Happily Ever After: A Romance Collection
Page 97
“She’s getting married, not getting divorced,” he says.
“I’m aware. But even good stress is still stress.”
“If you say so.”
“Look, something you need to know about Tahl is that she’s been planning her wedding in her head since she was ten. This is a big deal for her. And her mother isn’t going to get off her back until she has the perfect society wedding. You haven’t mentioned anything to Chase, have you?”
Cole crinkles his forehead and shakes his head. “My personal life is none of my brother’s business.”
“Good. So, you agree?”
He shrugs. “I guess so. If you’re comfortable lying to your friend about it.”
Ouch. That stings. “It’s to help her, and really what’s the point in telling her? Nothing is ever going to happen again.”
He chuckles for a split second. “If you say so.”
That gives me pause. “I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“You think I don’t notice the way you check me out every time you see me?”
I clench my hands into fists at my side. Who actually says this shit out loud? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He chuckles at me. Again. And it makes me want to rip his larynx from his throat so I don’t have to listen to it anymore.
He takes a step toward me so there’s little to no room between us and I’m forced to tip my chin up to look at him. “Really? I must be imagining the way your eyes dilate every time I meet your gaze. Or the way your breath hitches just a little any time I touch you.” To prove his point, he takes his index finger and runs it along the curve of my neck. I suppress a small shiver but from the shit-eating grin on his face I can tell that he knows he’s affected me. “Maybe I’m dreaming up the way your nipples harden whenever I get within a few inches of you.” His gaze slips down to my chest and I don’t need to follow it to know that he’s right.
“It’s a little chilly out here,” I say meekly in defence.
“Admit it.” He leans in even further and I can smell his cologne and feel his breath tickle my cheek. His mouth is now lined up beside my ear when he says, “You want me.”
I push at his chest and roll my eyes. “You really do have the world’s biggest ego.”
“You told me I had the world’s biggest cock the night you came home with me.”
Heat floods my face because I can’t even defend myself. I was too drunk to remember. “I think you’ve got that twisted. I probably told you you were the world’s biggest dick. And look at that, I’m right.”
He looks like he’s about to say some quip when he pauses and studies me for a few beats. “Wait a minute. You really don’t remember saying that, do you?”
Shit. I do not want him to know that I don’t recall what happened that night. It will only give him the advantage. “Come on, Sparky.” I turn and begin walking further down the path. Sparky’s loyal because although I know he’s as attracted to Cole as I am (based on the two-pump hump on his leg when they first met), he follows me and prances happily by my side.
At first, I think that Cole’s going to let us walk away, but he catches up after a few seconds.
“Do you remember anything from that night?”
“I remember you feeding me drinks at the bar so I’d go home with you.”
“Whoa. Hold up.” He grabs my elbow and forces me to stop once again and look at him. “I was not getting you drunk to take you home. You were already well on your way to being shit-faced before I even stepped into the bar that night.” I stay silent because it’s true and I have no retaliation to that. “I had a few myself, if you recall. It was your idea to leave the bar together. I did not take advantage of you.”
I can’t believe I’m about to ask this, but I have to know. I suck in a big breath and swallow my pride. “What happened after we got to your place?”
A lopsided smirk pulls up one corner of his mouth. “You don’t remember anything?” I shake my head. “Interesting.”
That’s all he says. Interesting. And I’m left looking at him, waiting for him to enlighten me. “Are you going to tell me?”
“Nah. I think I’ll keep that to myself because I, for one, remember everything.”
The way he says everything has me clenching my thighs together. The word sounds about as loaded as I was that night, which is a lot.
“Seriously. You’re not going to tell me?”
He waits a beat before answering. “I tell you what. I’ll reveal one thing that happened that night every time I see you if you give me a chance and don’t act like a total bitch.”
“I am not a bitch.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“I didn’t say you are one. I said you can’t act like one. There’s a difference.”
“Semantics.”
“Specifics.”
I stand there heated and staring at him. I’m equal parts angry and hot for the guy, which is messing with my mind.
“Do we have a deal?”
“Fine.”
He holds out his hand and I take it. We shake on it and I let go pretending my palm isn’t still tingling from his touch.
“Good. And to show you I’m a man of my word I’ll even fill you in on something right now even though you haven’t been especially nice to me this afternoon.”
I grit my teeth and clench my fists, otherwise I’m afraid I might actually haul off and hit the guy.
He reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket. “You forgot this at my house.”
It all happens in slow motion. His hand pulls out of his jacket and I see a flash of bright pink. As he pushes it closer to me I realize it’s the Tickled Pink vibrator that Lennon gave me.
My breath hitches, my heart stutters, and my hands fly up to cover my face. He’s holding it out in between us like he’s passing me some mundane object and before I know what’s happening Sparky jumps up and snatches it from his hand.
And because I’m so brilliant and dropped the leash to cover my face, he takes off in the direction of the small forest at breakneck speed, hot pink vibrator clenched tightly between his teeth.
