There was probably about a million things Bryant would have preferred to do on a Friday night in New York City, but he’d accepted his brother’s offer. He was weeks away from taking the reins of Croft Industry. Might as well show his face and kiss asses.

Funny, but he actually hadn’t counted on her being there. He should have. But when James had told him to pop by his company party before he left town, to get the feel of the people he’d soon work with, he hadn’t mentioned Tori; not even to warn him to stay away again.

Recalling what James had said regarding the woman’s relationship with the rest of the employees, he’d figured socializing with them would be pretty low on the list of things she might have wanted to do on a Friday evening, but he’d underestimated her. Victoria Brown was apparently not one to hide.

She was the first thing he saw when he walked in. Why? He’d never know. James could definitely throw a party; he’d booked a popular club, closing it off to anyone who wasn’t on his approved list. There was plenty to catch a man’s attention: the scantily dressed women moving on the dancefloor, the catwalk models in miniskirts who held platters with flutes of champagne, the bartenders flaring for show. In the midst of all that, the way Tori beckoned him was eerie. Her back was facing him at first, but she called to him nonetheless.

Alright, not that surprising; her ass was all kinds of perfect, and that tight little black dress would have taunted a saint.

Bryant grabbed a drink off a platter and headed to James, his eyes trailing Tori as she laughed with a shorter blonde.

He recalled he had a thing for blondes, all the while acknowledging that Tori’s fetching friend did nothing for him tonight. He was entirely focused on the brunette. And, nope, he had no explanation for that either. The blonde was just his type.

“You know, I distinctly recall saying not that one. Twice, in fact. Come on, she has personal ties with the current CEO; the last thing she needs is the new CEO chasing her skirt.”

Bryant sighed. Good point. He forced himself to look away, redirecting his attention to his brother.

“Decent party.”

James had invited a flock of important people, some of whom Bryant recognized. Models, actors, business owners, heirs of fortunes.

By the time Bryant had downed the contents of his first flute, Carter Harris and the notorious Trick walked in with their dates. To his surprise, unlike everyone else, who’d directly headed towards them to greet James, they walked to the open bar, and stopped around Tori.

Carter’s date hugged the object of Bryant’s fancy, and Tori then cheek-kissed the redhead holding Trick’s arm. Soon after, Bennet McFinley and his partner made an entrance, before following the same path, favoring Tori’s company to theirs.

Bryant groaned. Everyone he wanted to talk to was on the other side of the room.

He didn’t know the crowd intimately, but they ran in the same circle, and, more importantly, they belonged to the same generation. That meant that, even though Bryant had been based in London, they had an understanding. When they came across each other, be it tanning in the Caribbean or Hawaii, or skiing in Switzerland, they acknowledged each other, and hung out together when they could.

Right now, the small group was laughing, toasting, and obviously having a good time, while Bryant shook the hand of yet another boring old fart.

Fuck this shit.

A few long, determined steps, and he was standing right next to Tori Brown.

From up close, he had to admit that her large eyes, and their endless lashes, had more power than he’d anticipated. Bloody hell! And that mouth. It was painted dark purple again, because she obviously liked to drive men insane.

He wanted to kiss it, bite it. He wanted it wrapped around his dick as he fucked it. But as none of that was on the cards just yet, considering the public venue, he just shot her a smile, before turning to their common friends.

“Bryant Bloody Parker.”

Bennet was the first to greet him, but the others shortly joined him, welcoming him with open arms, like he knew they would. They then shocked the hell out of him by introducing him to their other halves. They weren’t just there with random dates: his three acquaintances actually had steady partners, women they lived with. The bloody lot of them had paired up, just like ninety percent of his friends.

God, he was getting old.

“This is my girlfriend, Piper; Trick’s fiancée, Lucy; Carter’s fiancée, Cassie; and her friend, Victoria.”

“Tori,” the brunette immediately corrected. A delicious blush flushed her cheeks as she glanced up at him. “Victoria is my grandmother’s name. And here’s my friend, Lexi,” she pointed to the blonde.

