God—so many things I want to do to her right now. With the way she’s looking at me. With the way her breasts are rising and falling on each fast breath. Fuck. I need to get out of here.
“Good night, Iris.”
I move to take a step back but her tiny hand falls to my chest. She sets the phone on her dresser, rises onto her tiptoes and presses her rosy lips to my cheek. “Good night, Jude.”
She’s pulling away but my lust takes over. I trap her hand on my chest, right on my thudding heart. My free arm goes around her waist. We stare at each other.
And I stop fucking thinking.
I rush forward and press my lips to hers. For a moment, we both freeze. We stand there, gazes locked, cross-eyed, mouths pressed together, perfectly still, trying to process what the fuck we’re doing.
I’m kissing Iris Merlini. My college rival, my roomie, the woman I’ve been thinking about even though I know I shouldn’t.
Her eyes begin to flutter shut. Slowly, gradually, her tiny hands smooth up the front of my chest and hair clips rain down on the floor. My muscles lock in place as my entire body absorbs the sensation of her touching me.
Then, Iris flings her arms around my neck. And she kisses me.
She pulls me down for better reach and she kisses me, sweeping her soft tongue against the seam of my mouth. I’m helpless to do anything but open up and let her tongue inside. Suddenly, she’s not so shy anymore. Iris is in control, tilting her head to get the perfect angle.
That’s when my hands start roaming, touching, squeezing. With my pelvis, I push her into the doorframe, making her feel just how hard I am for her.
My greedy fingers find the hem of her dress and slide beneath the fabric, traveling up her velvet-smooth skin. When my good knee slides between hers, she’s gasping for air, writhing against my leg in an instant. Now, my hands are in her hair, holding her head right where I want it so I can devour her mouth just like I need to.
She’s tugging my shirt out of my waistband. And frantically undoing my buttons. And splaying her warm hands across my chest.
And fuck, this woman is everything.
Everything, everything, everything.
Everything I imagined her to be all those years ago. When she belonged to another man. My best friend.
The thought causes me to falter. Just for a second. But it’s enough to make Iris falter, too.
Her lips leave mine with a wet pop. She pulls back. Looks at me with wide eyes, like we just finished committing a crime. A crime of passion. The hot lust splattered all around us like blood evidencing our sin.
She's flushed and breathless, staring at me with dazed eyes and her jaw loose in shock. "I-I lost control..." she explains, visibly embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I lost control.”
I really like you out of control.
That's what I should say, but I already feel like a bastard. Like I've taken advantage of a fragile situation. I’ve taken advantage of a vulnerable woman. I’ve touched her the way no man should ever touch a woman that used to belong to his best friend.
So when she scoots her body along the wall and closes the door in my face, I don't say a thing.
I drop my head back, face up to the ceiling and I flinch.
I'm the world's biggest dumbass.
I drag myself into my room. Hours pass but I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about Iris’s hungry kiss. My fingers lock around my cock and I give myself a few listless strokes. But I know that jerking off won’t satisfy me. Only Iris herself can quench this need.
Regret is my bed buddy tonight because I wish I’d taken it further. When she’d started apologizing, I should have shut her up with another kiss. But I didn’t.
After staring up at the ceiling for far too long, I decide to go fix my dumb mistake. I drag myself out of bed and pad down the hallway to her bedroom.
But as I stand outside her door, trying to work up the nerve to knock, I hear a sensual sound. Almost sounds like a groan.
I lean closer. I hear Iris speaking in a sultry voice. “Oh, baby, that feels so good. I never knew what a real man could feel like until I met you.” There’s a heavy pause. She groans again. “Mmm. I swear I’ve never seen a cock so big, so long, so…girthy. I don’t know if I can handle it but I want you to give it to me. All. Night. Long.”
I blink. Half a dozen times. I rub my ears, shocked, dumbfounded. I think my toes are going numb. I scrub a hand down my face as I take myself back to my own room. My ass lands heavily on the edge of my bed.
