Scandal Never Sleeps (6 page)

I have the info about Crawford’s death I promised in my e-mail. I’ll contact you with a date and time to meet. Don’t tell anyone. Come alone.

A chill zipped through her. She wanted to believe the person contacting her was some whacked-out loon, but she’d received that mysterious, very lucid e-mail yesterday suggesting that she check into Maddox Crawford’s activities in the days before his murder. Not his unfortunate accident or his death. His
murder.
When she’d tried to trace the source, she’d come up with an e-mail sent from an anonymous account, the type anyone could grab off free mail sites. She needed more information to be able to track the person down.

If he wasn’t a deranged creep then . . . what? A sick jerk playing a prank on her? A vindictive coworker trying to trip her up to prove she couldn’t do her job? A creepy reporter fishing for a story? Or someone really trying to give her vital information about Maddox? Everly thought through the angles. The latter seemed far-fetched . . . but not impossible. She couldn’t brush it off. Since getting tipsy apparently wasn’t on her agenda tonight, as soon as she made it back to her loft, she’d start digging. Everly owed Maddox at least that much.

Part of her wanted to text the mysterious bastard back and ask what he was up to. But she needed to be smarter. If inquiries with her
cell provider didn’t net her any information . . . well, she knew a few tricks to hack her way into obtaining phone numbers. This jerk could try to hide, but she had ways to peel back the layers and find the truth.

She shoved her phone into her purse and stood. Pay the bill. Get home. Start investigating. Maybe try to sleep. Her stomach growled. She should probably eat first, but she definitely wasn’t going to hang around and look like she waited desperately for Gabriel.

Everly marched to the bar. “I need my bill, please.”

Shockingly, the bartender stopped. “It’s already been taken care of. Thank the gentleman in the suit there.”

She turned in the direction of the bartender’s gesture, and there stood Gabriel. His tie was slightly undone and his hair was mussed as though he’d run a hand through it. He was just as stunning to her senses as he’d been before.

As he approached, Everly had no doubt this man could make her tingle from head to toe. “Um, thanks.”

“You’re welcome. It’s much quieter out here than before.” He glanced around the now half-empty bar. “What happened to your friend?”

“He left with someone else.”

His grin nearly took her breath away. “Did he find someone to spend the night with?”

“I’m sure he’s hoping so, though I’m not convinced that guy plays for his team.”

Was this stranger flirting? Why was she flirting back? She should stop. He was too good-looking and obviously rich. All she could boast was a decent loft in Brooklyn, one she would no longer be able to afford if she lost her job. She could be out on the streets in weeks.

Ugh, wasn’t she a bright ray of sunshine?

“So, where did your friend go?” she asked.

He glanced back toward the VIP room. “That party broke up. Everyone had to get home. But I was thinking about staying up for a while. What are your plans tonight, Eve?”

That was a loaded question. Her current plan included going to a lonely apartment where she could worry about her future and try to figure out if someone had murdered her friend. She could be alone with her fear and doubt . . . but she didn’t really want to. “I was getting ready to leave. What about you?”

“So was I. I thought I’d get some dinner before I called it a night. I don’t think the food here is going to be any good. Giovanni’s is one block over. Italian might be nice. I can promise you won’t have any trouble getting a glass of wine there.”

“You’re asking me out?” It was a little surreal. She saw much more attractive women still in the bar. Why had he chosen her? Maybe he liked a curvier girl. Some guys did.

His face settled into a polite mask. “I don’t know that I would call it a date.”

“What would you call it, then?”

He stepped closer, into her personal space. “Eve, I want to be honest with you.”

Eve. She wasn’t Everly to Gabriel. Which meant that he didn’t expect her to be a good, polite girl. She didn’t have to be shy about what she wanted.

She stood a bit taller and met his beautiful blue eyes. She could see the five-o’clock shadow darkening his jaw and wondered what it would feel like to brush her fingertips over his face, to run her thumb across that full bottom lip of his. “Honesty is good.”

She wasn’t being entirely honest with him, but it didn’t matter. They were sharing a moment out of time. She wouldn’t see him again. She didn’t even know his last name.

“I’m looking for an escape tonight. I can find it in the bottom of a bottle or I can take you out of here and try to make us both feel good. Why don’t you let me buy you dinner and plead my case?”

He was asking her to sleep with him. A one-night stand. She’d never had one. She’d slept with two men in her whole life, and they’d
both been her boyfriends. Sex had been all right, but something about the look in Gabriel’s eyes told her this would be far better.

He wanted to escape. She wasn’t sure from what, but she glimpsed a world of worries and sorrow in his expression that drew her. She understood loss and longing. She knew what it meant to need a few hours of escape. Hadn’t she been wanting that herself?

