Worth the Challenge (29 page)

He smiled, a flash of white teeth that dazzled her. “You’d never say anything bad to me, would you, Hayes? I swear, I could tell you you’re fired and you’d take it with a smile. Probably thank me for it when it was over too.”

Her heart sank. So he thought she was a pushover, huh? This is what happened when a woman was stupid enough to let her boss kiss her. It didn’t matter that they were both drunk and both at fault; he automatically thought she was the slut. “You’re so right. All I’ve ever wanted was to please the boss. I’m sure you’ll ask for a blowjob next and think I’ll magically give in. Heaven forbid I’d offend Hunter Worth, right? I mean, you already had your way with me once.”

His smile faded. “I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Yeah, well, that’s how it sounded. I’m not that easy, despite what you think. I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at. I’m not about to let you believe I’m some sort of suck up who’ll say whatever you want to hear.”

“I was just making a joke, Gracie.” His expression was solemn as he led her about the dance floor with an effortless grace that made her insanely jealous, ridiculous as that was. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sorry.”

His immediate and sincere apology was a balm to her heated mood. Had she overreacted? Probably. But damn it, she couldn’t help it. She was sensitive to this sort of stuff. She’d been accused of one thing or another since she was a teen. No one in her corner, no one to defend her, it had always been her against the world.

Always.

“Maybe we should forget we ever had this conversation.” She looked away, her gaze locked on the table where she’d just been sitting. Becky still sat there, watching them dance. Eyebrows raised, her lips pursed. As if she knew something was going down.

Great. Gracie loved Becky. She was one of Gracie’s closest friends, one of her
only
friends. But Gracie knew she’d have some explaining to do later.

She didn’t want to talk about Hunter Worth with anyone, especially Becky. Her friend was perceptive enough that she might finally figure out Gracie had a major crush on her boss.

And she didn’t want
anyone
knowing that.

“Sounds good to me. I think you and I are pretty skilled at the avoiding thing, right?” He paused, his hot gaze locked with hers. She forcibly looked away. If he kept looking at her like that, there was no way they could avoid what had been brewing between them since that one night when everything changed. “So how about I buy you a drink to make up for all of my mistakes?”

She glanced back up at him in surprise. “The reception is open bar.”

There was that grin again. It made certain parts of her body way too happy every time he flashed it. “Then I should have no problem getting you a drink, right? What’s your poison?” His voice lowered. “Butterscotch martinis? Isn’t that what you were drinking—last time?”

You.
He was her poison. A gorgeous devil bent on seducing her. Looking at him, being close to him was as heady as any alcohol. “I’m not a big drinker,” she said weakly. It was the truth. It always went straight to her head.

He knew this from firsthand experience.

“Champagne, then. It’s my drink of choice tonight. I’m in a celebratory mood.”

“Happy for Alex?”

He leaned in close, his mouth just above her ear, his breath stirring her hair. “More like happy to have you in my arms again.”

Desire is a double-edged dance.

Lexie

© 2012 Kimberly Dean

Triple X, Book 1

Lexie Underhill works her tail off in hopes of winning her adoptive father’s approval. It’s never enough. The stinging proof? He’s brought in a reorganization expert. As if the prospect of losing her job in the family business isn’t enough, Cameron Rowe’s sexy, intimidating presence makes her palms sweat.

When Lexie’s face appears on a scandalous freeway billboard, her protestations of innocence go unheard. With orders to save the family name—or else—she marches into the bar the billboard was advertising and comes face-to-face with an identical twin sister. Roxie is wild and free, everything Lexie isn’t. Before the night is out, she welcomes the chance to explore her own sensuality.

As she dances wantonly on the bar, suddenly Cam is there, kissing her as if he has the right. The sizzle between them breaks out in four-alarm desire, but Lexie has recalibrated her life plan. And the equation doesn’t factor in Cam—until she’s sure where his loyalties lie. With her…or her father’s company.

Warning: Not all business relationships are formal and stodgy. Suits and ties (actually, all clothing) are optional.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Lexie:

Uncertainty made her face fall, and she glanced back to the bar. “You said our eyes were different.” The uncertainty turned into a frown. “Is she prettier than me? Was that it?”

“No, that wasn’t it.” He cupped her chin and brought her attention back to him.

He sighed when he saw the glaze in her eyes. She wasn’t a sloppy drunk. She didn’t slur her words, and she didn’t get belligerent. Well, not that belligerent. Alcohol just seemed to break down the walls she constantly kept erected around herself. Let loose, her emotions were fighting over which could show itself first. Hurt, joy and confusion were all there for the world to see.

With her, alcohol brought out honesty.

Cam took a deep breath. He had to get her out of here. Sober her up and help her get things straight in her head. The misunderstanding with the Underhills needed to be cleared up as soon as possible—for her sake as well as the company’s. They’d hurt her this morning and without cause. She deserved an apology, and he was going to make sure she got one.

This newfound sister, though. He glanced over his shoulder to the bar. She was a different issue entirely.

He watched as Roxie flirted with a particularly ugly biker, checking out the tattoo on his shoulder. He didn’t like coincidences, and he didn’t like surprises. This woman was both, and he didn’t want Lexie around her until he had the opportunity to check her out.

And he had the resources to do a really close check.

He brushed his thumb against Lexie’s waist and pulled back. “Let’s go straighten things out with Julian.”

Her breath caught audibly. Face paling, her gaze flew to the door. “Is he here?”

Cam sighed. Damn that man. “No. We’ll go find him after you’ve had some coffee.”

“Is anybody else coming?” She rubbed her bare arms. Without her jacket, she seemed vulnerable. Ten minutes earlier, she’d been dancing around and having fun. At the mention of her family, though, she needed her armor.

