded her head weakly.
“Did I do a good job?” He leaned his head against the side of hers and started nibbling on her ear. “Did I give you what you were looking for?”
Dip
.
Grind.
“Y-yes.”
He scraped his teeth against her lower earlobe before whispering, “Then how come you snuck out of there the way you did, Baby Girl? Hmm?”
Dip
.
Grind.
“I—I…” Heat rushed up her body as her clit started throbbing and tingling.
Dip
.
Grind.
“You know, I would’ve loved to taste you and feel myself deep inside your body one last time before you left.” He abandoned her earlobe to sweep kisses across her collarbone. “I still do.”
Dip
.
Grind.
“Oooh.”
His hands moved from her hips to slide over her ass so that he could squeeze and press her ever closer against his dips and grinds.
“I don’t know what you did to me that night,” he whispered. “But I loved it,” he confessed. “And I want you to do it again.”
Dip
.
Grind.
Leigh was on the verge of coming. She was now matching his dips and grinds with a growing desperation. She just wanted to reach that magical place. She thought of nothing and no one else. There was only this dangerously sexy man doing wonderful things to her.
“I’ve been dreaming about you since that night,” he confessed. “I keep thinking that I smell your scent and see your face everywhere I go. It’s been driving me crazy.” His small kisses led him to the long column of her neck. “And now you come in here and tell me that you’re about to marry another man?” He shook his head. “You really think that I’m going to let you do that?”
Dip
.
Grind.
“I don’t think so. Besides, if he could do to you what I’m doing to you right now, you wouldn’t be here right now.”
Dip
.
Grind.
“Ooooh. Please.” She was quickly turning into a ball of fire and she clung to him, preparing for what was just around the corner.
“Look at you,” he panted. “Begging me to let you come.” He chuckled and brushed the lightest, sweetest kiss against her lips. “You want to come, don’t you, Baby Girl?”
Dip
.
Grind.
“Hmm?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Y-Yes. I want to come. Pleeeeaaaase.”
“Then why didn’t you just say so, Baby Girl? You know I’ll give you exactly what you want.” He slanted his mouth against hers, sending her mind spinning through space while their bodies continued their frenzied bump and grind.
It wasn’t long before she reached a crescendo. But when she screamed out, he was there to swallow it. At long last she fell limp against him, and a smile crept up the corners of her lips.
“That’s my Baby Girl. Daddy knows how to take care of you.” He brushed kisses against her fevered brow.
But reality had this pesky way of seeping in and she realized what had happened. “Ohmigod.” She shoved him away. “What did you just do?”
“Me?” He laughed jovially. “The last time I checked, it takes two to tango—and, sweetheart, we are officially the reigning tango champs.”
Leigh slapped a hand across her mouth in horror. “I’ve got to get out of here.”
“Now, wait a minute.” He stepped toward her as she threw her hands up like a stop sign. “
You
stay away from me!”
His hands gestured in surrender. “Okay. Calm down.”
“And stop talking,” she barked. “I can’t think when you talk or…touch me.” Leigh stretched one hand behind her back to unlock the door. “I didn’t come here for this.”
“No?” His brow jumped. “Are you sure?”
Leigh wasn’t sure, but she did manage to get the damn door unlocked. “Just—just stay away from me. I mean it.” She jerked open the door and raced out of the office.
“Yo, wait!” Jeremy gave chase. “I still don’t know your name.” After rushing out the door behind her, he was surprised to discover just how fast this chick could move. She bolted through the double set of doors and raced to find her friend.
Before he even got halfway to the club’s four bar stations, she had already grabbed her friend by the arm and snatched her off the cozy stool next to Quentin.
“Q, stop her,” he shouted. By the time his words sank in and Q turned his head, Baby Girl had dragged her friend halfway to the exit. “Damn!”
Don’t let her go or you’ll never see her again
. He redoubled his efforts to catch up. But threading through customers that were either shouting at him or grabbing his arm for attention slowed him down.
Finally he raced out of the front door shouting, “Wait!”
She jumped into a silver Mercedes. And when he neared the parking space, the reverse lights came on and Baby Girl’s maid of honor nearly mowed him down. “Wait!”
Tires screeched, and then the car took off.
“Wait,” he groaned, helplessly watching as they turned onto the main road. Two seconds later, the bouncer that was planted at the front door and Quentin reached his side, out of breath.
“Is there a problem, boss?” Roland asked.
“Yeah, did we get robbed or something?” Q huffed with his face twisted in confusion.
“Nah. Nah. Nothing like that.” He suddenly turned toward Q. “What was her name?”
“Uh, Ariel,” Q answered. “Not her, her friend. Did she mention her name?”
Q blinked and then struggle to recall. “I think she kept saying Leanne-Leah—or Princess Leia—I don’t know. It was loud.”
Jeremy huffed out a frustrated breath. “Damn.”