My Double Life: Wild and Wicked (8 page)

When he’d steeled himself for the feel of her, he wrapped her in his arms and started to move, wishing he had more to give her this time. But he’d been too focused on work to date anyone, let alone have great sex.

And who the hell was he kidding? He couldn’t last for her because she’d become his fantasy woman. Smart and savvy, sexy and seductive. He ground his teeth against the feelings, but then another climax hit her and he was powerless to hold back. The rocking of her hips against him, combined with the sexy moan that tore from her lips, totally undid him.

He shouted. Gripped the headboard. Lost himself in her.

Sex had never been like this. Not with anyone. Courtney was his hottest fantasy come to life. Utterly uninhibited. So totally
his
. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened between them, but together they’d unleashed a kind of sexual chemistry most guys only dreamed of.

When he recovered enough to remember his own name and roll off her, he wondered if he could talk her into spending the night. He wanted her—again and again—but didn’t want to be presumptuous. What if she didn’t feel that same connection that he did? He didn’t have much of anything to offer her except a good time. His feud with his father was an ugly mess and he refused to involve anyone else in it.

Besides, recovering his position in Hollywood was going to take all his focus over the next couple of years. Dating—and all the guesswork that came with figuring out what women wanted—was not something he had time for.

He didn’t want to give her false hope for a future. When he cracked open an eye to face her, though, she had a wry smile on her face. A wicked gleam in her eyes.

“Guess you didn’t need a lap dance, did you?”

* * *

“C
OURTNEY
?”

I was just leaving dance class three days later when Natalie followed me out of the studio, the
thunk, thunk
of her crutches making it tough for her to sneak up on anyone. I paused near the juice bar at the main entrance, glad to see her. She hadn’t been teaching classes since her injury—the ankle had been dislocated, not just sprained—but she still came into work to oversee things.

Today, she wore a pink sarong over her black dance leotard, her blond hair tucked into such a neat bun that she looked like the ballerina she used to be. Well, aside from the henna tattoo of a thorny vine around her neck.

“Hi!” I felt like throwing my arms around her because I was happy. Absurdly happy. I hadn’t seen Trey since we’d spent the night at his place, but we’d texted and called even though we had both been busy with work. I planned to see him tonight.

Finally. His most recent text had told me to bring my domino mask. But I had an even better surprise in store for him than that.

“You look great,” Natalie observed. I was still wearing my sheer costume from the Dance of the Seven Veils, which we’d practiced tonight. “Do you have a minute for a Pomegranate Power-Up?” She pointed to the juice bar. “On the house.”

I resisted the urge to glance at my watch. I didn’t have many close friends and my dance instructor ranked as one of the best. So I made time even though I knew Trey would be expecting me soon. He’d said he was “sending a car” for me.

As if I was one of his star clients. Ha!

“Sure.” I dropped my gym bag on the floor and had a seat on one of the polished red stools in front of the hammered steel bar. “Do you need help? It must be really tough getting around—”

“I’m fine,” she assured me, setting the crutches against the bar. “Have a seat.”

We exchanged a few words about her injury while Natalie fixed the vitamin-packed drinks. She sold teas and other health foods here, and there was a small gift shop across the foyer. I’d been so intimidated the first time I set foot in here. Hard to believe the dance studio was almost a second home to me now.

“So, care to share what’s given you the new bounce in your step?” she asked as she passed my drink toward me in a martini glass, complete with a toothpick full of raspberries. “Everyone has commented on it. Half the girls believe it’s because you nailed the job for me at Backstage. But personally, I think it must be a man.”

I knew I needed to keep a lid on my relationship with Trey. I mean, if he was going to keep it secret from my employer, then I shouldn’t be blabbing about it either. But I could tell Natalie a few things, right? The news was practically bursting out of me.

Ever since I’d slept with Trey my life felt...fuller, better, happier. It was like a switch flipped inside me that night and I just didn’t feel the weight of my old insecurities any longer. Dancing at Backstage was part of it, too, but most of the change in me was because of Trey. I felt like I’d been living a fantasy ever since we met.

“Maybe it’s a little of both,” I admitted, launching into an abbreviated tale of meeting Trey, deleting the part about him being a client and omitting his famous name. I called him “Tom” just because it got awkward telling a story about someone without using a name. And technically, he was Thomas the Third in his family. I hadn’t found out much about his two younger brothers, but I knew they lived up in Sonoma Valley and that one of them ran a thoroughbred farm.

