Take Me On

When the attorney mentioned there was an interested party willing to buy out her share, Kenzie was relieved. Not only did she have no interest in running a distillery, the money from the sale would likely allow her studio to stay in business, despite the astronomical rent hike her landlord had slapped her with earlier that month. Although her business was profitable, the skyrocketing city rents were in danger of putting her out of business.

Kenzie entered the palatial lobby and was heading toward the front desk when a voice stopped her in her tracks. She turned toward the bar where the laughter was coming from and her eyes landed on an olive-skinned man in dark blue jeans, a black T-shirt and a sports jacket. He was seated next to a scantily-clad, beautiful Latina. Apparently, whatever he had said was extremely amusing because the woman was laughing with her head thrown back, a long mane of hair cascading down her spine. The man, dark-haired with a strong face and piercing brown eyes, looked past his companion and momentarily locked eyes with Kenzie, sending a shiver up her back. He flashed her what was most certainly a devilish smile before turning his gaze back to the woman.

Wow. Kenzie unzipped the front of her sweatshirt, pulled out a magazine from her bag and fanned herself furiously as she waited to check in. It had been a while since she had experienced this kind of instant attraction to someone. There was something animalistic about the way he had looked at her, with those dark eyes peering out between strands of his black hair, which was just long enough to be sexy. In that brief glance, she had taken in the entirety of his perfect form. Her mouth went dry as she imagined the mysterious stranger kissing the sensitive spot on her neck that always sent the blood rushing straight to her nether regions, causing her nipples to harden and her insides to melt like butter.

“Bottle of water, miss?” asked the desk clerk.

“Yes!” Kenzie croaked, stepping up to the desk and taking the bottle, relieved at the opportunity to cool down this fire that a stranger had suddenly ignited.

“How many keys will you be needing?” asked the clerk as she typed quickly on her computer.

“Just one,” Kenzie answered. Just one had been the answer to that question for quite a long time now. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested, but with running her own business, the last thing she had time for was dating. Ever since her fiancé Cole’s death a few years ago, she had thrown herself into her work—and it had paid off. Sure, there had been interest from many guys, mostly fellow yogis who showed up at her studio or hung around the vegetarian café she frequented in her neighborhood. She was a bit ashamed to admit it but in recent months she had found herself craving something a little bit...meatier.

With the key to her room in hand, Kenzie took the elevator up to the 28th floor and found her room at the end of the hallway. Opening the doors, she sighed at the sight of the giant, king-size bed at the center of the room. Further exploration revealed a serene bathroom with a claw-foot tub, and out on the balcony, a view of the ocean. Her first idea was to strip off all her clothes, get into the plush bathrobe the hotel provided and plop herself down on the bed in front of the TV and order room service. But then she thought of Missy, one of the yoga instructors at the studio, and how disappointed she’d be if all she did in Miami was binge-watch Queer Eye. “You need to get out there and have some fun!” her friend had told her.

Kenzie had a flash of the handsome stranger from the bar’s devilish grin and, wondering if he was still down there, opened her carry-on and pulled out a silky, magenta slip dress she had tossed in her bag as an afterthought.

Why not? she thought to herself, kicking off her boots, and pulling off her too-heavy clothing until she was standing naked in front of the giant mirror positioned directly in front of the bed. Kenzie caught a glimpse of herself and couldn’t help but smile. It was true—she had a pretty rockin’ body, and it was hard-earned, with many hours spent running, doing yoga, challenging herself both physically and mentally. She swiveled her hips to the side, checking out what her friends referred to as her “yoga butt,” which was ample and firm. Kenzie slipped the flimsy dress over her naked breasts, thought about putting her bra back on for a moment and then decided against it. A tiny pair of black panties and heels completed the look. Letting her curls loose from the bun, they cascaded over her creamy white shoulders. Now that was more like it!

Back down in the lobby, Kenzie made a beeline for the bar but was dismayed to see that the handsome stranger was no longer there. What was she thinking, anyway, seeking out a random businessman in a hotel lobby? Okay, a totally hot businessman, who looked like his sole purpose on the planet was pleasuring women, but still. The obvious conclusion was that Kenzie Fox was desperately in need of a good fuck. All this pent-up sexual energy was bad for her prana. Sitting down on a stool, she flashed a smile at the bartender, ordered her usual—a club soda with lime—and pulled out her phone. Maybe Missy was right, it was time to try online dating.

But before she had time to search for a dating app, she felt a hand graze across her lower back. It was a strong, firm hand—clearly a man’s—and the surprising touch sent a tingle up the length of her spine.

“I was hoping to see you again,” said a sultry male voice with the slightest hint of a Spanish accent.

Kenzie turned to her left and laid eyes on the arresting man she had noticed earlier. Up close, he was even more handsome than she’d previously noticed, with intense, dark eyes that made it impossible for her to look away from him. His longish dark hair was thick and full, and Kenzie imagined raking her hands through it in the heat of passion.

“Do you mind if I sit down?”

Kenzie nodded affirmatively. She wasn’t usually at a loss for words but somehow her ability to form them was suddenly impaired. She felt her cheeks get hot and hoped that he didn’t notice she was blushing.

“My name is Antonio Navedo,” he said, extending his hand to her. “I noticed you earlier, when you were checking in.”

“Yes, I noticed you, too.” Okay, there was no hiding it. She was seriously blushing now. “MacKenzie Fox. My friends call me Kenzie.”

“Where are you traveling from, Kenzie?” he asked, taking the bar stool next to her and turning his body toward her so that their knees were almost touching.

