Steel and Lace(5)

"Oh, no. I need a few drinks first." As if on cue the waitress arrived.

"Drinks are on the house tonight," she said with a smile.

"Really?" Sawyer's eyes brightened immediately

"According to who?" Cate looked at the waitress.

"Boss's orders," she shrugged. Vodka cranberry for Cate and I, and a draft beer for Sawyer. Cate introduced me to the vodka cranberry a few years ago and I quickly learned that they went down like juice and left me with a treacherous hangover the next morning, and sometimes with some blank spots in my memory of the night before.

"So what are you going to do about the watch?" Cate took a sip of her drink.

"I’m giving it back. I doubt he'll like it, but I’m not keeping it."

"Tell him I’ll keep it!" Cate giggled.

"What watch?" Sawyer narrowed his eyes. Cate jumped at the chance to fill him in on the gift that had arrived for me earlier this morning.

"I took the liberty of doing a little research on your behalf," Cate looked back at me. "It's worth a lot, Eva. Like, $12,000 conservatively." I choked on my vodka cranberry and my insides burned as the beverage sloshed around in my system.

"$12,000?" Sawyer coughed.

"No, he wouldn't spend that much. No way," I shook my head.

"Yes, way. He's a billionaire, Eva. 12 grand isn't even a drop in the bucket for him. It does however raise the question of the meaning behind it. Still no ideas?"

"No," I shook my head, still confused by Carter Morgan and his extravagant gift.





After a few drinks it felt like my bloodstream was humming to life and Cate dragged me off the couch to dance. The dance floor was crowded and sweaty bodies were gyrating against each other from corner to corner. The thumping beats vibrated deep within my body and my hips moved along with the music. Sawyer wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his body flush with mine.

"You look beautiful tonight, Eva," he nuzzled into my ear. My cheeks flushed and I wrapped my arms around his neck and inhaled his spicy cologne. Just as the deejay was transitioning into the next song, a deep voice was at my shoulder demanding the next dance. My head jolted up in surprise to find Carter Morgan and his steely blue eyes boring a hole into me. Suddenly the drinks on the house made sense.

Sawyer raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded my head as Carter stepped in and wrapped his arms around my waist. He was dressed in a navy suit and looked impossibly sexy surrounded by guys in jeans and button down shirts. Carter's arms felt like hard steel that held my body tight to his and had my blood humming with energy. The air between us sparked and it felt like we were drawn to each other by pure sexual tension.

"I thought you were just friends, Evangeline. That guy had his hands all over you," Carter's deep voice resonated in my ear.

"We were dancing," I looked up into his eyes as his left hand skimmed up my hips and torso to land on the back of my neck. His fingers were tangled in my hair and it felt so possessive and intimate. He was driving me wild. Because the vodka cranberry had lowered my inhibitions, I pressed my body impossibly tighter to his and did what I had been dreaming of doing all week. I snaked one hand to the back of his neck and tangled it in his almost too long locks, and brought the other up to the scruff along his jaw. I ran my fingertips delicately along the sharp angle and then used my fingernails to scratch along his perpetual five o'clock shadow. He groaned in my ear and I felt his other hand leave the hollow of my waist and makes its way slowly over my bottom to my thigh. His fingers reached the hem of my dress and played just underneath it enticingly. My heart began to pound and my breathing became heavy. I had never been so turned on with just a few small touches. Carter Morgan’s fingertips shot fire into my body and his eyes clouded over with a dark lust that left me trembling.

We danced through the song as other bodies jostled against us, but it was as if we were in our own bubble. One arm wrapped around me and his fingertips sliding ever so slowly up my thigh, inching my dress up. I couldn't have been more surrounded by Carter in sight, scent and touch. His hands all over me, his body covering mine, his intoxicating fresh water scent surrounding me. Just as the song was ending Carter's fingertips crept to the inside of my thigh, dangerously close to places I ached for him to touch.

"Let's go," his throaty voice whispered in my ear as he grabbed my hand and began to pull me off the dance floor.

"I can't," I protested, but he continued to drag me between the bodies towards the door. "Carter, I can't leave. I came with Cate, I can't just leave her here." Carter finally turned and cocked his head to one side. A dangerous look passed through his eyes that made something deep within my stomach flutter.