A single memory pierced her in that moment. Two days before he died, Maddox had shaken his head over her nonexistent dating life. He’d tried to persuade her to let him set her up on a blind date, but she’d said she didn’t have time. She’d needed to get some reports done and go through the purchase orders on the new hard drives and security systems. He’d rolled those piercing eyes of his.

You need to live a little. Your whole life can’t be spent behind a computer screen. Life is often about taking risks. Sometimes you have to leave yourself to figure out who you really are.

She didn’t have to be herself. Not tonight.

“Kiss me.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. She was never bold or brazen when it came to men. She’d never demanded anything sexually of a lover, but she wanted Gabriel to kiss her. She wanted to see if that spark she felt translated to something truly physical.

She expected some discussion, and when he hesitated, she was more than willing to admit that she’d been hasty. Everly was about to shake her head and try to laugh the incident off when he cupped her face and his body brushed hers. He tilted her head up and his mouth descended.

Soft.
His lips were soft on hers. Gentle. He moved with predatory grace. His fingers sank into her hair, and her hands seemed to naturally find the lean muscles at his waist. Even through his crisp dress shirt, she could feel the heat of his body. It practically poured off him and into her, warming her skin and making her come to life.

He was gentle, but Everly knew precisely who was in charge. His
lips locked onto hers, leading her. A little tug on her hair told her which way he wanted her to move.

Everything about him—scent, taste, feel—made her melt. She forgot where she was, forgot that they were in public. The noise of the bar receded until all she could hear was her own heart beating furiously in her ears. Nothing mattered at all but the feel of his body under her hands, the masterful way he moved her.

“Is that what you wanted, Eve?” He breathed the words against her mouth. “You wanted to see if I can kiss? I can give you more. I don’t simply want to kiss your lips. I want to strip you down and find out if you’re as sweet and soft everywhere as you look. I want to run my tongue over your skin until I memorize how you taste. I want to kiss you so long and hard that you’ll forget you were ever kissed before.” He lifted his head up and dragged in a breath. “So what do you say? Will you have dinner with me?”

She swallowed. His words made everything but her need fall away. “It’s not dinner I’m interested in anymore.”

T
hat’s one suite for the night, Mr. Bond. Do you need any help with your luggage?” The woman behind the counter at The Plaza arched a brow as she glanced at Eve, who stood in a corner, staring up at the coffered ceilings and the huge chandeliers of the elegant, marbled lobby. In fact, since they’d arrived, she’d looked everywhere but at him. Doubt was creeping in. Her darting gaze and tense body language told him that. She didn’t do this kind of thing often, he’d bet. If he let her think for too long, he could lose her.

Gabe tapped his fingers impatiently at the desk clerk as Eve adjusted her purse, her hands skimming along the strap with nervous energy. She definitely wasn’t cool and calm about the one-night stand she’d agreed to.

A gentleman would put her in a cab and send her home, but he wasn’t a gentleman tonight. Maybe he never had been and old Ogilvie had been right. Yes, he knew it wasn’t fair to mask his grief with the lust he planned to slake on her. But he needed her too much now to play fair.

“I don’t need help with luggage, but I do need something else.” He
fished out a couple of hundreds. “Keep my stay here quiet. I don’t need reporters showing up.”

“Sir, at The Plaza we believe in the strictest confidentiality,” she said, but she took the cash anyway.

When he was done in a few hours, he would leave out the back entrance, or better yet have Roman pick him up so they could start prepping for this meeting on Monday with Mad’s lawyer. If there was a person on earth who knew how to avoid the press, it was the White House chief of staff.

Gabe knew that a smart man would not spend this evening with Eve, but would go home and prepare all weekend for Monday’s legal skirmish. He intended to fight for his niece’s or nephew’s rightful inheritance. He didn’t care what the will said or what charity Mad had left his money and worldly goods to. The safety and security of his fortune belonged to Sara, damn it. But Gabe didn’t want to think about that now, not when he had a warm, intriguing redhead to help him temporarily forget.

He stared at her. She made his blood pump, made him feel alive. No way he would let her off his hook tonight. He needed some of her softness, a few hours where he didn’t have to think about anything but pleasure. Monday would be soon enough to battle Mad’s final wishes and his own demons.

After taking the keycard and shoving it in his pocket, he strode to Eve and slipped his hand in hers, tangling their fingers together. He didn’t usually engage in public displays of affection, but the skin-on-skin contact made him feel connected to her. Knowing what they’d do next gave him something to look forward to. Even better, the gesture seemed to reassure her. He needed that because they were about to be alone. Gabe planned to have her aroused and naked in the next five minutes.

