“Nicola…” He looked over her shoulder then shut his eyes, letting out a long sigh.
Cash sat them down, holding her on his lap. He grabbed the half-empty bottle of wine and took a long pull. Her heart clutched. She was driving him to drink. This was so bad. Her cheeks flamed, but as much as it hurt, she just couldn’t drag herself away from him.
He offered the bottle to her. “Your turn.”
“Very classy.” She didn’t sound like herself. That should’ve been funny. It should’ve been a joke. But she sounded too serious, too hurt and hopeful, too much like her dreams were spinning and shattering.
“As classy as drinking alone.” One arm squeezed her tight, and her stomach flipped down, down, down.
“I wasn’t drinking alone.” She tried to think of what she’d been doing… “Brandy and Hannah went to J’s house.”
“But you didn’t.”
No… No, she didn’t… She took the bottle from him and took a sip, then shook her head.
“Why not?”
Simple question. Simple answer. There wasn’t a need for her stomach to flip again. But, still, it did. “I wanted to talk to you instead.”
His fingers caressed her wet skin, and prickles raced down her neck, her spine. “You could’ve called.”
“I did.”
“Nope. You texted. About a party.” He made a point to look around, a slip of a smile stealing her heart. “You want to talk to me now?”
She bit her lip. Nothing would come to mind. She had so much to say, and all she could do was simply exist in his arms. He took the bottle from her and put it down. It scraped dully against the tile edge.
He was always in charge, always knowing the next move. Right now, he had to tell her what it was because her mind wanted to say I don’t know what to do, but she was sure her mouth would say kiss me, I’m begging you, please.
He cupped her chin. His thumb slid over her cheek. With each slow move, she fell for him harder and harder, and their mouths drew closer and closer. Inches separated their first kiss. His kiss. One that she’d wanted before she knew what it was to want a man. Cash was her first dream, first crush, and fantasy.
Cash was all talk, total BS, the king of flirts. He didn’t need to kiss her. Kissing her would’ve been illogical. They were friends.
“Cash.” She tried to lie to herself. “You don’t want to kiss me.”
“I don’t?” he asked, a sweet smile on his lips, his eyes narrowing.
Panic made her jump. She tightened in his arms, almost running out of the pool. “You don’t?”
She’d been so wrong. This was all wrong. She’d never have a drink again. Wine made her believe in fairy tales—
“Oh, hell, yes. I do.” He closed the distance, his lips finding hers, and the world stopped. Spun. Tilted and exploded. It was the perfect kiss, his lips brushing over hers, slow and lazy. He stilled for the longest moment, and she felt the full softness of his mouth, tasted his sweetness from the wine, all better than she’d ever imagined.
Straddling his lap, Nicola wrapped her arms around him, knocking his hat off, and he didn’t stop kissing her.
Cash slid his hand up her back, into her hair, and held her close. Lips, fingers, head, all tingled in response to a kiss so intense, so consuming, she’d give herself to him, no questions asked. Anything he wanted. She was his.
Time paused while his mouth mapped hers. Finding her neck, Cash slid his tongue across her collarbone. His fingers played in her hair, down her back. Sitting in his lap, she felt all of him. The swim trunks hid nothing. Cash was turned on. She was turned on and dying for more, dying for him but so stuck in his unexpected sweetness, she’d drown before pulling away from him.
But he broke from her, his lips hovering close. Blue eyes seemed to see into her soul, and she couldn’t blink.
His cowboy hat was long gone, and the sun was sinking deep into a purple-shaded sky. “I think I’ve waited my whole life for that.”
“I don’t believe you,” she whispered.
“Believe it.” He hooked her under the arms and let her dangle as he walked out of the pool with giant steps, splashing water as they reached the deck.
She shivered against him. “What are we doing?”
He kept walking, still holding her as though she weighed nothing. “Probably ordering pizza.”
Not what she was talking about. “And then?”
Cash stopped, putting her on her feet and backing her until her backside met the sliding glass door. The cold glass made her arch into him.
“You’re asking about us?”
