then they went blank just before she took a breath and closed them. He figured he was the only one at the table who noted her hands were shaking. She didn’t even realize it, since he knew she’d have hidden them if she did. After a couple seconds and a quick exchange between Mitch and Belle, who ignored her fiancé’s admonishment that she try not to overreact, Sierra opened her eyes and shook her head.
“Look, sweetie,” she said, addressing Belle, “I’m not bailing. But I don’t want to cause problems, either. I just thought maybe if I stepped back, stayed in the background for a while, it might help. That’s all. I don’t want him ruining what we’ve built.”
“So you’re sure it’s a him?” Reece interrupted.
“Sierra figures the photo-happy creep is male because all the pictures feature big boobs,” Belle explained with an irritated sniff, shoving her hair off her face as if it were interfering with her ability to wage a winning argument.
Reece bit back a snort of laughter and met Mitch’s eyes. His cousin just shrugged and said, “Can’t say Belle’s not direct.”
“She must take tips from Sierra.”
The men exchanged amused looks. Belle’s lips quirked, but Sierra just rolled her eyes. “Oh please, like you didn’t already think it was a guy?”
“The likelihood the stalker is male is high,” Reece agreed, the laughter gone from his voice. “If it were a woman, the pictures would be different.”
Sierra’s derision fell away. A tiny line creased her brow and he could tell she didn’t want to ask, but couldn’t help herself. “How so?”
“In a man, you’ll see evidence of sexual fantasy, possibly of worship or even signs he wished he could be in the picture, too. In a woman, there would be some element of vindictiveness. Jealousy, catty chick stuff.” Agreement flashed in Sierra’s eyes, but she didn’t do more than tilt her head. He continued anyway. “A woman would have taken the photo editing a little further. You know, made you fat or ugly.”
He waited for the explosion, but Sierra only furrowed her brow and gave a little nod of agreement. Reece frowned.
He didn’t know which shocked him more—the fact that she’d agreed with something he said, or that she hadn’t been pissy about his suggestion she could look bad. In his experience, women didn’t like it pointed out that they could ever be less than beautiful. At least, his ex had hated it.
“Well, as fascinating as perverted pictures of me might be, fat or not, I’d much rather hear how the resort is doing. Mitch? What’s new in the lives of the decadent?” Sierra’s words were smooth and easy, her subject change gracious but resolute. Talk shifted to the luxurious resort where Belle and Mitch had reunited—a playground for the rich and famous that had launched a month and a half ago.
She was done with the stalker talk. Fine with Reece, he was more an action man anyway. As the topic turned to his cousin’s resort, he watched Sierra relax into an easy banter of social chitchat.
It wasn’t until they’d reached the end of the meal that he realized how skilled she was at the art of meaningless party chatter. She’d talked over and around him, but Sierra never talked directly to him. Oh, she was polite and gracious. The perfect dinner companion. But he could have been a cardboard cutout for all the real attention she gave him.
Reece frowned at his twice-emptied plate, not sure if he was more irritated at the realization that she’d basically ignored him or at how much it bothered him. A patient man, he stubbornly bided his time. After all, he’d been doing it for six years now, give or take a marriage and a brief, mind-blowing encounter. He was good at waiting. While Mitch and Belle were in the kitchen giggling like lovebirds and getting dessert, Sierra slipped out of the dining room. He followed.
“Running away?” he asked as he sneaked up behind her in the foyer.
In a blur of motion, Sierra yelped, spun around to face him and threw her purse with astonishing strength right at his face.
Lightning fast, Reece grabbed the leather missile and lowered it to his side. He raised a brow at the woman in front of him. His irritation at being attracted to her couldn’t dim his appreciation for what her panting breaths did to her luscious breasts.
Her black silk tank, so sedate and ladylike at dinner, grew tighter with every inhalation. He could just make out the lacy fabric of her bra beneath. And, his body realized with instant hardening appreciation, the outline of her nipples.
Mouth going dry at the sight, Reece craved to taste those straining peaks through the lace. Despite their hot and crazy encounter in the closet at Mitch’s resort, Reece had never actually seen Sierra naked. His brain stuttered as he imagined the glorious sight. He’d explored every delicious inch of her body and devoted many hours to dreaming about how good she’d felt.
But seeing her naked? Nope. And from the irritated look on her face, those stalker shots, computer-generated abominations that they were bound to be, were the closest he was going to get.
“Is this an invitation to go with you?” he asked, reining in his fantasies and handing her the black leather bag.
“I’m sorry I threw it,” she murmured. “You startled me. I guess I’m a little edgier than I thought.”
Reece glanced at the door. He remembered her earlier offer to hide. “Edgy enough to run off?”
“I wasn’t going anywhere,” she said quickly. “I was checking my messages.” Interesting that she’d instantly honed in on his suspicion. “Is this how you handle security for your clients? By sneaking up and hounding them?”
“Hounding? C’mon, sweetheart. You and I both know I might sneak under your skin from time to time—” his appreciative gaze trailed a caress over that skin, just like his fingers itched to do “—but I’ve never hounded you. You’re just a little jumpy.”
With good reason, he was about to say. But her sneer stopped him. God, if he wasn’t already crazy about her, that look alone would have sent him over the edge. Pure sexual challenge, the curl of her glistening red lips made him crave a taste of the soft flesh.
“I’m only edgy when some huge, irritating guy follows me around for no reason.”
“So you remember me as huge, huh?” he asked with a wicked grin, referencing aloud for the first time their little encounter at Mitch’s resort. Up-against-the-wall, no-holds-barred sex that had kept him awake many a night since.
Her luscious lower lip fell, just a little, as she stared, speechless. Heat, fast and intense, flashed in her blue eyes. The look, brief though it was, assured him that nothing about their closet encounter had slipped her mind. And, thank God, the swift glance she slid to his zipper guaranteed those moans of pleasure he’d tortured himself with nightly had been the real deal.
“A huge pain in my butt, yes,” she said, as if she wasn’t looking at him as though she’d like to take his zipper down with her teeth.
How the hell did she do that? More to the point, why the hell did she do it? The attraction between them was right there, so obvious she had to see it. But would she acknowledge it? No. Deal with it? Hell, no.
She was driving him nuts.
Screw caution.
Furious,
