Tall, Dark and Paranormal: 10 Thrilling Tales of Sexy Alpha Bad Boys
Page 190
Coward, Drake thought as he tossed the on the desk. Why the hell hadn’t he broken up with Simone like he was supposed to?
Because he was selfish. Breaking up with her would be the smart thing to do, but it also meant he would have to go back to the dreary existence he’d been stuck in for the last eight years. He couldn’t do that, not after experiencing how wonderful being with Simone could be.
But as his other arm slowly started turning gray, Drake wondered if he was really going to have any say in the matter.
* * * * *
“What did Drake want?” Megan asked when Simone walked back into the kitchen.
Simone let out a sigh as sat down across from her friend. Megan had come by on her lunch break to find out how Simone’s date with Drake had gone. She’d just gotten to the part about the carriage ride through Central Park when her cell phone rang.
She picked up her half-eaten container of yogurt and pushed the spoon around disinterestedly. “He called to cancel on our date tonight.”
The other woman’s eye went wide. “He did? Why?”
Simone shrugged. “He said something about helping a friend through a rough patch.”
Megan frowned. “I’m sensing you don’t believe him?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “He gave me no reason to think he’s lying, but with my track record with men, I can’t help being skeptical. When I asked him if he wanted to come over tomorrow night instead, he said he wasn’t sure how long this thing with his friend was going to take and that he’d call me. That sure sounds as if he’s blowing me off.”
“Maybe,” her friend agreed. “Or he could mean exactly what he said. Just because you dated a few jerks, that doesn’t mean all men are asshole. If he’s half as wonderful as those first two dates seem to indicate, I think you ought to cut him some slack. Don’t go looking for problems where there aren’t any.”
Simone said nothing. Maybe Megan was right. She shouldn’t put Drake in the same category as the other men she’d gone out with simply because they had turned out to be losers.
She and Megan talked some more about Drake, with Simone picking up where she’d left off and telling her friend about the rest of their date last night. After that, the conversation turned to Simone’s book. The other woman was not only thrilled she’d gotten back on track, but loved the plotline, too.
“Oh hell, it’s after one. I have to get back to the office. I’m already late,” Megan said as she glanced at her watch a little while later. She pushed back her chair and got to her feet. “Listen, don’t worry about Drake. He’ll call you. I know it.”
Simone conceded she was probably right, but after the other woman left, her doubts came back. What the heck was wrong with her? She’d been on two dates with the guy and he had simply postponed dinner so he could help out a friend. There was nothing tragic going on here, so why was she so freaked out?
Because Drake was the most amazing guy she’d been out with in a long time. Heck, he was the most amazing guy she’d ever been out with. Period. And she really wanted it to work with him. She just hoped Drake wanted the same thing.
Telling herself writing would distract her, Simone did her best to spend the rest of the day focusing on her book. She was mostly successful, but after dinner she found her thoughts straying to Drake again. She wondered if she should call to see how his friend was doing, just to be nice. But then she thought better of it. She didn’t want to come off like some psycho girlfriend by checking on him every few hours.
Too tired to do any more writing and not sure if she was writing anything worth a crap anyway, she curled up on the couch and turned on the television instead. Watching Bones, even if it did have David Boreanaz in it, wasn’t as much fun as spending the evening with Drake would have been, though.
Chapter Eight
Simone was in the living room working on her book the next day when her cell phone rang. She glanced at the call display disinterestedly only to do a double take when she saw Drake’s name. Pulse skipping a beat, she immediately reached out to grab her cell, but then hesitated. She didn’t want him to think she’d just been sitting by the phone waiting for him to call. That would make her seem desperate. She chewed on her lower lip, debating whether to let the call go to voice mail or not. But as one ring turned into two, then three, she knew she didn’t have the willpower for that. Picking up the phone on the fourth ring, she pushed the answer button and held it to her ear.
“Hey Drake. You just caught me. I was on my way out the door.”
She made a face. That sounded like a lie, even to her.
If Drake noticed, however, he didn’t mention it. “I won’t keep you then. I just wanted to let you know that the thing with my friend didn’t take as long as I thought it would. Do you still want to get together for dinner tonight? If you’re not busy, I mean.”
Simone wondered if she should turn him down, just on principle. She didn’t want him thinking he could stand her up anytime he felt like it and still expect her to fall all over herself when he finally got around to asking her out again. But she really wanted to see him. Besides, she wasn’t in the mood to play games.
“I’d love to,” she said. “Is seven still okay?”
“That’s great,” Drake said. “I’ll see you then.”
Simone smiled. “I can’t wait.”
She glanced at the clock as she hung up. Crap, it was almost five and she had a ton of things to do before Drake got there. She would like to have finished the sex scene she was writing, but she just didn’t have time.
“Sorry, guys,” she told her characters as she closed her laptop. “You’re just going to have to keep yourselves entertained until tomorrow. I’ve got a dinner to make.”
Despite having worked at a cooking magazine for more than three years, Simone was a dreadful cook. There were only two things she was comfortable making—quiche and meatloaf. Since it was a safe bet Drake wasn’t a quiche kind of guy, she decided to go with the meatloaf.
