The Best Man (7 page)

“You enjoy playing the bad girl, don’t
you?”

She stretched out across his chest
and nipped at his chin. “How do you know I’m playing?”

“I don’t, for sure. I’m guessing.”

She propped herself up on an elbow
and grinned. “And do you have a remedy for bad girls?” She waggled her butt
suggestively.

He took the hint and swatted her
bare butt with enough strength that she flinched. She leaped off him and off
the bed. He frowned, certain he hadn’t slapped her that hard.

“I’m going to take a shower and
clean up.” She held up her palm as he tried to stir. “Alone.” She lifted the
hand he’d used to spank her bottom to her lips and kissed its palm. “I do
believe I’m going to enjoy playing bad girl with you again.”

Jared watched the blonde disappear
into the bathroom and close the door behind her. He threw his arm over his eyes
and groaned softly. She was going to be a handful.

He’d expected her to push him some,
but she was going beyond his expectations. If she wanted to play with him, he
didn’t mind the idea of playing with her.

Why was she so intent on shocking
him? At least he thought that was what she was trying to do. Was she telling
him he could have her body any way and every way, but that was it? Was she
trying to make him think she was simply a woman who only thrived on the edge? He
knew she was capable of much more—not that it really mattered to him. Still, he
knew she was a woman of considerable depth beyond sexual prowess. She was an
incredibly successful businessman. He knew her daughter, so he knew Kitty was a
fine mother. He sighed. And she was damn inventive in bed.

He didn’t mind being the current
beneficiary of her talents, but it niggled at him that she seemed so protective
of the rest of herself.

Kitty Paige was turning into a
challenge in unanticipated ways. Jared studied the ceiling. Maybe that was part
of the definition of a challenging woman—she was often doing the unexpected.

CHAPTER FOUR

Mid-morning, Jared snapped his
laptop shut. Commodities were skyrocketing around the world—particularly
copper, gold, and platinum. He yawned, giving his suite a once over. He didn’t
expect corporate spies to emerge from the woodwork, but he’d learned the hard
way about corporate espionage.

His computer was as secure as money
could buy. No one could be trusted, including hotel housekeeping staff. He
locked his computer in a special wall safe.

How about lovers? He grunted an epithet.
He’d learned that lesson the hard way, too. Repeatedly. They couldn’t be
trusted. Period.

He picked up the morning newspaper
and flipped through it. Concentrating on the words proved difficult—not that
the news was so bad. He leaned back briefly, closed his eyes and flexed his
fingers.

Was Kitty Paige purposely trying to
get under his skin? Damn, she was a dynamo—in and out of bed. She went hot and cold
like a poorly made heating blanket. She hadn’t invited him to stay the night. He
wasn’t about to ask. He’d finally called a taxi.

Looking perhaps a little awkward,
she’d explained she had an early closing to attend this morning. Maybe she did.

She seemed so protective. Of what? He
didn’t think he’d ever been with a more sexually aggressive woman than Kitty. She
seemed to delight in being at least one step ahead of him. Did she really think
she could shock him? And why would she want to?

Jared smoothed out his mustache. He
might yet come up with a thing or two to surprise her.

She hadn’t even indicated any
surprise that he’d flown to Chicago. She had to know the horses were only a
smokescreen to get close to her.

Close. Jared set the paper aside. He’d
never forget the vision of his woman in yellow propped against the entryway
door wiggling her lovely ass at him. He’d purposely not removed her yellow top.
He’d dreamed so much about her wearing yellow, it seemed perfect that their
first mating would take place with her in yellow.

He wet his lips remembering how her
anus had been nearly as open to him as her pussy. She’d made it clear on the
phone she had nothing to offer him that hadn’t been used. He sighed heavily. She
hadn’t failed to excite him with the two orifices they’d already tried out. He was
sure the third would be no less intoxicating.

And damn, that was part of what
bothered him. Kitty Paige was intoxicating. She was a walking aphrodisiac, and
he wanted more. He needed more. Damn it, he’d demand more.

But he wanted more than her mouth,
her asshole, and her pussy. He wanted a small window into who the hell the
woman was. He wasn’t looking for anything long term—good God—but he prided
himself that with few exceptions, the women he’d loved knew they’d been loved,
for a time. Raw sex—superb sex—without some emotional bond, however fragile and
temporary, was not enough. At least not for him. How could it be enough for
Kitty?

He checked his watch. She’d agreed
to meet him for lunch. That might mean they’d actually have a chance to talk
about something other than sex.

Jared rose from the chair and
chuckled at the irony. It was usually
he
who was trying to smooth talk
his way into a woman’s panties.

- o -

Kitty adjusted the dark sunglasses
as she got out of her car. She smoothed out her canary yellow mid-thigh skirt
and straightened the collar on the pale blue blouse. She paused to undo one
more button, smacked her lips and then set off for the restaurant to meet Jared
for lunch. The clack of her yellow high heels announced her arrival and her
breasts bobbed freely with each lengthening stride. She grinned as men and
women stared at her.

What did they see? What were they
thinking? Did they see a successful business woman? Did they see wealth? Did
they see class? Did they see a hot woman on the prowl?

They see a whore!

Somewhat shaken, Kitty avoided
stumbling. She paused, heaved a sigh and looked quickly around.
Fuck you,
Daddy
. She hadn’t heard his voice for years. She certainly didn’t have to
start that up again. She’d paid thousands of dollars to shrinks to erase those
tapes from her brain. Why now?

