Nice Until Proven Naughty

by K. L. Grayson

  He reaches behind his head, pulls everything off, and drops it to the floor. My mouth waters at the sight of his naked chest, which is insane.

  I’ve seen men who are ripped. Not in person, but in magazines and on TV, but none of them looked as good as Lucas does. I’ve only been with two other men in my life, but I never wanted either of them the way I want Lucas right now.

  “You’re so handsome,” I breathe, causing his dick to jerk between us.

  An unnamed emotion flickers across Lucas’s face. His eyes hold mine as my tongue darts out, licking the head of his cock, and when I lower my head and take all of him into my mouth, Lucas groans.

  “Jesus, Sam.”

  I wrap my hand around the base of his cock, moving it up and down as I take him to the back of my throat. I do it over and over, licking and sucking.

  He buries one hand in my hair while the other teases my neck. It feels so good.

  Too good.

  I want his hands everywhere. Squeezing my nipples, pushing inside of me, grabbing my ass.

  I moan around his dick and his hips jut forward. “I won’t last if you keep doing that.”

  “That’s sorta the point,” I say, pulling back long enough to get the words out. When our eyes meet, his are blazing with unbridled passion. “Take me,” I whisper.

  Lucas’s nostrils flare as he gathers the hair at the back of my neck. He uses one hand to hold it away from my face and the other to cup my jaw, and then he starts to move his hips.

  His thrusts start out slow and gentle, but quickly picks up speed until he’s fucking my mouth. “You feel so good, Sam.”

  His words add fuel to my growing fire, and I sink lower onto my haunches, putting me at more of a slope. I open my throat, and on the next thrust I swallow.

  Lucas grunts and pulls back when I start to gag, and then he does it again and this time I swear I swallow the tip of his dick.

  “Shit…” he pants. “Feels so good…not gonna last.”

  I keep sucking, prepared to take everything he has to give me, and on the next thrust, Lucas explodes, releasing his salty taste into the back of my throat. I swallow every last drop, and a second later, he hauls me off the floor.

  “What am I going to do with you?” he murmurs against my mouth.

  “I can think of a few things.”

  He slants his head, covering my mouth with his as he tastes himself on my tongue.

  Without breaking our kiss, Lucas pulls the hem of my dress up until it’s bunched around my hips. “Christ, woman, you aren’t wearing panties under this dress?”

  I bite my lower lip and shake my head.

  “It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know that, or we would’ve put on quite a show for the townspeople.”

  Lucas puts a knee between my legs. “Spread your legs for me, sweetheart.”

  I follow his gentle command, and he rewards me by falling to his knees.

  He grins wickedly, his eyes glittering with mischief as he lowers his head and presses a hot kiss against my clit. His fingers glide up and down my legs before two slip inside of me.

  “You’re soaked.”

  I lift my hips, pushing them toward his face, wanting nothing more than that amazing mouth back on me. “It’s your fault.”

  I stare down at Lucas’s big, hard body cradled between my legs and shudder. He’s watching me like a starved man.

  “You’re so beautiful.” He drags a finger through my wetness and circles it around my clit. My body trembles. “And sensitive. We’re going to have fun together.”

  “Mmmm,” I moan, wrapping my hand around his head, hoping he’ll catch my drift and keep it there.

  He chuckles and blows against my core.

  “Please,” I beg.

  Two thick fingers push inside of me as his tongue swirls and his lips suck, and oh, holy night, his mouth is magical.

  I’m not going to last. My body is strung so tight, but I squeeze my eyes shut, grip the soft strands of his hair, and hold on for as long as I can.

  “Sweetheart, you’re going to rip my hair out.”

  “Sorry. I’m sorry.” I massage the spot on his head.

  “Use those pretty fingers to play with your tits.”

  My eyes pop open. I’ve never touched myself in front of a man. “You want me to…”

  “Touch yourself. Don’t be embarrassed, Sam. Just do it. I promise it’ll feel great.”

  I obey, pushing away any pangs of insecurity. I pinch both of my nipples, rolling them between my fingers while I watch Lucas lick and suck my pussy.

