How to Resist Prince Charming (7 page)

Lenna’s lips parted. Her green gaze couldn’t seem to leave his. “It worked.”

She took his hand, their fingers lacing once again, and she led him across the room to her group.

Lenna introduced him to three attractive girls. Trista, Robin and Audrey. They were about to take a round of
Jäger
Bombs. Before he could refuse, Braxton found a shot glass and another cup being shoved into his hands.

“Oh,” he said, surprised. “Umm…Thanks.” He glanced toward his group. Greg, Nadine, and Erica were still sitting at the table, chatting away without him. He turned back to Lenna. She had her own set of glasses and grinned as she lifted them in a toast.

“To blind dates,” she called, and dropped the shot of
Jägermeister
into the cup of Red Bull. “May we never have to go on another one again.” Then she downed the contents in one slug.

Shrugging, Braxton did the same. Her friends gathered curiously around him to ask him about himself. But before he could open his mouth, Lenna jumped in, telling them he still worked at ProTech. Since she obviously didn’t want them to know he was her father’s boss, he kept his mouth shut and let her tell her version.

She was in the middle of her tall tale when Erica appeared at his side and leaned up to talk in his ear.

“Nadine just got sick,” she announced. “So, Greg and I are going to take her home.”

Braxton glanced toward their table, but it was empty. Without warning, Erica kissed his cheek and added, “It was nice meeting you, Braxton. Have a good life.” Then she grinned at Lenna and waved goodbye to her as well.

As she started away, he watched her hurry to meet Greg and Nadine at the exit.

“There goes your blind date,” Lenna said needlessly.

Braxton nodded. “Yeah. I don’t think she ever wants to see me again.” Remembering Erica’s parting words, he grinned and repeated, “Hey, she never wants to see me again.”

Lenna rolled her eyes. “That’s too bad,” she announced cheerfully and then grabbed the front of his shirt. “Now take another
Jäger
Bomb with me.”

Unable to deny her, Braxton drank another.

Then he drank a couple more. By the time the bar closed and started kicking people out, both he and Lenna were well on their way to plastered. She leaned heavily against him and lifted her face to meet his gaze.

“I don’t...” She paused to hiccup. “I don’t think I should drive.”

“Who cares?” her friend, Trista, called. “You rode with me. Now, come on, Len. Let’s get out of here. I want to go home.”

But Lenna ignored her friend, or maybe she didn’t even hear her. She continued to stare up into Braxton’s eyes.

“I’ll see her home,” he heard himself say as he gazed right back.

For the life of him, he couldn’t think of one reason why that might be a bad idea.

* * * *

Lenna felt good.

She walked with Braxton to his car, and he escorted her to the passenger side where he manually tried to unlock the door.

“Jesus.” He winced and tried to focus on the car handle. “I can’t even get the key in the lock.”

Lenna laughed. She propped herself against his passenger side back door, because it was the closest support around, and held her stomach as mirth consumed her. “Too bad you don’t have remote locks,” she said between her giggling hiccups.

Braxton paused. After a moment of intense thought, he met Lenna’s eyes and grinned. “Oh, right.” He lifted his key ring to show her the remote dangling from his palm.

Lenna started all over again with her hiccupping giggles. To muffle the sound, she slapped her hand over her mouth, only to frown and pat around her face. “Hey, I can’t feel my nose.”

Paying her no attention, Braxton scowled at his set of keys. “So, what button do I push?” He tried one and the alarm went off with flashing lights and a honking horn. Yelping out a curse, he slapped his thumb over another button, and another, until the car calmed. Lenna dropped her arms to her sides and couldn’t stop the next round of hiccup-giggles bursting from her as if her life depended on it.

When Braxton finally discovered how to unlock the automobile, he opened the passenger door for Lenna, who was now sitting on the ground, wiping tears off her cheeks.

She looked up, still shaking with silent mirth, and met his gaze. “Are you sure you can drive?”

He nodded his head yes, but said, “Absolutely not.”

Lenna laughed again.

He shut the car door and tugged her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s find a cab.”

