Driven to Temptation, page 8
“It’s under Aidan Ross,” he said. “But there’s been a change.” He glanced uncertainly at his companion. “I need an extra room.”
Delaney’s eyes widened, understanding finally hitting her. Hard, judging from the way her eyes narrowed. She shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other but didn’t say a word.
“Let’s see what we have.” The woman turned her attention to her computer and punched some keys. After a few moments she looked at him, a slight frown on her face. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a reservation under that name.”
“What?” Aidan reached for the travel folio tucked into his laptop case. He’d printed the confirmation number. Like he always did. “That’s impossible.” He pulled the page out. “I made the reservations myself.” He handed her the sheet.
She scanned it, one painted fingernail tracing its way down. “I’m sorry, Mr. Ross. It’s been a bit of a madhouse, with two conferences taking place simultaneously. Let me see what happened here.”
He sucked in a deep breath, willed his head to quit pounding. “I’ll need another room, too,” he reminded her. Although at this point, he’d be grateful to have anything at all.
The minutes ticked by, and next to him, Delaney tapped her foot against the elegantly tiled floor. Fortunately, her sneakers prevented adding noise to the already-bustling space, but it didn’t stop him from noticing her movement, either.
“Okay,” the hotel employee said when she returned a few minutes later. “I can have a room ready for you in half an hour.”
Relief swept through him but didn’t last. “Just one room?” he asked. He sent a silent prayer to the hotel gods, hoping one of them would see fit to give him a break.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ross, but we’re fully booked.” She gave him another apologetic smile.
He knew better than most there were days it was tough to catch a break. He just wished today wasn’t one of them. His head continued to pound. Screw dinner. He needed a drink.
“I’ll sleep in a chair if it means I can get into a hot shower,” Delaney muttered beside him.
The words were innocent, but the images they’d conjured up? Hell.
Aidan swallowed deeply, willed the sexy images to the back of his head and firmly locked his logical, analytical brain back into place.
Exactly where it belonged.
She fidgeted beside him, her movements taunting him. Could he spend a night with her so close? Close and untouchable?
Did he have a fucking choice?
He weighed his options. Which really sucked from where he was standing.
Aidan caught the clerk’s expectant gaze. “We’ll take it.”
He prayed he’d live through the next three days. If he had to, he’d sleep in the bathtub.
With the cold water turned on.
Chapter Twelve
This was a bad idea.
At the door to their room, Aidan slipped the card key into the slot, waited a moment, then turned the door handle and pushed it open. Soft light from a corner lamp spilled into the small space, making it seem more…intimate than he’d have liked.
His heart raced and his palms sweat. How the hell did he think he could stay away from Delaney here? Shit.
Really, he was able to control himself, control his libido, play by the rules the way a gentleman should.
“Finally,” she said, brushing past him. She toed off her sneakers to one side and parked her roller bag beside them as she crossed to the desk at the opposite end of the room. “I’ve got dibs on the shower first.”
She raised her arms above her head and stood on tiptoe in a slow stretch, the yoga pants doing crazy-stupid things to him. “I’m still stiff from the drive.”
So was he, but probably not in the places she meant. He turned, grabbed his duffel, and threw it on the closest bed. “Go ahead.”
He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, felt the end-of-day stubble that reminded him how long it’d been since he’d awakened that morning.
And now he was here. Stuck in a standard-sized hotel room that had never looked so cramped to him as it did now.
She placed her roller bag on the luggage stand, then bent to unzip it.
He stared, his imagination swirling with possibilities. Possibilities that’d have him arrested if she had any inkling at all.
God.
She was tempting. Definitely tempting.
“If you need to use the bathroom, now would be a good time.” She had her back to him as she rummaged through her things.
“I’m good.” He reached for the cell phone he’d tucked in his windbreaker. Now would be the perfect time to check in with Harold.
“Okay, then.” She straightened, then rushed past him like she was afraid he’d changed his mind about who’d shower first.
As soon as he heard the water running, Aidan dialed his second-in-command. The better to corral his libido. Because it sure as hell beat imagining Delaney in there, eyes closed and water dripping down her body.
“Harold, you feeling better?” he asked as soon as the phone picked up.
The older man groaned. “Must’ve been something I ate.”
“Yeah, Delaney pointed that out,” he said drily. He spared the guy the lecture on the tip of his tongue. “Nice of you to choose her to take your place.”
Silence.
“Harold? You there?
“I didn’t specifically choose her, knowing you’re too cheap to book more than one room. I told her to have Scott go with you.”
Aidan stopped, then turned toward the sound of the shower running. “She told me the rest of the guys were out in the field and I was lucky she was available.”
She’d planned it so he had to take her. Holy shit.
He let the realization sink in. While a part of him should’ve been pissed, he couldn’t bring himself to stay that way. Because while he liked structure, the day wasn’t just interesting, it was a lot of fun, too. Dog hairs and all.
“Honestly, she’s the brightest one on the team.” Harold’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “She’s the one who put the bulk of the presentation together. I’m sure she’ll do a good job for you, even if you did have to spring for another room.”
