“What the...?” I whispered furiously. “He’s supposed to sit next to her at the actual counter, offer to buy her a drink. She’s not even going to see him!”
“James knows what he’s doing,” Nick quieted me softly. “He’s been on the hunt before. Trust me, she’ll see him.”
Sure enough, not two minutes later, Claudia spotted James from her place at the bar. Her blue eyes dilated with predatory hunger, and she ever so casually angled her body to place her ample cleavage on full display. James didn’t even look up; he kept his eyes on the front walkway, people-watching, as he slowly sipped his drink.
A second later, the temptation became too much for her to bear. Clasping her drink in one hand, she slinked across the room toward his table, letting her long dress fan out behind her as she sashayed. When she tapped James on the shoulder, he feigned surprise but didn’t act very interested. His eyes kept flickering back to the table, and it wasn’t until she sat down in a chair beside him that he finally turned to look her face on.
A scarlet flush spread up the base of her neck the second they locked eyes, but she was too infatuated to allow herself to become distracted. Instead, she leaned forward and rested a hand on his knee as she whispered something into his ear.
Even from the coat closet, I could see the almost imperceptible way James’s shoulders stiffened, the way he automatically cringed at her every touch, but he was a masterful performer, so even sitting just a few inches away, it wasn’t something Claudia could see herself. She cocked her head invitingly, stroking a finger down the side of his face as she waited for an answer to her proposal. He let her hang for a long moment, probably screaming Fraction! Fraction! Fraction! over and over in his head, before nodding and giving her a little shrug.
He downed the rest of his drink, and they hurried to their feet and made their way to the front to pay their bills.
Nick glanced at his watch and shook his head with a rueful grin. “Damn it! He just tied my record.”
My head rotated slowly around, and I stared up at him with a dangerous glare. “Your what?”
His face paled, and he shook his head quickly. “Nev
er mind,” he said defensively. “It’s...not important. We’d better get up to the room if we want to beat them there...sweetheart.”
Sweetheart? Right.
I rolled my eyes as we darted up the front steps to the elevator. Less than a minute later, we were inside Claudia’s suite, a messy one at that. I had never seen more lingerie in my life, and I couldn’t help thinking about poor Mitchell.
We had scarcely made it into the bedroom closet before the door swung open and two people stumbled inside.
“I would’ve never left with any other man as fast as I left with you. The thing is, I’ve always had a crush on you,” she told James. “But you were always with your flavor of the month. You and Nick were always surrounded by pretty women, I never thought I stood a chance.”
“I respected you way too much to treat you the way I treat other women.”
“So I’m special?” she purred.
“Most definitely.”
“Show me just how special I am.”
Their lips crashed together in a passionate kiss.
My hands clapped over my mouth as Nick fought back an automatic grimace. They were already lip-locked, and she couldn’t keep her perfectly manicured hands off him.
“Maybe we should...” He tried valiantly to untangle himself, twisting his head away from her blood-red lips. “Maybe we should get another drink...or five or six.”
She grabbed the sides of his face, turning him back toward her and greeting him with a seductive smile. “No more drinks and no more waiting. I want you...now.” Then, with a feral cry, she pushed him down onto the mattress. “I’ve wanted you for so long. Ever since that party in Paris when you took off with that Victoria Secrets model.”
“You were there?”
“Yep. But I was invisible to you. But now I’m not.”
Nick and I watched with wide eyes as she commenced with ripping his clothing off, one piece at a time. It was something of a terrifying sight, like watching a lion pounce on a helpless gazelle on one of those nature shows. She was like a mantis attacking her mate, a black widow fully intent on killing him after the deed was done.
An elbow nudged me in the ribs, and Nick made a discreet gesture with his fingers. I nodded quickly and lifted my camera to the wooden slats to begin snapping silent pictures. As necessary as it was, I felt like a creep the whole time.
Nick, on the other hand, looked like he was rather enjoying his friend’s suffering. At the very least, he was trying very hard not to smile, but I was a frazzled mess as I watched through the lens, witnessing James trying valiantly to defend himself from the lusty witch who was clawing at him.
“Whoa there!” He inched backward on the bed as she made a grab for his fly. “Let’s just... We need to slow things down a little.” His dark eyes flickered toward the closet as he added in a pointed voice, “This has already progressed pretty damn far.”
“Well, that’s the whole point, silly.” She climbed on top of him with a grin, straddling his waist as she slowly unzipped the back of her dress and tossed it into the air, revealing a rather impressive lacy ensemble beneath. “I’m not really one for taking things slow.”