Down and Dirty(13)

“Nope. Not once we’ve finished our little talk.” The mattress squeaked, and a second later the bedside lamp flickered on. She flinched at the sudden brightness.

“Jesus, warn somebody before you do that.” She felt blindly around for the sheets and held an armload in front of her, the modesty feeling a little foolish since he’d been inside her less than a minute before. She backed her way toward the corner of the room where her clothes lay on the floor.

Through her squinted eyes she could see him, reclined on the bed, naked and watching her. “Can you close your eyes, please?” she groaned, more annoyed at herself for staring at those glorious shoulders than she was at him.

He did as she asked. She tugged on her blouse and wrapped the sheet around her like a skirt. “Okay, you can open them.”

“I’m pretty sure I get it, but you want to tell me what just happened here?” he asked, crossing his thick arms over his chest. The motion drew her gaze to the black Japanese symbol on his shoulder, and she again found herself struggling for words. She wouldn’t have figured boring Shane for a tattoo guy. Although, she wouldn’t have figured him for the kind of guy who had just done…that with her, either. If she’d known it would be so primal, she never would have done it.

Damn it, Shane, you were supposed to bore me.

“I just figured it was time to get it over with, you know? Things have been weird between us since that night at the lake, and I’m sick of it. I thought maybe if we slept together it would take the mystery and intrigue out of it all and we could go back to being friends…or whatever we were.”

His blue eyes lasered into hers, and Cat felt compelled to say more.

“Plus, Lacey kind of dared me…” Jesus, on top of that being totally out of context, it sounded so frigging lame. “It felt like the thing to do at the time. Especially after a few drinks.”

He cocked his head to the side, and let out a short laugh. “So you’re telling me you were drunk? Because you seem pretty coherent now.”

“At first I was,” she amended flatly. But was that even the truth? From the second she’d gotten close enough to smell him, to feel the heat coming from his body, she’d been as sober as a funeral director. She could have changed her mind then, just as she’d almost done on the way up. But instinct and the need to get closer and explore the electricity arcing between them had overridden the warning bells jangling off in the distance the entire time.

“And then?” he pressed, unrelenting.

There was the question. The one she didn’t want to answer—not out loud, anyway—and he saved her from having to.

“And then you did what you wanted, regardless of the consequences, just like you always do.” His gaze was as intense as she’d ever seen it, and she shivered. “Are you happy now, Mary Catherine?”

Hell if that didn’t make her sound like the spoiled little brat he’d called her back at the lake that night. But he didn’t know the half of it. That it wasn’t just his refusal that had haunted her. It was him. Everything about him. Exasperated, she ran a hand through her hair. “Look, I’m done discussing this. We did it. It’s over and I, for one, would like to pretend it never happened.”

“You can do that if you like.” He rolled off the bed and padded toward her, completely unconcerned about his nakedness or the fact that, in spite of their recent activities, his body hadn’t gotten the memo that they were done. “But I’ll tell you one thing. I’m definitely not going to pretend it never happened. On the contrary, I’m going to think about it every day when I wake up, and every night when I go to sleep, and probably at various points in between.”

He stopped two feet in front of her, and the breath froze in her throat as she craned her neck to look at him. God, he was gorgeous, and the gaze that had left her feeling so exposed only made her feel more so now. He brushed a curl back from her face with a gentle finger.

“Want to know something else?”

She shook her head no, but his lips tilted in a mocking smile and he continued anyway. “I’m going to put in some real thought about how to make that”—he tipped his head toward the bed—“happen again, real soon. Because in spite of your actions, you’re grown now. It’s open season, and you’re fair game.”

She swallowed hard and cleared her tight throat. “Yeah, well, don’t hold your breath. I’m not interested. Besides, my brother loves you and all, but he won’t like us being each other’s booty call.”

“Who said anything about booty calls? I can get laid anytime. I’m talking about me and you, together.” He cupped her cheek and bent low toward her, until she could feel his warm breath on her lips.