We pop the crackers into our mouths at once, and I savor the feel of the caviar detonating onto my tongue.
“I love it when it pops like that,” I grunt with approval. “So, where’d you grow up? You a Bel Terra girl?” If she is, I haven’t seen her around.
“Nope. Hollow Meadows.” She wrinkles her nose as if she disapproved of her upright, uptight upbringing. “Boarding school whole nine years. I’m still close to my sister and brother, though. Harley will be at Briggs next year, and Henry’s finished his graduate work. He’s not exactly able to join the workforce, so he’s working on a book—a joke book.” Her cheeks darken as if embarrassed for him. “He’s a great guy. You’d like him. He loves pie.”
“Sounds like we’d get along. So, your mother’s the artist, huh? You mentioned she had her work in a gallery?”
“She couldn’t get in one, so she did the only sensible thing a socialite can do—she bought one.” She shovels in another cracker with a healthy mountain of caviar, and her eyes roll to the ceiling.
My dick starts to knock against my boxers. If Harper keeps having food orgasms, I might be moved to excuse myself to catch a little relief.
She clears her throat before taking a quick sip. “I bet all the cheerleaders are sure glad you’re single. Are they knocking down the door yet?”
“No. They all think I’m in a relationship with you, remember?” I give a sly wink before downing my drink.
“So—at the supermarket you mentioned something about your mom.” Her brows flex with worry. Harper grows quiet and shrugs her shoulders as if she couldn’t get the rest of the question out.
“Oh yeah, it’s fine. I can talk about it. Trix and I were just kids when it happened. We didn’t really understand what was going on. All I knew was that Saturdays were spent at Mom’s new home, a correctional facility a couple hours from where we lived. She essentially took the fall for something my father did with his company. It wasn’t anything either of them could help, but when she got out, they were pretty much done. It was tough, but we powered through it. She remarried last summer to Lawson’s dad.”
“Oh!” Her eyes brighten the color of springtime, and I get caught in their spell a moment. “So that’s the connection, yes.” She flicks off her shoes and brings her feet underneath her. And there she is—spread eagle in those tiny little shorts, and my gaze darts south without meaning to.
“My eyes are up here, honey.” She blinks up at me as I meet with their gaze.
“Sorry.” That I got caught.
“That you got caught.”
As soon as the words leave her mouth, we share a laugh.
“So tell me something about yourself.” I study the curve of her cheek, nothing but a sheer cliff. I’ve never seen cheekbones that high. “Something nobody else knows about you.”
“You’re into secrets, huh?” She bites down on that full, luscious lip, and my dick perks to life. “I’m afraid of heights.” She shrugs it off as if it’s no big deal. “But who isn’t, right?”
“Me.” I give a slight wink and she swats me over the knee. Something in me cinches at the thought of being swatted by Harper.
“Seriously. Half the people in the world are. It’s not some obscure phobia or anything. Just don’t make any plans to drive me to the nearest ledge and expect me to throw my arms in the air and scream I’m the king of the world. Not happening.”
“Duly noted. Anything else?”
“I love to stuff my face with gummy bears.” Her eyes dip to my crotch as if I’ve got a big one tucked out of sight. And hell, I wish I did. “I’m also part Blackfoot Indian on my father’s side. People think that’s something.”
“That just upped your cool factor by two hundred percent.” That must be where the stunning bone structure comes from, that smooth honey skin.
Her brows hike into her forehead. “Just two hundred?”
“Two fifty.”
We share a quiet laugh, and an awkward lull hits the conversation.
“So that kiss.” She takes a deep breath. “I mean, wow—are you always that much of a powerhouse, or were you pulling out all the stops for me? Inquiring minds want to know.” Her leg grazes over mine, and something quickens in me at the touch of her skin.
“That was me on half-speed. You ain’t seen nothing yet.” I give a sly wink, but my face heats at the idea I just brazenly set it out there like that.
“I’ll admit, I’m a little rusty.” Her cheeks brighten like cherries. “It’s been a while since Justin and I did just about anything.” She swallows hard, and I can’t help but lean in and close the gap between us.
