Someone Like You

by Victoria Purman

  ‘To what?’

  Shit. Shit. Shit. Lizzie couldn’t tell him the truth, that she’d been roped into being the Lieutenant-Colonel of Operation Dan. She had assured them there would be no therapy, no hugs, no pushing. Damn it. She’d forgotten to say no sex. In a fix, she made up the handiest lie she knew, which also happened to be the most believable, since she was sitting right there in Dan’s kitchen while he cooked her dinner.

  ‘You really want to know?’ She carved a smile out of thin air and lifted her glass. ‘I just realised we’ve been set up, Dan. Your loved-up neighbours have been doing everything they can to get us into this position.’

  Ry took the glass from her fingers and set it down on the counter.

  ‘What position is that?’

  ‘Right where we are now.’ Hopefully, sweet Jesus, about to have sex.

  ‘You mean this position?’ He urged her knees apart, then pulled her closer. Lizzie reached around him and pushed her fingers into the back pockets of his jeans, the soft fabric loose against his tight arse.

  ‘This might have been the one they had in mind,’ she said.

  Dan’s hungry eyes roamed over her legs, her breasts and then his hands lifted to take over from his eyes, caressing her already hard nipples with his thumbs.

  ‘You’ve gotta admit, it’s probably not the worst idea they’ve ever had.’ Dan leaned over, kissed her neck right under her left ear and she gripped his arse tighter in response. She craved his touch, breathed in the scent of him, soap and white wine. She felt alive, every caress of his lips on her skin an electric shock. Lizzie’s feet found the floor and she pulled herself to standing on shaky legs, balancing herself against his hard body.

  ‘Dan,’ she said with a moan, and he crashed his lips onto hers, taking her, lifting her off her feet. She tore her lips from his, her breath ragged and hot. ‘You’d better turn off the oven. You’ll burn our dinner.’

  He picked her up, swung her legs into the crook of his arm. ‘Do I look like I give a flying fuck?’

  The light from the hallway glowed on the bed, creating a spotlight on the messy white sheets, unmade from Dan’s restless sleep the night before. Lizzie barely noticed. This was going to happen and she felt an ache of anticipation in every limb that was making her tremble. Dan lowered her to the floor and she found his emerald eyes, devouring her, every inch of her, from her carefully tousled hair to her toes.

  Lizzie kicked off her shoes, flipped her silk top off in a tangle of elbows and reached for him. She found muscled arms and hard chest. Reaching for the buttons on his black shirt, she slowly popped them, one by one, teasing him with a kiss as every extra inch was revealed. Then she reached up, pushed the shirt off his shoulders and down, revealing hard mounds of muscle there, too. She traced his deltoids, tough and strong, and then splayed her fingers over his pecs, pushing her palms against him in sensuous circles, feeling him move and shift under her touch. All the while, he’d barely moved, not touching her, letting her explore his arms, his chest, his strength, watching her.

  ‘Dan,’ she murmured, flicking a nipple with her tongue. ‘All that hard manual labour really pays off, doesn’t it?’ She didn’t recognise her voice, wanton and wicked.

  His eyes latched on to her strapless, black lacy bra and he reached around to flick open the clasp with an expert twist.

  Lizzie felt it land on her feet. ‘You’ve done that before.’

  Dan bent down and kissed the soft skin at the top of her breast and then moved lower. ‘Once or twice.’

  Just as expertly, Dan lowered her onto the bed and climbed over her, his body blocking out the light. The crush of her breasts against his hard chest sent a jolt to her groin and a desire so strong engulfed her so that she could barely hold on.

  ‘God, Dan,’ she cried into his shoulder and at her urging, they fumbled with their jeans, pulling them off each other with groans of laughter.

  As they tumbled back on to the bed, Dan stretched out an arm to rustle around in his pocket of his jeans. He found the condom, held it up to her.

  ‘Here’s one I prepared earlier,’ he said with a sexy grin. Lizzie watched as he ripped it open with his teeth and then made sure he was safe. When they were finally naked against each other, Dan grabbed her and rolled, and she was on top of him, her legs spread wide, with him demanding and urging into her. As she took him in, she watched the exquisite pleasure on his face as he closed his eyes, sucked in a breath. He was letting her judge how fast, how slow she wanted to ride him. She teased, taunted, slipped up and then down, until his big hands gripped her hips and held her there, tight on him, all around him, until she dropped forward, her sweet spot crashing into his. She was a hair’s breadth away when he came, gripping her, thrusting into her, and then she exploded too, throbbing in wave after wave of bliss.

