Play Me to Infinity (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 3) (6 page)

As always, the venue was upscale.  The Mediterranean restaurant had it all: eclectic music that emitted sensuality, complementing décor, premium liquor, and a fabulous wait-staff.  Winthrow had impeccable taste when it came to culinary institutions, and it sure showed by his waistline.

I found myself indulging in a drink after George had persuaded Nicole to dance with him. 

Watching as the man sashayed her around, making her laugh, I felt envious of George for putting a smile so large on her face.  These days, the woman radiated with glee, so long as I wasn’t close to her.

“I haven’t had that much fun dancing since before my wife passed,” George said as they returned to their seats.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”  She leaned over the table’s edge and put a hand over his.  “I don’t think I’ve ever danced with someone who knew how to handle a dance floor like that.”  She giggled.  “Not for years anyway.”

“Then you haven’t seen this guy.”  George pointed toward me.

“Really?”  Her eyes held a mischievous glint.

“If you think I’m good, he’s Fred Astaire,” he joked.  “You should have seen him at last year’s Christmas party.”

“Is that so?”  She tapped her chin with her index finger.  “Interesting…”

“You don’t believe him?” I asked.

The older man chuckled.  “I think this girl’s just invoked a challenge, Michael.”

“I think you’re right.” I stood.  With a smirk, I put my hand out for her to take.  “Let’s dance.”

Nicole laughed and winked at George while accepting my invitation.  “Show me what you’ve got, boss man.”

The minute she put her hand in mine, I pulled her to her feet and into me.  Her eyes went wide with surprise.  I released my hold around her waist, twirled her and then proceeded to lead her toward the open floor.

The seductive tone of the music rendered it unsuspicious of our close proximity and so I took advantage of it.  Her body molded perfectly to mine, pliable to my lead.

“Point proven!”  She let out a sultry laugh.  “Where did you learn all of this?”

“There are perks to dance lessons when you’re prepping for a wedding.”  I looked past her, unwilling to let her see the resentment in my expression, although my tone was more than enough to convey it.  “That was one of the things I did to keep Tracey happy.”

As if she knew I didn’t want to talk about my ex any more, she kept quiet until I broke in.  “You don’t seem too new to this sort of stuff either.”

“I’ve been dancing since I was three.”

“So those leggings and leotards weren’t a new fashion trend you were trying to start?”

Nicole laughed.  “I wasn’t the best for clothes, but I was never that
bad, Mike.”

“I agree.” Our eyes locked and I could swear the temperature ratcheted up a notch or two.

Nicole broke the connection first and looked in our table’s direction.  “We should get back.  George looks lonely.  Thanks for the dance.”  She tried to pull back, but I pulled her into me and gave her a sensuous dip.  I bent forward toward her and followed her back up, our faces mere inches apart, her breath fanning over my lips with a hand on her thigh, holding her close.

I smiled.  “You’re welcome.”

Disentangling ourselves, I wrapped her arm around mine and escorted her back to our table.

“You two looked comfortable out there,” George said, “like two lovers just getting warmed up.”

“Must have been the song.”  Nicole shrugged her shoulders and took a large sip of her wine, avoiding eye contact with me.  “It’s easy to make it look like that when you have a good partner.”

“You two sure know how to make it look effortless,” Winthrow said.  “If I’d dipped a woman like that, I’d probably pull my back out, or fall flat on my face, crushing my partner.”

Nicole gave the man a polite smile and I chuckled.  The aura of suspicion had evaporated and the three of us fell into another comfortable conversation.

When dinner was over, Winthrow got up to take his leave.

“You’re off?” I asked.

He nodded.  “This old fogy is in need of some sleep.  I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

I shook his hand and he kissed Nicole on the cheek, bidding us both a good night.

“We should get going
too,” Nicole said when Winthrow had been gone for all of two minutes.

“Maybe you’re right.”  I made to get up and offered her my hand.

On the ride back, the town car was silent with a ponderous Nicole.  Her legs were crossed at the knee and the skirt of her dress had ridden up, exposing a generous amount of her bare thigh.  My hand moved to trace dainty patterns on it.

She looked down at my hand.  “W-what are you doing?”

“Having fun,” I said with nonchalance.

The driver eyed us in the rear-view mirror.

“Keep your hands off,” she whispered.  The increase in her breathing proved further that I was getting to her.

I leaned into her ear.  “Why would I do that?  You can’t play this game according to your rules, Nic.”  I nipped her earlobe eliciting a shiver.

“Mike.”  I smiled, nuzzling the skin of her cheek and, whether she meant it or not, her head tilted toward my nose as if begging for more.

“You’ve caused me a lot of trouble
today,” I told her.  “I think it’s only fair that I collect.”

“I thought that’s what you did when you came to fetch me before dinner.”  She pulled away to look me in the eyes.  “I’m not sleeping with you, Mike.”

The car stopped at our destination.  The driver exited and came around to let us out.

“We’ll see,” I said with confidence, turned and left the vehicle, offering her my hand.  She made to take it and then decided otherwise, but too little too late. I grabbed onto her wrist and helped her anyway.

