Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set (53 page)

It wasn’t any less crowded on the dais but Natasha didn’t feel so much like she was being swallowed up anymore.

“Do you want to wait here while I get us drinks?” Drew asked.

“Yes, thanks.” She figured she had the best view from here, too. Hopefully by the time Drew worked his way through all those people to get to the bar and came back again with the drinks, she’d have found Ruf and got business settled. Then she could get out of here.

She watched Drew walk away, comfortably weaving through the crowd. She didn’t know which she appreciated more--the tight fit of his jeans or the wide set of his shoulders.

She heaved a sigh. Her insides were still shuddering with desire ten minutes after that kiss. Whew, who knew baiting a man could be so... exciting? Even though part of her took exception to Drew’s assumption that she’d pined for him over the years, honesty forced her to admit—at least to herself—that her body had pined. Just a little bit. The man was one incredible lover. And her body was screaming out for an encore.

She searched the wall-to-wall partiers for Rufus Randall, wanting to make her connection as quickly as possible. The sooner she’d talked to him, the sooner she could drag Drew back to her hotel room. The crowd ranged from model thin waifs to what looked like a bearded lady, from guys with slicked back hair to pudgy lounge lizards. The dress code was obviously a free for all, with everything from jeans to tweed to silk in evidence. Thanks to Ruf’s sign outside the door claiming it a smoke-free zone, the air was unclouded by fog, but still eye-watering with the clashing scents of various perfumes.

Natasha could see the neon circus-like backdrop of Vegas at night from the balcony outside the sliding glass doors. Two large platforms flanked the view, each side boasting a movie screen playing a silent, and completely modified, version of Gone with the Wind. All the characters were in lingerie, except one. Natasha squinted at Rhett Butler, trying to figure out why he looked so wrong. Then she realized it was Ruf.

Her stomach clenched and she had a momentary pang of doubt. Did she really want to work with a man with him? She thought about it for a few seconds then shrugged. It wasn’t like she was going to do anything other than snag a contract with the guy. Once that was done, even her aunt would have very little actual contact. In the meantime, if he was into role playing, she’d be happy to take the part of a hard-assed but ladylike, businesswoman.

And just where was the pseudo-Southerner? Natasha’s foot kept time with the music, but the tapping of her fingers on her hip was pure impatience. She took one more look around the perimeter of the room and shrugged. She wasn’t getting anything accomplished standing there waiting. It was time for action.

“Excuse me,” she said as she moved through the tightly packed partiers, keeping watch for either man, although Ruf was her main objective. After all, her plans for Drew couldn’t start till she’d dealt with Ruf.

“Hey, pretty lady, you here for the show?” one guy asked.

“Darlin’, let me get you a drink,” his friend offered.

Nerves tight, Natasha politely declined both and kept moving. It wasn’t an easy feat through the dancing crowd. Where had Ruf found so many people? The wild beat of the music had her hips swaying as she scanned faces and she started easing into the inviting vibe. This was Vegas, and she was at a party. Too bad she didn’t know how to dance.

Then she saw Ruf. And Drew. Together.

Natasha stiffened. What was going on? Drew had claimed he was only there to hang out with her, but the two men looked awfully chummy.

Nerves forgotten as irritation took over, Natasha strode through the crowd.

“Gentlemen?”

“Hey, Tasha,” Drew said, not even a little shamefaced to be caught standing there with the ice melting in her drink. “You need to meet Ruf. He’s got some great lingerie ideas going on.”

Natasha almost growled.

“Sweet Thing, glad you could make the party,” Ruf said taking an unlit cigar from his mouth. “I’m glad you came.”

“You two know each other then?” Drew asked, a calculating look in his eyes as he glanced back and forth between them.

“
Sensual Supports
has been corresponding with Ruf for a while now, but he and I only met for the first time this afternoon.”

“Yep. I arrived right after that clever balloon bouquet,” Ruf said with a snicker.