  While Dan disappeared to the bathroom, Lizzie waited in the bed, feeling boneless, stripped, riding out her high with shallow breaths and Dan in her eyes. When he came back, laid next to her, she saw something unfamiliar in his face. His swagger had gone, so had all his angry. He looked drowsy and happy. At peace.

  ‘Fuck,’ he said finally on a long, slow exhale. A wicked, oh-so-satisfied smile curved his lips and he moved half on top of her, cupped her breast with his hand, kissed her neck, then her lips.

  Lizzie blew out a breath. ‘I love it when a drought breaks.’

  Dan laughed, throaty, heartily. ‘That wasn’t just a drought breaker, baby. That was a fucking flood.’

  ‘How long for you?’

  ‘Shit, it feels like a million years. Eight months?’

  Lizzie choked, happy to laugh through her embarrassment. ‘You call that a million years? Try…’ She stopped. How long had it been since she’d had sex? How long since she’d had sex like that?

  ‘Try forever.’

  ‘Oh baby, you’ve got some catching up to do.’ Dan’s hand snaked across her stomach, moved lower, teased through her curls. His fingers found her, still wet, still achy and plump. She brought her knees up and gave him all the room he needed to send her to heaven.

  Afterwards they lay together. Still, replete, silent. Dan was on his back, his right arm up and his head in his hand on the pillow. Lizzie was comfortable in the crook of his arm, one leg draped across his thigh, one hand splayed in the soft hair scattered on his chest.

  It was peaceful. He liked the quiet of the night down here. No traffic. No voices. Just the waves and the wind. Just Elizabeth’s sweet breath on his chest. Her voice music in his ears.

  ‘Dan?’ He was surprised to hear her voice. She’d been still so long he thought she might have fallen asleep.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Can I ask you something?’ She was careful, cautious. Her could hear the hesitation and knew what was coming.

  ‘Sure.’ He played with her hair, silky to his touch. ‘Doesn’t mean I’ll answer.’

  She took a minute to speak. Lifted her head to look down at his leg. ‘Does it still hurt?’

  He looked to the ceiling. ‘Depends. Sometimes a lot, sometimes not.’

  ‘Did it hurt just then, when we were…?’ God, what to call it? ‘Fucking’ didn’t seem right but ‘making love’ was too loaded. ‘Shagging?’ Too Austin Powers.

  ‘Just now? I had way more important things on my mind.’ He squeezed her closer. ‘And on my body. And in my hands.’ Then he kissed her tenderly, sweetly. ‘You’re a hell of a distraction, Elizabeth Blake.’

  His words thrilled her. Who was this man? The guy holding her now, kissing her so gently, was not the Dan from the bar. And neither was he Dan the door slammer. Crikey. How many sides to this bloke could there be?

  ‘Thanks, big guy.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ he moaned. ‘Call me big guy again.’ Lizzie laughed, walked her fingers down his chest, over his flat belly, to his cock and underneath. Gently she cupped his balls, loved the softness and the tender weight of them in her hand.

  ‘Maybe that can be your new nickname,’ she tease
d. ‘People will just think I’m referring to how tall you are. And how tall is that exactly?’

  ‘Six foot four last time I checked.’

  Lizzie took him in her hand. ‘I’ve always had a thing for big men.’

  ‘I bet big men have always had a thing for you.’

  She hesitated. ‘Not so much.’

  ‘You are shitting me.’

  ‘It’s been a dry season in Lizzie land, so thanks. Or maybe we should thank Ry and Julia.’

  He sniggered. ‘For fuck’s sake. Don’t talk about them when you’re doing what you’re doing. It could get kinda weird.’

  Lizzie laughed so hard her chest ached. When she finally got it under control, happiness bubbling away inside her instead, she slapped her hand on his stomach. ‘You gonna cook me that steak now or are we gonna skip right to dessert?’

  ‘Let’s have a shower and then I’ll give you whatever you want.’

  Lizzie decided it was the best post-sex steak she’d ever had. She ate it hungrily, not caring that there wasn’t a salad leaf to be seen.

