He looked at her over the rim of his mug as he took a sip of his own coffee. “Livvy,” he said slowly. “Are you asking me to explain to you how sex works?”
Her mouth fell open with a gasp and she swatted his arm as he launched into a monologue on the birds and the bees.
“You know what I mean, stupid,” she said through her laughter. “How is this going to work for us?”
Before he could answer, her eyes lit up with a kind of crazy look. He recognized it. She was about to go into a frenzy of a tangent. “Or is it?” she asked. “I mean, was this just a one-night thing? Or like, a one-off now-and-again when we’re both drunk and horny?”
The fact that her face looked pained as she asked that gave him more hope than it should. She rolled her eyes and dropped her head into her hands. “Of course it is.” Shaking her head while still holding it in her hands, he heard her muffled words of embarrassment. “I’m sorry, that was a stupid thing to ask.”
He pulled her hands down, forcing her to look at him.
“This is casual,” she continued, in full spiral now. “That means it’s not a regularly scheduled thing, doesn’t it? God, I’m ruining this, aren’t I?”
He was laughing softly by the time she slowed down enough to take a break so he could answer.
“Hey,” he said. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time since she’d started her downward, internal spiral. He smiled and watched as her gaze focused and her lips twitched up in an answering grin.
Reaching out he took her hands in his. “It’s you and me here.”
Her smile grew and his heart squeezed painfully in his chest.
“We can do whatever we want,” he said. “You name it.”
She blinked at him as if those words didn’t compute. “I can name it?”
He leaned back, letting her hands drop. He had a feeling he’d taken the intensity level up a notch too high and he needed to take it down a bit.
Olivia seemed to relax once his hands were off her, and she sat there in silence for a while, sipping her coffee as he watched her with as much patience as he could muster.
Finally, she said, “I think we should set limits. If that’s okay.”
He nodded and gestured with his mug. “I told you, you’re defining this particular relationship…or lack thereof.”
Her smile was shy, hesitant, and once more he wished he could track down Jessie and beat the living shit out of him for making her ever doubt herself.
For a second he was filled with a magnanimous selfless feeling. Even if his experiment failed in spectacular fashion and he never won the girl, maybe it wouldn’t be a bust. Maybe it would be good for her. Maybe he could be good for her. From that point on, he resolved that that’s what he would do. He’d help her. He’d make sure that when this ended—no matter how it ended—she’d be better off for it.
That he could do. Because this woman deserved nothing less.
“What are you smiling like that for?” She was watching him warily.
“Like what?”
She waved a hand toward his face. “All goofy-like.”
He leaned over and planted a quick kiss on the top of her nose. “That’s just how I look after a night of mind-blowing sex.”
He was rewarded with another blush, this one because she was clearly pleased by the comment. “Mind-blowing, huh?”
He grinned. “What would you call it?”
Her answering smile lit up her eyes. “Spectacular.”
He pretended to scoff. “Spectacular? That’s what you’d say after seeing Cirque du Soleil or something.”
She giggled and he couldn’t resist. He had to touch her. Just talking about their night together had him jonesing for more touches, more kisses, and a whole hell of a lot more sex. He stood and moved so he was standing just in front of her, her bare knees parting naturally to let him stand between her thighs.
The T-shirt rode up revealing her pale, rounded thighs that were made to wrap around his waist. Her gaze followed his and she tugged down the hem of the shirt. Her attempt to cover herself was futile. His hand stopped her even though her efforts were doing no good. “Don’t hide yourself from me,” he said softly. “Please.”
Her hand stilled and she peeked up at him from beneath a lock of hair that had fallen into her face.
She looked achingly vulnerable and he hated that she had no idea how beautiful she was. Sliding one hand over the thigh he loved so much, he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Do you have any idea how delectable your body is?”
Her lips parted as she blinked up at him. He saw the moment her brain clicked into gear because she averted her gaze and her smile turned rueful. “Thanks, but I need to lose ten pounds or—”
He cut her off with a kiss. When he pulled back he leaned his forehead down to rest against hers. “You’re perfect.” His hand moved over her thighs and hips, round and soft and so fucking sexy he couldn’t stand it. “I love these curves right here,” he said as his hands stroked her thighs.
He heard her breath catch as his hands slipped beneath the hem of her T-shirt and over her belly and waist. Dropping a kiss on the corner of her mouth, he murmured, “And I love how soft you are here. Your skin is like silk.”
She shivered beneath his touch, her muscles contracting as he made his way up to cup her breasts. “And these curves,” he whispered. “Oh hell, princess, these curves were made to be touched.”
Her whimper nearly sent him over the edge and her lips were ready and waiting, molding to his when he finally pulled her against him for a kiss.
The kiss went on and on. He was in no rush to move. This right here was perfection. Livvy was in his apartment, in his arms, in his T-shirt. This was what he’d dreamed of for years.
“Wait,” she said, her breath coming in short gasps as she pulled back, her hands pressed against his chest. “We didn’t finish setting the terms.”
