Master of the Game (Rush Series Book 3) (4 page)

 
He stood by patiently until she’d started on a
second drink before making his way to her. Unbeknownst to her, her attempt to
be unobtainable had made her even more desirable to him. She’d become the
challenge he’d been seeking… albeit a small challenge. That he’d have her, he
had no doubt – again, not arrogance, but experience told him this. He slid into
the booth across from her and rolled his glass between his palms. She lifted
her nearly black eyes to his, cautiously, and met his gaze steadily. He could
have sworn there was
a fission
of fear hidden in the
depths of her eyes. But why would she be afraid?

“Yes?”
she asked, forced exasperation lacing her words.

Alex
slowly tipped his drink against his lips and swallowed slowly as he took in her
exquisite beauty. “I’ve come to help you stave off the local population,” he
said with an easy grin.

Devon
heaved a silent sigh of relief when she realized it was the man from the bar
which had sat down, and not any of those who’d be looking for her. She’d
noticed him, of course, how could she not? He was – as her friends would say –
a
hottie
. Blinking, she focused her attention to the
conversation he’d started. “Stave off?” she asked, her voice softly betraying
her Spanish accent.

“I
noticed you were being continually bothered by the men in the room. So I
thought if I sat down with you, they’d think you’re with me,” he replied
smoothly.

“And
why would you do that?” she asked with a wry twist of her lips.

He
unleashed one of his devastating smiles on her. “Maybe I’m just a nice guy,” he
replied.

She
felt a little hum of excitement skip across her skin at the extraordinarily
handsome man seated across from her – she was only human, after all. He
reminded her of an all-American kind of guy – tall, blonde, green-eyed – his
short cropped beard gave him a slightly rakish appearance. He was dressed
casually in jeans and a long-sleeved button-up shirt that seemed to linger on his
sculptured body.
If things had been different… if she’d met
him just a week before, but no… that would have been worse.
Shaking the
thoughts she didn’t want to dwell on aside, she brought herself back into
this
moment. “Right…” she said in a
mocking tone, “A nice guy. Not self-serving in the least.”

Rocking
his head side to side in small motions, he said, “Okay, maybe a little
self-serving.”

She
gave him a tight smile and shook her head, the mirth of his comment evident on
her face, but absent from her sad eyes.

“Are
you from Mexico City?” he asked.

The
small smile she’d struggled to hold on
to,
faltered
even further. “No. I live a few hours from here,” she replied quietly.

“Your
English is very good,” he said.

“As is
yours,” she replied mockingly.

“Touché,”
he replied with a grin. “What brings you here?”

“Work,”
she answered simply, and looked away from him as she took a swallow of her
drink.

When
she made no further comment, he said, “I’m here for the same.”
 

As the
waitress passed by, Alex tipped his nearly empty glass at her and pointed a
finger at Devon’s drink as well.

They
sat watching the bodies bump and grind on the dance floor for several minutes,
each contemplating the other silently. He stayed because he intended to have
her; she stayed because she was afraid of being alone.

“So…
what do they call you in that place a few hours from here?” he asked her.

She
gave him her first true smile, and its sudden appearance caused him to smile in
return. “A hot mess,” she replied glibly, remembering the numerous times Roman
had called her that.

Alex
continued to grin at her. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He tilted his head as he
contemplated her. “I think I can come up with a much better name than that for
you, though.”

“And
what pray tell, would that be?” she asked as she raised her wineglass to her
lips.

“I
think I’ll just call you
Taz
,” he replied.

With a
lift of her eyebrows, she questioned, “
Taz
?”

He
nodded as he studied her with his translucent green eyes.
“Yep.
As in the Tasmanian
Devil
. I imagine you cause havoc
wherever you go… leaving broken men behind you at every turn.”

Once
again, her smile faded leaving pain clearly etched in her beautiful features.
Nervously, she licked the wine from lips. “I don’t know about the Tasmanian
part, but I have been called the devil before.”

Alex
studied the exquisite woman across from him as music pulsated around them. Her
skittishness and apparent vulnerability brought out all his natural instincts.
On one side was the desire to protect… and on the other, his desire to conquer.

With
his conflicting desires warring within him, when the music changed tempo, Alex
rose and held out a hand to her. She studied it momentarily before shaking her
head slowly. His eyebrows rose and he held her gaze steadily – commandingly -
but otherwise he didn’t move. Not wanting to cause a scene, she finally slipped
her hand into his.

His
hand was warm on her cold one. He pulled her slowly to her feet and moved to
the darkened dance floor. As they walked, he placed his hand lightly against
the small of her back and fanned his fingers to gently caress her there. A
thrill of sensation slid up her spine at the somewhat intimate touch of his
hand.

She
remembered as a teenager reading stories about strangers whose eyes meet across
a room and feeling an instant connection, but she’d only scoffed at the notion…
until now. In the books, the spark had to do with instant love, but this wasn’t
about love… this was about animal attraction… and need… and lust! He
practically sizzled with sexual vibrations. She found she wasn’t immune to his
energy… found herself being sucked down into that energy’s fathomless depths.
The feeling was immense, exciting, and titillating.

He
stopped somewhere in the middle of the crowd of dancers and pulled her
confidently close to his body. He placed both hands on her hips, while she slid
her hands up to grasp his biceps. She could feel the hard bunching of his
muscles as he held her close. He was taller than her, and broader, which gave
him the perception of strength and safety. She stepped a little closer into
that safety.

