For His Eyes Only Read online

  He watched her fingers caress his, and his gaze burned into her with an intensity she hadn’t seen since the last party. She wet her lips. If he wanted her as much as she wanted him right now, her first night at his place would be anything but awkward.

  She opened her mouth to ask him, but he spoke first. “Do you remember the night we met?”

  Her vocal cords refused to work under the heat of his stare, so she just nodded.

  “Can you still feel the first time I put my hands on your breasts, and my face between your legs?”

  A jolt of electricity shot through her, originating in the spot on her neck where he gently sucked. Though three years had passed since their first meeting, she would never forget the long moments they’d spent in that deserted hotel bathroom. Her back pressed against the mirror, her skirt pushed up to her waist, and Alex dropping hot, wet kisses on her hips, her navel and lower.

  She shivered. He looked up at her, and either his charming grin or his sexy bedroom eyes initiated her loss of control. She pulled him to her and kissed him hard, her lips joined to his and her tongue searching his mouth for the passion she didn’t know how she’d always survived an entire year without.

  His hands roamed her back, moving over the fabric of her shirt and making their way beneath it. Her skin tingled wherever he touched.

  “That night was…nice,” she whispered, her breath shaking.

  He trailed his lips along her ear. “It was amazing.”

  A moment later he lay above her on the couch. He kissed her collarbone, brushing his palms over her curves. She hurt for him, wanted to tear her clothes off and fill her body with him. He lifted her shirt and took her nipple into his mouth, then dipped his thumb into her navel and danced his fingertips along the edge of her jeans. Her hips reached for his touch.

  “Can people see us?” she asked when she spotted the massive uncovered windows beside them.

  “I doubt it, we’re too high. Would it bother you if they could?”

  “Not at all.”

  She grabbed his neck and kissed him again, more turned on than she had ever been in her life. But as he moved to undress her and the erotic fantasy began to turn into another quickie, she forced herself to put a few inches of distance between them.

  “Alex…”

  “Yes, baby?”

  “I want to take our time tonight.”

  He looked at her, a smile forming on his sexy mouth. “I do owe you for last time, don’t I?”

  “You don’t owe me anything. I just want to be with you.”

  She almost clapped a hand over her mouth when she heard the words out loud. That statement had so many implications, and she didn’t want him to think she was desperate. But what would explain the driving need to feel her naked body entwined with his for hours on end? She craved him.

  She craved his body. Yeah, that’s what she meant.

  Alex brushed his thumb over her lips. “I can give you all night, if you think that’s enough.”

  “It’ll be a good start. Let me go—what do the sophisticated women say? Freshen up?”

  He chuckled and pointed down the hall. “First door on the left.”

  Moments later, she stood in front of the mirror and surveyed his posh bathroom. It boasted black marble countertops, a double vanity with faucets so shiny she was sure he didn’t clean them himself, and a huge whirlpool tub in one corner that commanded attention. Plush navy accent rugs and matching towels gave the room a masculine, homey feeling. It was a far cry from the cramped little cell she used at home.

  She looked beyond her reflection and saw Alex in the doorway, watching her. Time to turn on the charm. There was one thing she wanted tonight, and she’d come into this bathroom to make sure it happened.

  “I just had to look at it one more time,” she said, fingering the thin white fabric she’d changed into. The perks of being a semi-finalist included getting to keep the winning lingerie. “It’s so beautiful.”

  He stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, and the heat in his touch sent a shiver pulsing through her.

  “I think the model makes it look that way.”

  Jacey turned and tugged playfully at the dress shirt, still neatly tucked into his pants, that he’d worn for the show earlier that evening. “You’re flattering me.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You’re not going to sleep in this, are you?”

  He pinned her with an impassioned look. “I hope not.”

  With a demure smile tossed in his direction, she strolled past him and into his connecting bedroom. Her insides twisted into an anticipatory knot. He wanted her.

  “I’m sorry.” Her gaze flickered between Alex and his big, cushy bed. “I shouldn’t be so presumptuous. Do you want me to sleep on the couch?”

  He shook his head, his wanton stare still trained on her. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can have the bed as long as you’re staying here.”

  “Thanks.”

  She flashed him another smile and returned to the bathroom, where he stood in the same spot in front of the mirror. He was trying hard to go along with her game, but she couldn’t wait any longer.

  She pulled the clip from her hair and let the curls tumble down her back, shaking her head a bit and using her fingers to tame unruly strands.

  “Oh, that feels better,” she said with a drawn-out little moan.

  Alex reached out and took her by the arms. “You’re driving me crazy.”

  “Me? Do you want me to go?”

  “You know that’s not what I mean.”

  She locked her eyes with his and gave him her very best do me stare. “What do you mean, then?”

  He seized her waist and pulled her up to sit on the countertop, just as he had done in her kitchen. She squealed when her bottom hit the cold marble surface, but Alex’s kisses quickly warmed her.

  “Remember having sex on the bathroom sink?” he asked.

  The urgency in his touch drove her wild. “I’d sure love to.”

  “Let me give you a recap.”