Well, yeah. That was what she wanted to know. “I think so.”
He smiled a lopsided grin. “I’ve never seen you unsure about anything.”
He knew her so well. That was part of her attraction and her fear. “I’ve never kissed you before.”
“You seemed unsure before.” He pressed his body and his mouth against hers, so hot and hard. “This is a good thing, Nic.”
He opened the door and stepped them inside. The cold air conditioning wrapped around her, and she shivered. God, she could stay there forever, so long as she remembered to breathe. Which she’d forgotten to do—
The front door shut, and she jumped in his arms.
“Where is everybody? Hello?” Roman called from around the corner. “Nic? Brandy?”
Oh shit.
Cash took a step back.
Nicola’s finger went to her mouth. “Not a word.”
His brow furrowed, eyes narrowed, looking altogether annoyed and unconvinced.
“No joke. I’m not ready to deal with him.”
“Nic—”
Oh, God. She hadn’t thought this through. Roman would flip. Hardcore. “Not yet.”
“Calm down.” Placing hands on her shoulders, he spun her around, then hollered to Roman, “We were outside, dude. What’s going on?”
He was so damn calm, and she had to look like sex-on-the-brain. Her lips felt kiss-swollen. Guilt had to be painted across her face. Cash took it all in stride and snagged towels draped across a kitchen chair. He tossed one to her and wrapped the other around his neck.
Roman came into the room and went to the fridge. “Hey, guys.”
He didn’t seem to notice anything abnormal.
“Hey.” Her voice sounded funny—really funny—like she’d been crawling all over Cash in the pool. Because she had. Oh shit, this was so obvious. Cash laughed in her direction, giving her a look that said I know what you’ve been up to. She’d kill him later. After she kissed him again.
“We’re getting pizza,” Cash offered.
Roman nodded. “Good. I’ll order.”
She and Cash both said, “No.”
Her brother shook his head. “Fine. No pineapple. Whatever. I’m still ordering.” He closed the fridge and pulled out his phone, walking toward a window. “Where are Brandy and Hannah?”
“Ran over to J’s.” Her voice still sounded funny.
“And you stayed here?” He sent a questioning look to her then to Cash.
Nicola shrugged.
Roman nodded. “Good, that dude’s too interested in you.”
When her brother walked in the other room to get his wallet, Cash ambled over, still pool damp. “You should know that bikini’s dangerous enough to risk a throw down with Roman.”
She looked down. Her nipples were far too noticeable. Cash’s smile could’ve melted steel.
“Would you be quiet? He’ll hear you.”
Cash kissed her, quick but hot. Somehow, she was still standing, all by herself, when Roman walked in.
“Nic, you okay?”
Cash was on his way out. “I’m gonna change.”
Roman hadn’t a clue.
“Yeah. Fine.” Except this time, she squeaked.
He chuckled, tilting his head. “Whatever. Long as you stay away from Double-deuce.”
Ha, ha. Mission accomplished… Roman would absolutely freak.
CHAPT
ER NINE
Cash sat on the edge of the bathtub in wet swim trunks. He had to get himself in check before heading back out. Sprout. But damn, she wasn’t Sprout anymore. She hadn’t been Sprout for a long time. She’d been his distraction—or his fascination—the woman he wanted but couldn’t touch. Wouldn’t touch. Until he did. Then he couldn’t stop.
He scrubbed his face, took a deep breath, and changed into his jeans and shirt. Looking into the mirror, he could almost see where she’d kissed the hell out of him. Cash rolled his lower lip into his mouth. Holy shit, he’d do about anything to get his mouth on her again. His eyes sank, and he inhaled slowly. The places he wanted his mouth…the things he wanted. His heart pounded.
This was why he’d avoided Nicola for… forever. Because she was intoxicating. Even now, he was staring into a bathroom mirror thinking about how he could have her beneath him. How he could’ve had her in the pool, in her room, on the floor, against the wall. Fuck. He rubbed his face again.
“Get it together.” He growled at his reflection then threw open the bathroom door and headed back to the kitchen.
