in that moment just how open I wanted to be. I had already been too open by giving him my name. I had to be careful with this dangerously disarming man, before I told him everything.
“Same thing you are,” I told him, smirking, and I returned to my drink.
“Just looking for a good time, huh?” he asked.
“Now, don’t tell me,” I said after I set my glass down on the bar. “I’ve already found it right here.” I could see from the look in his eyes that he enjoyed it when I presented myself as a challenge.
And I could tell from the tingling between my legs that I enjoyed the way his desire for me was so obvious. Hawk was a powerful, sexy man. To see such unguarded desire in his eyes was the biggest turn-on I could have asked for.
“Well, I certainly appreciate your vote of confidence, Felicity,” he said to me, “but if you think you can do better, then by all means. You certainly have your pick of wealthy, powerful men in the room.” He turned back to his whiskey, but I could tell he was only trying to see how long it would take me to make a move.
The little game we were playing was rather entertaining, but I figured if what I saw in his eyes was real desire, there was no shame in making my move. I wasn’t going to get anywhere sitting at the bar with him all night. The information I needed definitely wasn’t at Paragon. I needed to get closer to him than a barstool to get what I needed.
“That wasn’t the answer I wanted,” I told him as I placed a hand on his leg. His skin felt electric through his pants. I could almost feel him trembling with longing as I slid my hand up far enough to tease him, but not far enough to give him too much pleasure there at the bar.
“Oh, it wasn’t?” he said in a teasing tone.
“No, it wasn’t.” I leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, “But I’ll let it slide for now and still give you another chance.”
I sat back and finished my glass of champagne while he stared at me. The look on his face was a mixture of shock and amazement. He obviously wasn’t used to having a woman put him in his place the way I was. Hopefully, I was leaving my door open enough for him to still want to come through. I was fairly confident I was, but I knew I needed to let him buy me at least one more drink before I tried to seal the deal.
He needed to feel like I was giving him at least some control over the situation no matter how strong and powerful I came across. I laughed to myself as I signaled the bartender for another glass. They were all the same. They wanted a powerful woman but they wanted to maintain some power over her. I kept his reflection in the corner of my eye while I waited for my drink. I wondered how much power he wanted to hold over me, and how much power he was going to let me have.
Kleo had been right about Hawk and The Forsaken Ones. They were a dangerous bunch, and I could see a predatory hunger in Hawk’s eyes as he looked me up and down from the barstool next to mine.
We didn’t have to say anything else at the moment. I knew I was in. I could imagine how hard he was between those muscular legs of his. As long as he wanted me, I knew I would be able to get anything I wanted out of him, perhaps even the location of the Golden Diamond. I smirked at his reflection as I thought about how ironic it would be to get him to show the diamond to the very person who was going to steal it.
I was getting ahead of myself though. I needed to get away from him for a moment and check in with my boss. I needed a restroom, but I also needed to get back to them without making it obvious I had no idea where they were.
Once again, I placed a hand on his leg as I leaned over to whisper into his ear. I could feel his muscles tense up under my touch. He wanted me so badly he was probably thinking about taking me on the bar. I had to make sure he didn’t follow me to the restroom and try anything in