She smiled as Honeybear nearly knocked Spencer over in her excitement while Violet squealed with delight.
He’s leaving, she kept repeating in her head. That was a good thing, right?
The bench under her moved and she looked up to see Cal taking a seat beside her. He clasped his hands on the table and watched the scene in front of them with narrowed slate eyes.
He didn’t talk, so she didn’t either. That’s what she liked about Cal. He was good with silence.
“So you and the Brit, huh?” he said after a while.
That’s what she didn’t like about Cal. When he did speak, it usually meant the other person was put on the spot.
“There’s no me and the Brit,” she said.
Cal’s face didn’t change. “I know my porch railing didn’t break itself.”
“Hey—”
“Quit being cagey, Alex.”
She scowled at him.
He didn’t look deterred.
“Look, I wasn’t on the clock when we hooked up the day he came into town, okay?”
Cal raised his eyebrows. “You think I give a shit about that? You work your ass off, so if you did take a break to . . . get off, you won’t hear me complaining.”
Alex gasped out a laugh. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
Cal grinned.
“Look, he’s not in town for long, but we like each other, so we’re hanging out until he leaves, all right? I hadn’t planned on telling the whole goddamn family, but you all are such nosy fuckers.”
Cal sighed and watched Jenna as she talked to a couple of lingering employees. “Yeah, we all kinda are. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Means we all care and shit.”
Alex picked at a loose nail at the edge of the table. “Yeah, I know.”
“Look, I . . . just want you to watch yourself, okay? I think you’re a tough woman, but you still have a soft heart. And I worry you’re gonna get really attached to this guy and then it’s gonna be real bad when he leaves.”
Alex turned to him. “Are you for real lecturing me on what it’s like to get attached to a man? Like I don’t have experience with that shit?”
Cal had the decency to blush and duck his head. “Yeah, guess I should keep my mouth shut.”
“No, I get that you’re just trying to watch out for me, but telling me not to get my heart involved is something I already know. And you know what? It’s my decision to give a little bit of my heart to Spencer because it’s been a long damn time since anyone made me feel like he does.”
Cal nodded. “You’re right. Can I ask you one thing, though?”
She rolled her eyes. “What?”
“That coworker of his—Nick?”
“Yeah?”
Cal squinted his eyes, watching Honeybear bark for the ball. “I dunno, there’s just something about him I don’t like. He’s squirrelly. Spencer say anything about him?”
She shook her head. “No, he hasn’t.”
Cal grunted and scratched the graying hair behind his ear. “Maybe it’s all in my head, then.”
“Want me to ask Spencer?”
Cal shook his head. “Nah, forget I said anything.”
“Okay.” But Alex was frowning now, thinking back to her conversation with Penny. While Alex didn’t want any woman in a bad relationship, it had comforted her a little that someone as poised and beautiful and successful as Penny had found herself in a similar situation as Alex. And got out.
She hoped for Penny’s sake that her second marriage was better than her first. But something told her Penny would be okay if it wasn’t. Alex was gaining confidence that she’d get there too. Because Spencer was leaving. And she had to remember that.
Jenna walked over and sat down across from them, blowing her hair out of her eyes and collapsing her head onto her folded hands on top of the table.
Cal smiled and reached out, massaging her scalp. Her groan was muffled. “You did good, Sunshine,” he said.
“I know, but these things always wear me out.” She lifted her head and rubbed her eyes. “Ready to head out? I hired a crew to clean this time. Best decision ever.”
Cal stood up and helped Jenna to her feet. “Yeah, let’s head out.” He looked back at Alex. “You all right?”
“Just peachy, Cal.” She stood up too. “And, uh, thanks for the chat.”
He winked at her, then walked toward the parking lot with his arm around Jenna’s shoulders.
When Alex looked out across the park, she saw Brent and Ivy had now joined Violet and Spencer. They all sat on the grass, Honeybear panting on the ground.
