by Lori Wilde
“Kenzie,” I reached across the table to take her hand, “have you had any weird dreams, you know, about Steve?”
The waitress sidled up to our booth before she could answer.
Kenzie blew a fat pink bubble, then sucked it back in with a loud snap. “What’s everyone drinking? First round’s on me.”
“Nothing for me,” I said.
She gave me a withering look.
“Fine, I’ll have a virgin margarita.”
“Come on, you’re off duty, Dultry.” Then she proceeded to order three beers, and a double margarita for me.
When the waitress left, she frowned at me. “What is it with you and virginity?”
I cringed as Troy hid his grin from the pair of camp interns who passed by.
Great. Prying eyes. We’d have to be on our best behavior anyway once Steve got here.
Kenzie grabbed a handful of warm tortilla chips from the basket on our table. “In fact, what is it with both of you?” she said around crunching. “My first boyfriend and I broke two beds before we hit the two-week mark. What’s it been for you guys, twelve weeks?”
“Six,” we said it in unison. I bit back my smile as Kenzie rolled her eyes.
“My point exactly. You know, if a meteor hits Camp Wanderlust tonight, you’ll wish you’d listened to me.” She aimed her pinky finger at each of us. “Cautionary tale, my friends.”
My mouth fell open slightly as I shook my head. Troy just laughed. But before Kenzie could force us to explain our dismal lack of carnal destruction, she jumped up and dove into the arms of a guy I’d seen her hanging out with a lot lately. She dragged him to our table and forced him to sit.
Troy’s hand slipped away from my thigh.
“Everyone, this is Steve. Steve, everyone.”
I nodded my hello, and he winked at me.
“Hey, everyone,” he said with a wide grin, although I noticed he didn’t make eye contact with Troy.
I wagged my brows at Kenzie as she curled in next to him. I couldn’t help wondering what kind of bad for her he could be. But before long, it was like they’d forgotten we were even there.
I stared at the flickering votives for a while, then turned toward Troy.
“She has a point,” I said quietly.
“I don’t know.” Troy wrinkled his nose. “Not much meteoric activity lately,” he teased.
“Not about the meteor. About us.”
“You think she’s right?” he murmured, all teasing gone from his voice.
“I know she’s right. I don’t want to wait.”
His eyes were still locked on mine. “Because Kenzie thinks we shouldn’t?”
“Because when you know what you want, you generally want it right away.”
He smiled a little, then leaned his lips next to my ear. “So are you coming over Friday night?” he whispered.
“Depends,” I whispered back. “Will there be s’mores?”
With a deep laugh, his fingers lifted my hair back over my shoulder. “Whatever your heart desires.”
“I’ll hold you to that. But I can’t Friday. Kenzie’s theater group bonfire, remember?”
His gaze flicked to Kenzie who had her head on Steve’s shoulder. I noticed the way Troy’s shoulders squared as he watched them.
“Okay, what is that about?” I whispered, shifting to face him. “You’ve been giving that Steve guy the stink eye since he got here. You two have personal history or something? Beyond the dismissal?”
“Sort of,” he said, but then he pulled his gaze away from them and placed his full attention back on me. “Not important. I was in the midst of trying to persuade you to spend time with me Friday.”
I made a soft kissy noise next to his ear. “Saturday night. I have to play chaperone Friday. Your rules, remember.”
I leaned away from him as a few more staff walked past us. On the school grounds, our dining hall was restricted to staff only, so we had some kid-free time to ourselves during the day. And since he was my mentor, it wasn’t strange that we spent so much time together. Troy always seemed less concerned about the students finding out about us, than the staff, until tonight. Or at least that’s how it seemed considering he’d had his hand resting on my thigh under the table until Steve joined us.
“Hey,” Kenzie piped up, leaning across the table between us, “here’s to the best summer ever.” Her glass was raised in a toast, but she abandoned it when the song changed. She twirled off, dragging Steve to dance as the music pumped out a heavy bass.