“Now’s probably a good time to admit that the likelihood of me recalling any of these names is pretty grim. Therefore, you will excuse me if I call you all ‘luv’ from now on.”

He wasn’t joking; he rarely remembered names, when he didn’t need to know them for business purposes.

Trick’s woman blinked. “A British accent. He has a British accent.” Then, she turned to her man and pouted. “Why don’t you have one of those?”

“You can call me whatever you’d like,” said Bennet’s girlfriend. “Just keep talking.”

The finance guru sighed. “And I’d forgotten why I hate that guy.”

“Hate is a strong word,” Carter remarked. “It would be more accurate to call it a minor aversion.”

“You’re saying that because your woman isn’t shamelessly drooling at him.”

And, of course, Carter’s fiancée then clarified, “I’m just taking mental notes so I can write a male hero after him. He’d be an awesome protagonist. Maybe some sort of werewolf.”

Carter put on a fake smile, “Sorry, when did you say you were leaving, Parker?”

Bryant took it all with good humor, knowing the guys meant nothing by it. The banter was the reason why he was more comfortable with them than with the graying folks converged around James.

“I’m actually going to hang around for a couple of days.” He added nothing about coming back; he’d call them to let them know, and ask about things like what part of town he should move in to, but now was hardly the time or place to talk real estate investments.

“Where are you from?” Tori asked him, for which he was grateful; he now had a valid reason to stare into those deep brown eyes.

“I was actually born in Vegas, but I grew up in London.”

“Lucky you. I’ve never been to England.”

“You should visit, some day. London is the most enchanting English-speaking city in the world.”

“Debatable,” she shot back, although she’d just admitted to never seeing it. She shrugged at his bafflement. “I’m an NYC gal. I have to say that.”

She had a cheeky grin that lit her up.

Bryant took one step closer to her, and leaned on the bar. “Right, so you guys have skyscrapers, and a lot of hot dog stands. London is vibrant, full of history, and…”

“Has a lot of fish and chips shops?” she offered.

He smiled. “Alright. We have Buckingham Palace.”

“Central Park.”

“The Tower of London.”

“The Empire State Building.”

“London Eye.”

“Do you have to use London in every one of your landmarks to make sure people really know where they are? Fine. Times Square.”

“The Big Ben.”

“The Met.”

“Are we actually going there? Museums? That’s just you admitting to losing. We have so many renowned museums I could spend all day naming them. But let’s just say the Victoria and Albert trumps the Met, and move on.”

“Highly debatable.”

“Says no one ever. We have, like,” he had to think, as he hadn’t stepped foot in the V&A for half a decade. “Clothes.”

“And we have an Egyptian temple.”

He had to wince. Now, his argument fell somewhat short, all things considered. Unwilling to lose any game, he was going to save face, when Bennet interrupted them.

“Hey, guys, we have to say hi to James and dash. Our little girl has ballet practice in the morning.”

Their little girl? Bloody hell, McFinnley also had a kid? And one old enough to practice ballet, at that. What had happened to the world, dammit!

“Nice seeing you, Tori. How long are you here for, Parker?”

“Until Sunday. Then, back to London.”

For a fortnight, in any case. After he’d shut down the house and sorted his law firm out, he’d come back.

He had five cases on his lap, all of which could be delegated; but he still needed to hire someone new to replace him, and put his affairs in order. The next two weeks were going to be intense, to say the least.

“Right. I don’t think we’ll come across again for a while, then. You take care.”

“You, too, mate.”

They shook hands. After they’d gone, Bryant noticed that his distance to the rest of the group had increased quite a bit, now he stood alone with Tori. The others could still hear them with some effort, but they’d given them space. Which meant they’d felt the crazy chemistry between Tori and him.

It was wild, sizzling, and entirely unexpected. Finding someone attractive wasn’t the same as clicking that way. In fact, while Bryant had worked his way around quite a few pretty girls, he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt such an intense, explosive pull towards anyone before her.

And he wanted, needed, to explore it.

So, instead of beating around the bush, he just asked, “Wanna get out of here?”