Oh, great. One of those guys. Beth tugged on her hand until he let it go.
“You’re an incredibly sexy woman,” he said, clearly unable to read every “go away” signal she was blasting at him.
“Thank you,” she snapped, turning slightly away to look out over the crowd. He didn’t take that hint, either. Instead of excusing himself, he edged closer. His chest brushed her arm when he leaned toward her ear as if they were sharing an intimate conversation.
“I’d love to buy you a drink. Somewhere a little more lively, maybe? There’s a club over near the university that—”
She stepped a foot away. “No, thank you.”
“Are you sure?”
He held out a business card, and Beth glared down at it. Without reaching for the card, she could see the title President and Owner, along with the logo of a local luxury car dealership.
“Oh, I’m sure,” she muttered just as her phone began to ring. “Pardon me.”
She heard his snort of disbelief as she walked off, but she was too busy juggling her wine and phone to bother to look in his direction. “Hello?”
“It’s Cairo!” a cheerful voice sang. “I finally got the boys over here so I could try that tea.”
“Oh? And?”
“Aaaand…” Cairo’s giggle made Beth grin in response.
“I take it the tea worked?”
“Well, I’m feeling darn good right now.” The sound of a loud smack echoed through the phone, followed by Cairo’s eardrum-piercing squeal. A male voice rumbled in the background.
“They’re still there?” Beth put a hand over her eyes in chagrin.
“Oh, I made sure they won’t be moving for a while. Seriously though, the tea had a subtle effect, but I do think it worked. I’m gonna try it again tomorrow when I’m by myself. I think if I don’t have so much visual stimulation it’ll be easier to gauge whether I really feel different.”
“Oh, right. Good idea. Thanks, Cairo.”
“Jeez, it was my pleasure. Hey, Harrison says hi.”
As Beth hung up the phone she spotted the tea shop owner, a plump older woman wearing Birkenstocks with her black knit dress. The woman probably didn’t carry samples with her, but Beth briefly considered asking, just in case.
Then again, she didn’t really need any help. She certainly hadn’t needed any last night. She’d come faster than she’d thought possible. Just the memory was enough to make her pulse quicken and her skin sparkle with sensitivity. That kind of chemistry shouldn’t be ignored, even if they weren’t right for each other in any other way. It was too rare a phenomenon, at least for Beth.
Screw it. She needed this whether she was ready or not.
But… She couldn’t approach him in front of his sister and Mr. Kendall, not if they wanted to keep this on the down-low. Beth slipped out the side door of the room and found herself in a dead-end hallway that led to two other banquet rooms. Excitement skittered through her body as she pulled up his number and called. This was who she’d always felt she should be. A sexy, daring woman.
“Hello?” he answered in a low voice.
“Hi. It’s Beth.”
There was a pause. She pictured him moving away from the group. “Are you still here?” he finally asked.
“I’m just outside the room, actually.” She drew a deep, quiet breath, and then she took the plunge. “I’ve been thinking about our conversation yesterday. Maybe we could…” While she tried to think of the exact right words, he stayed silent. She tried again. “I know you’re busy, but do you have a moment to talk?”
The line grew muffled for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Can you give me one minute? Maybe two?”
“Of course. I’ll meet you in the hallway next to the side door.”
Beth spotted a big mirror at the end of the corridor and walked over to check her makeup. The dress slid against her hips. The ties of the garter belt stretched across her thighs. Her nipples tightened beneath the warm silk of the bra. And when she met her own eyes in the mirror, she saw a sexual goddess on the prowl. Wow. Where had she come from?
Who the heck cared? She ran her hands through her hair and watched a slow smile stretch across her face. It didn’t matter where the sexual goddess had come from. It only mattered that she was finally here.
Thank God.
A door opened. The sound of the party swelled into the hall. Beth turned and walked toward him.
There was no missing the way his eyes devoured her body. He liked her hips. No question about it. She suppressed her grin in favor of a sexy smirk.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he said.
“Thanks for sneaking away.” She stopped too close to him then leaned her back casually against the wall, as if she hadn’t invaded his personal space.
“So, you changed your mind about being seen with a guy like me?”
She glanced around. “Obviously not. I’m still worried you’ll ruin my rep.” She tempered her joke with a smile.
“I probably will. And you’d return the favor if anyone saw us.”
“We’d better be careful. I don’t want to damage your wholesome-brewery image.”
His smile faded. His pale eyes narrowed with intensity as he shifted, putting his hand to the wall next to her shoulder. “So what are we doing here?”
She took a deep breath and tilted her face toward his ear. “No one needs to know,” she murmured.
His pupils dilated as she felt a flush rise up her cheeks. She’d used his own words to lay it out as simply as she could. Let’s have a secret affair. No one will ever know.
“I’m in the middle of an important negotiation,” he said, his voice taking on a husky edge. “And my sister is here.”
“I know.” She left it at that. She would’ve held her breath if she hadn’t been so eager to draw in his scent. Afraid that panting aloud would be less than sexy, she inhaled slowly.
“Yet here I am,” he murmured. “With you.”
He eased a tiny bit closer. If he lowered his head, they’d kiss. Her pulse beat so hard she could hear it in her ears.
“This is not a good idea,” he said softly. “You said it yourself. So why are you willing to do this?”
Honesty, she told herself. A woman’s desires were nothing to be ashamed of. She raised her gaze from his mouth to his eyes. “Because I want you,” she admitted. “A lot. It’s that simple.”
One side of his mouth curved slowly up in a wicked smile. “I get the feeling you’re not a fan of complication.”
A montage of encounters played through her brain, as if her life were flashing before her eyes. The uncomfortable blind dates. The brief, failed relationships. The men she’d tried to love, and the men she’d wanted. Her constant, simmering sexual anxiety. “You’re right,” she murmured. “I’m a simple girl.”
A door opened farther down the hall. He glanced up, a brief moment of worry chasing over his face before he looked back to her. “Simple? I don’t believe that for a second.” His eyes lowered to her mouth.
“And I owe you,” she whispered. “Don’t I?”
“You don’t owe me anything. It was my pleasure.”
She licked her lips and watched his pupils tighten as she lifted her chin. He leaned closer, closer…
When the door behind them clicked open, he stepped smoothly away from her, shoving his hands into his pockets. By the time they realized it was only a banquet server, the moment was lost. Or she thought it was.
His jaw had gone tense, after all, as if he were angry. But apparently the determination in his eyes had nothing to do with saying no and everything to do with pursuing this madness. “Can you meet me in half an hour?”