He shrugged. “I think you're making a mistake.”
“If so, it’s my mistake to make. And yeah, you were right. The flowers did nothing. Maybe, though,” she said, putting the brush down. Her eyes grew bright. “Maybe I could give her a job. Lia thought that if I’d given her a gift card to the mall she would’ve been nice to me. Maybe she just needs a job. A chance to earn a little money. So when she does get back to the city she can buy herself whatever it is that teenagers like to buy these days.”
“You can't be that naïve,” Theo snapped out. When she shot him a glance, he backpedalled. “You see the world through your eyes, and that’s a beautiful thing. You have an innocence about you that isn't naïveté, it's actually a strength. No matter what, even when things get you down, they don’t get you down for long. You see the good in people, and for that, I’m grateful.”
Her expression softened. “You’re grateful because I see the good in you?”
He swallowed. Something inside his chest grew and made his ribcage feel too small. “Is that what you see? I thought you considered me a pill.”
Chessie laughed, her low, throaty sound rolling through the room. “You are a pill. And you’re a rascal. And rather spoiled. But yeah, Theo, I see the good in you. Pretty clearly, in fact.”
He didn’t know what to say.
* * *
Why had Theo gone so silent, Chessie wondered? He wasn’t offended that she’d called him spoiled, was he? He knew he was spoiled. He joked about being spoiled. That couldn’t be it. “Are you still mad that I’m not going to call Remy?” she asked.
“No,” he said quickly, as if startled by her question. “What makes you ask?”
She resumed brushing her hair without answering. When finished, she stood, then came closer to the head of the bed where Theo leaned against the headboard. “Need anything before I turn out the lights?”
It took a moment for Theo to respond, as if his mind was stuck on some part of their earlier conversation. Finally, he said, “Nope. I’m good. And besides, I think you have entirely too many clothes on. And you’re too far away. Some closer.”
She eased down on the bed next to him, and put her arms on his broad shoulders, fascinated by the silky sensation of his skin under her fingertips. God, he was delicious.
“Ready to get it on?” he asked, his voice low and husky and the back of his throat.
A soft laugh burst out of her. A lot of women would be offended by how honest the two of them were about their sexual situation, but she wasn’t like most women. That she and the Theo could be so open about their needs and desires was exactly what she wanted. What she needed.
“The only thing about this situation,” she said, as she ran her fingers down his chest, tracing the path of his albums with her fingertip, “is that I’m always on top. Too bad all of your casts make it too hard for us to experience other positions. I think you would be fun to explore with.”
Too late, she realized what she’d said. What she’d inferred. That the possibility—remote as it seemed—for them to continue sleeping together after he no longer lived in her house existed. She glanced down at Theo, who fortunately didn’t seem to have picked up on her innuendo. Good. She didn’t need his mind going there, too.
Bad enough her mind had even touched the edge of that thought.
Under her, Theo attempted to wrap his arms around her back, the hard surface of the plaster casts grazing the soft skin on her back through the silk of her robe.
She undid the belt around her waist and stood. With a quick shrug, the fabric dropped from her form to pool in a puddle of emerald green silk at her feet. She stood in front of Theo, fully naked.
A dimple flashed on Theo’s cheek, sending a pulse beating through her system as she saw his pleasure. She’d worried a bit, the first time they’d had sex—and the second and the third—that her curves and freckles would be a turnoff. But he’d been so enthusiastic, so eager to touch and feel and taste her that the concerns had fled after, what, Day Two? Now, she ran her hands across Theo’s chest, luxuriating in his ripped muscles. The way her body responded to Theo’s shocked her sometimes. After he moved out, it wouldn’t be easy finding a sexual partner to replace him. Not that she’d ever tell him that—it would only feed his already gigantic ego.
But wow—what Theo’s body could do to her brain was beyond forgivable. For an independent, intelligent woman, she came absolutely undone when she touched him. Part of his irritating charm, she figured. But what an irritation. What a sensual, arousing, erotic irritation.
