Paper Kisses

by Beth D. Carter

“Well, I still am.” Alannah corrected her. “I used to have my own business with my husband. Ex-husband.”

  “Divorced, huh?” Marzie chimed in. “Been there myself.”

  “Actually, she’s been there twice,” Amy, the third and final of the group, replied.

  Marzie blew a puff of smoke from her cigarette toward her friend to show her annoyance.

  “I live in Cape Girardeau now,” Yvonne said, seeming determined to keep the conversation going. “I’m an accountant. Amy’s a teacher here in Dexter and Marzie works for an apartment complex.”

  Alannah smiled at them. “That’s great. What grade do you teach, Amy?”

  “Second,” Amy replied with a sigh. “I never realized how early in life brats develop. It’s such a shame spanking is taboo nowadays. One good crack to the monsters would make me feel better about my job.”

  Alannah blinked, wondering if she was serious. When the three of them began to laugh at her expression, Alannah relaxed and laughed with them.

  At that moment, another truck pulled up and Alannah watched Skylar step out of the cab. He was out of his uniform today, wearing a t-shirt that stretched across his broad chest, outlining every muscle obscenely, and blue jeans so tight she could see the nice bulge at his groin, which was where her gaze went directly to, of course. It was at eye level. And big.

  She really had to think of a different adjective.

  “Wow,” Marzie murmured appreciatively. “Now there’s a body to drool and lick your chops over.”

  Alannah silently agreed. Licking sounded pretty good to her. And slurping. And sucking. Heat flushed through her, the kind not from the sun, and caused her juices to run into her bikini bottoms. Crap. She so didn’t need to get turned on right now.

  “I can’t believe how good looking he turned out,” Yvonne said.

  “I know,” Amy added. “He came back from college and suddenly he was this hunk.”

  “Made me vote for him at election time,” Marzie replied.

  “I thought he ran unopposed,” Alannah remarked, remembering her conversation with him.

  “She usually doesn’t vote,” Amy explained.

  As if he heard them talking about him, Sky looked over and her gaze locked with his. Something deep and primal shifted inside her as if the world suddenly forgot to spin on its axis, and the feeling threw her for a loop. This was the same person she’d grown up with, had known since kindergarten. He had the same face, the same smell, for god’s sake, but the challenge shining out of his eyes wasn’t Skylar Randall at all. The man he’d become was different. Harder. Sexier, for damn sure. And all her female parts answered with a purr. And then he was heading toward her and her stomach clenched, causing a thousand butterflies to all flitter about at once.

  “Ladies,” he greeted in a soft, super seductive voice. How’d he pack such a panty wetting inflection in one word?

  Alannah listened to her companions fumbling for something coherent to say and failing miserably. It would’ve made her laugh except she suspected she’d be in the same boat if she opened her mouth. So instead, she rose, grabbed her empty plate and walked away, making a beeline for the nearest trash can before heading off into the woods for a quick walk to get her equilibrium back.

  It was almost surreal being back here, hearing the splashes and laughter from the partygoers. She knew once night fell that a bonfire would go up and everyone would settle around with beers and blankets to swap stories. Some would head off for a little privacy. Some wouldn’t give a shit about privacy.

  “Having fun?” Sky asked from behind her, startling her so bad she almost tripped.

  His arms caught her around her stomach and hauled her back just in time, and she sagged in relief until she felt all of him touching all of her. Good god almighty, there wasn’t padding under those clothes. His chest cradled her back and his groin fit in the curve of her ass. And then, holy moly…his cock went from relaxed to hard in the blink of an eye. He was poking her. Literally.

  All the breath swooshed from her and before she realized what she was doing, she’d wiggled her ass against him. She was rewarded with a groan right before Sky bent over to nuzzle his nose against the curve where her neck met her shoulder. His breath was warm and it tickled the fine hair at her nape. Her libido began to hyperventilate, her mouth began to salivate, and suddenly all she wanted to do was turn around and ride him into next Sunday.

