Unsure of what he was going to do, she held her breath—afraid he’d do more and, at the same time, afraid he’d stop.
He threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her mouth to his. “I can’t stop thinking about the two of us together,” he whispered.
Then, he kissed her.
Elise sighed and opened her mouth to let him in, grabbing on to his hip to anchor herself to him.
Luke wasted no time in taking possession of her mouth, and she could do nothing to stop him. She didn’t want to do anything to stop him. Although they were just kissing, Luke had complete control, and it made her hot. He swept his tongue into her mouth and then sucked hers into his. She grew wet between her legs and had flashbacks to the night they’d spent together.
She admitted it; she wanted to feel him inside her again.
But Luke made no move to go any further. Unlike the night they’d slept together, this kissed lacked urgency. What it lacked in urgency was replaced with intensity. Luke took his time as he just kissed her and kissed her and kissed her. Soon, it was only him, her, and their mouths.
She wanted to kiss him forever and forget about the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, reality intruded with the sound of a car door slamming, and Elise stepped away.
She put her fingertips to her lips. Even without a mirror, she knew they were red and swollen. She quickly reached into a cooler, grabbing the first thing she touched. She put the cold glass to her lips for a few seconds and then opened the bottle before taking a big gulp.
“Yuck.” She made a sour face and looked at the beverage for the first time. “I hate this kind of beer.”
Luke laughed at her expression, and then they both turned to see who was coming up the driveway. She pushed him toward the guests because somebody had to greet them, and she was too stunned at the moment.
She took another sip of the god-awful beer she clutched in her hand. The couple entered the garage, and Luke welcomed them both. The woman set some sort of dish on the table, and then Luke introduced Elise to them.
She forgot their names two seconds after they stepped into the backyard.
“I’ll go tell Rachel and Sean they’re here,” she told Luke, heading for the house.
She needed to process the kiss they’d just shared anyway.
Luke frowned as Elise escaped into the house. While he had hoped to kiss her sometime today, he hadn’t planned to do it before the party even started. But she’d stood there, smelling like heaven, in her sexy outfit with her skintight top and shorts that showed off her legs, looking at him with her big eyes, and he’d wanted her something fierce.
He hadn’t been able to resist teasing her about their night together, and he’d enjoyed the blush that spread from her face down to her chest. She’d flushed like that when she came, too. Luke adjusted himself in his shorts, grateful that he was alone in the garage at the moment.
The sound of more car doors shutting told him that more guests had arrived. He directed everyone to the backyard, where the previous guests were, after showing them where the food and drinks were located. He was starting to wonder who the host and hostess of this party were when he saw a figure coming up the driveway that caused him to run scared into the house.
Elise was alone in the kitchen, cutting up the fruit that Rachel had previously been working on.
“Where are they?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Sean! Rachel!” he called down the hall.
A second later, their bedroom door opened, and they stepped out. Rachel was finger-combing her hair, and Sean was tugging down his shirt.
Oh, nice.
So, while they had been getting it on, Luke was preparing himself to fight off unwanted attention all day. This was supposed to be a fun, relaxing holiday.
“Why the hell did you let Molly bring her little sister?” he asked his friends.
Rachel covered her mouth with her hand as she tried not to laugh.
Luke pointed a finger at her. “This is not funny.”
“It kind of is,” she countered.
Sean sighed. “For the record, I told Rachel no, but Molly begged Rachel to let her come. Something about how her sister was sad because she’d just broken up with her boyfriend, and Molly couldn’t leave her home alone.”
Luke threw his hands up in exasperation. “Great. Now, she’s going to be even clingier than usual. Doesn’t that girl have any friends of her own?”
“Apparently, they all went away for the week or something,” Rachel said.
“Wait a second,” Elise spoke up. “What am I missing here?”
“My friend Molly has a younger sister who”—Rachel paused, as if searching for the right words—“has a bit of an interest in Luke.”
Luke snorted. “A bit of an interest? The girl—and, when I say girl, I mean, girl because she’s only, like, nineteen—will not leave me alone whenever I see her. I practically have to peel her off me.”
Elise laughed.
“Oh, Barbie’s not that bad,” Rachel said.
Elise laughed harder, clutching her stomach. “Her name is Barbie? This keeps getting better.”
“Ha-ha,” Luke said sarcastically. “It’s hilarious.”
“Sorry, man,” Sean told him.
Inspiration struck, and Luke snapped his fingers. “I know. Elise, pretend to be my girlfriend. She’ll leave me alone then.”
Elise shook her head, still giggling. “No way. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“You suck. I hate you all,” Luke told the room.
He stomped out of the house, Elise’s and Rachel’s laughter trailing behind him.
He went over to the stereo on the deck, plugged in his iPod, and cranked up the music to a loud but tolerable level. Then, he grabbed a beer and threw himself into a chair to pout. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and pretended to be busy on it while sipping his beer.
It didn’t work.
Ten seconds later, Barbie sat beside him, and he groaned into his drink. She had her platinum-blonde hair in big, fluffy curls, and she wore what looked like a truckload of makeup. Her outfit was way too revealing for an afternoon barbeque. She looked like she was ready to go out to the club.
