Begging for Bad Boys

by Willow Winters

  “This is Max, just rescued him the other day from the pound,” I explained.

  “Cute puppy.” He slowly reached out a hand and Max sniffed his fingers before giving him a tentative lick. “I’m not sure we talked about co-parenting a pit bull though.”

  “I’m not here to discuss this two-year wedded bliss you seem to think we’re destined to share. You really need to stop listening for wedding bells in the air, at least with me. This is me strictly asking a favor as your friend.”

  Cupping his ear, he pretended like he was listening. “You’re right. I don’t hear wedding bells. Not just yet. But there will be.”

  “You’re still as cocky as ever.”

  He smiled. “Yes I am.”

  “One of these days that’s going to bite you in the ass,” I muttered.

  “Well, you’re obviously not here to say yes to my wedding proposal, so to what do I owe this great honor? Did you stop by to steal the family silver or my rare coin collection?”

  I smirked. “Robbing a house in broad daylight without my ski mask isn’t really my style.”

  He laughed, that same laugh I adored so much.

  “Maybe you’d better hide the family jewels if you let me stay,” I said, then immediately regretted it, knowing he’d turn it into a double-entendre.

  “Are you sure you want me to?” he said teasingly, proving me right, then let out a long chuckle.

  “Very tempting,” I said. “Anyway, I’m sure you want to know why I’m here.”

  He motioned me inside from the chilly wind. “I already do. You wanna catch up. C’mon in. We’ll order a pizza and take a walk down Memory Lane.”

  “I’d love too. And maybe we could look at some old photo albums. Just don’t pull out the pics from prom!”

  “But I loved your poofy hair.”

  I playfully slapped him. “No, you didn’t. I swear I’ll never let another cosmetology student ever work on my hair again! But I didn’t have a dime to my name and my parents were broke, and the car broke down.”

  “I thought you looked cute, and that dress, it was smoking hot. Too bad you wasted it on Brad Safters.”

  “Yeah, that jerk cheated on me.”

  “I regret not taking you,” he said.

  “It wasn’t your fault that you were infatuated with a cheerleader. So how is good old Shelly these days?”

  “She lives in Michigan with her husband and two kids. Works at the local grocery store and is very happy.”

  “I’m happy for her.” I glanced around. “Um, I noticed you have an indoor pool.”

  “Did you see it during your attempted burglary?” he said and crossed his perfectly muscular arms over his chest, arms I dreamed about wrapping me up all night long.

  I blushed and cleared my throat, looking away from his body. “Yes, I did.”

  “And you wanted to come over for a swim?”

  “Yes, with my dog. I hope we’re not imposing.”

  He watched me closely. “Are you serious right now, or are you just trying to get me to scratch you off my list of potential brides?”

  “Would playing crazy get me off your list?”

  “Not a chance. Just so you know, you’re still hovering at number one, and this just makes you more adorable.”

  “I’m begging for a swim.”

  “With your dog? I don’t really want animals in the pool.”

  I bit my lip hard. “I’m wearing a sexy gold bikini under my clothes. I’m not sure it can hold all my cleavage. I should’ve gotten a size bigger,” I tempted. “I really shouldn’t be wearing such a skimpy thing. It might not be appropriate, and I’d hate to have a wardrobe malfunction, but—”

  A glimmer of lust spread across his face. “You and your pup can swim here all day if you want.”

  I knew he’d soon see reason. “Thanks, Charlie.”

  “You can put the dog down if you want. I don’t mind if he runs around.”

  “He can’t walk.”

  “Huh?”

  “I adopted him from the shelter because he was hurt. They almost had to put him down, but I just couldn’t let them. He needs hydrotherapy, but it’s too cold for the public pool, and my bathtub is too small.”

  “Hmm. Well, in that case, feel free to come over anytime you want,” he said. “Tell me more about this hydrotherapy though. I can tell what it means from the sound of it, but what’s it entail?”