  “Ahhh,” I breathe. “I’m not going to last.”

  Lucas sucks harder.

  I feel my orgasm building and building, rising up my legs before settling in my belly. The tight knot grows and grows, and then a rush of energy bursts through me.

  “Lucas!” I chant. “Lucas, oh God, that feels so good.”

  The entire bar can probably hear me, but I don’t give a damn. All I care about is this man and his mouth and his tongue and those lips and that heart—which I’m never letting go of. Ever.

  My eyes roll back in my head as the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had rips through me.

  Lucas doesn’t stop until I’m a limp noodle, and then he lifts me into his arms and walks to a cozy chair. He settles me onto his lap and brushes a sweaty chunk of hair from my face.

  “Need to get you back to my place,” he mumbles, his face against my hair.

  “Let me catch my breath, and then you can do whatever the hell you want with me.”

  “Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

  “Never.” I shake my head and blink up at him. “Why? What did you have in mind?”

  He shrugs and holds me a little tighter. “Oh, I don’t know. A few more rounds of great sex are probably where I’ll start. And then I’ll spend the next several years pushing your boundaries to see just how naughty you are.”

  “Naughty,” I tell him, loving the sound of his plan. “Super naughty.”

  14

  Nice

  “There you are.” I snag Maryanne from backstage and thrust the microphone at her. “Two more people and then Ben is up, which means I have to man the bar. You need to take over for me.”

  “O-okay.” She fumbles to catch the mic before it falls.

  “You’ll be back on in ten minutes, after the intermission.”

  Maryanne nods and looks at me as though she’s completely lost, but I don’t have time to explain anything to her right now. Jumping from the stage, I plow through the crowd and hop onto a barstool and over the bar.

  “You’re up soon.” I take the beer mug from Ben’s hand and finish pouring a drink he started.

  “Blue dress at the end of the bar,” he says, telling me who the drink belongs to. “Listen, about yesterday morning.”

  “We don’t have time for this, Ben.”

  “Mrs. Bauman left all of her medicine here, and I had to take it to her. I thought I’d be in and out, but she wouldn’t stop talking, and by the time I got back you were gone.”

  “Oh.”

  “I didn’t want you to think I’d just leave you here like that.”

  “Thank you for telling me.”

  “Dani, I—"

  “We don’t have time to talk right now, Ben,” I say as gently as possible. “You need to get up there and get ready. It’s almost over.”

  Ben doesn’t look at all happy with my dismissal, but I refuse to let this fall apart at the last minute for my sister. She’s worked way too hard in a short amount of time on this event.

  “Fine. But don’t leave.”

  “I won’t.” I slide the beer to the woman and grab her money, giving her a quick smile when she tells me to keep the change.

  The bar is buzzing, and I run my tush off while the next two bachelors are auctioned. When it’s Ben turn, and he steps on stage, the crowd goes wild. You’d think they would’ve calmed a little with all of the men who’ve already been auctioned, b
ut Ben is a local favorite.

  Combine that with the flow of alcohol in these women’s veins, and all bets are off. I have a feeling Ben will go for the highest bid yet.

  He looks so sexy up there on stage in that ratty concert T-shirt I bought him years ago. He’s wearing a baseball cap, which he’s spinning around—something he does when he’s nervous—when the first bid rings out.

  As predicted, a bidding war ensues, and before long the bid is bouncing between the perky redhead who was bidding on Lucas, and a woman across the room who’s face I can’t see.

  “Fifteen hundred,” Maryanne yells. “Can I get sixteen?”

  “Hey!” Sam yells over the rowdy crowd. “What are you doing back here? You should be out there bidding on him.”

  “Who’s going to watch the bar?” I have a helper, but we’re still swamped.

  “Lucas and I will.” She pulls the dishrag from my back pocket and gives me a polite shove out from behind the bar. “Go. We’ve got this.”

  I stumble onto the floor, knocking into a woman who smiles brightly. “Isn’t this fun?”