Alex walked over and came to a stop in front of them. Four heads looked up at her. “The dog tire you out?” she asked.
“I’m not tired,” Violet said.
“I am bloody wiped,” Spencer said.
Alex plopped down beside him and nudged his shoulder with hers. “Aw, got bested by a little girl and a dog, huh?”
“I’m man enough to say yes, that was indeed what happened.”
But despite his words, Spencer was smiling, his eyes were bright, and he seemed to nearly vibrate with . . . happiness.
Maybe they could . . .
No. She shut herself down before she could start on the maybes and the what-ifs. That way led to madness and heartbreak.
“Come on, Princess,” Brent said, hauling the little girl to her feet and helping Ivy to hers. “Time to go home. You can play with Honeybear more there.”
Violet launched herself into Spencer’s arms, surprising the man, who hesitated before wrapping his arms around the little girl’s back. “Thanks, Mr. Spencer.”
“Uh, it was my pleasure.” He patted her back awkwardly and looked askance at Alex, who hid a laugh.
Then Violet was off, skipping ahead of Brent and her mom, Honeybear tagging along at her heels.
“You riding with us?” Ivy called over her shoulder to Alex.
Alex shook her head. “I’ll get Spencer to give me a ride.”
“Who said I’ll give you a ride?” Spencer protested.
Alex ignored him and continued to talk to her sister. “Have a good night.”
“You too,” Ivy said, then grabbed Brent’s hand to follow her daughter and dog.
Alex turned to Spencer. “No ride, huh?”
“So presumptuous,” Spencer huffed.
She nuzzled closer to his side. “Oh my, that was a big word.”
“Yeah? Do you like that? I have more where that came from.”
“Do tell.”
“Obfuscate. Mendacious.”
She moaned. “That’s hot.”
“Ostentatious. Peccadillo.”
“Oh please, take me now,” she wailed.
Spencer squeezed her waist. “Can you wait until we get to my car? She told me she’s been feeling lonely without a naked Alex.”
She threw back her head and laughed, warmed by the easy conversation, the comfort of sitting with a man she trusted. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?”
“No, indeed.” They rose to their feet and Spencer tucked her arm into his. “Your red chariot awaits.”
Alex couldn’t stop laughing all the way to his car.
Chapter Thirteen
ALEX LEANED BACK in his arms where they sat against the trunk of a tree, staring at the moonlight glittering off the water.
They were at River’s Edge, a park in Tory that Alex promised him was peaceful and beautiful. She hadn’t been wrong. After the party, they’d parked and walked back to the river as the sun dipped below the horizon. Luckily they’d brought flashlights to guide them back, although Spencer was still a little concerned about breaking an ankle. Alex had laughed at him.
They’d been watching the water for the past twenty minutes in silence.
Spencer had forgotten how much he loved the absence of spoken words. Because they weren’t needed here, not with the sound of the rushing water, of the breeze blowing through the trees, birds chattering, and Alex’s br
eath, softly wafting over the arms he had wrapped around her.
She ran her fingers slowly up and down his thigh, the heat of her hand entering the denim of his jeans to warm his skin.
He didn’t want to get up. Ever. Maybe they’d stay like this, and two thousand years from now, someone would find their skeletons, still locked in an embrace.
Okay, that was bloody morbid.
He nuzzled his face into her hair and closed his eyes. She shifted where she sat between his legs, rubbing against him, which woke up certain parts of his anatomy. Well, one certain part.
He made a sound and she paused, then wiggled her ass again, this time on purpose. “Alex,” he warned.
“What?” Her voice was mock innocence.
“I think you can feel what.”
She made a humming sound in her throat, then turned her head and opened her mouth on his neck. He moaned and tilted his head so she had better access.
He was a thirty-five-year-old man, and he was making out under the stars like Alex was his first girlfriend.