He
nuzzled his close-cropped beard against her hair and inhaled her scent. Unlike
most women, she wasn’t heavily perfumed, but instead smelled faintly of sweet
vanilla with a whiff of Jasmine. He really,
really
wanted this woman. In an old familiar, proven pattern, he slowly guided his
hands up her back. Pulling back from her, he slid his hands up to cup her face
and began to lower his lips to hers.

She
swallowed hard when he cupped her face within his hands so gently. He was just
a breath away from her lips when a hard dose of reality filled her.
She couldn’t do this… not now.

He was
startled when she put her hands on his chest and pushed him away. “So not going
to happen, Cowboy,” she said loud enough to be heard over the music.

He
stared at her perplexedly for several moments. He’d never had a woman stop him
before. He wasn’t sure why she had. There was hot chemistry between them… and
they both knew it. “Cowboy?” he finally questioned.

She
nodded her head. “I imagine you normally have no problem corralling women this
way.”

He
laughed easily. “It’s not always easy. Sometimes, I’m forced to use a rope to
hogtie them into submission.”

“What?
No handcuffs?”

“
Naw
, the lasso has a much farther reach,” he deadpanned.

Repeating
his line from earlier, she said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

With a
small grin, he pulled her back toward him and continued the dance until it
ended. He found not only did he want this
woman,
he
actually
liked
her as well. Go figure.
Probably had something to do with wanting what he couldn’t have.
At least not yet
, he thought to himself
with a grin. But his grin faded and he exhaled slowly. He really didn’t have
time to invest in this little romance. He was here on a
job,
he really needed to focus on that. When the tempo changed back to a faster
beat, he led her back to the booth.

“It was
a pleasure to meet you, little Tasmanian
Devil
. But I
have an early meeting in the morning. Take care,” he said.

Without
sitting down, he picked up his drink, downing it before setting the glass back
down. Reaching into his pocket, he threw enough money on the table to cover
their drinks.

“Thanks
for the dance and the drink, Cowboy,” she said, with more bravado than she
actually felt. She smirked at his obvious rebuff.

“Anytime,”
he answered. With a nod of his head, he walked off.

Devon
Montanez followed him with her eyes and let out a breath. He had to be the most
devastatingly gorgeous man she’d ever met. He oozed sexual confidence. There
would have been nothing more she’d have liked than to be upstairs with him
right now. She closed her eyes at the thought of him stripping her naked and
running those hands and that mouth over her body. While her experience was
limited, she knew he had more than enough. But she couldn’t afford that kind of
distraction right now. She had to concentrate on her purpose here… and it
wasn’t to become involved with an American… no matter how delicious he was.

She
sipped her glass of wine and looked at those dancing on the dance floor. She
found she didn’t’ like sitting alone now… funny how it hadn’t bothered her
before. She heaved a sigh and drained the last of her wine before rising. As
he’d already paid for their drinks, she laid enough money on the table to cover
the rest of her tab and a tip. Rolling her shoulders, she walked out to the
hotel’s parking lot to retrieve her suitcase from the rental car.

She’d
just slammed the trunk shut when she saw someone she thought she recognized.
Moving quickly, she hid herself behind a stand of bushes planted in white,
wooden planters. She watched the Hispanic man as he looked around the parking
lot as if searching for something… or someone. Was that someone who worked for
Miguel? She just wasn’t sure from this distance. She’d thought she’d done a
good job in covering her tracks. She watched the man move toward the back lot
of the hotel.
 

She
turned and ran. She looked back to make sure he wasn’t following her. When she
turned back once more, she ran straight into an unmovable force. She jerked
away as arms reached around to steady her.

“Get
away from me,” she yelled, as the unexpected touch caused fear to flood her.

“Hey,
hey,” a voice said… a voice she remembered.

Devon
lifted startled eyes to the blonde man standing in front of her. Her breathing
was ragged and uneven. She blinked up into the pale green eyes of the man she’d
dubbed ‘Cowboy’.
Thank God
, she
thought.
Thank God
.

He
placed his hands on her shoulders and shoved her behind his body in a
protective measure. He searched the parking lot looking for whatever danger had
frightened the dark-haired beauty. In the far distant corner, he spied a man
walking around the edge of the hotel. He turned back to her and searched her
face. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She
licked her lips quickly and nodded jerkily, her breathing rapid.

“What
happened?” he asked, as he ran his hands up and down her arms in comfort.

“I… I…
thought someone was following me.” She gave a shake of her head and took a deep
breath. I’m just being silly, sorry,” she replied.

Alex
turned his head back to look up and down the area surrounding the parking lot.
Placing a hand on her arm, he said, “Come on, I’ll escort you into the hotel.”

He kept
a firm hand on the trembling woman’s arm as they walked toward the hotel. He’d
been on his way to his own car to get the package Jacob had given him when he’d
watched her moving quickly toward the hotel while looking behind her. Her body
language screamed trouble. He’d searched the area she was looking but didn’t
see anything out of place or frightening.

As they
walked into the hotel, Alex glanced at the woman at his side. Her face was pale
and while she tried to hide it, her lips trembled. He spun her gently to face
him. “Listen, let’s go into the bar and get another drink. I think you could
use one… I know I can,” he said.

She
looked up hesitantly into his eyes before nodding. “Okay,” she murmured.
Anything was better than being alone.
They
knew where she was.
Thoughts kept looping through her mind. She’d have a
second where she’d convince herself there was no way they’d find her here, then
the next thought was right back to them having found her. Her emotions were
scattered. She definitely needed to get a grip!

He led
them to a booth as far away from the pulsating music as possible. He flagged
down a waitress and ordered two stiff drinks. He lifted her suitcase onto the
booth and settled across from her. “Would there be a reason why someone would
be following you?” he finally asked.