As soon as the elevator door slid shut, she turned to face him. She rested both palms on his chest and gazed up at him with sultry, hazel eyes. He hadn’t noticed the blue and green flecks in them earlier. He opened his mouth to compliment her, and she interrupted him by saying, “Just tell me one more personal thing about yourself. I’m much more comfortable with Gabe than I am with Force.”

“Force equals mass times acceleration,” he said.

“Huh?”

“The reason they call me Force is not because I bang things hard—though I do. It’s because I planned to major in physics before I dropped out of college my sophomore year. I was going to become an engineer and invent things.” Actually, he invented things despite his lack of degree. That was something he was definitely keeping to himself, however. No one knew about his inventions. It was bad enough he’d shared the secret behind his nickname with her; only the band knew how he’d picked it up. So why was he telling Melanie? She had the strangest effect on him. He felt vulnerable. Exposed. She’d stripped away all of his cool. It wasn’t a feeling he was accustomed to, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

She slapped him in the chest. “So that’s why I’m so attracted to you,” she said. “I knew it couldn’t be the famous musician thing.”

She raised up on tiptoe to kiss his neck. Every muscle in Gabe’s body went taut.

“Melanie?” he whispered.

Her warm breath tickled his neck. “I do love a man with brains.”

Brains that ceased to work when a certain sexy accountant suckled the pulse point in his throat. He didn’t put the geek in “band geek” anymore. He’d hated being that awkward, meek guy. He no longer entertained dreams of building mechanical hearts and artificial limbs. He was a rock star. Success hadn’t been handed to him on a bronze cymbal. He’d earned it. Melanie had better get used to the idea that the thing she was trying so hard to reject was a huge part of who he was.

Gabe reached over and pressed every button from the first to the tenth floor. The elevator jolted as it stopped on the next floor and then the door slid open.

Melanie jerked away, her gaze nervously darting to the empty corridor. No one was there. She stared up at him with wide eyes. “Do you think there’s something wrong with the elevator?”

“I pressed all the buttons.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t march anymore.”

The elevator doors slid shut and they started upward again.

Her eyebrows drew together and nose crinkled in confusion. Gabe moved his hands to her shoulders and slipped the spaghetti straps of her tank and her bra straps down her slender arms. He used the lightest of touches on her silky skin, watching for her reaction.

“What do you like?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“Do you like a gentle, easy touch?” He stroked her skin with a feather-light caress and then curled his fingers to apply more pressure as he moved his hands along the back of her shoulders. “Or something rougher?”

Eyes wide, she shook her head. “I don’t know.”

The elevator stopped, and the doors slid open again.

He slid his hands to her breasts and freed them from her bra.

“Wait,” she gasped. “Someone might . . . ”

He cupped one perfect mound of flesh and gently stroked her hardened nipple with his thumb. “Gentle.”

When no one joined them on the elevator, Melanie released a soft sigh, and her eyelids fluttered closed.

Gabe squeezed her other breast and pinched her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing the straining tip with an increasing pressure. “Rough.”

“Oh!”

As soon as the elevator doors closed again, he leaned forward and drew his tongue over her pretty pink nipple. “Gentle,” he said, blowing a slow breath over her puckered flesh before drawing it into his mouth and sucking with tender care.

Her fingers clung to his scalp. He still couldn’t tell what she preferred; she seemed to enjoy both. He released her breast with a soft sucking sound and turned his attention to the other one. “Rough.” He nipped her reddened nipple and then sucked it into his mouth, flicking his tongue over the hard tip. He scraped her flesh with the edge of his teeth.

“Gabe!”

The elevator doors opened again. This time she didn’t notice. Gabe smiled to himself. That’s better.

He drew away and waited for her to open her eyes before he cupped her pussy through her jeans. When the heat coming off it registered in his addled thoughts, his cock began to throb in anticipation. He stared into her beautiful eyes as he slid his fingers between her legs and pressed the heel of his hand against her mound. He rubbed his palm against her, stimulating her clit with just enough pressure to remind her that it was there.

“Gentle?”

The doors shut again, and the elevator carried them closer to their destination.

“Can I have both?” she asked breathlessly.

He grinned and backed her into the wall. He grabbed her ass and pressed his cock against her mound, grinding with hard, rigorous thrusts of his hips. “Or rough?”

She clung to him, rubbing her heat against his throbbing cock. If she’d been wearing a skirt, he would have surged into her body right then. He could almost feel her slick heat engulfing him, imagine her gripping him as she clenched with release. Almost.

“Oh God, Gabe, fuck me,” she groaned.

His balls tightened with excitement. Drunk with desire, he rubbed his open mouth over her throat. “Did you decide what you want, Melanie?”

“Yes. You. I want you.”

He gave the black lens of the surveillance camera a long hard stare and then bit his lower lip considering what it would mean for her if he went with his instincts and gave her what she wanted right there. Tempting as she was, she deserved better. He could wait. A couple minutes. Max. His gaze shifted to her eyes. “I like a woman who knows what she wants.”

He stepped away and noted they still had five floor stops before they reached the very top, which promised him heaven. Melanie gawked at him for a moment and then struggled to cover her exquisite breasts before the elevator doors opened again. He nonchalantly pressed the button labeled “close doors” trying to hide his eagerness, trying to pretend he was in control and had maintained his cool.

Yes, he liked a woman who knew what she wanted. He also liked to leave a woman flustered and disoriented, craving his body the way an addict craves her next hit. He stole a glance at Melanie noting she was flushed, disheveled, and glowing with a delicate sheen of perspiration. Gabe ducked his head to hide a self-satisfied grin and focused his attention on his fingernails to curtail his urge to gloat. Yeah, mission accomplished.

Melanie stole a glance at Gabe, who was leaning against the wall of the elevator car, inspecting his fingernails. She’d been ready to yank off her pants right there in the elevator so he could pound her with that big, hard cock he’d rubbed so vigorously against her mound. She hadn’t even cared that the elevator doors kept opening. Thinking they might get caught had excited her even more. She’d known a few cock teases in her life, but she’d never met a pussy tease before. Maybe it was his way of teaching her a lesson for prying into his personal life. Why else would he suddenly start ignoring her? Had she been too needy? Too desperate? Had she done something to turn him off? Shit!

Melanie crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to him to face the front of the elevator car. If he thought she was going to beg him to fuck her again, he would be sorely disappointed. She hoped he got a raging case of blue balls. She was going to take him up on that room service, take a look at his tattoos to prove to herself that she was brave, and then leave him with nothing but his hand for company. Maybe next time he’d think twice about getting a woman all hot and bothered and then pretending she didn’t exist.