by M. S. Parker
She arched her eyebrow and folded her arms under her generous cleavage. “Did you make it clear that he’d do well if he helped convince me to trot up here like a good little girl?”
Son of a bitch. “I made it clear that I’d appreciate it.” But maybe I hadn’t made it clear that it was no harm, no foul if she couldn’t. Carefully, I took a deep breath. “Maybe I wasn’t clear enough that regardless of what you chose to do, it was my fault the ring had been left behind, and I was the only one who’d bear the blame for it. I…apologize.” The word almost stuck in my throat. It wasn't one I used very often.
“Apologize to him. He’s the one worrying himself sick that you're going to ruin him.” She lifted a shoulder. “Unless that’s just not the kind of thing you do.”
She had a smirk of a smile on her face. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to kiss it off or just…no, I wanted to kiss it off.
I tried changing the subject, both so I could stop thinking about kissing her and so I could learn more about her. “You said you had responsibilities. Are you taking classes? Is there a second job?”
“I have a younger brother,” she said flatly. “I’m responsible for him after work.”
Well, shit. Now I really felt like an asshat.
Chapter Eight
Jal
It was too easy to stick my foot in my mouth around her, too easy to feel awkward.
And on the flip-side, it was too easy to feel…easy. Not like sleazy, but there was no other way to describe how it was. Then, while I sat there feeling like a piece of shit for my behavior, Allie gave me a look and shook her head slightly, like she’d caught me doing something I shouldn't have.
“You look the same way my little brother did when I caught him peeking over the fence at our next door neighbor.”
I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that comparison.
Allie continued, “She likes to sunbathe in the nude, but then she freaks if she thinks somebody is peeking at her, although that’s exactly why she does it.”
I was shocked enough by her statement that I couldn't stop myself from asking the most inane question that came into my head. “Why do you think she does it just to get peeked at?”
She grinned at me. “Because she also answers the door and walks outside with her robe hanging open, and then acts all frazzled if somebody looks.” Allie lifted a shoulder. “I personally don’t care if she wants to let her tits hang out, but if she’s going to let them hang out, she needs to be aware that guys – especially twelve-year-old boys – will look. Trust me, guys look even if they aren't hanging out.”
She gestured absently toward her chest, and I couldn’t stop myself.
I kept it to a quick glance, my blood heating as I imagined cupping those ripe curves in my hands, taking her nipples into my mouth, teasing them with my fingers. Did she like it light? Hard? Teeth or no teeth?
The thoughts continued to rush through my head even after I slid my gaze back to hers. I doubted she even noticed.
“So you think she intentionally wanders around half-dressed, wanting people to look, but then complaining when they do?” I asked, keeping my tone dry through sheer will alone. I'd never had such a blunt conversation with a woman. Hell, I didn't think I'd had this sort of conversation with a man before.
“Well, yes.” Leaning forward, she said in a low voice, “See, Trudy just got divorced from her husband about two years ago. She caught him cheating with her best friend. Bad timing for him, because Trudy’s mother had just died and Trudy came out of it very, very well. Trudy used to be a bit…” Allie wiggled her head from side to side, weighing her words. “Voluptuous. Pretty, absolutely, but she’d put on some weight over the last year of their marriage, and she always complained that it went to her butt and hips, but never to her boobs. Her best friend was rail thin, but had a decent rack.”
She carried on blithely, and I tried to imagine any of the women I'd ever known talking like this. The women I'd dated. The one I was going to propose to. My mother. I almost choked on my coffee at that image.
No way in hell.
And the best thing about this conversation was that Allie wasn't trying to use it to turn me on, to hit on me. She was just telling a story.
“So Trudy files for divorce, wins, and her now ex-husband knows nothing about the fortune coming her way because it’s all still in probate. Trudy knew, but she kept it all quiet, carrying on as always, running like a beast and losing weight while her former BFF marries her former ex. Then the BFF ends up pregnant and plump. The BFF came to see her, planning to break it to her gently...the same day Trudy’s inheritance was made free and clear. She ended up getting almost half a million, and for a woman living where I do, that’s a decent amount of cash,” she pointed out as if I thought it was nickels.