“Yeah?” Drew laughed too. “I wasn’t sure how Tasha would react to that, but figured it was too good to pass up.”

“That bouquet was from you?” Ruf asked, his tone both friendly and impressed. He shot a speculative look between the two of them, obviously trying to ascertain their actual relationship.

“Sure was. I figure it never hurts to find a way to make things fun as well as sexy, you know?”

That was obviously the topic of the conversation Natasha had interrupted, since they launched right back into it. Her jaw clenched and the tension in her shoulders knotted tight as she listened to Drew court the man she’d come to lure into a contract.

“Right, Tash?” Drew queried. His smile, slightly conciliatory, yet filled with male arrogance, made it clear he was giving her an opening to join the conversation.

Like she needed his charity? Ha. She was nailing this account, and she’d do it just as soon as she got rid of the irritating hunk of supercilious male standing in her way.

Natasha offered them both a stiff smile and tilted her head at Drew.

“Ruf, do you mind if I borrow Drew for a few minutes? There’s something I need to show him.”

Not giving either of them a chance to protest, Natasha took the watered down drink out of Drew’s hand and set it on the bar, then meshed her fingers through his to tug him away.

She tossed a quick smile at Ruf, who watched them with speculative indulgence, and dragged Drew into the thick of the crowd. Maybe the hall was empty now. She could tell him off and shove him into the elevator all at once.

“Where we going?” Drew asked, his breath warm against her ear.

“Somewhere we can talk,” Natasha said between clenched teeth. Frustration surged when she saw the crowd still partying in the hallway. No privacy there.

She checked the door to the left of the entrance. An empty bedroom. Perfect. She tugged Drew into the dim room, let go of his hand to slam the door shut and flip the lock. She slapped both fists on her hips. A sexual spark lit his gaze, and he looked so tempting Natasha had to resort to lecturing her body into submission. Any chance of hot sex with Drew was shot now that he was the competition.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

His brows shot up, but he didn’t lose the sexy smirk. “Doing? I know what I’d like to be doing. And since you rushed me into a bedroom, I have to assume you want to do the same thing.”

Natasha rolled her eyes and gave him
the look
. The one usually reserved for irritating salesmen or annoying dates.

“No?”

“Believe me, any thoughts I might have temporarily entertained of sex between us have completely disappeared,” Natasha assured him, her voice an icy slap. “They were shattered to smithereens the moment I found you trying to steal my client.”

*

“C’mon, Tasha,” Drew said with an incredulous laugh that echoed in the empty shadows of the hotel bedroom. “Why would that guy or his account make a difference in how you handle your personal life?”

“Unlike you, apparently, my personal life isn’t something I can easily separate from the rest of my life, business or otherwise.”

“I don’t separate it,” Drew objected. “I just know how to prioritize. And my personal life, most especially my sex life, takes priority over everything else.”

From the look on her face, mild on disgust and heavy on disdain, that was the wrong answer. Which was a damned shame since it was the truth. Drew didn’t blow off responsibilities. Hell, his years of supporting his sister and digging his way out of the debt left by his father should prove that. But neither did he let responsibilities get in his way.

Apparently Natasha played life differently. Drew eyed her, the luxurious fall of blond hair sweeping her shoulders, her stormy gray eyes and the conservatively sexy way her simple black dress slicked over the generous sweetness of her curves. Curves he wanted to touch, to taste. He breathed in the rich scent, a combination of flowers in the moonlight and Natasha. His body hardened. Damned if some stupid business deal was going ruin his reunion plans.

Drew moved closer, inhaling her light floral scent and offered her his most charming smile. “Babe, believe me, coming to this party had nothing to do with scamming some account. You want to call dibs on Randall, go for it. I have other priorities.”

“Like what?” she asked, distrust obvious in both her words and on her face. But she didn’t step away. He saw the battle in her eyes between her body’s needs and ambition. Lucky for him, he also saw the hitch in her breathing, even though she tried to hide it.

