Heated

Chapter Five

I waited as the door closed, then let myself sag until I was seated on the floor with my back against the wall, two tables laden with dessert refills on either side of me.

He’d rattled me—no doubt about that. Rattled me, intrigued me, enticed me. I may have set out to seduce the man, but I couldn’t deny the fact that he’d turned the tables on me any more than I could deny that I’d enjoyed it.

And I had. God help me, but I wasn’t simply playing a part. I’d enjoyed it. I’d enjoyed him.

How the hell was that possible? I knew damn well the man was a con. A thief. Possibly a whole lot worse. A man who gave the middle finger to the law and the system that I’d sworn to uphold. He represented everything I fought against. Hell, he was everything I’d run from. Everything I’d fought so hard not to be.

Brutally I shoved away the rising images. The ones I fought every damn day. The blood. The fear. The guilt. The crack of a gun echoed in my mind, and the sound swirled together with the scream of police sirens and the long, violent wail of soul-deep pain.

Tyler Sharp was the kind of man who would take the law and gleefully twist until it broke. And there I was trying so damn hard to put it back together—to fix everything I’d once broken—and yet I was ready to slide into his bed?

I couldn’t even fall back on the mission as an excuse. That may have kick-started it, but I was the one who was finishing it. I was the one who wanted it.

I drew in a breath and dragged my fingers through my hair. I didn’t trust him—not even remotely. But I did see him. Whatever else Tyler Sharp might be, there was a hell of a lot more to him than the slick facade. He was a man who was very much alive, who took the world as it came, and didn’t take shit from anyone.

Those were qualities I admired, and for one brief, shining moment I wished I was a girl without an agenda and without expectations. A woman, not a cop. A woman who knew nothing about all the black marks that marred his permanent record. Who wasn’t even now trying to figure out the best way to proceed in order to get close, get in, get the info.

Because that was the crux of it—woman versus cop. The woman wanted his touch, his body. Wanted to feel that heat he generated deep inside her.

The cop knew that once you’d fucked a guy, you risked a blind spot, especially if that guy had already gotten under your skin.

I may have been using seduction as a tool, but Tyler Sharp had used it as a weapon, and he’d cut me down at the knees. He’d seen past the facade to the very real desire inside me, and he’d twisted it around. Used it. Taken control.

God, I was a walking cliché. The strong woman, knocked out at the knees by a smooth man with a hard cock.

Maybe. But I had no intention of losing sight of my end game. I’d come to Chicago to find Amy, and right now, Tyler Sharp and Destiny were my best starting point.

Bottom line—I was going to stay. I was going to walk through that door and back into that party, and I was going to find him. I knew it, and I could tell by the way that Tyler had looked at me that he’d known it, too.

The party was still going strong when I stepped back into the room. That made sense, I supposed, considering I’d been away less than half an hour. But in that time the world had shifted, and it seemed anticlimactic to go back into the room and have everything be exactly the same.

Then I saw Tyler across the restaurant, saw him looking at me. Saw the heat in his eyes.

No, I thought. Nothing is the same at all.

I considered playing it coy, but I wasn’t certain he’d stand for it. More, I didn’t want to. He’d lobbed the ball soundly into my court. Now it was my turn to return it.

I’d checked my purse with the attendant hired to work the party, so I borrowed a pen from the bartender, then scribbled a note on a napkin. I folded it, then called over one of the waitresses and gave it to her. “Just make sure he’s the one who gets it,” I said, pointing to Tyler.

She flashed a conspiratorial grin. “You got it. Good luck.”

“Passing notes in class?” Kat asked, walking up as the waitress walked away.

“Something like that.”

“Buy you another glass of wine?” she asked, holding up two fingers to the bartender.

“They’re free,” I said.

“Don’t let that discount my generosity.” She took the glasses from the bartender and passed one to me. “To success,” she said, then held up her glass to clink.

“Success? In what?”

“In whatever the hell that was all about,” she said, nodding toward the waitress, who had just reached Tyler.

I watched as he took the note, unfolded it, and then—very slowly—lifted his eyes to mine. Come here, he mouthed, and the command seemed to fill me up, warm and enticing.

“Well,” Kat said, a lilt to her voice. “How very interesting.”

I barely heard her. I was already on my way across the room.

Tyler met me halfway, a small concession that pleased me more than it should. I’d expected him to drag out this little power play and make me go all the way to him. The fact that he didn’t gave me a different type of tingle.

“I was very pleased to get your note,” he said, pulling it from his pocket. He unfolded the napkin, then read aloud. “I want to play.” He glanced up at me. “Are you sure?”

“I’m surprised. You didn’t seem like the kind of man who would give a girl an out.”