“Hi, Luke,” she said, full of excitement.
Luke leaned his head back against his chair. “Hey.”
He had to tread cautiously with Barbie. He didn’t want to lead her on or give any indication that she had a chance with him. Yet he had to be very careful that he didn’t hurt her feelings. She was at an age where she was finding herself, and he didn’t want to be the jerk older guy who crushed her spirit and made her hate men forever.
God, he was glad he wasn’t in college anymore.
“How are you, Luke?”
He looked around for Molly, who knew that her sister had a thing for him, but she was off in the corner, talking to someone. So, Luke sipped his beer and tried not to fidget.
“Good,” he answered Barbie. He didn’t want to be rude, but he also didn’t offer any more information than that.
He spied Elise walking out of the back of the house.
Although I could be better, he thought when he saw her.
She stood close enough to listen to him and Barbie but didn’t approach them.
“And you?” he asked Barbie, whose back was to Elise.
Barbie shrugged. “I’m doing okay.”
Clearly, she only said she was okay, so Luke would ask why. But he wasn’t about to mention that he’d heard about her breakup because he didn’t want her thinking he’d been talking about her. She would surely take it as a sign that he was interested.
His phone buzzed in his hand.
He nodded. “That’s good,” he said as he unlocked his phone and pulled up his messages.
Elise: She’s cute.
Luke: Ugh. She reminds me of my little sister.
Luke looked over at the deck. Elise stood there with a smirk on her face, looking at her phone.
�
��Yeah, I just broke up with my boyfriend,” Barbie said, her head down as she gazed up at him through her lashes.
Luke quickly looked away as his phone buzzed again.
Elise: Can she be any more obvious that she wants to do you?
Luke: God, I hope not.
“Oh, that sucks. Breakups are no fun,” Luke told Barbie.
Buzz.
Elise: What is it with women wanting to sleep with you?
Luke: I’m irresistible. Although not irresistible enough. You don’t want to sleep with me again.
Elise: Who said I didn’t want to sleep with you again?
He read Elise’s text just as Barbie said, “Yeah, I’m hoping to have a little rebound sex.”
Holy hell.
He’d been in the middle of taking another sip of his beer and practically choked on it after reading Elise’s message and listening to Barbie blatantly hit on him.
It was a good thing he was coughing from his drink going down the wrong tube, so he didn’t have to respond to Barbie right away. Meanwhile, Elise was trying not to die from laughter.
Luke quickly picked up his phone when it buzzed again.
Elise: Bwahahahaha.
Luke: If that’s not true, then how about you come over here and sit on my dick again? That’ll let Barbie know I’m interested in only you.
Elise: And give everyone in the backyard a show? I don’t think so.
Luke: Okay then, how about you please get your sexy ass over here and rescue me?
Elise: I don’t know. I like watching you squirm. It’s not every day that Luke Long is uncomfortable. I’m kind of enjoying this.
Luke: Please. I’m begging you.
Elise: Okay, but you owe me.
“Luke,” Barbie said, “are you going to be okay?”
Luke was still coughing, so he hit his fist against his chest a couple of times, trying to clear his lungs. “Yeah, I think I’ll live.”
“About what I said…” Barbie started but didn’t get to finish because Elise approached them.
“Hey, Luke?”
“Oh, hi, Elise. Elise, this is Barbie. Barbie, this is my good friend Elise.”
“Hello,” Elise said cheerfully.
“Hi,” Barbie said, clearly unhappy.
Luke smiled at Elise. “What’s up?” he asked Elise, pretending like they hadn’t been texting back and forth.
“Could you come into the house for a minute? Sean needs you.”
Luke jumped up from his seat. “Oh, sure.” Feeling slightly bad for Barbie, he turned back to her. “Sorry. Gotta go.”
“Bye, Luke,” she said, obviously disappointed that he was leaving.
Luke threw his arm around Elise’s neck, pulling her close as they walked toward the house. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he whispered in her ear.
Elise wrapped her arm around his waist. “You’re welcome.”
“I owe you.”
“How about you just watch my back? Because, with the daggers Barbie is sending my way, I’m afraid she might go a little Fatal Attraction on me. Make sure you inform the police about your admirer-slash-stalker when I turn up dead.”
“She’s not my stalker. I rarely even see her. It’s just that, when I do…”
“She wants to have rebound sex with you,” Elise said with a laugh.
Luke shuddered. “Please do not say that again. I wasn’t lying when I said she reminded me of my sister. It creeps me out.”
They reached the sliding glass door and dropped their arms to turn toward each other. Elise had an odd look on her face.
“What?” he asked.
She shook her head and smiled at him. “Nothing. You’d better get in there and help Sean before Barbie sics herself on you again.”
“You joke, but it’s true.”
She laughed. “Go on. Find something else to do for a few minutes. I’ll keep an eye on Barbie and make sure she doesn’t follow you inside.”
Luke kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks, babe.”
Several hours later, Elise was in the front yard, talking to a couple of Rachel’s friends, Heidi and Tera, about one of her favorite subjects—books. All of them were romance novel fanatics and had started comparing favorites and then offering suggestions of what the others should read, forming a fast friendship.