“Shit!” I yell and start to run after him. It’s only seconds before Cole overtakes me and is running ahead of me.
Sparky really knows how to work those little legs of his. I had no idea he could run this fast. When he reaches the edge of the forest he stops and turns to face us. I swear the little shit is grinning at me with that sex toy between his teeth. I can’t focus on the complete mortification of having Cole return the vibrator to me because if I return home without this little fur ball my grandma is going to kill me.
Cole and I both slow our approach and try to come at the powder puff like you’d approach a wild animal.
“Come here, Sparky,” I say in a soft and lilting voice. “Come over here.” I stretch my hand out and for a second I think that maybe he’s going to make this easy on me and head my way.
Thunder claps from above us and Sparky darts further into the park.
“Damn it.” We both follow him and within seconds the sky opens up and cold rain starts pelting down on us. This situation just got a whole lot shittier, given the fact that I chose to wear a white shirt today.
“Sparky!” I yell after him.
“Come here, boy!” Cole calls out. I roll my eyes at that one. Does that even work?
Sparky comes to a grouping of trees and seems unsure what to do. Thunder sounds from the black clouds hanging overhead and Sparky panics again, whipping his head side to side, looking for a place to go.
I see it at the same time he does. A downed tree that’s hollow inside. He turns and covers the few feet to the entrance in seconds.
“Sparky, no!”
But it’s too late. He’s already inside.
“Shit. Now what are we going to do?” I scream and stomp my foot on the ground like a two-year-old.
I glance over at Cole, who’s kneeled at the other end of the log, peering into it. “Hey, buddy.”
“How is this my fault?” He raises his head and glares at me.
“If you hadn’t held out that… thing like a bone, he never would have gone after it. I mean, who does that in the middle of a public park?”
“Who leaves their vibrator in someone else’s house?”
“It’s not my vibrator.”
He screws his face up. “So, you walk around with other people’s sex toys?”
“Yes. No!” I let out some noise that’s a mix of a scream and frustration. “You can be so annoying.”
He ignores my last comment. “Well, which is it, yes or no?”
“Technically yes. But it’s brand new and a friend had just given it to me to try out.”
Cole shakes his head to himself. “I swear I’ll never understand women.”
I blow out a long breath. “Can we just focus on getting Sparky back so that we can get the hell out of here?” I cast him an irritated look and bend back down on my haunches and peer into the hole from the other side. Sparky’s still there, cowering against the inside of the large log, hot pink vibrator still in his mouth like it’s a fucking stick.
“Come here, Sparky. Here, boy.”
Sparky doesn’t move but just continues to stare straight ahead at me.
“Come here,” I say in my most cajoling voice when all I really want to do is scream, Get out here, you little runt. I’m soaked and freezing my ass off and you’re running around the park with a pink vibrator in front of this insanely hot guy who probably already thinks I’m nuts.
But Sparky doesn’t move.
In frustration, I stand and stomp my foot again. “He’s never coming out of there.”
“Let me try.” Cole comes over to my side so I take a step back to allow him room. He bends down in front of me and I have to admit that the view isn’t half bad.
“Sparky. Sparky, come here.” He slowly reaches his hand forward and into the opening of the log for Sparky to smell. I can’t see if it’s working or not, but Cole holds his pose for a minute and then I see Sparky’s little face near the opening.
I guess Cole’s scent is truly irresistible. Even to another species.
He moves his hand just outside of the opening now. “Come here, boy. You know you want to.”
Boy, do I.
Sparky moves a couple more inches until his entire face is out of the log. I hold my breath hoping he won’t retreat. Cole moves his hands closer and closer until they’re wrapped around Sparky’s little body and he’s lifting him to his chest.
“There, little guy. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he says as he pats his head. “Do you want to get out of here?” Cole glances over at me and I come out of the trance I was in watching him be so gentle to the little minx.
“Oh. Yeah, of course.”
He closes the distance between us. “We don’t have to, you know. A forest fuck in the rain could be kind of cool.” His gaze flicks down to my shirt, which is white, soaked, and plastered to my chest. I don’t have to look down to know that my nipples are erect and proudly on display.
“Yeah, not happening.”
“You sure about that?” he says. He bends to the side to put Sparky on the ground and closes those final few inches between us until our chests are just barely touching.
“Nothing can ever happen between us again.” Jeez, even I can tell I didn’t mean that by the sound of my voice.
“I would have thought with the way you were crying out my name last time that you’d want a repeat.”
I still. “What do you mean?”
He slowly shakes his head back and forth. “Don’t you remember our deal? You have to be nice to me and I’ll tell you next time I see you.”
Damn it. I’d give almost anything to be able to remember that night now. If I was begging whatever was going on must have been damn good.
“Fine.” I rip the leash from his hand and begin to walk back out of the forest. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”
I hear Cole following on the forest floor behind me. “Sure it does. I know as well as you do that you’re dying to know.”