  He pushed the straps from her shoulders. The gown pooled around her waist and he wasted no time discarding the lacy bra, leaving her bared to his gaze. Her nipples stood at attention and he closed his lips over one of them.

  She rested her head against the mirror, gasping with pleasure, losing herself in the simultaneous movements of his mouth on her breasts and his hands on her thighs. She fumbled with the buttons of his shirt until it fell open and she could run her fingers through the dark hair on his chest. Their lips met again, and she grabbed his back in a frenzy of need. She wiggled out of the nightie and he tossed it aside, but she jumped down from the counter before he could go down on her.

  “Where are you going?” he objected.

  She pressed her palms against his chest and kissed him. “It’s your turn.”

  Eager to taste him, she sank to her knees, drawing her hands down his body until she came to rest on the bath mat. She loosened his belt buckle, and when his pants and boxers were on the floor next to her, she wrapped her hands around his legs and stroked the head of his cock with her tongue.

  He groaned. She took him into her mouth and laved his shaft, moving one hand to his balls and the other behind him, where she scraped her nails lightly over his smooth ass. She sucked him hard, the way she knew he liked it, even though she wanted to smile at the intense pleasure she was obviously giving him.

  His noises grew louder, and she tasted a drop of moisture that signaled he was getting close. With one more teasing suck, she stood up and took her place on top of the counter, opening her legs and inviting him to enjoy something better than her mouth. He placed his hands on either of her knees and pressed his length all the way inside her.

  “Does that feel all right?”

  She dropped her forehead onto his shoulder. “It feels incredible.”

  She sat on the edge of the counter, clutching his strong arms and feeling his muscles contract with each thrust. How in the world
had once a year ever been enough for her?

  “Here, baby, turn around,” he said, and she slid down from the sink.

  Yeah, she remembered this too. Filled with anticipation once more, she turned and watched in the mirror as he pushed into her again. He moved with more force this time, and she moaned while he stroked and pleasured something deep inside her.

  Years ago in the hotel bathroom, it had ended this way. Thrilling as that had been at the time, Jacey was far too hot and bothered to stop now.

  “Alex,” she breathed. He lowered his face to hers and nibbled at her earlobe. “Take me to your bed.”

  Suddenly, she was overwhelmed by the kindness he had shown her over the past few weeks. He’d driven all the way to her apartment because she didn’t have a phone, encouraged her backstage when she’d hit rock bottom, offered her a place to stay…and he had seemed genuinely thrilled for her when she had gotten word that evening that she’d advanced to the semi-finals—like he truly wanted to see her succeed in the future.

  It was strange, but now that she knew he cared about more than her body, all she wanted was to go to bed with him.

  He took her hand and led her to his bedroom, where she nestled into the most comfortable sheets she’d ever touched. He knelt above her, and she held him close while he slipped slowly into her body. She kissed his neck, releasing a sound of abandon when he reached up and took two fistfuls of her hair, gently tugging at it while they made love.

  She didn’t know how much time had passed when they shared their last release, her body too exhausted to consider going for it again. The evening’s flurry of activity finally caught up with her and she began to fall asleep, safe and comfortable in his arms. She kissed him one more time, and his warm, moist body relaxed against her.

  Yet while she drifted off, that two-week deadline nagged her. She had so much to accomplish in so little time—like winning the competition and getting out of Alex’s life before it hurt her to leave.

  Chapter Eight

  Alex peeked into his bedroom and smiled at the mess of blonde hair piled near his headboard. Jacey lay on her stomach, the blankets pulled up to her neck and her face buried in the pillow.

  He suppressed a chuckle, then walked to the kitchen and set a bag of bagels and assorted spreads from his favorite deli on the table. He whistled while he brewed a pot of coffee, unable to quell the feeling of being light on his feet last night’s lovemaking had instilled in him, despite the guilt that tugged at the back of his mind.

  She would never have to know he’d fixed the contest. Her chances of winning were high anyway, and practically everyone in Miami knew he was about to take his father’s place as CEO. When both happened at the same time, it wouldn’t seem odd to Jacey or anyone else.

  So why did he feel like a villain covering up a crime?

  He heard the shower turn on, so he sat down to look through the mail he’d picked up on his way back from getting breakfast. Bills, a couple of business magazines, a letter from his mother…and a manila envelope addressed in handwriting he didn’t recognize. A staff member had probably forwarded some designer’s résumé for him to review.

  A frustrated groan rumbled in his throat while he stuck his finger under the flap to open it, trying to figure out how he could scrap Insomnia’s plan to interview outside candidates. He had been working on a lingerie collection for years, whenever he found a spare moment. But as usual, his father had nixed the idea of putting Alex’s name on what was sure to be the company’s biggest hit—the collection that the Sleepless Siren winner would debut. Fortunately, he would soon have his father’s power to insist on having things a certain way, and he’d use that to his advantage if they didn’t find a designer nothing short of genius by the time he got promoted.

  A black-and-white picture fell out of the envelope, and he almost spit his coffee all over it.

  Clear as day, the photographer had captured an image of him and Jacey kissing in front of her kitchen window. The blinds had been wide open, but they’d been too occupied to notice. A note scrawled on the side margin warned: Stay away from her, or this is the cover of next week’s Daily Sun.

