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Fortune’s Deception

“To be honest, I’m worried about your spending habits, Miss Jones, and there are a few things I’d like to discuss with you. Trust me that I say this out of concern for your finances and your future.”

“Of course, and please, Charlie, call me Brittney. Or Britt. Can I call you Charlie?” She crossed her legs, the skirt riding up to reveal the smooth tanned skin of her thighs.

His brain went blank and his mouth watered. The woman could probably seduce a dead man with just a flash of her legs.

“Call me whatever you want.” His words were harsher than he meant, but the woman frustrated him in more ways than one. He looked up from her legs and his eyes met hers. The sky blue depths sparkled, as if she knew exactly what he’d been doing and thinking.

“Funny you should mention your concern, but that’s exactly why I came in to see you. I’m ready to make some rather large decisions and I need advice—financial advice. I’d like to look into some charities and make a sizeable donation. Maybe even volunteer some time, though that I can look into myself.”

“Well, that’s what I’m here for, financial advice. A sizeable donation to a charity is an excellent idea. Do you have any in mind?” He rested his elbows on the arms of his executive chair, steepled his fingers in front of him. At her words, a small rush of relief washed over him, thankful that she was ready to do the smart thing with her money.

Though he had to admit he was surprised she wanted to volunteer at a charity. He’d assumed the beautiful Miss Jones was only interested in her Blackberry and shopping. He had no idea she wanted to help out the needy in a hands-on manner, especially so soon after winning the money.

“Well, I want to give to the children. Troubled children, to be exact.” Brittney nodded, her tiny diamond hoops swaying on her ears.

“All right, great. Did you have any specific charities in mind? Did you want to do something on a local level, state, maybe even national? Or help unfortunate children in other countries? There are a ton of charities for you to choose from, I could draw up a list…”

Brittney shook her head, her lips tight. “I have something more specific in mind, though I’m not sure it exists. I want to give to children who are in need of temporary help, kids who’ve been put into situations they have no control over. Maybe their mom was arrested and they have nowhere to go, so they’re thrown into the foster care system when really it’s completely unnecessary, not to mention scary. Is there some sort of charity that helps children out in that type of situation or something similar?”

He furrowed his brows. “I’m not exactly sure what you’re referring to. Maybe we should do some research, figure out exactly what you’re looking for.”

She surprised him with every word that dropped from her lush mouth. Her voice was so earnest, her words backed with a strength of conviction he’d never noticed before. It piqued his curiosity, made him wonder exactly what made Brittney tick.

“Maybe I should start my own charity.” Brittney shrugged her shoulders, plucked her PDA from the depths of her giant purse and tapped on the keys for a moment. “I could make some calls, look into it. I’m sure it wouldn’t be that hard, especially since I have the money to back it up.”

“Well, remember we all have limits, even if we are millionaires. Don’t go thinking too outside the box.” He smiled at her, tried to lighten the sudden somber mood that had just come over the usually sunny Miss Jones.

She dropped her Blackberry into her purse and glanced up, her eyes widening in surprise. “Wow. You should definitely do that more often.”

He immediately frowned. “I should do what more often?”

“Smile. You have a great smile, dimples and everything. Who knew?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He scowled even more. What was she talking about? And how had they veered off track so quickly?

“Every time I see you, you’re always so serious, Charlie. I think you need to lighten up, enjoy life a little more. Your world doesn’t have to revolve around crunching numbers you know. You have a girlfriend?”

He’d had one. Until six months ago when she’d dumped him out of nowhere, informed him that she was tired of waiting for him to make the move towards marriage. Not to mention the fact she’d always complained about how uptight he was.

“No, no, I’m single.”

“Ah, well I bet that’s your problem. You should go to a bar, try to meet someone. Flash that smile of yours and you’ll have plenty of women surrounding you. Maybe even find someone to help, um, ease some of your troubles, so to speak. I’m sure that’ll solve your grumpy mood.”

“My grumpy mood? What the hell are you talking about?” Now they were discussing his sex life? And why did he keep repeating everything she said? Their conversation had spiraled completely out of control.

One minute she’d been serious, talking about charities and troubled children, and the next she was evaluating his love life. Basically telling him he needed to go out and get laid. Hell, she had a way of keeping him on his toes, that was for sure.

“I’ve noticed that when people are particularly cranky, it usually stems from a sexual problem or frustration. You’d be surprised at how happy and easygoing you’ll be once you start getting some again.” She smiled, so angelic while she spoke of getting some.

She really was odd, a bit of a puzzle, which he found intriguing. Not to mention he found her extremely attractive. What man wouldn’t, though? She’d revealed a little more depth behind that beauty too.

Brittney Jones was not who he thought she was. Not at all.

Fortune’s Promise

Tanner’s hands shook as he poured each of them a glass of vodka, adding a splash of cranberry in Maddie’s per her request. He set the bottle on the counter of the custom bar situated in the corner of the suite, grimacing. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt like such a bundle of nerves. Especially right before what promised to be an exciting bout of sex.

