by Jamie Beck
He clinked his glass with hers and proceeded to gulp it down like whiskey. When Kelsey slunk onto the sofa, Trip flopped beside her. He sank his head back against the sofa and closed his eyes, resting his hand on her knee.
Her body responded to his touch like a match to a striker. She watched the muscles in his face relax as his thumb massaged the outside of her knee. Despite her mood, his presence and signs of affection lightened her heart. But she couldn’t let her heart misread Trip.
After a minute or two, he opened his eyes and faced her with a grin before sitting up.
“So what got you so riled up you had to take off?” She took another sip of her wine, but then he reached out for her glass.
He set it on the table and tugged her hand, drawing her closer to his body, his eyes clouded by trouble, his jaw clenched. “I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to escape.” He kissed her gently. “Want to take a ride with me?”
Before she could fire off a snarky reply, he kissed her again. Unlike their previous explosive encounters, this kiss simmered. His hold on her—the touch of his fingers along her jaw—was tender, like a kiss from a man who cared. He drew her lower lip into his mouth and gently bit down on it before kissing her again.
Like before, she opened her eyes, but his remained closed. He breathed deeply, his chest rising and falling as he pulled her across his lap and pressed her against his body. His desire fed hers and, if she wasn’t careful, might trick her into believing he felt more than lust.
He caressed her back before his hand swept across her hip and up her waist to her breasts.
“You feel so good, princess.” He opened his eyes and smiled, then kissed her again on the mouth before pressing kisses against her neck and down to her shoulder. He then stroked along the inside of her thigh. “I like this skirt, but I’d rather see you naked.”
Part of Kelsey knew another go-round with Trip would seriously mess with her head, but the rest of her just didn’t care. He tasted like heaven, and made her body resonate like no one else ever had. Maybe he couldn’t love her, but he sure could make love like a champ, and that sounded pretty perfect at the moment.
She reached for the hem of his shirt and helped him tug it over his head. Then she kissed his shoulders, enjoying the way his breathing became uneven, the way the muscles in his chest twitched under her tongue.
Grunting, he kicked off his shoes and then began unbuttoning her blouse while kissing her. When she removed her shirt, he shoved her coffee table aside several feet and then laid her down on the carpet in front of the fireplace. Braced on his knees, he slowly removed her skirt and panties, his fingers skimming along her thighs. The flickering light caught in his eyes, which were glinting with their own heat.
Heat for her.
She slid her hands inside the elastic of his sweats and tugged them down until he yanked those off, too. She sat up and fondled the length of his erection before taking him in her mouth, making him gasp and grunt with pleasure.
He was a big man, so she couldn’t accommodate all of him, but he didn’t seem to mind. He dug his hands through her hair as he pumped into her mouth and uttered a breathless, “Kelsey.”
She used her tongue and hands to excite him further, listening for and feeling what he liked and didn’t by his body’s response. Then he pulled away, laid her back and kissed her.
His entire body covered hers, the friction of the skin-to-skin contact heating her, making her purr.
“Should I go get the body paint?” she asked between kisses.
He brushed back some of her hair and looked at her. “Not tonight. No games. Just you. I just need you.” Then he kissed her again, his finger traced her jaw before his hand went to her breast, followed by his mouth.
I just need you, he’d said. She arched her back and let him take whatever he needed, because she needed him just as much.
Everything about this woman turned him on. The feel of her soft skin under his calloused hands, the scent of the sweet perfume she’d spritzed on her body, the way she stretched and arched beneath his touch like a cat being petted, the ample proportions of all her curves.
He could stare at her and kiss her for hours. In fact, that was his plan. He’d lose himself in the exploration of her body, leaving no spot unattended.
As his mouth moved from her breasts to her abdomen and below, her little squeals and panting stoked the inferno blazing in his core. Each scratch of her nails or bite from her teeth spurred him to be more attentive, more impassioned.
