1-900-Lover

by Rhonda Nelson

Will blinked, jerked from the fantasy. “Yeah?”

  “Where did you meet her?”

  “Er…a mutual friend.” He supposed he could call Scott a friend. Splitting hairs, he knew, but he wasn’t about to tell her the truth. He’d given Rowan his word that he wouldn’t share her secret, and though his mother clearly didn’t believe him—and clearly didn’t appreciate it—that promise extended to her as well. “Okay,” he sighed resolutely. “I’m out of here.”

  “Out of here? B-b-but it’s only f-f-four o’clock,” she sputtered, whirling around as he strode past.

  “I know,” Will replied with exaggerated patience. “I learned how to tell time in first grade.” He flashed her a smile. “Bye, Mom. I’ve got a date.” With that parting comment, he headed for his truck.

  Before he’d left Doris’s this afternoon, he’d asked Rowan to bring her bathing suit and a bottle of her favorite wine, and he’d take care of the rest. Therefore a swift trip to the grocery store was in order, thus his excuse for leaving early. He also intended to get his dirty clothes out of his pantry. The thought drew a smile.

  Which brought to mind her smile.

  Which brought to mind her lips.

  Which brought to mind her kiss.

  Which brought to mind sex…with her.

  Honestly, it was a vicious cycle, Will thought as a vision of her bare breasts and dewy curls leaped obligingly to mind. Tight nipples, the gentle swell of her belly, the perfect curve of her hip, and those tanned thighs wrapped around him, pulling him deeper and deeper into her heat. He let go a shaky breath.

  Will had been turned on before, he’d even had great sex. But never in his life had he experienced anything remotely close to the chemistry and heat—the sheer perfection—of being with Rowan Crosswhite. When he’d finally pushed himself between her legs, he’d filled his lungs with more oxygen than they’d ever held—then she’d clenched around him and he’d promptly lost it again.

  It had been the strangest sensation. The hair on the back of his neck had prickled, a hum of electricity had raced up his spine, then radiated out over his shoulders, buzzed down his arms and tingled into his fingertips.

  The moment had been too rife with some unnamed something to merely let it pass, so he’d drawn her to him and kissed her again…and then he’d been lost. Lost in her sighs and kisses, lost in her heat, lost in a world where the only thing that mattered was being with her—being inside her.

  He wanted that mindlessness again, Will thought, swallowing as a curious sensation commenced in his chest. Today had merely been an appetizer—tonight he fully intended to devour her. Every freckle, every mole, every white part, every pink part. He smiled in anticipation.

  All her parts.

  ROWAN FISHED her cell phone out of her purse, then punched in Will’s number and waited for him to pick up. Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. “Hello.”

  “Hey,” she said warmly. “Just wanted to let you know I’m on my way. I’m, uh, running a little late.” She shifted into fourth gear, nudged the horses into action, and the purr of the motor had its usual calming effect.

  “What happened?”

  Rowan rolled her eyes, strummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “Ida happened.”

  His sexy chuckle sounded in her ear. “Let me guess. Another errand?”

  “Her new orthopedic shoes came in today. I had to go get them for her.”

  “Well, look at this way.” Though he was trying to be helpful, she could hear the humor in his voice. “At least it wasn’t another enema or wart remover.”

  “In the morning I have to wax her upper lip,” she said flatly.

  A shocked laugh burst from his throat. “I hesitate to point this out, but she could have asked for a Brazilian, then you would have really been in trouble.”

  “Too true,” Rowan conceded with a laugh, equally relieved and revolted. Though she grumbled, she truly didn’t mind running errands for Ida. It gave her something to do to fill up her day, to keep her from thinking about being alone or cast adrift. She turned onto his road, and breathed a curious sigh of relief. Almost there. With him. Where she instinctively knew things would instantly get better.

  “Where are you?” Will asked.

  “A couple of miles from your house.”

  “Good,” he murmured suggestively, “then we’ve got time for a quickie. Wanna hear something cool that happened to me today?”

