Cassidy pressed her lips together for a moment. “Would it help if I stopped letting people in and told you the door code?”
Something odd happened in Gage’s chest. He couldn’t tell if the sensation was the result of horror or gladness. “Do you want me to know the door code?” That meant he could come over whenever. The very idea nearly sent him into a panic. Or euphoria. His mind and body really couldn’t seem to decide how he felt, but—was he having heart palpitations?
Cassidy shrugged, as though she hadn’t just offered the equivalent of a hot potato that could explode in either one of their hands. “If it makes you feel better.”
He nibbled on his bottom lip for several seconds, and damned if Cassidy’s green gaze didn’t narrow in on it. Jesus. This had taken a turn. “Are you sure we can’t start over?”
Without a word, Cassidy got up from her chair, walked over to the door, opened it again, and gestured for him to step outside.
He did, hoping she wasn’t kicking him out, which, he had to admit, he might have done in a similar situation if she had gotten all protective and weird.
The door closed, and not a second later, it opened again. “Oh, hey, Gage,” she said, leaning her shoulder against the doorjamb. “Fancy seeing you here.”
Something loosened in his chest. “Heya, Freckles.” He grinned wickedly and looked her over from head to foot. It had been for show, but he found his blood heating as he encountered her once again braless breasts. “I ordered pizza.”
She straightened. “Wait, seriously?”
He nodded, reluctantly pulling his gaze from her pert nipples.
“Yep, you should have led with that the first time.” And, in what had to be a signature move of hers, she fisted a hand in his shirt and tugged him into her apartment. He didn’t even have to think about ducking this time, doing so automatically. She stretched to her tiptoes as the door shut behind them, and dirty kissed him, thrusting her tongue into his mouth lewdly while those nipples of hers pressed into his chest.
Far too soon, she broke the kiss and settled back on her heels. He noticed with a touch of embarrassment that his breathing was already ragged.
“By the way—” Cassidy smiled up at him. “The code to the door is 8056. Don’t wear it out, or I’ll punch you in the left nut.”
He bit the inside of his cheek. “But that’s my favorite one.”
“Mine, too, but drastic times and all that.” She took a step back. “Okay, that’s settled. Now can we please get on to less mushy stuff?”
He’d come over here to ask her something, but he was pretty sure she’d just kind of asked him the same thing. “So . . . we’re agreeing to be fuck buddies. That is what just happened, right?”
Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Men. Of course, that’s what just happened.”
He raised his hands. “Only checking.” He didn’t know why he felt like laughing out loud, hugging her, and grinning like an idiot all at once, but he somehow managed to strike down all three urges.
Behind him, there was a quick knock at the door. She had faster reflexes than he did, reaching around and opening the door before his brain had even processed what the knock meant. His brain needed some of that blood flow his cock was hogging.
He turned to find a guy in a red and blue uniform holding a cardboard box. The deliveryman couldn’t be any older than eighteen, and his gaze was glued to Cassidy’s tits.
Something uncomfortable and hot burned at the back of Gage’s throat. Idiot. He wasn’t going to get possessive, not on top of protective and all the other sappy crap he’d just been shoveling. Besides, if the kid was bothering Cassidy, she was more than capable of handling it. Gage jerked his chin at the guy. “Hey, man.”
His gaze ripped away from Cassidy’s breasts so fast, Gage was sure the kid had popped a muscle somewhere. When he saw Gage, his eyes widened, and Gage felt an unwelcome surge of satisfaction at the obvious intimidation in the guy’s eyes. “Oh, hey.” The kid’s voice broke. “Got your pizza.” He held forth the pizza box, self-consciousness oozing from his every pubescent pore.
Cassidy leaned over and rummaged through a bowl on the table beside the door. Even from his vantage point behind her, he could see her perfect and small breasts jiggle as she shoved aside keys and coins. He flicked a quick glance the pizza delivery guy’s way, and yep: kid was practically salivating. That same feeling, quite a bit heavier than annoyance, filled his mouth with a bitter taste. He was so distracted, he didn’t realize Cassidy had been rummaging through the bowl trying to find money to pay the guy until she straightened clutching a twenty-dollar bill.
Damn it. Gage had ordered the pizza. He’d never meant for her to pay for it. He jammed his fingers into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, quickly finding a ten. “Here,” he said more gruffly than he’d intended, shoving the bill into the bowl that was nearly overflowing with nameless junk. Next time, he’d have to be faster so he could pay for the whole thing. Now if he tried, he had the sinking suspicion he’d just come off more “mushy,” like he was trying to treat her to pizza. Like this was a date.
The horror.
“Thanks,” Cassidy said, handing her twenty to the delivery guy and accepting the pizza.
The damn kid took the opportunity to try to look down her shirt, craning his neck and everything. Gage cleared his throat before he even knew he’d meant to, and the kid jerked as though struck.
“Keep the change,” Cassidy said with a cheery wave. She closed the door, and Gage worked lightning quick to make sure he wasn’t glaring by the time she turned around with their pizza.
Seriously. What the fuck was wrong with him? He slept with people for money, and Cassidy was cool with it. Pizza delivery guy ogled her nipples, and Gage lost his ever-loving mind.
