Out on the dance floor, I took a minute to give my dance partner a once-over. Short, brown hair, nice smile. Cute, in a boyish kind of way. And big! As in, my father would have loved to spend an afternoon lifting weights with him big. His name was Blake something-or-other, and he seemed nice. Of all the guys Christian had invited, Blake was the one I’d found I had the most in common with.
And I learned, as I let myself go to the music, he was an excellent dancer and could easily keep up with me. I laughed as he swung me around, the sound happy and maybe a little drunk. Giggling, I held on to his wide, hard shoulders and just let go.
The music ended, and I convinced Blake to dance one more with me. But before the music was even over, I realized how thirsty I was, and I ready for something cold and refreshing. We returned to the VIP floor, and I dropped down beside Bianca and Christian in one of the booths. I took my bestie’s frozen daiquiri from her hand and swallowed two gulps of it before offering it back to her.
“Having fun?” she asked, resting her back against Christian’s strong front.
“A blast,” I assured her with a smirk. “And don’t you dare say ‘I told you so,’ Bee, or I will never speak to you again.”
She held up her slender hands in mock surrender. “Now, would I ever do that?”
I shared a grin with Christian over her head, and we both said “Yes!” in unison.
Blake, having been busy acquiring me another drink, sat down across from me. “Ah! I love you!” I exclaimed before taking a long swallow of the lemon-lime soda he put before me.
“Damn it!”
I frowned at Bianca and the sudden fierceness of her tone. “What?” I asked, wiping my lips with a cocktail napkin.
Bianca wasn’t looking at me, however. Her glacier-blue eyes were glaring over my head, and I turned to see what, or rather who, had put such a cold look on my friend’s normally happy-go-lucky face.
Of course, I regretted it as soon as I turned my head and found Keith Winthrop standing a few feet away, speaking to his brother. My heart beating so hard it was making me shake, I made a quick survey of the room, but I couldn’t spot any other newcomers and realized my stepbrother appeared to be dateless.
Something painful clenched in my chest. I’d promised myself earlier that I was going to forget about that sexy as sin man, and he picked now to appear back in my life voluntarily? I wanted to shout and scream and slap his sardonically raised eyebrowed face!
As I watched the two devastatingly sexy brothers talk, I couldn’t help but notice there was a difference in Keith. Even in the dim lighting and from my distance, I could see he wasn’t nearly as tense as normal. The set of his shoulders wasn’t as rigid, and the lines around his eyes and mouth that were usually wrinkled with stress had eased. It made him look younger, more carefree. And so, so much more appealing to my senses.
Of course, I couldn’t help but wonder what had brought about this new change in him. A new woman, perhaps? After the scandal he had stirred up back around Valentine’s Day, surprisingly, my stepbrother had been out of the gossip tabloids. I hadn’t heard about any new girlfriends in just as long, but I was pretty sure he had someone special in his life, and he was just keeping it quiet.
My heart contracted painfully yet again at the thought.
“Let’s dance!” Bianca shouted, pulling my attention back to her, and I forced a smile to my lips. She stood and pulled me to my feet before turning to Blake. “Let’s go, lover boy. Don’t want someone to steal the girl, do ya?”
Blake laughed and shook his head as he stood, and I was practically lifted off my feet with just one arm. “Let’s dance!” he shouted just as Bianca had, and the three of us headed for the stairs.
I couldn’t help but giggle. “I can walk.” I beat on Blake’s arm, but he didn’t seem to notice and only hiked me higher. Squealing, I wiggled, trying to get free. He shifted and then tossed me over his shoulder just as we passed my stepbrothers.
As short as my dress was, the way I was positioned over Blake’s shoulders exposed my ass and let everyone see that I was indeed wearing underwear. I lifted my head and met Keith’s gaze. Those green eyes were as hard as emeralds as he glared after me and my friends. I told myself that I didn’t care if he was angry or not—why the hell did he have a right to be pissed anyway?—and that I would still have a great time with him there.
