Love Me (Take a Chance)

chapter Three


Thomas watched Brianna from the corner of his eye. So mistrustful. Admittedly he’d given her no real reason to trust him, but she acted like he was the Big Bad Wolf in Bo Peep’s clothing.

He could guess why she thought he’d hurt her. She’d given it away herself when she’d mentioned his “type.” He wasn’t sure he had a type. He had, once. She was currently living in his old house, sleeping with the yoga trainer who helped her keep her cheerleader body.

Paying for that yoga trainer with Thomas’s alimony checks.

He’d needed a new type long before he’d divorced Nicole and the long string of lovers that came with her. He could do worse than Brianna, and one date wasn’t the ten-year commitment he’d made before. A commitment that had left him stupidly blinded. Suckered in by a pretty face and reduced to a whimpering dog at her feet.

Never again.

At least with Brianna there was perspective. He wouldn’t be in Vegas long enough for her to use those lovely eyes and dangerous curves to seduce him into willingly snapping on his own leash, then dragging himself by it straight to Hell. He’d done that once before. And thanks to Nicole and his own stupidity, he’d destroyed his relationship with his one true friend, and hurt the only woman he truly trusted and loved. That rift was only beginning to heal after seven years. He wasn’t repeating the mistakes that had led to it in the first place.

No, tonight he was making an entirely new mistake. A very stupid one.

If they ended up hitting it off and they were happy together, then things would be fabulous. He’d seen office relationships work out splendidly. Stolen lunch dates in the break room. Hot, steamy kisses in the supply closet.

But if she decided she hated him? Well, that was a little bit different. He could just picture it now. The loathing glare she shot at him from across the boardroom table. The hatred in her motions as she slammed her pen down next to the blank contract she no longer wanted to sign because he was a dick. He could be losing everything in this mess. Losing everything because he was thinking with his little head instead of the one on his shoulders.

But he was in the mood to be a little stupid.

He turned his gaze to Brianna. She looked so small right now, her pensive eyes staring out the window, her face unguarded and somehow lost. He doubted she knew how vulnerable she could look when she wasn’t acting the part of the businesswoman, and he wondered if she wasn’t right: he would end up hurting her without meaning to, over a casual flirtation and the thrill of the chase.

A disquieting feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

She glanced toward him and caught his eye. Her face closed over. “What?”

“Nothing.” He reached across the seat, captured her hand, and stroked his thumb over her fingers.

She tensed and shot him an incredulous look. “What are you doing?”

“Touching you.” He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm. “It’s something humans do to express interest in someone. You’ve heard of humans, I assume.”

“I’ve also heard of slimy snakes.”

“I left my snake oil in my briefcase.” He darted his tongue out to touch the center of her palm. She gasped as if he’d shocked her. Her eyes were wide, the color of polished amber, translucent and clear.

“D-Don’t.”

“Are you sure? I’m just proving that I’m a man who is very much interested in you, since you seem so convinced I’m not.” He ran his thumb over the soft skin at her wrist. Goosebumps rose on her flesh, and her softly indrawn breath teased him. “Men are fairly simple to understand. We require very little to satisfy our needs. You, on the other hand…”

“What about me?” Her fingers curled loosely against his; her voice trembled.

“You are more complex,” he simply said. He wouldn’t give her more than that. Let her wonder what he meant.

Her trembling stopped. He glanced up and met her eyes. They were cold, but underneath the frosty surface a snapping fire threatened to break free. She deliberately, precisely extracted her hand from his grip.

“You’re playing me,” she said flatly.

No, he thought. If anything, she was playing him like a fiddle. Every time she brushed him off, he craved to win her approval. Wanted her to want him so badly it hurt. Had he read the signals wrong? Was she truly not interested in him at all?

“I’m not playing you, Brianna.”

She tapped her fingers on her leg. “Where are we going?” she asked, her voice cold.

“Where would you like to go? Would you like me to take you home?” he asked.

