Text Appeal (10 page)

“You intend to remain a dual-income household?”

God bless the man’s old-fashioned sensibilities. They played right into the palm of
Chaz’s
hands. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for the GM position. I’ve been looking to move up…so she won’t have to work.” He paused for a moment, doing his best to look unassuming.

“I’m sure you’ll advance in your career, driven as you are.” Quinton swirled the amber liquid in his glass. “So, you want the GM position?”

Chaz
gave a soft smile. “Not as much as I want your daughter.” That was his money line. He’d been waiting years to have this conversation, biding his time before delivering the perfect line at a carefully calculated moment. It was true, too. Riley had a hot
bod
, even if she was a bit stuffy. Eventually,
Chaz
would want children, and she’d make a great mother. But what made him salivate when he looked at Riley Carter was that she was the heir apparent to Quinton Carter’s empire. And that’s where his mild affection for Riley sprouted wings and became downright admiration.

Quinton narrowed his eyes, rubbing his beard. “She seems to be fond of you as well.”

The man didn’t have to seem so unhappy about it. Shifting in his seat,
Chaz
reached for his own scotch.

“I’m not young anymore Spencer, and I don’t have much patience for bullshit.”

Chaz
straightened. “Excuse me, sir?”

“I don’t pretend to know your feelings for my daughter, but you’re enough like I was at your age that I do know your feelings for my business.”

“I am ambitious. It’s true, but that is independent of my feelings for Riley.”

Quinton narrowed his eyes. “And you’re here because you’re planning on marrying my daughter? Not because you thought you’d achieve some end by having this conversation
tonight,
two days before I announce the new position.”

Chaz
swallowed. This had to be a trap. “I only want your blessing to marry Riley.”

“Where’s the ring?”

Several dancers came through the doors, talking loudly as they came off their break.

Quinton shook his head as he watched them. “God, I loathe this place,” he muttered.

Chaz
winced. He always wondered why Quinton had been so ready to relinquish the duties from this side of the business.
Chaz
had been more or less running the Black Diamond clubs for over a year, and when he’d asked Quinton to meet him, this seemed as good a place as any. He could see now that had been a mistake.

“Just look at those girls, at how young they are.” Quinton set his jaw. “I should have sold this side of the business years ago, but hell if it wouldn’t ruin my image to sell such a successful venture for
moral
reasons.”

Chaz
swallowed. “All of our girls are of-age, sir, and they seem to really enjoy what they do. Frankly, with the impressive benefits package you provide them, they’d be hard pressed to find another job that could support their families.”

Quinton released a hard breath and turned back to
Chaz
. “I don’t want to talk about this pit anymore. Tell me about the ring. When are you planning to propose?”

“I’m just waiting for the right time, sir.”

“Son, I’m not giving you the GM position. I’m bringing someone in from New York to be the General Manager of Grand Escape.”

Chaz
sat back a little, reeling from the impact of Quinton’s verbal punch. “I’m sorry to hear that. I think I could have—”

“The man I’m bringing in will do a fine job.”

“
I’m not doubting
your judgment, sir.”

“Spencer, I’m not just cutting down my workload for retirement. I need someone to oversee my whole company, and I want Carter Hotels and Entertainment to be in the hands of someone as ambitious as I am.
Someone who has personal stakes.”

Chaz
licked his lips, daring to hope Quinton was headed in the right direction.

“I don’t want you to be the Grand Escape GM, because I need you to run Carter Enterprises.”

Chaz
swallowed. “I would be honored.”

Quinton held up a hand. “The job is only yours if you marry Riley. Like I said, I want my company to be operated by someone with a vested interest and I want to know my daughter will never have to work as hard as I did. I’m not dead yet, and I can still run the business I built from nothing for several years now if I need to.”

“I plan to marry Riley,”
Chaz
assured him. Then, because he didn’t want this to sound too much like the business decision it was, he added, “If she’ll have me.”

Quinton stood with a curt nod. “We’ll talk again when there’s a ring on my daughter’s finger.” With that, Quinton left the club.

Chaz’s
heart was pounding, his mouth watering at what was now within his grasp. Brandy caught his eye from across the room, her blond hair flashing in the club lighting. He winked at her. He was ready to celebrate.

***

Charlie was starting to think he was the womanizing ass the media made him out to be.

“I could get my own cab home,” Riley said with a soft smile, but even as she said the words, she slid into the seat next to him.

The cab quickly filled with the scent of her—something soft and flowery that crept up on him anytime she was near. Sweet and feminine, it made him want to taste her. He hadn’t been able to resist as they’d danced. He had simply surrendered to the impulse to skim his lips along the edge of her jaw, as he would if he were her lover.

“My mother taught me right,” he said, hearing his own voice come out a little too gruff. “You gave me the pleasure of your company at dinner, and now I will see you to your door.”

