Pretend It's Love(18)

"Yeah." He nodded.

Happiness wasn't something he'd ever worried much about before. He was  an easygoing guy. Something that came from having low expectations. But  he'd realized that there was a big difference between avoiding  disappointment and being happy. Watching Libby kick goals tonight made  his chest expand with pride. He was rooting for her, they were a team.

And that made him happy. The real kind of happy.

He said good-bye to Des and Gracie, his arm around Libby's waist. Her  head rested against his chest, hair falling loose of its pins. As the  door shut, she stepped out of his grip.

"I have to call a cab," she said, pressing her fingers to her temple. "There's no way I can drive like this."

"You're not catching a cab on your own." He shook his head. "Stay here."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Nice try."

"I have a spare room, the bed's got fresh sheets and everything. You'll be comfortable." He gave her a pointed look. "And safe."

"I catch cabs by myself all the time." She collected the empty shot  glasses and tumblers from the table and carried them to the kitchen.

"Don't tell me that." He followed with the remainder of the bowls and glasses.

"And I don't want you getting any ideas." Her words were punctuated by the clatter of the plates being lowered into the sink.

He laughed. "Too late."

"You're terrible." She shook her head, but a smile twitched at the corner of her lips.

"I'm a guy, and you're the hottest woman to ever set foot in my house."  He reached around her to place the glasses in the sink, his arms  brushing her waist. "Plus, I don't like unfinished business."

"Unfinished business?" She blinked, her eyes wide as saucers.

He trapped her against the sink, and the memory of kissing her at his  parents' house flooded him, chased by the vision of her beneath him. He  was hard as a rock just thinking about it. Restless energy filled him  with the need to touch, taste. Consume.

"You, me, your couch." His hands skimmed over her waist. "An untimely visitor."

She dropped her gaze, her hands coming up to his chest. God, he wanted  those hands on him. He wanted that luscious, perfect mouth of hers on  him. He wanted it all.

"So you got publicly dumped, too?" she asked, her cheek coming to rest on his chest.

If there was a quicker way for his libido to nosedive he couldn't think of it. "Why do you want to talk about that?"

"I want to know you, Paul. I get the feeling it's something that made an  impact on you." The heat from her breath came in slow puffs through his  shirt, tickling his skin.

He shielded himself against the memory. "I came home and found her  packing her things; she thought I was going to be out the whole day.  Turns out she'd been cheating on me."         

     



 

"And she admitted to it?"

"Yeah." He swallowed against the bitter taste in his mouth. "It was a  bit hard for her to deny it when he was standing right there."

Her mouth dropped, and she looked at him with exactly the kind of pity he'd wanted to avoid. "Did you know the guy?"

I more than knew him; I'd spent every Christmas, birthday, and family event with him. He was my blood, my family.

"Yeah, I knew him." His muscles twitched.

Though he'd long stopped grieving the loss of both Sadie and his cousin,  the hurt still kicked up from the bottom of his soul every so often  like dirt at the bottom of a lake. He hadn't spoken to his cousin since  that day, hadn't even uttered his name once.

"Do you want to hear my story?" She tilted her head.

Did he? Knowing her pain wouldn't make him feel any better, knowing that  she understood didn't make a difference … did it? But chances were she  hadn't asked to benefit him.

"Sure." He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind  her ear, toying with her dangling earring for a moment. "Spill."

"I was sleeping with my TA at university." She let out a laugh, though  her hazel eyes didn't crinkle as they normally did. "Not quite as cliché  as sleeping with the professor, but close enough. I though he was the  smartest, most brilliant man on the face of the earth."

"He couldn't have been that smart if he dumped you."

"He was smart when it came to manipulating people to get what he wanted.  But then he was done with me, and I didn't take the hint. I tried  calling him, texting him. When I approached him about why he was  ignoring me, he told the coordinator that I came on to him and asked  that I be removed from the class." She shook her head. "I had to explain  my side of the story to the professor and the faculty coordinator. It  was utterly humiliating, and in the end I gave up trying to get people  to believe me. I was wrong about us getting serious, but I at least  thought he respected me intellectually. Turns out he had female students  lining up, and he'd chew them up and spit them out on a regular basis."

"So we're in agreement that relationships suck." He smoothed his hands  over her shoulders and down the lengths of her arms. "What I don't  understand is why you're punishing sex."

She laughed. "You're doggedly persistent, you know that, right?"

"It's not the worst thing I've been called by a long shot." He slipped  his hands around her waist and dropped them down to her lower back,  drawing her closer.

"I don't want anything to mess this up; we've got a good thing going  here." She shrugged. "I'm making headway with Des and, if I can get my  products into First, I'll have the proof of success all these other  restaurants want. We'll get your mixology idea off the ground, and I'll  do my bit by playing happy girlfriend at the wedding. We both walk away  friends. No pain, no mess."

"Sex doesn't have to change that."

"What if you fall in love with me?" she teased.

"You're sexy as hell and smart to boot, but there ain't no chance of that, Tiger."

He couldn't fall in love with her, no way, no how. Ambitious, well-to-do  girls like Libby-and Sadie-wouldn't go the distance with him. They were  always hungry for the next thing-they wanted more. And he couldn't give  it to them. But what he could give them was the best damn sex of their  lives.

A strange sensation twinged in his gut. This was exactly what had led  him into an endless string of women warming his bed, and he was supposed  to be done with that.

So why did Libby make him feel like it wasn't the empty kind of encounter he'd grown to hate?

She nodded, splaying her fingers flat against his chest. "Good."

"Is that a yes?"

"I don't believe you actually asked me a question."

He picked her up and set her on the edge of the kitchen bench, nudging  her legs open so he could stand between them. The stretchy material of  her polka dot skirt rode higher up over her thighs, revealing a flash of  hot pink satin.

"I asked you to stay the night."

She waggled a finger at him. "You told me to stay."

"You want me to beg, Tiger?" He pressed his lips to the hollow at the  base of her neck, his teeth scraping at her skin. "Not gonna happen. If  anyone's going to beg, it'll be you."

Her head lolled back. "I don't beg."

"Oh you will." He kissed farther down, his hands deftly popping the  buttons on her blouse. "I won't let you come until you beg shamelessly,  incoherently. I'll hold you right on the edge until you say my name like  it's the only word you know."         

     



 

Her whole body trembled as his lips made it to the edge of her bra. Hot  pink satin outlined with yellow lace, colorful and bold just like her.  Hard nipples pressed against the fabric, drawing his eye and then his  mouth. He tugged the cup down until he could taste all of her.

"Is that a yes?"

She sighed, her eyes fluttering closed. "You still haven't asked me."

"May I fuck you into oblivion?"

She laughed, her finger threading into his hair and yanking his face up. "Well, when you put it like that … "

"Say it."

"Yes, Paul." She brought her mouth to his in a hot open-mouthed kiss that set his whole body alight. "Yes."





Chapter Nine

Somehow they made it to his bed, though he was sure he'd find a trail of  clothes leading like breadcrumbs to his kitchen in the morning. That  was a problem for tomorrow, however, because he was certain about one  thing-Libby wasn't leaving his bed until the sun came up.

Copper strands of hair fanned out across his pillow like silk streamers.  She stared at him with hooded eyes, her hands reaching out.

"First things first, Tiger." He came down between her legs and blazed a  trail with his mouth from belly button to the waistband of her single  remaining item of clothing.

"Don't rip this pair," she said, her back arching as he pressed a kiss  between her legs. "They're too pretty to go into the trash."