I simply shrug. It’s useless. He’s obviously enjoying playing this little game with me and I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing for sure how much it’s bugging me that he’s the only one who remembers what happened that night.
Cole jogs up until he’s beside me. “You keep forgetting this.”
In his hand is the Tickled Pink vibrator. Without a word, I snatch it from his hand and continue walking with my head held high and long confident strides I don’t really feel.
I’m amazed that I didn’t give any thought to the fact that I left it there. I can only assume my subconscious either thought he was too much of a gentleman to bring it up or it was blocking it out completely as a way of coping. Clearly assumption number one was wrong. There’s nothing gentlemanly about Cole Webber.
Sadly, I seem to kind of like it that way.
11
I have to nail him.
This. Not him. I have to nail this interview.
Cole’s been on my mind ever since that day at the park last week and apparently, he still is. I can’t believe he’s even coming to mind while I’m sitting in the reception area waiting to be interviewed for my dream job.
WHFI is a Bay area station and they’re looking for someone to do their on-air weekly investigative report. Even though I worked at a newspaper before, this was always my end game. The chance to be on air doesn’t come around often and to be able to do it while investigating and righting wrongs for the less fortunate? It doesn’t get any better than that. At least not for me.
“Miss Knight?” I glance up at the receptionist across the room sitting at her desk. “They’re running a little behind on the interviews, so it will be a few more minutes.”
“No problem.” I smile wide. My old boss at the paper used to tell me that he’d always check with the receptionist to see what her impression of each interviewee was, since everyone’s on their best behavior when they’re in front of the person who has the ability to give you your paycheck. It’s how they treat the people who can’t do anything for them that’s the best judge of their character.
I sit there letting my one knee bounce up and down for a minute when an attractive blonde enters, goes to speak with the receptionist, and then comes to sit down near me.
I try to glance over at her inconspicuously so I can size up my competition and then wish I hadn’t. If I’m up against her I’m in trouble. She’s gorgeous. Actually, she’s beyond gorgeous. If I’m honest, she reminds me of Kate Upton.
Look, it’s not that I have zero self-esteem, because I like to think that I have a decent amount. But if we’re comparing apples to apples and one of those apples is just your regular average apple and the other is juicy, shiny, and would win the prize for best apple at the spring fair then they always pick the latter. Being on air is about being able to do the job and being attractive. Sad? Maybe. But that’s the reality of it. The station owners aren’t going to put Quasimodo on the evening news.
A little piece of my confidence shreds away and falls to the floor.
“Are you here for an interview, too?”
It takes me a second to realize that she’s talking to me.
“You look nervous.” She smiles and Jesus, she’s even more radiant. A part of me wants to dislike her because she’s probably going to win this job over me, but there’s something sweet about her.
“I am. And I am. Nervous, that is.”
“Me, too.”
“Are you interviewing, too?” I ask, hoping she says no.
She nods her head and my stomach twists. “I’m hoping for the sportscaster job.”
Suddenly a ray of hope shines through the dark, desolate sky. “Well, good luck.” And I mean it because she seem
s nice. “I’m here for the reporter job.”
That awkward silence ensues for a moment. You know, the one where you’re chatting with someone you don’t really know and you’re not sure whether to continue the conversation or just let it drop. “So, you’re big into sports?” I ask.
“I grew up with four older brothers so I didn’t have much choice.” She hesitates and seems to consider whether to divulge the rest of her story for a moment. “I know I don’t look like your typical sports reporter.”
I’m not sure what to say to that because she’s right. “No, you don’t. They usually have more chest hair. Less chest.” I decide to go with stating the obvious.
“Right?” She laughs. “I’ve been cursed with these things since I was a teenager.” She looks down at her very, very ample bosom.
“Really? I was praying for something like that when I was a teenager.”
We laugh together this time and she sticks out her hand to shake mine. “I’m Kelsey.”
I take her hand. “I’m Whitney.”
“Nice to meet you.” She smiles but then slumps back into her chair a bit. “It’s been so hard trying to get a job in this industry with these. No one wants to take me seriously, but I know what I’m doing. I’ve been watching sports since I was in the womb and I went to broadcasting school. I can do the job. I just need someone to take a shot on me.”
“That has to be frustrating.” I feel bad for Kelsey. She seems nice and though I was wishing I could have a figure like hers when I first saw her, now I’m wondering if it’s more curse than blessing.
“Can you believe that one station head down near Los Angeles actually told me I wouldn’t be able to do the job? That these”—she points to her considerable assets—“would be too distracting for the players.”
“He actually said that?” I see a spark in her eyes and though she comes across as sweet and fairly innocent it’s clear that she can hold her own when provoked.
“Out loud.”
“Wow. I don’t even have words for that.” My phone buzzes from my purse on my lap and I reach in to find it. “Excuse me for a second.”