  Giving her a thumbs up, I nod and push into the crowd. When Maryanne calls for eighteen hundred, I raise my arm, and I’m quickly met with a higher bid from Ms. No Face.

  “Two thousand,” I yell, trying to get closer to the other woman because damn it, I want to see who else is bidding on my man.

  “Twenty-one hundred,” she shouts. I see a blond head bouncing around, but that’s all.

  “Twenty-two.”

  Ben’s eyes widen along with his smile when he catches sight of me in the sea of people. I give him a little wave, and he waves back. I’m guessing every woman in the room thinks he’s waving at her because several cheers ring out.

  I shake my head and laugh.

  “Do I hear twenty-three hundred?”

  “Twenty-three,” I yell.

  “Twenty-four!”

  “Twenty-five!”

  “Twenty-six!”

  Holy cow, this woman means business. I hesitate before making the twenty-seven-hundred-dollar bid—it’s money I’d have to take from my saving account, which means I won’t be getting that new car quite as soon as I’d planned.

  Ben notices my hesitation and furrows his brow. “It’s okay,” he mouths.

  I hold up my hands and give him puppy-dog eyes. “I’m sorry.” I just can’t do it.

  “Twenty-six hundred going once,” Maryanne announces. “Going twice. Sold to the woman over here.”

  A loud whoop ricochets off the walls, and I clap along with everyone else in the room.

  “That’s a wrap, ladies and gentlemen. We want to thank everyone for making our first bachelor auction such a huge success. Thanks again to Samantha Kringle for coming up with this great idea, which I’m certain we’ll be using again in the future. Just a reminder that whoever you bought at the auction is your date for the cocktails and coattails party tonight at town square, and at the party we’ll announce how much money we raised for the women’s shelter.”

  There’s a thundering round of applause, and instead of everyone filing out the way I expect them to, mostly everyone sticks around to talk and drink.

  Avery, Crystal, and Faye jump behind the bar to help me out while Ben makes his rounds, getting stopped at every turn. Finally, he makes it to the bar and pulls me to the side.

  “You bid on me.”

  Why does he sound so surprised? “Of course I did.”

  “Why?”

  “Why do you think, silly?”

  He opens his mouth to respond when Maryanne pops her head between us. “Sorry to interrupt. Ben, I need to steal you for a few minutes. There’s a reporter from the newspaper, and she wants to take pictures of all of the guys.”

  “Sure, no problem. I’ll be right there.” He waits for Maryanne to leave before turning to me with a deep sigh. “We keep getting interrupted.”

  “It’s okay. Duty calls. Go.”

  Ben touches my arm, his eyes holding mine for a beat before he walks away.

  “You okay?” Sam walks over and leans a hip on the bar.

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because the man you're in love with is going to a black-tie Christmas party with another woman?”

  “Just because they’re going together doesn’t mean they’re going to be together.”

  “I know that. But do you?”

  “I just said it, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, but it sounded more like you were trying to convince yourself.”

  “Maybe because I am,” I say, finally giving in with a pout.

  Naughty laughs and slings an arm around my shoulders. “Maybe some really old woman bought him. Someone not even remotely attractive.”

  “I hope you’re right, because it’s going to kill me if I have to work the bar the whole night and watch him out on the dance floor with some Barbie lookalike.”

  “Have a little faith. That’s not going to happen.”

  “Excuse me, can you point me toward the restroom?”

  Sam and I turn to look at the lovely woman standing on the opposite side of the bar. Platinum blond hair cut into a short bob that appears to be tapered in the back. She has a fresh look, with subtle pink undertones to her makeup and a big plush sweater she’s paired with skinny jeans.

  “Yeah,” I point toward the billiard room. “Through there.”

  She turns and frowns as she sees how many people she has to wade through to get there. “I think I’ll hold it.”

  I nod and Sam laughs. “Good idea.”

  The woman pulls out a barstool and plops down. “Might as well have a drink. Do you have red wine?”

  “Sure, what kind?” I ask.

  “Surprise me. I’m not picky.”

