The Billionaire's Impulsive Lover (The Sisterhood) (10 page)

“To find your gentleman,” he replied without any additional details and led her up the stairs and into the dark interior of the quaint, old style restaurant.

A tall, willowy blond woman looked up from the hostess stand, immediately dismissing Claire as unimportant and zeroing in on Mitch as a meal more to her liking. The woman’s smile brightened by several volts and her shoulders sprung backwards, pushing out her near nothing chest as if she were a proud bearer of double Ds.

Irritated by the woman’s immediate dismissal, Claire took the last few feet at a much faster pace, and stepped in front of Mitch, effectively blocking off the taller woman’s perusal of Mitch’s more than obvious physique. “We’re looking for a guy.”

The woman looked past Claire, her smile changing to enticing. “If you don’t want the one you already have, may I have dibs?”

Claire rolled her eyes and a second later, a piece of paper was put in front of her face. Mitch said from behind her, “We’re looking for this man. Have you ever seen him?”

The woman barely glanced at the paper before looking back at Mitch. Claire snatched the paper from his hands and turned it around, amazed to see a good likeness of Gary staring back at her. “Where did you get this picture?” she asked, turning around herself.

Mitch ignored her and took the picture back from Claire, patiently speaking to the blond hostess. “Can you take another look? It’s extremely important that we locate him.”

The woman must have realized she wouldn’t get anywhere with Mitch so she glanced back at the picture, her eyes genuinely looking this time. “Are you police?” she asked distractedly.

“No. We’re just friends trying to locate him.”

Her eyes strayed back. “Pity,” she quipped. “I like handcuffs.”

Claire’s mouth fell open at the blatant invitation, shocked that any woman could just announce her sexual preferences in that manner. Good grief, that woman was brazen! “Do you know him?” Mitch asked, his voice filled with amusement even while his hand not so subtly came up to close Claire’s mouth.

The woman studied the picture, then shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Thanks,” Mitch said and took the paper back. “I appreciate your time. If you think of anything, call this number.”

Claire snatched the business sized card out of Mitch’s hand before the other woman could grab it and looked at the number. When she realized it wasn’t his personal cell phone or house number, not even his office number, she handed the card to the woman with a satisfied smile. “Thanks for any information,” Claire said as politely as possible.

Mitch only rolled his eyes again and nudged her out of the restaurant. “What was that all about?” he asked when they were driving to the next place.

Claire shrugged and looked out the side window.

“Don’t worry Claire. I wouldn’t give a woman like that my phone number.”

She turned to face him, amazed by the hard angles of his profile. “What kind of woman?”

The car came to a stop light and he looked over at her. “She’s not you.”

Claire’s entire body heated up at those words and she felt all warm and gushy inside. Even if he didn’t mean them, they were still nice to hear. With a sigh, she realized what a charmer this guy was. And dangerous!

The light changed again and he turned his attention back to driving while Claire tried to put this day into perspective. Mitch was not Gary, she kept repeating the words to herself. Gary was the kind of man she wanted. Gary was kind and considerate. Gary was the one who brought her flowers and treated her like more than just someone to get into bed. Gary knew she had a mind and intelligence.

Mitch only wanted her in his bed, she reminded herself as they pulled into another Italian restaurant. This one was a bit fancier, but still dark inside and, since it was getting a bit later in the evening, there were more patrons in the entry way.

As soon as they entered, Claire surveyed the hostess stand and was relieved that the person behind the podium was male. She definitely didn’t want a repeat of that last horrible female.

Mitch, despicable man that he was, knew exactly what she’d been thinking and when she sighed with relief and looked up to see his reaction to the gender, he was already looking down at her with amusement, and the absolute knowledge in his eyes of why she’d been so relieved.

Claire ignored him and strode confidently up to the hostess table, smiling sweetly at the man. Taking the picture out of Mitch’s hand, she asked this new host, “Have you seen this man?”

The name tag on this guy’s shirt said his name was “Don”. He looked at the picture, looked up at Mitch, then at Claire, a worried expression in his eyes. “Are you cops?” he asked, swallowing hard.

Claire reached out and touched his hand slightly but as soon as her fingertips touched the host’s, her hand was yanked back. It didn’t hurt, but looking up at Mitch, she could see the fury in his eyes. “What are you doing?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“I’m trying to get some answers.”

“Get them some other way. No need to offer yourself up as dessert for the correct answer.”

She gasped and stepped back, hands on hips as she confronted him with fury. “How dare you suggest that I was offering myself up as anything! I was only being friendly! You’re being outrageous.”

Mitch moved in closer so there was barely an inch between their bodies. “You don’t touch other men, Claire. If you’re going to touch anyone, you can damn well touch me,” he said and slapped her hand onto the middle of his chest.

For a long moment, neither of them moved. Claire’s hand itched to move, Mitch’s eyes dared her to do so. In the end, Claire gave in and took a step back, the tension still crackling between them and she sighed. Mitch seemed to take that as acquiescence and was satisfied but he was still fuming at the idea of her touching any other man but him. Rationally, he understood that Claire wasn’t flirting. Her gesture was simply her open hearted way of connecting with other people. Irrationally, he didn’t care. There were just some things that he couldn’t deal with when it came to his little bombshell. She was his, even if she wouldn’t admit it out loud. Yet.

He turned back to the man standing behind the podium, ignoring the man’s wide eyed, curious stare as he looked back and forth between the two of them. The man was obviously terrified of offending Mitch who was easily twice as big as the host, but his eyes kept moving back to Claire, a startled hunger lurking there.