  Holy shit. Where’d that thought come from?

  Panicking just a little, because he used to be her best friend, she pulled away and spun, panting like she’d just run a marathon. His blue eyes were deep and stormy and they looked at her with good old-fashioned lust. She felt an answering need pulse through her clit so she silently gave it a warning to back the fuck down. This was Sky… She couldn’t possibly want to fuck him. Could she?

  Would she if he asked?

  Oh, she was in so much trouble.

  “Alannah?” he asked, wary.

  “Yes?” she squeaked. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Yes?”

  He smirked and lifted one sexy eyebrow. “Having fun?”

  He’d already asked that but since he was ignoring what just happened between them then she could ignore it too. Or, act like she could.

  “Three of your fangirls back there wouldn’t mind you flexing your muscles,” she said as nonchalantly as possible.

  He glanced back the way they’d come but the woods had already swallowed them up. Realizing they were alone sent a whole new round of nerves flapping around in her belly. And then she watched as Sky puffed out his chest and posed like a body builder.

  “Like this?” he asked and moved into another stance. “Or this?”

  She swallowed to get rid of the dryness in her mouth. “Yeah, just like that. They’d throw their phone numbers at you.”

  He relaxed his poses and gave her another one of those enigmatic stares that she didn’t know how to interpret.

  “I already have them,” he said with a dismissive shrug.

  Her eyes went wide. Of course he did. Jerk. She went to spin away from him but he must have anticipated her move because he grabbed hold of her arm.

  “Jealous?”

  “Why would I be jealous?”

  “Just testing you. Seeing if you thought about us.”

  She cocked her head. “Thought about us what?”

  “Come on, don’t play dumb, Alannah. Thought about us together.”

  “You mean fucking?”

  His eyes narrowed a bit at the word. “Yes, fucking. We’re not kids anymore and I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to be inside you.”

  A very tiny part of her thrilled at his words and the vivid picture it painted, but she pulled her arm out of his grasp. “I’m not one of your girls.”

  “I don’t want a girl in my bed. I want a woman. I want you.”

  Alannah was confused, and sure she must be experiencing vertigo of some sort since he was dive-bombing between hot and cold. Yesterday he acted all cold and indifferent. Today he was a Dominant on steroids. This Skylar was too different, too direct. What had happened to the young kid that used to blush at the mention of sex? Or the teenager who was confused on how to unclasp a bra?

  “What happened to you?” she quietly asked.

  He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re different. More intense.”

  “I call it self-assured. And you’re stalling.”

  “Stalling from what?”

  “From answering if you’ll have sex with me.”

  “Whoa. Direct much? This is just way too fast, Sky.”

  “Alannah, I’ve been in lust with you since I was fifteen years old and realized a girl would feel a lot better than jerking off to a magazine.”

  Her eyes went wide in wonder. Oh. My. God.

  He leaned toward her and she braced herself. Should she run? She wanted to run but her feet seemed to have grown roots. Oh, he smelled good. Was that a trickle of sweat runn
ing down his neck and into his shirt? Would it run over his abs? Into his navel? Yum.

  Stop it!

  “Think about it,” he whispered in her ear and then abruptly turned and headed back the way they’d come, back to the party, leaving her to stare after him in amazement.

  What the hell had just happened? He came charging after her, dropped a teenage boy fantasy upon her, and then turned and walked casually away? As if he hadn’t just nuked their safe ground of friendship? This couldn’t be happening to her, of all people. Bryce had called her frigid. Boring. There wasn’t anything more demoralizing than having someone who’d vowed to love you for all eternity call you boring. She could’ve dealt with the frigid part, could’ve forced herself to give him blowjobs or something, but how does one get past being boring?

  Her shoulders slumped. Sky had a lusty crush on the girl she used to be but if he knew her now, really and truly knew her, he’d realize how lucky he was that she’d left Dexter without a backward glance.