And maybe she was. Other women had been nice and lovely and some very hot but none of them had been Alex. None of them stirred his blood and spoke to his soul and got him like Alex had. Maybe he’d been looking in the wrong places all along. The high-society women from good families weren’t enough like him, didn’t know the struggle of growing up like he had.
Alex knew, and being with her was like returning to his roots—roots he’d tossed aside carelessly when he was younger and a little less wise.
She was squirming between his legs, snuggling her ass back against his erection. He reached down and cupped her through her jeans. She stilled immediately and made a small whimper in her throat. He smiled against the back of her hair. And then with one hand, flicked open the button of her jeans and pulled down her zipper.
Alex was panting now, her chest heaving. But she wasn’t protesting or moving, not when he ran his fingers along the elastic band of her panties, not when he slipped beneath them and ran a single finger along her wet, aroused flesh.
“Spencer,” she whispered, moving her hips and clutching his knees raised on each side of her. He gritted his teeth because what he wanted to do was pull down his own pants and fuck her until she couldn’t speak, but this was too much fun—Alex in front of him, at his mercy, about ten seconds away from begging.
“What do you want, Alex?” he asked.
Her head fell back and her lips moved but no sound came out as he pressed two fingers against her clit.
She sucked in a breath. “Please.”
It wasn’t that he was turned on by hearing her beg. He was turned on when she told him what she wanted, when she was honest about what gave her pleasure. “Please what?”
“I want your fingers.”
He heaved in a breath as his cock twitched. “Where, Sprite? Where do you want them?”
She licked her lips, her eyes half-closed. “Inside me.”
“You want me to fuck you with my fingers? You want to ride my hand?”
“Jesus Christ, Spencer, just get me off,” she said with a strangled gasp.
He bent down and latched his mouth onto her earlobe as he plunged two fingers inside her wet heat.
She cried out and rolled her hips, gripping his knees harder now, digging her fingernails into his jeans. “Oh, God,” she muttered. “Oh, fuck.”
He went slowly at first, pulling out to run his fingers all around her entrance. Then he was back inside her, his thumb at her clit, working her, turning her into a moaning mess between his legs.
She rolled her head back and forth on his shoulder, all inhibitions lost now as she thrust her hips and sought the orgasm he could feel beginning in her quivering body.
She was beautiful like this, her red lips parted, her cheeks flushed, hair askew. Her breasts shook through her thin T-shirt, and he reached up with his free hand to flick a nipple through the fabric. That forced a scream from her lips and then she was coming, her inner muscles squeezing his fingers. Her hand gripped his wrist, keeping his hand where it was, against her, inside her, and he didn’t want to be anywhere else.
When the tremors in her body lessened, she heaved in gulping breaths and, with a shaky hand, brushed the hair off her face. “Holy shit, Posh.”
His fingers were still inside her and neither of them seemed to want that to change. Her hips were still moving, slightly, jerking. He ran his tongue down her neck and gently nipped her shoulder. “You don’t even know what you do to me, Alex.”
She huffed out a laugh. “I think I do. Because you do the same to me.”
He pulled his hand away slowly, taking care that she was sensitive, and she shuddered a little as he zipped up her jeans.
He was still hard, beyond hard, but he wasn’t in a hurry to do anything about it. Basking in Alex’s afterglow was good enough.
Except Alex had other ideas.
She turned around, shifted him so that he lay on the ground flat on his back, then she began to kiss and lick his jaw and his neck.
“Alex.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I—”
“Shhhh,” she murmured, her tongue dipping below his shirt to taste his collarbone. “Let me.”
So he stopped talking as she rucked up his shirt and licked his abs and navel. He was silent while she undid his pants and tugged them down until his hard cock slapped against his belly.
But he wasn’t silent when she took his cock in her fist and then took him in her mouth.
“Oh, fuck,” he said, his eyes rolling back in his head as she licked and sucked his shaft. She moaned and the vibration went down to his balls. Which she didn’t neglect, not at all. She let go of his cock and rolled his balls in her palm, lapping at the sensitive skin. No other woman had done that to him, and he realized he’d really been missing out.