I tugged off the thin sweater I’d worn over Kenzie’s low-cut sundress. Troy’s eyes slid over me appreciatively, and he lowered the glass from his lips without taking a sip. “Nice dress.”
“You like?”
“Oh, I like.”
“So,” I scooted closer to him. “What exactly were you planning Friday night?”
Without checking if anyone was watching, his hand skimmed my bare arm. “You’ll have to be patient,” he said, kissing my shoulder, “but I promise”—another kiss on my cheek—“it’s something”—a kiss on my nose—“that you’ll like.”
My thighs quivered. Emboldened by his boldness, I curled my fingers in his shirt and pulled his lips to mine.
By the time Kenzie and Steve returned to the booth, we were back to pretending to be friendly coworkers.
We crowded around the round table, nibbling on munchies, talking mindless work stuff, and waiting for the waitress to return to order another round of drinks. Kenzie and Steve were sitting nearly on top of each other on one side of the booth, while Troy and I kept a semi-professional distance between us. We were there as friends, so we had to look the part, in front of Steve at least. Hard as that was.
“I need another drink,” Kenzie announced, fed up with waiting. “Anyone else?”
“Me too, gorgeous.” Steve chimed in. He pointed at Troy and then me. “How ’bout you, bossman? Bossman’s friend?”
Troy shook his head stiffly.
“I’m good, thanks,” I said, lifting the same margarita glass I’d been sipping all evening.
Kenzie headed for the bar, while Troy went to talk with some people he knew. That left Steve and I alone. He must have had a few drinks before he arrived; it was obvious by the glazed look in his eyes as he ogled me.
“Soooo, Nora.” He leaned closer to me. “I heard you were single and looking to get some”—he leered, letting his gaze linger on the low neckline of my dress—“some one-on-one therapy.”
I straightened in my seat. “Really.” I glared at him. “Where did you hear that?”
“Everywhere. That’s why you’re seeing that counselor chick, right? ’Cause you can’t get your engine started.”
Rude. Obviously, Troy was right about him being an ass. My word, not his. This guy definitely couldn’t be trusted.
He scooted out of his side of the booth and over to mine, pressing in next to me. The stench of beer was all over his breath as he leaned in close to my face. “I can fix you.” His brows wagged. “My couch is really big and rock-hard. Bigger than Bellisaro’s.” He draped his arm across my shoulders and tried to pull me in for a kiss.
I wrenched my arm free in time to smack his face away from mine. “Get your hands off me!” I snapped. Who the hell did this guy think he was?
He actually looked stunned when I hit him—but not as stunned as he looked when Troy yanked him out of the booth with one hand.
I jumped up by reflex. I’d never seen this side of Troy. His dark eyes seethed with pure hatred, and I was almost afraid to look into them.
“What did you just say to her?” Troy snarled.
Steve staggered forward—proving too much alcohol dulls your judgment because if he had any sense of self-preservation at all, he’d take off.
“What, man? It’s not like she’s your property or anything. You just own the school, not everyone in it.”
Troy shoved him back toward the table with one hard push. Steve’s body crashed into it, sendi
ng drinks and beer bottles flying to the ground. Glass shattered, and alcohol splattered everywhere.
I sucked in a breath. I’d watched bar fights before, and they never ended well. Cops, bouncers, and angry mobs aside, this one was already drawing way more attention than any of us needed right now.
“What the hell, man?” Steve stammered. That’s when he looked at Troy then over at me—and he seemed to piece together who he was tangling with—and why. He lifted his hands in surrender. “Hey, man, I was just screwin’ around. Didn’t mean a thing.”
Troy’s voice was low and cold. “Here’s what going to happen. You’re going to apologize to Nora, and then you’re going to get the hell out of here. Understood?”
“Yeah, man, whatever. Take your best shot with her; rumor has it she’s frigid as ice anyway.”
