by Lisa Sommers
I must have forgotten to set my alarm last night, and now I’m running late. Shane should be here in ten minutes, and I still need to get my coffee. Lord knows he won’t want to spend two hours in a car with me if I haven’t had my morning fix. I am trying to slip on my shoe and pull my suitcase at the same time as I trudge down the hallway. I round the corner hopping on one foot, and nearly fall flat on my face at the sight of Shane standing with his arms stretched up over his head, gripping the door frame.
“You’re here!”
He simply smiles a cocky grin. He doesn’t say a single word to me.
Chapter 12
Shane
I arrive a little early to pick up Alli because I couldn’t wait any longer. I’d spent the last two hours pacing my living room thinking about her.
I had what I was going to say to Alli all laid out when I saw her. Acting casual was supposed to be my number one priority, but the moment I see her I completely lose my train of thought.
“You’re here,” she says, startled by my appearance at her place.
I’m speechless, as my need for her grows insanely every time I see her. I simply nod and continue my conversation with Huntington. Apparently, he stayed the night here. I couldn’t be more jealous of the fucker. I try to listen to what he’s saying, but it’s useless. I can’t stop staring at Alli.
“Dude, are you listening to me?” Derek shoves my shoulder.
“What? Yeah. Yeah, I heard you.” I don’t have a fucking clue what he said. “You ready to go?” I ask Alli, completely ignoring my friend.
I notice Derek shake his head at me. I don’t give a shit though. He’s not my main concern.
“Yeah, let me just grab a coffee before we go.” She walks in front of me, her gaze glued to the floor in front of her. She’s wearing tight jeans, black flats, and a royal blue V-neck t-shirt. She looks unbelievable.
“No need. I grabbed us both a coffee on my way over.”
She halts immediately at my admission. “You did?”
“I did.”
“How did you know I drink coffee?”
“I took a wild guess.”
“Oh.” Her eyes search mine before continuing, “Well, I guess we can go then. I’m all yours.”
Oh fuck. Say that again. Please. I want to hear you say that again. I want to say, but I don’t.
“I mean, I’m ready to go.” She promptly makes her way to her suitcase and hugs Chelsea, who just appeared by Derek’s side. I didn’t even see her come in. Chelsea whispers something in her ear and Alli responds, “I will. Thank you.”
Alli brushes past me and I swipe her luggage right out of her hand before she has a chance to protest. Because I know she will. She makes it very clear she is not comfortable around me. Which only fuels my fire for her.
When we get to my GTO, my pride and joy, a guy pulls up in a Lincoln and stops right in front of us. He looks me up and down, before turning his gaze to my girl . . . I mean Alli.
“Jack!”
It’s clear she is in shock to see this Jack guy, then it dawns on me. Jackass? ”What are you doing here?”
“Alli, we need to talk,” he says.
“No, we don’t. How did you find me?”
“Alli. Let me just park the car so we can talk. Just give five minutes, it’s all I ask.”
Alli steps closer to me. “Five minutes.”
A stupid smirk spreads across his face when he looks back to me. “Thank you.” He pulls up a few spaces and parks his car.
“Alli. Are you okay? Who is this?” I ask.
“This is the cheater I mentioned about back in Dallas.”
“And how often does he come around?” This is the fuck wad that screwed with her emotions. I drop her suitcase to the pavement and ball my fists.
“Shane, it’s okay. I can deal with him.”
Seriously? She wants to have a conversation with a guy who totally fucked with her mind, broke her heart, and treated her like shit?
I take a step toward him as he makes his way over to us. “Shane, stop!” she demands.
I look down at her, and I’m not happy with her decision to talk to this asshole. “Fine. I’ll be right over there if you need me.” I point to the sidewalk, then she lifts up on her toes and lays a sweet kiss on my cheek. My demeanor immediately switches. She just kissed me in front of this guy so that he gets the clue she is with someone else. Well, I will make it even more obvious so that he has no fucking doubts that she has moved on from him. Alli starts to pull away to meet Jack halfway, when I say, “Come here, baby.”
