Deception (Carrington Hill Investigations Book 1) by Kate Allenton Page B

me?”
    “Sure thing , luv.”
    ****
    Throwing on a nice black pant suit with a crisp pink shirt she normally reserved for meetings, Lexi grabbed the keys to the Beemer that normally never saw the light of day. She still had an appearance to make, and it had to be a good one. A fifteen minute drive and she arrived and pushed through the double glass doors into the tall building that housed Hathaway Enterprises and stopped at the reception desk.
    A pretty brunette glanced up. “Can I help you?”
    Lexi gave the lady a sincere smile. “Can you inform my husband that I’m in the lobby dying of hunger?”
    The lady chuckled and picked up the phone. “Who’s your husband?”
    “Trip Hathaway.”
    The phone slipped from the receptionist ’s hand, but she caught it before it crashed onto the desk. “I’m sorry.” A blush tinted her cheeks. “I didn’t know.”
    Lexi tapped the desk. “It’s okay. It was very recent.” Recent was an understatement. The lady dialed the extension quickly, and Trip showed up minutes later, strolling into the lobby like he owned the place… Oh right, he did. A memory of the kiss he’d given her this morning flashed through her mind.
    “ Mrs. Hathaway, I sure hope I’m the reason for that blush.” He pulled her into his embrace and placed a tender kiss on her lips.
    She made a show of running her hands over his chest. “Just remembering last night.”
    The receptionist drew in a sharp breath. Lexi gave her a quick wink. “I just can’t keep my hands off him. Can you blame me?”
    The receptionist shook her head , her cheeks turning a deep shade of red. She smiled back. “Have a good lunch, Mrs. Hathaway.”
    Glancing over her shoulder , she gave the woman a smile. “Just call me Lexi.”
    Trip stopped outside the door and glanced up and down the street obviously looking for the Mercedes. “Where did you park?”
    Gra bbing his hand, she led him to her fire-engine red Beemer. “We need to go somewhere private to talk.” Opening the door, she glanced over the hood. “So I can explain what I found out and what happened to your car.”
    His grin grew bigger as he slid in to the car. “How about the house? We can have lunch in the bedroom…to give the staff more gossip.”
    She chuckled as she pulled out from the curb . He called his butler and ordered their lunch. They rode in companionable silence during the ten minutes it took to reach the mansion and park in the garage. He led her inside and straight up to their shared room. Tossing his jacket on the bed, he loosened his tie and stalked over to her as though she was his prey. His firm hands pulled her in close as he kissed her with an intensity she wasn’t expecting. She leaned into him, splaying her hands on his crisp white shirt before running them up around his neck. He kissed a trail down to the pulse point in her neck.
    “How about we skip lunch?” H e asked his question against her skin, and she melted in his arms. There was nothing more she wanted to than to take him to bed, even knowing that it wasn’t the right thing to do.  A knock on the door interrupted her warring thoughts. He gave her a quick kiss and held up a finger. “Hold that thought.”
    The butler pushed the food cart in and nodded before pulling the door closed behind him. Trip didn’t go to the food but came at her again. Without the sexual haze that came with being in his arms, she held up a palm to his chest, stilling his advances.
    “I need you to be serious , and I tend to lose my head when you touch me.”
    “Is that so?” The blue of his eyes deepened as he assessed her.
    She closed her eyes; not believing she’d just told him that. She’d given him ammunition for the future and let whatever they had between them start to slip from her control to his. She cursed herself for the stupid move, but the damage had been done. She opened her eyes.
    “Y ou need to keep your hands and, more importantly, your lips to yourself until I finish