Into The Night

Even though Nathan had clearly staked a claim, the awareness in Sloane’s gaze didn’t abate one bit. Instead, the fascination seemed to intensify. “You have excellent taste in women, my friend,” he complimented, his voice deepening with approval.

With those simple words, Nathan sensed a shift in his association with Sloane-from casual acquaintances to the stronger alliance he’d spent the past two weeks trying to forge.

And it was Nikki’s presence that changed everything.

Before the situation escalated in a direction Nathan wasn’t prepared for, he needed answers from Nicole. Hopefully, her explanation would help him figure out what was going on, and what he was going to do about her meddling in his case.

“There’s something I need to discuss with Nikki,” Nathan said to Sloane. “Will you excuse us for a few minutes?”

Sloane nodded, though his gaze hinted at his reluctance to let Nicole out of his sight. “Of course.”

Taking Nicole’s elbow, Nathan led her away, his firm grip not giving her any choice but to follow. Feeling Sloane’s gaze on them, and wanting as much privacy as he could find, he guided her into a secluded area of the gallery that wasn’t a part of tonight’s exhibit. As soon as they were alone, he turned her around to face him and backed her into the nearest wall. Standing in front of her, he flattened one hand by her shoulder so that she couldn’t easily escape. It also gave the impression that they were having an intimate conversation should anyone walk into the room.

Unfortunately, their close position also made him incredibly aware of her as a woman . One who’d spent hours in his bed, naked and willing and sexy as hell as she moved over him, and beneath him, in carnal abandon. He’d written her off as a one-night stand, an erotic memory to fantasize about when relieving his own needs in the dark of the night. Yet here she was, in the flesh, staring up at him with those seductive, velvet blue eyes and smelling like a frosted cupcake he wanted to eat.

Of its own accord, his body responded, wanting her despite the extreme and unexpected situation that had brought them together again. Heated desire surged through his veins and increased the pressure straining against the fly of his slacks. She licked her bottom lip, drawing his gaze to her lush mouth, making him remember how hot and heavenly she tasted. Making him ache with the need to kiss her again.

Stealing himself against her allure, along with his own reaction to her, he bent his head closer and narrowed his gaze in an attempt to intimidate. “What the hell is going on, Nikki ?” he bit out.

The corner of her mouth quirked with dry humor. “It’s nice to see you again, Nathan,” she drawled sweetly.

He winced at the use of his real name when Sloane knew him as someone else-and Nathan needed to keep it that way. “Call me Alex and answer my question,” he ordered, the sharp tone to his voice demanding her cooperation.

A smooth, bare shoulder lifted in a casual shrug. “I’m just enjoying the exhibit.”

“Bullshit,” he growled impatiently. “You look totally different. You’ve transformed yourself into a teenage girl and it’s clear you’re leading Sloane on! What kind of game are you playing?”

Nicole arched a brow, subtly taunting him with her lack of fear when it came to his gruff interrogation. “I could ask you the same thing, Alex .” Boldly, she slipped her hand just inside his sport coat, splaying her fingers against the material covering his chest. “You don’t strike me as the artsy type, though I do have to say that you clean up real nice.”

She shouldn’t have touched him. Nicole meant to distract Nathan with her sensual caress, and judging by the lust flaring to life in the depths of his eyes she’d managed the feat. But she hadn’t anticipated her own body’s traitorous reaction to the warmth radiating from his hard, muscular chest. Her nipples hardened and her pulse thrummed in acute awareness. The sizzling chemistry that had burned between them during their one night together hadn’t diminished at all. Instead, the sexual tension swirling around them now seemed hotter. Brighter. More intense.

With his hair cut short and his face freshly shaven, his masculine features appeared sharper, more refined than the flirtatious bad boy he’d been. His dark brown eyes glittered with a combination of reluctant attraction and a brooding edge of anger that was directly solely at her.

If she hadn’t already witnessed the more charming and amicable side to his personality, she might have felt threatened by his menacing temperament. Clearly, he’d been watching her with Sloane, and he wasn’t thrilled to see her again under the current circumstances. Yet despite the information she’d taken from Nathan’s files, there had been nothing to indicate he’d be at tonight’s exhibit, and she honestly thought she’d be able to execute her plan with Sloane without any interference.

And she nearly had.

But even though she’d been caught in the act, so to speak, Nicole wasn’t willing to give up her story, or bend to Nathan’s demands-no matter his intimidation tactics.

A muscle in Nathan’s jaw ticked. “What is your association with Sloane?”

“I just met the guy,” she said, her tone deliberately vague.

Her reply annoyed him even more, and beneath the palm still pressed to his chest, his body tensed. “Yeah, by pretending to be a girl in high school when I know damn well that you’re a grown woman. What’s up with the act?”

Realizing that touching him was too much of a distraction, she dropped her hand back to her side. “It’s none of your business.”

His brown eyes blazed with golden heat, singeing her in more ways than one. “I’m making it my business.”

Feeling provoked, and irritated by the fact that he believed he had any right to her personal business, she straightened her spine and jutted her chin out defiantly. “Look, just because we slept together doesn’t give you permission to interfere in my life or demand any kind of answers from me. I don’t know you well enough.” Besides, she had no idea what Nathan’s affiliation with Sloane was, either.

Needing to put some distance between herself and Nathan, she attempted to step around him, but he was quicker. His free hand clamped onto her hip and pressed her back against the wall-gently, but firmly. He shifted closer, using his hard, muscular thighs to help keep her pinned in place and surrounding her with the heady scent of his woodsy cologne and something far more seductive.

He dipped his head closer, his gaze latching on to hers, direct and arrogantly male. “Whatever you’re doing here with Sloane, you don’t have the first clue what you’re getting into,” he warned in a low voice. “I suggest you turn your ass around and leave before you do something stupid that will get you into a whole lot of trouble.”

She barely resisted the urge to knee him in the groin for inferring she was incompetent. Instead, she gave him a saccharine smile that did nothing to conceal her resentment. “I’ve done my research and I know exactly who and what I’m dealing with. I’m a journalist, remember?”

He arched a skeptical brow. “A journalist who writes fluff pieces on speed dating . Or was that a lie and you were angling for a bigger story?”

She might have omitted certain information about herself the night they’d met, but she hadn’t lied about her assignment. “When I met you, that was the truth.”

Unfortunately, her article had been so successful that Dating in the 21st Century had indeed become a monthly feature for the magazine, with Nicole in charge of researching and writing expositions on various dating trends. Currently, she was working on a piece about online dating, which gave her plenty of free time to pursue other interests. Such as Preston Sloane.

He studied her intently before responding. “Right now, I don’t know what to believe when it comes to you.”

Okay, that stung, and she hated that his opinion of her mattered at all. “Believe what you want, but I’d