He pulled away long enough to wrest the condom from his wallet and then buried himself deep inside her, kissing her, pinning her arms to the floor while pumping his hips.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper inside. When he released her arms to cradle her head, she threaded her hands through his hair and then ran them along his back until she groped his ass.
They rode a wave of hunger until their sweaty bodies lay spent before the fire.
Kelsey Callihan was more erotic than any pinup girl of his boyhood fantasies, because in addition to her obvious sensuality, she oozed warmth. He’d done nothing to earn it, and yet she’d given it without reservation, thawing the chill of his sparring match with Mason.
She was way more than he’d bargained for, and he wasn’t sure whether he should be glad or terrified.
Trip raised himself onto his elbows and brushed hair from her face, then kissed her before rolling onto his back and dragging her against his side. His fingers trailed back and forth along her waist while he stared at the ceiling.
When he’d stormed out of Backtrax, he hadn’t intended to end up at Kelsey’s. Yet here he was, sated and happy. She must be, too, because she wasn’t crying anymore. Then the recollection of her tears nettled.
“Kels?” His fingers toyed with her hair, but he kept his eyes on the ceiling.
“Hmm.”
“Tell me why you were upset earlier.” He turned his head to look at her, but as soon as he spoke, she stiffened and looked away.
“It’s personal.”
“More personal than what we just did?” When he pinched her ass in jest, she swatted his hand.
“Yes, actually.” She met his gaze. “What we just did had nothing to do with feelings. What upset me earlier is all about feelings, ones you’ll make fun of, too. I’m not up to a verbal brawl.”
Trip frowned, irrationally angered by her narrow view of him, despite knowing that was all he’d ever let her see. He rolled to his side and tugged one of her hands to his lips for a kiss. “I won’t make fun of you, I promise. I’m a good friend, just ask Grey.”
“Are we friends, then?” Her skeptical expression burned like a slap to the cheek.
“Of course we’re friends, princess. Now, if you don’t tell me why you were driving around town in tears, I’m going to have to go investigating on my own, starting with one Wade Kessler.” Trip ignored the spark of displeasure that thought ignited.
Kelsey giggled, her smile lightening his heart. “He’d be mighty confused then, because it has nothing to do with him.”
“Then what, or who, is the problem?”
“My sister.” Kelsey blankly stared into space and bit her lip.
“Maura?” Trip curled his arm around Kelsey’s waist. “But you two seem so close.”
Kelsey nodded. “We are. I’m just being petty and stupid.”
“How so?”
“She’s pregnant, which is wonderful news, I know.” Kelsey closed her eyes. “It’s just that, instead of us being mothers together, her family keeps growing while here I am . . .”
She swallowed the rest of her sentence and flashed a rueful grin, but he could see the ache behind her eyes.
“Here you are wasting time with me, right?” He smiled so she knew he didn’t blame her for the sentiment, although it did sting.
“That’s not a slam against you, Trip. Honest. It’s really about me, and whatever it is I do or don’t do that makes me so undesirable.�
�� Little creases formed between her brows, which he promptly kissed.
“Listen up, princess. There is nothing—nothing—undesirable about you.”
She shook her head. “I’m not talking about my body.”
“Neither am I. You’re bright, tough, ambitious, generous, and warmer than any woman I’ve met around here.” He squeezed her waist. “If I ever wanted a wife, kids, and a picket fence, you’d be at the top of my list. So quit selling yourself short. You just haven’t met the right guy yet, that’s all.”
About halfway through his pep talk, he noticed a change in her demeanor. Rather than thinking of her own issues, she’d shifted her focus to him. She rolled onto her side, so they were face to face. “Why are you so dead set against settling down?”
“Let’s just say I didn’t have the same kind of upbringing you seem to have enjoyed with your family.” Mason’s face zipped through his mind, stirring up the unpleasantness that had brought him here in the first place.
“Are your parents divorced?”
