A Second Chance at Forever Read Free Page B

the New York County District Attorney’s office, he knew when someone was lying to him. Those eyes told him that the attraction wasn’t one sided. It was in the shyness of her gaze, the way it dropped to his mouth more than once. In the way her steps faltered when their gazes clashed.
    Like now. With one simple look, need burned hot and heavy between them. He found it intoxicating, like a rush he hadn’t had in way too long.
    Desire consumed him. He was helpless against it, but he’d long since given up trying to fight it. After all, hadn’t he come to Vegas in the first place for this very reason? He’d come down here to forget, to be someone else for a while. Oh how he wanted her. One wild night with a sultry woman who stroked his libido like no one had in a long time. One night he could walk away from, no strings attached.
    “I hoped you’d call me last night,” he murmured, too low for anyone but her to hear.
    She met his gaze, staring at him for a moment, before her eyes moved over his face. “I have to admit I was tempted.”
    Her soft-spoken admission slid over him as surely as if she’d stroked her hand along his thigh. Damn. He hadn’t expected her to say that. He’d expected Candy to play coy and hard to get, to turn him down flat. It would have been part of the game. Except there she was admitting she’d thought about him.
    “Why didn’t you?” He had to know, whether it would get him anywhere or not.
    She straightened, standing over him with those long legs straddling his thighs. Her hands slid over her body while her hips did erotic figure eights in the air to the beat of the music.
    “Cardinal rule number one. I never go out with guys I meet here.”
    The woman was driving him insane. The playful look in her eyes said she was toying with him, but a certain something in the deep blue depths told him she enjoyed the play between them every bit as much as he did.
    “Smart girl. You shouldn’t. Never know what kind of scum you’ll meet working at a job like this.”
    She arched a brow, one corner of her mouth quirking up. “Then why should I go out with you ?”
    He couldn’t help but smile. That was too easy. “Because I’m not like other men.”
    She let out a low, throaty laugh. A sound he vowed to hear again. “Like I haven’t heard that before.”
    He pulled a twenty from his pocket and waited until he had her undivided attention. Until that certain something caught and ignited between them before he slipped the bill into her bikini bottoms. It was an excuse to touch her, to watch her reaction.
    He pulled his hand back with deliberate slowness, let his fingertips trail over the skin of her hip. He’d flat out violated the unspoken rules of stripper engagement. They both knew it, but the touch had the desired effect. A shiver ran through her that he felt clean down to his toes. A lazy, desirous heat flared in her eyes.
    “Go out with me, Candy.”
    She shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, Mr. McKinley, but—”
    “Alex.”
    She froze, stared at him for the span of a heartbeat, clearly taken off guard, before her body once again began to sway. “Alex.”
    God he loved the way she said his name. Spoken low, throaty, and half-whispered, so that he swore he could feel her breath on his neck as she moaned it in his ear…
    He tossed her a playful grin. “I’ve seen your nipples up close and personal. I think we can do away with formalities.”
    That got a genuine smile out of her, one that lit up her whole face. Triumph surged in his chest. “I promise I don’t bite.” He winked at her.
    That earned him another throaty laugh.
    Then she bent over him, hands braced on his thighs, her luscious mouth inches from his. The heat of her palms singed his skin even through his jeans. Her warm breaths puffed against his lips as she stared him dead in the eye. “What if I do?”
    God almighty.
    If he didn’t get away from her soon, he was going to do something that would earn him a