As they strolled to the bank of elevators, her heels clacked against the sleek floors. He was grateful as hell that most of the tourists seemed to be out for the night, likely heading to Midtown for a show.

With a ding, one of the elevator doors opened to reveal a uniformed attendant. “What floor, sir?”

The young man’s earnest question made Gabe grit his teeth. There was already too much space between him and Eve, too much time between now and the moment he sank deep inside her. He fished out another bill. “I’ll give you fifty if you sit this ride out.”

The attendant was more than happy to comply.

Once they were alone, he hit the button for the nineteenth floor. The doors closed.

Eve sent him a puzzled stare. “Why did you—”

Gabe didn’t let her finish the question, merely backed her against the wall and fastened his mouth over hers. Demonstrating his hunger was way better than explaining it.

The second his body pressed flush against hers, his senses rioted. He noticed a million things about Eve at once. She smelled decidedly feminine. Her curves were lush. Even in heels, she was petite, barely reaching past his shoulder. She fit naturally in his arms. And damn, she radiated warmth like the sun after a bitter winter.

Eve gasped slightly before she yielded to his lips, but she kissed with a passion that stemmed from her whole being. The woman ignited him.

Since the first kiss had already addicted him, Gabe went in for another.

As he molded his lips to hers again, he buried his hands in the silk of her hair and tugged with enough force to tilt her face and grant him easier access to her mouth. She responded perfectly, following his lead, answering with abandon. When he let his tongue run along her bottom lip, her mouth flowered open for him.

Fuck, he wanted to eat her up.

His heart pounded as Eve kissed him with artless enthusiasm and anchored her hands on his waist—as if she needed to steady herself while he devoured her mouth. Her fingers explored the muscles of his back, clutching him as if she’d never let go.

As the elevator ascended to their floor, she slid her leg against his in blatant invitation. Gabe wasn’t about to refuse her. He took total possession of her mouth, plunging his tongue deep to stroke hers.

Normally, he preferred to play the smooth lover. He usually dated women who wanted to prove they were as good in the bedroom as they were in the boardroom. Most of his lovers had been cool and practiced—and not one of them had made him as crazy as Eve.

She hesitated at first, her tongue tentative. But he persisted until she met him with an endearing hesitance that rapidly turned bold, then demanding. Gabe gladly accepted the challenge.

He glided a hand down to cup one cheek of her incredible ass. The flesh in his grip was round and juicy, and he was sure she probably bemoaned her curves but they were perfect. His free hand joined his other, and he filled his palms with her lush derriere and used the leverage to drag her hard against his body, rubbing himself against her belly. She gasped.

“Are you all right?”

She blinked up at him, her eyes heavy with arousal. “Yes. I just . . . I don’t . . .”

He shook his head. “No
don’t
s tonight. Tell me what you want. Tell me what you like.”

Her lips curled up in the sexiest little grin. “I love it when you kiss me.”

No problem. He was going to kiss her. Everywhere.

The elevator stopped. The doors slid open. He felt like he was freaking sixteen again and he couldn’t wait. He needed her on a physical level and he wasn’t going to be satisfied with anything less than total possession.

She headed out of the little car but walked too slow for him. Maybe she wasn’t comfortable in the heels she wore. Maybe her mind was hazy with arousal. Maybe she was rethinking everything. Gabe couldn’t allow that. Their suite was at the end of the hall, and he had to get her inside before she changed her mind.

He bent and shoved an arm under her knees, his other around her back, and hauled her against his chest.

“You picked me up.” She was very observant.

“I’m a full-service lover,” he offered wryly as he strode down the elegant hallway, focused on getting inside that room and getting her naked.

Her grin became a smile. “That’s good to know, Gabriel.”

He liked how she said his name. Somehow she made it lyrical, as though she was savoring the syllables. She drew them out like his name was the most sensual word she’d ever spoken. He didn’t correct her. All of his friends called him Gabe, but he liked Gabriel with her. “You are incredibly beautiful. Did I mention that?”

She wrapped her arm around his neck. “And you’re both gorgeous and strong. I don’t think a man has ever picked me up.”

So strength was a turn-on for her? He could show her a thing or two because he definitely wanted to impress the lady.

But mostly, he was desperate to get inside her. The need rode him hard.

He had to set her down when he reached the suite and scrambled to find the key. He was never nervous and fumbling. Damn it, he was usually smooth, always in control. He blamed Mad. He blamed her.

Gabe stopped caring whose fault it was the second he managed to slot the keycard in the lock and slide the door open. Finally, they would be alone.

As he gestured her inside, Eve entered on shaky legs. He appreciated knowing he wasn’t the only one bowled over by the chemistry between them.

