by Get Your Guy; Messing Around withMax Tempted - Little Miss Innocent; Annie
“Here you go.”
Annie started to come in, but Guy held the door firm, only letting it open enough to get his hand out. “I can manage.”
“I wouldn’t mind helping.”
He’d never survive her help; the conversation alone was about to kill him. “I’ve been dressing myself since I was two. I think I can get along without your assistance.”
“But now you’re injured.”
“This conversation is hurting me a lot more than any damn injury! Go…cook something.”
Dear God, he couldn’t believe he said that. It was a true indication of his discomfort that he’d make such a horrid suggestion.
For good measure, he not only closed the door firmly, he locked it. Annie was in a very strange mood, and though his head was now finally clearer, he still felt very confused about some of the things she’d said.
In no way did he recall asking her to bring him to the cabin. Hell, he didn’t even remember the drive or climbing into bed. And he sure as certain had no memory of strutting his nakedness—or flopping—in front of her. Just the thought nearly sent him into spasms.
But she had looked.
The image formed in his mind: Annie looming over his bared body, studying him in minute detail. Her long hair had probably touched him in ways he’d only dreamed about.
She’d said his hide was sexy.
Guy shook off that damning fact. Annie was in a curious frame of mind these days, and so he assumed a certain amount of that curiosity extended to him. He supposed it was natural, even if it did make things a little sticky for him. She was now interested in the more sexual side of men, and he was a man she trusted.
He’d treat this incident just as he had the one at the pond, when she’d been so young. He’d ignore her embarrassment—even though she hadn’t really exhibited any.
CHAPTER SIX
GETTING THE SCRUB bottoms on were harder than he’d figured. Thankfully they were soft and loose, and that helped, but the bathroom wasn’t exactly spacious. He sat on the edge of the wide square Jacuzzi tub, which took up the majority of the room, and sort of bent sideways at the waist until he could hook the pants around his foot on his injured leg. After he’d gotten them pulled halfway up, he stuck his other foot in. Hopping around on one leg, which jarred his aching head and made his ribs and shoulder hurt worse, he managed to get the pants to his waist.
That was all she’d brought him. No shirt. Not that he should care. Annie had seen him without a shirt before, but now that she’d seen him without his pants, too… It just seemed different. More intimate.
He opened the door and Annie, who’d been leaning on it, nearly fell inside. Guy managed to hold on to his crutch with one hand and catch her with the other. Given the fact that she was so slight, it wasn’t difficult.
She smiled up at him and her hot little hands flattened on his pecs. He noticed right off that her nipples were hard.
Now his were, too.
Forcing his gaze to her face, he gave her a stern look then stepped around her. “Where are the rest of my clothes?”
Annie hustled along behind him as if waiting to catch him in case he fell. Ha! He’d flatten her if he did. He was way taller and over a hundred pounds heavier.
“Why do you want more clothes?” she asked.
“Because we’re leaving.”
“Leave! But we can’t.”
“We most certainly can.”
“No.”
“Yes.” Why the hell was she being so difficult? She probably had no idea what torture it was to be this close to her, but determined not to touch her.
“I’ve hid the keys to my car.”
Little witch. He wouldn’t look at her. “I have no idea why you’re doing this….”
“I’m trying to force you to think about a few things.”
“I can think better at home.”
“You’re not going home.”
He’d almost reached the bedroom. “You don’t want to drive me, fine. I’ll call a cab.”
“We don’t have a phone.”
He glared at her over his shoulder. “Try again, Annie. There’s no way Daniel sent you up here without a phone. I know him too well for that.”
She looked deflated. “If you go home, Melissa will just convince you to marry her.”
He took another awkward step toward the bedroom. “Is that what this is all about?”
“No.” A moment of silence, and then, “You promised to tutor me.”
Guy halted in mid-hobbling step. Very slowly, he pivoted on his one good leg to face her. “I did what?”
Annie crossed her arms under her breasts. It was blatantly obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra, which led his beleaguered brain to wonder if she’d foregone her panties, too.
He concentrated hard on keeping his gaze on her face, trying to sound unaffected. Failing, he asked, “Have you forgotten your underwear again?”
She shrugged. “Lace packed for me, but she didn’t include any underthings. In fact, she didn’t really pack me too much in the way of clothes at all.”
His breath caught in his lungs. “Lace needs a good swat on her backside.”
Annie’s eyes widened, darkened. She stared at him intently. “I read about that. Some men like it.” Her gaze studied him, searching. “Some women, too.”
Damn, he was putting ideas in her head. He was putting ideas in his own head.
“Do you?”
Guy sucked in a long breath. “We’re not going to discuss this.”
“You do!” She looked equal parts scandalized and excited. “It’s okay,” she rushed to assure him. “I thought it sounded…interesting.” Then she frowned. “I prefer that you don’t think about Lace’s bottom, though.”
Guy flexed his fingers on the rail of the crutch. “I don’t—”
“You promised,” she smoothly interrupted, “to tutor me. You said you wanted to come here so you’d have time to think and heal and because you didn’t want me seducing someone else. When I argued with you, you promised me that you’d teach me everything I needed to know.”
