by Kaily Hart
Carly felt pumped and alive, grateful as she always was that Rio had stood his ground and forced her to it. She watched him covertly as they stood cooling down. His hair was damp with sweat and he was breathing roughly, deeply. It was way too easy to imagine the sound of that rough breath sawing in and out hotly against her ear instead of into the cool air, maybe as he held her down with his big body stretched out over hers, as he licked at her earlobe, while he—
“I…ah, Carls… I won’t be able to run with you anymore…for a while, anyway.”
Carly took a deep breath and frowned. Rio ran his hand around the back of his neck. It wasn’t a gesture she was familiar with from him, and in anyone else she would have said it was nerves.
He wasn’t looking at her. In fact, he bent down and tied a shoe she was pretty sure was already tied. She knew she’d been surly and snarky all morning, out of sorts and in a downright bad mood but…
“Rio, morning’s not exactly my best time. I—”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I…ah…I might work out with the guys for a while. Hit the gym instead, maybe.”
He’d always said he hated the gym scene. It didn’t sound convincing and it looked as if he knew it. She felt the dread settle in the pit of her stomach like lead.
“Rio, I’m sorry. Really. I was a bitch this morning. I just…”
She’d gone to bed last night feeling lonely, full of longing and mad as hell at Greg, at herself and at him. It didn’t take a genius to figure she’d taken it out on him, and now…
“It’s okay, I’m used to it.”
Her stomach sank. God, had she really become thatbad?
Carly attempted a smile she knew was weak at best. “My ass is going to get a mile wide without you pushing me to get out and run when it’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Your ass is your problem.”
She inhaled sharply. It was harsh, especially coming from him.
“Sorry,” he added. “It’s got nothing to do with you. It’s—I’m just going to mix it up, okay? I’ll catch up with you on Friday.”
For all her grumbling, Carly was pretty fit. She kept up with him. At least she’d always thought she had. Maybe he’d been humoring her the whole time?
It’s not you, it’s me. Yeah, where had she heard that before? Perhaps she was reading too much into it, but if he hadn’t just blown her off, why did it feel as if he had?
Chapter Two
“I’m surprised you didn’t cancel tonight. I heard what’s-his-name’s in town.”
Carly’s boyfriend traveled a lot with his job and usually didn’t get back in town until late on Fridays. Not that he was keeping tabs on the prick or anything, but Rio knew he was around, so why was she still hanging out with him? If she was his, no way would he let her hang with another guy, even if it was pizza, beer and crappy TV. Period. And if that made him an old-fashioned, paranoid Neanderthal? Then bring it on.
Carly shrugged. “We’re not together anymore.”
Rio’s senses went on full alert and his heartbeat kicked into high gear. “Since when?” he managed, but barely, lowering the beer bottle he’d been about to put to his lips.
Rio saw the shrug for what it was this time, a sorry attempt at “no big deal”.
“Greg dumped me. He didn’t even have the decency to do it in person. He just called me out of the blue last week and told me it was over. No reason—just that he was done.”
Holy shit.
He’d really broken up with Carly? All he could think was…what a fucking idiot.
Rio hadn’t seen her all week, not even coming or going in the corridor or the garage, and the hell of it was…he’d missed her like crazy. He’d become more than used to seeing her than he’d ever have guessed, but watching her prance around in those tiny shorts that hugged her ass cheeks and showcased her endless legs had become more than he could stand. Well, without causing him some serious injury and having Carly notice he had more than a friendly interest in her. She’d had a boyfriend. He’d reminded himself of it constantly, but lately it hadn’t seemed to do any good. He didn’t cheat and he didn’t go after anyone else’s woman, so the fact that he hadn’t been able to rein in his interest or his body’s reaction to it seriously pissed him off.
His date last Friday night had been beautiful and eager to please and oh so talented, and although he’d finally come, he hadn’t been that into it by the end. The screaming and moaning had become annoying rather than a turn-on. He didn’t mind snuggling up to a woman afterward, but he hadn’t wanted to linger. In fact, he’d gotten her out of there as quickly as he could without seeming like a total jerk, but he’d still felt like an asshole. Jesus, he wasn’t that kind of guy. He didn’t want to be that kind of guy. And the worst part of it? He’d been thinking about Carly before, during and after. Again. And that just pissed him off even more.
“You don’t seem too broken up by it,” he offered.
“Not really, but I should have been the one to dump him, probably a long time ago.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah…I guess I let it linger for too long.” Carly folded her long legs under her on the sofa and looked over to the windows and out into the night. “You know, it’s just…”
Rio took a deep breath. He hated the faraway look. He thought the guy was a real piece of work, but he hated even more the thought of Carly upset or hurt by anything, least of all a guy like that.
“He was a jerk, Carls. Trust me. You can do better than that. A lot better.”
Carly glanced back over at him sharply. “You never said anything.”
He shrugged.
