Page 37 of Dirty Filthy Boy
Chapter 13
MacKenna
CONFUSED AS HELL, I spin and take a couple of steps away from him. I can't think when I'm mashed up against him, his shaft practically imprinted on my skin. "What do you want from me, Ty?"
He brushes a thumb across my cheek. "Right now I want to make love to you."
I breathe in that male scent of his, and a ripple of heat races across my skin. Wanting, so much. But I can't give in to my hunger for this man. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"I have a job, responsibilities, bills I have to pay. Going to bed with you will jeopardize much of what I want from life. If Mr. Bartlett finds out I slept with you, at the very least he would take me off your assignment. Probably send me to interview the dog catcher at the pound. I can't ruin my entire future for a fling with the Outlaws' quarterback."
"MacKenna. You're special. Very special." He curls one of those big hands of his around the nape of my neck and leans down to kiss my throat, my jaw, my cheek. Something hot streaks within me, and I tremble. Who knew I had this much need inside of me? And it's all for this man because Oliver, gorgeous as he is, does nothing for me.
"You want me," he whispers in my ear, nips the lobe.
I'm in trouble. Big, big trouble. I dig deep inside and fight off the insidious voice that tells me to go for it. "Any woman would want you, Ty. I mean, look at you."
Six foot five of hard muscle, green, hungry eyes, never mind the erection he's sporting. He's a lethal combination, able to seduce a woman with a single glance. But I can't allow myself to fall for him.
"Desiring you is not enough."
His eyes flash with anger as he steps back, dropping his hands to his side, fisting them at the ends. "You're denying me, denying your own need for the sake of your fuckingjob?"
"It's my future, Ty. Can't you see that?"
He gestures to the space around us. "Nobody here but you and me. No one has to know."
"Things have a way of coming out. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to return to the ballroom, find Mar and leave." The excitement's gone from this evening. I want to go home, stick my head under my pillow, and forget about Ty Mathews. If that's possible.
He shakes his head as if he can't believe what I'm saying, but he reaches for his clothes and slowly dresses. "Fine. If that's what you want."
"It is."
In total silence, we walk back the same corridor, ride the same elevator as before. When we arrive at the ballroom, neither Mar nor Oliver are anywhere to be found. Neither is her purse. I ask the people at the table, acquaintances and employees of Oliver, if they've seen my friend. No one has seen hair nor hide of them since they took to the dance floor. Darn.
"Can you call her?" Ty asks.
I shake my head. "I have her cell. Her purse was too tiny to hold it."
"Maybe he took her home."
"I don't think so. He's so not her type." Mar's type is an environmental tree hugger, not a billionaire businessman.
"I meant her home."
Mar wouldn't like for him to know where she lives. If anything, she probably ditched him and took a cab home. She knew I was with Ty and more than likely thought I would spend the night with him. Wish I knew she was safe and sound. Maybe she headed back to my apartment. She was supposed to spend the night, and she has a set of keys to my place. I bet that's it. Better return home and make sure. If she's not there and I don't hear from her by tomorrow, I'll run over to her place.
"Yeah. You're probably right. Well, thank you for the interview." I stick out my hand to shake his. If anybody's listening, and they are, they would hopefully think we were together for professional reasons, and not anything else.
"How are you getting home?" He doesn't let go of my hand.
"Taxi." The same way Mar and I arrived.
"I'm leaving. I can drop you home."
"I thought the Outlaws provided transportation for the players."
