CHAPTER 3
Jimmy had been making some good progress in his visual flirting with the hot redhead when Matt’s voice came across the comm unit. “Code Orange.”
The commander’s gaze immediately landed on Jimmy. He was the only man there not burdened by a serving tray, except for Jack, who couldn’t leave the bar.
Jimmy nodded to the commander. The hot chick would have to wait. He had a job to do and he couldn’t do it in the middle of a cocktail party where he was supposed to be nothing more than a waiter.
He slipped into the hallway where he could respond to Matt unobserved. “What’s the Code Orange, Matt?”
“I ran the guest list through the computer again and got a hit. One of the last minute additions matches an alias used by a terrorist on our watch list.”
It looked like the shit might be about to hit the fan. Jimmy felt his adrenaline begin to pump at the thought of some action. “Give me the name. I’ll find him.”
Matt did as requested and Jimmy headed to the entrance where the guests were being cleared through security.
The guard there pointed Jimmy in the direction of the guy who’d checked into the party under that name.
Jimmy nearly laughed when he saw him. He ducked outside and around a corner to talk to Matt. “Uh, Matt. Unless your terrorist is a little old gray-haired man of about eighty who uses a walker, the name is just a coincidence.”
Matt’s laugh came through the earpiece. “Roger that.”
“Anyone else?”
“Negative. The rest of the list looks good.”
After reporting his findings, Jimmy went back inside the building to resume his post, but he knew the magical moment with Red had been broken.
That thought had him scowling as he made his way down the hallway toward the ballroom . . . until he smacked right into the redhead of his dreams coming out of the ladies’ room.
Reflex had him reaching out with both hands to steady the incredibly sexy woman as she teetered on her high heels. “Sorry, darlin’.”
Her brows shot up to her hairline and an amused smirk appeared. He realized he probably shouldn’t be calling the guests darlin’, but what could he do? He’d been calling females not related to him that since puberty. It just slipped out.
Red didn’t seem too upset about it though. As Jimmy reluctantly released his hold on her, she raised her hands and ran them up and down his lapels. “You’re forgiven. What’s your name?”
He breathed in the rich scent of her. Expensive-smelling perfume with an undertone of lamb.
“James.” Entranced by her clear blue gaze, he somehow managed to supply his given name for her. Though even his mother didn’t call him James unless she was mad, it seemed to fit better in this situation than Jimmy so he went with it.
The vision of sex on heels before him reached into her envelope-sized purse. Was everything rich people owned and ate tiny? She took out a pen and a scrap of paper. On it she scribbled something and then handed it to him.
“Nice to meet you, James.”
The pleasure was all his, especially when she winked and sashayed away and he got to drool over the rear view.
When she’d turned the corner—without looking back, he noted—Jimmy finally had the presence of mind to look down at what she’d written on the paper she’d given him.
Seven digits and a name—Lia.
She’d given him her phone number and he hadn’t even asked. That was one hell of a woman. One he definitely would be happy to get to know better.
Jimmy suppressed the whoop of excitement threatening to bubble out of him, but since he was alone in the hall he figured he could ask the question uppermost in his mind out loud. “Hey, Matt. When is this gig scheduled to be over?”
Whenever it was, it wouldn’t be soon enough for him.
A few hours later, Jimmy walked out of the back door alongside Jack and Trey.
In what would have looked like a coordinated effort to an outside observer, all three tugged at their collars simultaneously as they struggled to rip off their bow ties. Jimmy, for one, couldn’t get his off fast enough.
“That was a waste of time,” Trey grumbled.
Jimmy wouldn’t exactly say that the fact no terrorists had blown up the place made it a waste of time, but it was frustrating to go to all the effort for a false alarm.
Nothing more exciting than Matt’s early scare about the old dude with the suspicious name had happened all night, unless he counted the phone number he’d gotten.
Now that was something to get excited about.
He patted his breast pocket and assured himself the number was still safely tucked away. His fingers itched to grab for his phone and dial it right then and there. Instead, he controlled the impulse until he could get somewhere private.
“At least you didn’t drop your tray, Trey.” Jack grinned, obviously proud of his cleverness. “See what I did there?”
Jimmy frowned. “That was going to be my joke.”
“Late again, big brother.” Jack slapped him on the back. “So, what do y’all say we hit the bar after checking in on base? We can get a cold one and I can see how my hot bartender is doing.”
