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  For the next few hours, the police came in and handled things, talking to the employees who had access to the room, questioning Tawny and members of her entourage, but overall, informing Ben and Summer they’d come up empty. There were too many people in the club to bother fingerprinting the area, and Tawny and her friends denied having done anything wrong. The cops documented the incident, but there was nothing more they could do.

  Summer looked ready to collapse from exhaustion, and Ben turned to the cop in charge. “I’m taking Ms. Michelle home. If you need us, you have her information.”

  “Go ahead,” the officer said.

  Ben pulled out his cell and called the driver, asking him to meet them at the front of the club.

  Then he turned to Summer and met her gaze, the first time they’d been alone since the moments on the dance floor. Soft black smudges looked like light bruises beneath her eyes, makeup and exhaustion combining to cause the vulnerable look.

  He brushed a gentle knuckle across her cheek. “Hey. Are you okay? Because I’m not going to let anyone near you. You know that, right? You’re safe.”

  She nodded, gazing up at him with wide brown eyes. “I’m really fine. I just don’t understand why anyone would be desperate for me not to win. Other than Tawny, who cares?” She bit down on her lower lip. “Do you think she’s capable of this? Because I don’t want to think that someone I know could do something like that. I mean, I know she’s ambitious, but this is crazy.” She gestured to the mess behind her.

  Ben groaned. “I honestly wouldn’t rule her out. She’s caused trouble for you before. You believe she’s the one who turned you in to the producers hoping they’d let you go and she’d have one less person to compete with in Star Power.” Ben raised an eyebrow. “Which means she’s incredibly competitive and determined to win. At all costs.”

  Summer sighed. “At least I have you. And I trust you to take care of me.”

  Her words were humbling and they meant something to him. He wouldn’t take them, or the job he was hired to do, lightly.

  Chapter Six

  Ben couldn’t sleep. Not with thoughts of Summer circling in his brain. You’d think it would be her safety that concerned him, but he trusted in his abilities to protect her from any outside danger. Instead it was their relationship that had him tossing and turning. He couldn’t keep his hands to himself when she was around. If it were just the physical attraction that was palpable between them, he could tuck it into his back pocket and ignore it while doing his job, but over the days he’d been with her, he’d come to realize the fact that Summer was his ideal woman.

  Her independence was a turn-on. Daily, she proved that, although she missed having her family around her, she could handle herself in the city and on the job. He admired her drive to succeed and go after what she wanted in life with determination and gusto.

  Her talent was exceptional. When she sang, he got lost in the emotion behind the music, and her voice transported him out of his head and to a place where he could focus only on her. It would be a huge loss if she couldn’t see her dream of performing for a living come to fruition.

  Then there was the feminine vulnerability she exuded. The soft and sweet woman inside, a woman who, despite her independence, valued her family, and though she’d never admit it, a part of her was a lonely girl who wished for the time to make friends. He’d seen the way she looked at Tawny and her girl pack. She didn’t like those women, but she envied their closeness, though not the meanness that brought them together.

  It was that sweet woman he couldn’t jerk around anymore, giving her mixed signals about what he wanted from her. Because he knew damn well what he desired. The question was whether or not he could have it … and still let her go when the job came to an end and she took off for a bigger, brighter life.

  * * *

  After everything that had happened at Echo Nightclub, Summer couldn’t sleep. She still couldn’t quite process that the threat against her was real. Sure, she’d had Ben living here, and that should have been enough for her to take things seriously, but not until she’d seen the warning in lipstick had she been scared.

  But Ben said he wouldn’t let anyone near her, and she believed him. His words and fierce protectiveness made her breathe more easily. Besides, she wasn’t about to let anyone stand in the way of her dreams finally coming true. She couldn’t imagine what she would do if this opportunity slipped through her fingers and went to Tawny. For the first time, she’d have to take a good look at her life and decide what kind of realistic career she wanted to have. Voice-overs were lucrative for now, but could she count on them long term? Did she need to consider returning to college?

  She shuddered and refused to dwell on it, because having to do so meant she’d failed. And she didn’t think that way. Ever. She never had. From the time she was a little girl, all she’d wanted to do was perform. And she would succeed doing it, no matter what whoever wanted her gone from the competition thought. She wasn’t dropping out.

  And she had Ben to look out for her, which brought her to the next reason she couldn’t sleep. Their sensual dance had heightened her awareness of the man, and she had no doubt in the moment he’d felt the same way. It was only when he had time to think that he pulled away.

  Which meant she couldn’t give him that time.

  She rubbed her hands together and paced her room, debating doing what her body was begging her to do—walking into the other room and seducing Ben. On his own, he’d never come to her, and they weren’t alone except in her apartment. If she didn’t take advantage now, she was wasting precious time to be with him. Time that would be ticking down if she did win the competition and went off on a world tour. Time she could have been spending with him.

  She didn’t own a negligee, but she had something much better and more enticing, she hoped. She had her body.

  She looked down at her oversized tee shirt, gathered her courage, and walked out of her room.