Guy stared. His body was as still as he could make it, but he felt himself thickening, extending. In the loose cotton pants, there’d be no way to hide his erection.
Tutor Annie? The thought was almost too erotic to bear. Had he really made such a promise?
His brain actively tried to recall even a smidgen of what she claimed. Finally he shook his head in denial, even while his heart pounded with need.
Annie grinned. “You said I could ask you anything and you’d answer it honestly.”
His lungs deflated. She meant tutor her, as in verbal explanations.
Disappointment warred with relief.
“I can do that,” he said, quick to reassure her that words were fine, while trying to make sure he didn’t accidentally promise anything more. “We can talk about anything, you know that.”
“You also told me you’d explain things. Everything.” Her lashes lowered, her cheeks warmed. “And that if I was so curious you’d even be willing to demonstrate—”
Annie stopped in the middle of her sentence. “Guy? Are you all right?”
His knees were back to feeling like butter, even the hurt one which only moments before had been vying with other male parts to be the stiffest. His leg had been losing.
“C’mon,” Annie said, grabbing his arm and practically dragging him to the bed. “You look feverish. I think you need to lie down. Daniel said you should stay off your leg as much as possible for a few days.”
Guy gratefully dropped to the side of the mattress, glad for the excuse to collapse.
Annie placed her wooden spoon on the nightstand, then put her small hands on his bare shoulders and gently pushed him flat. Her soft breasts moved beneath the flannel, teasing him, cramping his muscles. The black pearl rested in her cleavage, and he knew it would be warm to the touch, just as Annie was warm to the touch.
It was bad enough that she was so near
, so determined. But then she crawled right into the king-size bed with him to fluff the pillow behind his head and put another pillow beneath his leg.
She didn’t cover him.
Guy snatched the quilt over his lap, and it too tented over his erection. He doubted a layer of lead could hide his present state of arousal.
Annie didn’t appear to have noticed. Yet. “Are you comfortable now?”
He was in bed with her, never mind that he was all but incapacitated—his imagination was working just fine. Of course he wasn’t comfortable.
He firmed his resolve and grumbled, “I have a damn headache.” He hoped she’d take the hint and leave him alone in his misery.
Her small cool palm cupped his jaw. “Would you like a pain pill?”
“No!” If he did anything at all to blunt the edge of his control, he’d end up with Annie naked in the bed with him. He groaned at the image.
She gave him a coy look. “You don’t trust my motives, do you?”
He didn’t trust his own, especially when he was drugged.
Her smile told him she knew exactly what he was thinking. “You know what would help?”
She continued to stroke his face until he caught her wrist and pulled her hand down. “Some aspirin,” he suggested, anxious to give her something to do besides taunting him. “They’re in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.”
Annie shook her head. “I was reading some of the things Lace packed for me—”
“Not those damn sex manuals?”
“Well, yeah. Some of them.” She looked at his mouth. “The best ones actually. I guess that’s why she couldn’t pack me more clothes. The books took up a lot of room.”
“Lace has no business—”
“She’s being more helpful than you!”
“I doubt she would be if you were coming on to her!”
Choked laughter filled the bedroom. Annie wiped her eyes as she tried to subdue her humor. “Bet that’d even take Lace off guard, huh?”
“Nothing takes Lace off guard.”
“Do you really think I’m coming on to you?”
Guy refused to answer.
“Is it working?”
He pinched his mouth shut.
“You know, myths and jokes aside, an orgasm gets rid of headaches.”
Guy strangled on an indrawn breath. While he wheezed and sputtered, Annie patted his chest and continued her discourse. “According to what I’ve read, an orgasm helps to dilate the blood vessels in your brain, which relieves a headache.”
Was she offering him an alternative to the aspirin? He finally caught his breath enough to utter, “That’s pure nonsense.”
“It’s documented data, in a book.”
“You shouldn’t be reading those books.”
“We could try an experiment.” As she said it, she looked at his lap, then blinked.
Guy groaned, knowing exactly what she’d seen. Though his reaction was all too common to being in bed with a beautiful woman, Annie wasn’t just any woman. She was his best friend. She was Daniel’s little sister.
His body didn’t seem to care. And there was nothing he could do about it now except brazen it out.
“You have an erection.”
She said that with the same enthusiasm as if he’d just solved world peace. She looked overjoyed. “Is that for me?”
It took all his control not to cover himself with his hands. He’d never before been embarrassed about his body’s reactions in front of a woman. But then, he’d never had to fight this hard to resist a woman.
“Annie, this conversation has gotten way out of hand. In case it’s escaped your notice, I’m kind of banged up.”
“That’s why I’m trying to help! Did you know sexual fantasies can increase your tolerance to pain?” At his skeptical look, she said, “It’s true! In a study, people who indulged sexual fantasies were able to tolerate discomfort three times longer.”
“Good grief.”
She touched his leg, low on his thigh. “You’re not wincing anymore.”
Bemused, Guy realized she was right. Not only had his leg stopped throbbing, he’d forgotten he even had legs. All his awareness was centered on what was between them.
