In Your Eyes (Man of the Month 6)

Megan stood to the left of the stage, and now that he'd come closer, she had a clear view. First of his chest, broad and firm with a perfect six pack and deep cuts that angled down from his hips and led under his tight, faded jeans. Jeans that, she noticed, he'd unbuttoned. Not to reveal anything, but just to give that extra edge of heat.

Everyone on that side of the stage could see his picture perfect body, and when he took the next step and peeled the shirt all of the way off, she heard gasps from the women behind him, and a sharp jolt of envy cut through her that she didn't have a view of his broad shoulders and tightly muscled back.

What she did have was his attention. Because he'd paused on the steps leading up to the stage, and his eyes were fixed on hers, so intently that Megan wasn't entirely sure if she could recite her own name, much less tell anyone what city she was in. All rational thought had been replaced by one basic truth.

Mine. Tonight, she thought, he's mine.

Then a voice shrieked from her left-- "Oh, yeah, baby! Come to momma!" --and Parker turned that direction, twirled the shirt once over his head, and sent it flying toward the shrieker.

What the hell?

Megan's mouth fell open, and the cold hard claws of jealousy cut right through her. He should have tossed that shirt to her.

His eyes cut back to hers, and she saw the fire of victory there. And she knew in that moment that he'd tossed the shirt away on purpose--and that he'd know damn well it would light a fire under her lust.

Busted.

He finished climbing the steps, walked the length of the stage, and flexed his muscles for a gaggle of screaming women.

Then he stepped back out of the light as one by one the other eleven men joined him on stage. But Parker was a hard act to follow, and as far as Megan was concerned, they'd all lost the competition even before it started.

The men left the stage as the votes were being tallied, and Megan was more relieved than she ought to be when Parker only politely nodded to the women who grabbed at him as he walked by, their greedy fingers brushing his bare skin.

He didn't hesitate, didn't pause. Instead, he moved straight to her side and put his hand on her waist, pulling her close so that she had no choice but to brush against his hot, naked skin. Oh. My.

"Miss me?" His words were a whisper, his breath caressing her ear, and she felt the tremor of contact rush all the way down her spine.

Yes. But she was hardly going to admit it. Instead, she purposefully took a step out of his embrace so that she could see him better. Then she lifted her brows and tried to look down her nose at him. Tricky, since he was a full head taller than she was. "Why would I miss you? You were only a few feet away."

He didn't argue, but his smug smile told her that he knew she was full of shit.

Well, fine. This was supposed to be their wild sensual encounter, wasn't it? And considering she was the envy of every woman in that room, she damn sure intended to enjoy it.

"Heads-up." Griffin's call came from a few feet away, and when Megan looked that direction, she saw a black T-shirt flying through the air.

Parker caught it with one hand, then smiled down at her. "What do you say? Should I put it on?"

"You'll disappoint every woman in this bar."

"Including you?"

She hesitated, then decided to go for the gold and tell him the truth. "No."

Surprise flickered in his eyes. "Why not?"

One deep breath for courage, then she explained. "Because I don't like to share."

He met her gaze and held it, and the heat of their connection swirled through her, making her a little dizzy.

She watched the play of his muscles as he pulled on the shirt, then drew in a sharp breath when his head emerged and his attention was once again fully on her.

"Let's get out of here." His voice was low and full of purpose, and with every breath in her body she wanted to say, "Yes."

Instead, she said, "We have to wait for the tally." Of course, that wasn't entirely true. The staff at The Fix encouraged the contestants to stay. But there'd been a couple of times when the contestants--even the winners--had scattered before the announcement. So long as they came back for the calendar shoot, it was all good. The party in the bar would still go on.

"If we leave now, I'll add an extra zero to all twelve donations."

She swallowed. "That's not exactly sound money management."