I smiled sweetly at him, putting on the performance of my life. “Hey, Keith. Thanks for coming!” I called as Blake started to descend the stairs without any trouble.
Bianca, who was walking behind us, had a surprised expression on her face that quickly turned to amusement and pride. She was glad I didn’t rush to Keith’s side and forget all about my many promises to her and myself regarding him.
Blake didn’t set me on my feet again until we were in the middle of the dance floor. I quickly fixed my dress, but despite my self-assurance that I would not worry about Keith, I peeked up at the second-floor balcony. My heart literally missed a beat when I found him standing there, watching me with Hunter at his side.
“Kari!” Bianca tugged on my hand to distract me. “Kari, don’t!” She had to raise her voice to be heard over the music. “Dance with Blake.”
I sighed, needing another drink. “Bee…”
“Dance, girl!” She pushed me right into Blake’s arms, and he had such a cute, expectant look on his boyishly handsome face that I found myself relaxing and soon let the music take over for me as I danced with him.
Half an hour later, my hair was a tangled mess, and I was sweaty and thirsty. Bianca had already left me for something to drink and Christian, but Blake was still going strong. I told him I needed a drink and I would be right back. With a nod and a grin, he kept on going.
A grin of my own touched my lips as I crossed to the bar and requested a glass of ice water and a shot of Patrón. I sipped the water until it was half empty then tossed back the tequila with a whoop. It burned oh so nicely, and I felt ready to conquer the world once more.
The bartender gave me a sexy smile, and I grinned as he set another shot in front of me. “For the beautiful birthday girl.”
“Make that two!”
My heart stopped at the sound of Keith’s deep, gravelly voice right behind me, and I stood there for a long moment trying to get myself under some semblance of control. But he squeezed in beside me at the crowded bar. Our shoulders brushed, making my heart start up once more at the speed of a runaway train.
Keith’s shot was put in front of him, and I forced myself to turn and face him. “To the lovely birthday girl,” he said with a heated look in his gaze as we both downed our shots.
I practically slammed the shot glass down on the bar top. When the bartender lifted a brow to ask if I want another, I shook my head. Too much alcohol around this man and I would be in big, big trouble. I picked up my water and attempted to rehydrate.
“Nice dress,” Keith commented, moving closer so that he didn’t have to shout to be heard over the music. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of seeing it before.”
I shrugged. “It was a gift.”
“Someone has good taste. Where the panties a gift too?”
I blinked, thinking I’d just heard pure, venomous jealousy in his deep voice. But then I realized it was just him being a dick and turned a glare on him. “Yes! And so was the bra.”
His gaze zeroed in on my chest, noticing the lack of said bra, and darkened. “Of course it was,” he gritted through his teeth.
My blond brow rose toward the ceiling at how he was acting. “Why are you even here?” I demanded. “After what happened at Christmas, I thought I would never have to see you again.” I had feared never seeing him again even as I’d wished him to the darkest parts of hell.
“Let’s get out of here, and I’ll tell you all of my reasons for being here,” he promised, his voice seductive now, his eyes dark with something other than anger.
“Tell you what. You get out of here, I go back to my party, and then we will
both be happy.” I smiled sweetly up at him for a second before letting it revert back to my glare, and I turned to walk away.
A big, long-fingered hand caught my elbow, and I was turned back around to face him. “If you won’t leave with me, then at least dance with me.”
No, no, no. NO!
Dance with him? With alcohol coursing through my blood? I would’ve had to have been insane to even think about it. I wouldn’t be able to hide anything from him then. Not my feelings and definitely not my needs. “I already have a dance partner.” I tugged on my arm, trying to get free of him.
Keith smiled and nodded his head in the direction of the dance floor. “Looks like lover boy has flown the coop.”
I glanced over at the dance floor and found that Blake was no longer there. A quick glance up at the balcony showed me he had taken a break and was laughing with Hunter. I nearly stamped my foot in frustration as I looked back at Keith’s smug as hell face. “I don’t want to dance with you.”