Shit, the woman isn’t some sad and lonely divorcée. In fact, it looks like she’s already gotten herself someone else to keep her company.
I read Iris all wrong.
22
Iris
I nearly mow down one of Lexi’s customers when I storm through the front door of Renewed Gowns, Crescent Harbor’s only pre-owned bridal gown boutique.
“Excuse me. Sorry. I’m so sorry,” I say to the woman who seems too love-drunk to care as she floats out the door with her just-bought bridal dress.
Lexi grins and waves from behind the cash register as I amble across the room. “You finally ready to get rid of that thing?” She gestures at my wedding gown in the clear garment bag slung over my arm. “Sheesh! Finally! And no offense but that dress has some bad juju on it. We’re gonna have to dry clean it and power wash it and exorcise it before I can sell it to anyone.”
With panic ripe enough to burst inside my chest, I slam down my garment bag on the counter between us.
“I kissed him.”
My loud declaration draws the interested stares of the shoppers browsing the racks of secondhand bridal gowns lining the walls. A blush sets fire to my cheeks.
I haven’t been able to work or to sleep or to think in the past twelve hours. All I can think of is that kiss. I needed to get out of the house because the whole damn building seems to be throbbing with the reminder of my moment of uncontrolled lust.
I need my bestie to talk me off the ledge.
“What!?” She’s even louder than I am and I can virtually see her customers’ ears bulging out to grab pieces of our conversation.
I circle behind the counter with her and lower my voice. “Well, maybe Jude kissed me first.” I frantically shake out my tingling fingers. “But then I got carried away. And I practically tore his clothes off in the hallway.”
Lexi is nearly vibrating with excitement. “In the hallway? That is so hot, Iris Merlini. I’m freaking proud of you.” She squeals and claps her hands. “Okay, now start at the beginning.”
My fingers twist up together. “Well, I was out on this really horrible date,” I begin.
“Yeah, Cannon told me all about your little date, you sneaky thing.” She folds her arms and snakes her neck at me.
I shoo her away, flapping both hands in the air. “The guy started getting really weird, Lexi. Really weird. And then, next thing I know, Jude was at my table and he was all, ‘Are you gonna leave or are we gonna have a problem here?’” I do a terrible imitation of my roommate’s deep, sexy voice.
Lexi makes an impatient, speed it up motion with her hands. “And then the loser ran out of there with his tail tucked and then…?”
“Then, Jude took me home. And I was so embarrassed, I ran out of the car without my phone and locked myself in my bedroom. And then he knocked and gave me my phone back…”
Lexi is leaning toward me like a kid at story time. “And then?”
“Well, I kissed his cheek.” I flinch. “And then, he kissed my mouth.” I flinch again. “Just a little kiss. I think he surprised himself when he did it. And then…I attacked him. With my tongue. I mounted my poor roommate like a raunchy equestrian and practically tried to devour his face.”
My friend is fanning her cheeks. “Oh, I am loving this new, take-charge version of Miss Iris Merlini!”
“No, this is bad,” I groan. “Very bad. I lost control and behaved like a fool. He regretted it. I regretted it. And now things are gonna be even more a
wkward between us.” I’m red-faced and rambling.
“Oh, boo. Don’t apologize. You’ve been repressed too long. It’s time you get your freak on. Let that freak flag fly!”
“It was a mistake, Alexia.” I’m trying to convince myself just as much as I’m trying to convince her.
Lexi is smirking, focused on fluffing up a vintage fur stole hanging on a mannequin near the cash register. “He initiated it, Iris.”
“By accident.”
“So, he just fell and his tongue landed in your mouth? Give me a break. The man is hot for you. He said it himself over dinner that night. Embrace that shit…” She gives me a wink. “…and embrace that dick!”
I cross my arms on the cool glass counter and drop my head. “You should have seen the look on his face, Lexi. After I crawled off his body like some sex-crazed—” I search for an appropriate word. “—creature!” I bang my forehead a few times for good measure. “Jude Kingston is not attracted to me. Have you seen the women he hooks up with?”
