Jackie did it so I’d notice her surgically plumped lips.
Fuck, how fake was she? How fake was all of this? The only women I recognized as genuine were Teagan and Savannah, both of whom were across a very crowded ballroom.
“What do you say, Nixon? Wanna give the whole quarterback and head cheerleader cliché a go?” she whispered
“Not sure if you’ve noticed, Jackie, but I’m taken.” Because she wouldn’t step back, I did, bumping into the barstool directly behind me. It didn’t matter if Liberty wasn’t here, or if we were really even together, she owned every piece of me.
“Oh!” Jackie’s mouth formed a perfect, practiced O. “Gosh, I’m sorry, Nixon. I didn’t realize you were still together with Liza. I haven’t seen her around in ages, so I figured you two were splitsville.”
Hendrix’s eyes widened as he threw back his beer.
“Liberty,” I corrected Jackie. “Her name is Liberty. And you haven’t seen her because she’s in Brazil, working with an underprivileged population in a remote village as she gets her doctorate.” Well, damn, when I put it that way, my woman was a total and complete badass.
Jackie blinked, and two of the cheerleaders edged toward Hendrix, accurately reading my mood. “That’s…cool.”
“It’s better than cool.” My posture relaxed as I leaned against the bar. “It’s hot as hell. Not just temperature, either. She’s got the sexiest brain and the most seductive moral code I’ve ever come across. Then you add in that gorgeous face, and tantalizing body, and I’d have to say she’s the complete package. Cool doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
Jackie’s face fell. “Oh. Right.”
“Look!” One of the new blondes pointed toward the dais across the room. “Weston Rutherford is here!”
“Come on, ladies,” Jackie said. “I’ll introduce you.”
The flock took off, headed toward the owner of the Raleigh Raptors. The guy gave Hendrix a run for his money in the playboy department, that was for sure.
“Should we warn Wes that the vultures are descending?” Hendrix asked with a laugh.
I cocked my head to the side and leaned just enough to make sure Brynn was up there, too. The sweet little strawberry blonde might look harmless behind those glasses, but she’d been Weston’s personal assistant for the last five years and was definitely capable of handling herself…and our rather reckless owner. “No worries, Brynn is up there.”
Hendrix turned and noted the same. “She’ll shut them down.” He had a sly smile on his face as he returned. “You think they’ve ever…”
“No.” I shook my head emphatically. “Not a chance in hell.” Weston was ridiculously protective of his assistant, and I guessed that included keeping her safe from himself, too. “I heard she pushed him out of the plane when he dragged her skydiving last month.”
Hendrix laughed, which of course drew another wave of women our way.
I shut down three flirtations and two blatant offers in the next half hour, then checked my watch to see how long I had before I was supposed to make the lame-ass speech I’d written this morning. Happy Holidays. Yada yada. Family. Love. Meaning. Everything I was missing.
A hand slid from the top of my shoulder to my waist, stroking across my back on the way down, and I froze. For fuck’s sake. Abandoning my drink on the bar, I snatched the woman’s wrist as her hand reached my hip.
“No,” I snapped. “For the hundredth time, I’m taken.” My heart lurched as a pair of pale green eyes met mine. Her smile was radiant, her skin flawless, and the burgundy dress lifted her plump breasts all the way to the heart-shaped neckline, making my mouth water.
“Hopefully by me?” she asked softly.
I wrapped my arms around her and breathed in her familiar scent as every nerve ending in my body flared to life. “Liberty. God. Honey, what are you doing here?” I yanked her back, keeping my hands on her bare shoulders. The dress was strapless, gathered just beneath her breasts, and fluttered seamlessly over her growing baby bump to stop just above her knees. She was breathtaking. She was here.
“It’s Tuesday,” she said with a shrug.
“It’s Friday night,” I countered with an automatic smirk.
“Whatever. My time zones are messed up.”
We stood there staring silently at each other, both smiling like lunatics.
“Yeah, so the door behind the bar leads to a private room,” Hendrix mentioned after clearing his throat.
“How the hell would you know that?” I asked, keeping my eyes locked on Liberty for fear she’d disappear if I so much as closed my eyes.
“This isn’t the first year we’ve had the party here. It’s good to see you, Liberty.”
“You too, Hendrix.” She didn’t look away, either.
“Not that you’re actually seeing me, but I’ll accept it since you’re all smiles for my man, here.” He slapped me on the shoulder and walked away.
The air between us popped with electricity. Private room? Hell yes. I scooped her into my arms, hooking one arm beneath her knees and cradling her back with the other, careful to keep her spectacular ass covered by her dress.
“Nixon, I’m the size of a house,” she mumbled into my neck.
“I lift more than you just for fun, Lib.” Nodding to more than a few raised eyebrows along the way, I took us straight through the door Hendrix had mentioned and into a small, private room, lined with thick, sturdy tables.
Perfect.
I set Liberty down on one of the far tables, pushed her thighs apart, and stepped between them. Then I consumed her mouth in a kiss that went from sweet and relieved to hot and carnal in about two-point-three seconds. My entire body felt like a live wire.
She tasted like home, and peppermint, and pure, sweet, Liberty—a mix far more intoxicating than anything they were serving at the bar out there. I wrapped my hand around the hair cascading down her back in thick waves and held her prisoner as I made love to her mouth. Fuck, I wanted inside her. My tongue, my fingers, my cock—everything.
“Nixon,” she gasped as I sucked my way down her throat, nipping gently at her collarbone. Her fingers dug into the back of my neck.
“I need you,” I said as I lifted her breast from her dress. Fuck, had they gotten even bigger? Her nipple was darker as it tightened in the cool air. I scraped my tongue across it, and she whimpered, arching so I could take more of it. I did. When I finished with that one, I lifted the other and sucked her with little flicks of my tongue, until her tiny, keening cries came steadily, and her hips rolled against the table. “You need me, too.”
I sent my hand up her thigh, which was deliciously bare under her dress, and didn’t stop when I reached the soft, damp, silk of her underwear.
“I never—unh—denied that.” There it was—that sexy little lip bite.
I gave my mouth to her, sucking her lip free and sweeping my tongue over it as I glided past the barrier of her panties and stroked her from opening to the bud of her clit. Fuck me, she was slippery wet, already swollen and ready for me.
My cock jumped in agreement, straining at my fly.
“Oh my sweet—no!” She pushed at me suddenly, and I stumbled backward in pure shock, putting my hands up like I’d been arrested.