by Penny Dee
She bit her lip and her eyes dropped to the screen. When she raised them again, she looked as if she had just realized something.
“What?” I asked.
She hesitated and I hated the feeling that filled me as she said, “That was Dean. He asked me if I wanted to go with him to the gallery tomorrow afternoon. There’s an Irving Klaw tribute showing and tomorrow is its last day.”
At least she looked a tiny bit apologetic when she added, “I told him I’d go. But just as—”
“Friends … yeah, I know.”
But did I?
My chest felt heavy and I was filled with a sudden possessiveness. Which was ridiculous, since I had no claim to her. But the idea of her spending time with Dean drove me crazy. She assured me they were only friends, but I doubted Dean saw it that way. He was using the friends things as a way in.
But wasn’t that what I was doing?
I frowned. No.
Then what was the fucking problem?
I shrugged like it was no big deal and then excused myself to go the bathroom.
The problem was that I liked Harlow a lot more than just a friend. But I would have to get over it. Because she didn’t want anything from me. Or Dean. Apparently.
Anyway, she deserved … better. A guy who didn’t have a history of one-night stands and a reputation for being a player. I looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that guy.
When I came out of the bathroom, the attractive blonde who had been sitting at the table next to us, grabbed me. Apparently our paths had crossed a few times before and while nothing had happened between us, that was something she now wanted to rectify.
The feel of her hand on my crotch reminded me of who I was and how I was probably every shade of wrong for Harlow. We could only ever be friends. Because Harlow deserved better than this.
She deserved better than Dean.
And she sure as hell deserved better than me.
Chapter Seven
HARLOW
“So which side do you sleep on?” Heath asked with a grin.
“I don’t have a side. I sleep in the middle,” I replied, dropping my overnight bag on the black and grey comforter.
“What about when you share? You know, with a guy.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never spent the night with a guy.”
Heath looked like I had just told him the location of Atlantis.
Then he looked confused. “You’re … a virgin…?”
I frowned. He of all people should realize that just because I have never slept over with a guy, didn’t necessarily make me a virgin.
You didn’t date the most sought after guy in five counties and get out of town a virgin.
“I grew up in a strict household, Heath. Not a convent.” I shrugged. “I’m not a virgin. I’ve just never spent the night with a guy.”
“So, I’m your first sleepover buddy?”
I giggled and at down on the bed. “I guess so.”
He sat down next to me. “Me too.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m calling bullshit.”
“Why?”
“You’ve slept with a lot of girls.”
He shook his head. “Not in this bed baby. This bed is virginal when it comes to the opposite sex. You’re the first girl to ever sleep in here. Hell, other than Nikki, you’re the only other girl to see the inside of my room.”
It was hard to believe but I didn’t push it.
“So what am I doing here?”
He shrugged like it was no big deal. In the soft light of his bedroom he looked nothing like the showman who oozed sex on stage. He looked adorable.
“You’re my friend. I want to show you that I can be your friend without you worrying that I’m going to try and molest you every chance I get.” He nudged me with his shoulder. “It’s safe to be my friend, H-bomb. I promise.”
What he said made me smile.
“Okay, what side do you want?” I asked.
He lay back. “This is as good a place as any.”
I flopped down beside him and turned my head to look at him. His eyes glittered with blue as he smiled back at me.
“You were really amazing up there tonight,” I said.
“You think? It was just karaoke.”
“Yeah, but you totally had that crowd eating out of your hand.”
He smiled that closed-lipped smile that made his dimples deepen. Then he shifted and put his hands behind his head.
“Especially the blonde who had you cornered outside the restroom. I think she would have eaten you if I hadn’t come along.”
He chuckled. “She was pretty straight forward about what she wanted.”
“I noticed—you know, considering she had her hand all over your crotch.”
“Just another day at the office, babe.”
I yawned. It was late. Well after midnight. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “We should get some sleep.”
“Do you want to have a shower before or after me? Or we could save water and shower together. You know, because I’m totally down with that environmentally friendly shit.”
“One of these days I might scare the hell out of you Heath and take you up on your absurd invitations.”
He sat up. “I live in hope, H-bomb. I live in hope.”
I nudged him. “Do you have something I can wear to bed?”
“You mean you were serious about not sleeping naked?” Mock disappointment crossed his face.
I grinned. “A woman should keep some mystery about her.”
“Fuck mystery.” He winked at me and climbed off the bed. He crossed the room to his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. “You have a shower and I’ll make us a hot chocolate each.”
Their bathroom was big and full of light. The shower was above a big porcelain tub. There was no shower curtain, which was a bit of a worry, but as soon as I felt the warm spray of water on my skin, I relaxed. The warm water brought out all the aches and pains from our baseball game and I let the warm spray soak into me.
When I came out of the shower, Heath was in the kitchen leaning against the counter. He was shirtless and his legs were crossed at his ankles. I paused a moment, suddenly stalled by the image of him. Engrossed in reading the back of the hot chocolate packet he didn’t notice I was there, staring at him like a stalker. I bit my lip. With his shirt off he was very impressive. Broad shoulders rounded into thick arms that flexed and flinched as he turned the cardboard box in his hand. His expansive chest gently rose and fell with each breath he took. Light and shadow carved deeply sculpted lines where muscle met muscle across a torso rippled with a zillion abdominal muscles, which tapered off and disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans.