When the elevator doors closed, we found ourselves alone in our confines.

“Ready for tomorrow?” I asked casually.

Nicole’s brows furrowed.  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because we’re flying back.”

She grumbled.  “You just had to remind me.”

“Don’t worry,” I turned to her, “it gets easier.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Remind me to get drunk before boarding this time.”

I harrumphed. “What’s that going to help?  You were worse after your two drinks the last time.”  I stepped toward her.  “I have other ways, you know.”

“I’m sure you do,” she said and held out her hand, stopping me from getting closer.  I applied pressure against it, setting my palms against the wall on either side of her head and leaned closer.  “I’m not sleeping with you,” she repeated her earlier words, but her statement didn’t seem as adamant.

“So you say,” I whispered and closed the gap between us with an intense kiss that made my head spin.

When our elevator reached its destination, she was plastered to my body, her legs around my waist, fingers fisting my hair and pulling me into her as I had a hand on her ass and my other on her back.

I opened my eyes and began to walk us to her room, which was closest.  I pinned her against the wall beside her door and indulged in the soft skin of her neck, all the way down to the spot where the swell of her breasts began.

She arched into me like a cat in heat.  I slowed my ministrations as I aimed for another taste of her mouth.

The realization that I wanted her like I wanted my next breath hit me tenfold, and I knew I had to end this.  Despite my obvious attraction to Nicole, the dance we’d been doing over the course of the day wasn’t a game I wanted to play.  It was hers.  And she deserved more than that.  If I were being entirely honest with myself, so did I.

My aggression tapered off and our kisses grew softer, almost tender, as I let her slide down the wall, feeling her every curve against my body.  Her moist breath hovered over my lips when I managed to find enough resolve to pull myself away from her.

Eyes shut, I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath before opening them and seeing the deep greens of her irises.  She was mesmerizing when she was fired up with sexual tension.

“I…” I backed away, feeling the heat of her body desert me altogether.  “Goodnight, Nic,” I said with a hoarse voice before turning and walking toward my room.  Not wasting time, I entered it, bolted the door, and took a deep breath as numerous thoughts careened together in my head.

Why the hell did you ever agree to this?

My competitive nature had caused me to give in to Nicole’s games, not to mention my lust had been a strong player in that decision as well.  The problem was that the more time I spent with my assistant, the more I wanted her.  And the less of a game it was.

I had to put a stop to it.

The day flew by, leaving me feeling restless without any further advances from Nicole.

Sure, it was what I wanted, but her lack of attention throughout the day, the drought in conversation that had been reduced to short and abrupt answers,
left me thinking that my backing away from last night’s heated interlude had left her insulted.

Despite Nicole’s mood, or maybe because of it, I felt the need to make amends after our last meeting ended.  I scrambled to get a packet of anti-anxiety medicine from the hotel’s concierge.

“Here.”  I handed the medication over.  “Take this before we take off for the airport.”

Without more than a thanks, she took the meds with the help of the bottle of water she had in her purse.

By the time we arrived to check in for our flights, however, I noticed that the drug’s desired effects had yet to take.  Nicole’s twitchy demeanor had me grabbing for her hand.

What surprised me the most was the fact that she wasn’t fussing to get away.  My thumb rubbed the top of her soft skin in a soothing manner and I felt her body slump toward my side as she relaxed against me, in line.

Nicole’s steps halted as we reached our seats.  When I finished stowing away our luggage, I noticed she had yet to sit down.  One look down at my ticket had me realizing that they’d assigned her another window seat.

“Do you want to switch?”

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” And we did just that.

“Thank you,” she said with a shaky voice.

Within fifteen minutes, the plane made to taxi the runway for takeoff.  Nicole stiffened and grabbed the ends of the armrests.  I watched on as, with eyes closed, she took deep breaths.  She mumbled something inaudible to herself which I could only presume were words of courage.

Her death-grip on the armrests tightened as her attempt at controlling her fear was failing.  When the plane sped up to take off, I grabbed her hand myself and turned her head to face me.

“Kiss me.” She shook her head.
“Just kiss
me, Nicole.”

I didn’t wait for another response.  I pulled her face to mine and kissed her deep and soft.  She moaned in my mouth, her hands cupping my face as she gave in to my distraction.

The plane’s landing gear left the pavement and the small bout of turbulence started as we gained altitude.

When the plane smoothed out, I pulled away and leaned my forehead to hers, trying to regain my breath.  I could have easily kept on kissing her, instead I asked, “Better?”

She bit her bottom lip and nodded.  Seeing her lean in for more, my heart swelled but I backed away regardless.

She huffed, turned to face forward and said, “Why’d you do that if you don’t want to kiss me?”

“Trust me, honey,” I began, “I want to do more than kiss you right now.”  I turned to look at her and saw the deep crimson infuse the skin of her
face and neck.

She leaned into my ear and whispered, “It’s too bad you can’t have it all, huh?”  Her teeth nipped my jaw before she pulled back.

I guess the games weren’t over.