“There weren’t any other rooms available.”
“Oh, shit.”
“Yeah.”
“Do what they do in the movies and string a bedsheet between your beds.”
No mistaking the amusement in his foster uncle’s voice.
“Very funny, wiseass. Any more brilliant ideas?”
Harold cleared his throat and assumed his older-and-wiser-man tone. “Listen. Delaney’s like one of the guys. She’ll be fine.”
She wasn’t the one Aidan was worried about.
Harold had obviously never seen her legs. Or the slight flare of her hips. Or the way her bangs brushed the top of her forehead.
“You’re both adults and you’re both professionals,” he continued. “I think you can manage a few nights together in the same room.”
“I swear that woman drove me practically nuts on the drive.”
“Delaney? How so? She’s easy. Never complains. Holds her own.”
“With as many times as we had to stop so she could use the ladies’ room today? Or the way she insisted on eating in my truck? Not to mention the fact that she can’t stop fidgeting.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “God only knows if I’ll get any sleep the next few days.”
Silence.
“Harold?”
The older man chuckled, long and loud, and sounding as if he were in the same room.
“What’s so goddamned funny?” Aidan demanded.
“She’s gotten under your skin. Never thought I’d see the day when you’d lose your cool. Even when you were a teenager you never lost your cool.”
What the hell was he talking about?
“No,” Harold continued. “You knew exactly what you wanted and the path to get there. ROTC, college, a short stint in the army. All so you could own your own business. You were cold. Calculated.”
“I was focused.”
“Call it what you want. Only now, some young woman’s made you lose your cool.”
He and Harold went way back. Far enough that he was one of a handful of people Aidan trusted. And while he didn’t have the drive to run his own business, the guy was great with people, providing the warm, caring face of Ross and Associates. But right now, despite their history, Aidan kinda wished he weren’t getting too personal. “I haven’t lost my cool now.”
There was that annoying, deep chuckle again, the one Aidan remembered from his teen years. “Oh, yeah? You always complain about a female? Even Elizabeth, toward the end of your marriage, couldn’t get a rise out of you. And that one inspector on the light rail project in Portland? She made your life hell, but you never said one word. Not one word. You dealt with it all. Calm, cool, the Ice King to the core.”
He bristled. “I’ve always hated that moniker.”
“It fits.”
Yeah, he knew it.
Harold continued. “Yet someone you’ve just met has you complaining more than I’d ever heard before.” He chuckled again. “Yep. You’ve got me totally convinced.”
The water in the shower shut off, and Aidan glanced in the direction of the bathroom at the sound of metal on metal. She was done. Probably toweling herself dry.
Too bad he wasn’t in there with her, wiping beads of water off her perfect skin. Skin flushed with the heat from the shower so she was pink all over.
Breathe. Just breathe.
Aidan repeated the mantra that had gotten him through some tight spots in the army. His heartbeat still pounded, but at least the tightness in his chest subsided a bit. He concentrated on his conversation with Harold, concentrated on the details of the presentation as the older man tried to bring him up to speed on Delaney’s portion.
And it almost worked.
Until the bathroom door opened and she walked out in bare feet and damp hair…as well as the tiniest pair of boxer shorts he’d ever laid eyes on and a matching tank top, so thin her nipples showed through it.
She rushed past him, the scent of fresh apples trailing behind her.
Aidan’s mouth dried, and he fought the hard-on that drove his dick tight against his jeans. “Okay.” His voice remained steady by some fucking miracle. “Got it. You get better, and we’ll see you in a few days.”
“Hang in there, boss.” Harold chuckled again. “Delaney’s a tough one, but I think you can handle her.”
Oh, he’d like to handle her all right. Just not the way the older man meant. “Yeah. Thanks.”
He hung up. His gaze trailed over the smattering of yellow and green flowers dotting the back of Delaney’s shorts, clinging to her perfectly rounded ass like a second skin. He’d never envied inanimate objects like he did her shorts at that moment.
She turned, caught his gaze, and her eyes narrowed slightly.
Feeling like he’d been caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, he clenched his jaw.
“It’s all yours,” she said, her lips curved into a slight smile, almost like she’d read his mind.
…
A corner of his mouth lifted in a super-sexy smile. “Thanks.”
Delaney tried her best to rein in her hormones. “For?”
“Being a good sport about all this.”
There was another option?
He looked around the room as if evaluating the space. “Guess this is home for the next few days. Let’s do our best to get through this, okay? As awkward as it is.”
His gaze locked with hers, and an intimate intensity crackled between them.
Delaney’s mouth dried. No doubt about it. He wanted her. It was the only explanation for the shift between them. Her heartbeat kicked up, drumming out of control in her chest. She was spending a few nights in a hotel room with Aidan Ross. “We’re adults. This doesn’t have to be awkward. Maybe we can think of this as a weekend sleepover or something, only I promise not to paint your toenails and do your hair.”
“Thanks.”
He did the statue-still thing again, only this time he was studying her. “Harold told me Scott was supposed to join me on this road trip, not you.”
