Beauty Shot (Hope Parish Novels Book 5) (7 page)

“You a
heartbreaker, Deke?” I whispered, my voice drying up.

His thick blonde
lashes dropped over his ocean blue eyes, and he shrugged. “I
don’t mean to be. You work in a world of beautiful people, shug
and…looks…they’s just skin deep. Only plain ol’
me underneath all this skin and muscle.”

“I believe you
don’t mean to be a heartbreaker. It’s getting late.”
It was a dismissive tone, but he only smiled wider, as if he knew he
was getting to me. My body was on hormone autopilot, and I had to
resist the urge to look down to see if my panties had melted off.

“You’ve
already said that.” His smile faded and his eyes went
oh-so-serious. My insides went jingle-jangle. He was incredibly
fine-looking, and his laser-bright intensity was focused inescapably
on me.

“Come over
here, girl. And bring your mouth with you. I think we’ve played
this game long enough.” He tugged and I stepped a bit closer.

“How did you
learn to be so charming in eighteen years?” He ran his hand up
my arm and back down. Just the lightest of touches. I shivered,
wondering where my will of steel had gone. Probably melted right
along with my panties, and every other part of me.

“Just like the
beauty you haven’t even realized you possess, and I ain’t
just talkin’ ’bout your looks, shug. It’s born ’n
bred, is what my momma says. I was charming kisses outta my momma for
a long time before I was charming them outta the ladies. There’s
all kinds of kisses.”

“And what
category would you put my kisses in? You haven’t kissed me
yet.” I couldn’t help it. I stepped even closer, and he
opened his legs so I brushed against the insides of his knees, the
denim rough against my bare skin. Why had I worn such a short skirt?

“In the slow,
take-your-time, no-hurry category, right up there with morning sex,
’cause I get a powerful hard-on in the morning. In fact, it’s
so powerful, if I don’t have myself a lady in bed with me, I
jack off.”

I took a breath. My
panties had to have disintegrated by now.

“So come over
here, Miz Tattersall, because I’m hopin’ I don’t
have to jack off in the morning.”

I took in a heated
breath and fell against him when he tugged, my legs folding up on
either side of his hips.

“Don’t
make me beg,” he said. “I will. I’ll beg.”

#

Deke

Tangled up with
Minnie, finally, on her couch, her straddling me. She was motionless,
her hands still clutching my shirt, her breath in my ear. Having her
snug against my dick was both bad and good. First, not having been
with a woman made it even more of a turn-on to have her fitted
against me; second, I was afraid that the stimulation of her
delectable butt on my dick would make me shoot my wad.

Not sure why I
talked about having a lady in bed with me, since I haven’t done
it, but the part about being powerful was true.

Her mouth was only
inches away, but I wasn’t going to make a move toward her.
Maybe I’d learned a thing or two in my young life, but a
willing woman who’d made the decision to consent to having my
mouth on hers was much better than me forcing the issue. I was
cajoling her, but I was pretty sure she wanted me. Otherwise, I would
have left her alone. She hadn’t really said yes or no at the
runway show.

I was a little at a
loss.

Every time she
exhaled, my temperature jumped ten degrees, and I was damn close to
critical meltdown, because this was Minnie on top of me, molded to my
body—wild Minnie with the wary green eyes who’d held me
at bay all day, Minnie, who was definitely out of my league and in
one of her own, Minnie who looked much too uptown girl for my small
town boy.

Minnie, who
fascinated me with her hot, needy gaze and sidelong glances, with the
way she moved.

Minnie whose
fingertips were drifting over my face, looking at me like she
actually saw me, had been thinking about me.

I dropped my head
forward, let my nose slide through the silky strands of her hair and
brush against her skin. Her breath caught softly in her throat, which
was a good sign, and she didn’t pull away, which only increased
my confidence.

She reached back and
pulled out the elastic holding my hair, making a soft sound in her
throat as it released and tumbled to my shoulders. I was sinking into
Minnie, into the scent and softness of her, opening my mouth on her
neck, sliding my hand up into her hair, holding her—filling
myself up with her. I grazed her jawline with my teeth, and she
shivered, all over. I slid my nose down the side of hers, and her
hands tightened in my hair, which was such a perfect turn-on, having
her hold onto me.