She wasn’t the only one surprised. He’d promised himself he’d never say anything. The guy had called him on his lust for Carly whenever he’d gotten the chance. He’d never let an opportunity go by to goad him that he was fucking her and how. She didn’t need to know some of the things he’d said about her, behind her back, to anyone who’d listen, but it had driven Rio crazy.
Carly was his best friend. It had happened over time and had surprised the hell out of him. It wasn’t as if he’d never been friends with a woman before—he had—but he usually had them in his bed as well. This was different, even from what he’d had with Liz. It wasn’t as it would be if she was a guy, but he talked to her about crap he never would have with another man. His level of crudeness might be toned down, but he loved hanging out with her. He felt relaxed and not at all like he was with other women. She could be sarcastic, sweet and funny and she made him as hot as hell.
The last part had become a problem. A big problem. And not just because of the boner he always had around her. For him and Carly, their timing had never been right. And now? Where the hell did that leave him?
Rio had shown up with pizza and beer, the kind Carly loved from a local micro- brewery and she knew he had to have stopped by there to pick it up himself. It was stuff like that that just made her fall for him all over again, each and every time. The thing was, she knew Greg would never have bothered and she doubted he could name any of her preferences anyway. Was it any wonder she hadn’t been able to stop comparing them?
He was dressed in worn jeans and a soft-looking black faded t-shirt. It was loose but only emphasized the lean, hard body beneath. And God, those jeans—they should be illegal. The way he sat on the sofa, legs spread wide, well, she’d been trying not to stare at it—him all night. She’d never seen him naked but she’d checked out the bulge of his package, plenty of times. The soft jeans only seemed to enhance it, especially the way he was sitting. God, how often had she looked at him and wanted to have the freedom to trail her hand across the hardness of those arms, down his chest, to rest her hand against his abdomen, lift up his shirt and put her mouth to his warm skin? To use her tongue and try her best to make him moan? Whenever she wanted? Countless times. Countless timesshe would have given almost anything for the privilege.
She took a deep breath. She really just needed to learn how to suck it up or maybe move
on completely. Problem was, she’d been sucking it up for a long time now and it wasn’t exactly working for her. She’d thought about it before, cutting herself off from him completely, but had never been able to take it past the “oh crap, that’s not an option” stage.
She reached to the coffee table for another slice of pizza. It was probably a dumb move considering Rio wouldn’t be dragging her sorry ass up and out to work it off tomorrow.
“So anyway, what’s Cole like?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound desperate to change the subject, but knowing he’d see through it if she did.
“Cole?”
“Yeah, what’s he like?”
He frowned. “What does that mean?”
“You know, what kind of guy is he?”
Rio sat back and looked at her. “You want information from me so you can decide if you’ll hit on the new guy at my work or let him hit on you, is that it?”
“No, I—”
“Didn’t take long.”
“What?”
“On the prowl already, Carls?”
“No. Jeez, what’s yourproblem?”
He lifted his beer and drank deeply. “Maybe I’m horny.”
Carly snorted. “Horny? You had the screamer over last week. Twice. How could you be horny?”
“What?”
Oh-ho.
“Ah… Yeah…I probably should have mentioned it to you before. The ventilation—I can sometimes hear—I mean I assume you were still in the entry and…”
Rio glanced over to her entry area and up to the vent high on the wall.
“Shit. You heard that?”
“It sounded pretty loud so—”
“Yeah, I’m probably going to be deaf in one ear for another week. I’m sorry, Carls, I had no idea.”
He didn’t sound that embarrassed. Or that impressed.
“So, she doesn’t rate a repeat performance?”
He glanced at her quickly, surprised by the question. “God, no.”
“Then what did you see in her in the first place? I mean, I assume it was her both times last week, unless—”
“Christ…yeah it was the same woman.”
“So?”
“So…drop it.”
“But I’d really like to know—”
“Yeah, but then you’re not a guy.”
“So?”
Carly couldn’t help pushing it. What the hell did a guy see in a woman enough to sleep with her twice, but not want to take it any further?
He sighed. “Let’s just say that apart from a killer bod, she could suck golf balls through a hose and leave it at that, okay?”
It was sharp, intense, the lance of pain. It was all she could do not to gasp out loud. God, hearing him talk about allowing another woman those liberties with his body, touching him, taking him in her mouth, giving him that kind of pleasure…it hurt.
She tried to ignore the ache deep in her chest and took a bite of the limp pizza she still held in her hand. The last thing she wanted was to put food in a stomach that was churning, but it was something to do with her hands and could probably disguise the sudden tears she felt at the back of her throat.
“So why not a repeat performance?”
He sighed. “I’m done for a while. I’m just…done.”
Rio leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. He looked at her with heavy-lidded eyes as she chewed.
“Enough with my sex life. What about you?”
“Me? I don’t officially have one right now, a sex life that is.”
His look turned intense. “Well, when you do…do you do anal?”