  Rowan felt a smile drift around her lips and a secret thrill whipped through her. She’d created a monster. Hell, she was game if he was. She liked shocking him, hearing those wicked words come out of those sexy lips.

  In fact, playing the part of the naughty phone sex operator last night had been particularly hard, especially after her stimulating conversation with Will, and she grimly suspected it was only going to get harder. But she really needed the money, and it seemed impractical to quit just because she didn’t enjoy it. Hell, she’d never enjoyed it. So why should now be any different?

  She knew the difference—Will had made the difference. He’d showed her what she’d been missing, which made it all the more difficult to pretend.

  Furthermore, he’d made that leading little comment about her not having time for her 1-900-line anymore, and the only thing which had saved her from an awkward reply had been the timely arrival of their waitress.

  Rowan knew that now that she’d gone to work for him, that he fully expected her to give up the 1-900-line. Considering that she’d cited immediate money woes and those woes were now basically nonexistent, it wasn’t an illogical deduction. But just because she didn’t need the money right now didn’t mean that she wouldn’t need it in the future. It just wasn’t practical. Regrettably, she had more to consider than Will Foster’s pride.

  Rowan dragged her thoughts back to the conversation at hand. “Sure. What happened to you today?”

  “That girl I told you about last night? We had an…interesting lunch date.”

  Rowan bit the corner of her lip, remembering. Warmth rushed to her core. “Oh? What did you do?”

  “We had wild, mindless sex in the ladies’ bathroom of a local pool hall.” His voice held a strangled quality.

  She let go a shuddering breath, felt the tips of her breasts tingle with remembered heat. “Sounds fun. Did you like it?”

  A short burst of laughter sounded in her ear. “I more than liked it. I loved it. She rocked my world. She has the most amazing little body. Everything is tight and compact. Her breasts are a mere nod away from my mouth,” he murmured, seemingly distracted. “Did I tell you that I tasted them? That the feel of her taut nipple on my tongue made me almost explode? That it took every ounce of willpower I owned to take care of her first, to make sure that she came. I didn’t want her to think I was a lazy lover,” he added.

  Rowan swallowed an ironic snort. “I seriously doubt that was ever in question.” There was nothing remotely lazy about Will Foster.

  “Sliding into her, feeling her greedy body clenching around me was the single most amazing sensation I’ve ever had. Hell, we were in a bathroom—a bathroom, dammit!—with a roomful of people on the other side of the door, and I swear, the building could have tumbled down around me and I—” He sighed. “I wouldn’t have blinked. I was too caught up in her. Lost in her.”

  Rowan let go a soft sigh, felt her goofy heart swell as she listened to him talk about their afternoon. About being with her. “She sounds like a lucky girl.”

  He chuckled, lightening the curiously tense moment. “I would hope she’d agree.”

  “I’m sure she would,” Rowan said drolly. “Would you like to hear about my day?”

  Another sexy laugh, then, “Would I ever.”

  “Remember that guy I told you about last night?” she murmured softly. “The one who makes me so hot my panties stay drenched when I’m around him?”

  “Yes,” he replied in a strangled voice. “I r-remember.”

  “This afternoon, he and I made it in a
bathroom as well. It was fantastic,” she moaned appreciatively. “One minute I was sitting there calmly eating my lunch. Then I caught him looking at my mouth—looking at me as though I was the last loaf of bread on the shelf before a winter storm—and I… I just snapped. I mean, the nerve of this guy! How could he sit there and look at me like that? Literally light me up—in public, no less—and then not do anything about it? How could he just sit there and expect me to eat my burger, when I wanted to eat him, or better yet have him eat me.” Rowan let go a sigh, pressed her thighs together to stem the flow of heat gathering at her center. “So I did what any pathetically horny girl would do— I excused myself into the bathroom, then I called him, and I called his sexy ass on the carpet.”

  “That bastard,” Will teased unsteadily. “I hope you gave him what he deserved.”

  “Oh, no. I’ve just gotten started with this guy. I’m thinking some serious torture sessions are due. I want to blow him until he weeps, then ride him until he his eyes roll back in his head. I want to make him beg,” she all but growled. She was so hot she could barely drive, but pulling over would only delay being with him. She couldn’t bear it.