To ensure that the man knew Claire was off limits, Mitch pulled her closer as he showed the man the picture once again. “We’re looking for this man. Have you seen him? Or maybe he’s worked here in the past?” Mitch asked softly, trying to reassure the other man that there was no threat, while at the same time, wrapping his large, muscle bound arm around Claire’s waist and keeping her pinned up against the front of his body despite her subtle attempt to move away.

The host, who’s name tag identified him as James, swallowed painfully before looking at the picture, back up at Mitch, the picture, a quick glance at Claire and then back up at Mitch to see if he’d been caught, then back at the picture. “No. I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this man. I wish I could be more help,” he said, another glance at Claire, then Mitch once again.

Claire left the restaurant in a fit. “You did that on purpose, Mitch!” she said, stomping to her side of the car. Spinning around, she spun right into his chest, unaware that he’d moved up behind her.

“I didn’t touch her.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You touched that other guy.”

“So?”

“So?” he asked, furious. “So…don’t touch other men, Claire!”

She waved that aside. “I touch people all the time.”

“You don’t touch me,” he countered, leaning in slightly, putting his hands on the roof of the Jaguar, trapping her body and pinning her in place with only his eyes.

She swallowed and leaned away. “That’s because…” she started to say it was because she wanted to touch him too much but that would be disloyal to Gary so she didn’t finish the sentence.

“That’s because you know that when we do touch, we are going to light the sheets on fire, right?” he said, all the anger gone from his voice, which had now become soft and husky, his eyes lighting up at the idea of touching her everywhere. “Soon Claire, there will be a time when we touch, and kiss and you’re going to scream with the pleasure of it.”

He pushed away from the car and opened her door, waiting until she slipped inside. Claire watched as he walked around the front and took the driver’s side, feeling both tingly and frustrated. She wasn’t sure why the frustration was rearing its ugly head but she wanted these sexual needs to diminish.

They visited four more Italian restaurants until they finally found someone who knew of Gary. Apparently he had been a waiter at the last one at some point in time but was no longer employed there. They got another lead though. The manager of that restaurant said he’d heard Gary had taken a job at a smaller, more exclusive restaurant further out the highway heading west.

Out in the parking lot, Claire hesitated. It was already dark and they were about an hour outside of the city. The drive to this next place would be at least another half hour’s drive which would make them pretty late getting back.

“Maybe we should check this one out tomorrow. Or better yet, I could look into it myself.”

“Get in the car, Claire. We’re getting to the bottom of this tonight.”

Claire bit her lip and wouldn’t get in. He stopped and looked at her. “Are you afraid that we’ll actually find this guy? And he turns out to be a waiter instead of some glorified private detective or espionage guru? What then, Claire?”

She hesitated. “I’m not interested in Gary because of his occupation. I’m interested in him because he’s kind and considerate.”

“And gay.”

She put her hands on her hips and fired right back, “He’s not gay! Just because he doesn’t obsess about sex like you do, that doesn’t make him gay!”

Mitch shook his head. “You don’t get it do you? I didn’t used to obsess about sex until you came around. Now it’s all I can think about and until I can convince you that this guy you’re harping on and on about isn’t who you think he is, then your loyal little brain won’t let you relinquish the dream of some fake private detective who strung you along for some bizarre reason. So yes, we’re going out to this next place. And the next and the next until we find this fraud and clear up this idiocy.” He pulled open the car door and glared down at her. “So get in the car, Claire.”

She was tired of his intimidation tactics. And just tired overall. And hungry and irritated about this chase for a man who really did seem to be turning out to be a fraud and a liar. So she was feeling a bit ridiculous to be proven so wrong about a man she’d claimed t be an apparently unachievable ideal. Which hurt more than she wanted to admit. That hurt was turning into a need to assert herself and find some grounding, of which Mitch continued to sweep out from underneath her. “No! I’m not going any further until you agree to take me home.”

“We’re going to this next place. And we’re not stopping until we find this guy.”

“Then I’m not getting in the car!” she shouted at him.

In response, he walked around to her side, then pulled her against him, causing a gasp of surprise, and more than a little bit of fear, equaled by anticipation.

She tried to resist but that lasted for less than a fraction of a second. The moment he pulled her into his arms, her hungry body pressed against him, her arms reached up and wrapped around his neck and she groaned in satisfaction as she felt his hands against her back, then slide down to her bottom, pulling her more firmly against his own obvious need for her.

His mouth was like candy and she needed the sweetness more than breathing. When his tongue touched hers, she wiggled higher, wanting more of him, clinging to him. Frustrated sounds came from her because she couldn’t get enough of him but he knew what she wanted. When his fingers pushed into her hair and pulled her head back, giving him additional access to her mouth, she didn’t resist, wanting more of him as well.

Someone honking a horn blasted through her consciousness and she pulled back, staring up at him in astonishment. “We need to go,” she said softly, her knees weak and her entire body shaking in reaction.

He didn’t say anything as he slowly released her. His eyes, looking down at her, seemed to be just as on fire as her whole body felt. She didn’t want to stop, nor did he if the message he was conveying to her through his gaze was any indication. But there was nothing to be done about either of their needs right at the moment. The parking lot of an increasingly busy restaurant was not a particularly desirable location for what they’d begun.

On the way through the winding roads, Claire silently admonished herself once again for how faithless she was with Mitch. She tried to figure out why it was that she couldn’t control what she felt when Mitch took her in his arms when, all her life, she’d been the one to call a stop to any kind of lovemaking with her dates. She’d been careful with the men she’d gone out with, dating only men she had a genuine attraction towards. None of them came even partially close to how Mitch made her feel when he simply looked in her direction. And when he took her into his arms, his strong, powerful arms encircling her with such care and authority, she just stopped thinking and could only enjoy the blood singing through her veins. It was like he was a drug and she was the addict, the more he touched her, the more she needed from him. In this case though, the high just got higher and higher.