Chapter 5
Five
A prickle of sensation at the base of my neck alerts me to the fact that Keir is staring at me. We are pressed tightly together in the back seat of a chauffeured limousine with Kaia and Calum sitting across from us.
Keir is spread out, his long legs and arms eating up most of the space on our soft leather bench seat. He seems unapologetic about the way that his thigh and shoulder press tightly against mine. He shifts, his gaze flickering to meet mine.
Keir’s mouth lifts at the corners, forming the faintest smirk. “What?”
He’s flirting with me. There is no doubt about it. I swallow and lift my chin, defiant.
“Could you move over a little?”
His mouth twitches, amusement in his eyes.
“I don’t think so, Ella.”
His eyes dip from mine to my cleavage for a second. I flush, getting hot and cold all over.
“You’re a jerk.”
Keir tilts his head. “I’ve been called much worse.”
Smirking, I give my head a shake. “I’ll just bet you have, Lord Grayrose.”
Something crackles in his eyes then, sparking somewhere in those deep pools. He likes me.
And I’m starting to think that I don’t hate him. In fact, if he plays his cards right, I might just finally lose my virginity tonight. Not that he needs to know that…
No one knows that I still haven’t actually gone all the way with anyone. That’s something that I keep close to my chest.
I wrinkle my nose, pondering whether Keir could finally be the one to pop my cherry.
“So what do you actually do for a living? I assume that you work.”
His nose crinkles just slightly and he smirks. “I work in media relations.”
My eyebrows lift. “What does that mean?”
He gives me a low effort shrug, looking a bit bored by my question. “It means I own a very large company and have lots of long, boring meetings. Do we really need to get into it right now?”
“Look, I’m just over here, making conversation. I figured if I’m supposed to be feeling you out and seeing whether I want to work for you, I should find out what it is you do.”
Keir looks me up and down. “Is that what you’re doing? Did this just become a job interview instead of flirting?”
I go red as a candied apple. “I’m not flirting with you!”
He snorts, leaning close to whisper in my ear. “Bullshit.”
I turn toward him, arching a brow. Anyone else would probably look away or at least feel ashamed…
But Keir isn’t just anyone. I feel his vivid blue gaze on me, studying me. He smirks just a little, so handsome that it should be a sin.
He doesn’t say anything else, just lets the conversation settle between us. He lets me stew in our exchange, which I must admit did sound kind of flirtatious.
Keir just looks me up and down, putting his hand to the small of my back as he escorts me out of the car and inside The Continental bar.
I shiver convulsively. Keir’s touch feels like a fiery brand, marking me, reminding me that I’m very much alive.
As we step inside The Continental, the hostess practically falls all over herself when she sees Calum and Kaia together.
“Oh my god! It’s been ages since I’ve seen you!” She beams at our group, gesturing for us to follow her back into the sumptuous, luxurious bar. “Let me take you to the VIP section.”
Kaia pulls away from her husband’s arm with a crooked little smile. “Actually, I’m going to head for the ladies’ room. Ella, do you want to keep me company?”
Licking my suddenly dry lips, I nod. My glance slides to Keir, finding him once again sizing me up. His eyes flick up to meet mine and his gaze threatens to burn me to ash.
“Yes!” I shout to Kaia. “Coming right now.”
Kaia looks so smug as I follow her toward the back of the bar and into the large bathroom. She shuts the door and then turns, grinning as she crosses her arms.
“There are verifiable vibes in the air between you and Keir.”
“You think?” My cheeks flush and I walk over to the oversized mirror that hangs in the bathroom, checking myself out. “I wasn’t sure if I was imagining things.”
“No way. He is definitely feeling you.”
I bite my lip, wrinkling my nose as I turn to see how serious she is. “You think?”
Kaia puts her hands on her hips.
“Okay, this? This whole ‘is he really hitting on me?’ thing you’re doing? It’s totally unlike you. Actually…” She pauses and tilts her head to the side, her eyes narrowing. “I’ve never seen you react to anyone this way.”
Rolling my eyes and laughing, I shake my head.
“I don’t know. I mean, does Keir seem like a good guy?”
“Do you mean to work for? Or do you mean to sleep with?”
I shoot her a look. “Either, I guess.”
She purses her lips. “Why don’t you start by fucking him? If that doesn’t work out, it’s not like you’ll ever have to see him again. He lives in Scotland in a drafty old castle.”
I puff out my cheeks, looking in the mirror once more. “We’ll see how it goes. I haven’t ever really done anything like what you’re suggesting.”
Kaia was in the middle of turning around to open the bathroom door. But she freezes, her hand hovering just above the doorknob.
“Are you telling me that you’re—”
“Yes! Okay, yes!” I cut her off.
Her eyes widen. “But you teased me mercilessly for never having the nerve to fuck anybody before Calum!”
“That, my friend, is how teasing works.” I jerk my head at the door. “Now are you gonna let me out of this bathroom or what?”