“
Minnie
,”
I whispered, pleading in my tone. She cupped my face so tenderly, her
thumb moving along my jawbone. I was powerless, weak in her grasp.

“Damn you,
Deke,” she whispered softly, her fiery gaze slamming into mine,
so close my head dropped onto the back of the couch as I went weak.
She followed unerringly.

Her mouth covered
mine, her lips incredibly soft, her breath catching in her throat
again, her body melting against mine, the heat and pressure of her
unbearable against my aching dick.

Oh, hot damn, she
did
want me.

I could feel it in
her heartbeat, in the silent thrum of energy suddenly holding her so
still on top of me. Her secret was compromised, and there was no
mistaking what I wanted.

If she’d
out-and-out told me no, it would have been one thing, but her
breathing was shallow, as if she was feeling the same thrill that was
coursing through me, and she was still holding on to me like her life
depended on it, so I went ahead and kissed her back. I breathed her
in and teased her, rubbing my lips over the corner of her mouth so
very, very gently, and I whispered her name again.

“
Minnie
.”
Beautiful Wild Thing…
open
for me
.

And finally, she
did, her lips parting on a ragged sigh I felt all the way down to my
groin, a sigh of surrender. I didn’t hesitate. I slid my tongue
inside, into soft, wet heat, into the sensual seduction of her
mouth—into serious trouble.

I’d wanted to
kiss her. God, how I’d wanted to kiss her, had known it would
be good, but I hadn’t known it would instantly make wanting the
rest of her so much more intense.

I should have
expected it. I’d been kind of crazed of late, and all because
of her. I’d let my imagination get way out of hand, but maybe
so had she. When I buried my fingers deeper into her hair, she
pressed her body down harder onto my erection. When I slanted my
mouth across hers, she moved with me, making the kiss hotter, deeper,
giving herself up and all but turning me inside out.

Geezus. She was
incredible.

I should have done
this weeks ago. I’d needed this weeks ago, to be with her
physically, to make a connection. The dreams I’d had about her
had been intense and hot, making me crazy when I woke up. Crazy and
hard. The kind of dreams that brought on a full-body sweat.

There had been lost
sleep, loss of any appetite, and, if I wasn’t careful, I was
going to lose it right here in her living room with the two Outlaw
brothers and their women just upstairs.

We weren’t
alone, and no matter how good the kiss was, it wasn’t going to
go nearly far enough to satisfy me—not with her on top of me,
devouring me.

After waiting so
long to get this close to her, I needed something. Something more
than a kiss. I gathered her more tightly to me, loving the feel of
her arms, the melting heat of her body against me, the shape of her
where she rested. She made another soft, surrendering sound in her
throat, her arms sliding up around my neck, her fingers tunneling up
into my hair, and every functioning brain cell of my 145 IQ dissolved
into pure instinct and sensation.

I thrust against
her, my hand slipping under her dress, sliding up over silky skin.
Everything felt so good, and there was absolutely nowhere to go with
it, not when we were on her couch in the open. I heard the door open
upstairs and footfalls, then a knock. “Minnie?”

I shouldn’t be
kissing her the way I was. I knew it. She knew it. And thanks to the
two of us knowing so damn much, the kiss slowed to a stop, until the
only thing moving between us was our breath—our lips touching,
our hearts racing.

And then it was all
over.

“Minnie?”
Verity called again.

Quickly I set her
off my lap when the footfalls headed toward the stairs. She was
smoothing down her dress while I reached for the discarded elastic
and pulled my disheveled hair back. Untucking my shirt from my jeans,
I stood just as Verity came down the stairs. She had a sheepish grin
on her face.

“Deke. I just
remembered you were here and you need to get home. I wasn’t
sure if Minnie had gone up, but I see she hasn’t.”

“I’ll
take care of him,” Minnie said, her voice soft.

I could see that
Verity wanted to get back to Boone. “Good night, Verity. I’ll
see you tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, have a
good night. And, Deke, thanks for filling in and for supporting us.”