She braces me by the shoulders and pushes me into an upright position. “I have seen them, and believe me when I say they have nothing on you, Iris.” Her gaze softens. “Your self-esteem needs some work because you were with a loser who didn’t fuck you for two years since he was too busy dipping his stick in pools that were most likely infested with crabs.” I flinch at her analogy. “That was his loss, and had nothing to do with you.” Lexi cradles my face in her cold hands. “Iris, you deserve to be happy. You deserve to feel great about yourself and have a little sexy time with your hot roommate.”
Before I can respond to her comment, a delivery guy comes through the front door carrying the biggest bouquet of lavender, wax flowers and white roses. “Delivery for Alexia Kingston,” the man announces as he approaches the desk.
When he sets down the flowers, she discreetly checks the card and blushes on a private smile. She hands the man a tip from her register and he goes along on his way.
“Wow! These are beautiful, Lex.” I lean forward and enjoy the fresh sweet scent of the flowers.
“Aren’t they? Cannon makes sure I get a new bouquet every day for the shop.” She grins. “He had them delivered today since he left town on business this morning. I love them so much.” She sighs. “Too bad the florist is going out of business.”
“They are?” I thumb the leaf of a rose.
“Yes, I spoke to the owner a few days ago. They’re retiring. They’re closing up soon unless they get a buyer to take it off their hands. I’m gonna miss them.” She motions toward the bouquet. “In any case, this is what we deserve, Iris. Men who go out of their way to make us feel special. You settled for Kirk for so long that now, you don’t even know what that looks like. But trust me, hun, there is a good guy out there for you. Who knows? It might even be Jude.”
Lexi and I met when she first came to town and opened her bridal boutique a few doors down from my old sandwich shop. She immediately decided we’d be best friends. And you just don’t argue with Alexia Robson once she’s made up her mind. But in moments like these, she proves herself to be more than deserving of the title.
“So…” Lexi begins casually as she does a terrible job of arranging her flowers in a glass vase she pulls from beneath the counter. “You gonna fuck him?”
I gasp in shock but I’m a damn hypocrite because I’ve spent the past few hours imagining just that. “No, I’m not going to fuck him,” I whisper-shout.
She looks up from her bouquet and tilts her head to the side. “Iris?”
“Yes?”
“Are you allergic to orgasms?”
I can’t look her in the eyes. I clutch the vase and drag it across the counter toward me. “Of course I’m not allergic to orgasms,” I say as I carefully move the roses around and position the lavender so it drapes just right. I stop my fiddling to look her in the eyes. “This is scary, Lexi…I think I actually like him.”
“All the more reason to go all turbo-equestrian riding his dick.” She shrugs.
“You are insane.”
She rolls her eyes. “You had a dirty divorce. And it’s time for you to get back in the game. With some high-profile dick,” she deadpans. “And if Jude is anything like his older brother, I’m guessing that man is packing some premium quality wood.”
I try to hold back a snort as I finish re-arranging the flowers. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to get any more over the top than you already were.”
Lexi quirks a narrow shoulder. “You love me.” She skips off to help a customer trying to lift a gigantic ivory frock off a rack.
I have a million conflicting dialogues screaming in my mind as I turn toward the door. “Lex, I’m gonna get going.”
She waves after me. “I’ll call you later…and consider what I said.” Ride that dick, she mouths after me.
I hear my phone singing from the bottom of my purse as I step out onto the sidewalk. I quickly sift through my bag. I check the screen and all the hope and possibility and fluttery excitement I was feeling goes sour.
Kirk. Again.
Hell no!
I haven’t spoken to him in months. As soon as the legal proceedings started, he opted to communicate only via our attorneys, depriving me of the opportunity to ask questions, to get closure from him. Now, all of a sudden, he’s randomly started calling me again these past few days. He wants to talk? I don’t think so.
I quickly decline the call and push my phone down to the bottom of my bag. I doubt he’s calling about repaying his overdue debts, so I really have nothing to say to him.