Throwing the ingredients together, she put them into a loaf pan and stuck it in the oven along with the baking potatoes, then made the salad. Once she finished, she hurried into the bedroom to find something to wear.
The short, sexy skirt and sleeveless top were an easy choice, but picking out the perfect bra and panties to go with them required a little more thought. It wasn’t as if she planned to drag Drake off to the bedroom the moment he came in the door, but she was hoping they’d end up there at some point.
Did she want to go with something demure, like a simple bra and matching bikini panties, or something racy like a super-duper push-up bra and lace-trimmed Brazilian cut panties? She thought about it for a little while, then decided on the racier lingerie. She really wanted to knock his socks off the first time he saw her half naked. Just the thought of modeling the sexy underwear for Drake was enough to make her pussy tingle.
Stifling a moan, Simone went into the adjoining bathroom to take a quick shower and wash her hair. As she was putting on her makeup twenty minutes later, she felt a silly little flutter in her tummy. She couldn’t remember being this excited about a date since she was in high school. Was it because Drake was such a great guy or because she figured they might end up in bed tonight?
Maybe it was a bit of both. Drake was serious boyfriend material—at least from what she could tell from the other two dates. And after the erotic phone sex the other night, she was definitely eager to find out what sleeping with him would be like.
As she dried her hair, she wondered if Drake would be as slow and teasing in bed as he was over the phone. God, she hoped so. The idea of him going down on her the way he’d described over the phone had her pussy soaking wet and her clit positively throbbing.
Which made putting on her bra and panties a few minutes later interesting. It took all her willpower to keep from slipping her hand between her legs and giving herself a quick little orgasm. But she resisted the urge. She’d rather keep herself on edge. That way it would be e
ven better when Drake finally did touch her. Ignoring her arousal, Simone finished getting dressed and went back into the kitchen.
She’d just finished setting the table and was about to check the meatloaf when the doorbell rang. Quickly wiping her hands on a dishtowel, she hurried into the living room to answer the door.
At the sight of Drake standing on the other side of it, all she could do was stare. Casually dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, his hair slightly tousled as if he’d just run his hand through it and a trace of stubble on his square jaw, he looked good enough to eat. Damn, she’d almost forgotten how handsome he was. Maybe she could just turn the oven off and drag his good-looking ass straight to the bedroom.
“I’m not too early, am I?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.
Simone blushed and let out an embarrassed laugh. “No, not at all.” She took a step back and opened the door wider. “Come in.”
As he walked past her, Simone caught a whiff of his cologne and inhaled deeply. Whatever brand he was wearing, it didn’t overpower his masculine scent but instead seemed to bring it out even more, and it was all she could do not to throw herself at him and bury her nose in the side of his neck. Resisting the impulse, she forced herself to shut the door.
“These are for you,” Drake said when she turned around.
Simone looked down to see him holding out a bouquet of flowers. She’d been so distracted by the man himself, she hadn’t even realized he had anything in his hand. While roses might have been a little over-the-top at this point in their relationship, the colorful daylilies were perfect.
She gave him a smile as she reached out to take them. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.” Going up on tiptoe, she kissed him gently on the mouth. One taste of him had her thinking she should just skip the idea of dragging him into the bedroom and go ahead and tear his clothes off right there instead. But once again, she controlled herself. “I’ll go put these in water.”
He followed her into the small eat-in kitchen. “Dinner smells great.”
“Thanks.” She glanced at him as she filled a vase with water. “Hope you like meatloaf.”
“Love it.”
She unwrapped the plastic from the flowers and put them in the vase. “Good. Because it’s one of the few dishes I can actually make.”
He lifted a brow. “I thought you said you used to work for a cooking magazine.”
She laughed. “I did, but that just means I can write, not that I can cook.”
“Point taken,” he said, chuckling. “Do you need help with anything?”
Simone looked at him over her shoulder as she set the vase on the table. She wasn’t used to guys asking if she wanted help in the kitchen. Yet another point in Drake’s favor. “You could open the wine, if you wouldn’t mind.”
While he did that, Simone took the meatloaf out of the oven and transferred it to a serving dish. When she turned to carry it over to the table, she was surprised to see Drake standing beside her chair. She was confused for a moment, then realized he was waiting for her to sit so he could push it in for her. She wasn’t used to men doing that, either. Okay, that was it. If he passed the bedroom test, he was a keeper for sure. How a great guy like him wasn’t married was beyond her.
Simone had as much fun talking to Drake at her kitchen table as she did on the first two dates. With most other guys, conversation usually started to dwindle on the third or fourth date, but she and Drake found just as much to talk about this time. There weren’t any of those uncomfortable silences that sometimes happened when two people didn’t know what to say next, which was nice.
Even though Simone told Drake to sit while she cleared the table after they finished dinner, he insisted on helping her clean up. She’d never really thought of doing dishes as enjoyable, but as Drake washed and she dried, she had to admit it was a heck of a lot more fun than it usually was. Of course, that probably had something to do with the fact that she got to watch his muscles flex underneath his tight-fitting T-shirt every time he moved. She was almost sorry when they finished. Until she discovered that putting the dishes away was even more fun. Since the kitchen was so small, it gave her plenty of opportunity to brush up against him. She tried to be subtle about it, but when she went out of her way to press her body up against his more than once, the glint in his eye made her think he might be catching on.
