His Wicked Pleasure (4 page)

“Seriously man, what the hell?” asked Paul as he watched his long time friend. He’d never seen such longing on his friend’s face before. Declan didn’t answer but his eyes drank up the woman as soon as she walked out of the bathroom again and returned to her table.

****

Sitting back down at the table, Kristie looked around then asked, “So are we on for tonight?”

“Hell yeah, we’re on,” said Daniella with excitement in her voice.

“Really?” asked Kristie as she crossed her legs and tapped her fingers on the table. She watched Daniella closely. “Have you given any thought to Sean’s response to this?”

“Sean? Sean who?” Daniella smirked.

“You know — tall, dark, and brooding,” interrupted Lorie as she looked at Daniella with a blank expression. 

              “Oh that Sean,” Daniella said flippantly. She fanned the air with her perfectly manicured nails before she looked at them. “Yeah, about him.”

              “Here it comes,” mocked Kristie moving her chair slightly away from the table while she crossed her legs.

              “Well, I’m over the whole thing. I’ve had enough of all the games he plays,” groaned Daniella in a tired voice.

              Kristie glanced at her sister and saw the sadness in her eyes but it was clear that Daniella wanted to drop the conversation. “Okay,” said Kristie doing just that. “What exactly is going down tonight?”

              Daniella looked around while she leaned towards the table as though she was conspiring. The sadness was gone and it was replaced with a mischievous sparkle. With a show of drama, she said, “Tonight, there’s a singles party at Murphy’s.”

              “Oh joy,” said Lorie doing everything but gagging. “I can hardly wait.”

              “Don’t knock it ‘till you try it,” laughed Daniella, twirling her hair.

              Lorie and Kristie laughed but neither of them held out any hope of the night being fun. Daniella launched into a few of the details after they ordered and they chatted as they ate.

              Once they finished their lunch, Kristie turned to the waiter, “May we have our check please?”

              “Your check has been taken care of already by the two gentlemen at the table to your left.”

              Kristie felt heat rush up her entire body as she turned to look over at the two, handsome men. Her stomach felt like a million and one butterflies suddenly took up residence inside her and it made her feel sick. In an attempt to be gracious, she mustered her sweetest voice and smiled, “Thank you for paying for our lunch. That was very kind of you but not necessary.”

Paul kicked Declan under the table as he once again sat there non-responsive.

Thinking fast to cover the blunder, Declan said in a husky voice, “It’s a simple jester in the hopes that you will accept my apology.”

Choosing to ignore the tall, handsome man, Kristie collected her belongings, pulled out her seat and stood up. The moment she turned around her, body crashed into a brick wall of flesh. Slowly raising her eyes, she spoke through clenched teeth, “You again.”

Paul shoved Declan in his shoulder and growled, “Come on man, again?”

~*~*~*~

Kristie threw her jacket down on the bed and glanced back as her sister walked into the room. Raising an eyebrow, Kristie eyed Lorie who was standing with her hands behind her back.

“What?”

“This is for you,” Lorie laughed as she handed her sister a brand new razor.

“Ha, ha. Very funny,” said Kristie taking the razor and tossing it onto her bed. “What time are we leaving?”

“One hour,” said Lori pointing to her watch. “Start getting ready now.” She smiled again before she disappeared out of the room.

Kristie watched her leave and then headed into her large ensuite bathroom. Undressing, she turned the water on and stepped under the spray, erasing the fatigue from work and the memory of the stranger’s body as she crashed into it.

Turning off the water after her long hot shower, Kristie stepped out and began getting ready. Once her hair and makeup was complete, she walked to her closet and stood there blankly staring at her clothes. She had tons of outfits from fitted slacks to dresses and skirts to tight jeans and cropped tops. “What am I doing standing here debating on what to wear? Just pick something for crying out loud. It’s not like I’m going there to meet anyone anyway.”

“Kristie? Who are you talking to?” asked Daniella as she entered the room and plopped down on Kristie’s bed in heap.

“Oh, me. I enjoy talking to someone highly intelligent.”

“Ha, ha, very funny. Almost ready?” asked Daniella looking at her shoes.

“Yes,” said Kristie as she walked out of her closet while slipping a pink chiffon dress over her head. “I’m ready.”

“Wait. I’m wearing pink,” said Daniella frowning. “We both can’t wear pink. Change into something else.”

Rolling her eyes, Kristie walked back into the closet and sorted through her clothes again. Finally, after discarding a few outfits, Kristie pulled out a cute, little, yellow number and changed. “That’s it. Let’s go before I undress and go to bed.”

“Good. Lorie is wearing blue,” said Daniella with false excitement laced in her tone. “We all look great. Now let’s go; our car service is waiting for us.”

~*~*~*~

Walking into the dark lounge, Kristie made her way over to a vacant spot near the bar and relaxed. Taking a long, look around, Kristie noticed a lot of men crowding the bar...most of them handsome and, she assumed, single. Smiling, she said, “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“No, it isn’t,” said Lorie as she smiled at a random guy as he walked by.

