Dare to Believe

Couples danced together on the floor, laughing and talking. Little groups dotted the area around the dancers, enjoying the buffet dinner he’d had catered.

It was going well, other than one little thing. She wasn’t there yet. Ruby Halloway, the woman who’d haunted his dreams for months. He turned, wondering where his personal siren was. The party had started over an hour ago, and Ruby and Mandy were nowhere in sight. He wondered if she’d decided to bail on Mandy. He hoped not. He was dying to see her in that red corset. He stifled a smile, remembering how she’d held it up to her chest, looking so uncertain. It had taken all of his willpower to stop himself from going to her then and there. He’d longed to soothe her but was afraid she’d once again disappear just like she always did.

It had taken years to find her. When he’d first come into the company, he’d caught the faint, elusive scent that so drew him now. Maybe if he hadn’t been so busy learning the business and meeting with clients he might have put more effort into pursuing that scent and finding the woman who now held all of his attention, waking and dreaming. Instead he’d wasted all of that time. Oh, he’d hardly been celibate in the last five years. He’d dated plenty of women. Just none of them had been her. The one woman created by the universe just for him.

It wasn’t until he’d already become CEO, taking over for the previous owner of the Washington, DC

events’ company, that he’d finally caught a glimpse of her. Ruby Halloway. He’d been walking down the hallway in Accounting, talking to her boss, when Leo stopped dead. She’d been bent over a drawer, pulling out a file. The tight denim had stretched across the most luscious ass it had ever been his pleasure to see.

He’d longed to walk over, cup that ass, and claim the owner before she knew what hit her.

And then he’d caught her scent. He’d almost moaned at the savage rush of erotic heat. It was only his employee’s nudges that had made him realize where he was. He’d immediately asked who the woman was.

She’d heard her name, started, and taken off for parts unknown before he could get an introduction.

She’d been doing it ever since. As soon as she knew he was there, she either hid or left. It was driving him insane. He’d managed to hide his presence from her once or twice, and caught glimpses of the warm, funny woman she truly was. He’d finally called in the cavalry in the form of Mandy, who’d been delighted to set up her shy best friend.

He’d have made his move sooner if it hadn’t been for Kaitlynn Malmayne and the negotiations with the Malmayne family. Hopefully she now understood that Leo was unavailable for anything she might want from him. He’d finally gotten Kaitlynn and her posse back on the plane to L.A. It was time, past time, to claim his woman.

Tonight he was going to do everything in his power to see to it that this time Ruby had no reason to run. He turned in place again, sighing in disappointment.

If I can find her, that is.

When he finally saw her, he nearly choked. The two women stood together, looking around. They’d obviously just arrived, and were checking the party out, seeing who was there. Mandy wore a white leather miniskirt, white satin corset, silver belt, and white choker with a silver charm dangling from it. Her thigh-high white leather boots had four-inch heels, making her already impressive height even more impressive.

White strips of cloth dangled from two wires protruding from her back, and Leo figured they were meant to represent wings. A silver halo gleamed above the golden curls that drifted across her shoulders.

Peeking out from behind her white wings was the sexiest little devil Leo had ever seen.

She wore the same exact outfit Mandy did, but in red and black. Gleaming red satin cupped the smooth golden globes of her breasts. Red leather clung to her hips. Black thigh-high boots hugged those delicious legs. Tiny red horns peeked out from her reddish brown hair. A black bit of glass dangled from the red choker surrounding her slender throat. She looked terrified. He studied her face, feeling a sense of completion that never failed to stun him.

She was the most beautiful woman in the room.

Dark brown brows arched delicately over a pair of sherry eyes tipped with the darkest, longest lashes he’d ever seen. Her nose had a slight tilt at the end. She nibbled anxiously at her full bottom lip, her high cheekbones flushed with excitement and trepidation. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for something or someone.

Mandy pulled Ruby out from behind her and shoved her into the room with a grip that would do a cop proud. Ruby glared at her friend and wiggled, obviously trying to pull her arm free. That little jiggle did things for her body that had to be illegal in several states.

He suddenly wished his leather pants weren’t quite so tight. His body saluted the little devil, straining against the leather. When she took a deep breath, those amazing breasts pushed up and out of the corset, forcing Leo to swallow a groan.

Damn. Talking Mandy into giving him a hand getting Ruby to relax had been seriously worth it. The woman who’d haunted his dreams for months looked incredible. Even under the shapeless clothes she wore to the office he’d known she was sweetly rounded, just the way he liked his women. Ruby had generous breasts that begged for a man’s hands and mouth, hips you could hold on to while riding her to oblivion, and an ass he’d die to sink his teeth into. Voluptuous, that was the word. And her scent. That vanilla and peaches scent that drifted around her wherever she went. It was enough to drive him insane. Hell, he’d passed a bakery on his way home the other night and gotten hard just smelling the vanilla scents drifting out the door. If it hadn’t been for the negotiations with the Malmaynes, he would have been after her a hell of a lot sooner. Escorting Kaitlynn around town and showing her the sights had bored the spit out of him.

Kaitlynn’s saccharine sweetness was like nails on a chalkboard, not that he’d tell the blonde princess that.

And her sycophantic, selfish cousins were even worse.

If he had to even look at another leggy, flat-chested, half-starved, self-absorbed socialite he’d go stark raving mad.

Now he just had to convince his shy little devil to take a chance on him. He moved through the crowd, determined to claim her before anyone else could.

Ruby glared at Mandy, wondering if a jury would convict her if she killed her best friend. Mandy merely grinned and nudged her again, causing Ruby to lose her balance in those damned four-inch heels.

“Oh!” She squealed, preparing herself for a fall to the hard wooden floor.

Instead, she landed on a hard, bare chest. An incredibly hot bare chest. The best male chest she’d ever felt before in her life. She had to resist the urge to pet and stroke the rock hard muscles rippling under that silky skin.

“Sorry,” she muttered, feeling herself turn red. She risked a peek up.

And up. The owner of the chest was tall. Her head barely topped his shoulders in her four inch heels.

She nibbled again at her bottom lip, her eyes tracing their way up to the face above the chest.

Oh boy.

Leo Dunne’s green eyes twinkled down at her, his arms like steel bands around her waist. “Hello, Ruby.” The satisfaction in his voice was strange. The deep, possessive rumble sent a shiver down her spine.

Her cheeks heated up when she realized just how close she was plastered to his body. She pushed against that smooth, hot flesh. He released her with flattering reluctance, his hands lingering on her hips even when she pushed back to a standing position.

“Um, hi.” Ruby mentally winced at the lame reply and stared up into the amused, heated eyes of the CEO.

Heated?

“Would you like to dance?” His hands flexed on her hips, holding her even more tightly. She got the distinct impression the question wasn’t really a question.

“You almost have to,” Mandy’s amused voice came from her elbow. “The two of you match.”

Ruby blinked and took a closer look at Leo’s costume. He wore tight black leather pants, black leather boots with lots of shiny silver buckles, and not much else. A pair of red and black devil horns peeked out from his dark hair. In one ear a ruby stud gleamed.

Ruby shot one quick glare at Mandy. Somehow she wasn’t buying her best friend’s innocent act. Add in that Mandy knew all about her crush on Leo, and that she was close friends with the man’s secretary, and she had to wonder if Mandy had somehow set her up to match the hunky CEO. “You know, I’m not