  Chapter Three

  As the party continued through the day, Alannah was tortured at the sight of Sky playing volleyball shirtless. He was just as he hinted he’d be under the tight t-shirt. Muscles that flexed with every move he made, a blond happy trail disappearing into his shorts, and a tattoo on his shoulder that added a layer of oomph to the bad boy appeal. She was now in a permanent state of arousal and she didn’t like it. Bryce had never made her feel this out of control. He’d never made her yearn for sex. And on top of that she was hot and bothered for her best friend. She could barely wrap her brain around that concept.

  As he spiked the ball over the net, she picked up a clean paper plate and began to fan herself as visions of that body spread on top of hers made the party in her panties a little more intense.

  “Hot?” CeeCee asked.

  “You have no idea,” Alannah muttered.

  CeeCee followed her gaze. “I totally agree. If I didn’t think of him like a brother I’d be chasing that tail feather.”

  “Cee!” Alannah admonished. “I’m…just…feeling kind of faint. I need to cool off.”

  “Definitely. You do look a little flushed. Hey, let’s go dip into the lake.”

  The thought of what could be living in the murky water finally pulled her from ogling Sky. She frowned at CeeCee. “Aren’t there water moccasins in there?”

  “Yes. And leeches. Come on, let’s go!”

  Alannah pursed her lips as she watched her friend pull off her top and shimmy out of her jean shorts. There were reasons why God invented chlorinated pools and two of those reasons waited in the lake. Ugh. No fucking way.

  “Come on,” CeeCee yelled to her. “Last one in is a rotten egg.”

  “What are we, five?” Alannah yelled back. With reluctance she took off her clothes as well, down to the bikini she wore underneath. CeeCee went racing into the water but Alannah took her time, easing into the water. Ew. The ground was slimy. She waded out to her knees before remembering that fish popped in the water. She turned to make a hasty retreat back when she ran face-first into the hard muscled chest she’d been admiring from afar all afternoon. She didn’t even have to look up. Her body throbbed to attention and she knew she was touching Sky as her nipples popped up to give a big, ol’ howdy-do. She crossed her arms over them, embarrassed to be showing too much of her attraction for him.

  “Leaving already?” he teased. “You just walked in.”

  “I…fish…poop.” She shook her head to clear her jumbled thoughts. What the hell did she just say? “I meant, I just remembered, fish poop in the water. I don’t think fish poop is healthy.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  She shrugged and the next thing she knew, he swung her up in his arms. She shrieked and threw her arms around his neck, knowing exactly what it was he planned to do.

  “No,” she said frantically, shaking her head. “Please, Sky. I don’t want to go in the water.”

  He raised that eyebrow again, giving her that appraisal look that was fast turning her on. Oh, who was she kidding? Everything about this new and improved Sky was turning her on.

  “What’ll you give me for not tossing you into the lake?” he asked.

  “Anything,” she said, a bit desperately.

  He didn’t answer, just abruptly turned around and marched back to the beach. He sat her down near her folded pile of clothes. She blinked and looked at him in confusion.

  “I noticed you came with Kevin,” he told her. “I’ll drive you back this evening.”

  “Oh. Um, okay.”

  He gave her a crooked little grin and turned back to the game and that’s when she saw he still wore his jeans and they were now wet up to the knees.

  ****

  Alannah couldn’t help but sit stiffly as she watched Sky walk around to the driver’s side. He had helped her into the truck cab like any gentleman would, but the shit-eating grin on his face belied his good intentions. She had a feeling he had something up his sleeve.

  When he started the engine, the radio kicked on and country music blared loudly. Sky immediately hit the off button and shot her an apologetic look.

  “Sorry about that,” he said. “I also sing off-key in the shower.”

  Instead of relaxing her with a joke, the words invoked an image of him naked, which didn’t do much to put her at ease. Not when her imagination had been trying to go there already. She was still wondering how Sky had gone from her childhood friend to a man who made her think of sex. Sex, sex, and more sex... And now, thanks to his attempt at humor, shower sex.

