Hot Secrets (2 page)

“If you won’t take care of you,
honey,” she said, reaching out and tugging Lauren’s bodice down an
inch, “I will.”

“Good evening, ladies,” Royce
greeted her from behind, his voice as rawly masculine as one would
expect from a man with a body of a god and long raven hair he’d
regretfully tied at his nape for an event such as this one.

Lauren pulled up her dress, and
shot Julie a warning look. “We’ll be talking later.”

“Of course,” Julie said with a
grin a moment before Royce stepped between them, towering over
them. “Hey there, Royce.”

Lauren turned fully to greet
him, having only an instant to take in his tuxedo, which fit him to
perfection, before her gaze collided with his crystal blue stare.
“Hello,” he said, his voice lower now, almost intimate.

“Hello,” she said, willing
herself to say something more, but the unexpected direct eye
contact sizzled her all the way to her toes and apparently stole
her ability to process words.

“Shouldn’t you be somewhere
keeping your brothers out of trouble?” Julie asked him.

“As tedious and impossible as
that is,” he said, “it would be more pleasant than rubbing elbows
with a bunch of wanna be movers and shakers. But duty sometimes
requires a tuxedo and nerves of steel.”

Lauren gaped, her reaction
instantaneous, her processing skills fully recovered. She might not
approve of her father wholeheartedly, but she loved him. “You do
know this is my father’s birthday party, right?”

“Ah,” Julie said. “I think I
should say ‘Oops’ here because I thought you two had officially
met. I’m assuming that’s not the case.”

Royce’s far too sensual lips
curved slightly. “Nice to finally meet you ‘officially,’ Ms.
Reynolds,” he said, extending his hand to Lauren. “Though we’ve
certainly crossed paths at a few events.”

She ignored his hand. “You knew
who I was but you still made that comment about my father’s
party?”

“When your father invited me
here tonight
,
I
suggested he cancel this monkey-suit event and have a family
barbecue,” he said. “I even offered to bring the beer and my
brothers for entertainment. He wasn’t interested. So yes, I knew
who you were when I made the comment.”

“You told my father…” She
shook her head. “Did you really?”

He held up two fingers. “Scout’s
honor. And while I was never a scout, I was in the FBI for 7 years,
so that’s close enough.”

“And how did my father reply to
your suggestion?”

“He told me to ‘wear the damn
monkey-suit and get
your
ass to
my
party.’”

She laughed. “Oh my
G
od. That’s so my father. You
really did tell him that.”

“I’m not known for my decorum,
not even when I was a hostage negotiator.” He held out his hand.
“Shall we try again? Nice to meet you, Ms. Reynolds.”

She liked him. He was so
different from, well, everyone else here, and actually, quite like
Julie. She slipped her palm against his, unprepared for the instant
tingling awareness that rushed up her arm. “Lauren,” she managed,
and to her dismay her voice cracked. “Call me
…
Lauren.”

He brought her knuckles to his
lips, his gorgeous blue eyes lifting to hers. “Lauren,” he repeated
softly, before releasing her hand, and man, oh man, she wanted him
to touch her again like she’d never wanted to be touched
before.

“I see someone I need to talk
to,” Julie said. “I’ll be back in a few.” With a turn
,
and a covert wink at Lauren that
said she’d just made up the ‘someone to talk to’ as an excuse to
leave
Lauren
alone with
Royce, she disappeared.

Royce leaned an elbow on the
bar. “How long have you two been friends?”

“Five years,” she said, happy to
have a comfortable subject to talk about. “We met our last year of
law school.” Lauren pushed herself up on a bar stool and crossed
her legs, her dress riding up a bit above the knee, which she
quickly righted.

Royce’s eyes dropped to follow
the action, and a combination of nervousness and awareness rushed
over her. “You two seem very different,” he commented, his gaze
lifting to hers, his elbow settling on the bar.

“And that’s bad?”

