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“Why not?” She shrugged one shoulder. “You didn’t mind showing me off that first night at Bisu Manor when I crashed Ft. Worth’s most infamous orgy.”
Her heart beat faster in remembrance of how he’d slipped the strap of her gown down over her shoulder as they’d talked to her targets, the Davies-Smythes. The only thing that had kept her dress up was the silk catching on her diamond-hard nipple. One small tug later though and she was bared to all, from the partygoers fucking in the salon to the valet who handed over the keys to Taz’s Porche.
“This is different,” he snarled.
She snorted. “How?”
He crossed his arms, the action accentuating the way his biceps bulged, and stared at the thatched ceiling as if seeking higher guidance. “We weren’t together then.”
“Are we now?” She meant for the question to come out as hard as ice but couldn’t carry it off. The tremor in her voice betrayed the hurt still twisting inside her.
“You heard Tamara. The divorce is official. I’m a single man.”
“Lucky you to have found yourself at a resort filled with naked people who want to fuck you.” God, she sounded like a harpy, but she couldn’t help herself. The need to fight back, strike first, was too deeply ingrained.
“I don’t want them,” he said. “I want you.”
The declaration hurt more than if he’d cheered in celebration, because she wanted to believe him—needed to believe him. The whole situation with Taz had gutted her. The last time she’d suffered from that gaping-hole-in-her-abdomen feeling was when she was eleven years old, abandoned by her parents and by herself on the plane to St. B’s. Well, she wasn’t that little girl anymore and she sure as shit would do whatever it took to never feel that way again, even—especially—if that meant walking away from Taz after this mission was done.
Steeling her resolve, she turned to face him. “You can’t always get what you want.”
That should have shut him down once and for all, but instead of backing down, the grim line of his mouth curled into a smirk.
“The thing is, kitten.” He popped his pants button and lowered the zipper with a lazy confidence. “You want me too.”
Taz shucked off his pants and pushed his boxer briefs to the floor and her mouth went dry. She fisted her hands. Her nails bit into the soft flesh of her palms as she fought to keep her gaze from dropping to his cock. The bastard winked at her, no doubt knowing full well how right he was.
“It doesn’t matter.” She forced her hands to relax and made her way toward the bungalow door. “We’re here for Gidget and to take down Sterling Walsh. Clay wasn’t lying; the DEA will raid this place in forty-eight hours, whether we have her by then or not. I’m not fucking this up because you have a hard-on about me being naked in front of strangers. The cocktail party at the pool is already going on. It’s out in the open, so we don’t have to worry about getting dosed with Genie’s Wish, and it’s the perfect opportunity to do a little recon. I want to get a lead about where Walsh might be hiding Gidget on the island before we really get down to business with tapping into the resort’s security feed tonight.”
“We’ll find her.” He grabbed her arm, halting her progress and sending a jolt of attraction skittering across her bare skin. “And after that…we’ll finish this discussion, Kitten.”
The shiver was involuntary. She couldn’t have stopped it any more than she could will her heart to stop beating. “Haven’t we already?”
He pulled her close and dropped his mouth to her ear, not quite touching the sensitive spot but close enough to set a warm wave of desire spreading through her. “Tell me you don’t want me, tell me you don’t love me, and it is.”
She couldn’t. Out of necessity, she’d become a great liar years ago, but no one was that good. Clamping her mouth shut before she said something she’d regret, Bianca turned from him but couldn’t quite manage to pull away. The temptation to pretend that Tamara’s appearance hadn’t popped the honeymoon bubble they’d been living in was too strong. Especially with his hard body so close to hers without a single stitch of clothing between them. He released her arm and trailed his fingers down the side of her rib cage to the small of her waist, making her skin sizzle. She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth and exhaled a shaky breath.
His knowing laugh tickled her earlobe. “That’s what I thought.”
Still unable to move away from his heat, Bianca closed her eyes. “You’re such an arrogant dick.”
“And you love me for it.” He nipped her ear and then reached past her to open the door.
Together, they walked out of the bungalow headed for the poolside cocktail party below.
Taz
Two hours later the setting sun was putting on a spectacular show, turning the sky pink and orange—and Taz had zilch to show for his recon efforts at the pool. He’d spoken to dozens of the tanned and bared resort guests and a few of the clothed waiters bearing drink trays, slipping in a pointed question or two in between discussions of nudist retreats and the latest stock market numbers. No one had spotted Gidget or Walsh. The two were either in the wind or lying low. His gut said it was the latter. The photo of Gidget had been taken twenty-four hours ago.
In the name of efficiency, he and Bianca had split up, each tackling a different section of the crowd. He’d knocked back a few of the resort’s signature drinks that everyone was downing while he chatted up most of the people on his side of the pool. He was more of a beer or a Scotch guy, but something about the fruity umbrella drink hit the spot and had him thirsty for another as soon as he finished the first.
Scanning the crowd for a hint of Gidget’s red hair while also searching for a waiter with another drink, Taz’s surveillance came to a screeching halt as soon as he spotted Bianca. She stood next to the bar, chatting with two guys obviously mesmerized by her. Not that he could blame them. She was, in a single word, amazing.
One of the men must have made a joke because she threw back her head and laughed, laying her hand on the man’s shoulder to keep her balance on those ridiculously high heels—the only thing she was wearing besides a huge fake diamond wedding ring.
A twin tornado of jealousy and desire slammed into him like a Mack truck. Everyone else gathered around the pool disappeared. All he could see was Bianca.
The urge to touch her was so strong that if they’d been in an enclosed environment, he would have worried he’d been drugged by Genie’s Wish again. That’s what had happened to them at Bisu Manor that night six months ago. The Davies-Smythes had pumped the odorless aerosol Genie’s Wish into the room and drugged every last person at the orgy without them even knowing. Taz and Bianca hadn’t realized until hours of orgasms later.