“Doesn’t it worry you that you met him at Backstage?” Natalie asked, coming around to my side of the bar and settling next to me on one of the stools. “Men can be really...weird about women in sexy professions. I mean, they love to head to the dance clubs, but how many of them will take an exotic dancer as a girlfriend?”

“It’s not like I was stripping,” I was quick to point out. “You know Backstage isn’t that kind of place. Besides, Tom and I have agreed not to take this seriously.”

“Right. Just be careful, okay?”

Didn’t she see how happy I was? I felt compelled to elaborate.

“Natalie, my whole life turned around after you made me go on stage for you.” Some hidden part of me had stepped into the spotlight and really liked it. “I’m seeing someone. I’m more confident. I’m stuttering less.” Sort of. Trey didn’t seem to notice my speech issues, which made me not notice them either. “I was even asked to take a face-to-face role with a new client at Sphere, so I’ll be coming out of the back offices for the first time to give a small part of a roundtable presentation.”

I’d also emailed Trey a few investment ideas—no big trade secrets, just some general advice geared toward his situation. I knew he’d need start-up cash for the next phase of his plan to launch an independent film studio and I’d already studied his financial profile. I would have done the same for any friend. But he’d seemed really impressed and I can’t deny...that felt good.

Natalie drummed her black and silver painted nails on the bar for a moment.

“It’s just such a big change, you know?” She picked up her toothpick full of berries and tugged one off with her teeth. “Call me jaded, but I always worry when I see someone do an about-face in their personality when a man is the cause.”

“He’s not,” I said firmly, readjusting the gossamer-thin blue veil that was slipping off my shoulder. “I owe it to you for pushing me. Not just that night at Backstage, but all year.” When Natalie tried to deflect the praise with a wave, I wouldn’t let her. “I mean it, Nat. Dancing really helped me see that I could be good at something besides numbers. Something fun.”

Part of the reason I’d chosen a finance major back in college was that it sounded like something I could do on my own. I could stay in a back room with a calculator and not have to make conversation with anyone. The plan had worked to perfection, but I guess I was getting tired of always remaining behind the scenes. Time had taught me that my decorator mother had a skewed vision of perfection, and just because I failed to meet her standards didn’t mean I didn’t have valuable things to say.

I was just about ready to finish my drink when the bell on the front door rang. It was too late for any more dance classes, but when Natalie started to tell the tall, strikingly lovely newcomer this, I realized I knew the woman.

“Hi, Kendra.” I slid off my stool at the sight of the gorgeous dancer from Backstage, the one who’d covered herself in the awesome body art.

Too late, I remembered she wouldn’t recognize me without my wig and mask. Plus, I was supposed to be Natalie that night.

“Hi.” She cocked her head to one side to study me. “Do I know you?”

Awkward.

“Er. Um. I’ve s-seen your act,” I said. “You do beautiful body paint.”

“Thanks.” She smiled, her long, dark hair floating around her like some goddess in a Renaissance painting. “I was looking for Natalie?”

“Yes?” Natalie stood with the help of her crutches and shook the other woman’s hand. “I’m Natalie.”

“Right.” Kendra nodded, frowning. “Nice to see you again. I live around the corner and the owner at Backstage asked me to drop by one night and find out if you’d like a spot sooner than the fall lineup. Even if it’s just a single appearance. Kind of a ‘back by demand’ thing.” Her eyes went to Natalie’s ankle and the cast around it. “But maybe you’re not in dancing form with that injury?”

“I’m afraid not,” she demurred, shaking her head. “But tell him I can’t wait to get started in September.”

“Wait,” I intervened, seeing an opportunity to relive one of the most exciting nights of my life. Plus, there had been such a fantasy element to it. What would Trey think of watching me again? “Natalie, why don’t you wait to decide until after you see your doctor tomorrow? She did say the cast was just precautionary.”

Thankfully, my dance mentor stood a little behind me, so when I turned to look at her, I gave her a wink to let her know I had an angle.

“Um.” Natalie frowned. “I don’t know.”

“Can she get back to you?” I asked Kendra. “Do you have a card or should she call the club directly?”

Kendra’s gaze passed back and forth between us and I wondered what she thought of my forceful intervention. But I was so wound up about the possibility of dancing for Trey again in public, I wasn’t thinking about any consequences.

“She can call the club.” Kendra backed toward the glass door. “I’m just a messenger girl. Plus...” She hesitated, her palm on the handle. “I was curious how things went with Trey Fraser that night at the club.”