I didn’t need somebody to tell me that five hundred thousand was a fair amount of money for most people, but I didn’t say anything. Her storytelling was fascinating me.
“She’d already had the first consultation for the boob job – she was getting double D’s. Apparently, her ex had always wanted them, and now she wanted them…just to spite him.” Allie lifted a shoulder and reached for her water. “So she tells her former BFF not to worry her little ol’ head – Trudy’s from Georgia. I was standing out there talking to my mother, and I heard it all and almost died trying not to laugh. Oh, honey, I’m just fine.”
Here, she started to mimic a Georgian accent, getting all into it. Batting her eyelashes, her hand pressed to her chest. Her voice took on a breathy, dulcet tone that brought to mind some attention-seeking southern debutante. I’d met more than a few – slept with several of them too.
She kept going. “You heard about my mama, right? Well, it turns out that she was sitting on some money left to her by her daddy, and now it’s all mine, and I don’t have to worry about sharing it with Jeff! I’m going to pay off the house and get me a car and a boob job, and I’ve already turned in my notice at work, and I’m starting college in the fall!”
I was laughing by the time she finished, my sides hurting.
She grinned at me. “I kid you not. That’s how it went.” Her face darkened. “Sorry. Sometimes when I start telling a story, it just all comes out.”
I shook my head. “Don't apologize. I love a good story. Especially one told so well.”
“I had to recite it for my mom, then her friends.” She pursed her lips again then added softly, “It’s not quite as much fun when you can’t do the accent.”
“Why didn't you do the accent for them?”
“Oh.” She lifted a shoulder, looking away. “I could. But it wouldn’t matter. My mom’s deaf. Brother and step-dad too.”
“Oh. Did…” Frowning and feeling awkward again, I smoothed my hands down the front of my slacks, as if there were imaginary wrinkles. “Inherited?”
“It can be.” She looked over at me. She started to rise, looking around. “I should probably get going.”
“Are you that eager to get back?” I didn't know where the question came from.
Actually, I did, but I didn't know why I’d let myself ask it. It was obvious that she wasn’t thrilled to be spending time with me. I thought she'd enjoyed herself, but I doubted she'd ever want to see me again.
This was a woman with complications written all over her. Not that it mattered. Even if I had the time and the inclination, I wasn’t free.
You always make the time…and you are inclined.
Dammit. That sly little voice in my head was going to get me in trouble.
Except I was counting on Allie to shoot me down.
She still hadn't answered my question though. And she hadn't walked away.
I seized the opportunity.
“Come on. Take a walk with me. I’ll make sure you get back to Philadelphia today.”
We headed down the sidewalk in silence for several minutes before she broke it. “So…you’re about to get engaged.”
“Brilliant deduction, my dear Watson.” I glanced ove
r at her as we slowly made our way around the Central Park Castle, one of my favorite parts of the city. She was staring at everything with a faint smile on her face and part of me wished I could show her everything. But we didn’t have time for everything. Barely had time for this. I just had to make the most of it.
“What’s she like?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it, uncertain how to describe my...relationship. I liked Paisley. I supposed I did anyway. I was physically attracted to her. But now I wasn't entirely sure I could describe her.
“She’s…” I floundered, searching for the right word and the only one that came to mind was… “suitable.”
“Wow.” It was delivered in a dry tone and the smile on Allie’s face was so full of sardonic, sharp-edged humor, it practically cut. “Suitable. I’ll tell you what, Mr. Lindstrom. That’s probably the most insulting description of a woman I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“Hey…”
She stopped and turned, facing me. Hands tucked into the pockets of her puffy down jacket, she shrugged. “Don’t look at me like that. You’re the one who said it. Suitable. Like a…I don’t know. A suit. A suit is suitable. For like a wedding. A funeral. A job interview. Not that you’ve probably had to attend many of those. But the woman you’re going to spend the rest of your life with? Suitable?”
