Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
He reached over and grabbed her, lacing her fingers through his. “Don’t think about it. Stress isn’t good for you, and as long as I’m around, all he or she can do is try to scare you. Nobody will get near you, remember?” He squeezed her trembling hand.
“Thank you,” she said in that husky voice he liked so much. “And tonight? Whatever Evan pulls, ignore him, okay?”
Cole remained silent, unsure he could make that promise.
“Cole? He’s all bluster. A true politician.”
“Who wants you.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Erin laughed. “He’s only stepped up his rhetoric about us as a power couple now that you’re around. I think he likes getting to you because he knows you’re a worthy opponent. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”
Cole let out a rumbling growl.
“I’ll take that as an okay.”
“For you? I’ll do my best.” He slid his hand to the exposed skin on her thigh and ran his thumb back and forth over the silky flesh.
“Thanks.” The sound came out reed-thin.
He grinned and kept his eyes on the road. He was adept enough without looking. “So tell me what to expect this evening.” He inched his hand higher, until the pad of his fingers hit the elastic on her panties.
She squeaked. “Cole!”
“Yes?”
Before she could tell him to stop, he brushed his thumb over the front of the silken material, pressing downward on her sensitive nub. She stiffened, sighed, and gave in, spreading her thighs as far as the tight dress would allow. Beneath his touch, she was warm, damp, and aroused.
A glance told him she’d leaned her head back against the seat, eyes closed, lost in sensation. He maintained a consistent pressure until the hotel came into view.
He withdrew his hand and cleared his throat. “We’re here,” he said, his voice none too steady.
“Noo—”
“Look at it this way. You have something to look forward to during the boring speeches and Carmichael’s posturing.”
She shifted, straightening her dress. She opened the visor and checked her makeup and hair in the mirror, all without saying a word.
Though he had a hunch he’d pay for his sensual torture later, for now, she was hot, bothered, and thinking only about him. Just the way he wanted her for the rest of the night.
* * *
Erin had been to events like this before, but never with her entire body quivering with need and arousal. She stepped from the car on wobbly feet. Handed her coat in with shaking hands. Took Cole’s elbow to join him as they walked into the cocktail area, wondering how she’d survive the night. Beside her, Cole, in a navy blue suit with a dark red tie, looked scrumptious and good enough to devour whole, something she intended to do when they got home. First she had to maneuver among her colleagues.
They walked the room, Erin greeting her coworkers from Serendipity and others she knew from various conferences in other jurisdictions. She introduced Cole and accepted the surprised looks from the locals who knew him and figured out from Erin’s body language that he was more than just her bodyguard.
Instead of letting him drift behind her, she included him in conversation, and soon, her friends and colleagues did the same, and it wasn’t too long before he was involved in a baseball conversation with a group of men. Even as he spoke, Cole kept a possessive hand on her back.
Erin had just finished talking to one of the judges when Trina arrived. She greeted Erin with a huge grin, her eyes focused on where Cole’s hand remained possessively on her back. His touch burned through the dress.
As if aware Erin’s focus had changed, Cole excused himself from the men and turned to Trina, remaining beside Erin the entire time.
“Well, well, well, look at you two.” She leaned in to hug Erin and whispered in her ear, “Doesn’t look like it’s for show to me.”
Erin pinched her friend in response.
“Ouch!” Trina squealed and stepped back, scowling at Erin.
Erin merely grinned in reply, knowing they’d talk about this another time.
“How are you, handsome?” Trina asked Cole.
Erin rolled her eyes. “Trina’s quite the flirt, if you didn’t already realize it in the office,” Erin told him. But a nonthreatening flirt. Her occasional outrageous behavior fit her personality.
Cole merely grinned. “I’m fine. You?”
“Oh, you know. Surviving this yearly event.” She grabbed a champagne glass from a passing server’s tray. “I know you can’t have one,” she said to Erin. “But how about you?”
Cole shook his head. “On duty.”
“How are things on that front?” Trina asked, sobering.
“Quiet in a way that scares me,” Erin said, repeating what she’d told Cole on the way over.
He pulled her closer, the move not getting lost on Trina, whose eyes lit in approval.
“Well, on to schmooze,” she said. “Catch up with you later. We’re all sitting together since the DA’s office took one table.”