Home>>read Ross 02 Rock Me free online

Ross 02 Rock Me(10)

By:Cherrie Lynn


That was probably all he wanted to ask. “Oh! It looks great. Hasn’t given me any problems at all.”

“Cool.”

Why had she never really noticed that he was oh-my-God tall? When she stood next to him, the top of her head came no higher than his shoulder. He’d have to bend to kiss her, and she’d gladly rock up on her tiptoes to meet him halfway…

He cleared his throat. “I’ve been wanting to call you.” Candace wondered if she should confess the same thing to him. It hadn’t seemed— “It didn’t seem right, for some reason,” he finished.

“I know what you mean.” Her gaze was focused resolutely on the cover of The Evil Dead sitting on the shelf in front of her . She hated how small her voice sounded.

“But I saw you there just now and…it seems ridiculous that we can’t still be friends, doesn’t it?”

Well. Ouch. She thought only girls were supposed to run the “let’s be friends” line. Of all the bad ideas in the world, this had been the granddaddy. As much as it wounded her, she should accept his casual friendship and stop obsessing. Quit setting her fool self up for heartbreak. Because that’s all she was doing. But she missed him. Seeing him in his tattoo parlor last week and thinking about him all day every day since then had shown her how much. His breakup with Michelle had devastated her more than her cousin, if only because if Michelle wasn’t seeing him, then Candace couldn’t see him, either.

“It seems really ridiculous,” she said, not intending for the sad note to enter her voice. “I always liked hanging out with you.”

She had the bad feeling that he wanted to reach over and rumple her hair, and she didn’t think she could bear the kid-sister gesture right now. “Likewise, sunshine.”

This wasn’t going nearly how she’d planned when she first looked up and saw him standing over here. That excitement was in ashes now, incinerated by one little “f” word that under normal circumstances was not considered dirty.

Sam was going to be so disappointed. Somehow, the thought of watching her face fall when she heard they’d decided to be friends in the horror section at Blockbuster was the most devastating thing of all. But she supposed having him in her life in that capacity was better than not having him at all.



37

Cherrie Lynn

“I didn’t mean to abandon you when Michelle and I stopped seeing each other. I figured you were mad at me, or you didn’t care.”

“Oh, no. Don’t ever think that. Whatever happened with you guys, it wasn’t my business.”

“I know how close you two are.”

“We’re close, but she never told me why you ended things. It’s cool. I totally understand why you didn’t keep in touch. It’s the same reason I didn’t.”

He put the movie he’d been looking at back on the shelf and turned to face her. “How is she?”

This kept getting worse. “She’s great. She’s still working on getting her Master’s degree, happily seeing some guy I don’t like at all.”

He laughed. “That makes me feel better.”

“How so?”

“I’d hate the thought of you liking her new guy better than me.”

“That would never, ever happen.” She couldn’t look at him as she said it, and he didn’t reply. Maybe she’d shocked him. Maybe that had been too suggestive. But it was the truth, and she wanted him to know it. “So, um…what are you looking for here?”

“Anything. I was bored and hoping I could find something to catch my interest. Not much luck so far.”

“Why? Seen everything?” she asked teasingly, reaching over to give his arm a pinch. She really just wanted to touch him.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Wow. She’d known he liked scary movies because Michelle had always whined about it. Candace wanted to roll her eyes at the thought. They didn’t bother her in the slightest, and given the opportunity to snuggle up and grab onto him during the jumpy parts…no, she wouldn’t have any problems with that whatsoever.

“Have any recommendations for me?” she asked.

“What are you into?”

“Um…what do you mean?”

“Well, do you like slashers, or gory torture porn, or psychological? Or what?”

“I have no idea.”

He laughed. It was a deep rumble that melted her very bones. “Most of the drivel Hollywood churns out lately is crap. You have to look to other countries to get the good stuff. France is awesome. Very extreme.”

“I’ve never seen a French horror movie.”

“They’re definitely not for the faint of heart.” He strolled away a few steps, scanning the shelves.

“Let’s see… Hey, there’s a good one. Have you ever seen The Descent?”