“Too bad.” He pulled me farther out onto the dance floor until we were swallowed up by the other dancers, and the music changed from a pounding techno to a slow, seductive song.
Around us, couples were moving into each other’s arms, and there was a new sexual tension in the air. Oh, hell! Sexual tension in the air, alcohol in my blood, and Keith holding me close. That was a recipe for an explosive disaster.
But there was a part of me, an incredibly stupid part, that was already welcoming all of this. I want to be in his arms so desperately.
Keith pulled me closer, and as our gazes locked, I melted into the rhythm of the music. Our fingers linked, and we moved as one. The beat increased, and my heart pounded in time with it, my breathing growing shallow. I could smell that rich, heady scent I had come to associate with him alone. It was dark and spicy and…Keith!
My nipples hardened as they rubbed against his chest. My breasts swelled and ached, while lower, liquid desire pooled between my legs and soaked through my red panties.
One of his hands abandoned mine and wrapped around my waist. As the music grew more intense, that big hand skimmed over the silky material of my tiny dress and down over my hips. I couldn’t stifle the small cry of pleasure and need that escaped my mouth. With our eyes still locked, there was no way he couldn’t see just how much I wanted him blazing in my own.
His hand squeezed on my hip, and my lower body pressed firmly against his abdomen of its own volition. Something hard pulsed against my stomach, and I knew just how much he wanted me. “Kari…”
The way he said my name left me weak with wanting, and I was going under in a fog thick with my desire for him. My mouth grew dry, and I couldn’t even blink as we continued to dance, for fear of breaking eye contact, of breaking the spell he had me under.
“Let’s get out of here,” he rasped out in a voice heavy with a need that matched my own.
I was ready to follow him to the ends of the earth if it meant I got to finally touch him the way I had ached to touch him for years.
Just as I began to give in and took a step with him toward the nearest exit, Bianca called my name.
“Kari! It’s time for the cake!”
I slowly lifted my head and found my bestie waving frantically from the balcony of the VIP floor. “Kari!”
Seeing her was like having a bucket of ice water dumped over me. I pulled back from Keith, trying to shake off the spell he had woven over me. “I have to go.”
“No.” His left hand was still linked with my right. “Forget about them. Come with me.”
For a moment, I nearly gave in, but the episode at Christmas flashed across my mind, and I shook my head. “I can’t. Go find Eliza. I’m not interested.”
“Would you just listen to me?” He followed after me as I headed for the stairs. “Kari, please.”
The please nearly undid me. I stopped and glared up at him in the middle of the dance floor. “You have some nerve, you know that? You couldn’t get rid of me fast enough back in December. I disgust you, remember?” My voice shook as that last sentence left my mouth, my heart hurting all over again as if it had just happened rather than months before.
“I didn’t mean it. I was just protecting you. And me…” He raked a hand through his dark hair, his frustration almost endearing. “You are so tempting, Kari, and I was so weak then. If I hadn’t done something to get you away at the time… Fuck! Do we have to have this conversation here?” He glanced at the surrounding dancers who seemed more concerned with our conversation than the music.
“No. In fact, we don’t need to have this conversation at all. I’m through.” I brushed past him and practically ran up the stairs to the second floor, mentally cursing myself for letting things get as far as they had to begin with. It only showed me how weak I still was where Keith was concerned. How weak I feared I would always be when it came to him.
Bianca was waiting for me at the top, as if she knew just how much I needed her to be there for me, and pulled me into the group already standing around a table with a huge cake and twenty-one blazing candles. A chorus of “Happy Birthday” nearly deafened, me and I forced a smile to my face.
Hunter draped an arm around my shoulders as my friends sang, and I leaned into him for a brief moment, needing my stepbrother’s strength. As the song ended and I bent to blow out my candles, Keith appeared across the table. “Make a wish,” he commanded in a quiet voice.