  Of course, it didn’t hurt that Dan was sitting right across from her, shirtless. She was content to sit and watch him eat, observe the way the muscles in his arms and shoulders bunched and moved as he cut his steak. She gazed at his face as he chewed and smiled at her at the same time. There was a shine in his eyes that she had seen once before, in the middle of last winter, across the bar at the pub.

  Lizzie forked the last piece into her mouth and chewed voraciously.

  Dan raised his eyebrows. ‘Hungry?’

  ‘Yeah. Pity you burnt the potatoes.’

  ‘Sometimes I find a good piece of meat is enough.’ Dan pushed his plate into the middle of the table, crossed his arms in front of him. ‘By the way. You look good in my shirt.’

  Lizzie glanced down at his black shirt, loose on her shoulders and bunched in her lap. Only a couple of buttons were done up and the rest draped open. ‘This old thing?’

  Dan stood abruptly, came to her. He reached down and yanked the shirt open. Two black buttons popped off and hit the floor with tiny pings. He found a nipple, already hard. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bedroom.

  ‘Time for dessert.’

  Dan opened his eyes. The summer day poured through the window, streaking through the wooden blinds and creating lines of light and shadow on the rumpled sheets and tangled limbs on the bed.

  In the sleepy, drunken haze of the second full night’s sleep he’d had in four months, it took him half a minute to remember exactly where he was. And that he wasn’t alone.

  He turned on his side, shifted the pillow under his head, and watched Lizzie while she slept. She looked dead to the world. Her blonde hair was flattened on one side and sticking up on the other, and one arm was thrown up on her pillow, framing her head. When he looked a little closer, at her silken skin, he could see the tiniest of freckles scattered on her nose and cheeks. Her plump lips, pale pink, had fallen slightly open in her sleep. There were worse things to wake up to, he decided. Far worse.

  She was still in his bed. Naked, if he remembered correctly. Dan couldn’t remember if they’d had a discussion about her staying the night but here she was and it didn’t feel weird. Normally he’d been the number one signed-up member of the middle of the night, post-fuck dash, made all the easier by his usual policy of never inviting women back to his place.

  But that was then. The minute he’d invited Lizzie over for dinner he’d smashed that tradition into a million pieces. Dinner? Jesus, when did he start cooking for women? When the only place in town to eat was the place she worked, that’s when. And cooking her a meal at his place meant anonymity and no questions, which was exactly how he wanted to keep it, still.

  Lizzie shifted and the soft sheet that was barely covering her body slipped down onto her ribs as one arm stretched up in a yawn. The move exposed her breasts and, damn it, he was a breast man. Last night he’d loved the feel of her in his hands, large and full, with nipples the colour of pale pink roses. And he’d been driven crazy by how she reacted when he held her, a growl, a moan, her nails digging into his back.

  He leaned over, careful not to touch any other part of her body, and hovered above her breast. He checked to see her eyes were still closed and then he teased one nipple with his tongue, flicking the nub, swirling around the areola, finally sucking it into his mouth.

  When he heard her moan, he sucked harder, nipping her. She stirred, moved closer to him, nudging a knee into his groin.

  ‘Morning,’ he murmured against her skin.

  Lizzie’s arms were around his neck in a flash and she found his mouth, played with the hair at his neck. She planted a tantalising kiss, then bit his bottom lip.

  ‘Hey big guy.’

  ‘Hey.’

  How’d you sleep?’ she asked.

  ‘Good. You?’

  ‘Good too.’ A very satisfied smile played on her lips. ‘I really like being woken up like that.’

  ‘Anytime, baby.’

  ‘What’s the time?’ she asked sleepily, looking around the room for a clock. Dan reached over her to grab his mobile from the bedside table.

  ‘It’s ten.’

  Lizzie pushed him off with full force and sat bolt upright. ‘Fuck. I’m late for work.’ She kicked the sheet off her legs and dashed for the hallway. ‘Can you find my clothes? I have to get home and change. Shit shit shit.’ Her voice disappeared into the bathroom.

  He knew she took her job seriously but Dan seriously doubted that Ry would give her the sack for being late just once. He would make sure Ry didn’t. He sat up, grabbed his phone and found Ry’s number.