He closed the door and scanned the room. The curtains gaped open, the lights from the street giving the room a glow that silhouetted her figure. He watched as she walked in, her hips moving in a sultry sway as she set her purse on the couch.

“This is a really nice room,” she murmured.

He didn’t give a shit about their surroundings. “I want to see you.”

Even in the low light, he noticed her breath hitch. “You want me to turn on the lamp?”

“That’s not what I meant.” He never took his burning gaze from her. “I want to see you naked. Take off your dress. Show me your breasts.”

“I’ll close the curtains.” She started to turn to the windows.

He caught her elbow, gently restraining her. “Don’t. We’re up high. No one can see in. Take off your dress. Let me see you in the moonlight.”

Her gaze tangled with his, and he could see a hint of her trepidation. A gentleman might have backed down. But he knew what he wanted. She must want him, too, or she wouldn’t have agreed to spend the night with him. He wasn’t giving Eve the easy way out.

Finally, she turned her back to him and lifted her arms, struggling to reach the metal tab. “There’s a zipper down the back.”

He moved closer. “Let me.”

Gabe ran his hands up her spine before finding the zipper. She lifted her curls out of his way, exposing the graceful column of her neck. Her skin looked pale, almost incandescent in the low light. He couldn’t help himself. He leaned over and kissed her nape, feeling her shiver under his touch.

Slowly, he eased the zipper down, his fingertips brushing her spine. Once he passed her neck, she let her hair fall free, the strawberry-blond mass tumbling well past her shoulders, gliding over her fair skin. Her tresses were soft, too. Not severely flat-ironed. Different, like the woman herself. Fuck, he could lose himself in Eve.

She shrugged, allowing the straps of her dress to fall past her shoulders and drop to her waist.

Her bra looked plain and white. He was used to lacy garments meant to entice a man, so he had no idea why the sight of her utilitarian bra made his cock jerk. She hadn’t been seeking a man this evening, much less intending to seduce a lover. When she’d dressed, it had been for comfort. But now, she was here with him, slowly peeling away her clothes.

With practiced ease, he unhooked her bra with a twist of his hand and slid his fingers under the straps to strip them off. He closed his eyes and allowed his hands to roam across the wealth of smooth skin he’d exposed. He drew her back against his chest and grazed his way up her abdomen until he found her breasts. Full and real, he loved the weight of them in his palms. He drew his thumbs over the nubs of her nipples and Eve rewarded him with a long intake of breath.

“That feels so good.” As she leaned back against him for support, she shuddered and thrust her breasts up like twin offerings.

He would absolutely take everything she had to give.

Gabe filled his hands with her flesh, cupping and rubbing and discovering every inch of her breasts before he grew impatient to have her totally bare and pushed the dress over the curve of her hips. It pooled on the floor at her feet.

Her underwear matched her bra. If she were his, he would buy her La Perla. He would dress her like a goddess in silk and lace and know that she wore the most come-hither lingerie for his eyes only. She could wear her ladylike dresses and cover herself with all appropriate modesty if she wanted—but only until they were alone.

As he stripped off her panties, a wild possessiveness blazed through his system. Gabe turned her to face him, well aware that he needed to slow down but utterly incapable of doing so. He took in the sight of her breasts. They looked every bit as perfect as they’d felt.

“You’re beautiful.”

“I don’t feel that way.” She tilted her face up to his, drinking him in with her stare. There was nothing coy about her expression. She looked at him with naked yearning. “Not most of the time. But you make me feel sexy.”

“You are. I want to be very clear about how beautiful I think you are.” He kissed her again, lifting her up and out of her dress, heading back to the bedroom while his mouth ate hungrily at hers.

She didn’t fight him, didn’t fidget to make him set her back on the ground. She simply wrapped her arms around his neck and let him
carry her. Her fingers sank into his hair and she held tight while her tongue danced against his.

Luckily, he knew Plaza suites like the back of his hand. He maneuvered her toward the bed, his cock throbbing insistently.

He wouldn’t last long. God, he couldn’t believe he was even thinking that. Usually, he could go for hours, but Gabe knew the minute he got inside Eve, he was going to lose control. He needed to make it good for her now because he’d barely touched her and already he wanted to throw her against the wall and shove his way inside her.

As he approached the mattress, he stopped and eased her onto the luxurious bedding. She lay back on the elegant duvet, her hair fanned out and her legs spread. Wanton and yet so innocent. He pulled at his shirt, hearing a button or two pop off, but at the moment he didn’t give a shit. The need to be skin to skin with her drove him to haste. He unbuckled his belt and shoved his pants down.