Victoria Dahl - The Guy Next Door

“What? I’m not sure that’s a good—”

“My daughter, Monica, will attend the meeting, as well. She’s handling day-to-day operations for High West. What was your sister’s name again?”

“My sister?” His mind wasn’t keeping up. He shook his head and forced himself to concentrate on this conversation. “Tessa.”

“Tessa,” Kendall repeated. “That’s right. She’s welcome, too, if she can make it. I liked her. She’s not one of those ball-busting women.”

“Yeah, she’s great,” Eric muttered. Jesus Christ, he was standing here, still buck naked, and Beth was gone. “So, tomorrow at eight,” he managed to say.

Kendall grunted what sounded like an affirmative before hanging up, and Eric found himself standing with a dead phone pressed to his ear, his mind still quaking with shock.

She was gone. Just as quickly as she’d arrived. They’d spent one hour together. He glanced at the clock. Jesus, not even an hour. So how did he feel so changed?

Spent, empty, exhausted. But not hollow.

She’d used him, just as he’d used her, and somehow he was buoyed by that. He’d spent his whole life giving everything to his family. Love and duty. His past, present and future. And he’d given it gladly. But tonight he’d given himself. There was no history with Beth, no obligation. They’d offered only what they’d each wanted to give.

Still, he’d expected that Beth would spend the night so they could slake their thirst. The sex had been spectacular. So damn hot he was still seeing stars at the edges of his vision. And it hadn’t been nearly enough.

A car pulled out of the parking lot and he watched its lights fade far below, wondering if it was her.

She’d left so quickly, and… He hadn’t asked her to stay.

“Shit,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair. Had he committed a one-night-stand faux pas? He’d rented the room. He’d invited her up. Maybe conventional wisdom called for her to scramble into her clothes and hit the door unless he stopped her.

Damn it, he’d never done this before.

He turned to face the bed. It was rumpled, but they hadn’t even pulled the covers back. It looked almost as if Beth had never happened.

But she damn sure had. His chest still felt strained and tight, as if his lungs weren’t quite working yet.

Just yesterday, the first moment he’d glimpsed her, Beth Cantrell had struck him as a fantasy. His opinion hadn’t changed after tonight. She was a fantasy. Her curvy softness. Her wet, eager body. Her honest desire.

Staring at the bed, he briefly considered staying. He could stretch out on the mattress and reminisce. Hold on to the fantasy a little while longer.

But right now, the room didn’t look like remembered sex. It looked sad and lonely.

With a sigh of deep regret, he picked up his clothes from the floor and dressed. He had work to do tonight and more important things to think about than sex.

But, Jesus, she’d been tight with need, and soaking wet. Eric would’ve given her anything. Anything she’d wanted. As it’d turned out, she’d wanted exactly what he had. A hot, needful connection. A moment of truth.

He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the memories sink in. Then he reached for his shoes—and paused at a flash of pale gold.

Narrowing his eyes, he reached across his shoe for the delicate material just hidden beside it. “Oh,” he said as he closed his fingers over Beth Cantrell’s underwear. They were featherlight in his hand, but they added considerable weight to his shoulders.

What the hell was he supposed to do with her panties? His first thought was to return them, but that immediately struck him as creepy. Hey, little lady, look what I found. Nudge, nudge.

Weird. But what if she asked about them? It seemed unlikely, but Eric wasn’t interested in stammering over a lie. And it seemed a crime to blithely toss out the delicate fabric that had just lain against her skin.

Instead of throwing the underwear in the trash, Eric stuffed them into his pants pocket, suspicious of his own motivation. It wasn’t like him to sleep with a stranger. It wasn’t like him to have sex based on a lie. And it wasn’t like him to walk around with a pair of panties in his pocket. Eric had a sudden fear that this night would turn him into a pervert who got off on fondling used underwear in his darkened living room.

He drew his hand out of his pocket with a curse and snatched up his shoes and socks. One minute later and he was done, buttoned up and tied, cell phone and keys in hand. As he walked out and let the door slam behind him, Beth seemed more a dream than ever.

But reality awaited him in the lobby. She was still there, standing just to the side of the lobby doors, frowning as she spoke into her cell phone.

