Page 55 of An Inconvenient Plan
“You sure did.” He grinned, his thumb stroking her cheek.
“To talk.” She stared at his mouth. “You’re very difficult to talk to.”
He tipped her chin up. “Just because I’m not acting the part you expect me to play doesn’t mean we don’t belong together.”
She swallowed hard. Maybe her expectations were skewed by her love of all things romance. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a squeeze. Then she took a deep breath and met his eyes. “Okay, now don’t get mad, but Phillip has invited me and my friends to a club in the city tomorrow night.”
His jaw went tight, his dark eyes hard.
She shivered as shades of his warrior side emerged—strong, calculating, deadly. Not that he’d hurt her, it was Phillip he had it in for. “I just wanted to let you know. I’m trying to head off a jealous fit.”
He spoke against her lips, his hand cupping her ass possessively. “How can I be jealous when you come every time you see me?”
She was suddenly breathless. “Maybe I should see you more.”
He dropped his hold on her. “I’ll be there tomorrow night since your friends are invited. You could call me a friend now, right? Lover too obviously.”
Her mind raced with everything that could possibly go wrong. The brawl potential. The possibility of losing the princess’s stateside wedding, losing her place at the royal wedding in Villroy Island and all those connections she’d hoped to make. The fact that she and Josh had not yet gone public as a couple, and it would surely get back to their parents through Mad or any one of the many people connected to the Campbell family. Their parents didn’t approve of the match. Maybe for good reason.
Josh’s hand slid under her dress, cupping her between the legs. Her mind blanked. “Is it possible you didn’t really want me there?” he asked in a silky voice.
Her lips parted. “Josh.” She couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought. Desire clouded her brain.
“So hot and wet,” he growled. “It seems you want me everywhere.” He gave her a swift kiss and left the office.
She just stood there in a daze for a few moments. Something rough rubbed against her ankle and she yelped, heart racing. Oh! It was just Rose with her rope toy in her mouth, wanting to play. Oh my Lord, the things Rose had just witnessed. She scooped her up and rushed out of Josh’s office, avoiding eye contact with his staff, and took the back exit to avoid Josh too.
The cool night air brought her back to her senses. One thing was for certain—tomorrow night had the potential for a royal showdown. She just hoped Phillip didn’t get hurt.
15
Josh took the time to do the deep-breathing relaxation exercise Clarissa had taught him, not once, not twice, but three whole times before his drive to the city on Saturday night. He couldn’t get away from work as early as he’d hoped, so Hailey had gone ahead with her friends. A night at a club was not his idea of fun—too many people too close, fast dancing, the stupid prince—but he had to show up to let everyone, especially the prince, know that he and Hailey were now a couple. He hadn’t wanted to go public so soon on account of his dad’s warning to stay away, but hell, these were desperate circumstances. Somehow he hadn’t gotten the couple thing across to Hailey; otherwise she wouldn’t be pulling shit like this. That really burned after all the trouble he’d gone through making her dinner, kissing up to her dog, fucking her senseless. He’d even taken the time to text her using her suggested exclamation points. He took her direction to the letter and what did he get? Nothing but grief. From now on, she’d be the one taking direction from him.
He gave his name to the bouncer at the door, and a security guard escorted him inside to a bass-thumping club. The first floor was mostly a dance floor teeming with people bumping and grinding away to the beat. Strobe lights, a disco ball, and various multicolored spotlights highlighted the bodies of the beautiful, the drugged, the sexually aroused. He suppressed a shudder. He’d better not see Hailey writhing with the playboy prince. Alcoves on the sides with round tables were filled with even more people. Red velvet rope blocked access to the stairs, along with a huge bodyguard. The security guard with Josh spoke to the huge bodyguard, and the rope was removed for him.
He was left to his own devices, the velvet barrier closing behind him.Be cool. Show your place with Hailey, and everyone else will know their place.He scanned the room for her. The upstairs had more alcoves with tables on two sides, plenty of space to peer down at the dance floor below, and in the back, a smaller dance floor. Same music as downstairs, of course; it was so loud the floor vibrated from it.
He spotted a tall man with dark brown hair, his back to him, dancing with a bunch of women. He closed the distance, picking out the blond heads of Hailey’s friends Carrie and Ally. They were dancing with Prince Phillip, naturally. The prince bent his head to say something to someone shorter, and he glimpsed her unmistakable strawberry blond hair. He moved to the side of the dance floor next to some of his friends, Zach and Ethan, who’d clearly been dragged along with their women, Carrie and Ally.
“Josh!” Ethan exclaimed. “Never thought I’d see you in a place like this.”
Josh gave his cheek a light slap. “You either, man.” Ethan was a tough hardass cop. “Now the professor over here is probably taking notes on the dance ritual in American culture.” Zach was a professor of anthropology. His brown hair was on the longish side with a full beard that made him look half mountain man, half professor.
“Har-har,” Zach said. “Dance does play a significant role in the courtship ritual. If I were you, I’d get your ass out there.”
Hailey hadn’t noticed him yet, still dancing in a tight circle with the prince, Carrie, and Ally. The prince’s focus was completely on Hailey in a clingy black dress that ended mid-thigh, her toned legs in black stilettos. Every sweet curve from breasts to ass was highlighted in that dress, all of them burned into his brain.
Josh didn’t fast dance. He could pull off a damn good waltz, but that was the extent of his skills. And even that he’d learned solely for purposes of seduction. He’d already seduced Hailey. Now he just had to make her understand the way things were. As in they were a thing. A couple. Exclusively. It was so damn obvious he couldn’t believe she didn’t seem to know it. Unless she was keeping her options open because the prince could offer her everything Josh couldn’t. His hands formed fists.
“What’s up with you two?” Ethan asked. “Ally said you made Hailey dinner. You together now?” Ally worked part-time for Hailey. It seemed Hailey had let some things slip. Fine. He’d deal with the fallout from his dad later.
“Yeah,” he told Ethan.
Ethan looked over at Hailey laughing at something the prince had said. “You sure she knows that?”
He strode onto the dance floor and snagged Hailey by the wrist. She jumped and then smacked his arm. “Josh! You scared me, coming out of nowhere like that.”
“Sorry.” He looked over her head at Phillip looking back at him. He turned to Hailey, guiding her farther away from the interloper. “I’m here.”