I closed my eyes and thought about what I really wanted more than anything else in the world and blew.
four
Warm spring sunshine peeked through my curtains and across my eyes. I moaned and pulled my extra pillow over my head. After the party the night before, which had lasted until well after midnight, all I wanted to do was sleep. But I had obligations, and I needed to get into the shower so I could deal with the thousand and one things that need to be dealt with.
I sat up, glaring at the clock on the nightstand that told me it was only seven thirty, and headed for the shower.
Fifteen minutes later, with a damp towel wrapped around my body and toothbrush still in my mouth, I walked into the kitchen and started the coffeepot. Christian was just coming out of Bianca’s room as I passed it. “Morning,” he grumbled without giving me a second look.
“Morning,” I grumbled back, still not happy to be up so early myself.
I was just rinsing my mouth out when I heard the security intercom buzzing. I heard Christian’s low voice saying something, and then it was quiet once more. After drying my hair, I pulled on black dress pants and a white sleeveless turtleneck before stepping into my favorite checkerboard heels. Forgoing a jacket, I grabbed my briefcase and phone and headed out without even bothering with makeup.
As I was filling my to-go mug with strong black coffee, the doorbell buzzed. Christian, who apparently rejoined Bianca in bed, must have forgotten someone was on their way up. Sighing, I gathered my things and opened the door.
A floral deliveryman was standing in the hall. “Kari Brandon?”
“Yes…” I was hesitant to answer. Who delivered flowers so damn early? And why would they be sending them to me?
“Sign here please.” The man, who looked bored and a little grumpy, had a receding hairline and a beer gut. He was popping gum and really beginning to get on my nerves even before I’d finished signing my name.
“I don’t understand,” I grumbled, not trying to hide my annoyance. “Who sent me flowers, and where exactly are they anyway?” I peeked out into the hall and found the corridor deserted except for the delivery man.
“On their way up in the service elevator, miss.” He tore off the top sheet of paper I’d signed and handed it over. “Couldn’t get them all up in the other.”
I blinked. “What?”
But just then, the service elevator at the end of the hall opened, and two other men started extracting dozens upon dozens of roses from inside. Yellow roses, pink roses, red and white roses. I gasped at how beautiful they were and stepped back to
give the men room as they began placing the beautiful flower-filled crystal vases around the apartment. They worked quickly, and within ten minutes, nearly every flat surface in the apartment was covered in sweet-smelling flower arrangements.
But I still had no clue who had sent them.
Heart pounding, I reached for the card sticking out of the closest arrangement. With trembling fingers, I pulled it out of its envelope and blinked once more.
Dinner?
That’s all it said. Nothing more. And it wasn’t even signed. Biting my lip, I read the next card. We need to talk.
I was beginning to suspect exactly who had sent all the flowers, and I didn’t know whether to be shocked, thrilled, or angry.
There were three more cards, and I gathered them up, tipped the delivery men generously, and headed into the office. I couldn’t even think about what the other three cards might have said because I was already running late for my first appointment.
Thirty minutes later, I arrived at Winthrop Charities. I greeted the receptionist with a distracted smile and continued on to the second floor. I took over for my mother, who had been the founder and president of the charitable organization. Hunter had practically forced the job on me, knowing my mother would have wanted me to take over where she had so abruptly left off.
When I stepped out of the elevator onto the second floor, I was greeted immediately by my assistant, whom I also had inherited from my mother. Rachel was a thirtysomething divorcée who was perfect at her job. She kept my work life in such wonderful order that, at times, I wished she could do the same for my personal life.
I handed over my briefcase, and she gave me a handful of messages that needed my immediate attention. “Your nine o’clock is already here. I put him in the conference room.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked, distracted when I saw that one of the messages was from Keith and another from Blake.
“Because it looks like a florist threw up tulips in there,” Rachel calmly explained as I opened my office door and discovered that I barely had enough room to get to my desk.