“Rusty, huh?” My finger glides down her cheek, soft as summer rain. “Maybe we should practice a little, just to make sure you’ve got your A game when it’s show time.”
“Right.” She sets down her glass as her face continues to darken. “I’d hate to zig and for you to zag. Our noses could collide and we’d be a laughing stock.”
A moment bounces by with our eyes locked over one another, and the air grows electric between us. “I wouldn’t want for that to happen.”
She glances to the kitchen. “I think we have a few minutes before the pizza is done. Maybe we should make the best of it?”
I pull her over my lap, my breathing already erratic, and for a second our eyes widen in tandem. Harper looks like someone who stepped out of the pages of a magazine, an exotic creature, something unearthly. When I saw her for the first time a few weeks back, I remember thinking she can’t be real—and here she is, mounting me like we’re about to dry fuck.
“Those lips,” I whisper as I press her head down to mine. Our mouths fuse together, wet and hot while she grinds her hips over mine, putting all her weight into it. This time the hard-on comes and I don’t stop it. Don’t want to.
Harper is a master in my mouth, dominating it in the very best way. Her cool hands float up my shirt, and the feel of her skin touching over mine drives a thick groan up my throat. We kiss for what feels like hours, ten blissful weeks. My hands tug at her hair, rake up and down her back as I press her body over mine. Harper has a body, a woman’s body with curves in all the right places. My hands float down to her hips and I give a gentle squeeze, just begging to drive her down over me like a ragdoll. I want her. Hell, my body needs her. Our kisses grow more erratic, messier by the moment, and just as I’m about to flip her onto the couch and take her, the smoke alarm goes off.
We pull apart abruptly, her lips bloated and red with fury.
“I’d better take care of that.” I head to the kitchen and shove a broom handle at the alarm, slapping the shit out of it until it shuts the hell up. Then soon after I head into the bathroom and do the same to my dick. I can’t help it. I’m a guy with basic needs and having a girl as beautiful as Harper jumping up and down on my lap, doling out those hot and heavy kisses can only lead to one thing. I take a quick shower and show up in the living room once again with a sheepish grin on my face.
“Is it time for pie?” She bites down on her lower lip, looking cute as hell.
“It’s always time for pie.”
The weekend melts by and no sign of Harper on Saturday. By Sunday night, I figure I’ve crossed the line and she wants nothing more to do with me. We ate our way through the night and half the food was gone when she left, so no need to come back for seconds. What was I thinking kissing her like that? Letting her ride my lap as if we had already crested all the proper bases? She felt my hard-on. There’s not even a question about that. I freaked her out. She probably thinks I’ve rigged that Justin-Janelle hookup just to scam off her this entire time. Harper is beautiful enough that men should devise such schemes in order to get one of those kisses she doles out. I’m back to the maxim I had since day one—she’s too beautiful to be real.
I’m at the Black Bear when Forest shows up, and I about have a heart attack seeing his face anywhere but the office.
“I was just having dinner with a client.” He slaps me over the shoulde
r. “Hey, didn’t I give you the Capwell file?”
“Yes, you did.” I can’t help but frown at his overtly orange spray tan, his day-glow white teeth. He’s got his pressed suit on, his shiny loafers, and he looks as if he belongs anywhere but a college bar. A thousand bucks says he’s here picking up on the coeds.
“Good. I’ll introduce you. They’re both here.” He gives a quick look around. “No date, huh? Going through a dry spell?”
“Sort of.” I’m not about to confess my boner problems to what amounts to my boss.
“You need to get on that piece we’ve got working down at the office.” He blows out a breath as if taking in a fine wine. “She’s single. I asked.”
The dude had better not be talking about Harper. A violent fury infiltrates my bones and the sudden urge to snap his spine hits me. “Harper and I are just friends. She’s just getting over a breakup.” Not sure why I went there.
“So she’s vulnerable.” His brows pitch as if he’s getting a few bright—read lousy ideas. “That means she’s prime for the picking.”
A couple walks past us and leans in to wave.