Well, they are earth-shattering nipples. It was true, but the thought didn’t cheer him.
At that moment, the greasy perfection that was pizza reached Gage in a sweet, heavenly aroma. His stomach growled. “Man, I should have eaten today.”
Her gaze landed on him, incredulous. “You didn’t? Good God, why not?”
He shrugged. “Been working. Just got off and came straight here.”
She was quiet for a moment, and he could tell something was going on in her mind by the careful look in her eyes. Was she struggling with jealousy?
Naw.
She would never struggle with that. She confirmed it with her next words. “Must have had a lot of clients, then,” she said with absolutely no trace of emotion, jealousy or otherwise.
She started walking toward the kitchen, and he followed. “Nope, just the one.”
She looked at him over her shoulder. “One? But you left for work when I did.”
Still no hint of jealousy at the idea he had been out fucking a woman all day long. He couldn’t tell why that might . . . bother him. “Just the one client. Spent the whole morning at the gym. Was able to fit in two workouts before going home and grooming.” Those two workouts were why he could eat pizza tonight. He’d never dare to have a cheat day otherwise.
Her nose wrinkled, and her eyes sparkled. “Grooming?” There was laughter in her voice.
“Hey, don’t knock it.” He grabbed a fistful of the hem of his T-shirt and pulled it up, displaying his smooth chest and belly. “It’s a full-time job in and of itself.”
Cassidy stumble-stepped to the side. “Oh.” Her voice was suddenly breathless, and when he truly paid attention and looked into her eyes, it was to find her pupils dilated. She leaned forward and ran the pad of her finger down the center of his pecs and through the contracted muscle in the middle of his abdomen.
His muscles involuntarily flinched in the wake of her touch.
“That’s . . . really nice,” she said absently, staring at his torso. “Soft.” The pizza seemed to be forgotten beside her.
Gage smirked. “You want to lick it, don’t you?”
“Lick what?” she asked in the same distant voice.
He gestu
red to his body with his other hand. “All of it.”
The cool color of her eyes seemed to heat as their gazes connected. And then his stomach went and growled again, ruining everything.
Her face relaxed, losing the slight sense of urgency it’d been carrying as she’d devoured his body with her gaze. “I’ll lick it later. Right now, we eat before you faint away, princess.” She opened the pizza box lid and gestured for him to take a slice.
As he did, she grabbed her own. “So, that’s a typical day of work for you?” she asked, just as he took his first gooey bite. “Grooming and working out and—” She gestured vaguely in the air in a manner that in no way said fucking women’s brains out but meant it just the same.
And though she’d asked the question lightly, with absolutely no judgment, the bite of pizza in Gage’s mouth turned to glue. He forced himself to keep chewing, and eventually, he was able to swallow, though the clump of pizza sank through his system like it was covered in rusty barbed wire. “Yep,” he said finally. “That’s my job.”
And he was damn good at it. Not that it mattered. Manscaping, crafting a six-pack, and knowing how to find a woman’s g-spot weren’t exactly marketable skills in any industry that mattered. Which fit, because Gage didn’t matter, so it followed that everything he knew how to do didn’t either.
He must have used a tone of voice that revealed some of what he was thinking, because Cassidy’s gaze did that piercing thing again. To his horror, she reached out and placed her hand over his fist beside the pizza box.
“Hey,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just trying to make conversation.” Her eyes were so soft as she looked at him; he could feel himself falling into them. Believing the implicit message that she cared about him, when they both knew that was utter bullshit.
He straightened and pulled his hand from beneath hers. He forced a laugh. “Calm down, Freckles. I don’t know what you think’s going on here, but it’s not whatever put that look in your eyes.” He ducked down until their faces were level. “I want you to look at me.” He waited until their gazes connected. “I give zero fucks what anybody thinks. About me, about my job, about anything.” He raised his eyebrows. “Ze-ro,” he repeated, enunciating every syllable. “And despite the earth-shattering nature of your ass, that includes you, too. So stop worrying I’m so sensitive. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
His last word rang out in the silent apartment, and everything he’d just said came back to him in full, vivid color.
Shit. He’d seriously just told the woman he wanted to sleep with on the regular that she didn’t matter to him at all. Despite the fact that they’d been very open about what they wanted from each other, it was a bad move. A rookie move. As though he had no idea how to talk around women.
He braced himself for the look in her eyes he’d no doubt see as she processed his cold words and kicked him to the curb. There was a ping of regret in his chest. Damn, he was going to miss her friendship.
“Wow,” Cassidy said, leaning back and blinking hard.
Yep, here it came. Fuck, he was an idiot.
But then her expression cleared. That furrow between her brows disappeared, and any trace of concern for him vanished along with it. “That’s good to know,” she said.
She closed the lid to the pizza box. “Hope you got enough to eat, because if you didn’t, it’s going to have to wait until after we fuck.” She hopped up on the counter, sliding that gorgeous ass of hers across the granite. “I’m hungry for something else right now.” She tipped to the side, resting her weight on one hip as she fished around in her pocket, only to emerge triumphant with a condom clutched between two fingers a second later. “Stowed this away earlier so we wouldn’t have to pause and go search for the box just as things were getting good.” She jerked her chin toward his pants. “So, drop trou. Let’s do this.”
