Substitute Seduction (Sweet Tea And Scandal 2)

“You’re quite the flirt,” she said.

“I’m not flirting. I’m speaking one-hundred-percent unvarnished truth.” He spread his fingers and entwined them with hers. “Will you have dinner with me tonight?”

“All of us?” she quizzed, glancing after her departing friends.

“Of course. You’re my guests.” He liked that she looked ever so briefly disappointed. Had she hoped to have dinner alone with him? “I have a press event at six. How about if I pick you up at eight?”

She glanced at the couple ahead of them. “That should be fine.”

“Terrific.” His gaze drifted to her soft lips. “A kiss for luck?”

“I thought it was just a practice,” she retorted, arching one eyebrow. “Why do you need luck?”

“It’s always dangerous when you get onto the track,” he said, his voice pitched to a persuasive tone as he tugged her to him. “A thousand different things could go wrong.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be responsible for anything like that.” Reaching up, she deposited a light kiss on his cheek.

It wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind, but Harrison’s temperature skyrocketed in response to the light press of her breasts against his chest. He curved his fingers over the swell of her hip just below the indent of her waist, keeping her near for a heart-stopping second.

Too soon she was stepping back, the color in her cheeks high. Harrison wondered if his face was equally flushed because he appreciated the cool breeze blowing through the alley between the garages.

“Good luck, Harrison,” London told him before turning to follow her friends. “Don’t let that kiss go to waste.”

With a rueful shake of his head, Harrison returned to the garage and wasn’t surprised to find several of his pit crew ready to razz him over his obvious infatuation with London.

“She’s obviously a great gal,” Jack Crosby remarked flatly. “Now, can you please stop mooning over her and focus on the next fifty minutes?”

Harrison smirked at his uncle. “Jack, if you weren’t so in love with your wife of forty years, I might think you were jealous.”

Five

Anxiety had settle

d in by the time the clock on the nightstand in her hotel room hit seven fifty. London stared at her reflection, hemming and hawing over the third outfit she’d tried on.

She’d overdressed for today’s visit to the racetrack. What might have suited a shopping trip in downtown Charleston had stood out like a sore thumb at Richmond Raceway. Was tonight’s navy blue sheath and beige blazer another misstep? She looked ready for a client meeting instead of a date with a sexy race-car driver. Would he show up in jeans and a T-shirt or slacks and a sweater? Should she switch to the black skinny pants and white blouse she’d packed? London was on her way to the closet when a knock sounded on her door.

For a second her heart threatened to explode from her chest until she remembered that she’d agreed to meet Harrison in the lobby. He didn’t have her room number, so there was no way he could be the one knocking on her door. She went to answer and spied Beau standing in the hallway. His eyebrows went up when he glimpsed her.

“You’re wearing that to dinner?”

London had grown fond of Beau over the last three years, but having him critique her wardrobe choices was too much. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

“I am.” Why did everyone find it necessary to criticize her appearance? “What’s wrong with it?” She meant to sound hostile and defensive but the question came out sounding concerned.

“It’s a dinner date,” Beau pointed out, “not a business meeting.”

“It’s not a date,” she argued, ignoring the fact that she wanted it to be. She just couldn’t get attached to Harrison Crosby. Not when she was using him to get to his brother. “We’re just four people having dinner.”

“About that...” Beau began, his gaze sliding in the direction of the hotel room he was sharing with his fiancée. “Maribelle isn’t feeling well, so we’re going to stay in tonight and order room service.”

London knew immediately that her friend was completely fine and that the engaged couple had conspired to set London up to have dinner alone with Harrison. Panic set in.

“But it’s too late for me to cancel,” she protested. “He’s supposed to be here right now.”

“I’m sure it will be just fine if the two of you go by yourselves.” He offered her a cheeky grin and winked. “Just wear something else. And have fun. He’s a great guy if you’d just give him a chance.”

“Great,” she grumbled, closing the hotel room door and pondering Beau’s parting words.