Free from the tie now, Trey undid the top two buttons of his shirt. “Sure. As long as we can change out of these monkey suits first.”
Jimmy thought again of the precious piece of paper tucked away in his pocket. It was already getting late. He had to either call now or not at all if he had any hope of meeting up with her tonight.
“You two go ahead. I’m, uh, a little tired.”
Jack shot him a look. “Tired? From walking around a party picking up dirty napkins all night? Come on. We’ll just go for one beer.”
“It wasn’t just playing waiter. We had to keep on alert in case anything did go down.” That much was true, even though Jack was correct—Jimmy wasn’t tired from the party. He was tired of being celibate and had every hope Lia would help him out in that area.
“But nothing went down,” Jack reminded him.
Jimmy struggled to come up with an excuse not to go to the bar so he could see Lia, if she wanted to see him. “Yeah, but I’d have to stop by the bank and get some cash first.”
“Yeah, and? So what? That’ll take like a minute.” Jack stared at him, waiting for a response.
“But then I’d need to get gas too.” Jack was still frowning at him doubtfully, so Jimmy added, “Maybe I’ll meet y’all there later.”
Jack shook his head. “Whatever.”
Trey stopped next to his truck. “See you guys back at the base.”
They had each taken their own vehicles, thinking it would appear less suspicious arriving individually as waiters would, instead of piling out of one of the team vehicles as a group the way they usually traveled.
“Yeah, see you.” Ignoring his brother’s displeasure with him, Jimmy thankfully shut himself in his vehicle.
Grateful once again he had his own transportation, he sat in the driver’s seat and waited for Jack to close the driver’s door of his own car, then he punched Lia’s number into his cell phone.
“Hello?” Her sexy voice sent a shiver right down from his ears to his toes and everywhere in between. “Hey, darlin’. It’s Jim—uh, James.”
“Hello there, James. Where are you?”
“In my car outside the party. We just got off.”
Oh yeah. Judging by the sexy purr of her voice, he had a feeling he was about to get off all right.
“Meet me at the Hilton in ten minutes. Ask for the private elevator that leads to the presidential suite. I’ll leave your name at the desk so they’ll let you up.”
Jimmy heard a click and she was gone.
Holy crap. He didn’t know what to be amazed at more. The fact he was going to get lucky with the hottest woman he’d ever laid eyes on, or the invitation to the presidential suite at the Hilton.
Meanwhile, there was no way he could drive back to base, check in and then get to the hotel in ten minutes, and Jimmy had a feeling Lia was not the kind of woman who responded well to being kept waiting.
The mission had been uneventful. Maybe no one would notice if he didn’t check in tonight. His decision made, he drove directly to the Hilton so fast it was a miracle he didn’t get pulled over for speeding. He stopped only long enough to grab a box of condoms and breath mints at the twenty-four-hour convenience store across the street from the hotel.
Jimmy remembered to unstrap his leg holster and secure his weapon in the glove compartment. He even remembered to lock his parked car, but that was about the only time his mind strayed from thinking about what was about to happen up in that suite.
Inside the massive marble lobby, he gave his name to the man standing behind the concierge desk, thinking there was a good chance he’d be thrown out on his ass.
Lo and behold, he wasn’t. Instead, he was ushered by another uniform-clad employee into a brass and mahogany elevator with only two buttons inside. They read Lobby and Presidential Suite.
As the valet, or whatever he was called, rode up the many floors to the top with him, Jimmy finally allowed himself to stop thinking this whole thing must be some kind of a joke. That was something he knew for sure when the elevator doors opened onto the eerily quiet, private hallway on the top floor of the building.
The hotel employee held the door open with one arm and dismissed him with a nod. “Have a good night, sir.”
“Thanks.” Intending to do just that, Jimmy stepped out onto a marble floor.
With a swish, the doors swept shut behind him and he was alone facing a single, massive white door.
Jimmy ignored the erratic pounding of his heart and raised his hand to knock. When the door swung wide a moment later, Lia stood before him wearing nothing but a black strapless bra, lacy thong underwear and mile-high heels.
He didn’t question the state of her attire. Her intentions were clear enough, so he strode in and blindly slammed the door shut behind him.
Never a man to beat around the bush, he grabbed her head with one hand and her waist with the other and sank his tongue deep into her warm, welcoming mouth.
