“AND THEN HE JUST LEFT?”
Tori closed her eyes at her friend’s incredulous tone as they sat on her back patio at sunset the next day for drinks. She’d been friends with Barbara Bradley for as long as she’d been a photographer and Barbara had been a fledgling entrepreneur with a small modeling agency to service the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.
“He said he’d call me,” Tori added weakly, realizing how pathetic her non-date with Luke sounded now that she’d spilled her guts to her friend.
She didn’t usually share details of her love life with anyone—although some of that had to do with a very sketchy track record—but the lemon bellinis Barb had whipped up were strong. Tori’d found herself midway through her disastrous dinner tale before she second-guessed the wisdom of sharing something that made her sound like a total loser.
“Well, something’s obviously holding him back,” Barb diagnosed from over the rim of her frosted martini glass, her aviator shades propped up on her sleek, dark chignon. “If it’s not another woman, my guess is he’s freaked about the fact that you’re his best bud’s younger sister. That crosses a line for some of those noble types.”
“It’s not like I’m sixteen or something.” Tori hadn’t been able to just write off the embarrassing encounter as a gamble that hadn’t panned out. Her feathers had been majorly ruffled. Luke’s rejection felt personal.
“You kinda like this guy, doncha?” Barbara didn’t let her Long Island accent run free unless she was around people she was comfortable with, but she distorted her vowels all over the place as she teased Tori.
“Of course.” Tori tried not to make a big deal of the suggestion as the scent of a neighbor’s seafood on the grill made her stomach growl. “He’s been a family friend for ages so I like him well enough.”
“You care about this more than you would if he were just a friend,” Barbara announced, standing suddenly and slicing some more lemon for their drinks. “Trust me, I can tell these things. Although I wish you would fall for whichever one of your neighbors is grilling tonight. Doesn’t that smell fantastic?”
Tori couldn’t comment since she was still trying to process Barbara’s insistence that Tori harbored deeper feelings for Luke. What if it was more than just an old crush?
“Luke is hot,” she confessed, remembering what he’d looked like without a shirt. He’d visited the local swimming pool almost daily when he’d returned home every summer during college.
Then again, he looked damn fine even with a shirt.
“Honey, I need food to absorb all the alcohol I’m consuming, so let’s discuss the merits of your lawyer friend while we’re raiding your kitchen.” Barbara pulled Tori to her feet and led the way into the house, where she proceeded to open the fridge, the pantry and most of the cabinets.
“Here.” Tori snagged a package of frozen tofu burgers. “I’ll throw these on the grill. But you have to help me come up with a manhunting strategy.”
Barb plucked the sleeve of burgers from her fingers and tossed it back in the icebox.
“I don’t know what tofu comes from and I won’t eat it.” Then she proceeded to grab cheese, crackers and a knife and waved at Tori to sit, apparently taking charge of the food. “And since when do you need to resort to strong-arm tactics to get a man to notice you?”
“Since I sent one running for the hills last night.”
“You wouldn’t rather focus your attention on a man who won’t run from you?” Barbara wielded the knife with the smooth efficiency of a sous-chef, slicing and dicing her way through the cheddar and moving on to a sliver of leftover Gruyère.
“I didn’t choose a guy based on how quick he’ll sleep with me.” Tori straightened in her chair, shaking off the bellini buzz, trying to assert a little dignity. “I want Luke because he’s a great person.”
“Who also happens to be hot.” Barbara nodded slowly as she divvied up the cheese between two plates. “Got it.”
“So what do I do now?” Nervous excitement pinged through her. She tapped the wind chime made of tiny jingle bells near her kitchen window, the trilling sound an echo of her restlessness. “Bring him dinner? Ask him out?”
Barbara put the knife down with a thunk. “You just did that, remember? And it didn’t exactly yield results. Geez. This situation calls for stealth, not a full-frontal assault.”
“Stealth?” Tori considered her ability to be forthright one of her better qualities. Her practical nature and her willingness to tout her skills without modesty had propelled her career forward for years.
“That’s part of the hunt.” Barbara dragged her plate over to the seat near Tori’s at the kitchen island. “Let’s face it, if your quarry knows you’re on the prowl, they’re going to take cover. What you need is a guerilla attack so you can get close to this guy before he knows what hit him.”
