Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 149209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“Stop sidestepping your point. What are you saying?”
Del crossed his arms over his wide chest, looking way too pleased. “You like this girl.”
“She is very sexy. Why should I not like her?”
Disbelief peppered Del’s expression. “There are sexy women here every night more than willing to fuck you. You haven’t played with or for the membership in over a year. So there’s more to your decision to get on that stage with Shanna than her sexiness.”
Mierda. Why couldn’t Del leave it alone?
Alejandro sighed. “Yes. I confess, even I am not entirely sure why I am pursuing Shanna so hard. She has rebuffed, left, and insulted me.”
“But…?”
Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, Ali sorted through the tangle of his thoughts and feelings. It was damn uncomfortable. He was a gut-instinct sort of guy. If it felt right, he did it. That philosophy had never served him wrong. But even he had to admit that his logic where Shanna was concerned…
There wasn’t any.
“Under her brittle façade, she has this lost quality. I don’t want to save her, exactly. Or change her. But I cannot resist wanting to hold her. Touch her. And, of course, pleasure her. She looks at me and her expression is like a siren’s song. A glance, and I’m hard as hell. A snap from that icy voice I know is hiding a wealth of heat and I’m dying to lay her out, get deep, and melt her into a puddle.”
Del laughed. “You’re screwed.”
“How so?”
“You’re falling for this girl.”
Was it that obvious?
“And you haven’t really touched her yet.” Del laughed. “This is going to be fun to watch for more than one reason.”
“I’m so happy you’re amused. You may fuck off now.”
“Ten-four.” Del clapped him on the back. “I’ll finish making the arrangements with the other employees. The room should be ready. All you need to do is meet Shanna at the door.”
No, what he needed to do was please her, not just by lighting her senses and firing her fantasies, but endearing himself to her. Great, but how to do that? Because his gut was telling him that he should not let Shanna out of his life.
With a shaking hand, Shanna shoved the door open and entered the cool, air-conditioned space of Sneak Peek. At night, the club still had that golden shimmer. But instead of the homey warmth it conveyed during the day, a shimmering glow now illuminated the club. It sparkled and glittered like old Hollywood, except this classic glamour provided the backdrop for today’s beautiful people to have dazzling sex.
Del and Alejandro had created a perfect ambiance.
Just past the club’s front door, wall-to-wall bodies gyrated to a suggestive techno beat. Couples grinded, intimating sex vertically. In fact, one couple against the wall, shielded by the man’s long leather duster, probably was having sex. No one seemed to notice or care.
The bar beyond was crowded with people drinking their liquid fortification. Several men crowded around a woman downing shots as if they were waiting for her to give one—or several—of them a sign that she was ready for more personal action.
The whole place oozed sex.
She so didn’t belong here. Sex had never been her thing. She’d had it, of course. A college boyfriend had been her first, but he hadn’t had much experience. Nor had he understood her dancing. They’d spent the relationship fighting because he assumed she was sleeping with her partner at the time, which she hadn’t been.
A few years later, she’d had a one-night stand after a wedding. Stupid—and awful. Downright bad sex.
Jonathan…utter disaster—right on the dance floor they’d practiced on for years. She’d clung to him out of desperation. He’d taken her body as if exorcising some demon. The whole episode had lasted less than ten minutes. And created twelve months of pure havoc.
By tonight’s end, if she wasn’t careful, she would be adding Alejandro to her short list. She’d said she wouldn’t have sex with him. But she wondered… Would failing to let loose in a club like this rouse her blackmailer’s suspicion? Shanna couldn’t let this opportunity slip past her without making the most of it. She had to ferret out this jerk before the California Dance Star.
But that wasn’t the only reason she contemplated surrendering to Alejandro. He tripped her trigger in a way she’d never experienced. Maybe she could enjoy herself—just this once.
Then again, did she really have the strength to resist such a sinfully sexy man, especially when he lured her with an offer to fulfill her secret exhibitionism fantasy? He made her feel sexual, made her believe that he understood her. Admitting that fact was uncomfortable, but even when Ali annoyed her, he turned her on. Maybe the chemistry between them was worth exploring.
And maybe she was out of her mind.
Crossing the room, Shanna was conscious of male eyes following her. God, why had Alejandro sent her this sheer halter top, held in place by nothing more than two little bows, along with a matching wrap-around skirt? Why had he insisted she wear a skimpy outfit in shades of soft creamy-gold that blended in with her skin?