Chapter 2
RHODES
She was even more stunning up close.
I’d spotted this incredible beauty the moment she walked in the door, and despite the fact that she’d arrived with my boss and his wife, I knew I had to ask her to dance.
I wondered about their connection, but it didn’t really matter.
An overwhelming need consumed me—to be close to her, to find out more about her, because I had a feeling she was my future.
At the moment, she was looking at me as if I had three heads, making me want to laugh.
I was used to women fawning over me, but I got the impression that this girl wasn’t speechless because of my job or bank account.
Her gorgeous, wide blue eyes flickered with desire, and I couldn’t help smiling at the knowledge that she appeared to be as affected by me as I was by her.
“You want to dance with me?”
My grin widened. “I’d ask in another language if I knew one and thought it would up my odds of you agreeing.”
Her lips tipped up, and she laughed—the husky sound going straight to my groin. Damn, I couldn’t wait to hear her moaning my name in that sexy voice.
“Um, sure.” She hesitantly turned to place her drink on one of the small, high-top tables near us, then put her hand in my outstretched one.
As we walked to the dance floor, I looked down at her—she had to be at least five eleven in those heels, but I still towered over her.
I admired her ash blond hair, swept up into some kind of fancy thing on her head, exposing her neck and making me want to trail my tongue down her naked skin to the cleavage just barely visible in her strapless gown.
She had a slender build, but her tits would definitely fill my hands, and the flare of her hips would be perfect to hold while I buried myself deep inside her.
Get a grip before you embarrass yourself, Channing.
Yeah, I was dangerously close to having a very visible hard-on through my pants. I returned my focus to her face and tried not to think about how her soft, pouty lips would feel pressed to mine. What she tasted like. What kind of sounds she would make while my tongue explored her mouth.
“I’m Rhodes,” I rasped, trying desperately to find something to take my mind off all the ways I intended to fuck her.
“I know,” she said with a cute smirk.
Shrugging, I laughed, enjoying the way her eyes widened and her cheeks turned pink at the sound. “I didn’t want to assume. What’s your name?”
“Finley Madison.”
I almost choked on my own saliva. I’d seen her come in with Lennox, but I hadn’t realized they were family. Shit. This was going to be complicated as fuck. “You’re related to Lennox, I take it,” I murmured as I took her into my arms.
She smiled fondly and nodded. “He’s my uncle.”
Well, double shit. This was the niece we’d heard rumors about. Supposedly, she was a spoiled little princess who’d had everything handed to her in life. But just from the minute or so I’d been in her presence, I was already doubting the validity of what I’d heard.
“You’re close?”
“Honestly, he’s more like a surrogate father to me.
I love my parents, but they…weren’t around much.
My dad travels for work, and my mom always goes with him.
” She shrugged nonchalantly, but I could see the strain around her eyes, making me want to track down her parents and give them hell for abandoning their daughter.
Then she brightened, beaming and making my heart squeeze and thump happily.
“Uncle Lennox stepped in, and he’s always been there for me.
And Aunt Brie is the best. She was the one who convinced him to let me move into my own place when I went to college.
I swear, that woman could make him do anything. ”
I smiled at the adorable twinkle in her eyes.
Then her words hit me, and I asked, “You’re in college?
” Since she’d been drinking champagne, I’d assumed she was over twenty-one.
But if she was still in school…I could possibly be over a decade older than her.
Not that it mattered to me, but I had a feeling it would be an issue for her uncle.
Finley shook her head. “I graduated right before Christmas.”
“In the middle of the year?”
She tilted her head to the side and stared at my shoulder, her cheeks turning pink.
“I know it sounds cliché, but I worked hard to graduate a year and a half early with my degree in finance so I could start living my own life. I’ve been luckier than most kids, and I absolutely appreciate the life my uncle gave me, but I want to stand on my own two feet. ”
“I don’t think it sounds cliché,” I reassured her. “I think it’s brave to want to strike out on your own.”
Her smile was bright for a moment, then she looked at my chest again and blushed harder. “Sort of.”
I laughed, drawing her wide eyes to my face as her cheeks tinged with pink.
“What does that mean? Sort of?”
Finley sighed. “I have a trust fund, but like I said, I want to stand on my own. So I only took a small withdrawal and used it to start day trading so I could pay for all my living expenses without having to get a job.”
“I’m officially impressed,” I told her as pride filled me.
She was obviously smart, dedicated, and hardworking.
I kind of felt like a complete idiot for believing the rumors.
Despite being a billionaire, Lennox was one of the most grounded, hard-working people I’d ever met.
It made sense that he would raise his niece to be the same way.
“It’s not that hard,” she replied with a chuckle.
I raised an eyebrow. “For some people, perhaps. But for the rest of us, numbers are like Greek. Which is why I have a degree in biology. If it doesn’t have to do with football statistics, I only studied what I needed to in order to graduate.”
Finley’s brow rose, and her lips tipped up at the corners. “So you’re a nerd?”
My head fell back as a hearty laugh burst from my chest. “Yeah,” I agreed once I caught my breath. “I guess I am.”
“Hey.” She shrugged. “Nerds are hot.”
I chuckled again and stared down at the incredible woman in my arms. She was fucking amazing. That feeling that she might be my future had officially solidified. Finley was meant to be mine. Now I just had to convince her—
“Rhodes.”
I stopped dancing and glanced to the side, seeing Lennox standing there with his feet braced apart and arms crossed, and a deadly expression on his face.
—and her uncle.
“Finley,” he muttered, “Brie is ready to go.”
“Okay,” she said sweetly. “I’ll call you—”
“We’re all leaving,” he insisted, still staring daggers at me.
“I’ll make sure she gets home—” I stopped abruptly when Lennox took a threatening step toward me, only to be distracted when his wife put her hand on his arm. Probably saving me from a broken jaw.
“Uncle Lennox, we agreed that I would stay when you left,” Finley insisted, putting her hands on her hips and glaring up at him.
“Finley,” Brie chimed in softly. “Perhaps it would be best if we left and, um, talked about this somewhere more private?”
As frustrated as I was with Lennox’s reaction, I understood Brie’s point that this was neither the time nor the place for this discussion. The last thing we needed was to have our shit plastered all over the news.
Finley pressed her lips together and glanced around before her shoulders fell. “Okay.”
“Hands off,” Lennox snarled.
Because he’d earned my respect as a boss for years, and I could understand him being protective of his niece, I reluctantly let Finley go. For now.
I bent down to reassure her that I’d get in touch, but before I could, Lennox quickly guided her to his other side to stand by Brie.
Then he stood nearly toe-to-toe with me and smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes.
He put one hand on my shoulder and grasped mine with the other in a shake while leaning in to whisper, “Go near my niece again, and you’ll be spending next season recovering from reconstructive surgery after I break your pretty boy face. And possibly some other shit.”
Finley gasped in outrage, but she was dragged away by her aunt before she could react too much.
I didn’t react at all. Not only couldn’t he intimidate me but I wasn’t about to agree to stay away from my woman.
“Remember, Rhodes. She’s off-limits. Illegal. Is that clear?” He didn’t wait for my answer before stalking off, fake smile still in place.
Cameras went off, reminding me again of all the press attending the event. So I put a cocky smirk on my face and went to the bar for a drink—all the while still planning how to get my girl.