Her mind drifted off when Theo mouthed her neck, his tongue, hot and wet, seeking the pulsing heartbeat there. He stopped licking to trail kisses up her neck and across her jawline. When he reached her mouth, she automatically turned away. She couldn’t kiss him. Not now.
Not ever, she reminded herself.
Kissing meant caring. There was no way she would ever allow herself to care for Theo. She’d never be his type, never meet his standards. She’d never be more than a small-town, homegrown girl with chunky thighs and a rejection of all things modern and urban. Their agreement suited her perfectly: great sex until he left, then never again. Therefore, no kissing. No caring.
“Still not gonna kiss me?” he asked, a slight frown of frustration forming across his forehead.
“Never gonna kiss you, Theo. Not my thing.” But she buried her head in his neck and nibbled his earlobe, following the gentle bite with a series of light kisses. “Not on the lips, at any rate,” she added, and then blew a light puff of air in his ear, delighted to feel his muscles quake under her fingertips.
She sucked on his earlobe, and with her arms wrapped around his shoulders she could feel him shudder, his body tightening in response. He pulled away from her hands and connected his gaze with hers.
She stared down at his face—his beautiful, beautiful face with its sharply chiseled jaw, straight and perfect nose, dimpled cheeks. Theo was so amazingly gorgeous in her bed. Better enjoy it while it lasts, she thought.
A chill swept through her, even as sexual tension coursed through her veins. An uncomfortable edge settled in. She frowned, trying to puzzle out the odd wave of emotion. Could it be that she was becoming addicted to the sex? She knew she’d miss it—sex with Theo was the best she’d ever had.
She shook the thought off.
“Earth to Chessie.”
The sound of Theo’s voice entered her brain as if through a thick cloud. “What?”
“You looked like you were a million miles away. Here, get up, will you?”
It took a second to realize what he’d asked, and a second more to realize she didn’t want to get up. She didn’t want things to end. She wanted more. Much more.
“Why? Things are getting good here. I thought you wanted this.”
Theo chuckled, his cheeks dimpling lightly. “I do. Absolutely. But I can’t do what I want to do with you sitting on my lap, staring off into space. You’re naked—I need to be, too.”
Chessie ran a blunt fingertip from Theo’s chest upward, stopping at his lips to trace their outline. He caught her finger in his teeth. He sucked it in, wrapped his tongue around its length.
“What do you want, Theo?” she breathed, her eyes now closed.
He sucked once, hard, on her finger, then let it go. After she slid her finger out of his mouth, he spoke.
“You. Just you. Only you.”
She noticed the humor had fade from Theo’s face, replaced with smoldering desire. The intensity of his expression hit her hard.
She bent low, tracing kisses across the ridges of his muscled abs, awed by the finely chiseled form of Theo’s body. The kisses she dropped were almost reverential, as if thanking a god.
Maybe she was, at that.
* * *
Heat hit Theo in his core, radiating through his body as if lava poured through his veins. His heartbeat raced and his breathing went a little shallow, the way it did every time Chessie hovered over him, readying hersel
f to take him inside her softest place.
She might let him into her body, but she still wouldn’t kiss him.
He’d never slept with anyone who wouldn’t kiss him before. Keeping his mouth away from Chessie’s wasn’t easy. Her breath, sweet and smelling like rain, would caress his face as they had sex. The sensation of her lips on his skin, covering every inch of his body except his own lips, sent shivers up his spine straight to the top of his head. And her tongue…god, what the woman could do with her tongue…
He wanted to kiss her. Badly. But rules were rules, and she had her reasons for keeping some things to herself. Night after night they’d have sex full-out, then would fall asleep, with Chessie draped over his body, her long hair tickling his nose, the soft waft of breath as she inhaled and exhaled drifting across his bare chest. Sleeping next to each other was an intimate act—living together certainly was, too. So he got it. He understood why kissing, for Chessie, would add too intimate a layer into something that already surpassed the intimacy he experienced with most relationships he’d ever had.