She turns around, but I grab her arm to hold her in place. She’s surprised by my action, but after looking into my eyes she knows I’m here to help her play the part. I wrap my arm around her waist and lift her up so that her lips meet mine. Her legs dangle and her arms wrap around my neck. Fuck yeah. Maybe he needs to come around more often. I’ll take whatever I can get from Alli. She tilts her head to the side and deepens the kiss, allowing my tongue to enter her mouth. I lower my hand down her back and roughly squeeze her sweet ass . . . right in front of Jackass.
Alli seems to be playing the part better than I thought she would. She pulls her face back slightly, rests her forehead against mine, closes her eyes, and whispers, “Thank you.”
Alli slides down the front of my chest and stands. She’s wobbly, so she grabs my forearms to balance herself. I offer her a simple smile because I can’t seem to find my voice after such an intense moment.
“Jack, what is it you want?” She turns her gaze to her ex, but laces her fingers with mine so that he can see she has moved on.
“Is that how it is now?” he asks.
“You had your chance, Jack. You blew it.”
That’s right, asshole, so step aside.
“They didn’t mean anything to me.” He shoves his hands in his pockets, clearly uncomfortable with me standing here. “Can we just talk . . . privately, for five minutes?”
What a douchebag. He doesn’t deserve her. I tug Alli’s back into my chest, letting her know that I am here for her.
Alli wastes no times and shakes her head at him. “I gave you everything, Jack.” She looks up to me. “Shane and I are together now. Please leave.”
Take that, fucker.
“Alli.” He takes a step forward.
“Leave.” I pull Alli behind my back and take a couple of steps toward him. “She’s done with your cheating ass. Get the fuck out of here.”
Jack holds up his hands. “Fine. I get it.” He tilts his head toward Alli. “Your loss.”
“I’m sure I’ll manage just fine, jerk.” She wraps her arms around my waist, reassuring Jack that she is more than capable of moving on.
That asshole is no sooner out of the parking lot, when Alli pushes against my chest, quickly denying that any part of that charade was legitimate. She stomps her way to my car and gets in. Her actions make me laugh because, not only was I not acting, but she felt it, too. I know she wants me, and she knows she wants me.
We are only about ten minutes into our drive when I ask Alli if her coffee is to her liking.
“Yes, it’s perfect. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I take a quick sideways glance at her. Not the best timing on my part. She licks her lips after lowering her Styrofoam cup of coffee. The car swerves slightly, so I quickly return my concentration to the road before I kill us both.
“So, what’s our plan. What time does Kaitlyn need to be at her appointment?” she asks.
“There has been a little change. It’s not until tomorrow now, so we can go check into our hotel room and take our time,” I say, totally expecting her to be pissed.
She’s quiet though. She must be so mad that she can’t speak. Shit.
“Sorry, I guess we didn’t really need to leave until later. I hope you didn’t have anything else planned for the day. Or the week, for that matter.” She’s still quiet, so I take a quick glance at her. She looks calm. She appears to be contempla
ting something, actually.
“That’s okay,” she finally says.
“It is?” I ask surprised.
“Yeah,” is all she says.
We sit in comfortable silence, the radio the only sound, when I finally work up the nerve to ask her what I’ve been dying to ask. “So, you and Cal, huh?”
“Yeah. Me and Cal.”
That’s all? Not that I want to hear more, but I need to know that there isn’t any more.
“So, how long have you been together?” I ask, still not wanting to know the answer.
I can feel her gaze on me, so I sneak a quick peek. “Why, Shane?”
I shrug my shoulder. “Just curious, I guess. Were you together when we . . .”
“No!”
Oh shit. Now’s she’s mad.
“I just met Cal a couple of weeks ago. And I wouldn’t say we are together.”
“You’re not together?” How the fuck did I get the impression that they are together?