Alex pulled back and blew on the head of his wet cock. He jerked at the sensation and she grinned before taking him back to her throat.
Her hair was down now, falling out of her ponytail long ago, so he gathered it up and held it loosely in a fist at the back of her head. He didn’t pull or push, but he wanted a view of those gorgeous eyes watching him, those full red lips wrapped around him.
He wanted to remember this moment back when he was in his sterile apartment all alone in the city. He’d remember this moment. Under the stars. With Alex Dawn.
And that’s what put him over the edge. Alex didn’t pull back, swallowing everything he had until he was a wrung-out mess lying on dried leaves and twigs.
He was now about 50 percent sure he was never getting up and they’d find his skeleton and remnants of his belt, proving he’d wasted away here with his pants down.
But Alex—God, she was perfect—saved him from that fate as she pulled his pants back to rights then crawled up his body and lay on his chest.
He closed his eyes and ran his fingers up and down her back. He was so tired. Of everything. The rush and the next big thing and always, always searching for what made him happy.
This moment. This moment made him happy. For once in his life, he wasn’t glancing at his watch, at his calendar, looking to see what was next, always what was next.
Because he didn’t want what was next.
He wanted now. With Alex.
But it wasn’t going to last forever. Eventually he noticed a stick digging into his ribs and with a grumble he righted them so he was leaning against the tree trunk again, Alex between his legs.
He pressed a kiss to her temple and she sighed.
“I leave this week,” he said, breaking the spell. He hated to do it but it had to be done. She needed a warning.
Her body stiffened slightly and then relaxed. “Okay.”
He didn’t know what to say now. “Should we call? Or—”
“Let’s not do that,” she said softly.
He nodded, unable to speak around this odd lump in his throat. How this little sprite of a woman—the last kind of woman he ever thought he’
d fall for—had gotten under his skin, he didn’t know. It was going to hurt to leave; he knew that now more than anything. “I’ll have to break this cone of silence and tell you that I will miss you. So very much, Sprite. I can’t explain to you, despite everything, just how much joy you’ve given me.”
Her body tensed again. Then she slipped out of his arms, and he made a grab for her, but she wasn’t leaving him. She turned around in her spot between his legs and faced him on her knees. Her eyes were a little wet, glittering in the light of the stars above. “I’m only going to say this once. Here. While I feel warm and safe and somewhat protected in the dark. But Posh, I . . . ” She leaned closer, so he could smell her hair, so he could see every freckle on her pale skin. “I promised myself I wouldn’t get my heart involved with another man. That I was done. Bachelorette for life. And as much as I don’t want to admit this—Out loud, to myself, to you—my heart got involved with you. And it’ll suck when you leave, but at least I know there are men like you. Who could care about someone like me.”
“I care more than you know, Alex.” He brushed her hair off her face as she blinked rapidly. “I—”
She kissed him. Which was probably a good thing, because he was about to say words that he couldn’t take back. Words that would stick with them, that would change this even more than how it had already changed tonight.
So it was better this way. He said the words with his lips and his tongue and his roaming hands. They made out like teenagers, knowing it wouldn’t go further than kisses and some mild groping. They didn’t need more, not after what they’d done and the words they’d said. The words they hadn’t said.
THEY WALKED BACK to his car holding hands, and as Spencer drove her to her apartment, Alex stared out the window. “So, what’s next for you. I mean, in New York?”
“Well, as long as everything goes well here, I should get my promotion.”
“What would the promotion mean?”
“Well, it’d be more responsibility.”
“Would you still travel a lot?”
“I’d still travel, but not as much. I used to be a hotel manager. That’s what I did right out of college for Royalty Suites. And I liked it, but I was plucked out of that by my boss now—Penny’s dad—and I’ve been doing this ever since.”
Dirty Deeds (Mechanics of Love #3) Page 14