  “Well, it really means ‘water healing’ in Greek. Dogs benefit from it just like humans do, and it will make a huge difference in his recovery.”

  “Need any help?”

  I should’ve said no. Should’ve put my foot down and said I could handle it, but the tension between us sparked to life the second he opened the damn door, and I was hopeless once again to turn him down, the man who used to be my best friend and the one man I hoped would’ve been more one day. “Sure. Put on your trunks.”

  “Great. Can I get you anything to drink?”

  “I’m good, but thank you.”

  Charlie led me to the pool, then left to get into his bathing suit. I slipped off my clothes and put a special vest on Max to help keep him afloat. I slowly walked down the stairs into the pool, sighing at the perfect temperature, and took my time helping little Max to get acclimated to the water. After a few minutes, I could tell he really loved it, and it didn’t take long for us to master all the exercises his canine rehab specialist, Katy, had shown me.

  “He looks like a natural,” Charlie said and I jumped as he chuckled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

  “Just in the zone is all. Max is loving this. Thanks, Charlie, really.”

  I couldn’t help but stare at his strong, powerful body as he strolled around the pool to the deeper end. I loved his tattoo of an eagle on his chest with open wings and crystal blue eyes. The man was nothing but pure muscle, and every one of those glistening contours glistened and flexed. The perfect V shape of his abdomen twisted my gut and I licked my lips as the realization hit me of just how little we both wore right then. He jumped into the pool and swam over to where I was. Droplets of water beaded on his eyelashes like glitter, then dripped down his face. He glanced down at my generous cleavage and then gave me a good once-over sending a tingle through my body until my knees quivered.

  “What exercise are we doing?” Charlie asked.

  “Let’s walk across the pool and see how he does.”

  He petted Max as we went, and the dog’s little face perked right up.

  A grin crept up on my face the more we walked and the days we used to spend together floated to the forefront of my mind. “You know, being in the water with you conjures up lots of memories.”

  He winked as he gently took over steering Max for me, the puppy wagging his tail and wiggling with happiness. “Like the time we went skinny-dipping in Old Man’s Johnson’s pond?”

  I laughed. “We were such rebels.” I playfully nudged him. “Then again, maybe you were just a bad influence on me because it was you who talked me into that, you know.”

  “I swear I thought he wasn’t home!” he argued, mischief flaring to life in his eyes. “How did I know he was going to bum-rush out the back door in his plaid boxers with that shotgun?”

  “We lost our clothes!”

  “Well, I sure as hell wasn’t about to swim back and get them. Rumor has it he always kept that thing loaded, and he was fucking crazy, always babbling about aliens coming to get him.”

  “Aliens! I remember that, but why would they want him?”

  “I’m not sure. I can’t think of any creature in any universe who’d want to anally probe that.”

  “Yuck!”

  “Yuck is right,” Charlie agreed with a nod.

  “I was scared shitless though. We ran like bats out of hell.”

  He chuckled. “You tried to cover yourself up with those ferns like Eve in the Garden of Eden. It didn’t help one bit.”

  “Yeah, well, you didn’t seem to mind my nudity or you
r own. You just strutted around like some kind of Greek god in your birthday suit.”

  My body tensed remembering how we’d promised not to look at each other, but I wasn’t about to pass up what might’ve been my only chance to see Charlie naked. From the sudden heat in his eyes, he’d checked me out then too.

  “Hey, I embrace the body God gave me.”

  “And lots of them he gave to others,” I chided.

  “Hey! But yeah, I’ve done my share of body-embracing, I guess,” he said sheepishly.

  “We had to dress in those crazy clothes we found on the line in McRuth’s back yard,” I said, trying to change the subject from anything to do with us being naked.

  “Those suspenders were two sizes too big!” he said with a laugh.

  “Well, that gaudy, awful flower and stripes sundress was three sizes too big on me! It made me look like some kind of homeless clown. No wonder you couldn’t stop laughing at me. Maybe I was better off naked, with the ferns.”

