Surprise Seduction (12 page)

Full recognition hit him.

His feet stopped moving.

His lower jaw crashed to the floor.

The men were right.

Adrienne was a hot babe
.

Adrienne couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun.

No wait.

She did know.

Not since long before her father died.

She felt warm and fuzzy and, uhm, what was that other word?
 
Oh, who cared?

She smiled at the man she danced with.
 
The good-looking man who looked a lot like Chase.
 
She was having fun.

She felt Mel’s lips brush across her neck.
 
It didn’t melt her to her toes, but it beat the heck out of the sisterly kisses Roger had subjected her to on the few occasions they’d kissed.

“Mmmm,” Mel whispered in her ear.

Adrienne giggled.
 
He pulled her closer and gently swayed her upper body from one side to the other.

When she straightened, he fit her completely against him.

Her eyes widened at the hard ridge in his pants pressing against her.

That wasn’t supposed to have happened.

“Mel,” she whispered when his head descended toward her.
 
She planned to tell him to stop, that she was emotionally involved with someone, but when her mouth opened, his claimed it.

An image of Chase flashed through her mind.
  
How could she be letting another man kiss her?
 
She wanted Chase’s kisses.
 
She’d bet anything his kisses melted, rather than just leave her feeling nothing.

Alcohol slowed her reactions, and without her having realized it, he’d maneuvered her to a corner.

She needed to talk to him.
 
Explain.
 
She blinked, trying to clear her vision.
 
She didn’t want anyone to overhear her saying she was attracted to a man.
 
Not until Chase arrived and she could tell him the truth, gage his reaction, and decide her future from there.
 
She took Mel’s hand, and led him toward the elevator.
 
She’d take him to her office where they could talk in private.

“Are you leaving?” Sheila touched Adrienne’s arm.
 
Adrienne didn’t register the concern in her friend’s voice.

“No,” Adrienne winked conspiratorially.
 
“I’m going to my office to get my purse.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Sheila asked, giving Adrienne’s arm a quick shake.

She leaned into Mel to keep from falling.
 
When had the room begun to move?
 
She needed to get to where she could sit down before she fell and made a fool of herself.
 
“Come on.
 
Let me show you my office.”

She wobbled in her heels.
 
Mel steadied her.
 
She put a hand to her mouth to cover her giggle, then, gave a dazed smile as he pushed the button for the elevator.

Chase needed the name of the store where her friends had bought that dress.

He’d buy the place and make a fortune.

His quiet mousy Adrienne was a sexy siren?
 
And what was she doing with Mel?
 
That kiss hadn’t looked brotherly.

She preferred women.

What the hell was going on?

Had he been played a fool?

He didn’t like the strong emotions surging through him.
 
The high-pitched laughter escaping from Adrienne’s pouty lips didn’t ring true.

He watched as she took Mel’s hand in hers and led him toward the elevator.
 
Where were they going?
 
What did they plan to do?

Adrienne stumbled, not just once, but twice on her trip across the room.

His mouse had imbibed in the plentiful liquor permeating the festive room.

That didn’t explain the abundance of sexy feminine flesh on display or the sassy new hairstyle, but it did explain why she danced with Mel.
 
Obviously, Mel had moved in and took advantage of Adrienne’s naïve and intoxicated state.
 
Didn’t Mel know she liked women?
 
He needed to set the man straight, and not for the first time in their acquaintance.

“Chase,” Sheila interrupted before he could follow the couple to the elevator.
 
“I’m worried about Adrienne.
 
I think she’s drunk.”

“I noticed.”

“Please go talk to her.
 
She’ll listen to you.”
 
Sheila glared daggers at the redhead clinging to his arm before continuing her plea.
 
“I don’t think she knows what she’s doing.
 
You have to stop her.”

“Where are they going?”

“Up to her office.”

Chase turned to his date.

“Duty calls.”
 
He took his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a couple of twenties.
 