“Not bad
,” he said. “
Just unique. Typically people
are who they hang out with. But I guess you’re both
attorneys
, so that’s a common
denominator.”

“I know plenty of attorneys I
won’t give the time of day to
,”
Lauren corrected. “
Julie and I share basic values about what
is right and wrong and a passion for helping people. Those things
are more common denominators for us than one piece of paper that
says we get to practice law.”

He arched a brow. “Isn’t she a
divorce attorney?”

“
S
he’s passionate about getting people out of bad
marriages and into a new life. It’s not always
what
you do to make a difference, it’s that you really
try to make a difference.”

“Sounds like a perfect campaign
pitch to me.”

“And let me guess,” she said
dryly
. ”You heard I was running for office
from my father.” He gave a quick nod, and she shook her head. “Of
course
you did
. I love
my father
,
and I’ve
support
ed
his career,
and I don’t regret that.
B
ut no matter how much he commands me to run for office, it
simply isn’t going to happen. As in,
ever
.
Under no circumstances.” She lowered her voice. “My life has been
completely my father’s in so many ways because of his public
position. That ends the day he leaves his office. You have no idea
how much I crave that day.” The confession was out before she could
stop it. She had no idea why she revealed such a thing to this man,
this stranger, but it was done and there was no turning back.

He stared down at her, studying
her with unnerving intensity, as if he was reading her soul. He,
and her confession, were inescapable. And so she found herself
doing the same with him, openly assessing this man she found so
alluringly different from anyone she’d ever been with before. The
air expanded around them, shiftedthickened. The rest of the room
faded away, lost to a sudden, intense crackle of electricity. “I
think,” he said softly, “that I’d like to know more about you,
Lauren Reynolds.”

Something wonderful, wild,
and
wicked stirred inside her with his
words, with the heat in his expression — something wild, wicked,
and oh so unfamiliar. This man didn’t fit that ‘safe’ profile she’d
gravitated towards because it was expected of her. There was
nothing safe about him, and a lot of that was exciting. But the
idea of acting on her feelings sent a rush of tension through her.
She bit her lip and cut her gaze to his chest. She might be
confident in a courtroom, but she wasn’t Julie
;
she wasn’t a seductress who knew how to
bring a man to his knees. She had Royce Walker’s attention and she
didn’t know what to do with it.

Royce leaned closer, the spicy
male scent of him flaring and filling her nostrils, and she fought
the
unexpected
urge to
reach out and touch him. “Am I making you nervous, Lauren?”

Her chin lifted,
her
gaze fixing on his, shocked
that he’d read her so accurately. “You really do say whatever
you’re thinking, don’t you?

“Is there a reason to do
otherwise?”

She liked the answer. “You don’t
make me nervous.” And he didn’t. She was insecure in ways she
didn’t want to be, that she’d tried desperately to overcome since
her broken engagementnoeven long before that. But in the end, she
was left afraid to believe anything was authentic ever again,
especially this man, who felt more real than any she’d ever
met.

He searched her face a moment,
and then offered her his hand. “Then dance with me.”

Before she could think to
object, if she even would have, he was leading her toward the
center of the room, anticipation pulsing through her like a live
charge. She was going to dance with Royce Walker, to feel his big
body pressed close to hers, and she was pretty certain it would be
politically incorrect to melt into a puddle of warm, wanting
female, in the center of her father’s birthday party. She was also
pretty sure it was going to happen
anyway
.

***

Easing through the crowd, Royce
repeated Lauren Reynolds
’
words in his head.
You have no
idea how much I crave that day
. She had no idea, all right.
No idea how much
he
craved
her
. How enticed he was by her gorgeous pale skin, how
enticed he was by the idea of stripping her naked and caressing it,
tasting it, feeling every inch of it, and her, molded against him.
Or how enticed he was by the way her eyes danced with little yellow
flecks of color when she felt strongly about something she was
saying. He wondered how they would look when she was aroused and
wanting. Would they be greener? Darker?