But he still wanted to kiss her.
“Ready for me?” she whispered in the near-dark.
“Always,” he whispered back.
And she came to him. Settled her weight on his hips. Merged with him until they moved in a rhythm they’d found together—a rhythm that was just theirs and theirs alone. Minutes passed as the heat between them built, intensified, threatened to explode, ignited by their panting breathes…
This night it was over fast. Chessie hadn’t held back, and neither had he. For a moment he wondered if he’d done a bad job, brought her to the brink too soon, but she collapsed on top of him, allowing him to take her full weight, and nuzzling his chest with her nose.
“That was…different,” she said.
“Different good? Different bad?”
“Good. Definitely good. In fact, that was…beautiful.”
“So are you,” he breathed into her hair.
She kissed his chest, then shifted until she no longer lay on top of him but next to him, instead. He wished to god she’d kissed his mouth, but knew better than to push. Her breath evened out, with her bare breasts rising and falling with each breath. She made a soft little sound in the back of her throat, a smile forming about her lips.
“Sweet dreams,” he whispered.
He kissed her bare shoulder before draping the sheet over her, and then stretched his arm out wide, over her head. He’d miss this.
But would Chessie?
She’d said something before they’d started in on sex. Something about wanting to try different positions with him if he didn’t have the casts. Could she be thinking about continuing this after he moved out? But being friend with benefits for a limited time worked, at least in his mind. He wasn’t sure how it would work over time, though. Without the boundary of a cut-off date, that changed “friends with benefits” into something else.
Could they do this, though? Keep their friendship and still have sex even after the six week window was up?
Chessie curled into him, like a cat, and placed her hand on his chest. His heart warmed. One thing was sure. He’d be into it if she was. Because god—he really didn’t want to stop sleeping with Chessie Gibson.
Chessie swung the screen door open and stepped out onto her front porch. She stretched her arms high above her, relishing the crisp evening air, then tucked her hands into the front pocket of her jeans. Autumn was taking its sweet time to settle in, but nights still were nippy.
Theo sat at the edge of the porch swing, his feet propped up on a padded bench, laptop resting on his thighs and smartphone by his side. It had quickly become clear to her why Theo had the position of Director of Charitable Affairs at the Courant Foundation—it wasn’t a position he’d gained through nepotism. No, Theo had a drive and level of intensity that had served the Foundation well.
Every evening over the last few weeks she’d join Theo on the front porch, where they’d share a beer, the warmth of a wool blanket, and her porch swing. She’d watch as he opened up email after email, all from current and former recipients of The Courant Foundation’s charity. He enjoyed sharing the stories with her, telling her about the students who needed scholarships, the families who needed homes, and all the volunteers who helped give the organization its world-wide reputation.
Occasionally he skipped over a few of the volunteers’ emails; she assumed these were the girls who volunteered to help on his projects to get closer to Theo—girls he most likely slept with. Lately, she’d been noticing a nasty case of envy spreading through her when he read an email to himself and chuckled, his eyes lighting up. She’d had to chide herself several times—jealousy had no place in their arrangement.
Like a total dork, he’d call call the time they spent together “email time,” and was usually eager and exited to read her the day’s latest batches. This evening, however, he’d remained engrossed with whatever he’d been reading when she came outside.
Chessie cleared her throat, but Theo’s focus was still on the laptop screen and he didn’t look up. She continued to watch him, trying to read his face.
Theo’s eyes narrowed. He scowled, obviously reading something that wasn’t to his liking. “Shit,” he said, absently, probably not even aware that the word had left his lips.
“Is something wrong?”
He lifted his head, his eyes slowly pulling her into focus. It didn’t seem as if he’d known she was standing there, staring at him. “Oh, hey, Chessie.”
“Hey yourself. You want to tell me what’s going on? You seem a little bummed.”