I nodded and smiled
beyond words. She turned and hustled back up the stairs.

I wasn’t ready
to go, not yet, not like this. But Minnie was staring at me, not
moving. One look at her and I was about done in all over again.

She looked like she
wanted me to be the strong one, like she was going to need days
before she would be willing to let me go. Her mouth was soft, her
cheeks flushed, and I could tell from her eyes that she was still
just a little bit lost in that wonderful place we just visited.

I didn’t blame
her. I would have stayed there, too, for days, right along with her,
except I had to let her go because there were people here. People she
didn’t want to know she had a crush on me and had given in to
it.

Sonuvabitch. This
was damned annoying and frustrating.

I had to go, and I
had to go now.

She hesitated, then
cupped my cheek and kissed me, her lips brushing across mine, not
once, but twice. In the next instant, she whispered, “Go, I’ll
have Daniel take you home.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is
another day, love. Now, go.”

I went because I
didn’t want to embarrass her by being here in the morning, even
though I would have followed her anywhere.

Back on the street,
I headed for the limo parked at the curb. I glanced toward the
intersection as a noisy bunch of people crossed against the light
before settling into the soft leather seat.

Yeah, the City that
Never Sleeps.

I twisted and ducked
my head to look up at the penthouse, wondering how much sleep I would
get tonight.

Or how many times I
would relive those last moments in her arms.

Travis

I swore, threw back
the covers, and reached for Deke’s phone. Damn thing had been
going off all day. I didn’t know what was going on, but I’d
had enough. I turned the damn thing off and set it down. I had just
settled back into bed when I heard him at the door, and he came in as
quietly as he could.

I suddenly wished I
had been able to get a single. After what happened yesterday, I
couldn’t seem to get the image of him and Emmie together out of
my mind. I didn’t know what Deke was playing at, but I didn’t
want him to hurt Emmie. Hell, I barely knew her, but I hadn’t
been able to get her off my mind from the moment I saw her amazing
gray eyes.

I’d never seen
such a color before. Those big black-framed glasses did nothing but
make her look like a cute little Goth princess.

And I’d blown
it again by not acting fast enough. But I was up against Deke, for
krist sake. It hurt more than I was willing to let myself feel. Why
couldn’t I just make a damn move? Why was I so…damned…stupid!?

“I’m
awake,” I grumbled.

“Shoot, son,
I’m sorry,” Deke said, and I wanted to punch him in the
face.

“I’m
sorry to wake you,” he added.

“It wasn’t
you. It was your damn phone. It’s been buzzing all day.”

“Ah, shoot,
has it? Sorry.”

I saw him cross the
room in the dim light from the outside streetlamps. He picked up his
phone and turned it on.

“Shit, a
hundred messages? Damn.”

“What the hell
happened?”

“I sorta got
roped into participating in the fashion show, and my picture was
taken. A lot.” He sounded weary.

I rolled my eyes in
the dark. “All the hot females calling you?”

“No,” I
saw him stiffen. “Maybe, but I’m only interested in one
woman.”

I gritted my teeth.
I knew who that was, and it was a good thing I didn’t give her
the time of day today. I wasn’t as good with girls as Deke was.
I was shy and felt mostly stupid around them. Just a big, clumsy oaf.

But with Emmie it
was ten times worse.

Deke sat on the edge
of his bed and sighed. “In fact, I just kissed her senseless
and I would be with her right now if—”

“I don’t
want to hear about your conquests, Deke,” I snapped and I had
never heard myself sound full of goddamn mad.
He’d
kissed her?
Sonavabitch!
My heart felt crushed like I was having a combined head/heart attack,
a physically debilitating, agonizing, mental breakdown.

“Travis?”
he said, turning toward me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”
I was just damned fine. Too much thinking, too much pressure, and too
much wanting. “Yeah,” I said again. “I’m
fine.”

My head was a
fucking mess, but I was fine.

“Is something
wrong? You pissed at me because of the phone?”

“Yeah, so shut
your trap so I can get some sleep. I have a class in the morning.”