The Billionaire Next Door (Billionaire Bad Boys #2)(51)

He looked down at her and raised his arms in “ta-da” fashion, one hand still linked with hers. “Entertainment.”

“I bet.”

A few more moments of silence passed and Rachel stopped walking altogether.

“Tell me why you asked me here, really,” she said. “Do you actually need my help? Or do you only want to sleep with me?”

“I’m assuming you want the truth.”

“It’s not like you to mince words.”

It wasn’t. So he didn’t.

“I want you here because I value your opinion and trust your instincts. And because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the second you opened Oliver’s door wearing polar bear pajamas.”

Surprise colored her features. “How do you know they weren’t penguins?”

“Polar bears. Wearing little red scarves.”

She beamed and pride coated him.

“Truth is, Dimples, I want both. I want your advice. I also want you naked and on top of me. I want to watch your eyes go dark and hear the way you say my name in a breathy, heated voice while you’re coming.”

“Tag…”

“Just like that.” He dropped her hand, opting to put her to the test as well. “Now tell me why you’re here.” Had she come for the free vacay, or did she come to be with him? His heart pounded as he pressed his lips together and waited for her answer.

“Helping with the bar design will look good on a resume…”

He swallowed, his throat dry and his mind racing. If her resume was the only reason she was here, he wasn’t sure he would take that news well. But a few seconds later, she put him out of his misery.

“Truth?”

“Preferably,” he croaked.

“I came here to be with you.”

*



Unwrapping Tag Crane was like opening a present.

Being with him unleashed her confidence, and after the evening they’d had, she couldn’t resist him another second. He’d told her she was worthy. He’d made her feel desired. The player, as it turned out, wasn’t playing her.

This wasn’t Tag on his A game. This was Tag, the layers peeled back. His subtle charm feathering into the very real truth he shared about his childhood. It was him telling her exactly what he wanted, and what he wanted was to treat her well.

Rachel was on board with that. She deserved to treat herself.

She didn’t falter when she tugged his shirt up to reveal his bare, flat belly. She didn’t hesitate when she unbuttoned his shorts or when she wedged her thumbs beneath the band of his boxer briefs to explore his hot, golden skin.

He captured her face in his hands and kissed her while she touched him, his low male groans reverberating in her belly and bringing her desire to a peak. Everything about him made her want to lick him from head to toe. Which gave her an idea…

Did she dare?

His hands vanished under her tank top, her ruffled shirt already on the floor at her feet. He walked her backward until her back was pressed against the wall outside his bedroom door. Her chin tilted up, she took in the man surrounding her, hair, massive arms, and bare chest.

Hell yeah, she dared.

“Tag.” She tilted her head to one side, giving him room to explore her neck with rasping kisses.

“Yeah, Dimples?” he murmured against her skin as both thumbs brushed over her nipples through her bra. Her back arched, her tight breaths making her next words a high squeak.

“I want to…” She gasped when he did it again. “Do something.”

He stopped kissing her.

“What something?” he growled, muscles taut and eyes unerringly locked on hers.

Licking her lips, she reached for his manhood and cupped him. “Something…I’m not confident I do well.”

His eyes turned into twin erupting volcanoes. His hands tightened around her waist as he hovered over her. “If you’re offering what I think you are…”

“Going down on you?” She was barely able to push the words out of her constricting throat.

His nostrils flared and he froze in place.

“I’m offering.”

“I’ve got a fantasy involving you and just that, Dimples.”

She couldn’t help it, she grinned. Never in her life had she been this brazen, but hearing this incredible man had a fantasy about her made her want to hear every last dirty word of it.

“Will you tell me what it is? In detail?”

His throat bobbed with deep laughter.

“Are you f*cking kidding me?” His teeth stabbed his lip briefly, which was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. “You like when I talk dirty, Rachel?”

She nodded. “It makes me feel wanted.” And not like she was rigid or lousy in bed. As he’d proven to her twice, wait…three times, she did fine in his bed. Well, on the couch. The chair, the airplane bed…They hadn’t been together in a bed on land yet.

“I want you, sweetheart.” He offered his hand. “Let me show you how much.”

Pants open but still hanging on his hips, he led her to the en suite. Tag pulled open the sliding glass door on the shower.

“It involves us in here,” he rumbled. “And you sitting on that bench.”

The seat at the back of the shower was the perfect height for…oh. Oh, my. Putting a hand to her cheek, she felt the heat there. Could she actually do it?