Briar's Champion (10 page)

“Calling Suzanne.” An automated voice obeyed.
On the third ring her friend picked up.

“Suz.”

“Hey
,
we’ve been waiting for you to call!” Suz
anne
piped over the phone. “Where are you?”

“I was occupied
,
” Briar
whispered
into the phone. “He has me in some bat cave, lair thingy. I’m such a slut
,
Suz. He did things to me Westly never did. Makes me wonder how I sold myself
so
short.
I thought he was an escort at first. That ya’ll bought him for me. He’s so freaking gorgeous and all.
Suz
,
the things he did to my body have to be outlawed in fifty of the fifty-two states.
”

“
What? That’s so funny. We hadn’t even thought to do that. Can’t wait to hear the dish on this. Good for you for having a good time.
”

“How do we get me out of here?” Briar asked. “
I b
roke down and cried afterwards, it was so damn embarrassing
,
”
s
he admitted
.

“Damn
!
You cried?” Suz
anne
sounded astonished.

“
Yeah
, let’s not broadcast
my psychotic
breakdown
after mind blowing sex
.” Briar hushed her tone upon hearing movement. A knock on the bathroom door interrupted her next thought.

“You okay in there?” Sloan asked with an edge of sleep in his
ton
e.
She liked the tenor of his morning voice. Sexy.

“Fine, using the facilities…so to speak
.
”
S
he paused
,
then put the phone to her ear. “Suz, how do I get home?”

“
You need to have some morning n
ookie first
,
and then have
lover boy drop you off.”

Suz
anne
hung up with Briar still huddled over the toilet.
After
picking up her jaw, s
he
righted herself and turned on the faucet to wash her hands and face.
The easy
,
no
care in the world woman was gone.
When she emerged from the bathroom, she
tried to
avoid meeting Sloan’s
gaze
.
God, he was sexy
.
“I have to work in a bit.”
She bit her lip, questioning why he didn’t feel as awkward as she did.

Sloan slid his arms around
Briar
and kissed her neck. “Let me toss on some sweats and then I’ll run you home.”

“
S
ounds good
.
”
S
he ducked any more physical contact and picked up her articles of clothing. Lost in her own thoughts
,
she dressed in under two minutes. Her hair couldn’t be helpe
d,
she smoothed down
the tangled mess
and dug into her handbag for a clip. Finding one proved tedious. “Ahh.” She closed her fingers around a rubber band
,
pulled it out
and worked the thick mess into a halfway passable ponytail
.

Sloan approach
ed
with a
T-shirt
and sweats on.
He wore basic clothing well, sexy and lethal with an animal like prowl. God she’d read to
o
many books.

Did he know his appeal? How hot he turned her on in
mere
seconds?
She tamped down her physical yearn and smiled. “I’m ready.”

“I have a conference in two hours
.
W
hy don’t I call you when
I’m done to take you for a late lunch
?”

He walked with her into the elevator and pressed the garage button.

“Okay
,
but only if you’re sure. I don’t want you to feel oblig
ated
to take me out
or anything
.”

“Care to exp
lain
that
,
Briar?” Sloan hit the
stop elevator
button.

The jolt of the
brakes slowing them to a stop
threw Briar off balance so hard she fell right into his arms. “I—ahh we had fun last night let’s
…
leave
things without complications
.
”
S
he pressed the
garage
button
to get the box moving again
.

“Think about lunch at least
.
L
ast night was amazing
so
nothing says we can’t continue
.
”

The elevator opened and he stepped out. The walk to his car remained a silent one. He opened her door, helped her in
, and
climb
ed
in
on the driver’s side
.
Once he got on the highway
,
he turned to her
. “
I need to know where I’m taking you.”

“
83
^rd
and
Winchester
.
” She’d made a complete fool out of herself
by
crying,
an action
she couldn’t even blame on the alcohol
, since
neither one of them left the bar drunk. Twenty minutes of dead space passed between them. She acted content
, as
if
last night didn’t happen. Inside
,
she wanted it to happen
again
,
and again
,
but she had a business to run. He made
for
a nice diversion, but she’d never give herself to
a
man again.
Suz
anne
was wrong
.
S
he wasn’t on the verge of becoming an emotional cripple
.
S
he was living life on her terms by choosing
not
to place herself in the position
of
be
ing
devastated again.
As t
hey pulled up to her house
,
she turned to
face
him
but refused
to meet his eyes
. “Thank you for everything.”
When he reached
for
her, s
he shrank from his touch.

“Ouch. I’d say you’re welcome
,
but this is not how I pictured
this
ending.” Sloan stepped out of his car.

“Stop. I can get
to
my own door.”

“I was raised different
ly
,
” Sloan growled at her
, rounded
over to her side of the car
, snatched the
door open
and pulled her
non
e
-to
o
-gentl
y
into his arms. His lips crashed down on hers
.
I
n full public view
,
he punished her nonchalance with his tongue
,
spearing arousal into her
body. Angry at her body for liking the kiss, she let out a hiss as he released her.

“That was uncalled for.”
She pushed out of his arms and regained a semblance of composure.
Fool
, she berated herself, and then rattled off her phone number
before running
the rest of the way to her building.

Two hours later, she sat behind her desk at Artistic Expressions
going over the recent changes in her life
. She’d won her bid on a lark and paid for the building in cash from her inheritance. The art she bought catered to a variety of customers. Being able to sell to any class of society made her dream a reality. Many people appreciated fine art, but couldn’t afford
to
purchas
e
on a high end scale.

The artists she’d commissioned,
along with
the ones who
ha
d come to her
,
agreed
wholeheartedly
art should be available to anyone
who enjoyed
the inspiration artists brought to life
, regardless of financial status
. Supporting her community, her brothers and sisters gave her the fulfillment she thought she needed. Now she questioned her other needs
.

J
ust
t
hen the television flashed and she saw Sloan.
Confusion washed through her, followed by clarity. How could he be part of some sick scheme to hurt her further?
Her mind spun
as
her gut clenched in anger over being used, tricked
.
S
he felt tears
of humiliation
before they filled her
eyes
.
With
shaky hands
,
she picked up her purse and le
ft her building
as if the devil were on her heels
. She walked down the block to
where she recognized
the conference
was being held
.
Furious with nothing
else
to lose, she pushed herself past the photographers and reporters and stopped directly in view of him.
This new act of cruelty was the last straw.