“Well, I mean, we haven’t spoken about it, really.” Alli squirms in her seat, clearly not comfortable with this conversation.
“So, you’re just . . .”
“No. Damn it, Shane. It’s not like that. Can we not talk about this?”
My pleasure. “Fine by me.” Not sure why I brought it up anyway.
Once again, the rest of the drive up to the hotel is quiet. After our heated conversation, Alli tilted her head back and rolled it to face her window. I wasn’t sure if she was sleeping, so I just let her be. I was fine not talking about Cal, anyway. I never brought up what happened with Jack back at her place, and neither did she. Although I’m fine not discussing him either.
I pull up to the hotel and park, then shut the engine off and turn slightly in my seat to just stare at Alli. What I wouldn’t do to take her directly to my room and have my way with her. I can still remember her soft, silky legs wrapped around me. I wonder if she’s had them wrapped around Cal. I shake my head at the thought. I haven’t been with anyone since Alli. Which is probably a record for me.
Alli stirs in her seat, but I don’t take my eyes off of her. She turns her head in my direction, eyes open. She sees me staring at her, but she doesn’t say anything. She lies there, staring back at me. I reach out and lightly tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She still doesn’t move, so I take my chances and run my fingers down her cheek and along her jaw bone. My heart is pounding so hard in my chest. I want to kiss her so badly. My gaze trails down to her lips, and she parts them slightly. I feel like I am about to lose my breath. The pull is so strong. I run the pad of my thumb along her bottom lip, and she still doesn’t move. “Alli,” I whisper.
She shakes her head slightly, not willing to speak. I’m not sure what she means by that though. Does she want me to stop? Is she regretting coming here with me?
“You’re so beautiful,” I tell her.
Alli reaches up and wraps her delicate fingers around my wrist. She doesn’t pull away, nor does she let me move my hand any further.
What I wouldn’t do to caress her soft cheek again, or run the back of my hand down her neck.
Anything.
We still have yet to break eye contact, so I take another chance and tilt my body slightly toward her. I slowly lean in and sweetly kiss the side of her cheek. Then her jaw. I hear her take a couple of deep gasps, but she doesn’t pull away from me. I reach her lips and lightly run my tongue along them. I can’t take this anymore. I reach out with my other hand, grip her cheeks, and seal our lips together. I move slowly, not wanting to scare her. “You taste amazing,” I whisper against her mouth.
She reaches her hand out and wraps it around my neck, then tilts her head back and closes her eyes. I lower my head down to her neck, kissing every single inch of her soft skin.
“Shane.” She groans.
I don’t stop my assault on her. She feels so good.
“Shane,” she calls again, but this time she pulls back.
I lean forward, not wanting break the connection.
“Shane stop,” she breathlessly utters.
“I don’t want to,” I confess. “I don’t want to stop kissing you. I want you, Alli.”
She shakes her head. “No, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” she simply says.
“Because of Cal?”
“Yes, because of Cal and . . .” She stops mid-sentence.
“And, what?” I ask. “You said yourself, you and Cal aren’t like that.” I say that last part using air quotes with my fingers, since she said herself that “it’s not what it seems.”
Alli pulls back even further and starts to open her door.
“Alli.” I want to stop her, and continue where we left off, but she is clearly in a different frame of mind right now.
“No, Shane. It’s not going to happen. Not again. It was a mistake.” And then she steps out of the car.
I open my door, jump out, and yell over the roof of my car. “A mistake?”
But she doesn’t answer me. Hell, she doesn’t even look my way. I grab our bags from the trunk and try to catch up to her as she enters the hotel.
She is already talking to the concierge.
“I already have two rooms reserved.”
“Your name, sir,” the young guy behind the desk asks.
“Chris McCall,” I tell him.
“Oh, are we Chris now?” Alli asks, clearly pissed off.
“It’s my first name,” I reply.
