Sinful Secrets (Mine 4.5)

“You don’t have to be afraid,” Jason told her, trying to keep his voice low and easy, reassuring. “This is going to work.”

She glanced over at him. “I can’t figure you out. One minute, you’re cold as ice, and then—”

He brought her hand to his lips. “When it comes to you, I’m many things, but trust me, cold isn’t one of them.”

“Why me?”

That was a question he didn’t want to touch. Not yet, not until he’d had a chance to prove himself to her. “My team is still looking into the leaked video of us. It was taken in your hotel room last year, so they think someone put a camera in there. That person was recording either everyone who stayed in that room or…you, specifically.”

She swallowed.

“Did anyone ever come into that hotel room while you were there?”

“J-just the maids. And you.”

And someone had recorded them. Then held onto that footage for nearly a year…

Why use it now?

The elevator reached the ground floor. He gazed at her for a moment longer. “Are you ready?”

“Ready to play the blushing bride?”

He gave a small, negative shake of his head. “Ready to save the company.”

She nodded.

“Then let’s get this game started.” They walked from the elevator. There were parties waiting on them. In Vegas, there were always parties, no matter how late the hour. Clubs they could enter. Private events for the elite of Sin City. The right people would see them, and Jason would make certain those people received the message he wanted sent…

Cat isn’t just a casual fuck. She’s mine. His ring was on her finger and his arm was around her waist. Damage control—yes, it was starting now.

And so was his life with Cat. Tonight, he’d show her just what they could have. He could give her anything, everything…if she’d just stay by his side.

They walked out into the streets of Vegas. And he held her tight.

***

Cat kept the bright smile pasted on her face. Another party. Another too full room with people laughing and champagne flowing. Everyone there seemed to know Jason. And because they knew Jason, they wanted to know her.

“Have you met my wife?”

The first time he’d said that, her knees had knocked together.

Shock was in the eyes of some people. Envy in the eyes of more than a few women Cat encountered. Maybe a bit of hate, too.

Her mind was still spinning. Three hours ago…just three hours…she’d been about to fly out of Vegas.

Now she was dancing with Jason. All eyes were on them. Whispers followed their every move.

And she felt as if she were suffocating.

You’re doing this for Cameron. For the business. It was working, too. People weren’t talking about scandal. They were talking business deals.

“You’re too far away.” Jason’s low voice had her blinking up at him in surprise. His left hand was curled around her waist. His right held hers. Their bodies were so close that she could feel his heat and strength.

Cat shook her head. Distance wasn’t exactly an issue that she could see.

“Your mind,” he said as his head lowered and he pressed a kiss to her lips. “Not your delectable body.”

Goosebumps rose on her arms. “Is the kiss because people are watching?” Staring at her like a bug under a microscope. She wondered how many people there had seen the naked pictures before Jason had managed to get the copies off the street—and the internet. Is anything ever really gone from the Internet? No, it wasn’t. The assessing, sexual gleam she’d caught in a few men’s eyes had told her that much.

“The kiss is because I like the way you taste.”

She jerked at that, and her steps slipped.

His hold tightened. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

For now. Later?

She didn’t know.

“I hate parties like this,” she whispered. “My mother and father—they thrived on them, but I hate the crowds. Always have, I—” Cat broke off.

“You what?”

“I feel like I don’t belong.” Her whole life, Cat had always felt as if she were pretending to be someone she wasn’t. She didn’t want the glitter and glamour. She wanted privacy, secrecy.

“You belong with me.”

The music stopped. Jason didn’t let her go. The other couples moved off the small dance floor, but he stood there, still holding her. Again, she wondered…was it just part of the show he was creating?

Was it more?

And did it matter?

She gazed up at him. He carried so many secrets. She could see them in his eyes. She wanted to know his secrets. Every single one. “How much longer do we have to stay here?”

His fingers twined with hers as he slowly led her from the dance floor. They didn’t head toward the other couples, though. Instead, Jason took her out on the balcony. No one else was there. Just the night waited, and, once outside, Cat could actually breathe again.

She pulled from Jason and walked to the edge of that marble balcony.

“Money and fame…they won’t make you happy.” He sounded so certain.

She glanced back at him.

“What will make you happy?”

Such an odd question, to come from him. “Being loved by someone.” Oh, jeez. Talk about baring her soul. But now that she’d started… “I’d be happy if I was loved completely—no restraint—by a man I could trust.”

His lips firmed. “You don’t trust me.”

She shook her head. “And you don’t love me.” They were alone, so it was safe to drop the act.

Only…Jason caged her against the edge of the balcony. “How do you know what I feel?”

Her heart sped up, a faster drum beat. “You want me, physically—”

“I don’t blow millions on women I want.”

Her eyes widened. “What are you saying?”

But laughter rang out then and more party-goers spilled onto the balc

ony.

Jason swore. “It’s time to go.”

Right. Another party…another fake smile. Speaking of that smile…Cat pasted it on her face again as they made their way back through the crowd.

Focus on breathing. Don’t make eye contact. You won’t be here forever. It’s okay, it’s—

They made it inside the relative safety of an elevator. Just the two of them. No, hell, another couple was coming forward.

“Get the next one,” Jason advised as he pulled Cat closer. “We’re full.”

The doors slid closed before the couple could respond—or enter the elevator.

Cat exhaled on a low sigh. “How many more?”

“You’re fucking gorgeous in that dress. It’s the same shade as your eyes.”

She glanced down and realized…um, yes, it was.

His hand slid over her side, caressing her lightly. “I look at you, and I want.”

The elevator sure was moving slowly.

“Let me take what I want, Cat…” His head bent and his lips brushed over her neck. Right in that sweet spot that she loved for him to lick.

Her knees were jiggling like mad. In her high heels, her toes even wanted to curl.

“No more parties, we’ve done enough for tonight. We’re going back home.”

Home. It wasn’t her home. Vegas wasn’t her city but…

She was leaning toward him. Moth to the flame.

He was the only man she’d ever met who made her feel both desire…and fear. It shouldn’t be a combination that she wanted. He shouldn’t be what she wanted.

He was.

The hotel lobby passed her in a blur. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, and soon, so soon, they were back in his limo. Heading…home.

The privacy screen was up. The leather was soft beneath her and—

“I need you, Cat.”

Jason was kissing her. His mouth brushed over hers, his tongue thrust past her lips, and her hands reached out to hold him.

“Now, Cat, I need you now.”

His hand slid down her body, moved to the daring slit in her dress. When he touched her bare leg, Cat shivered.

She didn’t stop him.

“More,” she whispered against his mouth. She’d been walking on egg shells all night. In this moment, with him, for the time they had, she wanted to let go.