Big Shot(17)

She wished. Natalie appreciated Richard’s levity in the situation, which was just what she needed to chase away the last of her grumpiness. “No, he took me on the Centennial Wheel knowing I have a thing about heights . . . and then he kissed me.” After dropping that bombshell, she took a quick drink of her coffee.

A slow, knowing grin eased across his lips. “And judging by that flush on your pretty face, you liked it.”

There was no sense denying the truth. Not to Richard, anyway. “Maybe. Just a little.”

Richard crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow that said, You’re such a liar.

“Okay, I liked it a whole lot. But I also told him not to do it again,” she said since she was being honest and baring all the finer points of the evening to him.

“Why the hell would you do that?” He stared at her as if she were insane for denying herself the pleasure of having Wes’s mouth on hers again. “You let him kiss you, you admitted to enjoying it, so why are you sabotaging the chance to have a little naughty fun with a guy who clearly turns you on?”

She popped a piece of her banana nut muffin into her mouth and chewed for a few seconds, giving herself a bit more time to formulate that good ol’ argument that always put her attraction to Wes in perspective. She swallowed, took a drink of her latte, and explained.

“I’m not trying to sabotage anything. I’m trying to be . . . smart.” She set her paper cup on her desk and reclined in her chair. While everything that had happened with Mitch had messed with her head, and she was still trying to repair the damage to her heart, there were other factors to consider. “Wes is my brother’s best friend. They work together, and if we started messing around and it ended badly, it would put a strain on their relationship. I don’t want to be responsible for that. Besides, despite that kiss last night, Wes has always kept me strictly in the friend zone . . . or more recently, the frenemy zone,” she said humorously.

Richard slid his hands into the front pockets of his trousers and tipped his head to the side. “First of all, who says your brother has to know that you’re doing the dirty with his best friend? Clearly, if Wes is keeping you in the friend zone despite the fact that I saw him eye-f*cking you yesterday morning at the coffee shop, then I’m betting he’d be down to having a discreet fling with you if you showed interest. It’s a win-win situation.”

“Are you advocating that I have an affair with Wes?” And that’s all it could ever be with a commitment-phobic guy like him. Just sex and pleasure . . . and no emotional involvement on any level. She wasn’t in the market for another broken heart, and that’s what Wes did best.

“If he batted for my team, I’d be all over that fine ass,” he said, and Natalie laughed. “Seriously, though, you have two entire weeks of opportunity, so why not take advantage of it? Think of him as your rebound guy after Mitch. A hot, no-judgment palate cleanser of anything-goes sex before you get back into the dating game.”

Natalie bit her bottom lip as certain body parts tingled at the thought of having anything-goes sex with Wes. She couldn’t believe she was giving Richard’s suggestion serious consideration, but his reasoning made sense. She hadn’t been with a guy since her breakup with Mitch, and if she was honest with herself, Liam couldn’t compete with the feel of a hot, hard man pumping his cock inside her or the decadent stroke of a tongue across her nipple, the sharp bite of his teeth in tender places . . .

Richard smirked at her as if he’d been privy to the arousing images filling her head. “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

“It’s an appealing idea,” she admitted, and thought about the next time she was going to see him. “He wants me to be the hostess, a.k.a. a glorified maid, for his poker game with the guys on Friday night. I wouldn’t mind getting even with him for making me go on that Ferris wheel last night, and get him a little hot and bothered in the process and see how it all plays out.”

“Oh, I definitely have a few suggestions that will get a rise out of him,” Richard said with a devious waggle of his brows, then shared his fun, sexy, outlandish ideas that would either make Wes want to throttle her or would change their relationship from frenemies to red-hot lovers.

She suddenly couldn’t wait to find out which it would be.





Chapter Seven





Wes wasn’t sure what to expect as he opened the door for Natalie when she arrived Friday evening right on time at seven o’clock—a half an hour before the guys were scheduled to arrive for the poker game—but it certainly wasn’t the tantalizing French maid costume she’d worn that immediately sparked a dozen dirty fantasies and instantly made his cock hard as granite beneath the fly of his jeans.

Ho-ly shit, was the only coherent thought he could form as he stared at the woman who was going to be the death of him. And his dick.

The classic black-and-white maid’s dress was cut so damn low in the front that if he leaned a bit too close, he was certain he’d fall right into that soft V of cleavage, courtesy of some kind of amazing underwire bra that had her tits pushed up high, and a generous amount of pillowy softness showing above a white, lacy bodice. The outfit cinched tight along her torso, along with a frilly white apron, then flared into a short little skirt that ended mid-thigh, with layers of white ruffles peeking out from beneath. With a pair of black stiletto heels on her feet, her stunning legs looked endlessly long, and he couldn’t stop imagining them draped over his shoulders or wrapped around his waist. Either scenario was hot as f*ck.