Page 13 of Wicked Trouble

Chapter Five

Cammie spotted Zane before he spotted her. He was wearing brown khaki shorts and a blue button-up short-sleeved shirt. As he stepped into the atrium, he scanned the crowd, eyes widening as he took it all in. There was so much to look at. Cammie had gorged herself endlessly when she’d first arrived. Not only were the woman dressed in latex and fishnet that showcased all their assets but so were the men. There was a lot of skin showing and very little left to the imagination—totally sexy. The crew were serving drinks and snacks as well as directing people this way and that toward the many booths where vendors had set up their fetish wares.

Cammie had put on a simple white halter tank that displayed her ample cleavage marvelously and a wispy black skirt that she could twirl high enough to show off her bare-naked ass if she wanted.

Zane accepted a flute of champagne from one of the servers then took a swig as he continued to hunt her down.

Cammie’s breath hitched when his gaze found her. She gasped a little when his eyes locked in, giving her a hungry once-over that made her knees wobble.

This man was accelerant to her flame. Her body melted on the spot as he walked toward her, looking like a man full of octane. The crowd parted on instinct, and Cammie couldn’t help but burn a little more because he was so commanding and in charge.

“Love that dress.” His gruff voice sent shivers over her skin.

“It’s a skirt, actually.” The sass just slipped out and Zane growled in response. He curled his arm around her waist and hoisted her against his body.

“I don’t care what it is.” He reached under her skirt to cup her pussy with his free hand, jolting her, making her squirm as he slipped a couple of fingers into her hole.

She choked on a moan. Her body revved up, ready to spontaneously combust. Anyone could see what he was doing, and yet no one was paying any attention—or at least, no one appeared to be paying attention. She wondered just how far they could go without anyone noticing…or caring. She hoisted herself up his body, her arms around his neck, fingers digging into the short stubble at the base of his skull.

“I found Steven Posh,” he said against her ear, as if he was whispering dirty talk instead of some guy’s name.

“Huh?” She was so consumed by his fingers stroking her pussy and his thumb rubbing her clit that coherent thought was not within her reach.

“Our first guy, Steven Posh. He’s a vendor, selling vibrators over there—at the booth with all the lights.” He maintained his grip on her waist so she couldn’t move more than a slight shift backward, enough to look up at Zane. He pulled his hand out from under her skirt then slipped his fingers into his mouth, his eyes locked with hers as he licked her juice. It was the hottest thing she’d ever seen, like he was savoring her lust. Her body twisted and curled, aching for another round with Zane, right here, right now—audience be damned.

His words finally caught up to her, though, and, somehow, she managed to turn her head enough to see what Zane was talking about. The booth with the vibrators was a popular one, and the guy selling dildos and various other phallic devices was a pretty good likeness of the guy she’d found on her floor—except it wasn’t him. His jaw was all wrong—round instead of angular—and his eyes were vividly green. His hair was curly and long as well, definitely more model material than the dead man had been. Not that he hadn’t been attractive… The dead man…ugh…hadn’t been ugly…only grotesquely dead. Why am I so worried about hurting a dead man’s feelings?

“Hello, you two!” A stunning brunette swept up to them, her green eyes bright and smile one-hundred-percent fake. “My name is Sherri Bolt.” She looked at them full of expectation, nodding in a way that suggested it was their turn to speak.

Zane let Cammie slide back to the floor and released his grip on her waist. Luckily her skirt didn’t ride up as she went down or she’d be putting on a show of her own for the crowd.

“Cammie Sheppard.” Cammie had enough experience event planning to know that this lady was one of the event managers. Her demeanor screamed ‘woman in charge’. She was definitely on a mission to recruit more people into whatever was in play for the day. “And this is Zane Roberts.”

“Did you two come together?” The way she said ‘come’ made Cammie think that Sherri had seen exactly what they’d been up to moments before, and that made Cammie’s face burn red hot. “Or did you find one another on board?”

“Oh, we’ve come together many times, Sherri.” Zane winked before adding, “If you don’t mind, Cammie is eager to check out the other vendors.”

Cammie wanted to die, seriously. Did he just say that? Out loud? Oblivious to her embarrassment, Zane cupped her ass and gave her a squeeze that made her gasp.

“Of course, yes. Don’t let me hold you up.” Sherri’s knowing eyes sparked as she looked from Zane to Cammie. “Wouldn’t want to get in the way of your fun. Just remember that there’s a series of workshops this afternoon and”—she tapped away on her iPad—“yes, just as I thought, neither of you are signed up for anything.”

“We’ll catch up with you later about that, Sherri,” Cammie said as she tugged Zane away.

“What my woman wants, my woman gets,” Zane said over his shoulder as he let Cammie pull him farther into the crowd.

“What was that?” She was both mortified and turned on by Zane’s over-the-top TMI with Sherri. “Did you really have to make a ‘come’ joke?”

“Yes, if we want the crew believing that we’re enjoying the cruise.” Zane stopped her by pulling her into his arms. “Look behind us.”

Cammie did as he said and found herself staring at Chief Ross in all his imposing glory and he was staring back. So, they were being watched. Wonderful.

“I thought it would be wise to play a part. I’ve heard some of the other men saying more pervy things and getting away with it.” He shifted her sideways so his arm draped over her shoulder. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”

“I wasn’t embarrassed,” she lied. “More shocked.” Now that she understood where he was coming from, she actually thought his acting was quite impressive, believable and wise. If they had a cover, then no one would suspect that they were up to something. “It might have been a good idea to discuss strategy before we got started.”

“I’m more a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of guy.” Zane laughed. “Besides, Sherri started it.”

Cammie found the idea of zero planning appalling and also intriguing. She didn’t really know a thing about Zane, his success or his methods, but he had to have some kind of reputation as a PI if Dark Matter Inc. had hired him. The CEO, Cal Underwood, was an exacting man who was as into perfection as her own boss, Sabine Cowan, but he stretched himself a little too thin with his variety of moneymaking schemes. Since they flirted with similar circles of clientele, Cammie was very familiar with Cal and his opinion of people. If he’d hired Zane to look into problems on his cruise line, he knew and expected that Zane would deliver, which meant that Zane had to be good.

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