Lisa Jones - Strictly Seduction - Watch Me

Everything male—hot and protective—screamed inside him, and pushed him into action. There was no hesitation, no thought of rejection, of her not needing him right now, because he knew she did.

Sam went to her, and before she knew he’d joined her, his hand gently cupped the side of her face, comforting her, while the other hand rested against the wall near her chin.

Her head lowered, eyes fixed on his, hands settling on his chest. “Sam.” She breathed out the word, and there as if relief there, like she was glad to see him.

“Talk to me, sweetheart. What happened? And why are you back here alone?”

“Just needed to think a minute. I’m handling this all wrong. Kiki and I argued. I threatened. She threatened. She won. She swears I signed a release for tonight along with some other forms I signed. She had to have snuck it in and I missed it.”

“Is that possible?”

“I don’t know. I told her I want to see the forms. But she says that if I go to Sabrina she’ll say she warned me about tonight’s potential liability ahead of time. I screwed up, Sam. I can’t even pull the dancers from the club because she said I can’t. Because she said , end of story. I okayed things in my contract I shouldn’t have. I can be removed if I’m a detriment to my own show. I can’t stop Kiki.”

“I can,” he said. “I’ll—”

She leaned in and pressed her mouth to his, the softness of her lips, the willingness of the connection, making him instantly rock hard.

“Don’t,” she whispered a moment later. “Don’t protect me, Sam. I don’t want to drag you into her line of fire. I won’t let that happen. Just…just kiss me.”

His arm slid around her. “I’ll do both.” He slanted his mouth over hers. She moaned and leaned into him, her hands gripping his shoulders. Something wild sprung to life around them—the club, the music, the desire so long bubbling between them—igniting in the seclusion of this one tiny spot, their escape in the midst of chaos. And the acknowledgment that they’d lied when they said they’d never kiss like this again.

Sam deepened the kiss, drinking her in. He knew even though she’d said “one night,” that she wanted another as badly as he did. His hands were all over her body, her hands were all over his—under his shirt, caressing his skin—scorching him to the point that he was ready to take her right here and now. And he wanted to.

He wanted to forget everything—he had forgotten everything. He should be focused on his job, but he was here, ready to rip her clothes off, damn thankful he could trust Josh to handle things elsewhere.

He stopped and pulled back to look at her. “You accuse me of wanting control,” he said. “Yet you steal it from me at every turn.”

“You can have it,” she panted. “I don’t want it.”

She reached for his jaw again, and he kissed her, tasted her, but there was something in her words, in her face, and he pulled back again, tenderness colliding with passion. “You aren’t letting her defeat you. I won’t let you.”

“Stop talking,” she ordered, sliding her hand down the front of his pants and stroking his cock. “Why are you always talking?”

Why was he talking? He palmed her backside and melded her to his shaft, claiming her mouth again, running his hand roughly over her breasts, pinching her nipples.

“Sam—” she moaned.

“Oh, yes— Sam .” The cold female voice that wasn’t Meagan’s froze both of them in place. Kiki.

“No,” Meagan whispered. “No.”

“Oh, yes. Yes, yes!” Kiki laughed. “I am here, and boy, what a show.”

Sam cursed under his breath, fully intending to handle this mess, so Meagan didn’t have to. But he should have known that Meagan’s moment of weakness when he’d found her in this hallway, was just that. And it was over now. In true Meagan form, she faced Kiki, obviously refusing to let her get the best of her. But before Meagan could say anything screams bellowed through the air. “Fight! Fight!”

Meagan took off running past Kiki, Sam behind her. They rounded the corner to discover the crowd surrounding the stage, where the dancers had been performing only minutes before. Now, a shoving match appeared to be taking place.

Meagan’s family-approved dance show was turning into a version of female fight club and that meant sponsors could be lost. And so could the show.

MEAGAN WAS ON the stage in a heartbeat thanks to Sam, who lifted her up and then jumped up behind her. And thanks to Sam’s staff, not only were the observers being held at bay, the fight was somewhat under control, as well.

Josh, and a female security person employed by Sam, were holding two contestants apart—Tabitha and a petite brunette dancer named Carrie White. Meagan had thought Carrie was fairly timid, but considering the clear mark down Tabitha’s face, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Tabitha was fighting Josh, trying to get to Carrie. “You better watch your back!” Tabitha yelled at Carrie. “I’m going to make you pay for scratching me.”

“Enough!” Meagan yelled. “If either of you touches the other one again, you’re off the show.” She eyed them both. “Understood?”

Carrie quickly nodded. “I was just defending myself. She jumped on me, Meagan. She jumped on me and…I swear I was defending myself.”

Jensen, the tall, blond New Yorker, stepped forward. “It’s true. Tabitha jumped on Carrie.”

It didn’t take Meagan long to put two and two together. Tabitha and Jensen had been flirting on set. And since Jensen was defending Carrie, instead of Tabitha, it was a good bet that there was some sort of jealousy thing going on between the girls.

Kiki rushed onto the stage, conveniently after the fight had been derailed. “What happened?”

“They didn’t belong here, is what happened,” Sam said and motioned to Josh. “There’s a back door by the bathrooms. Let’s get everyone out that way, and make it snappy. As in yesterday.”

Fifteen minutes later, the dancers were heading in the direction of the hotel as Meagan and Sam followed. “You okay?” he asked, touching her arm to draw her to a halt.

“As okay as I can be considering what happened tonight.”

“I called Sabrina,” he said.

“What? When?”

“A few minutes ago.” He held up his hand. “And before you get mad—”

“I’m not,” she said. “I’m not. I know you’re trying to help, Sam. I know and I appreciate it. But I don’t want to drag you into this and endanger your career, and I feel like I already have.”

“It’s my job to protect the studio,” he said. “I’m working on a documentation trail that backs up my concerns about Kiki. I’ll handle this, but in the meantime, you have to keep her from doing any irreversible damage to the show.”

“I’m trying. I am desperately trying. What was the outcome of the call?”

“Sabrina thinks a lot of you and this show, but she has powerful people she answers to and big money at stake. I have full authority to investigate Kiki but she is well connected and she’s been praised for saving the network from several disasters. I’m fairly confident they were manufactured disasters. She’s clearly been rewarded for her actions in some way, shape or form, and she’s just as clearly after the gold now. We have to tread carefully.”

“If she’s that powerful then tonight might be the end, Sam. If that fight makes the tabloids then it could already be the death of our sponsors.”

“Then get more.”

“It’s not that easy for a new show, Sam.”

“All right. Then let’s think this through. You want the cameras rolling in the house because you want to feature the real lives of the contestants while they traveled this journey.”