“Devil
woman,” I mumbled under my breath, feeling her body shake with laughter.  What surprised me most was that she had yet to release my hand, despite all signs of panic having left her.

When our flight began its descent, Nicole grabbed hold of my face and pressed her forehead to mine.  Her eyes were shut tight and her breath, scented of mint and coffee, fanned over my face.  My mouth watered for another taste of her, but the kiss remained absent.

When the plane touched down and halted at the gate, I caved into my urge, but only slightly, as I pressed my lips to hers in a chaste peck.

“Well done.” I smiled.  “You’ll adjust just fine.”

“Yeah, with a butt load of tranquilizers and a man to hold my
hand,” she said, nowhere near as terrified as she’d been the first time around.

“Do this often enough and you won’t be in need of either.”  I gave her thigh a supportive squeeze.  “Come on, let’s get you home.”

Exiting the airport, I hailed us a cab, ordering the driver to drop her off first.

We pulled up to a large house with darkened windows and a well-lit porch. 
Business must have been good.
  I turned to her and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She nodded.  “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Making the driver wait, I watched on until she was tucked away inside before heading home.

Exhausted and flustered as I walked through the threshold, I grabbed a beer from the fridge and collapsed on the couch to check my messages.  Scanning through all of them, I landed on one from Danica.

As I was about to dial her number, my phone rang in my hand.

“Think of the devil…” I said, smiling as I answered.  “How are you, sis?”

“I just got a call from Nikki who said that there’s a proposition I need to take a look at?”

I grumbled, my easy-going mood having evaporated.  “Hello to you too.”

“What’s this about?”

“It’s nothing and I’ve already told Winthrow we weren’t going for it.”

“Uh-huh!  And that’s why Nicole thinks that it’s something worth looking into?”  I didn’t answer.  “So how’s it going with you two around the office?”

“Fine.”  I left it at that.

“The tension’s gone?”  Her voice denoted she didn’t believe the possibility.

“I wouldn’t say that.” I recalled the events of the previous day and how she’d set me on fire.  “It’s fine.  We’re fine.”

“Why do I sense that something’s up?”

“Why do you think that something’s up?”

“Because Nikki sounded weird when I spoke to her and, come to think of it, so do you.  Did something happen in Austin?”

“You mean, aside from me having to prevent her from passing out from a panic attack on the flight there… maybe,” I said without thinking.

“Mike!  Wait, she freaked out?”

“Yeah.” I chuckled.  “She’s never flown before.”

“Never?”

“Nope.”

“Huh!  Funny, I never knew that,” she said.  “So what do you mean by ‘maybe’?”  I could see that my lack of censorship was going to cost me.

“Maybe something happened… maybe it didn’t.”

“What happened, Michael?”  She sounded less than humored.

“A gentleman never kisses and tells.”  It had been a while since I’d riled up my sister.

“You didn’t!” she said with shock.  “She would never!”

“Why don’t you ask her who came up with the latest game?”  I told her.  “Let me tell you one thing, Nicole sure has changed some since her high school days.  She’s not so innocent.”

“I’m asking you, Michael,” she whined.  “What did you do to her?”

“Far less than she’s done to me, that’s for sure,” I mumbled.  “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get to bed.  Your best friend has been wreaking havoc on my sleeping habits.”

“You fucked her!”  She shocked me with how crass her conclusion sounded, just as much as she accused instead of inquiring.

“What?  No!” I began to ramble.  “I just haven’t been sleeping that well.  Then there was the whole thing at the hospital, and the hotel bar…” 
Why the hell am I telling her this?

“The hospital?  What happened that you needed the hospital?” she asked.  “And what bar?”

“When you were in labor, we ran into one of her old friends.”

“Oh no… not Dean.”

“Yeah… how’d you know?”

“There’s a reason why she doesn’t like you,” she began, “and it all boils down to him.”

“I kind of figured as much.  The guy’s an idiot, by the way.”  I figured that Danica might know why, so I asked.  “What happened?”

“Look, it’s not my story to tell, but whatever games you two are playing, you need to stop.  She’s been through more than enough and I love you both too much to see either one of you getting hurt.”

“I’m not playing her, Dani,” I told her.  “It’s more than what I can say for her, though.”

“She wouldn’t!”

“Oh, trust me, she would, and she’s got game too.”

“Why do you seem bummed about that?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe because she shouldn’t be playing around.  Maybe because she deserves better than what was handed to her?  She’s driving me insane, sis.”

“You have a thing for her?” I heard the smile in her words.  I didn’t answer.  “You do, don’t you?”

“I think this conversation is over.”
I sighed.  The last thing I needed was Danica in the middle of whatever this thing was between Nicole and me.  Changing the subject, I said, “The meetings went well, the Austin division is back on track and that proposition will be chucked in the shredding pile whenever I get my hands on it.  Goodnight, Dani and kiss those new babies for their uncle will you?”

“Don’t you dare hang up on me!” I heard through the phone as I hit the end button.  She called me right back, but I sent her straight to voice-mail
and powered down with a great deal of satisfaction.