The Mistaken Escort's Pleasure: A Liaison Novel (2 page)

“Sorry.
 
I didn’t mean to laugh, but people will never believe that we are together.”

“Let me guess.
 
It’s because you date computer nerds with no muscle definition.”
 
He sneered.

Embarrassment flooded her because he hit on the exact type of man she would’ve picked, but the stubborn part of her would never admit that fact to him.
 
She was about to let go with a snarky answer as soon as it popped into her head, but she was saved when Rebecca cleared her throat.

“Lucian, what are you doing?” Rebecca asked.

“Lucian—that’s your name?” she barked out.
 

She groaned as she slapped her hand over her mouth, again.
 
She needed to learn to keep her thoughts to herself, but this man made her body vibrate and her brain turn to mush.
 
Despite her outburst, his name conjured thoughts of them in a king-sized bed and slick skin.
 
Of their own volition, her eyes wandered back over his well-toned body in the expensive suit, and she knew without a doubt that he could pleasure a woman in bed.

“Never mind—it fits you.”

Something inside her mind short-circuited when the smile lit up his face, and the word that popped into her mind that described him was gorgeous.
 
For the first time in her life, she couldn’t think of anything but the man in front of her.
 
She wanted to get to know him, but the logical side of her knew that it would end in heartache for her.
 
She was a romantic, as much as she could be considering she’d never been in love, but this man made her dream of happily ever after.

His eyes released her from his hold, and she blew out a sigh of relief.
 

“You don’t have anyone else who can do this,” he stated.

“No one would believe that we’re a couple,” Ellie reiterated.

He turned back to her and pinned her with his moss-green eyes.
 
“Why not?”

“Really?
 
You don’t see it?”

“No.”

She blew out a frustrated breath.
 
“You’re, well, you’re…hot, and gorgeous, and probably dangerous.”

Rebecca laughed, and her mumbled comment drew another megawatt smile from him.

“So are you, love.”

She stiffened at the endearment as a wave of heat washed over her body.
 
That one word had affected her more than she would have thought possible.
 
Her heart pounded as her breath stuttered in and out with her rapid breathing.
 
She opened and closed her mouth several times before she could speak, and she grasped onto any argument she could make.

“You don’t look like an escort—you look like a Wall Street tycoon.
 
I’m an artist; we’re opposites.”

She noticed that his eyes darted to Rebecca and they shared a look she couldn’t decipher, before he turned back to face her.
 
She hoped that he realized that she was right, that they weren’t compatible, even as her heart kicked in her chest at the thought of him giving up.

“I don’t work on Wall Street, and I don’t think we’re all that different.”

She relaxed a fraction as relief passed over her.
 
It seemed that her body knew what it wanted, even though her brain couldn’t decide whether Lucian was a good idea or a bad one.

During her internal debate, he chose to move closer to her.
 
She didn’t retreat this time, and he stopped a few inches away from her.
 
His scent washed over her, and it reminded her of walking deep in the forest in the rain.
 
She wanted to lean into him and lay her head down on his chest, to hear his heartbeat and feel his arms wrap around her.
 
Her eyes raked up his body until she gazed in the green depths of his, drawing out a gasp from her, and at the same time, the rational side of her mind felt muted and slow.

“I’m not sleeping with you,” she whispered.

His hands landed on her shoulders in a gentle hold and as he laughed, the deep, happy sound reverberated throughout her entire body.
 
His touch spread warmth and sent sparks shooting up her arm and straight into her chest.
 
She had just gotten used to his hands on her, when he pulled her against him until her cheek rested right above his heart, and she noticed that it was beating as fast as hers was.
 
She was surprised that he wasn’t immune to her.
 
He pulled back slightly to look her in the eye.

“I’m your date, and Rebecca doesn’t allow escorts to sleep with her clients, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“We’re too different.”

His brows drew down as she kept up with her faltering arguments.

“I’m a graphic designer, I have purple streaks in my hair, I’m shorter than you by at least a foot.
 
I feel that we won’t be able to find common ground before the wedding, and I don’t feel like explaining to everyone why someone as gorgeous as you would date someone like me.”

He gave her hard look.
 
“You’re grasping for any excuse, but trust me, it’ll work.”

She had never been as torn by a decision as she was at the moment, wrapped in Lucian’s arms.
 
It would be easy to give in and get to know him, but she had come to Liaison for practical reasons, not to give in to her attraction.
 
He had stirred something in her since the moment he’d walked in the office, and she didn’t know whether she was strong enough to deny him anything.

“Can I think about it?”

He backed up a bit more and scanned her face for a few seconds, before he nodded in agreement.

“Can I get your number?” he asked.

Hesitantly she admitted, “Rebecca has all my information.”

He nodded and stepped back to the edge of the large desk, crossing his arms and legs as he leaned against it and gave her space to get her breathing back to normal.

She relaxed the muscles she’d locked when he’d been near and looked down at her hands as they gripped her sketchbook.
 
She noticed that her hands shook a little as she reached for the sketch she finished before they entered the room.
 
She managed to remove it from the book, and feeling more in control of herself, walked toward the desk and handed it to Rebecca.

“I thought you might like this,” she said as Rebecca took the sketch from her.

Rebecca’s eyes widened as she looked down at the drawing and her eyes filled with tears.
 
Ellie scrambled around the desk and placed her hand on the other woman’s back, hoping to comfort her.

“I didn’t mean to upset you…” Ellie started.

Rebecca wiped away the tears before she set down the drawing on her desk and pulled Ellie into a crushing hug.
 