Tori munched a cracker and debated the approach. “That’s not too underhanded?”
Barbara poked her in the shoulder in rebuke. “Do you want him to notice you as a woman or not?”
Hmm…Another Valentine’s Day alone at the bar with her friends? Or a night of torrid passion with the sexiest male she knew?
Her heartbeat answered the question. Her pulse spiked at the thought of Luke’s hands all over her. Luke’s mouth on hers. Luke in her bed.
And oh, man, she needed to fan herself.
“I want to do this.” Hadn’t she paid the price for her mistake long enough? She’d tried to stifle her impulsiveness and focus on work, instinctively behaving like a Halsey even though she’d once sworn she’d die before she acted like the rest of her family.
She would reclaim her life outside of work. And this time she’d live the fantasy instead of photographing the fantasy for the rest of the world to indulge in.
“Great. I’ve got the perfect plan.” Barbara pulled her sunglasses off her head and set them on the island. “Now I just need you to show me those pictures you were looking at with him before he ran out….”
TWO DAYS LATER, Luke prowled his temporary office at his law firm’s satellite branch in downtown Tampa, his cell phone in hand. He came here whenever he was in town to touch base with their company’s sole long-distance partner and a handful of junior attorneys. The branch wasn’t big, but it was growing and they’d recently bought a penthouse-level suite at an office building downtown. Luke had met with his biggest client based nearby this morning. Now, though, he couldn’t focus on anything else until he talked to Tori.
He’d called her twice since he walked out of her place Friday night, but she hadn’t answered and hadn’t called him back.
As he listened to her voice-mail announcement for the third time, he disconnected without leaving a message and wondered what the hell had happened between them. He’d had time to think about her suggestive proposal. Actually, he’d thought of little else since then.
And even though her offer had made him want her more than ever, he still didn’t see how she could have made the suggestion so lightly. Did she make it a habit to proposition men?
He didn’t believe that for a second, but damn. Her family would flip if they knew she was really taking this Valentine’s Day deadline seriously. And she was obviously looking for the kind of torrid affair her family worried about, ever since her Poconos disaster. At least he wasn’t a con man, unlike some guys she’d considered worth her time in the past. Who might she turn to next if Luke rejected her proposal?
He didn’t want to tell Tim about this—no way could he tell Tim about this—but her brother had texted him twice over the weekend to find out how Tori was doing. What could Luke say? Yeah, she’s fine, only her erotic photos have inspired her to troll for a man to help her act out her favorite scenes?
Or had that last part been a creative twist on her proposition? She had him in knots.
Pacing over to the window overlooking the street, he watched an afternoon rainstorm kick into high gear, spattering the glass and falling in sheets on the pavement below.
If he ever got a hold of her, he planned to find out how she thought a man and woman could go back to being just friends after—
His thoughts disintegrated as a car pulled into a parking space outside his building and deposited a woman in a trench coat. Even from five floors up, Luke noticed the hint of dark stocking on her legs as she emerged from the car. Seeing the rain-drenched woman in that distinctive garment reminded him of the sexy photos Tori had shown him. There’d been one of a drenched couple sharing a kiss in a cab.
And damn it. No wonder Tori’d had a tough time focusing on her work when the job required sensual fantasizing for creative inspiration. Pounding his fist on the glass in frustration, he turned on his heel and left the office. He needed some air.
A short elevator ride later, he was in the lobby of his office building, bolting for the door…and nearly bolting right past the woman in the trench coat, who studied the directory of offices.
Now, close up, more than her costume looked familiar.
“Tori?”
He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her long blond hair undone and wet with rain. Her curls had turned dark and kinky, falling in dripping spirals over the shoulder of her lightweight, belted coat.
“Hi, Luke,” she said brightly, then turned back to the directory.
As if they were the most casual of friends, ones who hadn’t recently contemplated sleeping together. Frustration fired through him.
“Can I help you?” he offered with exaggerated politeness.
“Actually, I’ve decided to incorporate my small business for tax purposes. Are there any attorneys you’d recommend in your firm?” She tapped the glass covering the list of professionals in the building. “I remembered you had this mini-branch down here, so I thought I’d work with someone from your extended company.”