  Our laughter echoed around the glassed-in room, the sound so natural it made me realize how much I’d missed this man. Even Max let out a couple of happy yipes punctuated with tail-wags.

  “This feels like old times,” I said quietly, hoping I didn’t let any of the old hurt show through my words.

  “We used to be best friends. I hope we can get back what we had all those years ago.”

  His hand slipped to mine in the water. “Really, Jaime, you might not believe me, but I did miss you.”

  My hand gripped his back and we stopped, letting Max take a break as emotions flooded my body and the idea of watching him marry someone else tore at me.

  “You know what I really loved?” I asked.

  “What?” he asked.

  “When you just wrapped your arm around me and listened to me while I told you all my problems. That meant the world to me, Charlie.”

  “And you used to listen to me tell you all about my love life.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, you with your ménage à trois.”

  “It wasn’t technically that. I was only dating three girls at once, not hopping in bed with them at the same time.”

  “Gee, my bad,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Still, I warned you that you were going to get busted sooner or later, but you wouldn’t listen to me.

  “Yeah, I should’ve taken your advice. In the long run, you were right…as usual.”

  “Repeat after me, Charlie… Jaime knows best,” I said with a wink.

  Ruff! Max let out, as if to agree with me.

  Charlie stopped suddenly and touched my elbow, and I found myself staring into those familiar eyes again. We shifted together, our bodies touching just barely, “It’s funny we never dated, Jaime,” he said, sweeping his thumb over my jawline tantalizingly. “I remember almost sharing a kiss.”

  I caught the longing in his voice. “On top of the Ferris wheel at night. It was just you and me, and we shared a moment.”

  “I remember like it was yesterday.”

  “You were dating Phoebe then, so I never would have gone through with it, but I can’t say I wasn’t tempted.”

  “Looking into your eyes back then, I was pretty sure I could get you to change your mind,” he confessed. “As a matter of fact, I was sure I could.”

  “So why didn’t you?” I asked confused. “Why didn’t you ever just do it like you did with all the other girls? Did you think…did you think I wasn’t good enough for you?”

  He shook his head sternly and sucked in a deep breath, eyes taking in every inch of my face.

  “Because I thought you deserved better than a bad boy like me, much better.”

  “Not true,” I argued.

  He nodded. “I would’ve broken your heart, and that would’ve killed me more than anything. I couldn’t do that to you. So you were off limits.”

  “You didn’t seem to have a problem with doing it to others.”

  “I know, and I feel bad about it now, but I would never do that to you, Jaime. You’ve always held a special place in my heart, and I didn’t want to taint or ruin what we had.”

  My hand trailed through the water and I tried to decide where this conversation was headed. “So are you saying I’m the only girl who’s ever really been a permanent fixture in your life?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “For one thing, you didn’t date me.”

  “Hmm. So the key to keeping you was keeping my distance?”

  “Yeah, I guess…and here we are now.”

  I smiled at him. “Well, maybe I should stick to that same old motto,” I insisted stiffly. “Staying away from you in that way let us be close, let’s us be friends.”

  He shook his head. “What motto? Keeping your distance? We’ve been there and done that,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re all grown up now, not kids anymore, and I’m ready for so much more. I think it’s time to take our friendship to the next level.”

  “Right, because all that money’s on the line.”

  “Come on! You know me better than that. Even if there wasn’t a dime involved… Well, you can’t deny what’s going on between us. Isn’t it obvious that I’m attracted to you? I can’t stop staring at you, can’t stop thinking about you. I haven’t stopped thinking about you for years.”

  “It’s this bikini. It’s always a hit,” I said with a nervous smile, a bit embarrassed by his admissions and compliments, even though deep down I felt the same way.

  “It’s more than that, and you know it. There’s some kind of connection between us, some kind of chemistry. Neither of us can deny it. Hell, I feel like a damn fool for not coming back sooner to explore what could’ve been.”