Nic and Roman sat at the kitchen table. She seemed engrossed in their conversation and did not look at him.
“What’s up?” He let his gaze drift over her. Damn…
Roman turned his head. “Nic’s explaining her new job. Something about tracking piles of money from one pot to the next in other countries. She’s very excited.”
She smirked at him. “No. What I was saying was—”
“Girl thinks she’s a detective.”
Cash watched her face scrunch. “Staying out of it.”
“No one asked you, Cash,” she said.
He shook his head and winked at her, real quick, real on the sly, and real sure Roman wouldn’t see because that was better than grabbing her and pulling her against him. He’d gone from having it bad for her but surviving to having a taste and losing his damn mind.
Roman turned in his chair. “When’d you get here, anyway?”
Nic froze in place, mouth open like she had something to say but was stuck.
Her visible panic made Cash laugh. “Swung by. I was bored, wanted to go for a swim, and forced Nic to hang with me.”
“What’s with the wine?”
Nic remained frozen, but her jaw dropped. He was getting a serious kick out of this. “Yeah, Nic, why were you drinking by yourself?” He was gonna get hell for that and couldn’t wait. His smile was as broad as her eyes went wide.
One long second ticked by. Nicola’s mouth shut, and the girl glared. Hard. “Brandy, Hannah, and I toasted our new house before they went to Jacob’s.”
“Cool.” Roman nodded and turned back to Cash. “Thought you were headed to see Mira or somebody today.”
Well, fuck me. The temperature of the room could’ve dropped fifty degrees with the stare Nicola leveled on him. “Nah.”
“Mira, huh?” She pounced. “She’s special.”
Was that a jealous Nicola Hart? “Ignore Roman’s big mouth, and forget her. Nothing there to give the girl a hard time about.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m going to change into dry clothes.”
The doorbell rang as Nicola passed him, letting her bare shoulder breeze by his bicep. That was on purpose, and that was the playful, flirting Nic, even if she was scared to admit it.
“Get the pizza, Roman,” she called over her shoulder, giving Cash a look as she headed down the hall.
Devious. And he liked it. God, he was going to get hard again just thinking about her testing their limits.
Roman pushed out of his chair to answer the door, and Cash waited long enough to think don’t do it, then followed after Nicola. Her door was shut, and he knocked quietly, walking in before she could say go away.
Her hands were behind her neck untying the knot. Nic’s cheeks pinked, and if he’d had better timing, that bikini top would’ve been gone. He advanced. “You should’ve known I’d be back here after you looked at me like that.”
Her mouth gaped, still surprised. “Like what?”
“Like you don’t really want to keep things from Roman. Turn around.”
Her arms came down, leaving the top tied. She turned, and he stepped closer. Her ass pressed against him, and his hands splayed over her stomach then drifted to her side. He held her waist, letting his fingers massage deep into her flesh. She sighed. The sweet sound did something unimaginable to him. When her head dipped back, leaning against his chest, he smoothed his palms over her forearms and up her biceps, feeling the pinpricks that erupted on her skin.
“Years of wondering if that would happen…”
Her eyes caught his. “What would happen?”
“Touching you. And seeing this.” He skimmed his fingers to the nape of her neck and rested on the knot of the bathing suit top. His mouth trailed by her ear. “Goosebumps, hard nipples, and breaths as shallow and as quick as mine.”
His chest pounded, and she trembled against him. Aching to get her top off, he tried to remind himself why the timing was god awful. A quick shot at her goods during the time it took Roman to pay for pizza would be a travesty. He needed time, and he wasn’t sure he could stop.
“Cash?” So quiet it almost killed him.
He untied the knot, but kept the strings together. Leaning over, he brushed his lips over the top of her ear, down to behind the lobe. “Spend the night with me tomorrow. No one else will be home. Just the two of us.”
She nodded, and he spun her around slowly, keeping his hand on the back of her neck. He took her hand, brought it to where he held up her top, then switched their hands. It might be one of his greatest regrets, delaying the satisfaction of stripping her down.
