we have to worry about that,” Guy said. A smile rolled around his lips and a bark of dry laughter erupted from his throat. “Evidently you and I aren’t sexy enough.”
Payne chuckled. “Speak for yourself, you ugly bastard. He didn’t send me because he was afraid she’d fall in love with me. I was too much man.”
Guy smiled, grabbing his beer. “Go to hell.”
Yeah, and he could tell Jamie hello when he got there. He had a grim suspicion his buddy had been sent straight into the bowels of darkness.
“SO THAT’S A BRIEF OVERVIEW of what we do here at Unwind. Any questions?” Audrey glanced around the room, waited a couple of beats, then smiled. “Okay then. Remember…no worries.”
Though she’d been trying not to stare at Jamie, her gaze kept inexplicably wandering over to where he stood in the back of the room. Even if she hadn’t known he had a special forces military background, she would have recognized the signs.
Casual, but alert, he constantly scanned the room, observing. She’d watched him note the exits, the number of people present and his demeanor seemed to suggest he could be a protector or predator, whichever the case may be. For reasons which made her question her own sanity, she found that wholly thrilling. In fact, she could honestly say that she’d never had such an overwhelming reaction to a man before.
“God, that man is beautiful.”
Audrey barely refrained from jumping. Damn Tewanda. “Don’t sneak up on me like that,” she chided, tearing her gaze away from the beautiful man in question.
“If you hadn’t been staring so hard at him, you would have seen me walk up.”
Since she couldn’t argue with that, she decided to change the subject. “So, what do you think about this group?”
Tewanda nodded. “Seems good.” She inclined her head toward a tall balding man in the corner. “He’s a crier. We’ll need to watch him.” Next she turned her attention to a petite blonde with bloodred nails who carried a Prada knockoff. “That one. She’s going to be a problem. She’s already called three times about things that she says are ‘wrong’ and aren’t her preferences. But don’t worry I have everything on file and you know I don’t make mistakes like that.”
No, she didn’t. Given their satisfaction guarantee promise, Tewanda was neurotically meticulous about the details. In fact, in their four years in business, she’d never made a mistake. Needless to say, she was an invaluable asset to Unwind and to Audrey, in particular. She also had the uncanny ability to size people up. Tewanda could spot a potential problem guest with almost psychic accuracy.
Audrey nodded, accepting her assessment. “Anybody else?”
“Yeah, there’s one more.”
“Point ‘em out,” she said from the corner of her mouth, smiling warmly at passersby.
“No need,” she said. “Here he comes.”
“What? Who?”
“Him,” she said significantly as Jamie sidled through the crowd toward them.
“Jamie?” Audrey said, startled. “What makes you say a thing like that?” Had she missed something? she wondered. Granted she’d initially been too preoccupied by the rest of him to note the sadness lingering around and in those mesmerizing hazel eyes, but she’d glimpsed it tonight.
Big time.
“Don’t you play dumb with me,” Tewanda told her, chuckling under her breath. “I know you think he’s hot. You want him.”
“Tewanda.”
“Tewanda, Tewanda,” she mimicked, as though she got tired of hearing her name repeated in that exasperated tone. “You know I’m right. That boy isn’t just going to be trouble. He is trouble. Especially for you.”
“Why for me?” she asked, instinctively knowing her friend was right.
“Haven’t you been listening to me? Because you want him,” she said with the sort of exaggerated patience used to communicate something to a person who might be a little slow.
“I just met him,” Audrey chided with a nervous eye roll, an almost, but not outright denial.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s the animal instinct, honey. And I predict that you two will be going at it like a couple of Viagra-crazed rabbits by the end of the week.”
Before she could shape her lips to refute that outlandish comment, a vision of her and Jamie, tangled up and sweaty and doing precisely what Tewanda had suggested materialized in her mind’s eye, making her momentarily breathless. Her nipples beaded behind her bra, her knees weakened and a melting tingle started low in her belly and settled in her sex.
Oh, sweet Jesus.
If thinking about making it with him did this to her, then she couldn’t begin to imagine what being with him would really be like.
Actually,