Page 3 of Eluding the Billionaire
I take one step back from the tempting Scotsman. I don’t know anything about this stranger, and I’ve been burned in the past by smooth words. I need to hit pause for a minute on my libido that’s screaming for me to get him naked.
“Great,” I reply, continuing to smile up at him.
“Ahh, an American … So, Miss America, can I buy you a drink?” While my step back put some space between our bodies, I’ve just noticed that we’re still touching. I let go of his arms, and he drops them to his sides.
“Sure, Mister Scotland,” I shout over the music, and his smile broadens again.
I gesture to Sarah that I’m going to the bar. She waves me off, more interested in the cute fair-haired guy she is now dancing with.
I look back at my Scottish stranger, and he holds out his hand for me to go first. When I’m in front of him, I feel his warm, light touch on the center of my bare back. My whole body tingles with the simple brushing of his fingers on my skin. That’s never happened before.
He leads me over to two spare stools at the far end of the long bar. It’s marginally quieter than the dance floor, but he still needs to lean into me when he asks, “What would you like?” I want to answer,Your body! Instead, I ask for a glass of champagne. He half turns to place our order with the waiter. From this angle, I can check him out in the brighter light emanating from behind the bar. He is a fine specimen of a man, which only reinforces my initial impression. He’s too perfect.
I look harder for a flaw. He may be a little older than I originally thought, as there is a sprinkling of gray hairs daring to peek through the darker ones. His profile is sharply defined, with his high cheekbones and straight nose jutting out at exactly the right angles. His lips and a couple of small lines at the corners of his eyes provide the only softness.
His head spins back to me, and a smile pulls up at the corners of his mouth. “I’m Drew,” he says as he reaches out his hand. I place mine tentatively in his and say my name before dropping my eyes down to where our hands remain clasped. His grasp is warm and gentle with a hint of roughness to the skin, and I notice a thin white scar running from his thumb to halfway across his hand. This is a man used to physical labor. Not at all what I was expecting, and I wonder what other surprising revelations hide beneath his perfect façade.
We spend the next hour chatting, laughing, and flirting in our secluded corner. I run my fingers through my hair and press my lips together while I listen to him speak. His thickly accented voice is deep and melodic, playing out all sorts of naughty scenarios in my mind. I find myself staring at his lips as they form words, and I don’t even care that I haven’t understood everything he said. To me, it feels like foreplay, so hypnotic and hot. I want this man with a need I haven’t felt in months, maybe even years.
Drew tilts his head slightly, looking at me quizzically. What did he just say? I smile back at him, and he quirks his dark brow.
Flustered and confused, I blurt out, “I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back soon.” I can’t admit that I have no idea what he asked, because then he’d wonder where my thoughts have been.
I dash away toward the bathrooms, detouring via the dance floor to grab Sarah’s hand. In the relative seclusion of the hotel hallway, I look in both directions, then whisper, “I need some advice.” Her eyes dance with amusement. “Drew, the guy I was with on the dance floor earlier … well, I want to take him to my room and do rude things to him. But I’ve never had a one-night stand or even ever thought I could be a one-night-stand kind of girl. I don’t know what to do. I mean, how do I even ask him?”
Sarah throws her head back, laughing. “Girl, I say go for it. It’s been months since you were last with a man.”
I mentally count back how many. “Ten months, to be exact.”
“Wow, that long?” She seems genuinely shocked to the point that I’m blushing with embarrassment.
I slap her on the wrist when she continues to stare at me, open-mouthed. “Stop that!”
“Sorry, it’s just that it’s a really long time. Anyhow, it only proves my point. You need to get yourself a man, and if this guy is ticking your boxes, then go for it.”
I wish I had a little of the confidence that Sarah has with men. A flutter of nerves takes off in my stomach.
“I guess. He’s smoking hot, even if a little too perfect. And don’t even get me started on his delicious Scottish accent, which is conjuring up all sorts of naughty thoughts. But I just—”
Sarah grabs me by both arms, forcing me to look her in the eye. “Stop right there. You’re overthinking this. It’s just one night with one hot Scot, not a lifetime commitment. You said earlier that you wanted to let loose tonight, so get out there, drag your man to your lair, and do all those juicy things you’ve been thinking.”
I laugh at my friend as she releases my arms, spins me around, and gives me a gentle shove back toward the ballroom. “Go on. Do it, do it, do it,” she chants softly behind me between giggles.
Looking over my shoulder, I smile and say, “Okay, I’m letting loose.” I shake my hands out to prove my point and stride back down the hallway, in through the ballroom doors, and straight over to where Drew is still sitting.
I slide onto the stool beside him, and I blurt out, “Would you like to go somewhere a little quieter?” He raises one brow, and I like that I’ve surprised him. I also like that I didn’t chicken out.
It’s easier than I thought to just come straight out and ask for what I’ve wanted since I first laid eyes on him. Sarah is absolutely right. It’s time I took my party somewhere private.
A little less forcefully, I explain, “I have a suite upstairs … and it’s hard to hear above this music.”
His lips tip up slightly at the corners before he replies, “Aye, let’s do that.”
I’ve never had a one-night stand before, and at twenty-nine years old, I’m thinking it’s about time I did. I hop off the stool, stumbling a little and bumping into Drew. Another zap of electricity sizzles through my body as his hand flattens on the center of my back to steady me. One simple touch and any doubts about getting this guy horizontal fly completely out of my head.
I mumble my thanks and then jabber on about my high heels making me unsteady. I don’t want him thinking I’m drunk, because I’m not. My thoughts have never been clearer.
I want Drew’s body naked … now.
