the tender skin of her throat and nibble his way into the V of her dress.
She tasted sweet and hot and smooth.
Unable to stop himself, he slid one hand from her nape, down the halter strap to the tender, precious curve of her breast, covering her easily. Instantly, her nipple pebbled against his palm, firing a blast of lava-hot blood through him, pulling groans of pleasure from both their throats.
“Parker.” She sighed, lifting herself just enough to let him know she enjoyed the touch.
“Glad we’re back on a first-name basis,” he teased, dragging his hand along the tight fit of her waist, over her hip and finding the slit that had called to him all night.
His hand hit flesh and her whole body shivered. He chuckled softly into another kiss. “Look what I found,” he whispered, tracing the tight thigh with one fingertip, inching higher to torture both of them.
Another moan of delight shuddered through her. He quieted that with a long, wet, hungry kiss, opening his hand to caress the taut muscle of her thigh. His fingers moved higher, over velvety skin, anxious just to touch her once. Just to feel how creamy she was. Expertly, he ran his thumb once over the silky nub of her panties, eliciting a soft gasp in their kiss.
“Maybe we should take the long way back,” he suggested, taking one more featherlight stroke over the damp silk between her legs.
Slowly, easily, she closed her fingers over his wrist and slid his hand away.
“Too fast?” he asked. “Too much? Too soon?”
The fire in her eyes said no to all of the above, but she nodded.
He took a deep breath and gave her a reassuring smile, placing his hand on a far less controversial spot on her waist. “I’ll wait.” He could. His body hummed with need, hard and relentless, but he would wait. “At least until we walk in the door.”
She smiled, then caught her lower lip under her two front teeth with a heartbreakingly unsure expression.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, cupping her jaw and lifting her face to meet his. “You’re not sure? Are you… I mean, you’ve done this before, right?”
“I had a serious boyfriend when I lived in Indiana.” Her whole expression changed with the admission.
He wasn’t at all sure he wanted to hear about this boyfriend, at least not at this particular moment. But she obviously wanted to tell him something.
“What happened?” he asked.
She lowered her head, gnawed on that lip again, thinking. “He hurt me. He…”
A natural male fury whipped through him. “He forced you?”
“No, no,” she said. “Nothing like that. He just… lied to me. He used me and I…” She sighed and turned to the window. “It cost me my job.”
Oh. Suddenly her hesitation was totally understandable. She must have worked for the guy, and this would feel like history repeating itself. And what could he say?
“And you’re worried that could happen again,” he said.
“Can you, in good conscience, promise me that if I sleep with you, it would never affect my job?”
He breathed slowly, studying her. “I can’t promise that, Anna.” As much as his hardened, aroused body wanted him to make all sorts of promises, he couldn’t actually make that one. Because it might change things in the office. That was life.
The limo slowed in front of the Ritz, and he gave her a moment to smooth her hair. When John opened the back door on her side, Parker watched her climb gracefully out of the car, the sexy red dress clinging to every curve he wanted to explore with his hands and mouth.
Nothing was going to happen to his career if they had sex and things didn’t work out. He was smart enough to know that. And so was she.
He cleared his throat and willed his arousal to subside as they made their way to the elevator. When the doors closed he turned to her.
“Anna,” he said, wrapping the hand that still held hers around her back. “You know what I want. But, it’s your call.” He resisted the urge to kiss her, but continued. “If that means we end up in bed together, well—” he smiled and touched her jaw with his other hand “—great. But…”
If it meant kissing her chastely good-night and keeping the best administrative assistant he ever had, that was great, too. Not as great, but Parker knew when to compromise and when to push.
The doors opened and he took her hand, leading her into the hushed hallway. He pulled out the room key and opened the massive double doors to the darkened suite, the only sound the steady thump of his heart while he waited for her decision.
He’d forgotten to leave a light on, and they stood in the shadows, inches apart. She hadn’t spoken since they’d left the limo and he knew the next word she said would seal their fate.
She turned to him and slid her arms around his shoulders, locking at his neck. He resisted a grin of victory, but lowered his head for the kiss he expected.
“Thank you for the most amazing party I’ve ever been to.” She rose on her toes, kissed his cheek and backed away. “Good night, Parker.”
He could barely see her disappear into her room, but in the silence, he heard the lock turn. He stood in the dark for a few minutes, tapping the card key against his palm. The card key that she obviously didn’t realize was a master and could open her bedroom door.
Smothering a soft sigh, he shook his head, the disappointment finally making it down to the lower half of his body to deliver the bad news.
The lady said no.
He shimmied out of the tuxedo jacket, threw it over a delicate French provincial chair and strode to the bar, flipping over a brandy snifter and filling it with a solid slug of the good stuff. With one hand, he loosened his bow tie and unbuttoned the first two buttons of the tux shirt.
He took the drink to the balcony that ran the length of the salon, folding into a comfortable chair and inhaling the sounds and scents of an active avenue two stories below.
Didn’t this beat all? He was in London, in his favorite suite, with a smoldering hot woman undressing in the next room… and he would be going to bed alone.
Why hadn’t he thought this through when he’d issued the impulsive invitation? Because he’d been seeing legs in heels and hearing off-key songs in his head, that was why.
Drinking a little deeper than the heavy brandy called for, his throat burned. Hell, everything burned. He wanted her. He really wanted her.
But she wanted…
Now there was an unanswered question. What did Anna want? A promotion? A boyfriend? A husband? A good time?
She really didn’t talk about herself so much. She asked a lot of questions about his business; made herself basically indispensable; got him hot, bothered and distracted… but what was her deal? For a minute, he was a little annoyed at