He stared down at her for a moment, before letting out a short laugh of disbelief. Hell. Leave it to Livvy to be distracted because she was worried about the rules. “I told you, it’s up to you.” He got back to kissing her neck, hoping to bring her back to the moment. He didn’t want to think about the parameters of this little arrangement because he was banking on the fact that this arrangement wouldn’t be an arrangement for long.
One day in the not-too-distant future, this would be a relationship.
The thought made his chest ache and his arms tightened around her.
“I think we should set an end date,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper next to his ear. Her breathless whisper would have been a turn on if it wasn’t for the words.
“Yeah, sure,” he said, trying his hardest not to think about what she was saying. Despite his efforts, his brain couldn’t block it out. She was putting a ticking clock on his plan.
Right. No pressure.
“We’ll just do…this…until the wedding,” she said, her words interspersed with little moans as his hands and mouth moved over her.
He didn’t say anything in response. To agree to that would be a lie. There was no way in hell he would be able to let her go in two weeks’ time. Not now that he knew just how good they could be together.
So instead of answering, he claimed her mouth with a hot, searing kiss that he hoped would silence the last of her thoughts on limits and boundaries and anything that wasn’t directly related to what was about to occur.
Her arms slid around his neck and he picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist as he carried her over to the bed and set her down.
“I want…” she started. “I need…”
He grinned. “I know.” And he did, because he needed the same thing. To lose himself in her, finally and completely. To revel in what they created when they were in each other’s arms.
As he moved over her, slipping the T-shirt up and over her head so she was laid out before him, he shut off the functioning part of his brain that told him his time was already running ou
t. That he’d better get his ass in gear or risk losing her forever.
Her hands reached up and grasped his shoulders, pulling him down to cover her naked body with surprising strength. “Hurry,” she moaned.
Oh shit, she was the sexiest woman he’d ever met. If he lost her again…
His brain stopped working as her tongue darted out to taste his skin making him groan at the sweet sensation.
Later. He’d worry about that later.
Chapter Nine
Olivia could feel Lena watching her as she went through the process of passing her tables over. She’d worked lunch and Lena was taking over for the dinner shift. She’d hurried home to change and make it to work in time after being thoroughly satisfied in bed this morning.
So satisfied she was having a hard time walking.
But maybe her sudden tendency to walk into tables was caused by the fact that she kept mentally replaying clips from their night together like it was a montage from a cheesy movie. Waitressing and daydreaming did not go hand in hand.
“So, tell me again how this is not a date?” Lena asked.
“We’re just hanging out as friends,” she said for the twelfth time. Lena seemed to be having a hard time processing this new turn of events, not that Olivia could blame her. She wasn’t sure she’d totally wrapped her head around it either.
“Right, friends,” Lena said, leaning against the bar beside her. “Friends who sleep together?”
Olivia nodded, pressing her lips together to hide a goofy grin and then she had to stifle a laugh as she remembered what Drew had said at breakfast. That’s just how my face looks after a night of mind-blowing sex.
She heard Lena gasp loudly beside her. “Oh. My. God. You are a smitten kitten.”
Olivia’s head snapped up so quickly her neck cracked. Her friend’s words had set off alarm bells and sent her blood pressure skyrocketing. She was not smitten. She couldn’t be, that was the whole point of their current relationship. All sex, no feelings. “I am not,” she said with just a tad too much emphasis. “We hooked up once. One night.”
One amazing, mind-blowing, spectacular night.
“And now you’re going out again tonight,” Lena finished.
“Yeah. So?” Even she could hear how defensive she sounded. But this was all new for her and she had enough doubts of her own that she didn’t need to hear any more from her friend.
Lena’s sudden smile was filled with disbelief but there was no judgment there. If anything, her younger friend looked proud. “Well, all right, girlfriend!” This was followed by a crude humping gesture as she pretended to ride a bull, or at least that’s what Olivia assumed she was doing as she waved a hand in the air like she was at a rodeo. “About time you rode that stallion.”
Yup, she’d been right about the rodeo mime. She and Lena would kill it at charades. In the meantime…she reached out and swatted her friend’s arm. “Cut it out, you’re making a scene.”
Lena was laughing as she pulled her in for a side hug. “I can’t help it, I’m just so proud of my little girl—”
“I’m older than you.”
“All grown up and finally figuring out that dating—”
“Again, I’m older than you,” she interrupted.
Lena carried on, unfazed. “Finally figuring out that dating doesn’t have to be so serious.” She lowered her voice and drawled the words “so serious” so she sounded like Eeyore.
Olivia rolled her eyes at her friend’s antics. “I don’t think it has to be serious.”
“Uh huh.” Lena’s tone was filled with disbelief. “When’s the last time you went out with someone just for fun, with no idea where it might lead or how it could end?”
Olivia scowled at her friend. “Are you trying to rain on my parade?”
Lena laughed and released her from the awkward side hug. “No, I’m just trying to say that I’m proud of you.”
Olivia turned back to the waitress station and tried to focus on the stack of receipts in her hand. “You are? Really?” See, this was what she needed. A little reassurance that she wasn’t making a mistake. “You don’t think hooking up with my former best friend is asking for trouble?”
