Forrest, Dawn - Sweet Water Wedding: Sharing Shannon (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (4 page)

“Sure am, homegrown, born and bred,” he drawled. “Are you attending the Oil and Gas Conference?”

“Sort of, I’m presenting a seminar tomorrow morning.”

The elevator doors opened and they walked along the corridor until they came to her room. He leaned down and placed her laptop bag on the ground by the door. When he stood up close to her she was directly eye level with his impressive chest. Being this near the mass and solid substance of him nearly caused her to sway again.

“Thanks for your help,” she muttered breathlessly.

“I know that you’ll be busy, Shannon, but you have to eat. Would you like to have dinner with me this evening?”

He smiled down at her and she found herself smiling back and agreeing to meet him at seven in the bar of the hotel.
What the hell?
He took her door key from her overfull hands, opened the door for her, and handed back the key.

“Thanks...again.”

“My pleasure,” he said in that sexy, languid voice. He headed back toward the elevator as she entered her room.

Phew wee,
thought Shannon, leaning against the closed door.
What was that about?
It was clear that they had both felt a sort of connection and attraction when they had first laid eyes on each other and that it had surprised them both. Actually, she’d felt the attraction even before that, when she’d first heard his voice. Shannon had never experienced such a thing before and her smile began to falter when she realized that the concept of “love at first sight,” or in this case “sound,” didn’t seem quite so ridiculous now. No, no, no, falling for a local lad wasn’t part of her plan. That would just be too complicated.
He’s probably some oil business executive, who thinks a carbon footprint is something left behind by a miner’s boot,
she chided herself. Well, she’d find out later over dinner, but first she simply had to have a soak in the tub and then get on with some reading and preparations for her talk tomorrow.

* * * *

Luke took the elevator to one of the luxury suites on the tenth floor. It was convenient for him to stay at the Thorn Bush hotel where the conference was being hosted and a large suite provided the space he required to conduct business. His friend and business partner James Ryden had been here earlier in the week attending some seminars with his brother Joshua, but they had returned home before the end of the conference. They were not overly interested with the environmental element because their wells were on their own land, which they carefully looked after. Joshua had his wedding arrangements to get on with and James was helping him by covering more at the ranch. Luke suspected that the main reason for not staying on was that Joshua wanted to get back to his fiancée, Rachael. Josh would never admit it though, and Luke wasn’t about to tease
that
man. Anyway, he really couldn’t blame him because Rachael was lovely.

He was thankful for the comfortable and
well-fitted suit that he was wearing because remembering Shannon O’Reilly on her knees at his feet had his cock standing to full attention. A myriad of wicked thoughts played in his mind; a dropped zipper, a handful of her hair, eyes locked on his as full lips parted around—he groaned. As he thought of Shannon he wished that James were here because there was a sense of rightness about her. He realized that was ludicrous, after all he’d hardly interacted with the woman, but he couldn’t deny the feeling.

He and James were friends and business partners. They’d also participated in ménages and shared many a woman in bed—if he were honest with himself, too many. Until recently they’d been playing around, having a good time, and not particularly looking for anything more serious from a woman. That had now changed and they had both acknowledged that they wanted to be part of a permanent polyandrous partnership. They were both from families with two fathers and one mother. It wasn’t an uncommon form of relationship where they grew up, in Meadow Ridge County. They wanted to settle down and find a woman with whom they could share life, love, and a family. She would have to be a special person, though, someone who they both wanted and who could and would take them both on.

He couldn’t stop thinking about Shannon, with her soft Irish accent and cute smile. She had looked a little tired after her journey and a little worn in her baggy, comfortable travel clothes. Her long, thick, curly red hair had been tied back in a simple ponytail. It contrasted sharply with her pale complexion. She had a petite, slight physique but carried herself in such a way that suggested confidence and strength, not frailty.

For some reason her appearance didn’t actually seem all that important, which was ironic because she was actually very beautiful. She had lovely eyes that were hazel near the pupil but bled to light olive green around the outer edge of the iris. When they had held each other’s gaze, he felt as if he had peered through those expressive windows to her soul, and thought that he recognized her.

He shook himself out of his reverie. He had two important business meetings, after which he could relax, take a nice long shower, and get ready to meet the little Irish beauty. First, however, he couldn’t resist Googling her. He discovered that her field of expertise appeared to be EIA—environmental impact assessment—and restoration. She had a résumé that would intimidate a lesser man but fortunately, he wasn’t one.

Chapter 4

It was seven o’clock in the evening and Luke was waiting at the bar slowly savoring a scotch on the rocks and observing his fellow clientele, the majority of whom were men. Even in this day and age the oil and gas industry tended to be male dominated. He was casually watching an exuberant group of guys in the corner of the room, when he noticed all their gazes focus toward the main entrance. He turned to see what had distracted them and nearly fell off his bar stool.

Gliding toward him was a vision of classic feminine beauty. Her long, silky red hair had been tamed and hung loose around her shoulders. The soft curls provided a seductive backdrop for her attractive, heart-shaped face and slender neck. She wore a formfitting, black satin sleeveless top that emphasized her slight curves and slender waist. Her full black and white patterned skirt flowed over the lower half of her body. The soft material provided only a suggestion of what it temptingly covered. Shapely calves and ankles were revealed and emphasized by a pair of risqué killer heels.
Wow
.