She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”
I finish up with our reservation and hand Alli her room card. It took everything in me to order more than one room. Just knowing she won’t be in my bed is already driving me crazy.
We ride the elevator in silence. “Mistake my ass,” I whisper.
“What?” she harshly asks.
“You heard me.” I turn to face her. “You’re just embarrassed it happened. Well, I’ll tell you something, sweetheart. You don’t need to be. We are both adults. It was sex.” I look her up and down. “Hot sex, and I haven’t forgotten about it. I haven’t forgotten how it feels to have your legs wrapped around me. I haven’t forgotten what it feels like to have your lips suck on my nipple rings. I haven’t forgotten what is feels like to have you slide down my . . .”
“Stop it! Stop it right now, you arrogant asshole.” The elevator doors open and Alli bolts so fast, leaving me in her dust.
I grab our bags and stalk after her. She struggles with the key card, but before I get there she manages to open it and immediately slams the door behind her.
I shake my head and stare down at her bag that I’m carrying. I don’t bother going to her room. She’ll figure it out soon enough. I open my door and place both of our bags against the wall. I notice another door and quickly figure out we have adjoining rooms. I smile at the thought. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to use it.
Chapter 13
Alli
Shit. Shane has my bag. I really don’t want to see him right now. Well, maybe I do. Dammit, I don’t know what I want.
Crap. Why did I decide to go on this trip with him? Chelsea was right. I can’t do this. I reach into the small refrigerator and grab one of those mini bottles of rum. I quickly down it, then sit on the edge of my bed, wondering what I should do.
Well, I can’t do anything without my luggage. I grab the key card and work up enough nerve to head to his room. Stepping out into the hallway, I look down both ways. “Great. I have no idea what room he is in.”
I retreat back to my room and text his phone.
Me: You have my luggage. What room number are you?
Suddenly, I hear a knock at my door. It must be him. I reach the door and look through the peephole, but I don’t see him. Then I hear another knock, but it’s coming from this other door on the side wall. Great, we have adjoining rooms. I walk over to it and place my ear against the door. After a moment another knock comes, and it scares me half to death.
&
nbsp; “It’s me, Alli,” he says.
I unlock the door and see him standing there in only a pair of jeans, with a towel draped over his shoulders, covering his beautiful tattoos. My jaw drops wide open. Oh my god. I can do this. I can do this. I. Can. Do. This. He looks amazing. Damn him. He’s doing this on purpose. I see my bag next to him, so I hastily grab it and close my door. I hear him chuckle as it shuts, so I be sure to lock the door after I close it.
Damn him. I’ll be damned if I let myself follow in the same footsteps I took with Jack. I will never allow someone to take advantage of me again. I’m better than that. Besides, I don’t need some guy to move forward. I can do this on my own.
I look at the time and realize it’s only noon. What the hell am I going to do for the rest of the day? I decide to take a long shower and slip back into my jeans. I put on a plain white V-neck and my black ballet flats. After blow drying my hair and applying some makeup, I decide to head down to the hotel bar to grab a sandwich and a beer. I walk into the quaint little bar and notice Shane sitting on a barstool. Only he is not by himself. There is a petite blonde clinging to his arm. It hurts to see, but at least I stopped things before they got further with us. I knew he would do this, so it doesn’t surprise me. It’s the only reason why I can’t be with him. He’d treat me the same way Jack did. Screw everything in sight.
I decide to take a seat at the far end of the bar. It’s a small place, so he’ll see me in no time. But I don’t care. I pick up the bar menu and glance through my options.
“What can I get you, honey?” the bartender asks.
“Oh, hi. Umm, I’ll just take a Dos Equis and a club sandwich, please.”
Almost instantly, Shane whips his head around and notices me. I see him shrug his shoulder at the flirty blonde who’s leaning up against him. He turns his head to her and says something, but I can’t hear him. Reluctantly, she saunters off in another direction.
“Here you go, ma’am.” The bartender hands me my beer. “Your sandwich should be up shortly.”