He glanced towards the seating area where Maddie the beautiful bridesmaid sat perched on the edge of the loveseat. If he was nervous she was even more so. She wrung her hands in her lap, had long since chewed off all the lipstick from her lush pink mouth. Her foot tapped impatiently on the floor, and she kept crossing and uncrossing her legs.

No wonder he was nervous. The woman sitting on a couch was a giant ball of jitters. Her hectic vibe had to be rubbing off on him.

She certainly was a gorgeous jittery woman. All of that thick dark red hair piled on top of her head, her pale creamy skin, her curvy body. The women he was used to dating in L.A. were blonde, tanned stick figures. No meat on their bones and they looked the same. Plastic, like one manufactured Barbie Doll after another.

This one was different, a far cry from his usual women, an even further cry from his ex. Just what he needed.

Tanner grabbed the glasses of liquor and headed over to the couch, sitting next to her and handing her a glass. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” She took it from him and gulped the entire glass down, then set it on the side table. Her lips were damp from the liquid and her little pink tongue swiped out to lick at it.

He repressed the groan that threatened to give way and drank from his own glass, hoping the liquor would kick in and soothe his nerves. Wished like hell he would’ve poured himself a bigger glass.

“Do you go back home tomorrow?”

“What? Oh, yeah, I head back to L.A. tomorrow. I have an album due soon, and I’ve been working on that pretty heavily lately. In fact, it’s all I’ve been doing for the last three months.”

He noticed her hands clutched at the gold fabric of her dress and he wanted to touch her, calm her seemingly frayed nerves. He restrained himself, though, not wanting to startle her with too fast of a move. Yet.

“Oh, more love songs? Your last two albums have been filled with them. They’re beautiful.”

Tanner fought against the bitterness that wanted to spew out of his mouth. Best he not put forth the venom he felt towards Paula the cheating sudden lesbian. He shook his head.

He needed to get over this shit.

“I’ve gone a totally different direction with this album, I’m afraid. It’s a little funkier, infused with blues, some jazz. Lots of piano. I wrote every song.”

“I’m sure they’re wonderful.”

If you’re against love and relationships, they’re fabulous. “They’re okay. My producer hasn’t told me I suck so that’s a good thing. Tell me.” He scooted closer to her on the couch, ready to change the topic of conversation. “What do you do? For a living?”

Maddie shrugged and reached for her glass, realized it was empty and set it back down. “I work for an employment placement agency. I’m the office manager. My mother owns the place so it’s sort of a family operation.”

He nodded, noticed that she didn’t look thrilled. Maybe she hated her job. “Boring?”

She burst out laughing. She had a wonderful laugh, joyful and loud. As if she didn’t hold anything back. It contrasted sharply with how he had perceived her so far.

“It’s the worst job I’ve ever had. Pretty much the only job I’ve ever had,” she finally admitted.

“You don’t leave because you don’t want to disappoint your mother?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it.” She sighed, her fingers plucking at the fabric on the couch. Those slender fingers so close to his leg, he wanted her to touch him. Just once, on her own, to see if she had the nerve. To see if she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.

“You’re a good girl then.”

Her head turned sharply, her big brown eyes staring into his. “I guess you could say that.”

Normally he wouldn’t touch a good girl with a ten-foot pole. He preferred them bad. Bad girls knew what he wanted, which was absolutely nothing but mindless sex for one night. Good girls hoped for everything—a relationship, words of love, a commitment. He couldn’t give any of that to a woman right now. No woman would want him, hell he didn’t really want to deal with himself.

He was too much of a mess to bestow that on an innocent woman looking for relationship material.

“Are you a good girl looking to be bad?” He rested his arm on the back of the loveseat, his fingers coming round to tug on one of her dangling curls.

Her eyes grew wider and her cheeks flushed a faint pink. She nibbled on that damn sexy lower lip of hers again and he wanted to nibble on it instead. Lick and suck at it, nip it with his teeth before he soothed it with his tongue.

His cock grew harder imagining it.

“Are you offering to corrupt me?”

Her words startled him, and he couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him. She was full of surprises. “Do you want to be corrupted?”

“I thought so.” Maddie stood abruptly and headed towards the door. “I’m not sure if I’m what you wanted, though, Tanner. Maybe I should go.”

“Wait.” Tanner scrambled off the couch, followed her as she walked towards the door. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her from reaching for the handle.

Maddie turned around to face him, her wrist still captured by his fingers. “Is something wrong?”

He shook his head, tugged on her so that she took a couple of steps closer. “You sure you don’t want to have another drink?”

“I don’t think so, but thank you.” She tried to smile, but the intense look in his eyes made her go still, her mouth drop open slightly.

His thumb brushed the delicate skin on the inside of her wrist, across her pulse, making it quicken. “Are you always this polite?”

“Yes. Yes, actually I am.” She suddenly felt foolish, wondering again why she was in this man’s hotel room. The minute he had started talking about bad girls she’d become uncomfortable, even more nervous than she’d already been. She had a feeling he sensed that.