“Trey.” Natalie stared at me. Hard. “Fraser.”

“Yeah. He asked for you after your number—” Kendra shook her head. “I get it. None of my business.” She smiled, apparently not taking offense. “See you soon, Natalie.”

She pushed through the door and headed off into the night. The hint of smoggy air curling through the air-conditioned studio wasn’t half as oppressive as Natalie’s dark glare.

“What?” I draped a light sweater over my veils to help deflect attention once I left the studio. But honestly, I was excited to dance for Trey in this costume.

“Trey Fraser. Hollywood royalty.”

I didn’t want to know what was so wrong with that. She’d warned me, after all. But right now, I didn’t care to hear any more cautious advice.

“I didn’t meet him after the show.” That much was true. “My new guy’s name is Tom, remember?”

“Sure.” Natalie wasn’t born yesterday. She folded her arms across her chest and crossed her legs. I could see where all her young dance students had signed her cast with pink magic markers.

“But thanks for the warning.” I gave her a smile and headed for the door, already thinking about my private dance engagement with Trey tonight. “And I would love to do that show for you if you want me to. We could split the pay. Think about it, okay?”

I felt guilty for referencing the payout for the dance, but it was the only tool I could think of that might get her to say yes. For now, she settled for a nod.

“Maybe. Be careful, Courtney.”

Her words reached me when I was halfway out the door, all my thoughts devoted to how fast I could take my veils off tonight and still give Trey the most sizzling performance ever.

8

M
Y
PHONE
CHIMED
with a text as I headed through the door into the night. Pulling it out of my purse, I read the note from Trey:

The limo is parked behind the dance studio.

Although I was tempted to run down the street, I was fully aware of the costume I wore. Seven silk veils tied in a myriad of strategic places required elegance. Grace. They made me feel beautiful.

As I navigated my way through the smoggy night past a doughnut shop and an Asian food market, I still couldn’t believe I was having a secret affair with the sexiest and most controversial talent agent in Los Angeles. Or that he seemed perfectly content to keep my secret from my company. Of course, I knew that alone didn’t protect my job. I’d have to make sure no one saw us together. And that could be tough because Trey was a favorite of photographers. He appeared in
Variety
and on
TMZ.
His name came up in the gossip blogs, not just because he happened to be one of the city’s most eligible bachelors but also because of his famous family.

He figured hiring a car for us tonight would be less obvious than taking the SUV, which a few persistent members of the paparazzi would recognize. I had told Trey that I didn’t mind driving to his place, but I’d discovered he was sort of old-fashioned about wanting to chauffeur me around.

When I turned the corner behind the Asian specialty place, I saw a pair of headlights switch on across the street. That had to be him. Fighting the urge to walk faster, I carried myself with all the dignity I could muster so that my outer veil—a floor-length red number that made me look like an elegant Indian woman—wouldn’t flap up and reveal the secrets beneath it.

That was for later.

In the quiet of a street bordered by a warehouse that was closed for the night, I heard the soft electric swoosh of a car window being lowered.

“Excuse me, miss?” Trey’s face was suddenly visible in the back of the black stretch limousine. His gaze ran lazily over my outfit. “I’m looking for a hot brunette who just finished a dance class around here. Have you seen her?”

My veil covered my head, but Trey knew exactly who I was. I looked around to be sure no one else was nearby as I crossed the street.

“No.” I rolled my hips suggestively as I closed the distance to the car. “But if it’s a dance you’re looking for, I might have just the thing.”

A vehicle turned the corner toward us, catching me in the headlights for a moment. Trey came out of the car in a flash, drawing me inside before he followed and closed the door behind us.

“There’s not much room for dancing in here,” he admitted, his eyes roving the red veil. I could tell he was searching for a way in.

He looked fantastic in a dark suit and a white shirt with no tie. His hair stood up in front a little, like he’d dragged his hand through it a few too many times during the day. I could smell a hint of his aftershave now that I sat close to him, and I thought about how nice it would be to kiss his throat down to where the top button of his shirt collar was undone.

A surge of delicious anticipation ran through me and I was already getting hot for him.

“Maybe not the kind of dancing your girlfriend does,” I teased, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. “But I know other,
erotic
dances that they don’t teach in any studio.”

Perhaps it was all the veils I was wearing, but I felt kind of like a genie set free from its bottle. I didn’t think there was any way I’d go back to the confines of my former existence. I’d turned shameless.

