Except it wasn’t the bartender.
It was Tyler himself.
“Well,” he said, stepping into the office, then locking the door behind him. “Isn’t this interesting?”
I crossed my legs, trying to ignore the cold wash of panic that had settled over me.
I reminded myself to be calm. That this scenario was covered by one of my contingency plans. But plans never felt quite the same in reality, and I was having to work hard to control my breathing.
“You pissed me off,” I said, with a husky edge to my voice. “I thought I’d come here and try to change your mind.”
“Did you?”
I cocked my head. “Greg called you, didn’t he? Told you I was here.”
“No.”
“No,” I repeated thoughtfully. Greg may have called, but that wasn’t why Tyler was at Destiny. No way he could have made the drive in barely five minutes. “No,” I said again. “You followed me.”
He took two steps closer, and my pulse increased exponentially. “I told you, Sloane,” he said. “I intend to find out what you want. Why you came after me. Why you told me that you want to play.”
“I told you that already,” I said. “Is it so hard to believe that I want you? That you pissed me off? And so I came here to make sure I would have you?”
He smiled easily. “As stories go, it has some heart. But I’m not buying it.” There were only a few feet between us now, and he closed the distance easily until he was standing right in front of where I sat on the edge of his desk. He reached out and uncrossed my legs, then gently spread them.
He stepped between my knees, then cupped the back of my head, easing me toward him even as he leaned in and kissed me hard, biting my lower lip before pulling away.
“Try again,” he said. His voice was light, but he was watching me intently, and I used the short span of time before I answered to remind myself that Tyler Sharp was a brilliant man who hadn’t gotten where he was—in either legitimate or illegitimate enterprises—by being foolish or blind or reckless. On the contrary, he was clever and careful and ruthless. And that meant that I had to be even more so.
“Did you know I applied at Destiny?” I asked him. “Got turned down flat.”
“Did you?”
“I thought it was strange, because I’ve done waitressing before.”
“There’s not a lot of turnover at Destiny,” he said. “Our employees are very loyal. But I’m beginning to understand.” He eased my dress up until his fingers found bare thigh.
I shivered, his touch making me feel a little drunk.
And then he slowly, so slowly, slid his fingers toward my sex.
“What were you planning, Ms. O’Dell?” he murmured as his fingers found the edge of my panties. He slipped under, and I drew in a sharp breath, then released a groan of pure, sensual pleasure. “Were you hoping to use your feminine wiles to convince me to give you a job?”
“I—yes—oh, god, Tyler.” I placed my hands behind me on the desk as I arched my back, glorying in the delight of his touch.
“I do like your feminine wiles,” he said as he slid two fingers deep inside me, then withdrew them slowly.
“So will you?” I barely managed to croak out the words. I wanted his fingers back. His touch. I looked up at him. “Please,” I said, and in that moment I’m not sure if I was asking for his touch or a job.
He brushed a kiss over my lips. “Convince me,” he said as he crossed the room to sit on the couch, leaving me on the desk, alone, turned on, and more than a little frustrated.
I looked at him. At that gorgeous face, that wide, kissable mouth. I let my gaze travel down to where his erection strained against the folds of his slacks. I knew what he wanted—and damned if I didn’t want it, too.
For just a fraction of an instant I thought about what I was doing. About what I was. About lines that couldn’t be crossed and rules that shouldn’t be broken.
If this were anything other than an off-book operation, I’d be sanctioned six ways to Sunday. And if I tried to use anything I learned in court, the defense attorney would try to get the evidence tossed by arguing a due process violation and backing it up with buzzwords like “outrageous conduct” and “shocks the conscience.”
But this was my own private op, and I wasn’t on duty.
Tonight, I wasn’t even a cop. I had no authority, no rank. My badge wasn’t worth shit in Chicago.
This wasn’t about the law. It was about bargaining and desire. And the bottom line was that I wanted him. Wanted the man—and I wanted the information he could give me.
I slid off the desk and crossed to him. Slowly—deliberately—I knelt in front of him, positioning myself between his legs just as he’d positioned me. Then I reached for the buckle of his belt and began to unfasten it. “I can be very persuasive,” I said, then flipped open the button of his trousers.
Slowly, I eased the zipper down. “Very,” I repeated, as I slipped my hand inside his pants and freed his hard, perfect cock. I lifted my head, just for a fraction of an instant, and saw the heat in his eyes.
Then I closed my hand around him and guided the tip of his cock into my mouth, then felt the strong tug of desire and power cut through me as he drew in a low, shuddering breath.
He tasted of salt and musk and male, and I teased him with my tongue, relishing the sounds of pleasure he made, the low groans of satisfaction. I drew him in deeper and his body stiffened beneath me. All that power and passion, and it was bottled up tight, right there at my command, just waiting for me to release it.
I sucked, taking him in long, deep thrusts, desperate to take him farther, to pull him right up to the edge, and when I felt the first shudders—when I knew he was so very close—I slowly withdrew and peered at him through my lashes, my mouth slick with him as I whispered, “Will you give me a job?”
“Yes,” he moaned. “But not at Destiny.”
I stared at him. And then—though my body was hot and prickly with desire, though all I wanted in that moment was to feel that gorgeous cock inside me—I laughed.
“Bastard,” I said.
“Christ,” he said, his voice tight with control. “This isn’t how I planned it, but I have to have you. Now”
“Planned it?”
“You came out of nowhere and knocked me off kilter,” he said, as he reached into the drawer of a small table beside the couch and pulled out a condom. “I will have you properly in my bed, Sloane, make no mistake. But I’m going to fuck you now.”