“Thank you.
 
Thank you so much.
 
It’s beautiful.”

Ellie patted Rebecca’s back and squeezed once, before she drew back with a smile.

“You and the man in the picture look so happy that I couldn’t help myself.
 
I’m glad you like it.”

“It’s perfect.
 
You have a real talent,” Rebecca said.

“Thank you, and thanks for all your help.”

Ellie stepped back and glanced at Lucian.
 
Heat flared in his eyes, making them shine like a banked emerald fire.
 
The intensity in which he looked at her left her shaken.
 
She walked around to the other side of the desk, to where she had left her messenger bag, and shoved her things inside.
 
She smiled one more time at Rebecca, but as she turned to exit the office, Lucian grasped her elbow.

“I’ll walk you out,” he said.

She walked out of the office and toward the elevators, aware of his slight touch on her arm and his arm brushing her shoulder with each step.
 
She felt as though she’d run a marathon by the time they arrived at the exit.
 
When she turned to say good-bye, he walked her back into the elevator until she was pressed back against the farthest wall.

After the doors had closed, he reached behind him and absently flipped the stop elevator button, which caused the elevator car to darken, giving him a more dangerous air.
 
She couldn’t decipher his look as he crowded her against the wall, but she could feel the constrained energy that pulsed through his body and into hers.
 
Instead of shrinking away from the effect he had on her, she held her ground.

“At least you’re not immune to me,” he murmured.

“I have a feeling that very few women are.”

He pressed against her, and she could feel the vibrations from his deep laughter pass through her.
 
She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes as she felt his taut chest, muscular and hard, as he leaned against her.
 
Her hands itched to travel up his stomach and caress his chest, and feel his hardness for herself.
 
Her eyes kept traveling along the length of his body, not caring how much time had passed.

“I never denied that I was attracted to you.
 
All I said was that I can’t see other people believing that we’re a couple,” she muttered.

He captured her gaze for a split second before he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers in a touch so gentle, she thought she might have imagined it.
 
Without conscious thought, she leaned toward him, wanting more than a simple touch, but he cupped her cheeks in his hands and captured her gaze in his unwavering one.

“If we weren’t in an elevator, in a public building, I would show you how compatible we are,” he growled.

“We just met.
 
I would like to get to know you before I do something stupid, like dive in headfirst and have an affair with you.”

“It wouldn’t be an affair, love,” he promised.

“Do you call all the women you know love?” she asked.

He shook his head.
 
“Get to know me, and you’ll see how serious I am,” he growled.

She shook her head, but she didn’t know whether she was trying to deny his words, or whether she contemplated taking him up on his offer.
 
The sooner he realized that she wasn’t his type of woman, the sooner he would move on.
 
Her heart kicked in her chest, hard and painfully, at the thought of him with another woman.

The side of his mouth lifted, and her breath caught in her throat.
 
He wasn’t the type of man who would give up on something that he wanted, and at the moment, he wanted her.

She’d never been a cautious woman when it came to something she wanted, but wanting this man was borderline lunacy.
 
Her mind flipped back and forth, all while she kept her eyes on his.
 
She tried to clear some of the fog that had descended from his nearness, but he interpreted her movement as denial.

“I guess I’ll have to convince you then.”
 
He groaned.

Before she could figure out what he meant, he leaned toward her and captured her mouth in a kiss so decadent, she felt her knees weaken and her body shake with a need she’d never felt before in her life.

She gripped his forearms for support, and when she sucked in a breath at the hard muscles underneath her hands, he took advantage and deepened the kiss.
 
His tongue swept in.
 
As he tasted her, her hands crawled up his arms until she wrapped them around his shoulders and hung on.

She heard a ringing in a distance, and moaned a protest when he broke the kiss.
 
Her chest heaved with exertion, and when her thoughts solidified several moments after he’d pulled away, she realized that her arms were still wrapped around his shoulders.
 
Instead of pulling away as he would have expected, she laid her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart.

“That was easy,” she murmured.

“What was?” he asked.

“To forget where I was, and kiss a man I just met.”

Chapter Two

Lucian meant it to be just a kiss to show her how compatible they were together, but it flamed into an inferno that made him forget about everything but the woman in his arms.

Kissing Ellie was better than any other kiss, fantasy or reality, for him.

As she held on to him, he rubbed her back and smiled as she relaxed further into his body.
 
The sound continued to blare, so while he kept one hand open on her back and pressed her closer to him, his other hand shot out and silenced the alarm in the elevator.

She was jostled when the car started to move down, and he tightened his arms to keep her close.

He could hear her stuttered breathing and the rapid beat of her heart, and it took all of his control not to carry her out of this building and to his place, in his bed, and spend the rest of the weekend finding ways to pleasure her.

Instead of crowding her against the back of the elevator like he wanted to, he stepped back, giving them both room to breathe while he kept his arm around her shoulders.
 
He knew that if he pressured her, he would lose his chance to get to know her better, and at the moment, he wanted to find out everything about her.

“Lucian?”

“I didn’t mean to lose control like that,” he admitted.

“I know.
 
I didn’t either.”
 
She looked up at him with a yearning that reflected how he felt, and he clenched his hands to get control over himself.
 
He blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, and before he could respond, the elevator doors opened and the doorman cleared his throat.

“Are you exiting, Mr. Cole?”

His eyes never leaving Ellie’s, he nodded at the man and placed a hand on the small of Ellie’s back, before he walked them toward the exit.
 
His hand never left her as he led her outside and hailed a cab.