She sticks out her tongue at me.
“I’m actually gonna stay, because I’ve got to pee again. When you see Calum, will you tell him I’m ready to go home?”
“Of course. And Kaia?”
She opens the door, looking at me. “Yeah?”
I surprise her with a brief, hard hug. “I love you.”
Kaia’s hand comes up to caress my face and she grins. “I love you too. Now go, have fun! Don’t do anything that I haven’t already done.”
I wiggle my eyebrows. “No fucking promises.”
I step out into the hall, nearly running into Calum as I do. “Oh! Hey, Kaia is peeing. She said to tell you she’s ready to go home.”
Calum smiles and nods toward the bar behind him. “Keir is waiting at the bar. You two have fun.”
I pull a face. “What, did you and Kaia plan this whole pep talk out?”
“We have been spending a lot of time around each other. Maybe we’re mind-melding.”
I smirk and move past him. He seems like he’s thinking about saying something else. But then he turns away and I pass down the hall.
When I get back out to the bar, it’s crazy busy. I guess it’s late on a weekend night, so I’m not too surprised. I have to dodge and duck around a few people before I find Keir at the bar.
He’s sitting by himself, his head down. At first I think he is scrolling through his phone. But when I get closer, he is shuffling a deck of cards, a far-off look on his face.
I touch his arm with gentle fingers and he straightens like a marionette puppet. When he turns toward me, his expression is intense and his posture is rigid. But the second that he sees me standing at his elbow, the tense line formed by his shoulders relaxes just a little.
For some reason, that makes me feel good.
“Ella.” He gestures to the empty stool beside him. “Have a seat.”
I slide into the spot he pointed to and bite my lip.
“What’s with the cards?”
Keir looks down at his hands with puzzlement, as if the cards simply appeared there. He gathers the deck, jogging it against the stone countertop with three quick, practiced movements.
He cuts quite a handsome figure, a sexy man in his thirties sitting alone at the bar. His fingers are long and a bit thick, moving quickly to shuffle the deck. Looking at his hands moving gives me vaguely sexual thoughts, which in turn make me flush.
What is going on with me?
But in the next second, I know the answer. I’m attracted to him. It’s really quite simple.
His eyes flit to my neckline, resting there for a second too long. He clears his throat and shrugs.
“Shuffling cards helps me think. It’s just an old habit.”
I lean forward, peering at him while I lift the top card. It’s the three of clubs. There is nothing special about it at all. It’s just a standard card from a brand new deck.
I give him a smirk and return the card, brushing my hand over his wrist as I do. His eyes are on mine, probing, deciding something.
“Are you going to guess my card?” I ask.
“Do you want me to do magic tricks?” Keir jogs the cards again, one sharp movement. He puts the deck down and turns on his stool, drinking me in. “I think you want something else from me.”
He reaches up, makes intense eye contact with me, and very gently tucks my hair behind my ear. His hand moves to cup my face; it’s so big that it swallows my face, making me feel delicate and tiny.
Keir keeps his eyes on mine and his thumb traces my full bottom lip. He leans his head close to whisper to me.
“You are very beautiful. You know that, don’t you?”
I flush, lifting my chin. Our faces are only a few inches apart now and I can’t help looking at his lips. What would they feel like on my too-hot skin?
“Some people think so,” I murmur.
He moves to the edge of his stool and then swivels me around to face him. He drops his hands to my knees, never breaking eye contact, and parts my thighs. I can’t breathe. My entire body flashes hot, my nipples hardening, my body tightening. Heat stirs low in my body, gathering between my legs.
Keir stands up, stepping between my parted thighs, and tilts my face up toward his. My entire body quivers with anticipation of feeling his mouth on mine. One of his hands pulls me toward him, tugging until my legs brush against his.
I can feel his hard cock through his dark tuxedo pants. It’s trapped against his body and I can feel it pressing against my inner thigh. His mouth touches mine, lips brushing over my own. Not hesitant, merely exploring.
My eyes sink closed and my hands curl into fists in the lapels of his jacket. He brushes his lips over mine again and opens his mouth. He smells like aftershave and tastes like dark honey, probably from the drink he was nursing before I came over.
Greedily, I slip off my stool and touch my tongue to his. He sets a simple rhythm, moving his tongue with the ease of one that has done this a thousand times.
I don’t really care because I am caught up, carried away with the amazing sensation of kissing him. I can’t get enough and I don’t ever want this feeling to end.
Keir growls just a bit and tips me backward, one arm supporting me. The sound hits me right in my core, lighting me up from the inside out.
My breasts tighten. I pull him closer, kiss him harder, rocking my hips against his.
When he pulls back a few inches, his eyes burning, breathing hard, he whispers to me.
“I want to take you to bed.”
I flush, but I’m already nodding. “I want that too.”
He kisses me one more time, long and deep, before he steps back. Taking me by the hand, he leads me out of the bar.