“No.” His heartless chuckle caught her attention. “They were never married. My dad was already married when he had an affair with my mother. My mom raised me, until she died just before my eleventh birthday.”
Kelsey reached out to touch his cheek. “I’m sorry you lost your mom so young.”
“Thanks.” That Kelsey had seized on that detail rather than the salacious elements of his response only proved what he’d said about her minutes earlier.
“What was she like?” Kelsey slipped her foot between his feet. He couldn’t deny liking the way she kept physical contact with him while they talked.
“Awesome.” He smiled at his memories. “She worked an admin job in a doctor’s office. But at home she was super creative. Always decked the house out for the various holidays. Made a big deal out of birthdays. She wasn’t a great cook, but hers are still the best chili-cheeseburgers I’ve ever had.” He glanced at Kelsey and grinned at her rapt attention. “We lived in a normal house, a lot like your sister’s. My grandfather lived a few blocks away, so he was around all the time. He and I remained close until he died.”
“So that’s why you don’t want to part with that old cowboy hat.” She looked up at the bookshelf, to where she kept his Stetson.
“Does that mean you’ll give it back now?” Trip looked back at the hat. “And by the way, you should keep it upside-down when you aren’t using it so the brim doesn’t get misshapen.”
“Okay. But no, I’m not giving it back yet. You haven’t won the bet.” She smiled, but he no longer had much enthusiasm for that damn bet. “He must have been like another dad, right?”
“Better, because he was more patient than most men. He never had a son, so he loved taking me fishing and hiking and camping. Got me involved in little league and pee-wee football. He thought I was the most amazing thing on the planet.”
“That explains a lot about your ego.” She bit his shoulder in jest, tempting him to bite her right back in more delightful places. “Tell me more.”
“There isn’t more.” He reached over and caressed her hip, but couldn’t shake the conversation from his mind. “I had a really happy early childhood, which made the loss more painful. Something I hope I never feel again.”
Kelsey’s eyebrow lifted, as if something had clicked into place in her mind. “What about your dad?”
“Like I said, I didn’t know him until my mom got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She’d never told him about me because their brief affair had ended before she knew she was pregnant, and then she worried the news would destroy his family. But when she got sick, she reconsidered.” Trip felt Kelsey’s hand stroking his arm, the way one would caress a child to make him feel safe. Funny thing, it was working.
“Do you get along with your dad?”
“We don’t fight, but we’re not close.”
“So you didn’t see him much after your mom died?”
“Oh, I saw him. He adopted me.” He avoided Kelsey’s surprised gaze. “I’m sure he thought he was doing me a favor when he moved me into his palatial estate, as if a swimming pool or private school could compare with what I’d lost. Unfortunately, his wife and my half brother resented my existence and made my life pretty miserable whenever he wasn’t around, which was often since he was busy building his empire.”
“That’s horrible. So you’re not close to your brother, either?”
“Understatement of the year, princess.” He quirked a self-mocking smile. “And here you were thinking you’re the undesirable one.”
“But if your dad went to the trouble to adopt you, surely he must love you.”
“Not necessarily.” Trip closed his eyes as if he could blot out the upsetting memory that had started playing.
Trip sneaked down the hall toward the kitchen for a late-night snack, starving because of the energy he’d expended taking his eighth grade football team to victory in the season championship game earlier that evening. As he drew near, he overheard Mason talking to his dad in the breakfast room.
“You love him more, just admit it. He’s the kind of son you always wanted—popular, athletic. I can’t wait to go to college and get away from having to watch you drool all over him.”
“Of course I don’t love him more, Mason. You’re my firstborn son. You came into this world wanted by your mom and me more than anything. Trip wasn’t born of love like you were, but he’s my son, too. What kind of man would I be if I turned my back on my own flesh and blood, especially after his mother died? He’s in our life now. You need to make peace with it. Show your brother some compassion.”