“Hey”—he pulls them in—“Ryder, Laney, this is…” He squints into me for help, and for a moment I’m tempted to let him flounder.
“Knox Toberman.” I stand up and shake both their hands. The dude looks beefy like maybe he played a sport in his prime, and the woman is a petite brunette who looks shockingly familiar.
“That’s it.” Forest shoots me with his finger. “Foxy Knoxy here will be showing you around next week.”
“That’s great!” the girl bubbles with excitement. “I’d better get back to work.” She winks my way. “I’m super excited to get started with this!”
She takes off, and thankfully so does Forest.
“She works here.” Ryder ticks his head toward the bar, and suddenly it’s clear why I was vaguely associating her with nachos. “You look familiar.” Ryder winces as he inspects me.
“You might know Rex, my older brother. He’s the quarterback for the Mustangs.”
“Ah, that must be it.” He points to the seat before me and I nod.
“By all means.” We take a seat and he makes light chitchat about college life, the team, and he straightens for a second.
“Wait a minute. I just figured out where I know you from. Right here at the bar. You were getting a burrito bath while making out with some chick. That’s where I know you.” He wags a congratulatory finger at me. “So, what’s the backstory?”
Laney drops a basket of chips and salsa by the table and we dive right in.
I tell Ryder about Janelle, about the brutal way I was exposed to her cheating ways. I give a quick rundown on how Harper and I ended up in that lip-lock sans the dirty details of our arrangement.
“That’s brutal.” He drops his chip and leans back into his chair, stunned as if someone just shot his dog.
“It was brutal. I’m glad it’s behind me.” Is it behind me? In a strange way, it feels like it is.
“And what about Janelle?” He tips his head. “Does any part of you wish you were still together?”
“No,” I spit it out quickly like venom. “She’s in the rearview mirror and I’m not looking back. I want no part of that insanity.”
“What about that kiss you and Harper shared?” He leans in as if this just gets better, and in a way it does. “Do you think there’s something there?”
I think on it a moment. “I don’t know.” I’d better not pour my broken heart over the table. The dude is just being nice. He didn’t sign up for a psychiatry session. “No, we’re just friends.” Ryder may as well be my boss. I’m pretty sure drawing a line in the sand is a good idea. “Harper’s actually my partner at the realty center. She’ll be helping us find you a new home come next week. This whole thing we got going is just a ploy to get back at our exes. We really can’t stand one another.” Okay, so I may have taken it too far.
Ryder scans me as if looking for traces of bullshit. “I hear you.” He gets up and gives my hand a firm shake. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
“Will do.” I watch as he takes off, and that question he tossed out comes storming to the forefront of my brain.
Is there something between Harper and me? Could there be?
Before I can give it any serious thought, Rush comes in with someone unfamiliar, along with Eli holding up the rear.
“What’s up, dude?” Rush slaps me five as the three of them take a seat. “This is Seth, my soon-to-be brother in-law, or something like that. My brother and his sister are engaged.”
“Nice. The more family the merrier.” I mean that. I actually appreciate my stepsiblings.
Laney comes by and we put in our orders. While Eli and Seth talk basketball, Rush takes the opportunity to lean in. “So, what’s up with you and Shelton?” he whispers for my ears only.
“Nothing’s up.”
Rush leans back with that preppy swagger of his. He’s donned his signature polo, his best jeans, and I can tell he didn’t just come to the Black Bear to hang out with the boys. Rush has serious game when it comes to the girls and he’s not in it to lose. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who’s bedded more chicks than Rushford Knight and not had their pecker fall off. He’s essentially every father’s and brother’s worst nightmare.
“I don’t believe you. Want to know why?” He pulls out his phone and there I am in bed, shirtless with a very hot as fuck Harper Shelton exuding lust for the camera.
“It’s all a show.”
“A damn convincing show.”
A crowd comes in behind him, Lucky and Lawson, Ava and Grant, and they pull up seats at the table.
Rush leans in, that shit-eating grin expanding on his face. “You were looking for her.”
“So what if I was.”
