Page 63 of The Money Man
“It all smells delicious, so I’m going to sample,” she said, helping herself to a taste from each container.
“I remember from lunch that you like samplers.” He smiled. “Tell me which you like the best. I’ll keep it in mind for the next order.”
The next order.She wondered when—or if—there would be another order. “Don’t you think that Tully and the FBI will be able to catch John Peters tonight?”
He put down his fork. “I think you should know that Tully tracked down Ted Murval, except that’s not his real name. He’s an amateur actor called Jake Masters.”
“Oh my gosh, so itwasa stage set.” The formerly delicious wild boar suddenly didn’t sit so well.
“Your instincts were right on target.” He gave her a level look. “Which means that someone spent a lot of money to fool us.”
“And that means that a lot more money is at stake or they wouldn’t have bothered.” She shook her head. “I don’t get it. Even if they sold several thousand copies of BalanceTrakR, at the rate they were embezzling, it wasn’t going to accumulate anything significant for years.”
He nodded. “There has to be more to it.”
“That’s what I keep thinking. What if the tiny withdrawals were some kind of a test run?”
“Just to make sure they could get to the funds? That could be it. Then at some point, they grab the whole transfer, rather than just a small part of it.”
“They’d have to do every client on the same day, though, because people would definitely notice that and complain.”
“So there’s some sort of timeline, a ticking clock.” He took a swallow of wine. “That concerns me.”
“Because?”
“If John Peters is here, they still think you’re a threat.”
“I guess it’s too much to hope that he’s a really convincing actor, like Jake Masters.” Alice decided she needed a gulp of wine too as Derek’s words sank in. “Barsky probably is a real computer hacker. I would guess that he’s the brains of the operation.”
“Tully’s got his FBI contacts working on identifying both of them.” His stern expression was banished by a slow smile. “For tonight, however, we are quite safe. This building has excellent security, and our dynamic duo of Pam and Christian will provide backup. So we can relax ... and enjoy ourselves.”
She forgot all about the hunger in her stomach as another appetite flared to life, fed by his words and the flame smoldering in his eyes. “I think I’m done with dinner,” she said, deciding it was her turn to tease him from behind his chair.
“You’ve barely eaten anything,” he said.
“The food will still be here later.” She stood up.
“Not if we leave the containers open on the table,” he said, snapping a plastic lid over the dish in front of him. “Sylvester and Audley will have a feast.”
She laughed and helped him cover the food at high speed. When she walked around the table, his face lit with anticipation. She came up to the back of his chair and rested her hands on his shoulders, just savoring the curve of muscle under the cotton shirt. Slowly, she slid her hands down over his biceps and back up to his shoulders before she twined her fingers into his hair to tilt his head sideways. Leaning down, she kissed the tendon flexing in his neck before parting her lips to flick his skin with her tongue. He sucked in a breath but didn’t move, so she ran her tongue along his jawline, feeling the slight roughness of his late-night beard.
He reached up and seized one of her wrists, pulling it down to his mouth where he licked her palm before grazing his teeth over the base of her thumb. That gave her an idea. She twisted her hand out of his grasp, uncovered a slice of chocolate cake, and dipped her finger in the daub of whipped cream on top of it, bringing it back to his lips.
A low growl came from his throat as he sucked her finger into his mouth and rolled his tongue over it.
“More?” she asked, slipping her finger free.
“I’d like to reciprocate,” he said, pivoting in the chair to snake his arm around her waist and pull her onto his lap.
She felt his erection under her thighs and it sent arousal searing through her. He dragged his finger through the chocolate icing on the cake and held it to her lips. She opened her mouth and sucked the rich, dense chocolate off his finger, eliciting another growl from deep in his chest. She answered with a hum of delight as the burst of flavor from the chocolate hit her tongue, his hard cock pushed at her thighs, and his free hand found her breast. It was a delicious assault that whipped the yearning inside her into a frenzy.
She seized his wrist and pulled his finger out of her mouth. “Now,” she said. “I want you now.”
When she freed his wrist, he shoved one arm under her legs and wound the other around her back to cradle her against his chest. In an impressive display of strength and balance, he straightened to a standing position with her in his arms. “Any preference as to where?” he asked.
She scanned the room, her gaze settling on the rolled arm of the sectional. The idea that came to her made liquid heat flow through her body. “By the arm, there.” She pointed. “With me over it.”
There had been a hot scene in one of her racier historical romances in the drawing room with a love seat that had rolled arms. She’d always wondered what it would feel like.
