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here I was, laughing with her. I resisted the urge to pinch myself.
Flutes of white wine appeared in our hands, and Shane dragged me through the crowd, smiling,
nodding at people he knew, which seemed to be just about everyone. Everywhere I looked there was
a familiar, famous face, impossibly real. I shook hands with producers and actors, composers and
rock stars, and they all seemed to know Shane.
At one point, when we found ourselves in a fairly secluded corner, I turned to Shane. "I thought
you didn't like publicity?"
He shrugged. "I don't, really. It's part of the job, at this point, though."
"Then how do all these people know you?"
He laughed. "They know me, doesn't mean I know them. I mean, yeah, I know who they are, in that
they're household names, but I don't personally know many of them. Me taking over Dad's position is
a big deal in the media world. I'll be funding a lot of the movies these people will be a part of, so it's
their business to know who I am."
That made sense. I glanced up at him, watching him scan the crowd. For a moment, despite the
bright lights and the wine and the Armani suit he was wearing, I saw the ex-Marine, the man who'd
shielded me from gunfire in a bombed-out Sudanese building. He eyed the crowd as if assessing
potential threats, identifying exit routes, cover locations. Even his stance spoke of readiness, muscles
loose and coiled like wound springs.
An actor came over, looking older than I'd imagined him to be, a certain blond also named Leo.
We chatted, and he flirted with me, eyeing me openly and glancing at Shane as if wondering how he
could get me alone. Shane managed to glare while smiling and tightened his hold on my hand. I found
myself realizing that this actor Leo was as breathtaking in person as he was on screen, and twice as
charming, but somehow, despite his fame and beauty, he didn't make my stomach flutter like Shane
did.
When we were alone again, Shane looked down at me. "So, what do you think?"
"About what?"
He gestured at the sea of icons. "All this. Them."
I shrugged, as nonchalant as I could manage. I was suitably star-stuck, of course, but he didn't need
to know that. "It's funny you ask. I was just thinking that none of these men make me feel how you do."
"Really? How's that?"
"Beautiful," I said. "Sexy. Desired."
"I'm sure half the guys in this room the straight half would like nothing more than to get you
alone for five minutes."
"That may well be, but there's only one man here who will get me alone."
Shane's eyes narrowed and his eyes flashed. "Keep talking like that and I'll drag you into a
bathroom right now."
I felt a familiar heat wash through me, followed by the recklessness that Shane seemed to inspire.
"I dare you."
Shane lifted an eyebrow. "Dare me to what?"
"Drag me to a bathroom."
Shane laughed, a little too loudly, then pitched his voice low so only I could hear. "You're daring
me? Seriously?" He glanced around, looking for an exit. "Leo, the auction's going to start any minute."
I shrugged, a lazy roll of my shoulder. "Well...if you're not up for it, then I guess I can wait." I
leaned up to whisper in his ear. "But Shane...I'm so horny. I don't want to wait."
Shane's eyes darkened dangerously. "You know everyone in this room is watching us, right? And
you want me to take you into a bathroom and...what? Pin you up against a wall?"
I met his gaze steadily. "It doesn't have to be a bathroom."
"Goddamn it, Leo," Shane growled. "You're going to get us in trouble."
He tugged me into a walk, weaving our way through the crowd toward a red-lit exit sign, stopping
to chat here and there, snagging wine for us along the way. I sipped my drink and followed meekly,
pretending my thighs weren't trembling, pretending I wasn't feeling nerves and desire flame through
me. The exit led to a hallway, and we drifted to a bank of elevators and took an elevator all the way
to the top. We exited and he led me to a wide glass door, beyond which was a darkened office. Shane
produced a key card from a pocket, then unlocked the door in front of us.
He glanced down at me. "Dad owns this entire building." He pulled me down a shadowed hallway
and past doorway after doorway, looking into each one. "I remember seeing a nice corner office with
a couch somewhere around here...ah, here it is."
The office was mammoth, overlooking Manhattan with its endless lights like topaz jewels and the
lines of traffic coiling in red-and-white lines. It was dark, lit only by the open window. There was a
desk with a monitor in one corner and a phone opposite, a pair of chairs in front of the desk, a potted
plant dominating one corner of the room, and a deep, dark leather couch along one wall. Shane closed
the door and locked it, then turned to me, pinning me with hungry eyes.
I sauntered toward him, swaying my hips, reaching for him. Our lips met, the banked fire low in
my belly blazed to life, and my hands developed a mind of their own as our tongues explored each
other. His suit coat came off, draped across a chair, and then his pants were open and I had his hot,
hard cock in my hands, greedily stroking him, pulling him toward me. I shoved him back against the
couch so he sat down on it. He shimmied his pants lower and tugged me toward him, brushing the hem
of my skirt up above my hips. I straddled him, and he pushed the string of my thong aside, then
stopped.
"What? What are you waiting for?" I asked.
He didn't answer, but dug in the pocket of his pants, producing the foil packet of a condom. "Less
clean up." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]