“Bummed, yeah. That about sums it up,” he said, reaching his casted wrists up and stretching tall. “Remember Giaan? The homeless girl who got one of my scholarships?”
When Chessie nodded, he continued. “I hadn’t heard from her for a while. I kept pinging her, but she never responded.”
“Does she have a cell phone?”
“Yeah, but she wasn’t answering calls or texts. I contacted the president of her university to see if he could find out what was going on.”
“Is she all right?”
“Yes, but her little boy isn’t.”
Chessie sat down next to him, her weight causing the porch swing to sway. Theo raised his cast-encased arm over her head and settled it on the back of the swing, nudged up against her shoulders. She snuggled in close, warmed by his heat. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Her baby, Balbir, is almost three years old now, and it looks like he’s probably autistic.”
Chessie leaned into Theo to get a closer view of the computer screen. It didn’t take long to read through the email. The facts were simple, and typical of what she’d heard about autism. Normal development and then a sudden loss of speech, a withdrawal.
“I can’t imagine being a mother and having something change so dramatically with your child. To have something not go right.”
“Like Sadie.” Theo quietly stated his sister’s name.
“Yes, like Sadie,” Chessie agreed. Fortunately, the pre-term labor that had been keeping Sadie on bed rest in New York hadn’t affected the baby. Medication had been successful in keeping the contractions at bay, and although Sadie claimed she was growing as large as a horse due to the lack of exercise, she and the baby were both healthy. “Is there anything you can do for Giaan?”
Theo nodded. He used the thumbpad to scroll through Web sites on his screen. “The doctors haven’t officially diagnosed him yet—he still needs neurological testing. It’s possible that the loss of speech and his other symptoms could be the result of something else.”
“Like seizures,” she guessed.
“Exactly. Or even a hearing problem. I’m tracking down top neurologists and other specialists. I’ll arrange testing for Balbir, but—”
“But what?”
“But everything presents as autism.” Theo flicked a lock of hair out of his eyes. His hair had grown long, Chessie noticed. Perhaps she coul
d trim his bangs in the morning.
“I just wish I could do more,” he added. “That girl has been through so much and has accomplished things no one ever thought she could.”
“Pulled herself up by the bootstraps.”
“Yep. And she’s got great energy too—says that if Balbir is autistic, she knows he’ll still have a great life. It’s just that I know how much energy goes into taking care of a child who has additional needs.”
Chessie’s heart ached, for Giaan, for her baby Balbir, and for Theo, who had taken those two into his heart. One thing she’d come to learn about Theo over the last few weeks was that he sometimes took things to heart a little too much. Sometimes his position could be a heavy burden to bear.
“It can’t be easy for you,” she said, “providing all these people with help, and yet sometimes being unable to give them anything.”
Theo rested his cheek against the top of her head. “That’s the worst. To have all this money, and yet it can’t buy a solution. Like with Giaan and Balbir.”
“Theo…”
“Chessie, if the boy is autistic, there’s nothing I can do to make it go away. That’s when I feel helpless, like I can’t do anything.”
“But you can do something,” Chessie said. She nuzzled her face against his shoulder. “Sometimes what people need more than money is for someone to be there for them. You can be there for Giaan, and for Balbir.”
Theo unwrapped his arm from around her shoulders. He snapped the lid of the laptop closed and tossed it onto the side table. “That sucks as an answer, Chessie. ‘Being there’ is lame. It’s something people without money do.”
Her chest grew tight. “Don’t say that.”
“But I’m loaded—I should be able to buy a solution.”
Frustration pitched over her. “Being there isn’t something only poor people do because they can’t afford to do anything else. But throwing money at a problem is something only rich people do, because they don’t have to care. Not when they can ‘buy a solution.’”
Theo propped his elbows against his thighs and leaned forward. Chessie sat in silence, hoping her words were sinking in. When he finally spoke, she listened intently.
Tempting the One (Meadowview Heat 4; The Meadowview 4) Page 11