“Porter, good to see you again.I didn’t think I would after I beat you at poker a month ago.”
“Ah, not only did you take all my money, but you also took my heart as well.I am a broken man.”The older gentleman held a hand to his heart, his kind eyes twinkling with mischief.At eighty-two, he still sported a full head of hair and a charming charisma that never went out of style.
“And a liar,” Adrienne said, smiling warmly at him.Porter laughed heartily.
“Never,” Jackson said as if she’d hurt his feelings.“Ah, Darien, over here,” he said, calling out to a tall man who came toward them.
For a moment, Adrienne allowed herself to analyze the angular curve of his jaw and the sexy planes of his face.His dark, almost black hair was thick and silky and looked as if he’d run his fingers through the waves a few times already, giving his otherwise perfectly groomed just enough dishevelment to show he didn’t care one way or the other, but then again, his suit was bespoke, his shoes handmade.
“Please allow me to introduce you to my new friend, Darien Price.Darien is an upcoming entrepreneur.Darien, this is the ever-lovely Adrienne Palmer.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms.Palmer."
Startled, her gaze immediately collided with a pair of eyes so golden brown that she faltered.The lilt in his voice screamed seductive charm.His killer smile meant he expected women to fall at his feet, begging for his touch, the aura of his confident prowess meant he was never rejected either.
She couldn’t deny the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach, how her nipples pebbled against the sheerness of her dress, and the sudden uncharacteristic throb between her thighs.She struggled to swallow, and her breath became jagged.
What the hell?
No, she wasn’t attracted to him.She was just a little off her game, something seemed to be niggling at her and she didn’t know what it was.So no, the sight of the stranger had not evoked a sense of arousal in her at all.She didn’t know him and didn’t plan to know him.
She stopped short when Darien Price held out his large, calloused hand, decked with a series of veins that made her heart pound again.He wanted her to touch him.She so closely scrutinized his hand that she could glimpse the markings of what looked like a tattoo under his shirt and jacket, revealed by his outstretched arm.No, touching him would burn her.
“Mr.Price,” she said instead, nodded, then excused herself only to bump into something rock-hard, her purse knocked from her hand, and her palms warming against a wall of muscle as she tried to balance herself.
“My apologies,” she said stiffly, then stepped back when the warm rock wall turned out to be a human male who bent to retrieve her purse.
The residual effects of meeting Darien Price seemed to be rekindled, and she was now a raging inferno of unwanted bodily responses.More bizarrely, she could sense Darien Price still looking at her from where he stood.But now she could also feel the heavy hot gaze of someone else from across the room, searing her flesh wherever his gaze touched.
She shouldn’t have come out tonight.
“Austin Brown,” the man before her said as he unfolded to his full height, forcing Adrienne to look up at his six-three, maybe six-four frame.Dazzling hazel eyes stared back at her, his lashes so profoundly long that they staggered her.She found herself drowning in his gaze, lured there by the promise of comfort and safety but also mind-blowing sensuality.
Her body grew hotter.Were her panties now damp?
This was crazy.She was being crazy.And that was not a trait she allowed herself to have.She wasn’t some giggling ditzy girl who fell for every hot and sexy man she came across.She was level-headed, supremely organized, and mature, dammit.Nothing caught her off guard.Ever.
She glared at her designer purse in his huge hand, then whipped her eyes up to him as she noticed he also had tattoos that were concealed under his perfectly fitted suit, accentuating every degree of his muscular body.
As carefully as she could, she ignored his introduction and took her purse from him.
“Thank you,” she said, then turned away, but not without hearing his chuckle and feeling his gaze on her ass as she walked away.
With the sense of still being intimately observed from afar, she looked up and around her.Immediately, her eyes locked with a man standing across the room, leaning against a pillar, arms folded, looking directly at her.
Despite the distance between them, the incredible blue in his eyes drew her to him, as did the dominance in his jaw and the power in his body.His dark hair was short, like a military cut, but it just gave him an air of danger and deviance.
Her breath quickened, and her knees quivered.For one mad instant, she envisioned herself kneeling before this man, naked, hands behind her back.Impulsively, she looked to her right and gasped.
Standing in pretty much the same position as the blue-eyed man was Darien Price.His eyes fixed on her so thoroughly that she felt as if he were controlling her movements.
She quickly shifted her attention away from him, turning her head in the opposite direction.And there stood Austin Brown in exactly the same position as Blue Eyes and Darien Price.
Her breath was completely suspended as her gaze revolved around the three of them, standing at her sides and in front of her, surrounding her to the point where everyone else at the charity auction disappeared, and it was only her and them.
They watched her so intently that she felt as if they had peeled away her clothes, leaving her with nothing but her aching nipples and wet panties.
She drew in a deep breath and centered herself.Everything was in her head.Her restlessness, the unease in her bones, everything contributed to making her feel crazy.She just needed a few days away from it all.That was all she needed.