  There it was, the big why the hell didn’t he come back sooner. Why it took his dad forcing him home with the promise of money for him to get his ass back to me. “Yep. Maybe we’d be married with three kids,” I teased and tried to look away, but his hand reached out gently and cupped my cheek, forcing me to look at him.

  “Yep. Maybe we’d be married with kids by now. Having a family is a dream of mine.”

  “Yet you’ve never settled down.”

  He shrugged, smiling gently. “Because I’ve never found the right woman.”

  I hugged Max close to me as Charlie came closer. “I know it wasn’t for lack of trying.”

  He pushed a wet strand of hair from my face and stared deeply into my eyes. “Maybe the right woman was right in front of me all along, before I left this place and then in my dreams. I was just too stupid to see it till now,” he said, his lips brushed gently against mine, just enough to set off red flags and send red hot flames of desire coursing through my body. I moved closer until we were pressed together with little Max in my hands to the side. “I think we need to give this thing a proper chance.”

  He kissed me again, this time his lips lingering and I wanted so bad to see what came next—

  Max barked and snapped me back to reality. I cursed and scooted back in the water, out of the danger zone. “Um, one more lap and then I’m going to get going.”

  He reached out for me, but his hand fell short and he nodded. This time, he stayed right by my side, but didn’t speak, didn’t try to touch me and I was grateful. I wasn’t sure if I could resist much more of him acting the way he was. Charlie was always my friend, rough around the edges, but it was rare the softer side of him came out. I saw the romantic in him and not just the bad boy looking for his next easy lay. My brain said to stay away from him, he was trouble, but my heart was heavy with the desire to do as he said and see where this new relationship might take us. When we circled back to the shallow end of the pool and climbed out, Max plopped down on the stone and closed his eyes, a sleepy smile on his face.

  “I think he’s enjoying the pool. Same time tomorrow?” he asked as I got out of the pool and dried off. He climbed out right behind me and let his hand brush against mine as he passed.

  I grinned. “Sure…and thank you, Charlie, for letting us use your po
ol.”

  “Anytime, darling. You can bring him here every day if you need to.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Of course, when you finally decide to marry me, you’ll have your own key.”

  “A key to your borrowed castle? Wow. I’m impressed. It might be one helluva fairytale.”

  “It’s going to be one for the books. But I can say one thing. You’re obviously no Snow White, showing off all those stunning hourglass curves,” he teased.

  “And you’re no Prince Charming, ogling me like that!”

  “You’ve got no idea how charming I can be,” he said with a wink. “Or generous.”

  “I knew this bathing suit would be a hit with you,” I said, pitching my voice higher and clasping my hands to my chest as I fluttered my eyelashes.

  He chucked a plush, soft towel at my head with a growl. “You’re a tease,” he said.

  “Should I wear my one piece next time?”

  “Stick with the bikini.”

  “Okay, then. Are you sure?”

  “I would be remiss to miss out on any chance I had to see that gorgeous body of yours.”

  Goosebumps prickled on my skin again.

  Damn! Why did he have this effect on me?

  Chapter 7

  The next morning was Saturday and I was enjoying my first cup of coffee when a knock sounded at my door. I cringed as the dogs barked and hollered and I wondered if I should answer. My landlord had been getting onto me lately and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him this early. After a few minutes, there was another knock and another and I finally pushed out of my chair, shoved past the furry children and peeked through the eyehole. The second I saw those eyes, I jumped back.

  “What the hell is he doing here?” I asked my dogs, but they wagged their tails and stared at the door, waiting. Debating if he’d go away or not, probably not, I finally gave in and opened the door. Charlie knocked on my door and I was shocked to see him since we didn’t have any official plans.

  “Good, you’re up. I wanted to show you something,” he said excitedly as I stepped out onto my tiny porch and closed the door on the dogs. “Want to go for a ride?”

  “A ride?” I asked, arching a brow at him.