She looked at her closed door. “We’re going to get caught.”
“Right now, you’re the only who cares.”
“Cash…”
“I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Her head tilted. “You’re not staying for pizza?”
“Can’t do it, girl. Not if you don’t want Roman to know. I can’t keep my hands off you.”
She blushed, and he loved it. Something primal and possessive made him feel invincible. He’d tell Roman. He’d tell the world. Right about now, nothing would keep him quiet. A quick kiss of her lips, and he was out the door. Roman was on the couch, housing the pizza and surfing the television.
“Where’s Nic?”
“Don’t know.” Cash grabbed a slice of pizza, heading for the front door. “I forgot. Can’t go to Brotherhood tomorrow night.”
Roman’s forehead pinched. “Dude, you have to. That’s the last thing before Rush.”
At this point in time, Cash had never cared less about rush week. “I’m sure you guys can camp and drink beers without me.”
“Pussy.” Roman went back to surfing the TV. Brandy and Hannah walked in, a shade close to hammered. Roman pointed at them with a slice of pizza, and Cash laughed at their stumbling asses. “And that’s the reason I don’t want Nic hanging with Double-deuce.”
“Roman!” they called, all drunk and annoying.
Cash used it as an escape plan and tried to ditch out before Roman noticed.
“Cash,” Roman yelled over the drunken babble.
So his grand escape plan didn’t work. He turned at the door. “Yeah?”
“Thanks for keeping our girl safe and away from pieces of shit who do this to them.” Roman motioned to Hannah and Brandy, who flopped on the couch together, giggling on their way to passing out.
“Right.” And now he felt like the piece of shit because he’d been mauling his best bud’s little sister. Roman expected Cash to keep his paws off her and protect her. He wasn’t sure exactly what Roman wanted, but if he could’ve had Nic bubble wrapped, he would have. Shit, maybe this was more complicated than he’d thought. Nicola was right. Keep mum until… He had no good answer. Until later. For now.
CHAPTER TEN
Nicola woke up nervous. She sat through lunch nervous, d
id laundry nervous. And now she was frozen on the edge of her bed, so nervous she couldn’t move. Outside her room, Brandy and Hannah tried to entice her out to the pool. They thought she was on crack for all her smiling and fidgeting, and now she had an hour until she headed over to Cash and Roman’s. But Roman wouldn’t be there.
Holy shit.
Her stomach flipped. Again.
This was really happening, and she couldn’t tell a soul. Not yet. Until then, she’d have to hold in all the Cash-mania and be a big girl about it because tonight, she was spending the night in his arms.
Just… holy shit.
Her cell buzzed on her bed, and she looked down. Cash. Her perma-grin quadrupled in size when she opened the text.
All alone.
That’s all it said, and it was all she needed. Roman had left for whatever frat-thing he had to do, and Cash was alone. She jumped up and gave her outfit a once over: cute summer skirt, wedge heels, simple pink shirt, casual date wear. She could get out of the house in it without an interrogation from her roomies. After a quick spin in the full-length mirror, she smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle out of her shirt.
Oh, God. She was gonna puke.
“You can do this.” The reflection in the mirror wasn’t sold. She could do this… Absolutely. If her nerves would just go away already.
Shit. No, she couldn’t. It was too fast. Did he expect her to sleep with him? That’s what she wanted: Cash, all of him. And she’d known him her whole life. It wasn’t as if this was some random dude. Had anyone ever turned him down, anyway? What if she was just something he needed to work out of his system?
Nicola shook out her hair. Tying it into a ponytail, she kicked off her shoes and fell back to the bed and dropped back. She couldn’t do this. Her cell rang.
Cash.
“Hi.” She curled around a pillow, aching to be in his arms and terrified that all their flirtations would end in disaster. “I’m still at home.”
“Why?” His voice was low, tinged with disappointment. It rumbled over her, a tsunami of tension, twisting her stomach.
Maybe she’d made the wrong decision about her earlier decision. This was confusing, and then self-doubt crept in. “I…”
Sweet Girl (Titan) Page 6