He explored down the silky warm flesh to land on her ass cheek and discovered she felt as good as she looked.
Lia let him enjoy both her mouth and body for long enough to make his hard-on start to throb as it pressed against the zipper of his pants. Then she pulled away.
“You don’t waste any time, do you?” she asked.
A woman who answered the door half-naked shouldn’t talk about how fast he was moving.
“Darlin’, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” He ran his hands one more time over her curves with a groan.
Enough with the standing. Time to get horizontal. He glanced around the large space. It was decorated like a living room with a sofa and a huge flat-screen television that he might enjoy at another time when he didn’t have a raging hard-on and a willing woman beneath his hands.
He swept his gaze over the kitchenette and dining area and landed on a partially closed door. Bingo.
She let out a small squeak as he scooped her up and headed for the adjoining room where he hoped to find a bed. A really large one if he was lucky. What he had in mind was going to take more than a little bit of time and a whole lot of space.
When he pushed the door open wider with one foot and saw the king-sized mattress with the bedding already turned down for the night, it looked as if he was blessed enough to get what he wanted.
He dropped her on the bed and began tearing off what remained of his uniform. He’d long since ditched the jacket back in the car, so all he had left was the button-down shirt and pants.
She watched each piece of clothing fall to the floor, including his underwear, and then stared at his naked body. “Nice.”
Jimmy didn’t miss the gleam in Lia’s eye as she said that.
Damn right, it was nice. He worked hard to keep in shape. The whole team did. About time he put it to use for something other than practice maneuvers and fighting bad guys.
“Glad you approve, darlin’.” He pulled her panties down with both hands and spread her legs.
He ignored her surprised intake of breath and settled himself eye level with her creamy thighs and a whole lot more.
She was totally bald down there except for a tiny neat strip of red curls. The rest was smooth and hair-free.
He must have been staring for quite a while, because she finally reached down and grabbed his head in both hands, raising his face so he could see hers.
“What’s the matter, handsome? Don’t your waitress girlfriends believe in laser hair removal?”
As hot as she was, and as incredible as the results of her laser hair removal looked, he didn’t need any more of her smart-ass waiter comments.
He was betting she was a talker, and he wanted quiet during this so he could fully enjoy himself.
There was one sure-fire way to make sure she stopped talking. Jimmy spun himself around so quickly she let out a small squeak. He straddled her face and pressed his cock to her lips.
Since she opened her mouth and took him in without hesitation, he figured he hadn’t offended her delicate, rich-girl sensibilities too badly. And damn, did her mouth feel good wrapped around him.
He lowered his head and began to enjoy a taste of her for himself. He slid his tongue between her folds and worked her over. Gently at first, then rougher.
“Gordon!” Just as Lia’s hips had begun to rise from the bed in response to his efforts, the loud, angry voice sounded inside Jimmy’s head.
Startled at the sound, Jimmy jumped.
“James Gordon, answer me! Where the hell are you?” the voice repeated when Jimmy didn’t respond.
Visions of his mama’s unhappy face as she used his full name while reprimanding him for something as a child threatened to deflate his very happy erection, but this angry voice wasn’t his mama’s. It was the commander’s and he had obviously turned on Jimmy’s two-way communications device.
“Mmm, James. Don’t stop.” With what had to be the worst timing ever, Lia chose that moment, while they were being monitored, to let Jimmy know how unhappy she was he’d stopped what he’d been doing.
As he worked her with his thumb to keep her from complaining, there was radio silence during which Jimmy vainly hoped communications had been lost.
“Who is that and what the fuck are you doing, Gordon?”
No such luck. Apparently he was still transmitting loud and clear.
“Um, sir. I’m pretty sure fucking is what he’s doing.” The sound of Matt’s amused voice, letting him know it wasn’t only the commander listening in, made the entire situation worse.
Jimmy scowled at Matt’s comment and silently cursed the communications implant one more time.
“Get a GPS reading on him, Coleman.”
Damned tracking implant.
“He’s at the Hilton, sir.” It figured Matt could locate him so fast.
Jimmy guessed he was lucky Matt hadn’t pinpointed his exact location as the presidential suite’s bedroom.
“Dammit, Gordon. You check in on base after an op and get officially dismissed before you go and check into a hotel to get laid. You hear me?”