Now, with her hand petting his thigh through the quilts, he was only too aware of his body parts. All of them. Sexual fantasies suddenly dominated his mind.
“And another thing. An orgasm can—”
“I know, I know.” Even hearing her say it made his skin heat. It was the strangest, most arousing conversational topic he’d ever indulged in. “It supposedly gets rid of a headache.” Guy wondered why no one had ever told him that before. He wondered if Daniel and Max knew. Max probably did. Max knew everything about women inside and out. He was such a Romeo.
And Max would probably kill Guy if he knew he was in bed with his sister thinking things he shouldn’t think.
“Yes,” Annie agreed, “but it can also relieve muscle strain and help you sleep, and—”
“Cure the common cold?” Maybe he could joke his way out of this. Maybe Annie wouldn’t notice how rough his voice had gotten, or how his hands shook.
“Actually,” she said, her own voice a little raspy, “it does help to relieve the symptoms of a cold. It can clear up your sinuses and temporarily get rid of your stuffy head.”
Guy covered his face with an arm, wishing for oblivion. Annie began to massage his leg.
“Stop that!”
“I want to make you feel better.” She stretched out next to him on the bed, keeping her head propped on one hand. In a sexy whisper, she said, “Let me help you, Guy.”
His leg didn’t ache, but everything else on him did. “Annie, this is insane.” She was so close he could smell her and it made him want her even closer. It made him want to nuzzle between her breasts, between her legs.
Of its own volition, his arm circled her, his hand opening on her waist.
“Because we’re friends?”
“Of course.” His words were low and rough and he struggled to regulate his breathing. “And besides that, I’m in no shape to…to…”
“Have an orgasm?”
His stomach clenched. “I was going to say have sex.”
She licked her lips and it was all Guy could do not to lick them, too. Annie had one of the sexiest mouths going. Full, pink.
“In one of the books,” she whispered, “there’s this whole chapter on handwork. I could—”
Guy covered her delectable mouth. If he didn’t shut her up, he was likely to explode. “Don’t even say it, dammit.”
She tried to nod and speak at the same time, but her words were muffled under his hand.
“Annie, you want your first time to be special, don’t you?”
Her blue eyes looked very soft, almost caressing his face as she nodded.
He gulped, refusing to interpret that look. “Then you need to wait.”
Her eyes darkened and her brows drew down, indicating she had something to say. Cautiously, Guy uncovered her mouth.
“You’re a hypocrite.”
Guy sighed. “I’m just trying to protect you.”
“Ha. How many women have you been here with?” As she spoke, she sat up and Guy could see that his rejection had hurt her feelings.
“Annie.” He tried to catch her hand, but she bounded off the bed.
“You come here for your lascivious little rendezvous with other women, then tell me I need to wait.”
“I come here for privacy, that’s all.” He scowled at her—until the left side of the over-large flannel dropped down her shoulder and she didn’t bother to pull it back up. She was too busy pacing, but Guy was on pins and needles thinking it might dip farther any second and then he’d see her breast.
And her nipple.
He held his breath and tried not to stare.
“I guess that’s what I’ll do, too.”
Guy reared up in the bed. He’d totally lost track of the topic, what with her teasing him wi
th the possibility of a peek show. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means since this is a family cabin, I can have my own sordid little affairs here. I’m sure Perry won’t be as unwilling as you are.”
Before he could respond to that she marched out of the room.
“Annie!” Guy was just about to climb out of the bed and go after her when she returned with a glass of water and the aspirin bottle.
“Here’s your miserable pills.” They hit his chest with a plip, plip. The water sloshed over the side when she shoved the glass into his hand. “I doubt they’re half as much fun as what I suggested. Of course I can’t say for sure since you refuse to cooperate.”
Guy sputtered at her audacity. “You make it sound like I turned you down for a loan! Sex is more intimate than that. It’s not something you can jump into lightly.”
She leaned down until she was nearly nose to nose with him. The neckline of the flannel gaped, testing his honor not to peek. The necklace swung free, glinting in the lamplight.
In a growl that spoke of frustration and anger, she said, “I don’t intend to jump lightly. When I jump, it’s going to be whole hog, hot and sweaty and with no holds barred.”
Guy scowled at her as he tried to ignore the throbbing in his groin. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Shocked you, huh?”
Actually she was turning him on. “Yes.”
“Well aren’t you the discerning one?”
His eyes narrowed. She was verbally doing him in and he didn’t like it. “I try.”
She stuck her nose in the air. “For the record, I didn’t even ask you for sex. I offered to service you.”
“Oh, for the love of…” He sounded horrified, but he couldn’t help that. The image was now firmly rooted in his brain and his gonads more than liked the idea. Every nerve in his body, especially those in his more sensitized regions, screamed for him to say yes.
He shook his head no.
Annie snatched up her spoon, shook it at him, then turned on her heel to storm out again. Guy shouted, “Where are you going?”
She looked at him over her shoulder. “Now I have a headache, too, but I’ll be damned if I’ll settle for aspirin.”