“Dude, I could see the disappointment on your face when she didn’t show.” He smacks me over the arm. “You’re getting in too deep. You either want her or you don’t. Figure it out.”
“Figure it out.” I glance down to the other end of the table where Lawson has his arm draped around Lucky, Grant has assumed the same position with Ava. Maybe I just miss that? The casual nature of having someone by your side. I glance around the bar, trying to picture myself with any one of these girls, the blondes, the redheads, the laughing brunettes, and yet each time I envision myself with them, their faces slowly morph into Harper’s.
I spend the next hour drifting in and out of the conversation at hand—my mind, my heart, and my entire body drifting back to that girl with those incredible kisses, Harper Shelton. And then it hits me like a pickax through the forehead.
Hell yes, I want her.
A dull smile comes to my lips.
Who the hell wouldn’t want Harper Shelton?
Hearts Aquiver
Harper
The last three nights in a row are spent in a fetal position in a wingback chair facing the fireplace. Spending the night in the commons room is strictly forbidden, and anyone noticeably trying to catch eight hours of z’s on the sofas will be cited within an inch of their academic lives, so I opted for the less noticeable furniture in hopes to drift into a seamless slumber. Comfortable it was not. It was hell, actually. I’d crash in Ava and Lucky’s room, but I’d hate to ding their record when we haven’t even been residents of Kappa G for a month. And when I went to get ready for my internship this morning, I had to wait twenty minutes in line for a shower. And given my penchant for detesting standing in long lines, it only fostered my newfound disdain for the place. I honestly don’t know how much more of this I can take. No matter how much concealer I put under my eyes, I can still see those puffy dark circles I’m sporting.
And after running twenty minutes behind, I jump into my car and head straight for downtown Jepson. Last night, I almost texted Knox and asked if we could carpool, go green, recycle the air we breathe together, and all that environmental crap just to be near him. Honest to God, the boy has not left my m
ind since that very first kiss. How is that possible? Is this some rare aftereffect of being dumped brutally by your boyfriend of two years, who suddenly has amnesia as to how close we really were? I mean, dear God, we exchanged I love yous hundreds of times! We talked about grad school, about our hopes and dreams, about… Hey—come to think of it, I was doing most of the talking. Justin was more or less nodding like a bobble head while noshing on whatever the waitress put in front of him. Ugh. He’s such a donkey, and as much as I hate to admit it, I was probably one too for fostering that false relationship like a blown glass heart I wouldn’t dare let anyone crush. But in the end, there was no love there—not from him anyway.
Downtown Jepson comes up quick, and it hits me how close to the gallery I am. Maybe after I’m done with work I’ll swing by and surprise my mother. It’s been weeks since I’ve been home, and since we’re essentially within driving distance, I don’t have the greatest excuse.
The realty center comes up and I take the parking spot next to Knox’s white truck. Just the sight of it brings a warm smile to my face. That trip to the grocery store was the best date I had ever been on. Pathetic as it might sound, it was actually pretty fun loading up on gourmet food with someone who actually has a palate for the finer things in life. Justin tried caviar once and almost vomited on my lap. In comparison, everything about Knox is a breath of fresh air.
I get out of the car and step into the heat of the day, and suddenly I’m craving the cool air conditioning of Knox’s rental home. Wow, did I just think of Knox nonstop on the way over? This isn’t right. It’s almost as if I’m interested in the guy.
I stop short.
No freaking way.
My heart breaks into a conga drum solo.
I’m interested in Knox Toberman.
I stare up at the heavy blue sky and withhold the urge to let a primal cry rip from my lungs. It can’t be true. That would make this a classic rebound, and ironically that’s exactly what Knox and I are trying to avoid.
Oh crap. I take the next few steps toward the squatty white building, and my heart starts to pound so fast that I’m terrified I’ll pass out before I ever hit the door. Just knowing he’s in there has my blood racing, my entire body breaking out into a cold sweat, and those butterflies in my stomach just morphed into a bunch of rabid pigeons all trying to peck their way out.
Revenge Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book 14) Page 9