She shifted from one foot to the other, drawing his eye down to her legs in dark silk hose. Just like in that damn picture on her computer. Did she run around town testing out the wardrobe choices from her shoots?
“Yes. Me.” He reached for her as a handful of administrative types returned to the building after the lunch hour. “Come to my office.”
She retreated a step, out of his grasp.
“I don’t think that’s wise, given what’s transpired between us, do you?” She hugged a small leather folder to her chest, a case that no doubt contained the paperwork for incorporating her business.
“Nothing happened,” he reminded her, steeling himself against the rush of male interest in what she was wearing beneath her coat.
The woman in the photo she’d taken had flashed garters in the scene. And didn’t that provide a visual he could do without in plain view of the whole building? A tic started in one eye like a mini heartbeat.
“Not yet.” She winked. “But why mix business with pleasure, just in case? Besides, I like the sound of Suzanna Maryweather. I’m sure she’ll take good care of me.”
Clutching her leather binder, she turned in the direction of the glass-walled elevator overlooking the lobby.
The tic in his eye started pounding like a jackhammer.
“We need to talk.” He seized her by the elbow and turned her toward the set of private elevators, needing to speak to her alone before his retinas fried from the sensual wanderings of an overactive imagination.
“If you insist,” she demurred, glancing at the silver watch on her wrist as he pressed the button for his floor. “But I’ve got another appointment after this.”
“And who the hell would you be going to see dressed like this?” He’d waited until the elevator door closed behind them, sealing them inside alone.
“Like what?” She peered down at her wet raincoat and dark stockings. “I put on grown-up shoes and everything. No flip-flops. Even Tim would approve.”
Did she honestly not know what he was talking about?
“You’re wearing the same clothes as that woman in the photo—” He halted the words as the elevator opened again.
Thankfully, there was no one else standing between them and the door to his temporary office, so he hustled her past the small reception area and into the corner digs that had been vacated by a junior partner for his use.
“What woman in what photo?” Tori asked, digging in her heels just outside the door with someone else’s name in brass plated letters.
Her voice was loud enough to attract the attention of a few research assistants and clerks in the middle offices. Unwilling to figure out how to introduce her right now when all his gray matter was devoted to what she had on under her coat, Luke tugged her inside his office and shut the door firmly behind him.
Then he locked it.
“The woman in the photograph you showed me on your computer the other night,” he supplied, allowing his gaze to finally linger over her the way he wanted to.
A small rivulet of water followed the delicate curve of her cheek until she swiped it away. The lapel of her jacket gapped a little, revealing an enticing shadow where a hint of clothing should be.
What if the stockings were the only thing she was wearing under there?
“Don’t tell me those pictures got to you after all.” She set the leather binder down on a nearby chair. “I thought you were immune to my dilemma.”
She walked to the same window where he’d first watched her emerge from a cab earlier. Staring down at the traffic, she focused her attention on the view while he couldn’t rip his away from her. The belt of her jacket nipped her waist to practically nothing.
“Nobody said that.” The rush of possessiveness that came over him was fierce. Primal.
Her hands went to the belt and untied it. Her back was still toward him and his heart stopped. His breath ceased.
Would she really do this here? Now?
Desire surged. He was already moving in her direction, already committing to the affair he probably shouldn’t have.
As she turned to face him, however, she wasn’t even close to naked.
A wrap dress draped her curves respectably, covering her in pale gray silk. He’d let his imagination run away from him and now here he was, inches from her. Ready to back her onto the desk and take her, even though she hadn’t been thinking along the same lines as him at all.
“Luke?” She looked up at him uncertainly, her eyes tracking his as he tried to figure out his next move.
The scent of her rain-washed skin made the decision for him.
“I’ve been thinking about that proposition we discussed,” he managed to say, completely incapable of holding back now.
He skimmed a knuckle along her cheek. A fire roared to life inside him. He had to touch her. Besides, if he didn’t scratch this particular itch for her, who else might she find in his place? The thought of having anyone other than him touch her was unacceptable.
“And?” Her tongue swiped along her top lip, a soft, surreptitious invitation.
“And I think we owe it to ourselves to find out if there’s any chemistry between us.”
Then he slanted his mouth over hers, answering that question for her. By the time he was through with this kiss, there wouldn’t be a doubt in her mind their chemistry was off the charts.