That was the last thing I heard before the resounding crack of Troy’s fist colliding with Steve’s jaw.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Blood dripped from Steve’s split lip. He wiped it, looked at his hand, and then cursed. “Whaddya do that for, man? I told you I didn’t mean it.”
“Steve, you need to stop talking,” I said as Kenzie ran over. She’d heard the commotion but missed the main event.
“No, keep talking, Caldwell. Just say one more word,” Troy taunted, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. “One more word, one wrong move, that’s all I need to get you axed permanently this time. Now, I said apologize.”
“Whatever,” he waved me off.
Troy gave a dark humorless laugh and stepped toward him. “That didn’t sound like an apology,” he said with stone-cold calm.
Even I trembled. Steve, however, was either too stupid or too drunk to realize how close he was to the end of his life. Or at least to losing some of his teeth.
I pushed both my hands against Troy’s chest. “Let it go. He’s wasted and doesn’t know what he’s saying.”
Kenzie looked back at me after blotting Steve’s lip with a napkin. “What the heck happened? I go for drinks and all hell breaks loose?”
“It’s nothing. I think they have history or something,” I lied. Her boyfriend was a scumbag, possibly on a paranormal level, but this wasn’t the best place for her to discover that fact. She’d be angry enough when she found out what he’d said to me. She didn’t need the audience already watching us, getting another eyeful of drama.
Troy didn’t have to suggest that Steve leave…he was all for it.
Steve grabbed Kenzie’s hand. “C’mon, we’re outta here. The guy’s still a loose cannon.” He paused to look back at us. “You’ll regret that dick move, Bellisaro.”
Troy was still fuming, but he had the waitress call them a cab to take them back to the camp. He gave very explicit instructions and a wad of cash for the driver to make sure Kenzie made it to our cabin, alone. She’d be less than impressed with that come morning. Then he’d gone to see about paying for the damages and buying everyone in the place a round.
I could tell he’d had some experience in smoothing things over and calming people down. Playing the savior was a really good role for him. By the time he’d returned to me, I was sitting at the bar, polishing off my third drink. It might as well have been my twelfth. I was sort of a lightweight in that department. But it did give me courage to do things I might not ordinarily do. Or say.
Troy eyed my empty glasses and cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve been busy.”
“You were gone,” I said, a little irritated at being babied. Steve had a point; we weren’t his puppets to control. “You know, I can take care of myself. I didn’t need you to run in and be all alpha hero.”
He leaned against the bar, his arm resting against mine. The sparks that traveled across my skin were very distracting. I inched away, severing contact.
“Really, sweetheart, ’cause it looked to me like you needed saving.” He said it playfully, but I didn’t think any of this was funny. It had taken a few drinks too many to push Steve’s words out of my head. And Kenzie, she actually liked this guy. How was I going to explain to her that he was nothing more than another dirt bag like so many of the others she’d dated?
“There’s more to this thing between you two than you’re telling me,” I snapped. “There’s a reason Steve said you were still a loose cannon, isn’t there?”
He didn’t answer.
“Let me guess. It had something to do with Celeste, right.” And there’s the crazy jealousy, right on cue. My emotions were running wild, and there was no controlling them.
“I didn’t say that.” He took a step closer to me and leaned forward, leaving only a small gap between us. “But since you asked. Yes. I beat his ass, and I’ll do it again if he pulls any more of his crap.”
His response rattled me in a way I wasn’t expecting. Only Troy Bellisaro could sound calm and threatening all at once.
I leaned back. “So then your epic hero moment had nothing to do with saving the frigid virgin you’re dating in secret, and everything to do with the stuff that went down between you two before. Have I got it right?”
Why was that so annoying? I didn’t really want their fight to be about me, but the alcohol was dulling my logic too.
Troy ran both hands through his hair, frustrated. “Nora, it’s been a long night. I don’t think now is the best time—”
“Of course not,” I interrupted. “Now is never the best time.” I swallowed the last of my drink before Troy finally waved off the bartender.