Hunger fled as Trip’s stomach clenched and his lungs burned. Despite his awkward, rocky start in this home, he’d begun to believe his dad actually loved him. But now he knew what he’d first suspected. He wasn’t wanted and loved, not really.
“Let’s just say I’ve never been convinced my dad loved me as much as he felt obligated toward me, that’s all.” Perspiration coated his skin, though whether it was due to the memories, the fireplace, or the nearness of Kelsey’s naked body, he couldn’t be sure.
“How could he not love you?” Kelsey tenderly ran her hand through Trip’s hair and along his cheek. “You’re his son.”
“I’m sure you can’t imagine it, but it doesn’t mean you’re right.” Trip flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling again. “That’s actually what got me worked up today. My dad’s pushing for a family reconciliation. I wouldn’t mind being a better son to him, but I’ve no desire to mend fences with my brother or my stepmom. I tried for years, but they rejected every attempt. I’m done.”
He braced for a lecture about forgiveness and the importance of family. Instead, Kelsey rested her head on his chest and nestled tighter against his body, pliant and warm. “I’m sorry you’re still hurting. Maybe you can find some way to get closer to your dad without dealing with the others. In the meantime, you’re not alone here.”
“Because of Grey? He’s around less often now because of Avery.”
“Grey, and me.” Kelsey propped her chin on his chest. “Whenever you need a soft place to fall, you call me and I’ll listen.”
“I’m sure I don’t deserve that kindness.” A surge of tenderness washed through him, prompting him to pull her in for a kiss.
“Probably not, but I’m notoriously foolish.” She grinned. “Ask anyone.”
He rolled over, cradling her. “And anytime someone hurts your feelings, you call me and I’ll set them straight.”
“Deal.” Her fingers brushed through his hair again, shooting tingles down his neck.
“We strike good bargains, princess.” He kissed her while twisting a lock of her hair around his finger.
“So far.”
Somehow all this mushy talk had aroused him. He didn’t want to think about why, especially when he had a more immediate problem. “I want you again, but since I didn’t plan on coming here, I’m not prepared with extra condoms. Do you have any?”<
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“Why would a girl who normally doesn’t have casual sex keep condoms?”
Why did the fact she hadn’t had other lovers in a long time totally turn him on? He kissed her shoulder and then her breast. “Are you on the pill?”
“No. Maura told me her doctor made her go off the pill for three months before trying to get pregnant. I’m already thirty-one. Once I meet Mr. Right, I don’t want to have to wait that long to get started.”
He grimaced at being forced to think about babies when all he wanted to concentrate on was sex.
“So I guess I should stop kissing you, touching you.” He kissed her again as he slid his fingers between her legs, which she parted willingly. His body throbbed in response to her hot, wet center. “Kelsey.”
Her hips swiveled, her lips parted on a breathy sigh. “Are you clean?”
“As a whistle.” He kissed her again, his body rigid with need. “I’ll pull out.”
She nodded before pulling him into a hungry kiss. Consumed by passion, Trip quickly pushed himself inside her body, disregarding all caution in deference to his fever to possess her. When she finally cried out his name, it took a Herculean effort to withdraw, but he hoped he’d managed just in the nick of time.
Chapter Eight
Kelsey’s knees bounced so hard they banged against the desk just as she hung up the phone. She wiggled in her chair and drummed her hands on her desk, smiling. So close! Nick Copeland only had one sibling whom he’d not yet convinced of the benefits of selling their property. If she could pull this deal off for Wade, she’d be on her way to financial freedom.
After typing a quick update to Wade, she reviewed the email Mason had sent her outlining his rental unit preferences: two or three bedrooms, two baths, in or near town, updated interior, $3,500 per month rental rate. At that price point, she should be able to find something suitable, but why did he need the extra bedrooms?
That request had surprised her, mostly because she couldn’t remember whether or not he’d worn a wedding ring. Normally she catalogued the status of a man’s ring finger before asking his name. Last week, however, she’d been off her game.