Was his mouth wide open? Shit, it was. He jerked it closed. He was immediately rock hard, but his mind was taking longer than his body to catch up with what had just happened. “You’re not . . . mad at me?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Ew. Don’t ever say those words again.”
There was pressure in his chest, and before he knew what it meant, the world’s most awkward laugh was forcing its way out of his mouth. He clapped his lips closed around it as quickly as he could and swallowed down the rest of it that still wanted to escape. “Okay, I promise,” he said once he was sure only words would leave his mouth. His lips quirked. “Drop trou, huh?” He undid his belt buckle and shucked his pants in record time. They hit the floor with a clink. “Like this?”
Her eyes widened as she took in his hard cock, and then her gaze slowly wandered up his body, her lips spreading in a sensual smile. “Just like that,” she said, looking into his eyes.
Then, she reached for him, and he gladly stepped between her spread thighs.
Chapter Eleven
Several Weeks Later
Her mind buried in thoughts about various plot lines for her game, Cassidy walked through the front door to her apartment building, which was being held open for her by a tenant she’d never met before.
The story draft was nearly completed, and it was time to start sketches of the characters. She’d never been more excited about anything in her life, and her boss was, if possible, just as excited as she was. He kept hounding her, wanting to know how the story would end.
The only problem was, she didn’t know how the story would end. She’d encountered her first case of writer’s block since the very beginning of this process when she’d been hesitant to use Gage as research.
Luckily, his vehement reassurance that he didn’t care what people thought about his job or him had taken care of that problem.
She tugged at her lip as she hoofed it to her apartment. Gage would be getting off work soon, and he’d be at her place in a matter of minutes. She only had a small window of opportunity to try to pound out the ending to the game before he arrived and there would be a different type of pounding.
Her lips curved against her fingers. Damn, that man was spoiling her. She sure hoped this arrangement of theirs never ended, because she was confident no one else would ever live up to Gage in the bedroom. She’d hate to live the rest of her life disappointed and unsatisfied. Or worse: disappointed, unsatisfied, and in a relationship.
Her fingers shook a little as she put the key into her front door, which made her frown. She focused and was able to unlock it after a couple of unsuccessful tries. Shutting the door behind her, she tossed her keys into the bowl and toed off her Converse, kicking them over by the table.
With a sigh, she shoved her hair back from her face with both hands. Time to get back to work.
The door behind her opened, and Cassidy spun, a smile already on her face. Gage must have gotten home from work early.
Her smile immediately fell.
It wasn’t Gage standing in the open door but a complete stranger. Dressed all in black. Wearing gloves.
They stared at each other for a moment before the intruder leapt at her. She had just enough time to scream before his gloved hand clapped over her mouth.
Chapter Twelve
Damn.
Gage closed his apartment door and leaned back against it.
“Damn,” he said again, this time out loud.
It’d been a rough day. He’d found his clients—three today—more demanding than normal, and every hour that had passed, he’d wished he were on his way home so he could shower and head over to Cassidy’s place.
And now he was finally here. A full hour after he’d planned to be. For some reason, that hour delay was chapping his ass something fierce.
Shoving his fingers through his hair, he looked up, already anticipating catching sight of Cassidy in her chair playing games with single-minded focus.
He looked. Squinted and looked again.
His heart stopped.
Cops. Cassidy’s place was crawling with cops.
> He tore through the door, sprinting as fast as his body would allow. Jamming the key code into the door of her building, he was racing down the hall to her apartment mere seconds after he’d left his own. Two police officers were outside her apartment, their subdued presence jarring with the myriad colorful stickers covering her door.
“Cassidy!” he shouted long before he was close enough. “Where is she?”
One of the cops stepped forward and held out a hand. “Whoa, whoa, buddy. This is a crime scene.”
His stomach lurched. “Where is she?” he bellowed.
“Gage?”
He turned toward the sound, peering through the open door to find Cassidy looking unbelievably small and pale standing in the center of her apartment.
“Fuck.” He shoved past the officers, who let him—Cassidy’s recognition apparently enough to gain him admittance. “Jesus. Fuck.” He reached her in a heartbeat and wrapped his arms around her, shocked to find that the shaking that wracked their bodies originated with his, not hers. He couldn’t even breathe, and yet, at the same time, his lungs seemed to burn with too much air.
He buried his face in her hair and held on as tightly as he dared while he tried to collect himself. Her tiny, strong arms wrapped around his back, and her lips trembled against his collarbone.
He tried to speak, but nothing would make it past the lump in his throat. He cleared it and tried again. “What the hell happened?”
She sucked in a ragged breath. “A man followed me into my apartment.”
“What?” He jerked back to look at her. Her usually bright green eyes were dark for the first time since he’d met her, something he hated seeing with all his soul. He’d been in a situation like this, with cops crawling all over his place of residence, countless times growing up, and he’d handled it just fine. But the idea of Cassidy going through it? Fun-loving, carefree Cassidy? Completely unacceptable. “When?” he choked out.
Stiff Competition Page 9