Big Shot(41)
The prerequisite sticky name tag was affixed to his shirt, and he picked up a beer from the bar. As Wes made his way through the function, he kept an eye out for Natalie while stopping along the way to say hello to colleagues and acquaintances. He shook hands, passed out business cards, and had conversations with people in his industry. A solid half hour passed of schmoozing and making new contacts before he heard familiar feminine laughter that made his pulse jolt in awareness. Everything else around him faded away as he turned his head toward the sound he’d come to adore.
He smiled when he saw Natalie, looking sweet but incredibly sexy in a fitted beige skirt that was tight enough to ensure that she was wearing one of her g-strings beneath, and a mint-colored silk blouse that looked prim and proper. Except now Wes had intimate knowledge of what she wore beneath her business attire—enticing, tempting, dick-teasing lingerie.
She laughed again, the tone soft and intimate and flirtatious, and since it wasn’t directed at Wes like it normally was, he glanced at who she was with. Two guys he didn’t recognize and Richard, whom she was standing way too close to and was now smiling up at as he said something to her.
An unexpected wave of jealousy swept though Wes and settled into a tight knot in his gut, followed by a surge of possessiveness. Without questioning this unexplainable need he suddenly had to stake his claim, he excused himself from his current conversation and walked over to Natalie’s group, just as she hooked her arm through Richard’s and made a comment that had the two men standing across from her chuckling.
She’s mine. She’s all f*cking mine, he wanted to roar like a goddamn Neanderthal. Instead, he somehow, someway, maintained his composure, though the tight frown that had furrowed between his brows remained. It was his only way to get his message across to these clowns that Natalie wasn’t up for grabs . . . at least for another four days, an inner voice in his brain reminded him.
Fuck you, conscience . . . for pointing out how little time he had left with Natalie. But for that short duration that she still belonged to him, he realized he didn’t want to share her with another guy. Not her smiles. Not her laughter. Not her flirtatious banter.
Richard saw him approaching first, and the corner of the man’s mouth quirked with amusement. Wes didn’t know what was so f*cking funny, and the other man’s levity only provoked his inner alpha male. Richard lightly jabbed Natalie in the side as she was talking in an animated fashion to the other men. Once he had her attention, Richard nodded in Wes’s direction and said something he couldn’t hear.
Natalie turned her head just as he arrived, her eyes widening in genuine surprise. “Wes!” She let go of Richard’s arm. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.”
She’d asked him earlier in a text if he’d planned on coming to the event, and he hadn’t given her a definitive answer because he’d had a meeting with a client right before this get-together and wasn’t sure how long it would last.
“I’m here now,” he said, his voice tight as he encompassed all three guys in a quick glance. “Afternoon, gentlemen.”
“Hey, Wes,” Richard said with an engaging smile that only irritated Wes more because of how friendly it was. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Same here,” Wes lied, and made sure that his vise-like handshake sent a loud and clear message to the other man to keep his goddamn hands off Natalie.
Natalie gave him a concerned look, as if she was trying to figure out why he was being so abrupt, but she didn’t call him on it. Instead, she gestured to the two guys standing across from her. “Let me introduce you to Dale and Jake, who are relatively new reps at First American Title.”
Both men immediately whipped out business cards, and because Wes didn’t want to look like a complete jackass, he accepted both contacts and gave them the same assertive handshake as he’d given Richard.
“Anything you need or we can help you with, don’t hesitate to call either one of us or drop us an email,” Dale said amicably.
In the realty business, title companies were an important part of the selling process. Wes had reps he already worked with, but it never hurt to have a few other contacts in his back pocket. Except at the moment, he wasn’t feeling very chatty or cordial. He gave them a brief thank you and glanced back at Natalie, who had a what the hell is wrong with you? expression on her face.
“Can I have a moment alone with you, sweetheart?” Wes asked, making sure to put the emphasis on the pet name.
“Of course, honey,” she parried right back as she batted her lashes impudently at him. “Excuse us, please,” she said to the three other guys.
With a possessive hand holding Natalie’s arm, he guided her out of the event. There was no private place to have a conversation, and as soon as he saw the EXIT sign over the door leading to the stairwell, he headed there. He doubted anyone would be taking a climb up to the rooftop when there was an elevator available.
As soon as the door closed behind them, he backed Natalie up against the concrete-block wall and flattened his hands on either side of her shoulders to make sure she couldn’t go anywhere, not without going through him first.
Annoyance flashed in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, most likely a smartass remark, but Wes took her face in his hands, tipped her head back, and cut her off with a hot, hard, dominant kiss.