“If you don’t find a ride home, call a cab.
 
I may not be back for a while.”

She fumed and stalked off, money in hand.
 
Sheila smiled.

Chase left to rescue his assistant from making a big mistake.

Adrienne’s head swam.
 
But she refused to acknowledge the dizzy, sick feeling that hit her when the elevator moved upward with a bump.

She didn’t want to be sick.

She planned to tell Chase she was a woman who liked men, that she liked him.

That explained why she felt so funny.

The floor moved when she stepped off the elevator, and she pitched into Mel’s arms.

“Are you okay?” he asked, helping her to straighten.

No, she wasn’t.
 
Her stomach roiled.
 
Her head ached.
 
She needed an aspirin.

There was a bottle in Chase’s private bathroom cabinet.
 
She’d had to get him two of the tablets to take just a couple of days ago.

“I just need an aspirin, and I’ll be fine.”
 
She unlocked her desk drawer with the small key she’d hidden under a plant earlier in the evening.
 
She took her purse out of the drawer.

Inside her purse, she located the desired key to unlock Chase’s office with the key he’d given her just a few weeks ago.

“Can I help?”

“Don’t let me fall.”

Mel held onto her upper arm, providing more support than she’d like to admit.
 
She didn’t feel at all like herself.
 
The exact word eluded her, but something akin to ‘heavy’ came to mind.
 
Her every movement dragged as if she moved in slow motion.

Her head throbbed.
 
And everything looked so blurry.
 
Dampness flushed her skin.

She really felt sick.

She handed Mel the key.
 
“Please hurry.
 
I think I’m going to be sick.”

“What the hell is going on?” Chase’s angry voice boomed into his office.

Adrienne’s eyes sprung open.
 
Her mind cleared, amazingly so considering the amount of alcohol she’d consumed and her previous high.

“Get your own woman, Aaron.”
 
Although the unexpected voice had made Adrienne jump, Mel didn’t seem surprised at Chase’s looming presence in the doorway.

“She is mine.”

Her eyes widened at Chase’s possessive claim.

“I don’t see a wedding band.”
 
Mel’s arm was still loosely wrapped around her from where he’d helped keep her from falling on her face.
 
He pulled her against him.

Chase cursed loudly, vulgarly.
 
Adrienne’s gaze lifted to his.
 
She blinked.

“Leave her alone.
 
She isn’t your kind of woman.”
 
He stepped further into the room.

She recognized the tension in Chase’s stance.
 
It was the way his body appeared when he dealt with an unsavory business adversary.
 
Right before he tore them to bits.
  
Why was he reacting like this to her and Mel?

Then she remembered.

She and Mel stood in Chase’s office.

“You’re drunk, Adrienne.”

She grimaced.

“No, I’m not.
 
I only had a few glasses of champagne.
 
Get lost.”
 
She hiccupped.
 
How could she have done that when she’d been trying to prove her sobriety?
 
Darn the man.

“Sheila’s worried about you.
 
She thinks you’ll regret this tomorrow.”

“She’s wrong.”

“I don’t think so.
 
You’ve had too much to drink and don’t know what you want or what you’re doing.”

“You’re so wrong.
 
I know exactly what I want.”

Him
.

“Adrienne,” he began again. “You’ve had too much to drink.”

“No.”
 
He couldn’t think her drunk, or he wouldn’t believe her when she told him she preferred men--preferred him.

“This is not up for debate,” he warned.
 
“You’re coming with me.
 
Now.”

She turned hesitant eyes to Mel.
 
He’d been so good to her a few minutes ago when she’d been sick in Chase’s bathroom.
 
She hated to just ditch him.

“Up to you, babe.”
 
He shrugged.
 
“We can always go to my place and finish what we started if that’s what you really want.
 
It’s your call.”

“She is not going anywhere with you.”
 
A deaf, blind man couldn’t miss the threat in Chase’s words and squared shoulders.