Burned Deep (Burned 1)

“It won’t be a problem.” Of course not. I’d forgotten who I was talking to—whatever Dane Bax wanted …

He pushed my shirt up and flicked his tongue over the taut peak, igniting my insides. Then he drew my nipple into his mouth and suckled deep. I moaned.

“Ten o’clock,” he said in a low voice, his warm breath on my skin keeping me highly aroused. “Ethan and I will meet you there.”

My body stiffened. “You’re going to golf with us?” The panic hit full-on. I pushed him away, yanked down my shirt. This was serious business. I wouldn’t let him distract me. Difficult as it was to have him stop. “With my dad?”

“Yes. I have to meet him sometime, right?”

I sat up. Dane didn’t bump boundaries—he bulldozed right through them.

I couldn’t even challenge him and demand to meet his parents. They were deceased.

Shaking my head, I said, “That would be a huge mistake of epic proportions.”

“I promise not to mention how many times I made his one and only daughter come last night.”

I laughed, despite the anxiety rushing through me. “It’s nice to know you can tell a joke from time to time.”

He gave me a seductive grin. “Did you doubt it?”

“Please. Even you can’t dispute that you’re incredibly intense.” Edgy. Sexy. Dangerous. Too, too desirable.

I bit back a lusty sigh.

“I have a lot on my mind,” he said by way of a vague excuse.

Honestly, I was dying of curiosity to hear all about it. Was it just the hotel that made him so conflicted? Did it have anything to do with his massive wealth? His parents’ deaths?

I considered the hint of guilt that had flitted in his eyes at one point, when we’d been waiting for Alex to bring our cars after the Delfino-Aldridge wedding. What would a man like Dane Bax have to feel guilty over? Had he decided to lie, cheat, and steal his way to the top? Or did he suffer survivor’s guilt because he was alive and his parents weren’t?

Questions, questions. I needed some answers.

“So if I let you meet my father,” I ventured into risky territory, “will you tell me why there’s almost next to nothing about you on the Internet?”

“You Googled me?”

“Naturally.” I wouldn’t apologize for it. He’d researched me before offering me a job.

“We’ll talk later,” he said as he threw off the covers and got to his feet.

“I have to call Amano for a ride and make the reservation at Blackstone.”

His tone was clipped. He didn’t like having the tables turned on him—clearly didn’t appreciate that I intended to push back.

Too bad. Even Satan had pesky archangels with whom to deal.

Dane dressed, kissed me, then said mischievously, “I also have to make a drugstore run.” He winked.

“Don’t you dare flirt with me on the course. In front of my father … Ethan…”

Oh, crap. I was in way too deep here.

Dane gave me another kiss—a slow, sexy one—before adding, “Get ready, or you’ll miss our tee time.”

Then he sauntered off. Leaving me to wonder how he managed to talk me into everything he wanted.

chapter 10