“Such a gentleman.”
She licked her lips innocently, and his gut clenched.

Did she realize she sat closer to him now, as they left the restaurant, than she had on their drive here? He could feel the heat of her against his thigh. Did she have any idea how much he’d wanted her since the minute she’d walked out of her apartment sporting that black dress? Something about a dress that covered that much skin, it begged to be stripped from her hips.

What the hell was he doing? He
didn’t
poach.
Chaz
was an ass—suspected and confirmed.
Charlie’d
taken Riley out tonight with every intention of nudging her to end things with him. But he didn’t sleep with women who were deeply involved with other men—even if the other men were dicks who didn’t know how to treat women.

Who was he kidding? Riley could be with Prince Fucking Charming and he’d still think she was with the wrong guy. Because right now every cell in his body said that any man but him was all wrong for her.

He’d never enjoyed feeding a woman so much in his life. She’d gloried in each bite as if she hadn’t tasted food in millennia. And the wine…God, the way she’d followed his instruction and let it sit in her mouth before she swallowed, her delicate throat
working...and now her cheeks were flushed and a soft smile curved her lips as she wriggled lower in her seat, her hip rubbing his.

“Thank you for accompanying me tonight,” he said. He curled his fingers into his own thigh to keep his hands in line, resisting the impulse to tuck back the loose wisps of hair at her temple.

She responded with a lazy smile. “
Hey
,” She said the word long and slow, like a child pulling a piece of putty. “We never talked about Lacey’s birthday.”

Charlie tilted his head, studying her in the flicker of passing streetlights through the cab window. “You’re drunk.”

She shrugged. “Not drunk, but not sober either.” She snickered,
then
sunk lower in the seat, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Just between you and me,” she whispered, “I
like
not being sober.”

Jesus. He hadn’t done that on purpose. “Lightweight,” he said, attempting to shift the growing sexual energy between them, to pretend she wasn’t snuggling her body into his.

“My apartment’s right up here,” she said, tilting her chin up awkwardly to look in his eyes. “Hurry and tell me what you want to do for Lacey’s birthday. What did you want to talk about?”

The driver pulled up to the curb by Riley’s apartment, and Charlie handed him a wad of bills before guiding Riley out of the car. “Come on, Princess.
Time to get you to your castle before your date turns into a toad.”

She giggled, following a step behind as he led the way into her complex. “I think you’re mixing up your fairy tales.”

Not at all, but he didn’t need to share his impulse to act as King of the Pond Scum Kingdom right now. He
wanted
to take this little drunken flirtation and see how far she would take it. It was his nature. When he had a good hand and he played it,
dammit
. He didn’t fold because of some busted sense of honor.

She took his arm as he headed up the stairs to her door, where he stopped, set his jaw, and leveled his gaze at the wooden apartment number. To look at Riley and not touch her was too difficult.

“Charlie?” She slid between him and her front door, squeezing his forearm. “Hey, did I do something wrong?”

She looked up at him with those big green eyes. She wouldn’t stop him if he dipped his head to kiss her right now.

She wouldn’t stop him, but she might hate him tomorrow.

“I have a confession,” he said, forcing a smile. “I didn’t really need to talk about my sister’s birthday. I only wanted you to come to dinner with me. And you did, so…
thanks
.”

She hadn’t dropped her hand from his forearm and was drawing small circles there with her thumb. “I have a confession too,” she said with a soft smile. “I figured that out about the time we pulled up to the restaurant.”

He had to chuckle at that, if for no other reason than it let him off the hook a bit for acting like an enterprising jackass. “But you didn’t demand I take you home.”

“Charlie.” Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and he thought
Say goodnight, now.
But he stayed glued where he was, grateful as all hell when she rose up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his.

She was the one who started the kiss, but he was the one who finished it.

Before she could pull away, he plunged his hands into her hair, pulling more strands loose from her clip as he fought to hold on to her. He sipped at her lips first, tasting her sweetness. Then he slanted his mouth over hers. She opened under him. Let him kiss her. Kissed him like she was desperate to be kissed, swept her tongue inside his mouth as if she’d been thinking about this as much tonight as he had.

She pressed against his chest,
then
took fistfuls of his shirt, pulling him closer.

He slid a hand up her side until he was cupping the underside of her breast, and only at her soft moan did he pull away.

Eyes half-closed, lips swollen, cheeks flushed, all framed by fallen locks of dark hair, she was the picture of beauty. She was everything he wanted, and everything he couldn’t have.

“I should go,” he said softly.

Her tongue darted across her lips.
Was she tasting
him there? “I’m sorry. That was a mistake. I shouldn’t have—”

He put a finger to her lips. “Can we skip the conversation where we both apologize and take full responsibility for something neither of us is sorry happened?”