  * * *

  Ben rolled over, jarred from sleep by a warm presence in his bed. A soft hand slid over his chest and down his stomach, inching lower, toward his now erect dick.

  “What are you doing?” he asked Summer in a gruff voice filled with sexual need.

  “Going after what I want,” she murmured. “And I want you.”

  He groaned, wondering how he was supposed to resist her. She smelled like flower-scented body wash, a fragrant reminder of their shared erotic past. Times when he’d slid deep inside her slick channel and lost himself to her in their short but intense affair. One that had ended badly.

  As that wayward hand stroked ever closer to his aching cock, he tried to remind himself that he didn’t want to repeat past mistakes like his father had, and that this woman made him do stupid things. Like get involved with a contestant and violate his security contract.

  And now she was the client of a firm he really liked working for. Although there were no contractual rules to violate, there was the moral notion of not having sex with a woman he was protecting.

  “This is not a good idea,” he said to remind her as much as himself that they were dangerous together.

  “Says you. I say stop thinking so hard.” As she spoke, she slipped her hand into his boxer briefs and wrapped her fingers around his aching shaft.

  He let out a low groan, the pleasure incredible and actively short-circuiting his brain cells. All the reasons to keep his distance fled in the wake of her tempting touch. If she kept this up, he’d come in her hand, and that wasn’t something he was willing to let happen.

  Acknowledging she’d won this round, he pushed himself up and flipped her onto her back, coming over her, his hands braced on either side of her shoulders. Her dark hair fanned out against the white pillow, and he met her gaze, taking in her dilated pupils and the stark need in her expression.

  No man could resist her pull. “Fuck it,” he said and lowered his mouth to hers, slicking his tongue over her lips, taking in everything that was Summer.
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  She kissed him back, arching up and into him as her soft tongue met his. Control lost, he ground his hips against hers, his cock hard and demanding relief. The bed, a pullout without the ability to support their weight and motions, began to creak, sounding like the mattress would go crashing down with the next thrust of his lower body.

  He groaned and broke the kiss. “We need to move this into your bed before we end up on the floor.”

  She licked at the moisture on her lips and nodded. “Works for me.”

  He pushed himself up and off the flimsy mattress and held out his hand, pulling her up and getting his first glimpse of her naked body. Summer was toned from her workouts at the gym, but she had soft, cushiony curves he adored, with full breasts and generous hips she had no problem embracing. The urge to run his hands over those curves was strong, but the desire to be skin to skin with her again was greater.

  He led her toward the bedroom, and while she crawled onto the bed, he stripped off his boxer briefs, his erection springing free at last. A glance at the bed and he saw Summer, her pale, beautiful body waiting for him, her dusky nipples pulled into tight peaks, her pussy trimmed and slick with desire.

  He’d been waiting for this moment, not wanting to admit to himself just how badly he desired her. But he was here and he wasn’t capable of pulling back.

  He climbed onto the mattress beside her. “I want to lick every delectable inch of you.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?” she asked, her voice husky and desire-laden.

  Planning to start at the top and work his way down, he cupped her breast in his hand and drew one nipple into his mouth, pulling on the tight peak. She tasted sweet, like candy, and he laved, suckled, and tongued until she was writhing with need, her hips bucking upward with every drag of his tongue. He spent a long while on one nipple before moving on and sliding his mouth to the other breast. He held the heavy mound in his hand as he treated it to the same sensual assault.

  Only when she was desperate for more did he lick his way down the center of her chest, past her rib cage, and down to her belly button, tangling his tongue in the piercing there before heading lower still.

  Grasping her thighs, he pulled her legs apart and settled between them. He glanced up, their gazes met, and a rush of heat swept through him at the look of anticipation in her expression and the yearning in her eyes. His cock throbbed against the mattress, but he was determined to watch her come at least once before he lost himself inside her.

  He slid his fingers over her damp folds and parted her sex, the little bud of her clit peeking out at him. With a rough groan, he dipped his head and slicked his tongue over her sex.

  She shuddered at the first swipe. And when he settled in and teased her with his lips and tongue, alternating feather-light touches and harder nibbles with gentle grazes of his teeth, she began to chant his name and try to grab on to the bedding with her hands, unable to find anything to hold on to and ground her.

  He kept up his assault, taking her to the brink once, twice, then a third time, letting the waves of desire subside without allowing her to find release.

  She grabbed his hair and moaned. “Ben, please, please, please. I need to come.”

  And he was ready to let her.

  He teased her clit with his tongue, this time with deliberate pressure, as he slid a finger inside her at last, curling it upward and finding that spongy place he hoped would bring her over the edge—and it worked.

  She pulled at his hair and cried out, bucking her hips as he held her in place with his free hand, guiding her through her orgasm with the hard press of his tongue. As she came down, he lifted his head and glanced at her face. Cheeks flushed, eyelids closed, her body trembling.

  It was a glorious sight. She quaked with the aftershocks of her orgasm as he raised himself over her, his cock gliding over her still-sensitive sex.

  He guided himself to her entrance and stilled, cursing inside his head. “Condoms. I think I have some in my travel bag.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?” she asked, eyes glittering with renewed need.