“Well sisters, I say we put smiles on our faces and have some well-deserved fun,” Daniella said as she looked around without pause.

“Kristie,” said Lorie nervously tapping her shoulder. “Don’t look now but Lurch and his sidekick just walked in.”

“So?”

“Have you looked at him? Oh lordy, he cleans up nicely,” Lorie’s voice was filled with lust and excitement and Kristie felt a flare of jealousy before she stamped it down.

“Then go talk to him,” said Kristie as she turned towards the bar and ordered drinks for her and her sisters. The last thing she wanted to do was look at that sexy man again. Feeling her nerves take over, she did her best to smile as the bartender placed the drinks in front of her. Fishing into her purse to pay, she said, “Thank you,” before she picked up the drinks.

Handing out the drinks to her sisters, she said, “Here’s to better days for all of us.”

Daniella downed her drink in two gulps and slammed the glass down on the bar. “He’s here. He’s freaking here.”

“He who?” asked Kristie. She scanned the room but couldn’t see the person Daniella was freaking out about.

“Sean. Sean is right there talking to that leggy redhead,” Daniella growled as her plump red lips dipped into a frown. “I knew it. I just knew he was a dog in heat.”

“See,” Kristie slipped her arm around Daniella’s shoulder as she looked around. “Men are dogs plain and simple. They see another tail wagging that’s sexier, prettier, looks better or smells better and off they go. Ugh, just so bloody irritating.”

“Don’t look now but Lurch is headed his way,” Lorie gasped as Daniella shrugged off Kristie’s arm and stomped away. “Right about now I can really use a shot. How about you?”

“Double.” Kristie watched her sister walk over to Sean and slap him across his face. “Make it a triple.”

“Here,” said Lorie handing Kristie a huge glass of amber liquid. “Bottoms up.”

Kristie took a sip and gagged. “Oh gross Lor, what is this stuff?”

“Jameson,” she said watching Lurch and his hot friend walk over to them.

“Evening ladies,” said Paul moving close to Lorie with a huge smile on his face.

Kristie felt her heart pick up speed the moment tall, dark, and handsome swooped in. “Evening,” he said in a deep voice that made her toes curl.

“Hi.” Kristie took another sip of the gross amber liquid and cringed as it burned a path straight to her stomach.

Moving closer to Kristie, Declan inhaled and stood there looking like Adonis only sexier and more handsome with more muscles. Kristie felt her entire body heat up just from his nearness and took a breath to calm her nerves.

“Hi, I didn’t officially introduce myself; I’m Paul Fisher,” Paul said with a huge smile before he nodded towards Lurch, “and this, big guy, is my long time friend, Declan Kavanagh.”

Lorie was the first to speak. “Hi, I’m Lorie and this is my sister, Kristie.”

Paul looked to his left and noticed several vacant love seats in the corner and said, “Why don’t we go sit down over there?”

Lorie looked in the direction he pointed to and nodded, “Sure, that sounds perfect.”

Chapter Four

Kristie hesitated a moment, which caused Lorie to walk over to her and whisper, “Don’t be stupid. Get over yourself. Look at these two men coming over here to talk to us in a roomful of practically naked women. Cut the crap and let’s go sit down with them.”

Letting out the breath she was holding, Kristie followed the little group to the quiet area off to the side. Taking a seat, Kristie smiled at Paul and asked, “Are you two new in the area? I haven’t seen you around.”

“Yes,” said Paul looking to his left and seemed to be thinking before he finished, “We actually just moved here.”

“Really?” Lorie asked as she smiled. “Welcome to the area,” her voice was filled with happiness. “If you ever need a tour I’d be happy to show you around.”

Declan moved closer to Kristie and took her hand in his—an arc of energy crackled between them. “Do you mind moving over here? I want to talk to you for a minute.”

Kristie stood up and moved towards the more private of the love seats. Taking a moment to control her nerves, she took in his extremely rugged features with his come-hither grin surrounded by a nicely trimmed beard and sat down. His jet-black hair was shorter on the sides and longer on top making her want to reach out and finger his long waves.

Clearing his throat, he inched his way closer to Kristie and pulled both her hands into his. “I owe you a huge apology from earlier today. I have no excuse but the truth. You honestly took my breath away. I am sorry for knocking you down and standing there like a freak and not helping you up.”

Kristie put her head down for a moment in an attempt to control her blush. Taking a breath she said, “Apology accepted. Shall we go back to our group?”

“No,” said Declan inching closer to Kristie. “Forgive me.” He brought his mouth to hers searing her soft skin. With one smooth movement, he licked her lips from top to bottom and pulled her thick, bottom lip into his mouth causing a chill to run through her entire body.

Kristie’s mind was racing as Declan’s body pressed closer to hers while his mouth completely devoured her. Getting lost in his masculinity, she let out a small moan and, the moment her mouth opened, Declan took advantage and deepened the kiss. When the kiss ended, he gently pulled away and smiled. “I couldn’t help myself. You’ve been on my mind ever since we met.”

“Are you good now?” she asked with a smile.