How to Trap a Tycoon by Elizabeth Bevarly (thriller books to read txt) 📕

"Of what?" she demanded.

"Of having to … you know…"

"No, what?"

He gritted his teeth at her. Hard. "Of having to … reciprocate. To return the favor. To do something … nice … for him. If you catch my drift."

"No, I don't catch your drift, Mr. Suspicious Mind," Edie snapped. "Mr. Davenport is a nice man. He was happy to get the invitations for me."

"Oh, yeah, I'll just bet he was."

She expelled a soft sound of surprise when she finally understood what Lucas was implying. And she forgot all about the fact that what he was implying was exactly what she had been thinking herself where repayment of Mr. Davenport's favor was concerned. "You make it sound like what he's going to want from me in return is something…"

"Something…?" Lucas prodded.

"Something … sordid … or…"

"Or…?"

"Or … icky," she finished lamely. "Like he's going to ask me to do something I don't want to do."

Lucas nodded vigorously. "Yeah. Except he probably won't ask. He'll probably insist."

She shook her head slowly in disbelief at what she heard in his voice. "Now who sounds jealous?" she asked softly.

He laughed darkly. "I'm not speaking out of jealousy," he assured her. "I'm speaking out of fear for your safety."

"Number one," she said coolly, "I can take care of myself, all right?"

"Yeah, right."

"And number two," she pushed on relentlessly, "boy, you don't trust anybody, do you?"

His reply was quick and to the point. "No."

"Not even me?"

He inhaled deeply and released the breath in a slow, thoughtful sigh. "Not since you made me dress up like a corpse and spend more for a haircut than I'd normally spend to get my tires rotated, no."

"It's for your own good, Lucas. You'll see."

In fact, Edie was already beginning to see. A woman standing just behind and to the right of Lucas was inspecting his … oh, dear, Edie thought … his, uh, his backside with much interest. The woman looked to be in her mid-forties, had an incredible figure and perfectly coifed red hair, was wearing the most amazing sea-green dress cut down to there, and was obviously looking to make Lucas's acquaintance—if not his night—very soon.

"Tycoon at ten o'clock ," Edie whispered, bending her head toward his.

Lucas's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What?"

Edie bent in a little further. "There's a woman back there who's been giving you the once-over for the last couple of minutes. And she has some decent body parts you might want to attract. I think she saw us arguing, and she figures you're fair game. I'm going to pop off to the ladies' room," she added when she saw Lucas begin to object. "And when I get back, I hope to find you springing your tycoon trap. Do not disappoint me, Grasshopper. Oh, and no offense, but…"

She stepped backward and feigned total and severe outrage, then lifted her hand and slapped him hard across the cheek. "How dare you!" she cried. "Lucas Conaway, I never want to speak to you again for the rest of my life!"

Without awaiting a reply, and trying not to laugh at his utterly shocked and offended expression, Edie spun on her heel and left him to spring his tycoon trap on his unsuspecting prey. Strange, though, how the look on his face had made him seem so much more the hunted than the hunter. She bit back a smile and hurried along, wanting to get back in time to see the end of the show. It ought to be good. She did so enjoy romantic comedy.

* * *

Lucas lifted a hand to his burning cheek and gaped at the hastily departing and extremely attractive back of Edie Mulholland, too stunned to do anything other than … well … ogle her. She was, after all, more than a little oglable this evening, in her little—very little—black dress and smoky—very smoky—black stockings and high—very high—heels. And that black beaded choker around her neck was simply too arousing for words, because all Lucas could do was imagine what she'd look like wearing nothing but that choker. Boy, could he imagine. And had been for most of the evening. But once he got past all that and recalled what Edie had just done to him, he could not believe what Edie had just done to him.

She'd just touched him. Voluntarily. And she hadn't flinched from him when she'd done it.

Okay, so the touch in question had been a slap to his face. That was just a minor technicality. She had touched him. In a manner of speaking. It was progress. In a way. He just wished he could figure out exactly which way.

"Well, my goodness, but that was dramatic."

Lucas spun around at the sound of the velvety smooth comment to find a truly spectacular—and very oglable—redhead ogling him as shamelessly as he had just been ogling Edie. Wow. She was incredible-looking. Tall and slim and—whoa, momma—stacked.

How had she escaped his attention until now? he wondered. And how was it possible that his capricious attention wanted nothing to do with her? Because that was exactly what was happening. As appealing as the woman was, Lucas was far too preoccupied with thoughts of Edie to care one way or another about the redhead.

In spite of his appalling lack of interest in the woman, he smiled at her. At least, he thought he was smiling at her. He couldn't be sure, seeing as how half of his face was still numb from the flat of Edie's hand. "Yes. Well. Um," he began eloquently. "I suppose to the casual observer, that might have looked a bit dramatic, yes."

She smiled back and sauntered closer. "Oh, I assure you, my observation was anything but casual."

Lucas took a step backward as he replied, "Ah. I, uh, I see."

Clearly undaunted by something so minor as his obvious retreat, the woman continued with her forward progress and sidled closer still. "And in my not so casual observation," she murmured as