Sultry in Stilettos (11 page)

Beckett deliberately placed his pen on
his notepad. “Your first order of business is to get us into that
race. Your next order of business is to stay the fuck away from
her. You hear me?” He leaned back in his chair and pinned Carter
with a look icy enough to freeze.

Carter shifted under the scrutiny and
eventually stood. “I’ll do my job. I’ll pull the strings needed and
get us into the race. But let’s be clear—you don’t have a say over
my personal life. If you want to go out with her, you can ask her
yourself.”

Carter had a good point there. Maybe
it was bullshit to think he and Ricca could be friends.

“I like the new look.”

Ricca whirled around from
her dying hydrangea plant. She wobbled in her borrowed,
moxy-giving, Calvin Klein shoes and almost took a spill but righted
herself quickly.
Fake it till you make it.
Fake it till you make it. Fake it till you make
it
. “Carter Sykes. To what do I owe this
surprise?”

“What? I can’t come talk to a
beautiful woman?”

Ricca knew the charm offensive. She’d
seen guys like Beckett and Carter use it to lure women out of their
panties all their lives. With his angled jaw and sunny smile,
Carter was handsome but still approachable. The warmth in his
honey-brown eyes always came across. Or rather, he was a really
good manipulator.

“You only ever come in here to butter
me up with your birthday cake request. And your birthday isn’t till
March, so what do you want?”

His lips tipped up in a sheepish grin.
“Ouch. You make me sound like—what did you call Angel and her
frienemies crew the other day? One of the plastics.”

“If the moniker fits…” She let her
voice trail off.

“Again, with the zingers. Looks like
you’ve got a new attitude to go with the new look. But I kind of
want to take out the girl who always makes my favorite devil’s food
chocolate cake for my birthday. I think she’s sweet.”

“Hm. And tell me, why have you never
asked her out before, if you thought she was so sweet?”

“Because she’s been sending
pretty clear
I’m in love with Beckett
Mills
vibes until recently. And I’d like
to get my shot before that goes away and she thinks he walks on
water again.” He paused and gave her a full smile. “Besides, I’m
glad you’re finally showing how gorgeous you are.”

Ricca blinked up at him, trying to
discern the truth. He was an excellent liar. It made him a good
actor in fantasies when they were down a model and needed someone
to step in. “You run that line of bullshit by every woman you
meet?”

Carter blinked once, twice, and then
barked out a laugh. “Wow. Guilty as charged. But only a little. You
are beautiful. It’ll be a wonder if they don’t ask you to stand in
as a model, if someone has a Selma Hayek fantasy.”

Ricca rolled her eyes and leaned
forward on her desk. “Cut the crap, Carter. What do you really
want? I’ve got a couple sweet sixteens, a debutant ball, a
proposal, and this Master Fantasy to plan that could mean a new job
for me, so I don’t really have ti—”

A thought occurred to her. Carter had
just been in Beckett’s office. Beckett had said last night he would
play fair. But maybe he’d been lying. “I don’t know what your game
is, but I’m not in the mood for it. You really expect me to believe
you actually want to go out with me?”

Carter frowned. “Look, Ricca. Okay
yeah, I get how this seems suspect. But there’s no agenda, I
promise. You’re obviously trying something new, and I’m paying
attention, that’s all. I wasn’t sent in here to spy or anything.
Besides, Beckett gave me the impression that both teams would be
working together on this fantasy.”

Ricca studied him, unsure of what to
say. She also found it amusing that his gaze never drifted below
her neck. The mark of someone deliberately putting effort in to not
look. “Look, Carter—”

“Say yes. It’s just dinner, and you’ve
got to eat anyway.” He grinned at her.

She opened her mouth to say no, but
something about his puppy dog eyes made her think twice. “Okay
fine, dinner.”

He grinned again, and she couldn’t
help but grin back. He’d never really been her type. Too much like
a fraternity guy. But he seemed sincere. Besides, he had a point.
It was just dinner.