He stroked her waist, trying to get her to relax. “You got me. Just me.”

“Oh.”

The emotions in her eyes tumbled again, and confusion won the battle this time. She glanced around the bar almost forlornly. Cameron braced his hand against the jukebox, wanting to punch it. She was so easy to read this way, but it was a painful read.

“Do you really dislike me that much, Lexie?”

“I don’t dislike you.”

Could have fooled him. “Then what is it? You’ve been avoiding me ever since I first started working at Underhill. Are you afraid of me?”

She shifted uneasily. She’d ventured into a biker bar and had made it her own, yet looking him in the eye seemed to be too much for her. “Kind of.”

Cam nearly winced. That honesty was a double-edged sword. “Why?”

“Why? You want to gut my family’s company.” Her brow furrowed. “I mean, Underhill Associates.” She shook her head, the confusion too much. “I have good workers. Smart people. They should know their jobs are secure.
My
job should be secure.”

“I’m not talking about work here,” he said bluntly. “And I think you know that.”

Her lips parted. “But work is all we…” Frustration colored her cheeks. She lifted her hands and pressed her fingers against her temples. “Argg. You’re doing it again, confusing me and twisting everything up. I couldn’t sleep last night after you did what you…and firing me…and, and cleavage…”

He could look at her cleavage all he wanted right now, but things were suddenly getting interesting. “You couldn’t sleep because you were thinking about me?”

She rocked her foot back onto its heel, and he instinctively positioned himself closer so she couldn’t kick him. The move put his body a hairsbreadth away from hers. She was warm from all that dancing. Her skin glistened with perspiration, leaving it damp and kissable. Lickable.

She flattened her hands against his chest again, but this time he didn’t budge. It flustered her. She shifted against the jukebox, but he wasn’t letting her get away now—not when he finally had her talking to him.

Her lips pressed into a straight line. “I wasn’t thinking about you, I was thinking about my proposition…purpose…my
proposal
.”

Interesting choice of words.

But the alcohol she’d consumed had her on a roll. “You made me late today. I kept wondering what you were going to do. What were you going to think? How were you going to smell?”

“I smell?”

“Not you. It’s just…” Her cheeks went red. “Your aftershave smells nice.”

Her words died away, but all thoughts of taking her home to Daddy left Cam. Taking her home, though, wasn’t such a bad idea. His body felt hard and hot. He’d been stressed all day, but the tension gripping him now was another sort entirely. “What do you think of me, Lexie? Really?”

Her gaze locked with his, and he saw something new in the dark depths. Something that made his heart rate slow down, and the thick pumps sound loudly in his ears.

“You make me uncomfortable,” she said, her voice low.

“Uncomfortable, how?”

She bit into her bottom lip, and her gaze skittered away. “Just…uncomfortable.”

The awareness he’d felt on the elevator came back, heavy and deep. It was the first indication he’d had that she saw him not as a threat, but as a man.

He wanted another.

But he didn’t know when he’d ever get it.

She was skittish around him. Guarded. The closest he could get to her was in meetings. Stuffy, mind-numbing meetings. Right now, her defenses were down. He couldn’t. He
shouldn’t
, but he wanted to know…

He reached for her.

Ever so gently, he ran his fingertips down her bare arm, all the way from shoulder to elbow. As he watched, goose bumps popped up on the warm flesh. She shivered and her breath caught. When she looked at him, her gaze was a little wild.

“You make me uncomfortable too,” he said gruffly.

They stared at each other, the music throbbing and the air hazy around them.

“Really uncomfortable,” he muttered.

Closing the distance, he sank into her. He watched her closely as their bodies pressed from chest to knee. The heat was intimate, the contact electric. For a moment, she was stunned still. Then all those emotions she’d kept tempered for so long rushed forward to meet him. Her anger. Her heat. Her sweetness. He felt it in the way her body melted. He heard it in the catch in the back of her throat.

“Lexie.” He kissed her. Firmly, fully, mouth locked on mouth. He sealed their lips tight, and the sensation was so good, it damn near made him groan aloud.

Her lips were soft,
velvety
and they clung. The kiss deepened, their mouths opening wider for more contact. For a woman who was as strapped in and lashed down as she was, she knew how to kiss.

And then some.

That hard-on he’d gotten when he’d seen her dancing atop the bar came roaring back to life. He kissed her harder, letting his tongue slide over hers. A sound left her throat, and her fingers bit into his shoulders. He did it again, loving her heat, loving the way she responded. She moved restlessly, her body grinding against his. Softness against hardness. Heat against heat.

Cam wanted to pick her up and carry her right out to his car. He could feel her nipples poking him and her hips rolling sexily. Her arousal was like every other emotion the alcohol had freed. Hot, immediate and right on the surface.

What had started as an exploratory kiss was quickly turning into a blistering-hot make-out session. They were hidden together in the corner. Music pounded around them and bodies shifted nearby. They were in public. Anyone could see them.

And he didn’t care.

He moved closer, rocking his hips into her. She let out a soft whimper as her hands glided from his shoulders to lock around his neck. Their bodies fit together like yin and yang. Her breasts pressed tighter against his chest, and he settled his growing erection right where it wanted to be, in the warm nook at the top of her legs.

He tangled his fingers in her hair as he nuzzled the feminine curve of her jawline.
God, her hair…
He clenched his fist in the dark curls. If the rest of her was this silky, he’d never last. Hungry for more, he sent his other hand down her side. His blood thundered hard when he found the not-so-professional slit in her oh-so-professional skirt.

“You want the truth?” he whispered into her ear. “The billboard wasn’t pretty enough.”