and they'd never mesh for a long-term relationship. That he'd never be able to live up to certain expectations, and that he'd never have her mother's approval.
As if she cared about any of that.
Christine figured she had enough ammunition to blow every single one of his excuses into smithereens. And as soon as they arrived back at her place, she planned to do just that.
The slow song ended, and she stepped out of his embrace. 'I need to use the ladies' room before we go,' she said, suddenly realizing just how full her bladder was. 'I'll meet you back at the table.'
'All right.'
He went in one direction, and she headed the opposite way toward the restrooms. By the time she walked back out, her mind was already forming every defense it could to any possible excuse Ben tossed her way. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she nearly collided into Jodie, one of the bar waitresses, who was standing in front of her.
'I'm sorry, Jodie,' Christine said, giving the other woman a friendly smile. 'I wasn't watching where I was going.'
'Actually, I was waiting for you.' The other woman returned Christine's smile with one of her own. 'Mr. Crosby said he promised you a bottle of champagne from his private collection for your birthday. He asked me to take you down to the cellar so you can pick out what you'd like.'
Earlier, when she'd been with Craig while cutting her cake, he'd told her he wanted to give her a bottle of champagne to celebrate her birthday. At the time, Christine told him that any kind of gift really wasn't necessary, even though he'd insisted. But now that she was leaving with Ben and heading back to her place, the thought of having a bottle of champagne to share with him sounded like a nice idea to compliment her planned seduction.
'The cellar is this way,' Jodie said, then led Christine down a private corridor behind the main bar.
They passed a few closed doors, then stopped at the very last one at the end of the hallway. Jodie took a ring of keys from her pocket, unlocked the wooden door, and opened it wide. After switching on a light that illuminated the lower portion of the room, she started down the wooden stairs and Christine followed behind.
As they descended into the cellar, Christine shivered and rubbed her bare arms as cold, refrigerated air cascaded over her skin. 'Wow, if I'd known how freezing it was down here. I would have worn my sweater.'
Jodie laughed. 'I know it's a bit on the chilly side, but we have to keep the cellar set at about fifty-seven degrees to keep the various wines at their peak.'
The bar waitress strolled across the surprisingly large room, which looked as though it was a basement that had been recently renovated with hardwood floors, and customized ground-to-ceiling racks that could easily accommodate hundreds of bottles of wine. Most of the cubbyholes were filled, and Jodie came to a stop in front of an area that had been sectioned off from the rest of the room.
'Here is Craig's private collection, and those are the champagnes right over there,' she said, pointing a finger in that direction. 'He said for you to help yourself to whatever one you'd like. If you want something really nice, I'd say go for the Krug.'
'Thanks. I'll take a look and see what he has.' Christine wasn't interested in picking the most expensive bottle, just something she and Ben would enjoy.
Jodie shifted anxiously on her feet. 'I've got to get back to my drink orders before they pile up, but you can take your time down here. When you leave, just shut the door behind you. It automatically locks from the outside.'
'Great. Thanks, Jodie.'
Once the other woman was gone, Christine scanned the wooden racks and pulled out a few of the foil-topped bottles to read the labels. After a few minutes of perusing Craig's very expansive collection, and shivering from the cold, she came across a Dom Perignon Rose. Remembering once having that particular champagne at a wedding and liking the taste, she decided to choose that bottle.
Just as she turned around, she heard the cellar door at the top the stairs close with a soft 'click', then slow, steady footsteps coming down the wooden stairs until Craig appeared in the chamber below, looking impeccably dressed in a black suit and crisp white shirt. His hair looked mussed, as though he'd run his fingers through the strands, but it was the eerily calm yet calculated look in his eyes that sparked a sense of unease deep inside her stomach.
'Hey,' she said, forcing a cheerful note to her voice and acting as though nothing was wrong. 'I just finished picking a bottle of champagne and was coming back up to thank you.'
With his hands tucked into the front pockets of his dress pants, he slowly, gradually, strolled toward her, a wholly sexual smile curving the corners of his mouth. 'You can thank me just as well down here.' His dark gaze raked down the length of her, not bothering to disguise the fact that he wanted her.
His meaning was clear, and as frantic as her heart was beating beneath her breast, she refused to panic or allow him to get the upper hand in the situation if she could help it. She had to get out of there and away from him, pronto.
'It's a bit cold in here, and the party is upstairs.' She smiled and visibly shivered for effect. 'How about we take this champagne with us and celebrate where it's nice and warm and my teeth aren't chattering?'
She moved to the right to go around him and bolt for the stairs, but he countered the move and blocked the way with his body.
His stare turned hot and predatory. 'I thought we could have our own private party down here in the cellar, where it's nice and quiet and we can be all by ourselves.'
'I really need to go, Craig,' she said, asserting a firm, confident tone to her voice, despite the fear nearly strangling her. 'Ben is waiting for me.'
As he moved even closer, he casually ran his finger along a rack holding bottles of wine. 'Well, he can wait a bit longer, now can't he?'
Christine lifted her chin, wishing she was taller. Craig was a big, substantial man, and as he neared, he made her feel too damned small and vulnerable, which she hated. Finally, Craig stopped, leaving only a few feet between the two of them. Behind her was a rack of wines, and in front of her, much too far away, were the stairs leading to her freedom. She knew she had to distract him in order to get there.
'Ben will come looking for me if I don't get back to him,' she said, knowing it was true.
'He can look for you all he wants, but the cellar door is locked from the outside, and he doesn't have a key.' He smiled in a way that made her skin crawl. 'According to Jodie, nobody knows you're down here but her, and me, and I made sure she's much too busy to bother us.'
Then that meant she was on her own, and she figured the direct approach was all she had left in her favor. 'But that doesn't stop
Curling her fingers even more tightly around the neck of the bottle, she stepped around him and headed for the stairs, but he grabbed her upper arm to stop her. Just as he pulled her back around, she swung the bottle of champagne at his head.
He saw it coming and ducked, then came back up just as she aimed it at his head from the other direction. He caught her wrist before the bottle could connect with the side of his face and squeezed tight, until the crushing pain he exerted was too unbearable and she dropped the champagne. The bottle crashed to the floor, exploding in a spray of bubbly liquid and shards of glass that pricked and cut at her bare legs.
He shoved her against a nearby wall, so hard that her head hit the concrete surface and she swore she saw stars. When her vision came back into focus, she realized that he'd braced his hands on either side of her shoulders and had wedged a thigh between hers to keep her trapped against the wall and his body. His face was right in front of hers, and he looked pissed.
His jaw clenched tight, and anger flashed in his eyes. 'That was a
If he expected her to apologize, he had another thing coming. 'Go to hell,' she hissed.
She struggled against him to get away, aiming her nails at his face and eyes, but he was so much stronger than she was, and he managed to subdue her much too easily. He caught both of her hands in one of his, then reached toward a nearby shelf and grabbed a long, thin piece of rope he must have left there earlier. He yanked her arms behind her back and within seconds had the rope wrapped around her wrists and her hands tightly secured.