Oh, shit.
Delaney carefully placed her dirty laundry in a pocket of her roller bag.
Now would be a good time to come clean. “Yeah, well, Scott was too busy closing out his last project.” Because she’d refused to do it for him again. “Besides.” She raised her chin a notch and considered her next words carefully. “I’m the logical person to be here.”
He stared at her a moment, shook his head, and turned, stalking toward the bathroom, the muscles of his right forearm flexing as he tossed his cell phone onto the bed when he passed.
Her heart stuttered, pulsing out some erratic beat like she’d had a double shot of espresso. How’d he do it? No matter how much she tried not to notice, she couldn’t deny he was sexy as hell even when he was pissed. And it made her want him. Bad.
No denying it. She’d turned into a needy woman ogling her boss and wishing she were in the shower with him. She was pretty sure it’d be way more exciting than the time she’d spent in there. Alone.
She clenched her legs tight and shook her head to stop her overactive imagination from traveling down the rabbit hole to nowhere good. The vibes between them were too raw, too intense. If she could, she’d make the first move. They were healthy adults, weren’t they? Under different circumstances she was pretty sure they’d have acted on the attraction.
He turned the shower on, and water slamming against the stall ignited a picture of Aidan. A very naked Aidan. With steam surrounding him. She took a few steps toward the bathroom, the sounds of splashing water like a Siren’s call. There’d be lots of steam as he—
Whoa. Wait. What the hell was she doing? She shook her head to clear it. She had goals. Big goals. Their attraction would be fine once she owned her own company and she was on an equal playing field with Aidan.
But she had to get there first.
She eased in a deep, fortifying breath, turned, and headed toward the desk. Her stomach grumbled a protest as she passed the room’s minibar, its goods trapped behind a glass case and sending out signals like a sensor tuned to her.
They’d had dinner while waiting for their room to become available, but still, a snack wouldn’t hurt, either. Just something to prime the pump and get her in work mode.
She stopped, took two steps back, her bare feet registering the room’s short nubbed carpet. Why the hell was she bothering to look, anyway? Hotel minibars were notoriously expensive. She wouldn’t buy anything.
Maybe one quick peek. Just to see what was there. In case she woke up starving or something in the middle of the night. Where was the harm in it, really?
She peered through the minibar’s protective glass, covering the goods like a Fort Knox guard. Unless you had the requisite funds to do more than look.
Ohh… Nice assortment of cookies… Bottled water… Aunt Molly’s barbecue potato chips.
Aidan was in luck. Not that he’d spring for it at the price asked.
He was an enigma, wasn’t he? A blend of quiet intensity, and a standoffish demeanor, and yet he had a gentleness that drew her toward him. She would’ve never guessed he’d be attached to his foster brother the way he was. Let alone capable of helping a lost dog. Especially when he was allergic to it.
She’d started this trip not knowing much about Aidan, and now…
She stopped her brain from heading down that pointless path. Why the hell was she having a hard time concentrating?
She scanned the remaining items. Shot bottles were lined up, ready to be pulled off the shelf should the mood strike. Well, she wasn’t quite at the point of needing a shot of the available hard liquor, but the night wasn’t over yet.
Then there was the pleasure pack. An assortment of breath mints… Wait. Pleasure pack?
She raised an eyebrow and leaned in further. Yep. A pleasure pack. As in condoms. She grinned. How very convenient.
God, how she wished they’d need those.
No. Don’t think like that.
With a decisive turn, she opened her canvas case, then pulled out her laptop charger. Right now, it was all about her presentation. She’d only just finished the computer demo model last night, and as soon as Aidan was done, she was going to —
A moan sounded, low and faint. At least, that’s what her brain told her. Man, the walls in this place were pretty thin.
Another moan, no doubt about it. She frowned. Was that…from…the shower?
Chapter Thirteen
What the hell?
The moans continued, leaving little doubt what Aidan was doing in there.
Images formed faster than she could stop them, images of Aidan, water slicking off his shoulders, caressing down his hard torso and long, lean legs. Images of one hand on the shower wall for support while the other hand circled over his thick shaft, starting at the base and stroking up the sensitive underside. He’d let out a groan, round the tip with a light, barely-there touch of his thumb as he closed his eyes.
Delaney dropped the cord, drawn toward the erotic sounds. She stopped outside the bathroom door, Aidan’s moans fueling the images in her mind, making them so real, she could almost feel the water splash against her own skin.
But it would be all about him. His breathing labored with each pass of his hand, then quickening, short bursts that confirmed how he teetered on the edge of control, until finally, his fist hit the wall as he groaned out a climax.
Holy hell.
It was the hottest thing she’d ever imagined. She slumped against the bathroom door, her own body reacting, über sensitive and intensely aching, wanting in the worst way to join him, to watch him come and then make him come again.
Inside her.
She closed her eyes, and God help her, that sweet spot between her legs throbbed. Not that there was much she could do about it. Not here. Not now.
The water shut off abruptly, and the shower curtain slid across the rod, its distinctive sound crystal clear even through the closed door.