“You need to relax.” Tanner pulled her closer, released his grip on her wrist to curve his big hands around her shoulders. He turned her slowly to face the mirror that hung over the table close to the front door, and her breath caught in her throat at their reflection.

Fortune’s Chance

“I want a man who doesn’t give a crap about how rich I am.”

Brittney snorted. “Good luck.”

Maddie shook her head, dabbing at the corner of her mouth with her napkin. “Oh stop. You can do it, Lauren. Britt lucked out finding Charlie. I don’t know how I snagged Tanner. Your time will come, I promise.”

Yeah right. Lauren gulped from her wine glass, polishing off the smooth cabernet in one giant swallow. “It’s my birthday, damn it. I should be able to find someone tonight who’ll want to kiss me for me, not because I can give him a million dollars without blinking an eye.”

“Sweetie, you need to lay off the alcohol.” Maddie placed a cool hand across Lauren’s arm but Lauren yanked it away.

She didn’t want to hear Maddie’s mothering tone tonight, didn’t need it. No, she wanted to drink more alcohol, consume more calories and find a sexy man to flirt with for the rest of the evening.

When was the last time she actually kissed a man? Really kissed a man? With searching tongues and wandering hands for hours and hours on end, ’til her head spun and her limbs were weak. She hadn’t done something like that since college with her first serious boyfriend. Before they’d finally given in and had wild monkey sex, they used to make out for long, delicious hours.

Tonight she wouldn’t mind some delicious kissing and wild monkey sex. She wanted the quick stripping of clothing, the mingled ragged breathing filling the air until finally—full body contact, warm skin on skin. The weight of a man’s heavy body on hers, her arms wrapped around him, holding him close.

Oh yeah it had been far too long since she experienced something as good as that.

“No one knows us,” Brittney whispered, glancing about the busy nightclub. “We’re anonymous here. If you want to go pick up on some random guy and have a little fun who are we to judge you? It’s not every day someone turns thirty.”

Lauren closed her eyes. Thirty years old and rich beyond her wildest dreams. She could do whatever she wanted, be whomever she wanted. She could travel the world, start her own business or never work again. Charlie had made sure of that, invested her money wisely so if she chose, she’d never have to do anything but just be.

A year after winning and she was bored out of her mind, lonely to the depths of her soul. She hated it, every freaking minute of it.

She remembered how worked up she’d been over committing to that last lottery ticket. They’d been playing for a little over six months and getting nowhere. She’d been extra broke that week, her car had broken down and cost a fortune to repair. Handing over the ten dollars had been the hardest decision in her life. She’d even gone home that night and cried about it over a grilled cheese sandwich.

The next day they’d been declared millionaires and her life had never been the same.

“Maddie will judge me.” Lauren watched poor Maddie try to dissuade the attention of some nerdy looking guy, feeling bad she wasn’t coming to the rescue. But she needed to talk to Brittney first.

“No she won’t. Listen, I was the biggest slut in town and Maddie always stood by me. We’re friends, we don’t judge. She has Tanner now and they do all kinds of wild things in bed and beyond. She told me.” Brittney smiled. “And even if we did judge you we wouldn’t tell you.”

Lauren laughed, causing Nerdy Guy to glance in her direction. Maddie shot her a pleading look, and Lauren jerked a thumb over her shoulder.

“Isn’t it time for you to leave? She’s with me.”

Nerdy Guy’s eyes widened and he scrambled away, shooting an odd glance in Maddie’s direction. All three of the women burst into a fit of giggles, Maddie finally able to speak first.

“Lauren! You just implied we’re lesbians!”

Lauren shrugged, grabbed for her wine glass and realized it was empty. She needed another drink and fast. “You wanted him to leave you alone, right? Besides, with the type of crowd hanging out at this club, I don’t think he’s too surprised.”

It had been Brittney’s idea to take them to an exclusive members-only nightclub in San Francisco for Lauren’s birthday weekend. Rumor had it that it was an exclusive sex club but nobody really knew. Brittney had been dying to find out so she did what she always did—used her subtle female persuasion and a few extra dollars to get in, much to Charlie’s chagrin.

Turned out the place was most definitely a sex club. Men outnumbered the women two to one, and Lauren definitely felt on display. The men were checking out Brittney almost to the point of flat out ogling her with their tongues hanging out. With her beautiful face, curvy body and blonde hair she always received a lot of attention.

A fact that drove Lauren crazy. Sometimes it didn’t pay to bring Brittney anywhere. Considering Lauren was the only one without a boyfriend, it really could make a girl bitter.

“Isn’t Charlie upset you’re here?” Lauren couldn’t help asking. Her friend’s relationship was too perfect to be real. Those two loved each other like she’d never seen before. It made Lauren a little jealous.

Brittney shrugged. “He wanted to come but I told him it was a girl’s night out. Because he’s stubborn and loves to surprise me, he drove to San Francisco, showed up a little while ago. Now he’s waiting in the hotel room for me.”

“Thank God we’re not sharing a room,” Lauren muttered, envious that her friend was getting some tonight.