“Just this once.” He took my hand, then lifted it so that my palm faced up. Slowly, he trailed his fingers over my palm. It was a simple touch, nothing even remotely erotic, and yet it swirled inside of me, heating me up and fueling the desire that had been bubbling under the surface since he’d left me in that corridor.

“Aren’t you even going to ask what the game is? What I want. What I expect.” He bent over, then whispered in my ear. “Don’t you want me to tell you exactly how I intend to touch you?”

Yes, yes, I wanted to scream. I wanted to know. Wanted to be prepared. But that wasn’t part of the game—of that much I was certain. So I stood my ground and slowly shook my head. “I already told you—I want you. That’s it. That’s all I need to know.”

“I’m very glad to hear it.” He reached out for a lock of my hair and twisted it casually around his finger. “That way I don’t need to waste precious time telling you how I intend to strip you naked. How I plan to stretch you out, and then taste every delicious inch of you.”

I shivered. “No,” I murmured. “You don’t need to. But if you want to tell me, you just go right ahead.”

He laughed, warm and full of life. “Tempting. But no.” He took my hand and started to draw me across the room. “Let’s get out of here, shall we?”

I hesitated, suddenly unsure in the face of reality.

He came to a stop, his eyes on my face. “Change of heart?”

“I—no,” I said, too quickly if the smug expression on his face was any indication. “I was just—nervous,” I admitted.

There was a sharpness in his eyes as he moved closer to me, his proximity both calming and rattling me. “Some say that nerves add to a moment’s excitement.”

I managed a wry grin. “Not possible,” I said. “My excitement quotient is all maxed out.”

“Sweetheart, there’s always more.” He took my arm. “With me. Now,” he said, and continued toward the exit.

“Tyler!” The deep voice boomed out from somewhere behind us. “Hold up a minute, man.”

Tyler pulled me to a stop, and I found myself standing hand in hand with him while Cole August closed the distance between us in three long strides.

“What’s up?”

“Just checking. We’re still on for tomorrow?”

“Absolutely,” Tyler said. He glanced at me. “Sloane, meet one of my business partners. Cole August.”

I held out my hand, and it disappeared into Cole’s huge one. Despite the man’s size, his touch was surprisingly gentle. “I won’t keep you. I’m sure Tyler has plans for you.”

His expression remained perfectly pleasant, but his tone held something dark, and as he released my hand, I couldn’t shake the sense of trepidation.

Instinctively, I stepped closer to Tyler, relieved when his arm eased around me.

“Catch you later,” Cole said, his attention shifting back to Tyler. “You’re good?” he asked as his eyes flicked quickly to me.

“Five by five. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“I’ll pull Evan into the loop.” He turned to me, and though his smile was brilliant, his eyes revealed nothing. “Nice to meet you, Sloane,” he said, then turned away, leaving me feeling strangely confused. As if I was missing the subtext.

But then Tyler took my hand and raised it to his lips. He pressed a kiss to my palm, and despite the gentleness of the touch, it set off a riot of sensation inside me.

“Come on,” he said, then drew me toward the exit, stopping only long enough to retrieve my purse from the check stand. Once out of the Palm Court, he led me through the lobby. It was a beautiful area. Ornate without being pretentious. Well-appointed. Comfortable yet elegant.

I barely saw the damn place.

He steered me to the right and down the stairs to the entrance. We stepped through the doors, and he signaled to the valet. A moment later, a sleek black Lexus pulled up, and the valet opened the door.

Tyler gestured for me to get in, and once I did, he rested his hand on the hood, then bent down. He slid his hand around the back of my head, his fingers twining in my hair. He drew me close, then closed his mouth over mine, the force of the kiss rumbling through me, making my body clench and my pulse quicken.

“Tyler,” I murmured when he pulled gently away.

His eyes were warm as he nodded to the driver. “Give Red your address and your phone number. Tomorrow,” he said. “Be ready for me.”

I gaped at him. If he’d tossed a bucket of cold water all over me, I couldn’t have been more surprised. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Anticipation, sweetheart,” he said smoothly. “It’s the most potent of aphrodisiacs.”

“Yeah?” I said, and then flipped him the bird. “Anticipate this.”

He laughed, which really wasn’t what I was going for, and his smile was just a little too smug. “Oh, yeah,” he said, in a voice that burned like slow, smooth whiskey. “I’m going to like fucking you.”

Oh, holy mother of god. My body practically vibrated with a combination of desire and frustration. But dammit, I kept my cool. “You would have,” I agreed silkily, “but you damn well missed your chance.”

And then, before either Tyler or the valet could make a move, I grabbed the handle and pulled the damn door shut.