Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (41 page)

****

Claire
had known
she was being insecure when she’d heard Regina was outside. She believed with all of her heart that Butch loved her and not the woman waiting in her driveway.
Thompson
had confirmed the same thing when they’d danced. He was a pure gentleman, not trying to make a move on her the entire time. He’d reassured her that Butch had no interest in Regina
,
and she’d believed him. It would have been easy to tell had she used her gift to find out the truth, but she
hadn’t
.
Although, e
veryone else at the party
tonight
was fair game
in her mind or should she say, in their minds
.
It wasn’t something that she’d normally agree to, but all bets were off when it came to her life and the ones she loved.

She’d find out one way or another who was out to hurt her family. It was hard with a room full of people to pinpoint who
se
thoughts were who
se
, but she’d been trying. Butch pulled her from her thoughts when the song ended. He’d taken her hand and led her out to the courtyard. This was her favorite place. The rose buds and lilies were in full bloom. It was a little cool
er
tonight without her wrap, but Butch was keeping her warm. They walked down the small
path, stepped up into the gazebo,
and leaned against the railing. They were in plain view of the house and the guest
s
, so she knew he wouldn’t be trying anything out here. Claire wished the party w
ere
already over so she could lie in bed next to Butch and savor his body pressed against hers.

Claire turned to look at the house. She felt Butch move up behind her and pull her body back against his. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her neck. Claire closed her eyes and turned in his embrace. He leaned into her, pressing her back into the railing. He kissed her ear before whispering
,
“I need you.”

He placed small kisses down her throat to her chest. Claire let her
head fall back on her shoulders
,
and her eyes close
d
.
His hands felt like
heaven
as he caressed her back and continued kissing the swells of her breast
s not
covered by her dress. His hands moved around to her side and down her legs, partially pulling her dress back up with him. He slid his hand through the slit and stilled.

Claire opened her eyes and looked down at him. “Why did you stop?”

Butch grinned
,
showing the dimple on
his
face. “Are you packing?”

Claire felt the heat travel to her cheeks. She’d forgotten about the gun strapped securely to her leg. Abby’s words about foreplay came back to her. Claire stepped out of his embrace, walked over to one of the chairs
,
and lifted her leg, placing her high heel on the chair. She slid the dress up and let the slit fall open
,
revealing her thigh and the black holster attached to it.
“Do you like?”

“Angel, you’re killing me.” Butch was next to her in two steps. His hand
settled
on her thigh, making a gentle caress starting at her knee up to the holster and over it. He
leaned d
own into her and kissed her hard as
moving his body up against hers.
The hard bulge in his pants told her enough. He took her hand and placed it on the outside of
his
tuxedo, right over his thick cock
. “Does it feel like I like it,
angel
?
”

Claire gently squeezed
loving the feel of what she now considered hers
. Butch replaced his hand where he’d left off, moving up her thigh over her garter belt. He clenched his eyes closed as he whispered
,
“Tonight
,
baby
.
I need to see what you’ve got on under th
is
dress.”

Claire smiled.
Apparently,
her baby sister knew what she was talking about. Guns made this man hard. She could work with that
. S
he could find a way to drive this man wild. She’d hoped he’d resume his exploration
,
but someone clearing his throat had him reaching for her leg and lowering it from the chair. Claire pulled her hand away from Butch’s pants and sighed. She’d forgot
ten
where she was.
She tended to do that when Butch was near.
 

Butch sighed before turning around to find out who
m
the intruder was.
Jake stood just outside the
gazebo
with his back turned. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but
Ted
called
. H
e’s faxing the composites over on the kids. I thought you might want to take a look at them.
”

Claire straightened her dress and patted the weapon
on
her thigh. She looked up at Butch
.
“I think that’s our cue.”

Butch walked back toward the house
,
talking to Jake as Claire followed. She knew he purposely kept Jake busy in front of them so she could adjust her dress and wipe away some of the wet kisses he’d placed on her chest. She needed to compose herself. They’d just walked through the door when
Mrs. A
stopped
her
.

Butch stopped and looked back at her. Claire shooed him with her hands. “Go, I’m fine. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Butch glanced over at Sam
and Abby
. T
hey each
gave
him
a nod.
The nod wasn’t lost on her
. I
t had been a changing of the guard.
She would be watched even if she w
eren’t
in his immediate protection.

Claire smiled down at Mrs. A
,
exchanging pleasantries. “I’m glad you could make it. Have you
made any progress with our plan?
”

Mrs. A smiled and took her hand. “I haven’t even started
,
dear. With everything you’ve had going on, I put everything on hold until we could get Elizabeth and Mike together. It shouldn’t be too difficult though.” Mrs. A nodded to the other end of the room.

Claire glanced at the couple in question. They were off in a corner having a heated argument. Dr. Lister looked a bit upset with Claire’s big brother. He tended to do that
to
a lot of people. It seemed they were fighting their attraction. Didn’t they know that it was inevitable
?
At least Claire and Mrs. A would see that it was. “I see what you mean.”

Claire grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and took a sip. She needed something to cool herself from how heated it had gotten outside. Mrs. A
had started to say something
when
Claire
heard yelling across the room.
Two men
were screaming at each other
,
and she
saw the first blow. The other hit back, knocking the man down on top of a table. Abby and Sam headed in that direction. Claire was confident that they’d put a stop to the drunk
en
men ruining the party.

Mrs. A squeezed her hand. “It’s time for me to get
these old bones
to bed. I just wanted to tell you it was a lovely party.”

Claire leaned down and hugged the old
woman
who’d come to mean a lot to her.
“Thank you for coming and we’ll talk soon.”

Mrs. A left her standing by the open door. She took another sip of her champagne
as
Andrew walked
over to her. “Interesting party
.
Are there always fights?”

Claire glanced at the smiling banker. “No, normally never. I’m not even sure I know who those two gentleman are.”

Andrew reached into his tuxedo jacket and pulled some papers out. “I brought your account papers with me. I need your signature in two more places so we can finalize your account.”

Andrew stepped out on the terrace and placed the papers on a nearby table. Claire followed him. She figured she was safe enough just outside the door. She looked Andrew up and down and determined she could take him if she had to. He wasn’t a threat she couldn’t handle.

Claire took the pen that Andrew offered and leaned over
,
looking at the documents. She couldn’t see a place she’d missed signing. She
’d
straighten
ed to
ask where he needed her signature when she felt steel being jammed in
to
her side.

She felt the phone in her bra vibrate at the same time. She knew she was in trouble
,
and there wasn’t a soul watching
who
would know where she was
. She glanced inside to see a
ll of the security detail
trying to break up the two drunks
who were
fighting.
The two drunks had turned into six while she’d been outside.

Andrew leaned over and whispered, “I suggest you walk with me or I’ll kill you right here.”
He jammed
the gun
harder into her side. “
Start moving
.”

Claire realized she had placed herself in quit a predicament. The buzzing against her boob indicated that Emma knew too. It was just a matter of time before Emma called Butch and Jake demanding that they find her. The
cavalry
would be on th
e way if she could stall Andrew from whatever plans he had for her.

He’d given her the creeps at the bank, so much so that she
’d
faked her engagement, but her instincts must
have been trying to tell her more
.