The words hit a mark, but the bad thing was, Paisley was suitable. Nothing else fit. We had no burning, torrid passion, but the sex was fine. We had similar interests in life, and many of the things that appealed to her appealed to me. We knew the same people and our families were friends.
We suited.
And proposing to her meant getting my mom off my ass about settling down.
“And what are you looking for in a marriage?” I asked, feeling defensive without understanding why.
“I’m not,” Allie replied easily. “But if I ever were to be looking to hook up with a guy on a permanent basis, and he described me as suitable, I'd kick his ass. I don’t want a guy because I suit him. I want a guy to want me, to need me…and I’d want to feel the same way about him. Anything else…we’d be short-changing each other.”
She turned and started to walk.
“I guess your parents are the kind who took one look and fell madly in love, so you believe in all that fairy tale kind of thing.”
She shot me a look. “I don't believe in love. Not the kind that sticks around forever anyway. My parents said they were in love, but my dad broke her heart. My step-dad and mom...them, I can maybe believe have what could be called love.” She looked away. “But I don't ever want to be the person someone settled on because I suited them.”
When she'd first started talking, I'd regretted my word choice. Now, I didn't. I could see her a bit more clearly now.
My fingers wrapped around the ring box in my pocket. “Sometimes you don't have a choice between something you want and something you don't. Sometimes, the only choice you have is between two things that are both unappealing, and you have to pick the one you can live with.”
She gave me a look that said maybe I'd just revealed a little too much about myself.
Later that night, as I sipped from a glass of bourbon in my room, I stared out the window, thinking about how the day had gone.
Allie had been fun.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d walked around the city and just talked with anyone, let alone Paisley.
Paisley.
My soon to be wife.
When I was with her, we did talk. Or rather, she talked and I pretended to listen. Kind of like I did with my mother...
Those words had just drifted through my mind when the phone rang.
Glancing down, I saw Paisley’s name flash across the screen. I ignored the desire to not answer and picked it up.
“Hello, Paisley.”
“Jal…” Her voice was a warm purr, and I closed my eyes, tried to focus on her. “How are you?”
“Well. And you?”
“Missing you, baby. What are you doing right now?”
I swirled the twenty-five years scotch in my glass. “Having a drink before I turn in.”
“Why don’t you lay down on the bed? I’m in mine…we could maybe chat.”
I doubted chatting was what she had in mind, but I went to the bed and laid down anyway. I'd enjoyed today, but there was some tension that had only increased being around Allie. A familiar, heavy tension that I knew would have only one release.
As she talked about how she’d like to wrap her mouth around my cock, I closed my eyes and put the scotch down. I palmed myself through my pants, then opened them, let my mind drift. But it wasn’t Paisley who came to mind when I wrapped my hand around my cock. I heard her talking, let the responses automatically fall from my lips, but I was thinking about another set of lips sucking me off, another pair of strong fingers cupping my balls, stroking me.
And it was another name I had to bite back when I came.
Chapter Nine
Allie
“So. Two questions…was it worth it? And not because of the money. I know how you are about that.” Tao studied me over a plate of bacon and eggs.
I rolled my eyes. “That’s only one question, genius.” Sipping from a cup of coffee, I thought about it a moment and then shrugged. “I got a thousand dollars out of it. He’s a nice guy. A nice, rich, white guy…who’d engaged. The money was the only thing to get out of it. Well, that and a nice meal, a headache from spending a ridiculous amount of time flying in such a short time.” I paused for a second and then added, “And sore feet.”
“Sore feet?” Tao gave me a puzzled look.