  I grab a bottle of my favorite merlot and pour her a glass. She takes it, swirls the liquid around, and takes a sip. “Mmm. I needed this.”

  “Are you from around here?” Sam says, asking the question that was just rolling through my head. “I’ve never seen you before.”

  “I’m new in town.”

  “Welcome,” I say, extending my hand. “I’m Dani, and this is my sister, Sam.”

  “My name is Lesley.” She shakes my hand as well as Sam’s. “It’s nice to meet you both. I take it you work here?”

  Sam hooks a thumb in my direction. “She owns the place.”

  “Wow, that’s awesome.”

  “Thank you. Although I don’t own it completely by myself. My business partner, Ben, owns half.”

  Lesley perks up. “Ben Wallace? The last guy to get auctioned off?”

  “Yeah. Have you met him?” I ask.

  “No.” Her grin is mischievous and a ball of unease forms in my stomach. “But I just bought him.”

  “You…you’re the one who bought him?”

  She bites her bottom lips and nods. “I figured what better way to get to know the local hotties than buy one as a date to the Christmas party? Who knows, maybe we’ll hit it off.”

  “Maybe.” I drag my worried gaze to Sam, who is already pulling a bottle of whiskey from the shelf.

  “Oooh, the crowd just thinned out. I think this is my chance to use the bathroom. It was nice meeting you.”

  “You too,” Sam says, elbowing me when all I do is stare.

  “Uh, yeah. Have fun tonight.” I wait until she’s out of sight before turning to Sam who already has a shot poured for me. “Have a little faith,” I murmur, mocking Sam from earlier. “It’ll be fine, you said.”

  Sam blinks.

  “You lied.” I bring the glass to my lips and toss it back. “One more,” I say, putting the glass on the table.

  “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea—” Her words cut off with my icy glare, and she pours the second shot.

  “Easy for you to say. You’ve got Hottie McHotterson over there to go to the dance with. I’m going alone. Alone, Sam. And Ben is going with that beautiful blond bombshell. She’s not
old,” I whine. “Why can’t she be old or ugly or stinky? She’s not stinky! She smells amazing. And why is the universe working against me?”

  I take the second shot and drop my forehead to the bar. I don’t think this night could get much worse. This holiday season is not turning out the way I’d hoped.

  15

  Ben

  I pop a chip topped with some fancy crab dip in my mouth and listen to Lesley talk while I discreetly watch Dani work the makeshift bar from across the way. We didn’t get to talk at Sal’s earlier; the place was too crowded. And the afternoon bled into evening. Before we knew it, we were both scrambling to get out the door to get ready.

  Now we’re here. Her working and me enjoying the company of a beautiful woman who looks nothing like the woman I’d rather be sitting across from.

  “Dani told me that you and she own Sal’s. That’s exciting. I’ve always wanted to own my own business.”

  “You talked to Dani?”

  She nods and sips her Coke. “At the bar after I outbid some pour soul to win you.”

  I nearly choke on the chip in my mouth. That pour soul was Dani, but Lesley doesn’t need to know that. “So, Lesley, you said you’re a teacher, but you’d also love to own your own business. What kind of business would you like to have?”

  Her pretty face lights up as she rests her arms on the table. “I’m a self-taught photographer. I’d love to have my own studio.”

  “Why don’t you?”

  “One of these days maybe. But for now, I need to get settled in, work on building clientele, and save up.”

  “I’ll keep my eye out for a building. My buddy owns a lot of property in town; I can put a bug in his ear, if you’d like me to.”

  “That would be great! It’s nothing I want to do right now, but I absolutely want to keep my eyes and options open. And if you know anyone looking to get their picture taken, send them my way.”

  “Absolutely. Let me get your number.” I pull my phone from my pocket, and Lesley slides around so she’s pressed right up against me, watching me put her info into my phone.

  For no apparent reason, my thoughts turn to Dani, as they have a dozen or so times over the last hour. I glance up and catch her eye from across the room. Her hand is frozen midair. I smile at the same time her eyes shift to my phone and then the woman sitting next to me.