“A good reader of character. Tell me. What else have you figured out about me?” He was baiting me, extra surly this afternoon.
“Hmm.” I placed an index finger on my lips as I appraised him. Damn, he was attractive. “You’ve escaped problems most of your life, but it’s finally caught up with you. This time you may not be able to wiggle your way out of it, and you haven’t decided if you want to try.”
He tapped the tip of my nose; I was not fond of the condescending gesture. “Could it be, my tigress, that we have somehow ended up in the same boat?”
“If we have, I’ll take my chances swimming.”
“You a strong swimmer?” he asked.
“I’m not bad, but I’m better at snow skiing.” Shit. I’d just shared something personal. Something honest. I couldn’t be truthful in this game, and now it was too late to take it back. I stroked Sam’s fur like he was my crutch. A shield from this man who saw too much.
He knew I’d just given him a real piece of me. It was in his eyes, the way he coolly continued to smoke as if he got information he wanted from people all day long. I wasn’t playing with some oblivious fucker. Drew was calculating. A little shiver of excitement ran through me. Could he be the one to finally figure out who I was? The one to coax out the truth instead of a mountain of lies? The idea of getting caught, beaten at my own game, had me itching to win and interested when everything had been so flat. Maybe Drew wasn’t going to be so boring after all.
“Park City?”
Whoa. Suddenly, I got the impression he wasn’t fishing uninformed. “I beg your pardon?”
“Do you like to ski in Park City?”
“Never been,” I answered quickly. Too quickly. That smirk told me he thought I’d drawn too fast as well.
“I like Aspen. Jupiter Bowl is where it’s at.”
“Jupiter Bowl is in Park City,” I corrected, immediately snapping my mouth shut when I realized my mistake.
He lifted a brow in victory, and I scowled. “So it is. My bad.” He’d tricked me.
“Do you make a habit of following women around?” I asked, feigning irritation to shift the conversation away from Utah.
Drew gave a little shake of his head, as if disappointed. “Don’t have to, sugar.”
“You’re such an ass,” I declared, jumping to my feet. Drew did the same, towering over me. All indications led to the conclusion that he was in some sort of trouble, possibly broke, and definitely a jerk, but I wanted him. This one could be my Everest.
“Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine?”
I smiled brightly, as disingenuous as they came. “People compliment me on how sweet I am all the time.”
“Well, I’d like to meet some of them.”
“You’re the one who calls me sugar,” I reminded him. Folding my arms around myself, I shivered as the cold seeped into my bones.
“Guess I’m one of those people then.” He shrugged and snagged me with one arm, pulling my back flush against his front. “Why did you return my wallet?” His lips moved against my ear. I struggled to get away despite how good his heat felt. He refused to let me budge.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, giving up any attempt to get away. He was warm, and it felt good to be held, even if it wasn’t for the right reasons.
“Sonya. Sonya. Sonya. Don’t lie to me.” He sank his teeth into my earlobe, and I hissed, pressing my ass against his erection. He was solid, that hit he’d taken obviously doing no damage. “Is that where you want me, baby? In that tight little ass of yours?” It was a purr; his inflections meant to elicit only one answer: yes.
I leaned my head back against his shoulder. “Not mine, sugar. But I’ll bet you’ve got some good-looking male friends. Watching you fuck one of them? That is something I’d like to see.”
Drew clutched me tighter. “Not my thing,” he growled.
“Maybe it should be. Broaden your horizons. Spice up your sex life. Because you’re bored. That’s why you’re after me.”
“Am I after you?” He didn’t deny I was right.
He felt hungry, as if he hadn’t been into whatever fucking he’d been up to in a long time. Drew was so hard against me, I thought he was going to rip through his jeans.
“Absolutely.” I turned in his arms, leaving our faces mere inches apart. “I’m bored too.” Usually, I withheld sex as long as I could, using it as a weapon. I was bored out of my skull with everything.
“And you think watching me fuck another man will cure that?” he asked against my lips, a spark of amusement in his eyes.
“Couldn’t hurt,” I said indifferently.
“Sugar, I don’t need another man to keep you entertained.”
“You talk a big game.”
“I don’t think you could handle what I’d do to you,” he said smugly, a challenge if ever I’d heard one.
I spun my index finger between us. “It’s the other way around.”
“That would be a nice change of pace,” he said. He brushed his thumb beneath my eye with a tenderness that surprised me. “This is healing nicely. Think they’ll kick you out of here when the evidence of your abuse is gone?”
Fucker. He’d had my heart softening for a second, only to deliver a sucker punch. “Not that it’s any of your concern, but I’ve been assured I can stay as long as I need to get back on my feet.”
“You were never knocked off them. I don’t think anybody could ever put you on your ass, Tigress.”
His arms tightened around me as his mouth inched closer to mine. Kiss me.
Oh, hell no. Wherever that thought had come from could go straight back there. I slid my arms around his neck, reveling in the feel of his muscles tightening beneath my touch. Let go. You’re playing with fire.
I focused on his lips until I could no longer see them because they were so close. He bent one knee, positioning me so I was riding his thigh. “If you get caught like this, they’ll make you leave for taking advantage of a poor, helpless volunteer,” he warned huskily.
I pressed into his leg. “You’ll automatically be blamed. I’m innocent.”
“That is a word that will never be used to describe you.” Slowly, he moved his leg back and forth, creating a friction that had my sex clenching in response. “Now say it.”
“Say what?” I asked, breathless as I clung to him.
“You know what I want to hear,” he whispered against my lips. His breath was warm, the faint hint of smoke floating into my nostrils.
“I want your cigarette,” I said seductively, running a finger down his shirt, circling his nipple.
“You can have it as soon as you admit what you were thinking just a few seconds ago.”
“If you already know, why do I need to say it?” I huffed indignantly.
“Because I want to hear the words, sugar.” I was tempted to give him what he wanted. “Say it,” Drew coaxed. He was turning up the flames at the points where we touched. I was burning up, ready to throw out all my rules and fuck him right here on the roof.
“Kiss me,” I demanded, giving in to what I wanted. Owning it. The second that smirk landed on his mouth, I knew I’d been had.