Her head snapped toward him. She blinked. Her brows drew together; that fire of fury threatened to break past her shielded gaze. Good. He wanted her to look alive. Wanted the spitfire he’d first met back. She seemed more real when she was angry. More the real woman she kept trying to bury under her polished image.

“Take me home?” she bit off.

“I’m not going to force you to go out with me, Brianna.” He dragged his hand through his hair, feeling completely out of place. “I usually read people well. I thought I read a spark of…interest…in your eyes. If I’m wrong about you, then I’ll take you home. I don’t need to bribe women to go out with me, believe it or not,” he said, his voice dry.

He couldn’t help adding that last part on. She’d wounded his pride, whether she had meant to or not.

She faltered. “So now you’re giving up? Wow. I thought you didn’t stop when you wanted something.”

“I draw the line at forcing a woman out to dinner,” he said. She looked at him as if she wanted to throttle him or kiss him into silence. He wasn’t sure which one. “So what is it going to be? Dinner or home?”

“Oh. My. God.” She clenched her fists. “You’re so annoying.”

“It’s simple. Either I was right, and you want to go to dinner with me on a date. Or I was wrong, and I take you home. We keep our relationship strictly professional.” His heart sped up. He wasn’t wrong. He knew it. If he was wrong, she would have jumped at the opportunity to flee his side. Instead, she glowered at him.

“I said I’d go to dinner with you, so I will.”

“Nope. Not good enough. Things need to be clear between us. If you go out with me, it’s a date.” He slid closer to her, tilting her chin back with his thumb. She stared up at him defiantly, refusing to admit she wanted him. Refusing to give in. “Just answer the question, Brianna.”

Her chin jutted out with stubborn defiance. “Fine. We’re going on the stupid date. Happy?”

He fought back a grin. He didn’t like to show his emotions too clearly. Nicole had always mocked him for being transparent. The simple memory wiped away all traces of a smile. “And you’re going out with me because…?”

“Because I want to.” She gritted her teeth. “Not because I have to for my job.”

“Good. Now I can do this without feeling guilty.”

He gripped her wrists, dragged her close, and captured her lips. She tensed, twisted, and tugged. If she’d jerked away, if she’d cursed at him, he’d have let her go.

Instead she melted to him with a breathy little moan, her lips parting beneath his.

He groaned and let go of her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she dragged him closer, arching her supple body into his. She was like fire wrapped in silk, and she opened to him with an almost vicious eagerness.

His tongue darted past her lips to taste her. She was sweet, luscious, her flavor wild and molten. A tight ache of need unfurled inside him—a craving he’d been denying for far too long. She raked her fingers over his shirt, fisted handfuls of the cotton, and pulled him closer. The heated, wet depths of her mouth dragged him into an undertow of fire that threatened to drown him in the untapped wells of passion sleeping under her cold shell.

They nearly ravaged each other, fingers grasping and clutching at clothing, mouths pressed together with a hunger that bordered on madness. Her breasts heaved against his chest, the twin points of her nipples pressing into him, taunting him. She was panting, pliant, and he wanted her. Here. Now. Raw and rough in the back of the damned cab if he had to.

The cabbie cleared his throat. The car eased to a halt. With a growl, Thomas tore his lips from hers and looked down at her. The glazed look in her eyes, the wanton need written on her face, punched him in the gut. He almost ignored the cabbie. The intensity of the sudden, overwhelming need she roused in him was disturbing. He was accustomed to having to hold himself back.

But one kiss from her made him feel like his leash had snapped.

He rested his forehead against hers. His lips ached from the roughness of their kiss. “We’re here.”

She took a shaky breath. She looked beautifully dazed, almost confused, and she jerked back from him, blinking, darting a glance at the cabbie. “R-Right.”

He shoved his hand into his pocket, tossed a twenty to the cab driver, and helped Brianna from the car. It was more telling than anything that she let him, laying her delicate hand against his arm with her eyes downcast. Her mouth was reddened, her hair disheveled, and he couldn’t help a fierce and primitive sense of pride. He’d broken her poise. He’d left her flushed, flustered, deliciously disarrayed.

To hell with dinner. He was taking her straight to his room.