  “What are you doing?” demanded a voice behind him. Jacey’s hand lashed out and snatched the paper. “What is this?”

  “Someone’s hobby.” He shook his head and let her have the photo. No point in hiding the problem since she already knew something was up.

  She took it and sat next to him at the table. With damp hair and a face washed clean of makeup, she looked less like the vixen he’d always known and more like the pretty young woman that she was—at least, until her face turned beet red with anger.

  “Who would do something like this?”

  “No idea.” He shrugged. “You got any bitter ex-boyfriends?”

  “Of course not. I haven’t had a boyfriend since high school.”

  “What?”

  She blushed even darker. “I mean, I’ve dated casually since then, of course. I just haven’t been in a relationship.”

  Alex nodded, wanting to ask her why but deciding it wasn’t his business. Last night had been incredible, but it hadn’t changed anything. She was only staying with him until the end of the competition, and he wouldn’t have any time to invest in a serious relationship while he was running Insomnia. Besides, they both had more important problems to deal with at the moment—like the stalker threatening to take their affair public.

  He could imagine the headline. Insomnia CEO-in-training reaps benefits of modeling competition.

  Ouch.

  This story could not go beyond the envelope he’d taken it from. The company would be forced to drop Jacey from the contest to avoid a huge scandal. And if that alone didn’t ruin his career due to his father’s ridiculous ultimatum, word around town that he had taken advantage of a contestant—whether it was true or not—would damage his reputation beyond repair.

  What was he going to do? He couldn’t risk Jacey’s place in the competition, but he certainly couldn’t put her out on the street without a dime to her name. Besides, their sexual encounters seemed to distract her from her problems, and her confidence was a critical part of her ability to perform on stage. Last night in bed, there had been no doubt she was the same woman who tantalized him each year at the company party. If she could get the audience to feel that sexy by the final round, she wouldn’t even need his help to win.

  On top of the whole mess, he didn’t particularly want to stay away from her, anyway. He’d felt that way long before he’d been threatened by the head case who took the photo.

  He rubbed his face, searching his brain for a way to end this media frenzy before it started. Still looking uncomfortable at the discussion of her past, Jacey picked through his mail while she sipped a glass of orange juice.

  “Melanie Vaughn?” she inquired.

  “My mom.”

  “Ah.” With a nod, she put the unopened letter back on the table and began to spread strawberry cream cheese on a bagel. “You guys close?”

  Alex hesitated, not sure this conversation was any lighter than that of Jacey’s past relationships. “Yeah. The divorce was pretty hard on her.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. She left when you were a kid?”

  “No, my parents divorced just a couple of years ago, actually.”

  She looked up at that. “Really?”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t read about it. The media had a heyday with it.”

  “I don’t make a habit of reading that garbage.” She thought for a moment, then made a noise of disbelief. “Wow. And here I thought the almighty Vaughns didn’t know pain.”

  His coffee went down the wrong pipe.

  He coughed. “Yeah. Right. We’re immune.”

  “Well, you’ve got one hell of a protective layer. It’s called money.”

  “People with money don’t feel pain?”

  “Not as much pain as people without money feel.”

  His mind swam with memories of his parents’ frost
y marriage, his disappointment at never having siblings, and the years of Thanksgivings and Christmases spent alone, usually in his office. “That’s completely untrue.”

  “Baloney. If my mother had money, she’d be…something. She wouldn’t be sprawled on the bed in her trailer with crack in one hand and some guy’s dick in the other. If she had even a tiny fraction of the money you have, maybe she’d actually have bought condoms and I wouldn’t even exist.”

  She stared into her lap. Alex watched her for a moment, digesting her words. His gut clenched when he imagined the hardships she must have been through as a child. No wonder she never liked to talk about her past. It sounded even lonelier than his, and definitely more difficult.

  He reached across the table and took her hand. “Then I’m glad she doesn’t have money.”

  She gave him a little smile. “You’re flattering me again.”

  “It’s not hard to do.”

  After a moment of silent thought, Jacey continued eating. He couldn’t stop watching her. Curiosity about her life overcame him, and he waited until she had finished before questioning her.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, do you know your father?”

  She froze.

  “You do mind me asking.”

  “No.” With a shake of her head, she placed her knife and napkin on top of her empty plate and dropped her hands into her lap. “I don’t care. It’s just that I haven’t talked to anybody about my parents before.”

  “Well, you don’t have to talk about it.” He sipped his coffee and tried to look casual. “I was just curious.”

  “I didn’t know him. I doubt my mom even knew him, aside from the two seconds they were doing…what they were doing.”

  She paused, but he didn’t press for more information. He had a feeling the memories she dredged up wouldn’t be pleasant, and he didn’t want her to revisit any of that unless she wanted to tell him about it.

  “My mother had issues. We were dirt poor and she offered sex to every man alive to get money for drugs and food. There was a different guy in the house every day. Instead of doing something to solve our problems, she got high and forgot about them. She took every form of aid imaginable—welfare, shelters, money from anyone who would spare it. When I was fourteen, she asked me to prostitute myself too. One big happy whore family.”