The commander’s order filled Jimmy’s ear just as Lia kicked things into a higher gear.
She took him even deeper into her throat and sucked hard while working his balls with her hand.
A tingling, pleasure-filled shudder passed through him. Pissed-off commander or not, Jimmy couldn’t maintain his control any longer. “Oh, yeah.”
“Was that response for me or for her, Gordon?” With an edge of annoyance in his voice, the commander questioned the words that had escaped Jimmy’s lips.
“I suppose it could be for both of you, sir,” Matt supplied not so helpfully.
Jimmy could hear the laughter in Matt’s voice and vowed to wipe the smile he knew was there right off his face at the next opportunity.
Meanwhile, Lia had begun using her teeth and he knew there was no way he’d be able to stay quiet. He bit his lip and tried anyway.
“Gordon, my office, zero-eight-hundred. Coleman, cut communications.” If possible, the commander sounded even angrier than before, but then thankfully there was blissful silence.
Relieved, Jimmy went back to working Lia until she began to shudder beneath him. He filled her with his fingers while he circled her with his tongue and sent her directly into a hip-bucking orgasm.
Whoever said rich girls were cold hadn’t been with this one. She was sweet and warm and wet, and he intended to experience all of her charms, including her incredibly sexy moans. He pulled himself out of her mouth so he could fully enjoy hearing her, loud and clear.
Longing to be inside her, Jimmy flipped back around and reached for his discarded pants with the condoms in the pocket. When he knee walked back to her across the large bed, he found her watching him with heavily lidded eyes.
Oh yeah, she wasn’t near done yet, which was good, because neither was he. A quick tear of the wrapper and he was soon safely covered.
He sank himself inside her and felt exactly how not cold she was. Wet and ready for him, her body accepted his like they were made to fit together.
“Oh, darlin’. You feel so sweet.”
He wanted the feeling to last a very long time, so he kept the pace nice and slow. Lia pulled her knees up and his next stroke sank him even deeper into her. He groaned his approval.
She threw her head back against the pillow and gripped his forearms. “Harder. Faster.”
Yup, she was a talker all right and she liked to give orders.
Jimmy took orders all day at work. He wasn’t about to have to follow them in bed too. With her knees pulled up and braced against his chest, he couldn’t even lean down far enough to shut her up by kissing her. That didn’t mean he couldn’t teach her a lesson about being bossy.
He slowed his rhythm even more.
“I said faster, dammit.” Her ice-blue eyes flashed.
That had really pissed her off. He smiled, having more fun than he’d had in a long time. Shaking his head, he slowed down further.
She frowned. There was a good chance no one had ever said no to her before, poor thing. Jimmy was proud to be the first.
He stopped the in-and-out motion totally, pushed in deeper and pressed himself against her, making small circles. He knew how to please a woman. She’d just have to shut up long enough to realize it.
Each rotation of his hips ground the base of him against her most sensitive spot. He watched her eyes drift closed, then heard her breath catch in her throat.
She started to shudder again and with one incredible cry, she shattered around him.
He did love hearing her come. He loved feeling it even better. Her muscles squeezed him and he enjoyed every pulse.
Only when the spasms slowed to a stop did he give in to her previous wish, purely for his own pleasure.
Jimmy took her deep and fast until he lost it himself, coming hard until he could barely support his own weight on his shaking arms.
He collapsed on top of her with a groan.
They both lay panting for he didn’t know how long. Finally, he gathered enough energy to lift up on one elbow.
Jimmy gazed down at the satisfaction clear on Lia’s face. “One word of advice, darlin’. Never tell me how to make love.”
She seemed shocked for a second, and then pursed her lips. “I’ll try and remember that.”
He was still hard inside her, so he pulled out and stripped off the used condom. Quicker than she could say “Yes sir, may I have another?” he’d rolled on a fresh one.
Sitting up on his knees, erection pointing proudly at her like a divining rod, Jimmy slapped her hip. “Flip on over, darlin’. This time I wouldn’t mind a view of that sweet ass of yours.”
She raised one perfectly shaped brow at him, but rolled over without saying a word. He said a quick internal thanks for her silence and slid himself into her for round two.
Money or not, everybody was the same when they were naked and sweaty.
Sex. The great equalizer.
That should be a bumper sticker or something.
Jimmy smiled at his own cleverness. He was on fire tonight.