She ran her fingers through her
curls one more time, squared her shoulders, and stepped through the restaurant foyer.
She immediately spied Jared waving at her from a corner booth. He stood when
she approached the table. She grazed his cheek with her lips and took a seat
across from him. Unsure whether the shock of hearing from her father again
still registered in her eyes, she left her sunglasses in place. If that
bothered Jared, he didn’t say anything. Ever the gentleman. That was beginning
to irk her. Was he ever
not
a gentleman? Even when he slapped her bottom,
he’d done that with finesse.

“Busy morning?” he asked politely.

She nodded. “Harried. Things seldom
go as planned.”

“Or as they appear,” he chimed in.

Was he alluding to her? She was too
rattled to play games. Maybe she should’ve cancelled lunch. She placed the
sunglasses on top of her head to read the menu. Blinking at the blurring words,
she fought for control. She’d make this a quick lunch. She had to get away so
she could think. Should she call her shrink?

She glanced up at Jared, who seemed
intent on studying her every move. That didn’t matter. No matter what she or he
wanted, she couldn’t run away with him this afternoon. She had things to take
care of. She swallowed. She’d pay him back tonight—if she hadn’t freaked out by
then.

After they placed their orders,
Kitty set out to make her plans clear. “So will you be going to the track this
afternoon?”

“You trying to get rid of me?” Jared’s
face remained passive and he waited for a response.

“No. Of course not,” she stammered. “It’s
just that I’m terribly busy today.” She pouted. “You didn’t warn me you were
going to show up on my doorstep.”

“Like a stray dog,” he quipped. “Kitty,
I understand you’re busy. Believe me, I know what busy is. And you’re right,
maybe I should’ve called before I flew out here. But the idea of surprising you
seemed to have lots of merit.”

She reached across the small table
and squeezed his fingers. “And I was surprised.” She wet her lips. “Pleasantly
surprised. But…”

“But you’re terribly busy.”

She nodded.

“Am I cutting in on some young Turk’s
territory? I can get out of here, if that’s what you want.”

“No!” She lowered her voice. “It’s
not you. And there’s no one else—at the moment.”

“Sort of caught you between lovers,
I guess.”

“Something like that.” She tilted
her head to the side. She had to be careful. She could blow whatever they might
have cooking with the wrong word or even look.

Mercifully their sandwiches arrived,
giving her a little more time to collect her bearings. She watched him take a
bite of his ham and cheese and held back a groan, remembering the feel of that
mouth tugging on her pussy.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
She wasn’t ready for him
to fly back to California if he wanted to stay.

“Fridays are one of the busiest
days,” she explained. “It’s a big day for new listings. Most banks are closed
on the week end.”

“And…” His lips twitched.

Could he possibly know how much that
damn little moustache tormented her? “I have an open house for a few hours
Sunday afternoon—otherwise my weekend is fairly clear, if you’d like to spend
more time together.”

“That’s something, I suppose. So am
I to be your houseguest, or do I commute from the hotel?”

She looked quickly down at her
plate. He was pushing her—she liked the freedom of having her own space. And it
was nice to know she had her home if things didn’t go well.

She peered back at Jared. He sat
there poised and cocky. She knew he was toying with her. He was daring her.
Damn
him
.

She nodded her chin slowly. “House
guest,” but she quickly added, “only if you agree that you’ll leave as any
gentleman would if I ask you to.”

He nodded. “The lady strikes a
bargain. So you believe I’m a gentleman.”

“Aren’t you?” She couldn’t decipher
the emotion flickering across his dark eyes.

“You’ll have to be the judge of
that. So I understand you’re a preacher’s kid.”

Kitty gulped and searched her purse
for her smart phone. “I forgot to enter an appointment,” she said with a slight
tremble. When she finished with the entry, she stowed the phone back in her
purse and lowered her sunglasses.

When she glanced back at Jared, he
had that damn amused look on his face. “Oh,” she said, as if she’d forgotten
his question. “Yes, my dad was a preacher.”

“That must’ve been like growing up
in a fish bowl.”

She shrugged her shoulders and
picked at her French fries. “You get used to it.”

“Yeah, like you can get used to
anything.” He leaned back in the booth and appraised her. “You must’ve been a
handful when you were a teenager.”

A chuckle broke her lips. “Long
before that.” She scowled. “So how do you know so much about me?”

“I know your daughter, remember?”

“Oh.” Her stomach clenched and her
lungs froze. What had his son said—probably most every man attending the
wedding would’ve slept with Susan. Good God! She’d never seriously thought
Jared might’ve been one of those men.

She shoved her shaking fingers under
the table. “I’m sorry,” she said as calmly as she could, “but I really have to
go. I can’t think straight at the moment. There’s just too much I have to do
this afternoon.”

Jared stood as she slid out of the
booth. “So am I still invited to come by tonight? We could do dinner.”

“Of course,” she mumbled, not
wanting to look at him directly. “I’ll be ready by seven.”

She scurried away from him. Her high
heels no longer echoed power, but rather, retreat. By the time she reached her
car, retreat sounded like a great idea. Retreat from her work, retreat from her
daddy, retreat from Jared. But she knew from experience she could never retreat
from herself.

She’d made one decision on the way
out of the restaurant. Before she gave herself to Jared again she’d know
whether he’d fucked her daughter. If he had, she’d pay for the taxi that’d take
him out of her life.

- o -

Back in the restaurant, Jared
nibbled on a French fry, not at all certain he fully understood what had just
transpired. Kitty had been strung like a taut banjo when she’d joined him. He
did understand how days could get away from you.

He scowled at the door she’d just
gone thorough. Not everyone trusted him. That was a fact of life. He’d earned
distrust often enough, but what the hell had he done to Kitty Paige to earn hers?
He’d romanced her from a distance and then had shown up—admittedly,
unannounced. She’d certainly seemed eager to please him last evening.