“So anything you don’t like to eat or
do?”

Wow, he was all into this. “No, I’m
pretty flexible.”

His eyes widened, and he gave her a
lascivious smirk. “God, I hope so.”

She rolled her eyes. “Get out before I
change my mind.”

After he left her office, her phone
rang. Picking it up, she said, “Hi, Jaya.”

“Hey, I’m dying to know how the new
look went over.”

“Well, Angel hated it, but that was to
be expected.”

“Such a mean girl.”

“No argument there. Zach
wouldn’t stop staring at me,
and
I got asked on a date.”

“Woohoo, Beckett finally got his nerve
up. So what are we going to wear? This mi—”

“Um no. Negative on the Beckett
front.”

Her friend went silent for two beats.
“Oh. Okay, then who?”

“You remember Carter Sykes? He was on
the San Diego most eligible list, right behind Alec. Number five,
or something.”

“Oh yeah, I remember meeting him. So
what, he just upped and asked you out today?”

“Yeah. Weird huh?”

“No. Not weird that he asked you. I’m
sure you raised the temperature around that office by at least
several hundred degrees. I’ve never heard you talk about him
before.”

“Yeah, he’s kind of a player. Ever
since that most eligible list came out, I’ve seen him with all
kinds of women. Not my usual type.”

“Sounds like you’re not even
interested. Then why are you going out with him?”

“Well, I gotta eat, right? And he
seemed sincere. Besides, I haven’t been on a first date in over a
year. I’d better get some practice if I want to get back in the
market again.”

“Hm. Okay. You deserve a little
rebound date, I guess. So what are you going to tell
Beckett?”

“What do you mean what am I going to
tell Beckett? It’s none of his business who I date.”

Jaya broke into the same Patti Labelle
song they’d all been humming as they went shopping. “Ooh ooh ooh
ooh ooh. You got a new attitude.”

“What is it that Micha always says? If
you want something, you have to make it happen. Waiting on someone
or something is a surefire way to make sure you don’t get what you
want.”

Jaya chuckled. “Are you really taking
dating advice from Micha? You were there when we hid in her
apartment watching Caleb strut his stuff half-naked. Does that seem
like the woman who has it all figured out? We’re all trying to make
it through, hon. Micha is right—you do have to go after what you
want. I just don’t think Carter is it. Did you make your pro/con
lists?”

Ricca had to smile. Good Old Jaya and
her go-to decision making process. “I’m good. I’ve decided to go
out with him. I’ve got nothing to lose, right? Besides, he’s cute.
And I just got dumped. So like Micha says, best way to get over
someone is to get under someone else. And if you’re so worried
about me telling Beckett, I’ll tell him right now. He’s lurking in
my doorway.”

“Oh. Yeah. Good luck with
that.”

****

“Tell me you're not actually going to
go out with that moron?"

"Don't you know how to knock? And it
seems that you already have the answer to that question, if you're
in my office bitching about it."

She wobbled in her heels as she came
around her desk, and he had to school the twitch in his lips. She
didn't normally wear heels. An ex had once told him what a hassle
it was wearing brand new heels on carpet.

"Ricca, do me a solid and don’t go out
with that guy."

She threw up her arms. "Are you
serious, right now? You're telling me not to go out with him.
Why?"

"Because he's a prick, and he's only
noticing you because you’re showing so much—" His brain filled out
the rest of his sentence but his mouth knew better.

"Showing so much what?"

"Skin," he muttered. "He's just not
right for you."

"I'm not trying to marry the guy. It's
dinner. What's with you? First, you go all protective, big brother
on Jaya when she started dating Alec. Now me. I was serious when I
said we weren’t little ducklings. I have a mother, okay? And you're
not my brother."

Damn right he wasn't. "Why do you want
to go out with him? Why can't you just date some nice guy who will
treat you right?"