“Like you.” In a slow, easy move, he slid his hands over her hips and pulled her to him. Mmm, yeah. Drew closed his eyes at the pleasure of feeling Tasha’s body against his. The way her breasts pressed into his chest and her hips cradled his aching flesh. He wanted their clothes gone, so he could feel the smooth warmth of her skin sliding over his. So he could trace her pleasure points from the top of her head to her baby toes, and all spots in between.

Unfortunately, the stiffness in her body was messing with his fantasy. As the realization seeped through Drew’s pleasure, he opened his eyes to meet the skepticism in her expressive gaze.

“What?” she asked wryly. “You expect me to believe that you have no interest in the
Perfect Passion
account you were so diligently pursuing back there? That you’d rather roll around with me than snag one of the biggest distributors in the United States?”

Drew pretended to consider her question. After a few silent seconds of eyeing his contemplative expression, her brows drew together in a frown. He hid a smile and gently brushed his lips over the line creasing her forehead.

“Babe, I have no reason to chase accounts.
Twisted Knickers
will hold its own. Besides, I told you—this is my partner’s project, not mine. She knows what accounts she’s after. I’m just here to hold down the fort.”

Some of the tension left Natasha’s body. Although her back never lost its military-straight posture—after all, this was Natasha—she relaxed against him. He took that as a sign she was getting over her silly snit and leaned closer.

“I’d rather roll around with you than waste time chasing success,” he whispered against her lips. Then he took her mouth in a swift, hungry move. It was like he was a starving man and she was a feast.

Drew felt her hesitation in the set of her body, still slightly angled away from him, and in the stiffness of her lips. Worried she might back away, he used his hands to weave a soft pattern over her hips and up the small of her back at the same time he eased his kiss to a gentle seduction.

Her lips softened in welcome. Instead of plunging, plundering and taking her mouth like his body demanded, he gently wooed her response. He nibbled the corner of her mouth before laving his tongue along her lower lip.

Mmm, the taste of her was enough to make a man punch drunk. And for a guy who prided himself on not imbibing in alcohol, drunk was not something he was used to feeling.

But the sensation, the wild reckless disregard for anything and everything except the taste of her, the feel of her, overwhelmed Drew. He gave himself over to it and let his body take the lead.

Was there anything more delicious than this woman? The rich nectar of her mouth beckoned him even as the heat of her body tempted. Like any red blooded male hearing the lure of the sirens call, he dove into temptation.

One simple slide of his hand and his fingers closed around the supple heaven of her velvet-clad breast. Natasha inhaled sharply. God, don't let her stop him now. He wanted more. He needed more. She was a cool refreshing stream of ice water and his throat was dry and parched.

Natasha gave a shudder that rippled through Drew too. Then, as if a switch had been flipped from warm to boiling hot, she grabbed a hold of his shoulders and pressed herself to him. Her mouth took him to the top of that slippery slope of desire, then she swiveled her hips against his growing erection and shoved him right off the edge.

Drew tore his lips from hers to twirl her around and trap her body between his and the wall. He buried his mouth in the sweet curve of her neck and breathed in her heady scent. His fingers found the tab holding her dress closed. The rasp of the zipper echoed in the quiet of the room. He reached the small of her back, exploring the silky flesh there before dipping lower.

Finding the thin elastic that told him Tasha was wearing one of those G-string things instead of the panties he'd expected made him groan. His erection straining against his own zipper, he traced the line down the curve of her backside. Oh yeah, he'd definitely found heaven.

* * *

Natasha's breath caught as Drew’s fingers worked magic on her body. His mouth nibbled gently along her collarbone even as one hand squeezed her tush in a sensual rhythm while the other smoothed along her waist. It moved up to her breast, to circle her nipple through the scratchy lace of her bra, then down her waist to her hip, each time coming closer and closer to the crux of her damp center. Her body strained for more through the thick velvet of her dress. The musky scent of arousal, both hers and his, surrounded them.