38





Rock Me

“No, I wanted to, but…”

“But?”

“Well, honestly? I love scary movies but my friends hate them, and I don’t like watching them by myself. It seems every little creak or bump freaks me out afterward. I know it’s stupid.”

“Aw, getting spooked out is the most fun,” he drawled, flashing her that grin she really wished he’d stop flashing before she ended up hanging onto his leg. He bent to snatch a movie from the shelf. “You’re watching Descent, I insist. It’s one of the best to come out in recent years, in my humble opinion, but if I have to come over and babysit you through it, then so be it.”

“Hey, now. I don’t need a babysitter.”

“You totally do. What are you doing now?”

“Now? Um…” She glanced over the shelves to where Sam and Macy were strolling through the new releases a few aisles away, occasionally sending her a glance and a thumbs up. She hated to skip out on her friends, but Sam had told her not to mind them… “The girls and I were going to watch something tonight, but it wasn’t set in stone or anything.”

“Oh. Well, I was going to say we should hang out, but I hate to drag you away from—”

“It’s totally fine!” Sam bellowed, waving at them as Macy shook her head. Candace face-palmed as Brian burst out laughing.

“I don’t think they really wanted to hang out with you all that much,” he observed. That wasn’t it at all, and he knew it. But God bless him, he seemed to be trying to save her from the embarrassment of having this raging, out-of-control crush on him. She would be forever grateful. “Sounds like you’re right about that.”



39

Chapter Five

If only Mom knew what I was doing now.

Candace tossed a popcorn bag into her microwave and set the timer, unable to repress a smirk. It was hard to believe Brian was in her living room. Brian. Was in. Her living room. Feeding the DVD

into her player right now. Moments before, he’d been fiddling with the color on her TV, after proclaiming it “crap”. Before that, he’d been in the kitchen with her, casting such a dark shadow around her cheerful white-and-yellow décor that she’d hardly been able to breathe. His very presence here overwhelmed and unnerved her. Not that she didn’t like it, or want it. The unfamiliarity of having a man in her living space was manifesting itself in a thrum beneath her skin, a slight tremble in her fingers, and perpetual dryness of the mouth. She’d nearly dropped everything she tried to pick up and she’d probably choke on the popcorn if she tried to eat it right now. Heck, she needed one of the beers he’d stowed in her fridge. And she hardly ever drank. Her cell phone bleeped at her from the counter and she picked it up to find a text message from Sam: Have u handed in ur V-card yet? Even as the question made her want to dive under her bed and hide, she had to snicker at the idea that she and Brian had a captive audience across town. We just got here! Call u later, she tapped back, and hoped that would be that for the night. Knowing her friends, they were going to harass her all night, demanding updates. What did they expect her to do, hop on Twitter during the act and give them a play-by-play?

She gave a half-hysterical giggle at the thought as the microwave chimed.

“What’s so funny in there?” Brian asked.

“Oh…oh, um, texting with Samantha.” She shoved the phone in her pocket, peeking over the bar that separated her kitchen from the living room. Brian was perched on the edge of her sofa, thumbing the remote control. Once the movie was queued up and ready to go, he sat back, his long legs sprawled in front of him.

Candace swallowed hard around the fast-forming lump in her throat. Images flickered through her mind. Sauntering naked into that room and straddling him. Her fingers deft and confident as she freed his erection from his jeans and guided it inside her. Riding it to ecstasy with his mouth all over her breasts. All week long she’d been having fantasies like that. But now, with his presence, they were so much more vivid. So much more…within reach.

Rock Me

Ridiculous. Just because she had him in her apartment didn’t mean she was any closer to having him than she’d ever been. Sighing, she retrieved the popcorn bag from the microwave, dumped its fluffy, fragrant contents into a big bowl, and joined him on the couch. The movie kept her riveted from the start, but she was always aware of him. They were seated far enough apart that another person could have fit between them, and she ended up setting the popcorn bowl there so they could both have easy access. When he wasn’t digging into it, he would stretch his arm across the back of the couch, but the action only brought his hand close to her left shoulder. Nowhere near as close as she would’ve liked.