"Because I thought I had a nice guy.
But then he dumped me on a night I had been planning for weeks.”
She folded her arms over her ample chest. "Tell me. What the hell
does it matter? Why do you care?"

His brain stuttered. Why?
Why? Why?
Because I think you're
beautiful. Because I can't get the feel of your lips out of my
head. Because I want to kiss you again so badly that I'm willing to
kill for it.
He couldn't say any of that.
Instead, he said, "Because."

"Because what? Just tell me. Then
maybe you can stop acting like a Neanderthal. Why are you dancing
around me like a caged animal? How do we get back to where we were?
We can't keep doing this."

"You’re right about that, so maybe you
could stop running around looking like sex on a stick and focus on
this fantasy. It's distracting as hell." His heart thudded, and the
roar of blood drowned out thought.

Ricca raised an eyebrow and stalked
over to him, hands on her hips. “Sorry to distract you. What are
you going to do about it?"

She moved into his space, and her
lemony scent wafted into his nostrils. She smelled soft and warm
and delicious. His hands itched to run through her hair. He'd been
dying to play with the loose strands ever since last night at his
place.

"Oh, fuck it." He dragged her against
him, dipping his head toward hers. This decision would be
deliberate, and there would be no going back. His mouth hovered
over her lips, and he felt her hot harsh breaths as she exhaled.
With every breath, her breasts swelled against his chest. His eyes
darted to her lips, and he watched, fascinated as her tongue peeked
out to moisten them.

He lost the battle with himself. His
body jerked at the electric shock when their lips met. She tasted
just like he remembered. Sweet with a hint of spice. With a
surprised gasp, she parted her lips, and he took the opening she
gave him.

She dug her fingers into his shirt and
pulled him forward. Backing her up, Beckett lifted her until she
sat on her desk. Cupping her face, he held her tight as he devoured
her and their tongues danced.

The sharp knock at Ricca’s door made
them spring apart. Eyes wide, they stared at each other, both
breathing heavily. Beckett straightened. "That's why." On shaky
legs, he staggered out of her office.

Beckett loved the smell of exhaust in
the morning—not as much as ocean breezes, when he surfed, but what
could he say, he was a total gear head. He suited up in his
fire-proof suit and surveyed the throngs of other drivers. Every
man and woman from across the world with a death wish and enough
cash was here trying for a title. Carter hadn’t been able to swing
Paris-Dakar. Even with all his connections, they were closed to new
entries. So they’d gone for the Montezuma run. Starting in Cancun
and running up north along the coast and inland.

Beckett watched the team working on
the car like a hawk. Rally car racing was no joke on an ordinary
day. This would be a hell of a ride, and he had a billionaire to
take care of. Hundreds of teams from over fifty-one different
countries. His primary focus was to keep Roberto safe, then to have
some fun.

Against the orders of
command central, his eyes also roved the crowd for Ricca. After
he’d kissed her in her office a couple of weeks ago, she’d gone
right along pretending like it had never happened. It drove him bat
shit crazy. Even today, as she sported a skin-tight racing suit,
his blood hummed and his body ached just from looking at
her.
Focus on the fucking race,
ass-wipe.

Beckett dragged his eyes off of
Ricca’s ass and was striding toward the car, when Serena stepped in
his way. She tilted her head back to look up at him. “Change of
plans,” she said. “Roberto’s driving today.”

Beckett scowled.
“Bullshit.” He stepped around the couple and kept moving. “You have
to be kidding. Roberto has never driven a rally car before, let
alone even qualified for this race. You let him drive, and you’re
putting him at risk. Not to mention we had to scramble to even
get
me
into this
race. They’ll never let him drive.”

Serena trailed behind him, taking two
steps for every one of his. “Not the bullshit, Beckett. The truth.
He wants to drive. I talked to Lila, and this will be the way to
really get him into it. Not only is he paying handsomely for the
privilege, he’s also contributing heavily to the race organizers.
It’s a done deal. ”