Hunk for the Holidays (16 page)

“We lost Slumber Suites!” a booming voice came through the speaker.

Both James and Cassandra pulled back at the same time. She sent him an apologetic look before she hurried across the room and picked up the phone.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “There’s got to be a mistake, Dad.” There was a string of muffled words before she spoke again. “So did Steve say who they plan to go with?”

It was hard for James to keep from butting into the conversation. He had been working on getting the contract for Slumber Suites for the last six months, even though he knew it was unlikely that Steve Mitchell would leave M & M Construction. Of course, just because Slumber Suites left M & M didn’t mean that Sutton Construction had gotten the job. But there was a distinct possibility.

A surge of adrenaline shot through him. For a moment, he felt like jumping up and punching the air. The moment right before Cassandra turned on the lamp and he noticed her face. All the flushed happiness had drained out of it and been replaced by disbelief and something that looked a lot like fear.

“I don’t want you upset, Dad. I’ll call Steve tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll make this right. I promise.”

She hung up, then stood there staring at the phone, stunned. Suddenly James realized that the stakes of the game he was playing had changed. If it was true, and Slumber Suites had left M & M to go with his company, it was just one more thing Cassandra would hold against him. But how could she fault him for just doing his job? Business was business; pleasure something else entirely. Besides, he didn’t even know for sure if he’d gotten the contract. Until he found out, why not take baby steps? Deal with one lie at a time.

“Cassandra,” he said, “we need to talk.”

His words snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked at him as if just realizing he was there. Then the strangest thing happened. The disappointment melted from her eyes and was replaced with something that made James feel as drunk as the two college boys.

“No,” she said as she walked over and took his hand. “I don’t want to talk. Not tonight.” She took off her hat and tossed it to the couch before leading him up the stairs. Once in her bedroom, she didn’t waste any time taking off her coat and sweater. Moonlight filtered in through the French doors, revealing a lace bra that took all the moisture from his mouth.

He squeezed his eyes closed. “You need to listen to me, Cassandra. I don’t work for Elite Escorts.”

“You’re right.” She walked over and unzipped his jacket, pushing it off his shoulders. Her hands slid down his chest to the fly of his jeans. She caressed him through the denim, and her breath fell hot against his ear. “Tonight you’re just a man, and I’m just a woman. Your woman.”

Chapter Thirteen

It was the second day in a row that Cassie woke up feeling rested. But this time she knew exactly where she was and who nestled against her back with his hand resting over her bare breast.

James.

Gorgeous, wonderful James.

She still didn’t know his last name. And at this point, she really didn’t care. All she cared about was staying right where she was. For a whole day. Or maybe a week. Or even a month.

She wondered what her family would say if she didn’t come in to work for a month. Her dad wouldn’t be happy, but her mother would be ecstatic—until she found out what her daughter’s new boyfriend did for a living. Cassie wasn’t exactly ecstatic about that part either.

Of course, James had denied being an escort. Who
wouldn’t? It was like a stripper saying the only reason she danced was to put herself through college. James didn’t want her to think he was cheap. Surprisingly, she didn’t. Nowadays, most people had multiple partners. Her sweet little Mattie had probably gone to bed with as many women as James had. He just hadn’t gotten paid for it. Still, she wasn’t willing to date a man who continued to have multiple sexual encounters for money.

Cassie quietly nibbled on her thumbnail.

Maybe she could convince him to get another job. After all, she just happened to own a construction company, and he seemed to know a lot about construction. Unfortunately, he didn’t act like the type who would take handouts from women. He’d refused to let her pay for one thing since they’d met.

She stopped biting her nail.

Come to think of it, his personality didn’t go with his career choice. He was nothing like the other escorts. He wasn’t vapid or cocky about his looks. Or immature, with more brawn than brains. While the others had fawned over her, catering to her every whim, James was mannerly but had no trouble taking charge. The night before was a perfect example. She had started out on top, calling all the shots, but somehow had ended up on the bottom with James in control.

Which made him more of a leader than a follower.

Maybe that was what he’d been trying to tell her. Maybe James wasn’t just an escort. Maybe he was
the
escort. The top dog and owner of Elite. It made sense. With the way he knew how to push a woman’s buttons, he had to be in charge of Elite Escorts’ School of Drool. That would
explain why he was so much more cultured and mature than the rest of the men had been. It would also explain all the office equipment in his house.

James owned the business. A business that prostituted men for money.

A light went on in her head.

Sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

What dream world had she been living in? Obviously, one where the little rich girl thought she could justify ordering men just like she ordered her chicken teriyaki all because it suited her needs. And what if he didn’t just handle prostitutes? What if he was into other illegal things? Like drugs or human trafficking? Cassie could very well end up in jail for the rest of her life all because she couldn’t keep her hands off the escort she’d hired. And not just any escort, but the big pimp daddy of them all.

Oh, God, her head hurt. She squeezed her eyes shut and moaned.

“Hey, baby,” James the Pimp whispered into her ear, sending a rush of warm heat through her body and tightening her nipple against his palm. He rubbed his extremely hard erection against her bottom. “Mmmm, you feel good.”

Cassie kept her eyes closed for a second more, wishing her brain hadn’t woken up from its phenomenal-sex stupor. But it had, and she needed to face reality. As her mother liked to say, “You made your bed; now you have to lie in it.”

Or get the heck out of it as quickly as possible.

“James?” Her voice cracked. “What do you do for a living?”

He sighed deeply. “Look, we need to talk.”

Those five words clinched it. What he was about to say wouldn’t be good.