I sucked in a deep breath aware of a sudden and intense physical longing. It tingled and pulsated through me, hitting the most sensitive parts of me with unrelenting force. I exhaled. Perhaps agreeing to this sleep over had been unwise.
The whistle of the kettle broke the spell and Heath put down the packet of chocolate and set about making our drinks. Aware I was fully aroused, I hurried off to the bedroom determined to fight any physical attraction I felt for this man.
This was bad.
Bad bad.
The type of bad that killed the dinosaurs.
Heath wasn’t far behind me and walked into the bedroom carrying two mugs of hot chocolate. I grinned as if truly excited by the hot chocolate. But the truth was, I was so turned on I could hardly think straight. It was going to be hard to hide it from him.
Inwardly I groaned. Oh God, if he knew … he would die laughing.
While he showered I lay on the bed, desperately trying to not picture him naked in the bathroom. Desperately trying not to picture the warm water hitting his perfectly sculptured body … or the parts of him I’d never seen …
He walked in with the towel slung around his hips. With his broad back to me he rummaged around in the drawer for a pair of boxer shorts. Muscles mo
ved beneath taut, flawless skin. One slip of the towel and I would see everything. I closed my eyes at the thought.
“Why are your eyes closed and your face all screwed up?” he asked.
I opened my eyes. “You’re wearing nothing under your towel.”
“Yeah. I just got out of the shower. That’s what I usually do, you know, shower naked.”
To hide the impact his near-nakedness had on me, I sipped my drink. “I was just giving you some privacy,” I lied. It had nothing to do with privacy and everything to do with the fact I was so attracted to him.
He smiled and it did nothing to dampen what I felt aching at all the sensitive spots.
The fact that he slept shirtless didn’t help. Sure he put boxers on but his glorious chest was one hundred percent naked.
Damn.
It took all my strength to appear totally unfazed by him and keep myself from staring as we talked candidly over our hot chocolates. Meryl Streep had nothing on my acting abilities.
By one o’ clock I was exhausted and we climbed into bed. Heath turned off the light and a July moon burst into the room, casting shadows of the outside world against the wall.
I rolled onto my side with my back to him. Afraid of what I might do if I faced him, knowing there was nothing but a few inches of bed between us. I felt the bed move as he got comfortable. His warmth next to me was comforting. My sleepiness had abandoned me and I stared at the shadows dancing on the wall.
“Heath?”
“Yeah?” He was still lying on his back with his hands behind his head on the pillow.
“What am I doing here?”
There was a long period of silence.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. “That’s exactly what I’m trying to work out, H-bomb.”
I rolled over to look at him. The sheet had slipped down to his waist, exposing that lethal torso. His arms flexed against the pillow.
I rose up on my elbow. “You’re every girl’s dream.”
“Except one,” he whispered.
I paused and bit my lip. He reached over and pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
“Will you tell me something?” he asked.
I shivered beneath his touch. “Anything.”
“Why did you deliberately lose the bet?”
I blinked. His question caught me off guard. “I …”
Fuck! I what…?
I sighed, not ready to admit anything. Because I didn’t know anything yet.
I bit my bottom lip, shook my head and whispered, “I don’t know.”
He rose up and smiled. His bulk was dark against the moonlight. I saw the flick of his tongue across his bottom lip and the white of his teeth as he smiled.
“Then let’s keep things real simple and work it out together.” He leaned in and his fingers were warm on the nape of my neck. He pulled me to him and pressed his lips to my forehead where they lingered. I was engulfed in his warmth and the subtle scent of soap. “We don’t have to work it all out tonight. But we will work it out.”
I nodded and he released me. As I sank into my pillow, I stared up at the ceiling. But within seconds his big arms drew me against his chest where they held me close to his warm body. I didn’t fight it and relaxed into him. Within minutes his breathing slowed and I knew he was asleep.
But it took a little longer for sleep to claim me.
* * * * *
HEATH
It was bliss. Being trapped in that space between sleep and wakefulness where you float free of your body, your mind is lulled by the beauty of sleep but somehow aware of the reality of being awake. It was there that I walked through the murky shadows of sleepiness, aware of the weight next to me on the bed and the sweet, sweet sensation of her warm skin on mine.
I felt the warmth of her breath first. Then the gentleness of her his lips along the curve of my throat. Her body slid across mine to lay against me, her strong thighs either side of my hips as she pressed down against me. I moaned at the pleasure of her mouth on my skin. Her lips were smooth and soft and I sighed beneath their touch, and licked my bottom lip at the rising sensation. I could feel her against me. Her most intimate parts. And they were exquisite as they rubbed against mine with a slow, intoxicating rhythm. I wouldn’t last. It was too good. Too much. She was so warm. Infinitely warm. But she trembled at my touch as my hands swept along the subtle curve of her thighs and pulled her tighter against me. One move and I’d be inside her.