They’d ended up in the front yard because Tera wanted to show Elise and Heidi the book she was currently reading, which she had left in her car, because neither of them had heard of it. Tera still enjoyed the look and feel of holding a real book in her hand. After that, they hadn’t moved very far, staying in the front of the house rather than going to the back again since it was quieter and easier to talk there without the loud music.
“We should really exchange info, so we can get together or something. Maybe we can form our own book club,” Elise suggested.
“Good idea. I would love to have an all-romance book club,” Heidi suggested.
Heidi was a curly redhead with blue eyes and a kind smile.
“I’m open to trying a book club. I’ve tried them before, but someone always wants to include something just because it looks good. I’m a smut reader and proud of it,” Tera said.
Tera was a blonde with short hair and brown eyes. She seemed like she had a feisty streak in her.
Elise had liked them both immediately.
Tera and Heidi hadn’t met each other until that day either, and they all had just finished exchanging phone numbers and finding each other on Facebook and Instagram when they heard a loud, “Whoop, whoop,” and a high-pitched whistle from the backyard.
“Ooh, I think we need to go and see what we’re missing,” Tera said.
They all stowed their phones in their pockets and trekked to the back of the house. They walked through the garage, snagging a few snacks to take with them as they went.
When Elise stepped through the back door, all she saw at first was lots and lots of skin.
Sexy, sweaty male skin.
And her eyes zeroed in on one male in particular. Damn, that boy is fine as hell.
It made her wish their night together was clearer. She remembered it, but since she’d been drunk, parts were still fuzzy and didn’t have the clarity of a recent memory. Instead, it seemed like it had happened a long time ago, almost like a dream, which was a damn shame. Next time, she was going to be stone-cold sober.
Next time? Ha.
“Wow,” Heidi said beside her. “Break me off a piece of that.” She pointed to a guy. “Or that.” She pointed to another one. “Or that.” She pointed to a third guy. “You know what? Just give me a taste of everything.”
Tera added, “Oh, me, too. I’m willing to share.” She held out her arms. “Come to me, gorgeous men. I am yours for the taking.”
The three women fell into a fit of laughter, and a few people around them looked at them and smiled while some looked at them like they were a bunch of weirdos. It only made them laugh harder.
“I’d even take one of the…less fit guys,” Heidi said tactfully. “It’s been a long time for me—if you know what I mean.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Elise said. “I’ve thought about buying stock in Energizer and Duracell. BOB sure goes through them fast.”
“It’s only been over two months for me,” Tera said. “And, before that, I had a long dry spell. I think the hardest thing about being a woman is that I can live without sex, but I just don’t want to.”
“Amen,” said Elise.
“Word,” said Heidi.
And the three of them clinked their cups together.
Heidi turned her head to the side. “Of all those fine men out there, who do you think would be the best in bed?”
“Sean. Hands down, Sean,” Rachel said, coming up behind them.
Tera rolled her eyes. “You can’t say that. You’ve actually had sex with the man. This is supposed to be a hypothetical. We’re guessing. You actually know what it’s like to have sex with Sean.”
&n
bsp; “Okay, okay, I see where you’re coming from.” She put her finger to her lips. “Hmm…”
Since Elise had had a few drinks and the conversation was going the way it was, she asked her friend, “Is Sean really that good in bed?”
Elise admitted to herself that she’d always wanted to know. Sean was built with nice muscles and a six-pack, but he wasn’t as tall as some men, and he was on the thin side. In fact, Elise had never known the guy was so muscular until the first time she saw him without his shirt. He reminded her of Adam Levine. Another guy whom she’d had no idea what he was packing underneath his clothes until he did that photo shoot a few years ago.
Elise’s eyes moved from Sean to Luke. If Sean was Adam Levine, then Luke was Jason Momoa. Big, broad, and alpha-like. Sean was good-looking, but Luke was sex on a stick.
A stick she wanted to lick.
“Hell yeah,” Rachel said, answering Elise’s question. “Do you really think I would have dated someone this long or promised to marry him if he were a dud?” She shook her head. “No way, no how. If I’m going to have sex with one guy for the rest of my life, he’d better know what he’s doing in the sack. Plus, Sean might be short, but he’s not short.” She smirked. “If you know what I’m sayin’.”
“Hey, why did it take the two of you so long to get engaged?” Tera asked, changing the subject.
Rachel told them about how she and Sean were in college at first and nowhere near thoughts of marriage, and then they’d broken up for a few years before getting back together. Elise had already known all this and had heard it all before, and she found herself contemplating what Rachel had said about enjoying sex with Sean.
In Denver, Elise and her ex Jason had actually talked about marriage a few times, and she had often thought that was where they would eventually be headed until they broke up. Yet she and Jason had had a very mundane sex life. Then, she thought about some of her other exes. Tyler, the college boyfriend whom she’d lived with, again, was just okay in the bedroom department. Also, there were Zach and Mike. She hadn’t thought about marriage with either of them, but she had dated each of them for about a year. Both could have used some pointers on pleasing women. Yet she’d had some one-night stands and friends with benefits who were great in bed.
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