They cleared the path to the
dance floor, and Royce eased Lauren onto the tiled circle where
random couples moved together to an orchestra number. He braced
himself for the impact of touching her, then pulled her into his
arms. Their eyes collided, the mutual attraction they shared, that
had passed between them in passing glances over the months since
he’d taken a public position, wrapped them in warmth. But he’d
known it would on some levelhe’d always known this woman would
impact him, that she would stir something inside him he wasn’t sure
he remembered existing or feeling since long before he’d joined the
FBI fifteen years before, when life inside the bureau had been
everything, and yet somehow nothing.
There was no denying though, that since he’d taken a more
public role to promote Walker Security, the business he and his
brothers ran, he’d been drawn to her each time their paths had
crossed, no matter how casually or indirectly.
Yet, he’d
resisted approaching her, all too aware that he didn’t fit into her
political world, that his step into the realm of politics was
merely a business endeavor, while hers was a lifestyle. That was,
until tonight, when she’d declared this world to be her father’s,
not her own, and made it clear that everything he’d assumed about
her had been wrong. And until tonight when life had pulled them
together for all the wrong reasons.

She was small and soft in his
arms, and nervous as hell no matter how much she denied it. And
while he didn’t want to make her nervous, he liked knowing he
affected her,
though
he
shouldn’t, because she was off limits. He had no business flirting
with her, no business wanting her, and he knew that. And yet, he
couldn’t seem to stop himself.

She melted against him, her head
settling on his chest, the soft vanilla and honey scent of her
warming him inside out. He squeezed his eyes shut, despising his
reason for being here tonight, but incapable of regretting that she
was in his arms. Knowing she wouldn’t stay there long, that she
couldn’t stay there long. Because the minute he’d said ‘yes’ to
this assignment
, Royce
had said ‘no’ to Lauren.

Chapter Two

Dancing with Royce Walker, there
was no denying the simple truth. He did it for her. And whatever
it
was,
it
had
her body tingling and her blood pumping at lightning speed. She not
only wanted this man, for once in her life she wanted more than the
fantasy of being more like Julie. For once, for one night, she
wanted to let go, she wanted to just let herself go where desire
led her, where this man would take her.

His lips brushed her ear. “You
smell amazing.”

Lauren’s lashes fluttered before
she looked up at him. There was something so powerful, so
provocative about this man. She liked to be in control, normally
resisted giving
control
away, which was one of the reasons the courtroom appealed to her.
There she was respected, in chargeand without her father’s
influence. Royce wouldn’t let her have control. She knew this
instinctively, but somehow didn’t care. Royce’s power was all his
own, not bought or jockeyed for, a lethal quality she found
alluring and sexy. A power he owned naturally, like a second skin,
that simply existed as he did. And she wasn’t going to let this
night with him escape because of insecurity.

She swallowed against the
dryness in her throat. “You asked if you scare me.”

His gaze dropped to her lips,
and lifted. “Actually, I asked if I was making you nervous, not
scared.”

“Right. No. You don’t make me
nervous. And you don’t scare me.” She allowed herself the freedom,
the luxury, to run her hand discreetly across one of his broad
shoulders and then down his arm, loving the feel of his muscles. It
was bold for her to do so in public, at one of her father’s events,
yet all she was thinking about was how every inch of this man was
hard, male perfection. “But I think
I
might be scaring me.”

His hands tightened on her waist
and his eyes narrowed. “Explain.” He pulled her a bit closer.
“What’s wrong, Lauren?” He stopped dancing and just stared down at
her with intense, probing eyes
.
“What are
you telling me?” Desire spiked between them, and then lingered, a
fine mist that seemed to travel over her entire body.

His reaction overwhelmed her,
and sent a dash of uncertainty through her. What had made her think
she could pull off the coy, flirty thing? She wasn’t Julie. She
knew how to play the courtroom game. The bedroom variety was
another story. “Nothing. I… It was silly. Forget I said
anything.”