“Heath—!”
I woke with a start and realized Harlow was shaking me.
For a moment I just stared at her. Then reality sank in, and so did the disappointment. It had been a dream. A goddamn dream. And probably a wet one too if it had gone any further.
Fuck. How old was I? Twelve?
“You okay? You sounded like you were having a nightmare.”
No, the nightmare was waking up and finding out I wasn’t having sex with her. Now I had a raging hard on which was going to be a bitch to get rid of without some kind of release.
Hell, I needed to get laid.
I frowned. “I don’t know, I can’t remember.”
She smiled down at me and I realized I was going to have to take a shower. A longer shower than usual.
“You sure you’re okay?” Her hair fell in messy waves around her face and over her shoulders. Damn, why did she have to look so hot first thing in the morning? It was doing nothing to kill my hard on.
“I’m good.” I sighed and rubbed my eyes with my palms. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Like a baby. What about you?”
Like a porn star. “Yeah, good.”
“Let’s go for breakfast. My shout.” She said.
I was going to have to get her out of the room before I could get up.
“Sure. You go and get changed and do all that scary girl stuff that you girls do, and I’ll throw on some jeans.”
I wasn’t going to get a chance to do anything about my … arousal. Thankfully, by the time Harlow emerged from the bathroom, things had settled down. Five minutes in the bathroom and she came out looking like a goddess.
We rode to Cherry Doll, a bakery along the boardwalk with a view of the Pier. We sat inside at a window booth and Harlow ordered a stack of pancakes. Which was cool because I couldn’t stand it when girls ordered salads. Or water. Or nothing. Apparently she liked food. A lot of food. God knows where she put it all. I joined her with a stack of buttermilk pancakes with lots of maple syrup and cream.
“How do you eat all of that and stay so fit?” she asked, forking up a blueberry and popping it into her mouth.
I grinned. “Is that your way of saying I’ve got a hot body?”
She rolled her eyes as if it was the last thing she would think. But the flush to her cheeks let me know otherwise. I couldn’t help but smile.
“I train every day. Weights. Cardio. My dad got me into boxing as a kid and it helps me keep in shape.” I shrugged. “Helps me when I’m on stage too.”
“And you’ve never smoked?”
I shook my head. “I grew up with parents who were always active. You know, running or playing sports. They encouraged all of us kids to play sports and I knew smoking would get in the way of how I performed, so I never bothered trying.”
She scooped up a mouthful of pancake and berry sauce.
“I notice you don’t drink alcohol, either.” She said.
“I’ve done a lot dumb things on alcohol. I used to drink every time I got on stage - you know, to calm the nerves. But sometimes I did things I regretted. So I stopped.”
I wasn’t going to tell her about the time I’d gotten so rotten drunk I had slept with a good friend’s wife. When he found out it had destroyed our friendship, not to mention his marriage. It was the crux that made me decide to stop drinking and something I would go to my grave regretting. Alcohol made me do stupid shit, so I stayed away from it as much as possible.
She finished all her pancakes and I was impressed. But our breakfa
st date was drawing to a close and I felt the onset of disappointment in my stomach. Every time it came time to saying goodbye to her, I felt the same hollowness in my belly.
As we drained our cups of coffee, she picked up the spoon from her plate. Absentmindedly, she sucked the syrup from her spoon and I felt every slippery slide of her tongue on my skin.
“Jesus Christ!” I couldn’t help but moan, my eyes fixed on her lips. “You’d better stop doing that or we’re gonna have to wait a while before I can get up and leave.”
With a burst of mischievousness she put the entire spoon in her mouth, then slowly dragged it from between her lips. Her tongue slid along the cold silver metal and I went as hard as a missile.
With a wink she smiled and dropped the spoon to her plate. “Okay let’s go.”
My hand closed over hers. “We’re gonna have to wait a bit.”
Her eyes dropped to my crotch and the bulge beneath the denim. She rolled her eyes. Obviously she hadn’t expected that.
Trying to distract myself from my … situation … I brought up her afternoon plans with Dean. Because God knows, just the thought of her spending the afternoon with that weasel was enough to kill my hard on. But in the end I just managed to irritate her, which wasn’t my plan.
“Does Dean know today isn’t a date?”
Harlow gave me one of her are-you-kidding-me? looks. I couldn’t blame her. She had explained it to me enough times. She stood up and grabbed her handbag.
“What’s it going to take for me to get it through to you that I only see Dean as a friend?”
“Not go out with him,” I said lightly.
It was a joke but at the same time I meant it.
It made me sound like a bit of a possessive douche. But I would bet my life savings that the jerk was playing the friendship card to worm his way into her panties. I knew he could be very persuasive as I’d seen him in action a few times at the Pizza Palace and a couple of other venues we had played at.
Worse, he was more Harlow’s type than me. So my paranoia had me second guessing her ability to turn him down when faced with the full assault of his charms.
Harlow didn’t bother saying anymore. She just fixed me with those piercing green eyes that said it all, and headed towards the door.