  Geez, God, she did want to do all these things to him, but she honestly couldn’t believe she had the nerve to say them. Would have never believed that she would say those things to a guy and mean them and, even though a part of her insisted on making him lose it as well, Rowan knew that her desire to keep the upper hand only played a small part in why she could let go with him. Why she could say the things she said. For whatever reason, she felt safe with him. Felt the chaos of her world hit a lull and she clung to the hope of that feeling.

  Will swallowed audibly. “Make him pay, baby, that’s all I can say. Make him pay.”

  Rowan grinned, swung her car into his drive. She could hear the purr of her car from his end of the line, so she knew he had to have heard her as well.

  She pulled around to the back, saw Will standing next to the grill, his barbecue tongs forgotten in his hand. He looked at her and smiled, a grin that was at once hot, happy and a wee bit stunned. She liked that, Rowan decided. Liked that she’d shocked him.

  He was barefoot and shirtless, and from the damp, slightly curly look of his hair, he’d either spent time in the shower or the pool, probably both, she decided. He’d slung a kitchen towel over his shoulder, and looked completely at home and unguarded. Relaxed. Need and affection broadsided her, pushing a wobbly smile into place.

  She shifted into Park, killed the engine, then took off her sunglasses and grinned at him. “I’m here to collect.”

  He laughed, gestured toward the grill. “Can I have my last meal first?”

  What? Hadn’t she made that plain? Didn’t she just tell him he could eat her? Rowan barely resisted the urge to tell him. Honestly, this scandalous behavior was coming a bit too easily to her for comfort.

  She heaved an exaggerated long-suffering sigh, snagged the wine and climbed out of the car. “I suppose.” She disconnected, then joined him by the grill and sniffed appreciatively. “Something smells good.”

  Will flipped the steaks over. “I picked up a couple of filets on my way home. How do you like yours?”

  “Medium rare.”

  “Ah,” he sighed. “A woman after my own heart.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “You could pour us a glass of wine.” He nodded toward the table. “Glasses are over there, as well as a corkscrew.”

  Rowan grinned, arched a brow. “You’re just a regular Boy Scout, aren’t you?”

  His honey gaze tangled with hers and a corner of his sexy mouth tucked into a grin. “Always prepared.”

  Well, he’d certainly prepared things this evening, Rowan thought, secretly pleased for all the trouble he’d apparently gone to on her behalf. He’d set a beautiful table, complete with candlelight, linen napkins and a bouquet of his prized roses. Honestly, she would have been just as happy with a paper plate and a Dixie cup, but this was unexpectedly…nice.

  Will transferred the steaks onto a platter and brought them over to the table. “Okay. We’re ready.”

  Rowan dressed her salad. “Thanks,” she told him. “This looks wonderful.”

  “You know, I’ve been thinking,” Will began in that too light tone that usually preceded an awkward conversation. “In light of how fast our relationship has progressed to an intimate level, I uh…really don’t know that much about you.”

  She speared a tomato wedge and dragged it through her dressing, then popped it into her mouth. Rowan chewed thoughtfully, considered him. This was true, she decided. Though she honestly felt like she’d known him forever, other than his name, his profession, his respect for the past, for the soil and every hair, freckle and mole on his body, she really didn’t know him at all. She resisted the urge to smile.

  Rowan took her time swallowing. “What would you like to know?”

  “I guess I could sit here and ask about family, friends, dreams, goals and desires—” Will smiled “—but what I really want to know is this—why aren’t you married yet?”

  She blinked. “Come again?”

  Will exhaled a mighty breath. “You’re wonderful,” he explained. “You’re smart, bright and funny. Sexy as hell,” he added with an implied growl. “Why hasn’t somebody snatched you up yet? I find it hard to believe no one’s asked.”

  Flattered, Rowan felt the warmth of the compliment down to her little toes. She shot him a droll look. “Someone asked,” she admitted.

