Deceive (Book 1 in the Deceive series) by Karessa Mann Page A

Hotel has welcomed a long list of both celebrities and political power-houses. Growing up in Seattle my parents brought me here once or twice for special occasions. As an adult, it hasn’t been on my radar until recently. With its rich gold and marble tones and hand-crafted, dark wood detailing, it feels more like a cigar club than a place I’d choose to meet friends for drinks. However, the magnetism of the hotel is hard to ignore.
    I turn a page in my book, my eyes skimming over the words. It’s some lack luster love story my sister thought I would enjoy. I’m not even sure why she thinks I have time to read. It’s been years since I finished any of the titles I’ve started. I bring the glass to my lips and nearly choke on my wine as quiet words tingle against my ear.
    “For what it’s worth,” he breathes, and I know without looking up that it’s him, the man who pinned me against the bar. “I think you could have taken him.”
    I blush, the smile on my lips hidden behind the glass at my mouth. I don’t give him the satisfaction of eye contact, but he would be a fool not to notice how I shivered when his breath touched my skin.
    “Excuse me,” he says and an unmistakable chill replaces the warmth in the air around me as he leaves.
    I take a long drink and peer over my book, watching Mr. Chivalry with the bluest of blue eyes saunter out of the bar, his martini glass in hand. He stops to greet a woman by the concierge counter. He’s tall, which has to do more with the way he carries himself than just his height alone. His broad shoulders fill out his charcoal gray suit, silhouetting the firmness of his physique. Anyone can see that this man is strikingly handsome, and in just the small amount of time it took him to cross from the bar to the lobby, he’s turned the heads of nearly every woman in the room, even women who have to be nearly twenty years older than him.
    Now, the young receptionist behind the lobby desk, fittingly named Skye as I learned earlier, is all but wagging her tongue at him like a lost puppy eyeing a delectable treat. He pays no attention to her and it surprises me and frustrates me that I like that.
    The last thing I need is a distraction. That’s not why I’m here tonight. It’s strictly business. But as I glide my eyes over him, I’m keenly aware that it's been way too long since I let a man distract me.
    I take a sip of wine and try to concentrate on my book but my eyes deceive me. They lift just in time to see him reach out and embrace the beautiful woman with elegant shoulder length black hair near the concierge desk. The hug between them is casual and quickly leads me to believe she’s neither a wife nor girlfriend. He smiles genuinely at her as she speaks and I am drawn into the way he’s giving her his full attention. His hands are large as he clasps them together and suddenly I’m imagining what it would be like to have them on my body—the strength of them on my back or tugging gently at my breasts and sliding between my thighs.
    The rush of electricity I felt towards him earlier is now muddled by hot pangs of jealousy. I quickly reprimand myself and blame everything I’m feeling on the fact that I haven't allowed a man into my bed since—well, longer than I care to admit.
    I take the last sip of my wine and set the empty glass down. Turning back to my book, I actually manage to read a paragraph this time, hoping it will entertain me. But I can still see them out of the corner of my eye. I look up again and that’s a mistake. I am instantly sucked into the way his full lips move when he speaks, and mesmerized by how his mouth twists into a slightly crooked line when he smiles down at her. The straightness of his teeth, the dark shadow around his jaw. They are both dressed for business, which makes me think they’re colleagues. Then I can’t help but wonder what business they are in and if they’re here in Seattle for a conference or meeting. It’s clear the three