Barely Decent & The One Who Got Away by Jennifer LaBrecque

Author:Jennifer LaBrecque
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

BEN HELD THE TAXI DOOR for Taylor, unable to look away from the expanse of thigh her short dress revealed. Despite his genuine and deep concern for his friend, a large part of him had been preoccupied with the woman at his side. No matter what was happening with his frontal lobe, the primal part of his brain had locked onto Taylor, her scent, the way her hair cascaded down her shoulder, the curve of her breasts.

His plan was to ditch Steve and Lisa, which wasn’t going to be too difficult, as Lisa had already said she was beat, and get Taylor to himself. So they could talk. That’s all. Talk about Steve.

Steve paid off the cab, then turned to the small group. “We’re going to our room. We have to be up at the crack of dawn to pick up Lisa’s mom at the airport.”

“When’s our mom coming in?” Taylor asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Do you need me to get her?”

“Nope, we have it covered.” Steve kissed his sister on the cheek. “But thanks. Why don’t you and Ben go have some fun? Win a little dough.”

“Right,” she said. “You know how lucky I am with cards.”

Steve laughed. “Okay, so don’t play poker.”

“I still maintain that you cheat every chance you get.”

He held his hand up to his chest as if shocked. “Me? Never.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Thanks for the dinner, you two. We’ll catch up with you tomorrow,” Ben said. “Great.”

Lisa said good-night, then took Steve’s hand. Taylor watched them walk into the hotel. Ben watched Taylor.

“This is weird as hell,” he said, as soon as they’d entered the lobby.

“I’ll say. Did you have any idea?”

He shook his head. “Last I heard, he was thinking about buying another boat.”

“He asked me to quit my damn boring job and come work for him. He said I was a fool for wasting my life,” Taylor added.

“So what changed?”

Taylor shook her head. “Love?”

“I don’t know…”

Ben wanted to touch her again, as he had on the way out. Gently, palm to the small of her back. He wanted to feel her quiver. Instead, he put his hands in his pockets.

“I want to talk to Mom about it,” Taylor said. “Maybe she knows.”

“Good idea.” He stopped just before they reached the main casino floor. “Are you too tired for a drink? We could go outside by the pool.”

She smiled and he thought he detected a slight blush. “That sounds great.”

“Good.” He took her hand, which might have been better than touching her back, and led her through the youngish crowd. Everyone was on the right side of dressy, trying to look hip. The music, loud enough to make people shout to be heard, was only the coolest rock. Right now they were playing Stevie Ray Vaughn from his second album. Although there were lots of people playing video poker and slots, they were mostly silent, concentrating on whatever voodoo they had to mesmerize the machines. The real hubbub came from the craps tables.

Ben and Taylor threaded through the winners

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