“Your friends don’t like to gamble?”
“Yeah, but one of them got too drunk so the other one was taking care of her.”
“They left you alone in that dress?”
I tried really hard not to smile. “Kind of. Not really.” One of the eight elevators dinged and opened. As I stepped in, I said, “I would have helped too, but I saw this totally hot guy in a cowboy hat and I got a little distracted.” I cringed at the way my words were slurring together. I was trying so hard for cool, but was afraid I was getting closer to fool. Pressing the button for the right floor, I did my best to act like I hadn’t just totally revealed my hand.
“Is that so?” he asked. “Do I need to go speak to him?”
I turned around, a sneaky smile on my face. I tilted my head, letting my hair hang down over my shoulder. “Maybe. What would you say to him?”
He moved closer. “I’d tell him he missed out. That I got there first and to step aside.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked trying not to pant like a bitch in heat. He was so close I could feel the sexy coming off his chest. My knees were turning to jelly over how tall and broad-shouldered he was. And that stupid cowboy hat … I should have hated it. It should have taken all the sexy away and turned him into a hayseed country bumpkin. But it didn’t. It made him a wild thing. A dangerous stranger, untamed. Completely unconcerned with what anyone else thought, and comfortable in his own skin. If I hadn’t been so drunk I would have been too intimidated to even talk to him. Instead, I was stepping forward to meet him halfway, my eyes drinking him in and not at all ashamed to be doing it.
His voice dropped to a near-growl. “The question is not whether I’m sure, but whether you are. Because I know exactly what I want, and I’m not the kind of guy who’s afraid to go after it once I see it.”
He dropped the shoes and the chips in a messy pile and was up against me wrapping his arms around my waist when the elevator dinged. We’d reached my floor. A second later the doors slid open.
His head came down slowly and the brim of his hat blocked out the light coming from above. We were in a cocoon of sexual energy, and I didn’t want to stop long enough to get off the elevator. I put my hands on his chest, moving them up over his soft cotton shirt to his shoulders, reveling in the strong, lean muscles I felt there. Wrapping my hands around his neck, I buried my fingers in the curls at the back of his head when he bent down to meet my lips with his.
Our mouths connected and the passion that had been building flared up strong and hot. Nothing about our earlier flirtations and not-quite-accidental touches had prepared me for this. His lips were full and soft, but demanding in the way they pressed against mine and moved quickly to angle for more. I didn’t wait for an invitation, opening my mouth and letting my tongue lick his lips, daring him to come out and play. He took my dare with a moan, his bold tongue charging out to tangle with mine. I’d never in my life been kissed like this.
The doors slid shut. Mack reached over and pushed the button for my floor again, but we were already going down.
“Shoot, we missed my floor,” I whispered against his mouth.
His hands slid down to my backside and squeezed, send a thrill into my hottest of places, making me wet with anticipation. I pushed my hips towards his, wanting to growl with satisfaction over the hard length I found there. He moved against me while massaging my ass, making me want to scream with unfulfilled desire. If the elevator bell hadn’t gone off at just that moment, I might have just yanked up my skirt and jumped on his offering. But it did go off, and then the doors opened, so I quickly pulled away and pushed down the bottom of my dress. Trying to look like I hadn’t just almost screwed a cowboy in the elevator of my hotel was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t doing a good job of pulling it off.
“Going up?” asked an older couple, looking a little confused about seeing us standing there and not getting off.
“Uh, yeah,” said Mack, having to clear his throat before he continued. “We’re going up. All the way up.”
I hiccuped loudly and threw my hand over my mouth, my eyes bugging out. Not sexy! Not sexy!
The woman put her hand on her husband’s arm, stopping him from stepping onto the elevator with us. She glanced down at the chips all around our feet and then looked up. “I think we’ll just take the next one. You kids go on ahead.” She winked at us and shushed her husband when he started to complain.
The doors closed and Mack came after me without a second’s delay. I welcomed him with open arms and open legs. As open as they could be, anyway, in the damn tight dress I’d been forced to wear. It was like a straightjacket when all I wanted to do was jump up and wrap my legs around him.