“Is that so?” He tried to appear dubious, but I could see the flash of undisguised male interest in his eyes. His pupils widened. Nostrils flared.

My heartbeat sped in response. I thought about the things he’d done to me the last time we were together. The way he made me feel. My God. I’d never had orgasms like that. Ever. Just thinking about his mouth all over me made my skin tingle.

We hadn’t left the curb yet, but with the tinted windows up and the partition closed between us and the driver, it hardly mattered.

“Absolutely.” I slipped a hand beneath his jacket to feel the warm strength of his pecs through the thin cotton poplin of his shirt. “It’s all in the movement of the hips. Would you like a demonstration?”

“I’ve missed you,” he said, suddenly serious.

I was surprised and a little caught off guard. Maybe it was easier for me to handle a bigwig Hollywood insider if I played a role—borrowed a little of my “Natalie” attitude. My secret shadow side. My double life.

“It doesn’t matter to me if we have dinner.” The things I was hungry for could only be provided by this man. In private. “We can go straight back to my place and get reacquainted.” I breathed the words against his neck, kissing his jaw and savoring the rough stubble of his five o’clock shadow.

I wanted to feel that abrasion over my entire body.

“No.” He shook his head, all intense determination as he banged on the roof of the limo and the car shifted into gear. “I need to feed you first.”

There he went, going all caveman again. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. The last time he’d fed me at our picnic, I didn’t eat much, but I’d had a great time.

“Sure.” It was late, but I’d been too excited about this date to have anything earlier so I felt a little hungry now. I traced a teasing circle on his skin around one flat male nipple. “I’ll have whatever you’re serving.”

“Don’t worry,” he growled in my ear, nuzzling my neck until the veil fell aside. I shivered a little from the tingle on my skin. “We’re eating somewhere private. You can dance all you want.”

“Really?” I couldn’t imagine myself dancing in a restaurant, but I knew there were VIP rooms for special customers.

“Really. I had something catered but I told the wait staff we’d serve ourselves.”

“Oh.” I tried to picture this. Did he mean at his house?

“Besides,” he paused to nip my earlobe and then licked the place where his teeth had grazed. “You’re going to need to fortify yourself for what I have in mind.”

Pleasure tripped over my skin in a warm rush. I debated stripping off the veils right there and climbing onto his lap, but I couldn’t let him talk me out of my clothes every time I saw him. He deserved the show I had in mind.

“Good thing I took my vitamin this morning.” My mind went on a little journey just thinking about what might happen between us tonight.

As we headed out of downtown and toward the Pacific Palisades, I languished against the leather seat while Trey skimmed a hand beneath the first layer of my veils. Exploring.

My skin tightened at his touch, my body so ready for his.

Beneath the layers I wore the scantiest undergarments imaginable. The scrap of lace masquerading as a bra was already abrading my skin where my breasts had perked up with interest at his touch.

“How’s your stamina?” He lifted his head, all business sounding even though his eyelids were heavy with arousal. His voice rough with desire.

“Pretty good since I started dancing regularly.” I couldn’t resist touching him. Car rides in Los Angeles could be long. “How about you?”

“I’ll be honest with you. I’m on a mission.” He gripped my wrist in a light hold, preventing me from traveling too far up his thigh.

“And what might that be?” I didn’t mind being restrained by this man. Not even one little bit. In fact, I could picture some scenarios where being pinned beneath his powerful body would turn me inside out.

It’s scary how much I trusted him, but I really liked how he treated me.

“I’m not sure if I should reveal my ultimate plan.” He arched an eyebrow, teasing me.

“Does it involve lots of sex?” I asked, unable to help myself.

“It does.”

I squirmed in my seat.

“Tell me,” I urged him, my thigh brushing his. “Please.”

He rubbed his thumb lightly over my wrist where he still held me. Was it my imagination or did my pulse beat faster just because he stroked that vein with a slow, deliberate touch?

“I’m going to make you sexually dependent,” he finally revealed. “On me.”

I knew he was joking, but it still sent a thrill straight to my toes. Actually, it went straight to other places first.

“I had no idea such a thing was possible.” My throat went dry from this conversation.

My thighs...that was another story.

I shifted positions, wanting contact with Trey.

He released my wrist to wrap his arms around me. One around my waist and the other under my knees. He pulled me up on his lap and I lounged crossways there, one breast nestled against the hard plane of his chest. He felt hard everywhere, in fact. My breath was in short supply.

“I assure you, it’s very possible.” He skimmed one hand up my waist to cup my breast. There, he repeated the same idle stroke with his thumb that he’d done on my wrist a minute ago.