“New York,” Kenzie answered, regaining her composure. “I’m here on business,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“But there has to be a little room for pleasure, no? I find that to be very important.”

“Yes, you seemed to be enjoying yourself when I saw you earlier,” Kenzie ventured with a hint of challenge in her voice. She watched as Antonio’s face changed from amused to slightly serious. There was a flash of danger in his eyes that was incredibly sexy.

“That was my business associate,” he said in a serious tone. “I often take my meetings here.”

Kenzie let out an amused little laugh. Business associate in what? she wondered. But did it really matter? She tried her best to stop her gaze from traveling from Antonio’s sensual lips down to the small V of skin exposed at his shirt collar, but her eyes went there anyway.

Just then the bartender reappeared, placing the club soda in front of Kenzie.

“What can I get for you, Antonio?” he asked. Kenzie raised an eyebrow. Was he a regular at a hotel bar? That was a definite red flag. What kind of business was he involved in anyway?

“The Atlantico Reserva, neat. Thank you, Jose. And for you?” he said, turning to Kenzie. “Something besides the water?”

“I’m good with this,” Kenzie said, pursing her red lips around the straw and taking a long sip. She felt Antonio watching her mouth and suddenly felt downright pornographic. Removing the straw from her mouth, she smiled. “I don’t drink.”

She said it offhandedly, disguising the fact that her choice to abstain was a heavy subject. Three years earlier, Cole had been at the wheel in a drunk driving accident. When Cole didn’t survive, she had stopped drinking alcohol, thinking that it could do no good in her life.

Antonio raised an eyebrow and smiled back at her. “So, what do you do to relax? When you’re not ‘on business’?”

Kenzie thought for a second and realized she couldn’t remember a time in recent years when she wasn’t totally consumed with her business. It was the most important thing in her life now, and ever since she had found out the studio was in danger of closing, she’d had trouble sleeping. Maybe some relaxation would be just the thing to set her mind straight.

Kenzie turned her body toward Antonio’s so that her bare knee grazed the inside of his leg. “I own a yoga studio. So, I guess you could say my work is my relaxation. Do you practice?”

Antonio’s eyes lit up and he laughed loudly. “Uh, no. I prefer other forms of physical activity.”

Who was this guy? On the one hand, his smile was so warm and inviting, she felt like she already knew him. But then there was that glint in his eye, and the way he commanded the room that suggested to her that he was someone very powerful, and quite possibly, dangerous. In any case, he was oh so different from the gentle, overly-intellectual men who tried to court her back home. Antonio was such a...man!

Falling back to the hair-twirling habit that manifested itself whenever she was nervous, Kenzie twisted her hair up to the top of her head and formed a makeshift bun and exhaled deeply. Was the air-conditioning out of whack or was she just not used to all this intense heat?

Unexpectedly, Antonio reached his fingers into her glass and fished out an ice cube. Taking the slippery cube between two of his manly fingers, he reached around Kenzie and began to trace circles with it at the base of her neck.

“Better?” he asked, maintaining direct eye contact with her as droplets of water melted down her back.

“Oh yes,” Kenzie whispered. Emboldened by his move, she leaned closer to him. “Maybe I could show you some yoga poses, I’m sure you could benefit from them.”

Antonio leaned toward her, matching her body language. They were so close that she could breathe in his scent—a mixture of fresh cologne and sweat that nearly made her swoon, making the hairs on her arms stand up on end and sending electric signals straight down to her lady parts.

“I would like that very much,” Antonio said in a low, husky voice. Kenzie glanced down at his crotch and could see that he was feeling the same shock waves, too. Part of her wanted to reach out and put her hand on that sexy bulge, right there in the bar, but propriety, and the nearby table of vacationing senior citizens, stopped her.

“Should we go to my room?” Even though she was usually confident, Kenzie surprised herself with how forward she was being. Maybe being away from home was making her feel especially free.

“Yes,” Antonio responded immediately. There was an urgency to his tone that was both flattering and vulnerable.

Kenzie slid off the bar stool and tossed a bill onto the bar. As she turned and strode confidently toward the elevators, she could feel the tender area between her thighs getting wetter with every step. It had been a long time since it had happened spontaneously, and the sensation surprised her. Without needing to turn around, she could feel that Antonio was following close behind.

Pressing the up button a few more times than was necessary, Kenzie imagined stepping inside the elevator with Antonio, and thought about what he would do to her. Envisioning him pushing her up onto the side of the wall, his mouth devouring her lips and neck, she teetered on her high heels, praying for the moment when the doors would finally open.

As they did, Kenzie was dismayed to see a large family crowding the small elevator car. When they didn’t exit, she stepped inside, disappointed to see that Antonio was separated from her, forced next to the opposite wall by the family’s gargantuan stroller. Antonio made eye contact with her and shrugged. After what seemed like an eternity, the car stopped on Kenzie’s floor, and they politely excused themselves past the vacationers, alone at last in the deserted hallway.

“It’s right over here,” Kenzie whispered, leading the way to her room. Part of her wanted to turn around and let Antonio take her, right there by the ice machine, but the good girl inside her told her to wait. With Antonio so close behind her, she could feel his hot breath on her neck, she keyed into the room and he followed her inside, letting the door click shut behind them.

Turning to face him, Kenzie wrapped her arms around Antonio’s neck, bringing her mouth up close to his in a dizzying haze of anticipation.

“Wait,” he whispered, breaking the spell and pulling back from her. “I thought you were going to show me your yoga.”

Kenzie tilted her head to the side in confusion. “You want me to do yoga? Seriously?”

But Antonio didn’t need to answer. She could tell by the way he was assessing her form that he was totally serious.