She looked up at him from beneath lowered lashes as her breasts grazed the hard muscles of his chest yet again. “Sorry,” she said softly. “It’s really tight in here.”
His mouth curved into a sexy smile. “You don’t hear me complaining.”
Simone forgot all about the serving dish still sitting on the counter as she gazed up into his eyes. This close, she could see that they were flecked with gold and edged with a deep, rich chocolate brown. And filled with desire.
Drake reached out and gently brushed her hair back from her cheek. The feel of his fingers on her skin made her breath catch and she leaned toward him, her lips parting of their own accord as she silently begged him to kiss her. To her dismay, he hesitated. Okay, time to pull out her secret weapon. Eyes locked with his, she slowly ran her tongue over her lips. That did the trick. With a groan, he slid his hand in her hair and bent his head to kiss her.
His mouth was tender and demanding at the same time, and she let out a little sigh of pleasure as his tongue swept her mouth to take sweet possession of hers. She ran her hands up the front of his chest to his shoulders. He was a solid wall of muscle beneath the T-shirt he wore and she murmured her approval against his mouth.
Drake tightened his hand in her hair, tilting her head back and kissing his way along the curve of her jaw and down her neck. The feel of his mouth on the sensitive skin made little goose bumps chase each other all over her body. His free hand found the hem of her top and slipped underneath, slowly making its way up to cup one satin-covered breast. She gasped and arched against him as he gently massaged her through the fabric. She could feel the heat of his hand through the thin material and she yearned for him to yank her bra out of the way so he could touch her bare skin.
Just when she thought he might do just that, he released her breast to slide his hand down her side and over her hip. Cupping her ass, he pulled her firmly against him. His cock pressed into her tummy, letting her know exactly how much he wanted her. Mmm, that was quite a package he had hidden in his jeans. Heat pooled between her legs as she wondered if he was actually as big as he felt.
He traced a path of hot kisses back up to her mouth, capturing it in another searing kiss before lifting his head with a groan. “I want you, Simone.”
She moaned and rubbed herself against his hard-on. “I can tell. I want you, too.”
He kissed her again, suckling gently on her lower lip. “Which way is the bedroom?”
Simone was so hot for Drake she was tempted to ask him to take her right there on the kitchen counter. But the thought of hot, sweaty sex in her big, comfy bed with the eight-hundred thread count sheets she’d splurged on was too inviting to resist.
Rather than answer, she gave him a naughty smile, then took his hand and led him out of the kitchen. Halfway down the short hallway that connected the living room to the bedroom, Drake gave her hand a tug and pulled her into his arms for another kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, turned on even more by knowing he couldn’t seem to wait until they reached the bedroom. As he pressed her up against the wall, his mouth moving over hers urgently, she decided sex up against the wall would be just fine with her. The sheets would have to wait for round two.
She ran her hands down his chest and past his belt to the sizeable bulge in his jeans, then gave it a firm squeeze. Oh yeah, he was definitely packing some serious heat down there. She wondered if he had a license for that weapon. This was New York, after all, and concealed weapons were strictly prohibited. Apparently, no one had ever told Drake that. Thank God.
Drake groaned against her mouth. “Do you know what you do to me?” he rasped.
Taking her hands in both of his, he pulled her the last few steps into the bedroom. Okay, the bed it was then. The closer they got, the faster her heart beat. She’d never experienced desire like this, never wanted a man this much. She thought she might actually orgasm before he even got her clothes off.
In a hurry to get them both naked, Simone stopped where she was and tugged him close. Eager to see all those gorgeous muscles he was hiding, she slid her hands underneath his T-shirt and urgently pushed it up. Drake must have gotten the idea because he reached over his shoulder, grabbed a handful of material and pulled off his shirt.
Simone was vaguely aware of him tossing the T-shirt away, though she had no idea where it ended up. She was too mesmerized by the smooth expanse of his chest and the washboard abs to go with it. Damn, he was built.
She would gladly have spent the rest of the night running her hands all over his scrumptious torso, but Drake was already reaching for the hem of her shirt. Thrilled at the realization he wanted to see her naked, too, she lifted her arms obediently. He pulled her top over her head and sent it flying across the room to join his T-shirt. Then he was unzipping her skirt and before she knew it, she was standing before him in just her bra and panties.
“God, you’re beautiful.” The hunger on Drake’s face was unmistakable as he stepped back to take in her half-naked body. “But you’re still wearing way too many clothes.”
Simone couldn’t help but smile. Reaching around, she unhooked her bra and slowly let it drop to the floor. “Is that better?”
His mouth curved. “Much.”
He gently cupped her breasts in his hands and took her nipples between his fingers, slowly rolling them back and forth before giving each of them a firm squeeze. Little tingles of pleasure shot through her and she moaned. Dear God, he was only touching her with his fingers and she was already in heaven.