“What?” Carly coughed, almost choking on the pizza she hadn’t been able to swallow.
“Do you?”
She frowned. She’d let the horny comment slide, but this? “Rio, what’s come over you?”
“Just making conversation.”
“Well, then maybe you need to go talk to someone else.”
He shrugged and looked down between his spread legs, twirling the beer bottle between his hands. “Have you? Do you?”
She wasn’t used to such explicit talk from Rio, in fact, he couldn’t have surprised her more if he’d stood up and stripped in front of her. She knew which she’d prefer. Carly should have told him to go to hell, it’s what she would have said to anyone else who talked to her like that, but there was something almost…vulnerable in the line of his jaw as he looked away from her.
“I…all right. No. I haven’t. That requires a lot of trust and I…haven’t been there with anyone yet, you know?”
When he only nodded, she said, “What about you?”
He shrugged. “A few times. It’s not something I think about much.”
Yeah? Then why did he ask me about it?
* * * * *
“It sounds like a stripper’s name,” Carly scoffed. They’d cleaned up the remains of dinner and dumped the movie Rio had also shown up with in favor of a re-run of some reality TV show. It was barely marginal on the watchable meter, but it was some welcome light relief. Very welcome.
“It’s not a stripper name.”
“Sure it is,” she insisted.
He smiled, his dimples making an appearance along with the belly tug she got at the sight of them.
“Yeah? Know a lot of strippers, do you?” he challenged.
“Probably every second one of them is called Honey.”
“Sorry, Carls,” he laughed. “But you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really? Been to a lot of strip joints, have you?”
Rio shook his head, his gaze swinging around to rest on her. “If I’m interested enough in a woman to want to see her naked, I want to be the only one looking.”
Oh boy. Why did that have to sound so damn hot?
Carly swallowed. “I bet if I went down to the Pink Pony right now, there’d be at least one stripper working with that name.”
He frowned. “What the hell do you know about the Pink Pony?”
Carly rolled her eyes. “Please.”
When she didn’t say anything else he added, “No one named Honey works there.”
Carly lifted her chin at his superior tone. “Yeah? Wanna put your money where your mouth is?”
“I don’t want your money.”
“Okay, then what?”
Everything inside him stilled at the image that slammed into him. Carly, naked, her hair all mussed, stretched out in front of him on a big bed in abandon, spreading her gorgeous legs for him in silent invitation.
He stretched out his leg, trying to give himself some much-needed room. His jeans suddenly felt as if they were doing their best to strangle him.
“We’re both single, right?”
“Ah, yeah…”
“Then let’s make this really interesting. A…favor. Winner’s choice.”
She frowned. “A favor?”
“Yeah. A sexual favor.”
“Ah…I…”
What the hell is he doing?
He’d clearly shocked the hell out of her. He saw the uncertainty, the confusion. It looked adorable on her, but he could have kicked himself. He couldn’t blame it on the beer. He’d barely touched his. He’d been pushing it all night, he’d known it, but hadn’t been able to rein it in. And he’d just crossed a hell of a line.
He shook his head. “Forget it. I—”
“No. I…all right.”
Rio felt his cock twitch, lengthen. Just like that he was so hard it almost hurt to breathe. His mind was suddenly crowded with visuals, reviewing and discarding possibilities, scenarios. Shit. He thought about everything when it came to her. He couldn’t very well tell her he’d been fantasizing about her letting him do whatever he wanted to her, however he wanted it.
“You’re on. It’s moot anyway because I know I won’t lose,” she added.
Rio smiled savagely to himself. That was what she thought. It might not be what he’d pick, but whatever she chose as her favor still made him the fucking winner
.
* * * * *
“Hey,” Carly said sharply when the quick hand brushed against the curve of her breast. Again. The first time he’d done it, she’d ignored him and given him the benefit of the doubt. This time it was clear he’d felt her up as he tagged her, on purpose and with no effort to hide it.
The jerk just shrugged and smiled at her. He was good-looking in a blond, slim, pretty-boy way—almost the complete opposite of Rio’s dark, leanly muscled frame. The smile was mostly teeth and made her almost cringe when he looked her up and down.
It was a standing match after work. Same time, same place each week and anyone could play. She couldn’t remember his name, but he’d joined their flag football game a time or two before. All she knew was that he’d leered at her those times as well.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” Rio called from the other side of the marked-off field.
Carly smiled. She should have known nothing would get past Rio’s notice. She looked across at him, expecting a quick smile in return, but he was frowning, his mouth a harsh slash in his tanned face. She could almost feel the tension emanating from him as the jerk gave Rio the bird and took his position again for the next play.
Carly gritted her teeth when she felt the brush again several minutes later, this time against the curve of a buttock. She hadn’t even handled the ball that time. Before she even had a chance to round on the guy, Rio was right up in his face.
The hairs on the back of her neck lifted in warning. “Rio, it’s okay.”
He ignored her. “I said keep your fucking hands to yourself.”