  “And you said no?”

  “No,” she sighed. “I stupidly said yes.”

  A puzzled line emerged between his brows and he opened his mouth to ask the obvious question. “But—”

  “I called it off.”

  “Because…” he prodded expectantly when she didn’t elaborate.

  God, this was so embarrassing. Logic told her that it hadn’t been her fault that Mark had cheated, but there was still a small part of her that held on to insecurities, that held on to was-I-woman-enough? worries and all that baggage.

  Rowan poked her tongue into her cheek and smiled ruefully. “Because I caught him in bed with another woman. Good enough reason, wouldn’t you say?”

  Will nodded, winced. “Yeah, I’d say so.”

  Rowan slouched back in her chair, took a sip of wine and waited for the alcohol to dull her senses. “Do you know what I really regret about all that mess?”

  He shook his head, silently encouraging her.

  Rowan’s gaze slid to her car, felt her eyes narrow into little pissed-off slits. “I let that cheating bastard drive my car. My dad told me when he gave it to me that any guy that would ask to drive it wasn’t worthy of my attention, to basically kick his ass to the curb.”

  “Sounds like good advice.”

  Rowan nodded. “I used that strategy with every guy I dated—I never let any guy drive my car—right up until Mark.” She chuckled grimly. “He slid right under my radar.”

  “It can happen,” Will told her.

  Rowan looked up, her senses going on point. “Since we’re sharing, is that the voice of experience?”

  He worked a kink out of his shoulders and a dry bark of laughter erupted from his throat. “Oh, hell, yeah.”

  “What happened?”

  His gaze drifted to hers, held it. “Same scenario, but we weren’t engaged. She made a complete fool of me.”

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  Will laughed without humor. “So do I, now.”

  Her gaze turned inward. “Why does it always have to be so hard, I wonder? Finding the right person? Other people do it and make it look easy.”

  He hesitated. “I don’t think it’s ever easy.”

  “Okay,” she qualified. “Maybe easy’s not the right word. But they make it work.” She cast him a glance, traced the smooth lines of his face and felt a muddled heat stir in her loins. Her nipples tingled and a bud of need bloomed in her belly. “Is your mother rig
ht, Will?” she asked softly. “Are you lonely?”

  She was, though she was loath to admit it. For all her independent-woman bravado, there were times when she thought if she spent another minute in her own company she’d scream. Most of the time she was content, but some secret source of information—intuition, maybe?—told her that being content now would never be good enough.

  Not after Will Foster.

  That sticky-honey gaze found hers and held. “Sometimes,” he admitted. Then he leaned forward, bracketed her face with his big, warm hands, forcing a soft sigh from her mouth, and kissed her gently. “But not now,” he whispered. “Not while I’m with you.”

  Her either, Rowan decided dimly.

  Not right now.

  And definitely not tonight.

  12

  NOT WHILE I’M WITH YOU.

  Truer words had never been spoken, Will thought as he lowered his mouth to hers, felt her talented fingers slide into his hair. Right up until this very minute he would have denied that he was ever lonely, but the fact was, he’d been lonely all along and had been simply too stubborn or too blind—hell, most likely both—to see it.

  Until Rowan, he’d had no frame of reference, no way to put the sentiment in context. The whole suffocating feeling, the fish-out-of-water panic—that had been his body’s way of telling him what his mind already knew, which was, he’d be lonely without her.

  He needed her.

  Thankfully for Will, at the moment one need superseded another, blotted out complicated thoughts of feelings and fears.

  He simply wanted to feel.

  Wanted to feel her bare skin beneath his palms, her greedy hands stroking his body. Wanted to take her to bed and love her properly.

  He tore his mouth away from hers. “Let’s go inside,” he suggested softly.

  She nodded wordlessly. Those gorgeous green eyes had darkened into a shade of mountain fern and glistened with desire so fierce and strong it was simply breathtaking. He laced his fingers through hers, led her silently through the house and into his bedroom.

  She looked out his French doors into his rose garden and a knowing smile curled her lush lips, lightened the mood between them.