“Who knows?” Lena shrugged. “And who cares? You’re living your life, for once, and not planning and plotting or following someone else’s path.”
Olivia tried to feel heartened by that but had a sinking suspicion she should be offended.
“I mean, how cool is it that you’re jumping into this fling or hookup, or whatever you’re calling it, without a safety net?”
“What do you mean by safety net?” she asked. That uncomfortable sinking sensation was starting to grow and she stopped pretending to care about the receipts.
Lena seemed oblivious to the shift in her attitude. Leaning against the bar again, she idly watched her tables to make sure no one needed anything as she answered. “I mean, I’m surprised that you didn’t try to control the situation or make it all neat and tidy.” She shot Olivia a knowing look. “Don’t try to deny it, you’ve got Type-A written all over you. It’s about time you relax a little and go with the flow.”
Olivia gnawed on her lower lip, studying her friend’s profile until she turned to face her again.
“What is it?” Lena asked.
Olivia shifted uncomfortably. “Um, I sort of did exactly what you just said.”
Lena blinked in incomprehension so she continued talking, a little too quickly. “I sort of defined the relationship. And I put an end date on it.”
Lena’s brows rose slowly and Olivia couldn’t tell if she was amused or disappointed…or both.
“It seemed to make sense.” Her tone had turned defensive. “It’s not crazy to want to have rules and expectations clearly stated before entering into a new arrangement.”
Oh God, she sounded like a law professor. Worse, she sounded like…her parents. Ugh. Her parents and her fling with Drew should never be in the same universe, let alone the same train of thought.
“You said this was a fling,” Lena said. Her forehead was wrinkled up in obvious confusion. “You said it was a hookup.”
She nodded. “It is.”
Lena shook her head slowly. “It’s not like any fling I’ve ever heard of. A hookup implies that it’s casual. Impulsive, even. Words like expectations and rules are rarely applicable.”
Olivia stared at her friend, her brain churning over what she said. Finally Lena pushed herself away from the bar, her tone back to being carefree and teasing. “But what do I know? To each his own, right? If this works for you, then that’s all that counts.”
Olivia nodded and her shoulders started to relax. Some of her original excitement at seeing Drew after work returned. Isn’t that what Drew had said? Whatever worked for them. And this worked.
Or at least she hoped it would.
Lena grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to face her. “Hey. Forget I said anything. I haven’t seen you so happy this whole past year. Whatever you’ve got going with that sexy studmuffin of yours, keep doing it.” Her friend pulled her in for a quick squeeze as she whispered, “Happy looks good on you.”
By the time Drew arrived fifteen minutes later to pick her up, she was back to being giddy. Ridiculously so. She couldn’t remember ever feeling like this with Jessie. But then, it wasn’t fair to compare. What she’d had with Jessie had been serious. This was only for fun. Easy, carefree fun.
And fun had never felt so good.
When Drew walked through the bar’s entrance, she stopped breathing. She’d had to or else she was fairly certain she would squeal like a tween fangirl when One Direction came onstage. That was the last thing Drew’s ego needed, and she would prefer not to humiliate herself. So she held her breath right up until he was standing in front of her with that sexy, sweet smile aimed in her direction.
God, he was dangerously hot. And that sexy look, the one she’d seen him give to countless girls…well, she had a hard time remembering that it wasn
’t meant solely for her. “Hey,” he said, coming up close and brushing the hair from her face.
It was a move he’d done a thousand times before but suddenly now it felt intimate. Sexual, even. God, one night of casual sex and she was officially obsessed.
“Hi,” she said, her voice airier than usual from having held her breath. She had no idea what to do with her hands. They hovered between her body and his as she automatically reached to touch him and then stopped herself. Did she have the right to touch him whenever she wanted and however she wanted? It seemed awfully girlfriend-y.
Then he kissed her. Quick and sweet, his lips met hers and she felt it in her fingers and toes. When he pulled back and smiled down at her she found herself smiling so big her face hurt. She supposed that answered her question. Her hands settled on his chest, reveling in the feel of his heat and hard muscles.
“You ready to go?” he asked. His gaze moved over her, taking in her sundress and sandals. This time she’d thought to bring a change of clothes and some makeup so she was ready to go out.
“Ready,” she said, already pulling him toward the door so Lena couldn’t grill him about his intentions. That seemed like the kind of thing Lena would do—all as a joke, of course, but Olivia was feeling far too fragile about their new arrangement for any teasing.
Once on the street, she automatically headed toward the subway. The sun was still in the sky but the summer day was rapidly turning into a breezy early evening. Before she could reach in her bag for the cardigan she’d packed, Drew’s arm was around her, rubbing her upper arm to keep her warm.
A heady sensation stole over her, a mix between giddy joy and nervous anticipation. This feeling was completely new, totally exhilarating, and absolutely intoxicating.
Holy crap, why had she never done this before? Not with Drew, of course, that would have ruined their friendship. But surely there were other guys out there who would make her feel this sort of sexual rush.
The Morning After: Starting from Zero Box Set Page 11