CHAPTER 5

By the time the taxi pulled to a stop in front of Lenna’s apartment building, she swore every nerve in her body had to be high on steroids. The Red Bull from their
Jäger
Bombs had definitely kicked in. But she didn’t feel like laughing anymore. No, her adrenal boost had moved on to other parts of her anatomy.

As she paid her half of the fare and slid from the back seat, Braxton followed her. “I’ll walk you to your door.”

She wasn’t about to say no.

As soon as they exited the car, the cabbie put the engine into gear and drove off. Braxton whirled back and frowned after the departing automobile. “Where the hell is he going?”

Lenna covered her mouth with her hand to hide one of the giggles she thought she’d drained from her system at the club, but it blurted out between her fingers.

Braxton turned toward her. He pointed after the departing cab. “That was my ride.”

She nodded. “I know.” She kept in a smile as she said it, but a moment later, she laughed outright.

Finally, Braxton shook his head and joined her with his own chuckle.

“Come on up,” she offered, holding her hand toward him. “You can call another cab from my room.”

He paused, looking uncertain. Then he sighed and took her fingers. “I did leave my cell phone charging in my car.”

Lenna nearly whimpered with want as the warmth of his touch spread up her arm.

Mr. Perfect was proving to be a lot more damn wonderful than she’d originally figured. He wasn’t so debonair and pretentious that he intimidated her with his wealth and status, but he had these slight little flaws bringing him down to earth and making him practical. He could tell the corniest jokes and was clumsier than one would think. He’d tripped at least twice on the dance floor tonight, only to laugh at himself and say he’d meant to do that.

Then, when Lenna discovered a chip in the corner of one of his top teeth, confirming he wasn’t faultless, he’d touched the dental flaw with the tip of his tongue, making her stomach quiver in response. Chuckling, he had explained its origin.

His sister had punched him in the face when he was thirteen because he’d murdered one of her dolls, hanging it by the neck from the stairwell of their house. His parents had decided not to repair the chip so he’d always remember not to underestimate the roundhouse of a ticked off sibling. And he’d never gotten around to fixing it since he’d moved out onto his own.

Smiling over that story, Lenna tried to block out how warm his body was behind hers as he followed her to her room. When she stumbled on a step, he caught her waist to steady her. “You okay?”

If he wanted her, he could have her, right then and right there on the stairs of her apartment building.

She managed a quick nod. “Yeah. Thanks.”

A distant voice in the back of her brain told her to stop this insanity. She should send him back down to the entrance and tell him she’d call the cab for him. But she didn’t want to.

She wanted one last moment alone with him. So, she paused at her door and tugged her room key from her front pocket without shooing him off.

The back of her neck tingled with awareness.

Knowing he was right behind her, watching her, she fumbled with the lock. She couldn’t get past the fact he was about to enter her apartment.

“Did I tell you how incredible you look tonight?”

His voice spiked through her, making bumps lift along the back of her neck. Her nipples perked to attention. The insides of her thighs tingled and her skin turned so sensitive, even the shift of her panties against her genitals made her shiver. She lifted her face.

His glazed eyes looked soulful as he curled his hand and pressed the fist against his chest. “I think I die a little every time I look at you.”

Lenna’s key slid from her hand and dropped to the floor at their feet.

Braxton looked down at it for a second and then lifted his eyes. “The first time,” he went on, “at the Christmas party, when I looked up and saw you in the doorway...” He paused and sucked in a breath as if he were reliving that very moment all over again. “I couldn’t breathe. I haven’t been able to breathe right since then.”

Lips parting, Lenna shook her head to deny his words. “You shouldn’t be telling me this.”

Braxton let out a lopsided smile. “I know. God, how I know.” Cupping his head in his hands, he stared at her, fighting some kind of inner battle. “Your dad would freak if he could hear me right now. He’d probably kill me.” He gave her a pleading look. “I didn’t want to say anything. I didn’t want you to know. But, I guess I’m kind of hoping we’re both so drunk, we won’t remember this tomorrow. So, I’m just going to keep making a fool of myself.”