  Had she always had this simmering cauldron of desire for him? Had she always secretly wished he’d ask her out? Of all the times he’d bitched about his girlfriends, had she wished she could kiss the bad choices away? God, this was crazy. She’d just returned home yesterday and hadn’t seen him in twelve years, so why now did her libido decide it was time to wake up?

  And why hadn’t it woken up with her husband?

  “You know, I don’t really feel like going home,” he said. “You want to go to East Park?”

  “Don’t parks close at dusk?”

  “Hey, it’s good to be sheriff,” he mused, sending her a quick wink.

  The rest of the trip had her on edge and the anticipation kept her in a state of arousal that was almost…painful. Sky pulled into a parking space near a picnic table and even before he’d killed the engine Alannah jumped out of the cab, needing a moment to calm herself down. She drew in a lung full of crisp night air as she walked over to the table and sat on it, leaning back on her hands to stare up at the star-filled sky.

  Sky sat an unopened bottle of beer beside her, still dripping with cold water from the cooler. Her eyebrows went up as she picked it up and unscrewed the lid. Sky tapped her bottle lightly with his own before taking a deep swallow.

  “After closing with a beer,” she said. “Sure hope this section isn’t patrolled. I’d hate to call your parents up to bail us out of jail.”

  “The luxury of being boss is having the spare,” he murmured, holding up a set of keys.

  “Prepared, I see.”

  “You know it. Linda says it’s one of my best traits.”

  Hearing his girlfriend’s name quieted the butterflies in her stomach. She sat her beer down with a click. “Cee told me you had a girlfriend. Serious?”

  He shrugged. “Sometimes I think so. Then something will happen and I won’t call her for a couple of weeks and I start to think, fuck it.”

  “Something like an argument?”

  “Yeah. She likes to play head games, not realizing those games push me away.”

  “And you do nothing to perpetrate these games?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked sharply.

  “I mean, have you been truthful to her?” she asked bitterly. “Truth works best, you know, because if not snip, snap, crack of the heart and you’re divorced.”

  “Wow, bypassing the wedding and honeymoon all together,” he replied. “Isn’t that
the best part of being married?”

  “No,” she said quietly. “I thought I would have companionship. I thought he cared. I thought he was my friend.”

  He sat his beer down and turned her face toward his. She couldn’t see his expression clearly because of the dark, but his body was primed and still. The butterflies began dancing again.

  “I’m your friend,” he murmured. “And you’re mine. You never played head games with me, and you were always there when I needed you. Sometimes I think that’s why I’ve never fallen in love. I’m searching for another you.”

  “That’s not exactly fair to Linda, is it?”

  “All I know is that since I’ve seen you again my feelings have been jumbled up,” he told her, leaning forward. His lips hovered just over hers and she wanted so desperately to bring hers up so they could kiss. Had she ever wanted anything more? But there was something nagging in his words and then it hit her. They were in East Park.

  She pushed him back. “You’re such a joke!”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Nothing has changed with you!” she exclaimed. “Here we are in the park, at night, and you’re talking about problems with your girlfriend. After twelve years I’m still your punching bag!”

  “So when did listening to me become such a burden?”

  She jumped from the table and began pacing. “Is this the extent of what our relationship will always amount to? I can’t be your confidante anymore, Sky. I can’t give you any advice. You wouldn’t want mine anyway.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? Because we’re no longer teenagers? Because twelve years ago you walked away, proving you didn’t give a shit?”

  She poked him in the chest. “That’s not true and you know it! I cared too much…”

  She broke off from what she was going to say, staring up at him and huffing like she’d run uphill. And suddenly it hit her…she had wanted him back then. She’d been so scared to try anything with him that she actually let him slip away, and that fear ruled the rest of her life. Had that been when her life ran off course?

  “Go on, finish what you were going to say.”

  “I…I…I’m scared,” she whispered.