Infatuation - A Club Destiny Novel (7 page)

“
Such dirty words coming
from such a pretty mouth.” The deep, sultry southern twang echoed
around her, and McKenna fought the urge to stop.

“
What do you want, Murphy?
You have an answer for me yet?” she asked in her cool, professional
tone, remembering the path her thoughts had been leading down for
the last few minutes.

“
I’ve got plenty of
answers for you, baby,” Tag growled softly, nodding his head toward
the bouncer standing near the back door. The man nodded back,
stepping out of the way so Tag could open the door, allowing her to
walk in ahead of him.

Such a gentleman.

It would seem she had
memory problems because instead of remembering why she didn’t want
to like this man, she suddenly wanted to know what he would be like
in bed. Was he the same southern gentleman? The one with the soft,
sweet kisses? Or would that rough, intimidating dark side of his
come out?
Shit.
Now she wanted to know.

Once inside, Tag put his
hand on the small of her back, and McKenna damn near stumbled in
her three inch heels. The warmth of his hand seared her spine and
had a direct effect on the sensitive, apparently needy, place
between her thighs. Unsure where he was leading her, McKenna
continued walking until they reached the bar.

“
Kane,” Tag greeted the
familiar bartender whose name McKenna hadn’t known until
now.

“
What’s up, T?” The
devilishly handsome, if not intimidating, man greeted. “What can I
get you?”

“
Get my friend anything
she wants and put it on my tab.”

Damn him.
She was half tempted to glare at him and tell him
that she didn’t need anything from him, other than an answer to her
request from earlier in the day. She didn’t though.

“
I’ll be back in a few
minutes,” Tag whispered in her ear, the rough, gravelly words
sounding more like a promise than just to inform her.

“
Take your time.” McKenna
tried to play it cool, tried to pretend like she didn’t care one
way or the other what he did, but the truth was, despite knowing
better, she still wanted to know more about the intensely sexy
attorney.

But she wouldn’t be doing
that now. Tag was gone.

A second later, she saw
him emerge from the crowd as he ascended the stairs to the second
floor. Her eyes were glued to him, unable to detect the stunning
physique she knew was beneath that expensive suit.

She continued watching him
as he punched in that secret code that would lead him to the kink
and depravity that existed in that other world she wanted to know
so much about.

Shaking off the thought,
McKenna thanked Kane for her drink and then went in search of an
empty table a little farther from the crowd. As much as she would
prefer to stand, or even walk around, she couldn’t bring herself to
do it. The restless energy made it difficult, but there was no way
she was going to let Tag know how tight he wound her. She had no
idea whether he could see her from where he was, but on the off
chance that was possible, she wasn’t going to give him anything to
use against her later.

She settled for a table
that allowed a view of the dance floor and sat down. She watched
several of the gyrating couples, wondering whether they even knew
what was on the other side of that door on the second floor. She
certainly wondered.

Most of these people were
probably too excited about a night out with friends even to care.
With the music blaring and people trying to speak over it, McKenna
managed to get lost in the chaos of the club, rather than wondering
what Tag was doing at that very moment.

Hopefully he was talking
to Luke about the exclusive, but she tried not to get her hopes up.
He seemed to allude to that fact, but knowing Tag, he would never
out and out tell her exactly what she wanted to know. She had
thought about reminding him of her threat to disclose more
information, but she wasn’t naive enough to believe Tag was swayed
in any way by threats. No, the man was probably impossible to
rattle with his abundance of confidence, and his
I don’t give a fuck
attitude.

“
McKenna? McKenna Thorne?”
An unfamiliar voice caught her attention, and she slowly turned to
look at the man standing just a few inches to her left.

She didn’t immediately
recognize the sexy cowboy, but she rummaged through as many mental
images as possible to try to figure out whether she knew him. She
figured she didn’t based on the way he questioned whether she was
really the person he thought she was.

“
That’s me,” she replied
to the tall, handsome stranger with the black Stetson pulled low
over his eyes, throwing his face in just enough shadow that she had
a hard time identifying him anyway.

“
Travis Walker,” the man
introduced himself, taking off the black Stetson and holding it to
his side momentarily

As soon as she got a
better look at those sinful blue-gray eyes, she recognized him.
“Mr. Walker, nice to actually meet you in person.”

McKenna had not been
introduced to any of the Walker brothers up to this point because
she had been unable to attend the groundbreaking of the new
Alluring Indulgence resort down in Austin, despite having made
every effort. Due to other, more pressing matters, she had
regretfully declined the invitation she received.

Without asking, Travis took the seat beside
her, sitting his cowboy hat back on his head and pinning her with a
wickedly sexy grin.

McKenna tried to pretend she wasn’t on the
edge of her seat, ready to rapid fire questions at this man because
aside from the Club Destiny story, the Walker’s new resort was fast
becoming the talk of the media. At least in her circles they were.
She was impatiently ready to learn everything there was to know
about this new erotic retreat that was making headlines faster than
they were building.

“
What brings you to
Dallas?” she questioned him, watching as he took a long pull on his
beer.

She had to agree with the
other erotic newsfeeds that she kept her eye on these days; this
man was undeniably as intensely attractive as everyone claimed.
With his smoldering eyes, that rugged stubbly jaw, those dazzling
white teeth and yes, even his slightly crooked nose, Travis Walker
was definitely swoon worthy.

“
Business.”

And he was also extremely
vague.

She had heard that about him.

Apparently, according to the rumors, he
wasn’t much for talking, but when he did open his mouth, people
usually dropped what they were doing to listen. She would probably
drop everything just to listen to the deep rumble of his voice and
that mouthwatering Texas drawl.

