initial duties is to check out their first hotel. It opened in Manly about three months ago. He mentioned the name.”
Katie nodded. “Yeah, I know the place. Never been there, though.
There was bit of a media frenzy when they opened their doors. Lots of controversy about a multimillion-dollar hotel destroying the neighborhood.”
“That’s the one. We’re not sure if we want to invest yet. I’ll spend a couple of nights at the hotel to get a feel for the place, have meetings, do research, etcetera. They’ve offered me a few tickets for the show there Saturday evening. What do you say? Up for an evening of live entertainment?”
“On the company?” They’d seen countless shows together over the years. He knew she wouldn’t pass up this chance.
Panic flashed in her eyes. “Steve?”
He suppressed the wariness in his response. “Yeah, Katie. There’s a ticket for Steve as well.” Usually, Steve opted out of musicals, leaving Tyler and Katie to enjoy them alone. This time Ty suspected Steve would be happier joining them.
“I… Thank you. That will be lovely.”
She dropped her hand from her chest, revealing her flushed skin.
Ah, crap. So much for the control he’d regained while talking. He stared once more at her neck. Imagined its heat beneath his tongue, the honeyed sweetness of her flesh. She’d been in her room with the door closed, and she’d emerged with skin stained that delicate pink Get out of the kitchen, Bonnard. Quickly. She’s still engaged to Steve.
His legs wouldn’t carry him. For a long moment he could do nothing but stare and imagine and lust, until finally she shifted under his gaze.
He nodded slowly. “Good,” he said hoarsely, “I’m looking…” Her pulse jumped jerkily in her throat, matching the rhythm of his own heart.
“I’m…” Speech had become impossibly difficult. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I’m looking…” A muscle ticked in his cheek. His subconscious told him again to get the hell out of the kitchen.
Two years of lust crashed over him, yanking his tortured dick even harder.
“I’m Damn it, Katie!” he growled. “Fuck. I shouldn’t do this!”
“Shouldn’t do…?”
Before she could finish, he hauled her into his arms. There was no time for protests. No time for regrets. The instant her body smashed into his, he kissed her.
Two years worth of restraint rose to the surface and erupted.
He held nothing back, kissed her with every desperate iota of passion he felt for her. Unexpectedly, she responded in kind. Her mouth seared his. Her lips burned a path of fiery destruction over his.
Her tongue was hot, demanding, and left him reeling in its assault.
Desire slammed through him, swift and certain, leaving no doubt that this was the only woman who could stir the fires of lust in his soul.
His balls constricted painfully as she ground her pelvis against his.
A kiss.
One kiss, and his body was ablaze. Burning with a desperate need to get closer. To fuck her.
She whimpered beneath the onslaught of his mouth and submitted to the demand of his tongue. Greedily, she accepted the invasion of his kiss, and he basked in the victory of his conquest. This was what he had craved for two years.
This, and so much more.
Her hands were in his hair, clamping his head to hers. The cold metal of her ring grazed his ear.
Shit!
Tyler tore his mouth from hers. She was still engaged to his best friend.
“Katie.” His voice was like gravel. “Fuck it, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Not yet.”
She whimpered.
His heart slammed into his ribs. “Shit. Katie, I didn’t mean to do that.”
Her body was limp as a dishrag, her eyes enormous. Her legs trembled beside his. It was all he could do to pull away from her. Damn, it was fucking impossible to let her go.
She gaped at him, fumbled blindly for a kitchen chair and collapsed into it.
He dragged a hand through his hair, hating himself for his weakness. That wasn’t supposed to