"Friends?"
"I know, right? Seems odd to me, too, but somehow, I have them."
Marla blanched. "Oh, I didn't mean anything insulting-"
Arizona waved that off. "Give us a few minutes, and we'll come over and help clean it up."
"We?" Surprised and somewhat desperate, Marla looked to Spencer for help.
Knowing Arizona well enough to know he'd have a fight on his hands if he tried to exclude her, he shrugged. Once she'd made her mind up about something, she could be pretty stubborn.
"You might want to change clothes," Arizona told her. "Looks like messy work." She turned to Spencer with a gaze full of challenge. "You ready for that coffee?"
Amazing. Was there any situation-other than having a guy over her-that unnerved Arizona? She grabbed control of a socially awkward, uncomfortable scene and just played it out like it was nothing.
"Yeah," he said slowly, doing his best to figure her out, "I'm ready." He gave Marla a salute. "An hour or so ought to do it."
"Oh. Okay." She stood there, befuddled. "Thank you."
Once inside, Spencer shut the door and snagged the back of Arizona's shirt, halting her stiff stride toward the kitchen. "Hold up."
Silent, strangely distant, she kept her back to him.
Undeterred, Spencer again eyed her backside. "Care to tell me what that was all about?"
She shrugged. "Neighbors are supposed to lend a hand to their neighbors, right?"
Using his hold on her shirt, he reeled her in, then wrapped his arms around her from behind. She stayed stiff-until he nuzzled the side of her neck. "You know I'm not interested in Marla, right?"
"I heard you tell her so."
"I wouldn't lie about it."
While she thought about that, she rested her hands over his. Finally she nodded. "Okay."
And yet she still sounded somehow distraught. "So what's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said too fast.
Something-but pressing her now would get him nowhere. She'd share her thoughts in her own sweet time. "Want to know what I think?"
"If it has anything to do with admiring Marla, no."
God, keeping up with her would be a challenge. "Why would I- No, forget that." He propped his chin on top of her head. "I was admiring you, actually."
"Me?" She twisted to see him. "Why?"
Too many reasons to count, but he said, "You sympathized with her."
"Pffft." As an invitation to nuzzle her neck more, she tilted her head.
"You did." He obliged with a soft, openmouthed kiss. "And it was very kind of you."
"She's probably an okay person."
Spencer hid his grin against her. "She's nice enough." But too manipulative, and too damn clingy. "It was wrong of me to let her think-"
She bolted away. "Cake, Spencer. And coffee."
In one deft move, he caught her again and tossed her over his shoulder. "Sex, Arizona." Already anxious to have her again, he smoothed a hand over her ass, then up and inside the leg of her shorts so he could fondle one firm cheek. "And maybe, after that, cake and coffee."
Hanging over his shoulder, Arizona stiffened, and then she relaxed. "Yeah, okay." Her hands smoothed down his spine. "That works just fine for me."
* * *
UNABLE TO WAIT, Spencer got her into his bedroom and pressed her up to the wall, his body against hers, his mouth almost touching hers. "Does this bother you?"
"No." She tried to kiss him.
"Arizona. Wait." He held her face. "I need to know if this is okay."
"It's great." She wiggled free so she could kiss him. "Awesome." Her tongue moved over his lips. "Just don't crawl on top of me and we're good to go, so … go."
Always in such a rush. He brushed back her hair. "If you feel even a twinge of-"
"I'm not shy, Spencer. I don't like something, you're going to hear about it, scout's honor." Pressing him back, she grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and jerked it off over her head. "So let's move on."
Lord have mercy. Her breasts were so large and firm for her slender frame. He reached for her.
She deflected him. "How about you play catch-up first?" She hooked her thumbs in the waistband of those skimpy shorts. "I'm pretty sure this'll work better if we're both naked."
"Agreed." In record time, he shucked off his clothes-just as Arizona straightened from doing the same.
"There." Beautifully bare, she kicked her shorts to the side. "What do you want to bet this'll be better than the cake?"
His gaze went all over her. "It already is." He put a hand to her narrow waist and soaked up the incredible sight of her. How long would it take for him to get used to the impact of her body? "Stand still, okay?"
"No way." She spread her hands out over his chest, and started to trail them down his body.
Drawing a quick breath, he caught her wrists. "Let me taste you." His voice roughened. "This time without your panties in the way."
Their gazes held; her pulse visibly quickened as the seconds ticked by-and she braced back against the wall. "Yeah, okay."
"I love it when you're agreeable, honey." But because the L-word made him feel too much, even when used in banter, he quickly took her mouth.
Kissing her offered a unique pleasure, especially when she arched up against him, naked flesh to naked flesh, her soft curves touching him everywhere.
He had to cup her behind, had to cuddle her heavy breasts. Every single part of her tempted him.
While exploring her body with his hands, he kissed her for a long time, deeper and hotter. He stroked over her skin, the supple curves of her waist, her hips.
Her thighs.
He teased his fingertips down her spine, down, down, and then inward to her moist sex.
She went to her tiptoes against him.
Trailing damp kisses down her throat to her collarbone and then to her breasts, he took his time enjoying her until she became fevered, until he knew she neared her limit.
That meant he'd almost reached his limit, too.
Going to his knees, Spencer hugged her hips and rubbed his face over her belly.
She drifted her fingers through his hair and whispered his name.
When he teased her hip bone with his tongue, she twitched. Was she ticklish? He smiled as he said, "Hmm?"
"I think we need to get on with it."
"Not yet." And then with a growl, "You smell so good."
Her hand fisted in his hair. "You keep teasing me and I don't like it. Or maybe I like it too much."
"You'll enjoy this, I promise. Not as much as I will, but still … " He nudged her legs open wider, then looked up at her. "Lean back on the wall for support, then bend your knees a little."
She hesitated-and finally did as he asked, stepping her feet apart, flexing her knees.
Heat washed over him. "That's it." He opened her with his fingertips, teasing more, stroking over-into-slick, hot places, before leaning forward for the most intimate of kisses.
Her long, vibrating moan turned him on as much as her taste.
Licking his tongue over her, in her, he gave them both what they wanted. She grew wetter, her breathing more ragged. He teased her clitoris and heard her loud gasp.
Cupping her hips to help support her, he kept her upright and slowly drew her in, rasped his tongue over her, sucked.
In less than two minutes, she couldn't hold back her escalating cries.
As she came, she called out his name. Spencer clenched his fingers on her luscious behind, holding her still, relishing her honest reactions and how quickly she came for him.
Not until she knotted her fingers in his hair again did he let up. He stood and lifted her in one smooth move, taking her to the bed and putting her on her back.
She quickened, but he said, "Shh. It's okay," and moved back for a condom before she could get too wired about their positioning.
Soon as he had that covered, he turned back to her and pulled her to the edge of the bed, her legs open around him.
She eyed him with uncertainty. "I'm not riding this time?"
He shook his head, words beyond him. Putting her ankles up to his shoulders, he bent his knees, guided himself into her, and pressed deep in one long, smooth, slick thrust.
She arched up. "Ah, God."
"I know. It's deep this way." He locked his arms around her raised thighs, keeping her from retreating. She was already so wet, but still he worried. "I'm not hurting you?"
"No. No, it's … " Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and she groaned harshly. "Don't you dare stop."