#SampleSunday: HOT NUMBER by VK Sykes

Here’s an excerpt from my latest VK Sykes book, one of the sexy contemporary romances co-written with my husband.  Hot Number is set in Las Vegas and it features Sadie Bligh, a geeky math professor from Chicago, and Nick Saxon, the assistant chief of security at a large casino.  Sadie has an uncanny knack for getting into trouble, which brings her to the attention of Nick.  In this scene, Nick–Sadie has nicknamed him “the sheriff”–has just pulled her off the dance floor of the casino’s club.  He takes Sadie to a quiet little bar in town for a “chat.”

It had to be the darn mojitos again. As she gazed at Nick, no doubt looking like a moonstruck teenager, Sadie found herself contemplating crawling into his lap and wrapping her legs around his waist. That’s how turned on she was after his little intervention at the casino.

When he charged across the crowded dance floor of Esprit, he’d reminded her of a bull with a hapless matador dead in its sights. The guy she had been dancing with—if that’s what you could call what he’d been trying to do with her—had looked first astonished and then more than a little alarmed when he caught sight of Nick. Her partner hadn’t been wrong to see impending mayhem in the sheriff’s coal-black eyes. Maybe it had just been a caveman moment for Nick, but she’d loved it anyway. She’d have happily gone anywhere with the man then, even back to the dreaded gulag if that’s what it took to be alone with him.

They sat at a small table in a bar that might have been physically near the Strip, but was light years away from the glitz of Las Vegas Boulevard. With worn brown carpet on the floors, Michelob neon in the front window, and waitresses that might have been working Vegas since Bugsy Malone opened the Flamingo, it had a down-in-the-mouth charm that spelled relief after the Strip’s relentless glam. When Nick ordered a Bud, she’d made it two, even though she usually hated the taste and smell of beer. But not tonight. Tonight the cold brew tasted delicious.

Round five to the sheriff.

Smoothing the silky and slightly damp bodice of her dress down over her breasts, Sadie contemplated the best way to provoke a response in the strong but silent type leaning back in the chair next to her. Nick had hardly said a word on the ten minute drive from the Desert Oasis. Not that he’d ever been a fountain of words at any time they’d been together. He seemed more comfortable with interrogation than small talk. But that wasn’t a particular problem, since her father had always told her she could talk enough for any two human beings.

A little stab of pain sliced through her haze of pleasure. With effort, she forced away memories of her father, her job, and anything to do with her life back in Chicago. All she wanted to think about right now was Nick Saxon.

She gave him what she hoped was a sultry smile. “All I can say is you sure have a funny way of cutting in on a dance, Sheriff. My partner probably had to go back to his room and change his underwear.” To her surprise, her voice actually came out in a soft purr. Sadie had never purred at a man in her life.

He studied her, his face expressionless but his eyes gleaming hot. “Didn’t I tell you to call me Nick?” He slugged down the rest of his beer and gave the waitress a hand signal for refills.

She’d tried once or twice on the ride over to call him by his first name, but ‘Nick’ and ‘Sadie’ registered a discordant note in her ears. She wondered how long it would take her to stop thinking of him as the sheriff or as Saxon. Nick was surely a manly name, but Saxon sounded so lustfully medieval. Somehow, it seemed part and parcel of the fantasy this Vegas trip had become. “Sorry. Nick, it is. And you ducked my implied question.”

His mouth thinned in a way she was beginning to recognize. “I didn’t like the way he groped you,” he said in something approaching a growl.

That almost blew her concentration. Finally, the guy had let out some feelings. “But what made you think I didn’t welcome that poor man’s ardor? I told you, Cassie and I came to Vegas for the express purpose of having ourselves a riotously good time. I was well on my way tonight until you launched into the fray like a pit bull on steroids.”

He snorted. “Nice analogy. But did you really welcome what he was doing?” His gaze told her he didn’t believe a word of it.

Nick was right, of course. Still, she wasn’t giving up just yet. Teasing him was more fun than she’d had in a very long time.

She shrugged, enjoying the way the movement brought his gaze down to her breasts. “I might have. Maybe,” she said thoughtfully.

He tipped back in his chair, his eyebrows arching in polite disbelief.

“Well, not so much, truth be told,” she finally admitted. “He was pretty grabby.”

“That’s what I thought.” There was a trace of smugness in his tone. “You just like to yank my chain with all those quips and hundred-dollar words. I’ll bet it would drive you crazy to know I actually get a kick out of it.”

Wow. A guy who likes the way I talk. Prince Charming, where have you been all this time?

You can read more excerpts from Hot Number here and here.

Hot Number is currently available on Amazon and Smashwords for only $2.99.  It’s also available at Barnes & Noble and at other e-tailers.  And don’t forget to check out our other books, CaddyGirls, Fastball, and Hardball.

Have a great Sunday!