She pulled her hand back and his shirt fell down, which made her nearly sigh out loud in disappointment. Abs and art like that should never be covered up.
“What about you?” he asked, taking her hand in his like a pro, tracing the same fingertips that had touched his chest. “You here to gamble?”
She didn’t necessarily feel a spark between them, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t be one later. He was just the kind of distraction she needed. “I’m always ready to gamble.”
His thick arm slid around her waist then and her eyes slid closed in anticipation of a kiss that never came.
Her eyes popped open to see Carter standing there, his arms crossed and mouth knotted into a sinister frown.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Carter demanded, looking more pissed off than she could ever remember him being. Especially at her. He never got angry at her.
Biker Guy released her, but kept a hand on her back. He didn’t look scared of Carter, but he should be. Though Biker Guy’s muscles were larger, Carter had been studying jujitsu since he was a kid and could kick a lot of ass in very little time. Specifically, he’d put a football player in the hospital for grabbing her ass at a party in college once.
Alexa wasn’t exactly sure who Carter was addressing, but before she could answer, Biker Guy did it for her. “Who are you?”
Alexa stepped in front of Carter, imploring him to be cool with her eyes. “I’m busy, Carter. Can I just catch you later?”
Carter’s blue eyes darkened dangerously under the lenses of his glasses. “I don’t think so.”
Biker Guy gave Carter an assessing look. “If the lady wants to be left alone, I’d say that’s what you should do.”
Alexa sighed. As much as she was annoyed by Carter’s intrusion and high-handedness, this interaction needed to end before it turned into a scene that would get back to her uncle. That was exactly the last thing she needed at the advent of her reputation-cleanup initiative.
She held out her hand to the Biker Guy. “Mind if I see your phone?”
A corner of his mouth lifting, he reached into his back pocket and handed it over. She programmed her number into his contacts, showing him the face where she’d typed in her name as Your Best Ride. Someone sue her, he was hot.
“Call me soon,” she instructed.
“I look forward to it,” he said with one last once-over. “You take care.”
When he was gone, Alexa returned her attention to Carter, who was still standing with his arms crossed over his chest and looking murderous.
“What the hell is your problem?” she demanded.
“I was gone for all of three minutes and you’re hitting on some random guy who by the looks of it could be a serial killer?”
She doubted serial killers were lovers of rainbow glass, but she could be wrong. More importantly, that wasn’t the point at all.
“First of all, you were completely ignoring me to open up your new office in Seattle or whatever other hipster town you’re leaving me for. Secondly, I’m allowed to hit on whomever I like.”
“I am not leaving you, Alexa. I’ll just be out of town for a while.”
“An entire year,” she clarified.
“I don’t know why that’s a problem for you. I’m sure that extra from Sons of Anarchy will keep you busy.”
“Why are you so bothered by him? You were busy so I flirted with a cute guy. It’s been known to happen before.”
He ran an agitated hand through his sandy blond hair. “Because we were supposed to hang out tonight, and instead you chose to gamble for over an hour and were just about to go home with some dude.”
“Okay, I’m sorry for that,” she allowed, trying to calm him down. “Let’s go back to my house now. It’s not a big deal, Carter.”
She took a few steps toward the exit, but he remained rooted to the spot, his expression still uncharacteristically dark and moody.
“Are you going to pout all night?” she prodded. “Or are we going to salvage this evening and actually spend some time together before you leave?”
He stalked toward her, his blue eyes flashing with anger as he grasped her arm. “You’re not the one giving orders here, Alexa.”
A shiver of awareness danced across her skin, sending up a wave of goose bumps in its wake.
Carter suddenly pulled her toward the back of the casino. They passed a startled concierge as he led her into a remote stairwell with a big staff-only sign on the front, but as a contractor for Elysium’s security system he had access to all areas of the casino.
The concrete stairwell was cold and quiet, but they were in a standoff, eyes clashing in anger, confusion and denied lust. She didn’t know exactly how she’d gotten so angry so fast, but she was plenty pissed off at his attitude and the fact that he’d dragged her across the casino like she was his property. She wasn’t the one who was leaving town for some bullshit extension office that could be handled remotely or by his countless executives who would love to relocate to San Francisco. In the course of several hours the life she loved was in danger of becoming extinct and he was upset because she was flirting with some guy? He needed to check himself.
“You have no reason to be pissed right now,” she bit off.
His eyes widened in incredulity. “I don’t have a reason to be pissed off? You’re supposed to be fixing your reputation and you can’t even do it for one fucking night.”
She bristled at the censure. “You’re not my boyfriend or my dad, and I’m allowed to flirt with guys. If you’re not going to be my fiancé, then my reputation is none of your business either.”
“Why are we even here in the first place? You talk a good game of being sad that I’m leaving, but you can’t even spare a couple hours off from flirting and gambling to hang out with me. You know I hate crowds and casinos.”
“If you didn’t want to gamble, you should have spoken up and we’d have gone home. I’m not a damned mind reader.”
Her blood was raging now and she shivered. Something was different here. The tension that always simmered below the surface was so second nature it was easy to ignore, but now it was reaching a boiling point. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to shake the living daylights out of him or rip his clothes off.
Carter pulled her into his arms and her breath caught. “I’ll speak up then.”
CARTER’S LIPS MET hers and the world suddenly felt like the glass flower exhibit, upside-down and chaotic. His lips were firm and confident as he threaded strong fingers through her hair and held her tightly against his solid body. The body of her friend, whom she’d lusted after for years. She’d denied herself for such a long time, only imagining what it would be like with him, but those daydreams were incredibly vivid now.
She moaned against his mouth as he took the kiss deeper, opening her up and invading her with gentle but insistent explorations. It was methodical and thorough, just like the man himself. Carter was the most intelligent and inventive person she knew and she wanted him to apply all of those skills to her while they were both naked and in her bed. Or his bed. She wasn’t picky.
His strong, steady hands drifted down her back and gripped her ass just tightly enough to let her know he meant business and drew her hard against his erection so that she was cradling him right where she wanted him. He was big, and she rocked