Blood rushed to his member, stretching tissue with throbbing intent. He almost growled at the premonition that this was going to be an uncomfortable evening in the trouser department, but when she saw him her face lit up with a beamer of a smile, and all discomfort was forgotten. He felt his chest constrict as if a metal band were being ratcheted tighter around him. She quite literally took his breath away, and he couldn’t help but think that any man would be in paradise if he saw that smile every day. He fought to hold back a self satisfied grin as he felt the envy of half the men in the room
¾
the other half were either gay or very happily married.

* * * *

When Shannon had walked into the room and first laid eyes on Luke, she had gone weak at the knees and it had taken all her concentration to walk smoothly toward the bar. He looked smart but casual in a well-tailored pair of dark tan chinos and a black fitted shirt unbuttoned at the neck. She could now see that his size was all firm muscle. If she hadn’t done a double check she might have missed that his muscles weren’t the only firm looking part of his anatomy. She felt a flood of moisture between her legs as she glanced at the thick outline of his cock.
Impressive. Oh, yes, a hard man is indeed good to find.
The butterflies in her tummy took flight the moment she heard his voice.

“Good evening, Shannon.” He stood up, stepped toward her, and took her hand in his own, giving more of a gentle caressing squeeze than a shake. “I take it you managed to wade through those badly behaved documents?”

She chuckled and said in a conspiratorial tone, “I disciplined the wee beasties with a stapler and they are quite secure now.” She raised her eyebrows mischievously.

Luke grinned. “Would you like a drink?”

“After reading all that dry literature this afternoon? You bet.”

She asked the barman if he had a good Irish whiskey, straight, no ice.

“A woman after my own heart,” he said as he raised his own scotch and they touched glasses. “I know a great Mexican restaurant not far from the hotel, but if that’s not to your taste we can eat here.”

“Mexican sounds good to me.”
Anything sounds good to me when you say it.

They finished their drinks and left the hotel for a short taxi ride to the restaurant. The manager seemed to recognize Luke, and even though the place was busy they were given a good table in a quieter part of the room.

“Do you come here often?”

“Enough I guess. I do quite a lot of business in Houston although I prefer country life to the city. What about you?”

“I have a wee cottage just outside Dublin, but I travel abroad a lot with my work and I haven’t spent as much time as I’d like to there.”

“I saw the amended conference program showing a change in the speaker, and I read that you’re an Environmental Consultant. What is it that you do?”

She gave him a very brief description of her work. “Well, all development impacts on the environment. It’s my job to guess and assess what the impacts will be and how to prevent negative effects. I’m particularly interested in mineral extraction, I like the dirt,” she joked self-depreciatingly. “I’ve tended to concentrate on environmental involvement in the pre-planning stages, but lately I’ve done a lot of post development work, you know rehabilitation and restoration stuff. Anyway, if you want to know more you should come to my seminar tomorrow.”

“I plan to. I’m very interested in what you have to say about restoration of well sites.” He leaned forward and took a sip of his cool Mexican beer.

“Really? What is it that you do?”

“My background is in engineering. I develop and build machinery used in both the exploration and extraction of oil and gas.”

A few years ago, she’d have thought of him as the enemy and, on principle, she wouldn’t have touched him with a barge pole. She chuckled to herself at how she’d mellowed from her perhaps overzealous youth.

“I’m very interested in your talk because my partner and I are thinking of branching out into decommissioning work.”

“Your partner? As in business partner only, or business and relationship?” She had to ask. Married or committed men were not on her menu.

He chuckled. “Business and friendship. I’m not married or anything if that’s what you’re asking.” He watched her and she felt herself blush.

“I don’t go on dates with attached guys, that’s all. Not that this is a date or anything,” she blurted, backpedaling quickly.

He leaned back but regarded her closely. “Oh? I rather hoped that it was.”

Shannon raised her eyebrows and saw that his expression had changed. It was altogether more heated and intense. It looked good on him.

She smiled nervously and changed the subject. “So, what do you like to do in your spare time?”

She always thought that the answer to this question revealed a lot more about a person than what line of work they were in. If he was into stamp collecting or computer gaming he was not going to get to first base.

“I like to ride.” He drawled the words and his gaze flitted to her breasts for a fraction of a second before fully locking eye contact with her. “I like to go on long rides with my business partner and longtime friend, James.”

Shannon knew that she had an overactive imagination, but she felt certain that Luke was being suggestive. Was he gay? No, she didn’t think so. Bisexual then?

Ignoring his sexy expression she breezed, “Really? I like riding, too. My grandfather was a horse breeder, and we always had horses around when I was growing up. I loved to trek along sections of the Irish coastline; it’s really wild and beautiful. My friends and I also used to race along the shore for a healthy dose of adrenaline.” She simply couldn’t stop herself from briefly running her eyes over his torso. “What do you prefer to ride?” She cocked her head and smiled innocently.