She pulled away and sat up on the edge of the bed, her back to him. “No, forget it. I don’t want to know what you do for a living. Just pretend I never asked. But I think you need to leave. The sooner, the better.”

He reached out and ran the tips of his fingers along her spine, sending hot tingles skittering through her body. “Cassie, what’s wrong?”

“Do you own Elite Escorts?” she whispered.

James laughed, a deep, hearty chuckle that shook the bed. She glanced over her shoulder. He sat back on the flowery pillowcases her mother had bought her, looking all rumpled and sexy with his hair sticking up and those amber eyes sparkling.

“Only you would think of something like that.” He stroked her hair. “First I’m gay and now I’m a pimp?”

Bingo.

His dimples deepened. “Well, you’re wrong.”

Her eyes narrowed. Did pimps lie?

“I don’t now—nor have I ever—owned an escort service.” His gaze was direct and honest. When she continued to stare at him, he added, “You can call up Elite Escorts and ask them, if you want.”

“Then why do you have all that office equipment?”

“Because I run a business.”

“But not an escort service?” she said.

James looked away for only a second before looking back at her. “No.”

Everything inside of Cassie released, and she sagged
against his chest. “I guess my imagination got the better of me. So what kind of business do you run?”

He smoothed back a strand of her hair. “Construction.”

The information brought a huge smile to her face as everything slipped into place. No wonder he knew so much about architecture and building; it was what he wanted to do for a living. And no wonder she felt so drawn to the man. It all made perfect sense. He wasn’t going to be an escort for the rest of his life. He was going to be a businessman, a businessman she could date. A man who got along with her brothers and who would have no problem getting along with her parents.

In fact, her father would love him.

It suddenly seemed as if she had received the best Christmas present ever.

Cassie lifted her head and looked up at him. He had bad bed head and there was a sleep crease on one cheek. Still, to her he looked as perfect as he had the first time she’d seen him standing in front of the glittering lights of the office Christmas tree. Suddenly she realized she wanted to see him like that again.

Right here in her home.

“Do you know what I want to do?” she murmured.

He arched a brow. “Hopefully, the same thing that I want to.”

“Do you want to go get a Christmas tree?”

His other eyebrow joined the first one. “On the day before Christmas? I think most of the lots will be closed by now. Besides, I didn’t think you wanted one.”

She hadn’t. Christmas trees were for families. Not a single girl who spent most of her time at work. But suddenly
she didn’t feel like a single girl. She felt like a couple. And she wanted a tree to share with the man who had changed a lonely one into a happy two.

“A person can change their mind, can’t they?” she said before she leaned up and brushed a kiss over his lips.

A look passed over his hooded, whiskey-colored eyes that melted her like an acetylene torch to metal. “We’ll go get a tree,” he whispered, “but first we’re going to do what I was thinking about.”

“And that was?” She barely got the words out before he rolled her over and followed with his hard body.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about this headboard.” James took each one of her hands in his and drew them up over her head. Her knuckles rapped against the brass. “You are way too controlling in bed, Cassandra.” He opened her fingers, then closed them around a rung. “So I think I’m going to have to take drastic measures.”

Cassie’s eyes narrowed. “How drastic?”

“Pretty drastic.” He gave her a lecherous grin, followed by a long, leisurely kiss that made her body puddle into the sheets. When she was good and limp, he released her hands. “Don’t move.” He bent over the bed to retrieve something from the floor. He returned with a skinny knit scarf, which he proceeded to entwine around her wrists and the headboard.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She released the rungs and tried to sit up, but it was too late. The scarf tightened, and her wrists were caught against the cold brass. “This isn’t funny, James.”

“It’s not supposed to be funny.” His gaze dropped down
to her breasts as he finished tying the scarf. A tremor ran through her, and her nipples beaded into hard points under the warmth of his gaze.

“Let me go.” She tugged.

“Now, don’t be scared,” he whispered. With his fingers resting on her wrists, he bent to place a feathery kiss at the base of her throat. “Anytime you don’t like what I’m doing, all you have to do is say so and we’ll stop.”

“I don’t like what you’re doing.”

Cassie had an aversion to being tied up after Rory had tied her to a chair for one of his magic acts, then left her there for over an hour while he checked out the tent Jake had made in the backyard with Mom’s good sheets. Of course, Cassie was only seven at the time and completely convinced that her brothers wanted to permanently get rid of her every time their parents left.

James wasn’t trying to get rid of her. And if the way he settled against her side was any indication, he wasn’t going anywhere.

His lips traced a fiery path up to her ear. “Are you sure you don’t like it? I feel like you haven’t given it much of a chance.” He flicked his tongue over her earlobe, then softly nibbled while his fingers brushed up and down the sensitive skin on the inside of her arm. “You need to learn to relax, Cassandra. Let someone else be in control for a change.”

“For a change? You’ve been in charge ever since I met you.”

“And has anything bad happened?”

“No, but—”

“Shhhh,” he breathed against her ear, sending shivers
down her spine. “The only butt I’m willing to talk about is the one attached to your sweet body.” Hot fingertips slid down her arm and skated over her breast.

Cassie’s eyes closed.

Maybe she’d let him play his little game for a while. Just to see what happened. There was something rather thrilling about being completely at the mercy of a tall, dark, and very hot man. Something she’d missed in her other relationships. The men she had dated preferred taking orders rather than issuing them. So if any tying had taken place, Cassie would’ve been the one doing it. But she’d never tied them up. She didn’t have to. They usually let her do what she wanted without rope.