Plus, I’ve got a whole lot of new and scary and confused emotions to sort out.
23
Iris
I really need to get some work done today. It feels like my money-making endeavours have taken a backseat to my ongoing emotional meltdown these past few days. I can’t slack off. I need to establish a stable source of income. I’ll still need to pay the bills after Jude is gone.
I’m headed to my room with a late afternoon cup of coffee. I’m so busy balancing my laptop and my too-full mug as I exit the kitchen, that I almost run straight into my roommate who is headed in the opposite direction.
“Whoa,” he murmurs, sidestepping me and my scalding liquid.
“Sorry!” I squeak, halting in my tracks. Somehow, none of the coffee spills.
Now, we’re standing in the hallway, only inches apart. Neither one of us in any real hurry to move. This is the first time we’ve come face-to-face since that kiss the other day. And from the way my heart is pounding now, I think it may be medically-advisable to steer clear of this guy for the foreseeable future.
He juts his chin at my cup. “Coffee, huh?” He smiles.
I chew on the corner of my bottom lip and shrug. “Yeah, coffee.”
“You should give my tea a try. See what all the hype is about.”
“Oh really?” My eyes trail down to his broad shoulders and strong chest. My mouth waters to ‘see what all the hype is about’.
He nods. “One taste and you’ll become a convert, lady. My tea is some good stuff.” Sounds like some heavy double-entendre to me.
My heated cheeks swell with my smile. “We’ll see.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.”
Afternoon light dances through the spaces in the hallway curtains. We stare at each other some more. His dimple is deeper than I ever noticed before. And his lips. I want to brush my mouth against his just to see if they’re as soft as I remember.
I want him. With a primal lust I’ve never felt before and I know I won’t be able to control myself if I stand here too long.
I need to get moving before I do something stupid. Again. “Excuse me,” I say in a shy lilt.
Gallantly, he steps out of the way and makes a silly sweeping motion through the air. I giggle—did I just giggle? Oh lord—and he winks.
I hustle past him. Then, I feel his fingers brush my waist and clench. “Hey, um…I think we need to talk…” Is he nervous? It sure
seems that way. He takes a breath but before he finishes, my doorbell chimes. We both glance over at the entrance.
Crap. Now, I may never find out what he was about to say…
I carefully set my mug and computer on the mantle. Jude steps out of my path, and I move to answer the front door. I feel his protective presence behind me as he lingers in the room to see who my unannounced guest is.
I pull open the door and…
“Ohhh…” The word whooshes out on a low, surprised breath.
Three tall, burly professional football players stand shoulder-to-shoulder in my doorway.
24
Jude
Another round?!”
The room breaks out into riotous cheers and someone lets out an earsplitting whistle as Jason Bellino, defensive safety for the Paragons, slams his empty glass on the bartop.
Instantly, Penny and the other bartenders get to work, preparing drinks for the entire crowd. I groan, burying my face in my palm as the bar goes wild.
So much for the low-key night out these assholes promised me.
Jace just can’t help himself. My teammate is convinced he looks like an Italian underwear model, and as such, the guy’s a shameless attention whore. After posing for selfies and autographing a few butts and bras, he’s moving through the crowd toward our corner booth with pitchers of beer and a face-wide grin.
Knox pulls his cap low over his eyes and sinks down in his seat, shying away from the attention Jason is drawing. Our star running back is the most reserved of us all.
“Dude, please don’t do that again,” Maxwell begs with a pained cringe, shoving a finger into his ear and wiggling it around. He’s the Paragons’s starting quarterback and team captain. As a now-reformed party boy, he makes it his mission to keep us in line, even when we’re not on the gridiron.
In any case, I haven’t been great about keeping my phone charged since arriving at Iris’s house. At first, it was just because my knee was throbbing, and I didn’t have the willpower to constantly get up and rummage for my charger. But soon I realized I was enjoying the silence and being disconnected from the world.
Mister Baller: A Small Town Enemies-to-Lovers Sports Romance (Bad Boys in Love Book 2) Page 13