Just One Scandal (The Kingston Family #2) -Carly Phillips Page 0,51

her phone. Grabbing her by the hips, he pulled her flush against him until his cock settled between her thighs.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a trembling voice.

“Making up for what I missed out on last night,” he said and brought his mouth down on hers.

She immediately wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back, eagerly accepting him as he thrust his tongue past her lips. He tasted her sweetness, and every reason not to be with her fled in the wake of their incredible connection.

He ran his hands down her back and cupped her ass, and she moaned as her sex rubbed hard against his erection. So much for work. He’d much rather make time for this, he thought, when the ring of her cell interrupted them.

She lifted her head. “Ignore it.”

She didn’t have to say so twice. He dipped his head and recaptured her lips. Their teeth clashed and their tongues tangled … and her damned phone rang again.

“Ugh. I’d better see who’s looking for me.” She pushed herself away from him and turned toward her cell. “It’s Linc.”

Shooting Beck an apologetic glance, she answered the call. “Is everything okay?” she asked in place of the standard hello.

Beck drew a deep breath and adjusted himself in his pants, but he definitely listened to her end of the conversation.

“No, I didn’t see Page Six. Why?” she asked.

Beck narrowed his gaze, immediately taking out his phone and looking up the site online.

“We were going for dinner, and I didn’t see anyone take a picture of us.” Chloe met Beck’s gaze, but he’d already found the photo and headline.

Jilted Bride Moves On? The photo below was a picture of Beck helping Chloe out of the limousine outside the hotel, but they were definitely staring into each other’s eyes. And though he hadn’t seen anyone using their phones to take a photo either, obviously someone had. Since the club was located on the top floor of a hotel, of course there had been people walking around outside.

“Hang on. I’ll look,” she said.

Knowing he had no choice, Beck turned the screen toward her.

She closed her eyes and sighed. “I just saw it,” she said to Linc. “Ignore it. I plan to.” She listened and her eyes opened wide. “What? I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that, and I can’t believe you care what people think!” she said, raising her voice.

What the fuck was Linc’s problem now? Beck wondered.

“Well, that’s what it sounded like. It’s my life and I’ll see who I want, when I want, and live where I want.”

Beck wanted to applaud her for standing her ground.

“You want me to meet you for lunch?” Chloe asked her brother. “After you just gave me a hard time?” She rolled her eyes. “Okay, yes. Fine. Where?” She paused. “Ocean Prime? Are you trying to wine and dine me, big brother?”

Beck waited not so patiently to hear why Linc was giving his sister shit now, ignoring the pit in his stomach from wishing he had a sister to care for, take for lunch, and worry about the way Linc did Chloe.

She grinned. “One o’clock is fine. And yes, I know you love me, but can you take a step back before you come at me? I can handle things.” She must have liked what she heard because she said, “Love you, too, and see you later,” before disconnecting the call.

She glanced at him with a wary expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She dampened her lower lip. “Well, the article mentions you by name, for one thing. It talks about how I’m moving onward and upward to bigger and better things.” She winced at that. “I can’t imagine you’re happy with the publicity.”

“I appreciate you worrying about me but it’s fine. I’ve been mentioned a time or two before.” It came with his fast rise to the top of the New York real estate market and the money he made. “But that wasn’t what had your brother worked up, was it?”

He folded his arms across his chest, defensive without even knowing what Linc had said.

“He was upset about the photo,” she admitted. “He said that I just got out of one relationship and I was jumping into another and what did I think I was doing? I needed time … blah, blah, blah.” She made a hand motion with her fingers, imitating her brother’s mouth moving.

Beck narrowed his gaze. “That wasn’t all he said. He has to be pissed that it