“Maybe you’ve had enough.”
“Maybe not,” I said, attempting to flag her back over. Not a chance. He was flashing his cash around, and not one single person in the place would ever cross him. “Fine.” I pouted.
“Don’t let that jackass get to you, Nora. He’s brain-dead.”
“I’m not worried about him.”
“Then what are you trying to hide from, in the bottom of a glass?”
“You,” I said brazenly, because alcohol will do that.
Troy nodded once. “I think,” he said quietly, “we should get you out of here.”
My eyes narrowed, and I nibbled my lower lip. “I was thinking that exact same thought.” I’d show that ignorant pig Steve I wasn’t afraid of having sex. Steve. Grace. Kenzie. —Me. I’d show us all.
Troy took my hand and led me back to his car. He’d only had one drink the whole night, and most of that had ended up on the floor after he shoved Steve into it.
He strapped me in, and I leaned back against the supple leather seat, wondering absently if I should seduce him here or wait till we got back to his place.
Imagine my disappointment when he parked the Mustang at his cottage, helped me out, then proceeded to walk me back toward my cabin.
I tugged back on his hand holding mine. “Hey, wait,” I said. “I have a better idea.” I stretched up on my toes to nibble his earlobe, then let my tongue trail down the side of his neck.
“What are you doing?” he asked warily.
“Seducing you.”
I could hear the trace of laughter in his voice.
“Really. People don’t usually announce they’re seducing someone when they’re seducing someone,” he said. “You might want to save that until you’re a little more sober.”
That’s when I realized I was licking his hair and not his neck.
I lowered onto my heels and stepped back to look in his eyes.
“Let’s go back to your place. I could spend the night, and we could pick up where we left off.”
His eyes narrowed as they roamed over me. “Where we left off?”
“Yeah.” I weaved to the left. “You know, last year.”
Man, that half-smile of his is sexy.
“I want more than anything to pick up where we left off, Nora. But not tonight.”
“Whew. It’s crazy hot out here,” I mumbled, then I reached down and tugged the thin sweater over my head, leaving nothing but the clingy strapless dress Kenzie made me wear. Then I kicked off my heels and nearly fell
over trying to pick them up.
Troy caught me before I toppled. I took advantage of the moment and pressed myself into him, trailing kisses along his jaw.
He exhaled a long, ragged sigh-slash-moan and dragged a hand through his hair. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to say no to you?”
“Then don’t say no.”
Even in my decidedly inebriated state, I could tell he was reconsidering my proposal.
“I’m not saying no, babe. I’m saying not tonight. You’re tanked, and I’m—”
“Incredibly hot?” I interjected, then giggled like a five-year-old on too much sugar. I stepped out of his embrace, swerved, and brushed against a rose bush. Scratches marked my shins in thin red lines. “Ouch. That’s gonna sting tomorrow—nope. Correction. That’s gonna sting tonight.”
“Alright. Before you stagger headfirst into a hornet’s nest...” He scooped me up in his arms.
“Whoa, put me down, you’re gonna drop me.”
“Only if you don’t stop squirming,” he said.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Fine, but I want it noted that I tried. Last year was on me, but I wasn’t the backer-downer this time.” I poked his shoulder. Then buried my face in his neck.
I felt his breath accelerate. “Duly noted,” he murmured.
Even half-drunk I could hear the struggle for self-control in his voice. It made me smile.
After a few minutes I twisted in his arms. “You don’t need to carry me,” I protested. “I can walk the rest of the way.”
He didn’t look convinced, but he set me back on my feet. The ground dipped, and I teetered to the side. His hand touched my waist, steadying me on my feet. “You okay?”
“Oh, I’m more than okay.” The feel of his touch ignited a wave of fire through my body. I pulled him closer, lifting my face to his, and I kissed him once. Twice. And then again…a little longer and fuller each time.
“Nora—” He said my name in a cross between a warning and a plea.