  ‘Danny Boy.’

  ‘Hey, Ry,’ Dan replied.

  ‘You good?’ Ry asked.

  ‘As a matter of fact, I am. The phrase “fucking awesome” comes to mind, as a matter of fact.’

  ‘Jesus. What’s happened to the grumpy shit I’ve come to know and love?’

  ‘Still here. Hey,’ he lowered his voice. ‘I need to tell you something. Elizabeth’s gonna be late for work. Don’t give her shit about it, okay?’

  ‘What’s happened? Is she all right?’ Ry’s voice had lost its humour.

  ‘She’s…fine.’ Fine? God, she was more than fine. Unbelievable. Combustible. Gorgeous. ‘She’s running a little late.’

  ‘How do you know she’s going to be late for work?’

  Dan wasn’t sure what to do next. He figured he had two choices. He could either answer Ry’s question or deal with a furious-looking Lizzie, who was now standing in his bedroom doorway, totally naked, hands on her gorgeous hips, giving him the death stare. God, she was incredible.

  ‘Who are you talking to?’ Lizzie whispered through gritted teeth.

  ‘Who’s that?’ Ry asked down the line at the same time.

  Dan thought for half a moment, and realised the longer he left them both hanging, the longer he could look at Lizzie’s body. And he wanted to check out every damn inch of her, from her bright red painted toenails to her blazing blue eyes. And, holy hell, everything in between.

  ‘Dan!’ Lizzie insisted.

  It was then he decided to leap right in, all guns blazing. He was bloody well stoked that he had Lizzie still naked in his house. He wasn’t going to hide that from anyone. So what the hell.

  He put the phone back to his ear. ‘Listen up everyone. Ry, Elizabeth is going to be late for work because she is still naked in my bedroom.’ He watched as Lizzie’s face turned white. ‘Elizabeth, I’m telling Ry you’re going to be late for work and that he’d better not give you any shit about it.’

  ‘Okay.’ Dan could hear Ry’s laughter as he ended the call. Dan tossed the phone onto the end of the bed, crossed his arms and waited. Lizzie had stopped her death glare and now wouldn’t look at him at all. She’d dropped to her knees and was scrambling on the floor for her clothes.

  He patted the space next to him. ‘Baby, come back over here.’

  Li
zzie sat on the end of the bed, her back to him, and began pulling on her knickers and jeans. He could see a faint, horizontal tan line on her back from her bikini and he fought the urge to grab her and run his tongue across it.

  ‘Elizabeth?’

  She stood and jerked her top back on hurriedly. He opened his mouth to tell her it was inside out. One look at her face and he decided against it.

  ‘I. Cannot. Believe. You. Just. Did. That.’ She spat out every word.

  ‘I’ve got nothing to hide. C’mon back over here.’

  She turned to him, her face furious. ‘You’ve got nothing to hide? Of course you don’t. Have you ever thought that I might?’ She stormed to the door and turned back one last time.

  ‘And stop calling me Elizabeth!’

  The volume and force of the door slam was nothing like the one he’d delivered to her that first day she turned up on his doorstep. Maybe it was time to check the hinges.

  CHAPTER

  11

  Dan had made a decision. He needed to go back to work. Real work. His old work. He needed to…what was it that Lizzie had said? Get up every day and brush his teeth. Aim for a regular day. That’s what he wanted more than anything. A regular day.

  Damn it. There she was again, front and centre in his head. He’d spent way too much time thinking about her in the past two days and it was beginning to drive him nuts.

  He still didn’t understand why the hell she’d stormed off after their night together. Hadn’t he just been sticking up for her? Letting her boss know she had a legitimate reason for being late? And shit, it wasn’t as if he’d stood up on the front bar of the Middle Point pub and told the whole world that he’d just fucked the town’s sweetheart. It was only Ry, and he’d only told him to help her out. She clearly hadn’t seen it that way.

  In the forty-eight hours since her door slam, he hadn’t texted her and she hadn’t messaged him. He’d talked to the paving guys and knew they were starting work that day. He didn’t need to give her a blow-by-blow account of two young blokes flattening dirt and laying bricks.

  He wasn’t going to let the fact that she had the shits get to him. He hadn’t felt this good in months. He didn’t want to let it go. He had to strike while the iron was hot.