  He pushed off her and headed for the other room before returning with two condoms in hand. He quickly sheathed himself, rejoining her on the bed and sliding between her legs.

  He cupped his hand around his shaft and notched the head of his cock at the entrance of her slick pussy. “Damn, but I want you badly.”

  She bent her knees in response. “So take me. I’m yours.”

  He didn’t need an engraved invitation. Hands braced, he raised his hips and plunged deep, the feel of her slick channel clasping him tight in heat nearly sending him over right then. He gritted his teeth and held back, giving her time to adjust before he began to move, picking up a steady rhythm with ease.

  He made the mistake of meeting her gaze while thrusting into her, and emotions he wanted locked down rose inside him. They’d always had an intense connection, and that hadn’t changed, but he had no intention of falling for her that way again. He knew from experience it was a short distance to fall. The easiest solution?

  He pulled out and spoke in a rough tone. “Hands and knees, princess.”

  Her gaze darkened, and she complied immediately, treating him to the gorgeous sight of her sleek back, dark hair in stark contrast to her fair skin, and firm but rounded ass. His dick throbbed painfully, and he used his knee to spread her legs wider apart, positioning himself behind her before taking her hard.

  She moaned as he possessed her, the feelings swamping him as strong as before, but at least he didn’t have to meet her gaze and have her see and know how much she affected him.

  Gathering her hair in his hand, he anchored himself as he pumped his hips in and out, his hard dick gliding through her as he moved. He wasn’t going to hold out for long, and from the sounds coming from deep in her throat, neither was she. As he felt his balls draw up and his climax near, he slid a hand around her hip and glided his fingertips over her damp clit.

  She gasped and began a slow chanting of his name, her back arching and her body accepting of every slam of his hips, until his name became a prayer, and the prayer a scream as she came, her orgasm triggering his own. He came hard, spilling everything inside him. Wrung dry, he collapsed on top of her, her warmth seeping into his skin.

  He was spent and done for. Not wanting to crush her, he rolled off her. Her cheek was pressed into the mattress, her eyes closed, her breath coming in shallow gasps from her slightly parted lips. Acting on impulse, he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.

  He felt her mouth curl into a smile. “That was so good,” she whispered in an exhausted voice.

  He couldn’t stop the grin that hit his lips. “It was fucking fantastic.”

  “When can we do it again?” she asked.

  He laughed. “When you can take a normal breath.”

  She giggled, her eyes remaining closed, that sated, satisfied smile still in place.

  As he studied her, he realized how deluded he’d been.

  He’d changed positions, thinking not seeing her face would keep him more grounded. Except he’d been wrong. Sleeping with her again had pulled him in deeper, feelings he didn’t want to experience again fighting to spring free.

  Which meant one thing. He was well and truly fucked. In more ways than one.

  Chapter Seven

  Summer kept up a healthy exercise routine, which was why it shocked her that Ben had worn her out. She woke up the next morning to the sun streaming through the window in her bedroom. She patted the sheet beside her and found it cool, Ben obviously long gone.

  She wasn’t surprised. She figured he didn’t appreciate being ambushed by a naked woman in his bed, and he’d withdrawn in order to regroup. Too bad for him, she had no intention of giving him space, and in her tiny apartment, he couldn’t go far anyway. Not without her, as it was his job to guard her, night and day.

  Not in the least bit discouraged, she headed for the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She showered a
nd took a nice, long hot one, cleaning up with her favorite flower-scented body wash and shampoo. She pulled on an easy floral dress, braided her hair, decided to forego makeup, and went to find Ben.

  He stood at the window, wearing his black athletic pants and no shirt, sunlight, blue clouds, and the cityscape in the background. She drooled at the sight of his muscled back and arms, and had an immediate memory of him taking her last night, his strong body covering her back, his thick cock bringing her ultimate pleasure.

  She swallowed hard, arousal coming to life inside her again.

  She realized he’d dialed his phone and put it to his ear.

  She stepped back to give him some privacy when he spoke.

  “Hey, Ava.”

  Ava? A spark of jealousy surged through Summer at the mention of another woman’s name and the fondness in his tone.

  “I have bad news,” he said. “I’m going to have to cancel this weekend.”

  Summer took his words like a punch in the stomach. He had plans with this woman? Was she the reason he wanted to keep his distance and kept pulling away? She’d pushed him into sleeping with her last night, and a wave of nausea took hold.

  Summer swallowed hard, knowing she ought to turn around and leave, not listen in on a private conversation. Eavesdropping was wrong but her feet remained planted firmly on the floor.

  “I know,” he went on. “I was looking forward to it, too, but duty calls.”

  And that’s what she was to him, Summer thought, her stomach rolling. A job. Nothing more. Tears prickled in her eyes as she realized she’d let herself begin to care. She shouldn’t have pushed him, and she didn’t need to hear any more.

  She spun around, intending to run back to her room, but she slipped on the hardwood floor. She grabbed for the nearest thing to stop her fall, muttering a shriek as her palm hit the corner of the wall and pain shot through her hand before she fell down in a humiliating heap.