He took a cautious step closer. “Lenna...” he whispered. “Since the first moment I laid eyes on you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

Wrapping her arms around her waist, she swallowed and stared at the ground. “I keep thinking about you too,” she confessed, blowing her resist-and-evade program all to hell.

There was no resisting Braxton Farris.

She heard him move toward her, cautiously creeping closer, until she could see his pant legs from the corner of her lowered eyes.

Lenna raised her gaze. Her heart beat madly against the base of her throat.

“I want to know you,” he said, lifting his hand and grasping a stray piece of her hair fluttering away from the rest of her blond locks. Rubbing the lock between his fingers, he whispered, “I want to know everything about you.”

From that point on, she was a goner.

“What...” She paused to lick her lips. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” he repeated. “I want to know your favorite color. Your favorite food. Favorite musical group. Your first word? When you started walking? What you wore on your first day of school. Who was your first boyfriend? When did you get your first kiss? But right now, I want to know how you taste.”

Lenna swayed closer.

He lifted his face, his eyes searching, pleading. She focused on his mouth and found herself licking her lips again. He dipped his head but stopped at the last moment. His eyes rose to hers, his gaze seeking approval. “Lenna?”

God, would he just kiss her already? She was dying here. She wanted his mouth on hers.
Now
.

But she didn’t want to be the one to initiate it. She wanted him to. She wanted to be able to blame him in the morning when she realized what a mistake this moment had been.

He wouldn’t, though. Not without her full consent, her total cooperation, and her equal amount of participation. And, oh Lord, she was going to give it. She closed her eyes, her body straining forward.

His fingers dropped the piece of hair he’d been toying with and moved gently to the side of her throat, where they slid softly and oh-so slowly into her hair. Lenna’s head fell back. She let out a soul-relieving sigh.

“Kiss me,” she commanded.

He shook his head and swallowed. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.”

“Do it anyway.”

He hissed out a breath and caved. Dipping his head, he brushed his lips across hers only to leave a tingling sensation and the flavor of
Jägermeister
and Red Bull. Lenna closed her eyes and pressed forward, opening her mouth. His tongue plundered, making her body crave immediate fulfillment. But he mastered her, turning up the intensity bit by frustrating bit, holding her powerless to resist.

Backing her against the door, he covered her body with his. She drew his tongue in deeper and arched onto her tiptoes.

He slid his hands around her and, Lord, she slid hers around him. He cupped her ass and lifted her while she whimpered and wrapped him up with her legs.

She’d never experienced so much eroticism or wanton need before. He made her come alive...so unbelievingly, stunningly alive.

She wasn’t even aware someone had opened a door down the hall until Braxton broke off and lifted his head. He set her down and moved to block her from the guy stepping out of his apartment and glancing their way. Panting heavily, Lenna leaned into Braxton and sucked in air as she rested her hot face against his shoulder.

“Where’s your key?” he asked between his own quaking breaths.

“I...” Lenna blinked.
Key? What was a key?

Braxton glanced around, then bent down to retrieve it from the floor. Lenna gratefully stepped aside.

With no more grace than he’d had on his car in the club’s parking lot, he fumbled, cursed, and unlocked her door before shoving it open and dragging her inside with him.

Smashing his mouth back to hers, he asked, “Bed?” without taking his lips from her throat.

“Right here,” she answered, reversing him two steps until the backs of his legs hit the mattress.

For once in her life, she was glad she lived in a miniscule studio apartment.

Braxton didn’t seem to mind either.

“Thank God.” He plunked down, yanking her with him.

CHAPTER 6

Braxton’s hands were warm, his lips velvet wet, and his erection unyielding. Lenna gasped at the contact and arched into the hard bulge. Loving the zing their tangled bodies created, she threw her head back and ground against him, rubbing her chest along his until her hardened nipples sobbed for his touch.

Neither of them had thought to turn on a light and neither of them seemed to care. Only a dim waver of illumination came in through the window from a flickering streetlamp.

In the near dark, the sense of touch became heightened. Holding her in his lap, Braxton groaned as he cupped the back of her shoulder blades in his hands. He bent his head, buried his nose inside her turtleneck, and kissed her neck, letting his tongue lick over her pulse.