Page 12 of Risk Assessment
She had, of course, fallen in love with the scarf and bought it as he knew she would. She was wearing it tonight. After all, it was his gift to her. She knew it was special, and she wanted to please him by wearing it.
The anger turned to heat. It always did. He was growing hard.
Well, that wouldn’t do. He had to walk through the hotel. Couldn’t have people see him like this. He closed his eyes andthought of Raleigh. After pulling his cock from his pants, he began to stroke it.
More images of her flashed in his mind. Her laughing with her friends. Her wearing her night shirt with no bra. Her working out at the gym in figure-hugging yoga pants. Her on her knees in front of him.
Faster and faster he stroked, his breath coming in short gasps.
She washis. One day soon it wouldn’t be his hand, but her mouth, and then he would be inside her. He couldn’t control it any longer. His body shuddered once, and he grunted with his release.
He pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his hands, tucked himself back in his pants, and did up his fly. He folded the soiled handkerchief and put it back into his pocket. Glancing at his watch, he decided he had time to run back to his room and clean himself up properly. He stepped out of the shadows and back onto the path and whistled tunelessly as he made his way toward the main building.
Raleigh was the love of his life, and soon she would be hispermanently.
CHAPTER FIVE
Dylan’s stress hit Raleigh like a wall of Black Friday shoppers at Bloomingdales as they entered the lobby and headed toward the restaurant for the welcome dinner. He’d become increasingly tense on the walk over. He wasn’t the only one. She glanced over her shoulder. The back of her neck tingled, as if someone was watching her. In response she drew her shoulders up higher.
No. She wouldn’t let her stalker ruin this. The incident back in the room was pure imagination mixed with being overtired and super stressed. She forced her shoulders down. Time to put the sensation, and suspicion, out of her mind.
She realized with a start that the miserable people reflected in one of the many mirrors in the opulent lobby were her and Dylan. Their ruse was going to be pretty obvious to everyone if they didn’t pull it together. She was not, under any circumstances, telling Lydia Harris that she was being stalked and the stalker might actually crash the wedding.OMG! Lydia would lose her shit. Yeah, no, that couldn’t come out. Like ever.
Talk about career suicide.
She grabbed Dylan’s arm and tugged him over to the lobby bar. He shot her a questioning glance but allowed himself to be led.
“Look, we’re both so tense no one is going to believe we’re together. We need to relax. I could use a shot of liquid courage. How about you?”
He looked slightly offended, but his expression turned chagrined. “Sorry. You’re right. It’s just kind of harder than I thought.”
“Well, you are about to walk into a room full of people who know you dumped the bride. That’s tough. Wait, isn’t her fiancée a police officer of some kind? Some sort of computer genius with a badge. At least that’s what Lydia said. She commented he has a bright future in tech.”
Dylan nodded.
“It’s a hell of an ego hit.” She nodded toward the bottles behind the bar. “No one would blame you one bit.” She rubbed her neck. “The stalker thing is getting to me. I keep seeing things that aren’t there.”
Dylan tensed more that he had been on the walk over. “What?” he demanded.
“I feel… I’m sure someone is watching me.”
Dylan frowned, the wariness back in his eyes.Great. They were back in whack-a-doodle territory. Why didn’t she keep her big mouth shut?
“Seriously, all I’m saying is we’re both stressed out, so if you need a minute and a drink to get it together, I understand.” She took a deep breath. “If you want to leave, I’ll make up an excuse.” Her stomach cramped at the thought of being here alone, but one look at Dylan’s face told her he was suffering. It sucked to be stuck somewhere and in this type of situation; going through hell didn’t really describe it.
He shook his head as he plunked down on a bar stool. “I’m okay.” He rolled his shoulders.
“Look,” she said, “we can do this. The truth is I need this weekend away from everything. I haven’t slept or eaten right in so long I can’t remember what it feels like. I hate that some stranger has so much control over my life.” His face softened, but she put her hand up. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. I know my stalker story seems farfetched, and you still aren’t sure whether to believe me. I understand that. I’m just glad you’re here to have my back, even if you are a troublemaker.” She winked.
A real smile broke out on his face. “I appreciate your honesty. You know, I had to face up to Jenn getting married at some point. Much better to do it head-on than pretend it’s not happening. It’ll be like ripping off a Band-Aid.”
She nodded. God knew, she had put on a happy face enough times at social events growing up.Suck it up, Buttercuphad been her personal credo for years. In the end, it was just better to get it over with then try to postpone.
Her mother had taught her to walk with a stiff spine and enter the room like she belonged there. She supposed she should be grateful for that because those hard-learned lessons were going to come in handy in the next few minutes.
Dylan reached up and touched her cheek. “You’re right. We’re in it together. We can do this.” He rolled his shoulders one more time. Then, leaning forward, he kissed her cheek and brought her in close for a tight hug. “Thanks for the pep-talk,” he whispered in her ear.
“There you are!” The voice was so close it startled them both, and Dylan abruptly released her. Raleigh almost lost her balance, but he grabbed her arm and steadied her.