“
Investor’s,
right?”

Travis questioned her with a glance, cocking
one eyebrow as he watched her.

“
You’re here looking for
an investor for the new resort?”

He still didn’t answer,
but he smiled, and she was taken aback by his rugged masculinity.
Those tall, dark and devastatingly handsome men seemed to do that
to her.

“
Are you interested in
doing an exclusive on the resort?” he asked, cutting right to the
point.

McKenna bit her lip,
fighting the urge to jump up and down in excitement. She managed to
hide her enthusiasm, instead looking at him skeptically she asked,
“An exclusive?”

Another thing she had perfected... playing
hard to get.

“
If you’re not interested,
I’d hate to waste your time.” The beginnings of another smile
tipped his perfect lips and McKenna had a hard time listening to
the words coming out of his mouth. She wondered if this is what
happened to all women who came face to face with this
man.

But, as much as she
admired a pretty face, there was still only one man who had managed
to intrigue her to the point of distraction in recent months.
Travis Walker was definitely panty melting hot, but fortunately for
her, her panties were fire retardant where he was concerned. Tag,
on the other hand, was an entirely different story.

“
I’m interested,” she said
softly, but loud enough for him to hear. “In an exclusive,” she
added on for good measure because the way his eyes swept down to
her mouth spoke of things better left unexplored. “Did you have a
timeframe in mind? From what I remember, you just recently broke
ground.”

“
Building is under way. As
far as I’m concerned, the hard part is behind us. Let me buy you a
drink, and we can work out the details.”

McKenna smiled at the sexy cowboy. How in
the world could she resist that?

*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***

“
An exclusive? What the
hell is that?” Luke’s face was a mask of confusion, but Tag saw the
smile pulling at the edge of the other man’s mouth. Luke knew
exactly what Tag was referring to, probably thanks to the
conversation he had with his twin, Logan, moments before Tag
arrived.

“
She wants to do an
article, or a series of them, on the club. Sensations, Inc. would
have the privilege of using the information she obtains first for
her online magazine.”

“
So, what? She comes in
here, walks through the halls and peeks in the rooms?” Luke looked
serious now, and Tag knew the question he wasn’t asking.

“
Yes. In a sense. I would
restrict her to the private area on the second floor,” he said,
feeling the need to clarify. If McKenna Thorne thought he was going
to reveal all of their secrets, she was sadly mistaken.

“
And I assume you’ll be
the one taking her on this guided tour?” That hint of a smile was
back, and this time it unnerved Tag slightly.

“
I will.” Tag was all for
taking her on the tour, but he had an entirely different idea for
how this was going to work than he figured McKenna did.

It was an idea that he had given
considerable thought to as a matter of fact.

Tag leaned back in his
chair, watching while Luke pondered the information he had just
been given. He seemed sincerely torn on whether or not he wanted to
do this, which only made sense. Granted, had Tag come in here and
suggested this to Luke McCoy a few months ago, he’d have been
laughed right out the office, followed by a string of verbal
obscenities that would probably make his ears bleed. That was
before Luke’s entire personality had an overhaul. He knew the
credit for that miraculous feat went to Tag’s step brother Cole and
their lover, Sierra Sellers.

These days, it took quite a bit more to get
the hard ass Luke McCoy riled up, although it was guaranteed to
happen if anyone said anything cross about either Sierra or Cole.
Luke was protective of those he loved, and even more so about his
two lovers.

“
Considering Susan is
chomping at the bit to try and get someone to listen to her, I
think that by allowing McKenna to write a few respectable articles
about the club would only be in your best interest.”

“
My best interest?” Luke
grinned. “Why do I get this feeling that you’re getting something
out of this deal?”

Well, there was that.

Tag smiled knowingly, and
continued, “She’s looking to get enough information to provide
legitimate, factual details to her readers. I figure what better
way than to introduce her to some of the idiosyncrasies of some of
the members. Namely me.”

Tag had come up with the
idea after leaving McKenna’s office earlier in the day. Of course,
his reasons might be a little selfish, but he didn’t need to tell
Luke that. It was obvious by his expression that he knew exactly
what Tag was after.

For the next fifteen
minutes, Tag offered Luke a glimpse of his perspective on how this
little exclusive would work. By the time he was finished, Luke was
smiling. “And I get to preview and approve any story that goes out,
right?”

“
That’s the agreement.”
McKenna had already volunteered that little detail, but Tag was
going to ensure it was firmly stated in the fine print.

“
I say go for it, bro. I
don’t see that it could make things any worse,” Luke stated before
pausing briefly, then smiling, “But one more thing.”

Tag didn’t like the sound of that.

“
Good luck.” Luke laughed
unabashedly. “I’ve read some things on McKenna Thorne. You’re a
braver man than me, Murph. Braver man than me.”

Tag grinned. When it came
to McKenna, he was ready for the challenge.

As Tag descended the
stairs, he scanned the crowded bar, hoping like hell McKenna hadn’t
left yet. He wasn’t sure how well he liked that feeling, but
nonetheless, it was there. It wasn’t often that he found himself
hopeful for anything, much less a woman.

Considering he had been in
Luke’s office for close to an hour, it was possible she had given
up and gone home. He doubted it though. He couldn’t think of a
single reason she would show up at the club unless she was hoping
to get an answer from him tonight. She wasn’t a regular. He
would’ve known if she was because McKenna was the type of woman
that attracted attention, especially from men. Even if she didn’t
intend to. If he was right, she was planted somewhere close,
probably watching him right now as he looked for her.