Eric froze. His hand went immediately to the pocket of his slacks. His fingers touched silk. Should he approach her? Not to thrust the panties at her, but at least to walk her to her car. Shit, he should’ve thought of that to begin with.

Eric stepped forward. He was within five feet of her when she turned toward him. She shook her head, but he took one more step—“Eric!”

He whirled toward his sister’s voice, heart pounding in panic, and something flew from his hand. His eyes darted after the blur of motion.

“God,” Tessa said. “Are you okay?”

His phone landed with a thunk and slid across the carpet. His phone. Not Beth’s panties.

“Oh, thank God,” he breathed, but his panic wasn’t quite gone. He started to turn toward Beth to see if she’d heard his name. But his sister’s hand touched his arm.

“Hey. Are you all right? I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Shaking his head, Eric lurched a few steps forward and grabbed his errant phone. “You did startle me. I thought you’d gone home.”

“I started to, but I decided to stay for a drink.”

That stopped Eric from worrying about himself. “What? Tessa, do you know how dangerous it is to hang around in a bar?”

Tessa gave an obvious look around the brightly lit lobby. “What can I say? I like dark alleys and taking crazy risks.”

“Just…” He slid a glance toward the front doors and found an empty spot where Beth had been. His heart sank even as relief loosened the tightness in his throat. Without looking at his sister, he asked how much she’d had to drink.

“Two drinks over the past two hours, Eric. I’m fine.”

“I’ll drive you home anyway. That way I’ll know.”

Tessa gave a long-suffering sigh. “Look, Dad, I’m fine. I swear. One of those drinks was that awful white wine spritzer you got me.”

He cringed as he always did when she called him Dad, but Tessa just laughed and kissed his cheek. “Come on. I’m fine. But you can tuck me into my car.”

He walked her out to her car, as he would’ve done on any evening, but this time he kept his eyes peeled for another woman. But Beth Cantrell had disappeared into the night.

It was over. He told himself he should be glad. He’d landed the meeting with Kendall and lived out a fantasy with Beth, all in one night. But somehow he still felt hungry.

DÉJÀ VU. HERE THEY WERE again at the expo, pretending not to stare at each other.

Eric pressed the phone harder to his ear and glared down at the souvenir glasses lined up in rows on the table. “Come on,” he growled at his sister. “You can make it. You’ve got two hours to find someone to work the bar.”

“There’s nobody else, okay? And I’ve got a headache anyway. I wouldn’t be any use to you.”

“Maybe you drank too much last night.”

“I had two drinks!”

Eric gripped the back of his neck, hard. “Have Jamie work the damn bar, all right? I want you there.”

She muttered a curse under her breath. “Kendall specifically asked for Jamie. Don’t be an idiot.”

And what the hell was that about? Kendall had never even met Jamie. Maybe he wanted to meet all the owners of Donovan Brothers before he made a decision.

“Eric, come on. We all want this. Not just me or you. Jamie wants to be involved, too.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. “Right.” It wasn’t that he thought Jamie and Tessa shouldn’t be involved. It was just that…Eric took care of things. That was his role. He took care of them. He owed them that. “I know you two are as responsible for the business as I am, it’s just…I’m not sure Jamie is right for this job.”

“Oh, come on. He’s great. What could go wrong?”

“Seriously? Kendall’s daughter is coming.”

“Jamie’s smarter than you give him credit for. And Kendall’s daughter will probably like him more than she’ll like me.”

“That’s my point. Look, of course Jamie’s smart, but I want you there. Please?”

“He’ll be good for this deal. You’ll see.”

Eric glared blindly out at the crowd, then realized a man who’d been headed toward the booth veered away. Eric tried to school his features into something less fierce.

“I’ll handle it on my own,” he snapped. “Tell Jamie to take the night off. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

“Eric—”

He snapped the phone shut and hoped to God Jamie didn’t show up. The deal was sitting right there in Eric’s palm. All he had to do was close his fingers slowly enough that he didn’t startle Kendall. Jamie never did anything slowly, especially if there was a woman involved.

Speaking of slowly… Reinforcing his sense of déjà vu, Eric stole a look across the booths to find that Beth was still there. Just like that first day. Today she wore a dark blue dress and heels that reminded him of cream in coffee.