It felt even more potent.

A moan escaped, but before I had the chance to think about it, Trey kissed me. He was slow, methodical, thorough. By the time he stopped, I realized the car had stopped too. I could hardly see straight and wondered how I’d ever get out of the car to have dinner.

“So while you’re making me sexually dependent on you, how do you make sure you don’t...” How to word this? “How do you make sure you don’t become sexually dependent
on me
in the process?”

It was a ridiculous question, even for the wildly flirtatious conversation we’d been having, but I had to ask. Just to see what he said.

“That’s a problem I’m still working on,” he admitted as he set me back on my seat so he could open the door for us.

Even through my sensual haze, I felt a happy warmth in my stomach that was completely separate from sex. This was the feeling of a teenager. That warm, silly joy that filled you up and made you want to dance.

He liked me.

* * *

T
REY
COULDN
’
T
HAVE
scripted a more perfect night to bring Courtney here.

They sat on the stone patio behind his mother’s vacant house, an ultramodern setting overlooking a bluff high up in the Palisades. His mother rarely visited the place but maintained the property to use as a base when she travelled to the States. Trey and his brothers all had keys, but they let one another know when they needed the place. Trey had blocked out tonight to be with Courtney.

The fog had lifted enough that they could see down to the canyon below and the view didn’t disappoint. The catering company had lit the outdoor fireplace, and its warmth kept the evening chill at bay. Candles had been lit under hurricane chimneys on the table. More candles hung in sconces from the pergola overhead. The steaks and side dishes had been placed in the warming drawer when they arrived. All Trey needed to do was take their plates outside and pour the drinks.

Now, as they finished a Canadian ice wine his brother Damian had recommended for their chocolate torte and strawberries, Trey watched Courtney across the built-in stone table.

“This is amazing.” She lifted her glass to gesture toward the view and the house.

“My dad gave the house to mom as a parting gift when she divorced him.” One of his father’s classier moves.

“Don’t most couples try to take things from each other in the divorce settlement?”

“I think Dad was just glad that she didn’t try to take custody of the kids. He’d cheated on her and she knew it—the whole town knew it—so I think he wanted to maintain her goodwill.” That wasn’t the whole truth though. “Actually, I think my mom was the love of my dad’s life. He just wasn’t ready to settle down.”

“He seems like an interesting man,” Courtney noted, taking her napkin from her lap to wipe the corners of her mouth. Her manners were elegant and neat.

“Interesting?” He nodded. “I’ll grant him that much, I guess.”

“Does he get along with your brothers?” She unclipped some gold baubles from one of the veils around her shoulders and attached them to her fingers.

“No.” He stacked their empty plates and slid them aside. “Damian and Luke don’t even speak to the old man. They moved up north to follow business interests. Damian started breeding horses and Luke opened a craft beer venture with a local farmer along the Sonoma Coast.”

“Sounds great. If they need any advice about diversifying and maintaining profitability—” She stopped herself midsentence. “Whoops. Sometimes it’s hard not to think like a financial advisor.”

Trey grinned. “I will pass along your name.”

She shrugged, the flames behind her outlining her body in a warm glow. “I don’t work on commission. I just happen to believe in what we do.”

“What advice do you have for me on profitable diversification?” He wondered how much expertise she was hiding in the back offices of Sphere Asset Management. He hadn’t learned much about her work yet, but in the texts and emails they’d exchanged during their days apart, he’d discovered she often stayed late at the office. She’d been at her desk the night before until ten.

“We probably shouldn’t mix business and pleasure, right?” She toyed with the silk around her shoulders, its short fringe blowing in the evening breeze.

He wanted to hear her say “pleasure” again. And again. Almost as much as he wanted to provide her with that particular commodity.

“Now that you mention it, my thoughts are starting to turn carnal.” He’d had a bedroom suite cleaned for their arrival. He happened to know the fireplace inside was already lit, the balcony doors open to the night air on the second floor.

“It’s the chocolate torte,” she teased. “There’s something very sexy about it. I think it’s an aphrodisiac.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s you.” He skimmed aside one of the layers of fabric that covered her upper arm.

“Wait!” She tugged the scarf back into place. “I need that.”

“I think clothes are going to get in the way of what I have in mind.”

“Then you must have forgotten that I wanted to give you a private show.” She pushed back the cast-iron seat, the legs making a metallic scrape along the stone floor of the patio. “Do you have a sound system out here?”