“Yeah. I was walking all over the airport, then New York City, and then the airport again. I was only prepared to work at the salon for five hours.” With a glum sigh, I leaned back in my chair. “I flew all that way, and I didn’t even get any pizza.”
“Poor baby.” He snapped a bite of bacon off before pointing a finger in my direction. “So question two…how badly are you kicking yourself over being hot for this guy?”
“What?” Heat flooded my cheeks, and I ducked my head, pretending to root through my purse for something – anything. I snatched a tissue out and wiped at my nose needlessly. “I'm not.”
Tao wasn’t fooled. Best friends rarely were, and he and I were closer than most. “Come on, Allie, how hot is he?”
Puffing up my cheeks, I blew out a breath. Shit. I knew better than to try to lie to him. “Jal is…wow. I think that sums it up.”
“And if he wasn’t rich?” Tao asked. “I mean, there’s nothing we can do about him being white, but if he wasn't rich, then what would you do?”
Him.
The thought leaped into my mind so fast I couldn’t stop it. The filter didn’t activate in time, and judging by the way Tao started to grin, he knew just what direction my mind had gone.
Grabbing the napkin from the table, I balled it up and threw it at him. He batted it aside, chuckling.
“Hey, sweetie. It’s not my fault your mind is going down that dirty, dirty path.”
I stuck out my tongue. Childish, maybe, but Tao sometimes brought that out in me. “Look, there’s no point in discussing it anyway. He’s about to get engaged. I took him his engagement ring, Tao. Besides, you know, how I am with guys like him.”
“Guys like him.” Tao rested his chin on one fist. “It’s kind of–”
“Don’t. We’ve had this fight before, okay?” I stole the last piece of bacon off his plate. I’d told the waitress not to bring me any, and I hadn’t intended to eat anything except the omelet on my plate, but my appetite got the better of me. Not an uncommon occurrence for me, especially when Tao's food was involved. He smacked my hand, but I knew he’d asked for the large order of bacon for a reason. He knew I’d steal some.
“So what are you up to this weekend?” I asked, changing the subject away from me.
“Met this guy. We’re getting together for lunch tomorrow.” He dragged a piece
of toast through the yolk on his plate before biting into it.
I shuddered. “How can you do that?”
“Cuz it’s delicious.” He smacked his lips. “So…anyway. You think you can keep your phone handy in case I need you?”
“Think you will?” I glanced around the diner, the breakfast crowd already mostly gone, the mid-morning crowd yet to arrive. There were only a few others in there besides Tao and me. It was one of our favorite places to hang out.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Tao shrugged. “I like the guy. We hit it off the few times we talked, but this is the first date. He’s full-on gay. Doesn’t seem to care that I’m bi, but you know how that goes.” Tao lifted a shoulder. “Not to mention the fact that sometimes you meet a guy, and he’s just an ass.”
“Or a girl who’s just a diva.” I fluffed my hair.
“Well, yeah, but I love you anyway.” He winked at me. “What about you? Anybody on the horizon other the pretty, rich white boy?”
“Like I’ve had so much time to go looking.” I hooked my hands behind my neck and rolled my head from side to side. I'd slept on it funny, and now it was a bit stiff. “Maybe I need to stop sleeping with you on my free time and actually go out.”
“Hey…let’s not get crazy.” He glanced over as somebody came in, his mouth turning down into a hard straight line.
Once I looked over, I saw why. Richard Bloom, Tao’s ex, and the biggest dick I’d ever met, had just strolled in. And that wasn't “biggest dick” in any sort of positive way. I'd been tempted more than once to kick him in the nuts until he cried like a little girl.
He caught sight of us and gave a stiff smile, taking the table farthest away and indicating to the waitress that he needed two cups of coffee.
I once more felt that familiar kick-in-the-nuts urge.
“We can go if you want,” I said.
“No. He’ll be convinced I’m leaving because of him. I’m over it…mostly.” Tao smiled at me, a real smile. “The worst thing was not seeing what he was doing – feeling like a fool.”