by L. P. Dover
Korinne snickered and rolled her eyes. “Maybe you two could just talk and get to know each other? That’s typically how this works.” Taking my hand, she pulled me over to the bar and grabbed two glasses of wine, handing me one. “Okay, bottoms up, darling. I think we’ve talked about men enough already, now it’s time to have some fun.”
Smiling, I agreed and tapped my glass to hers, the high-pitched clinking noise being music to my ears. “I do believe you’re right. Bottoms up, baby.”
AS THE NIGHT drew on, I said my good-byes to Korinne and her husband before making my way to the elevators. I didn’t know if I could deal with Brett yet, so I did what I thought was best and snuck away as fast as I could. When I got in the elevator, I breathed a sigh of relief when the doors started to close. I thought I was in the clear, but then a hand broke through the middle, stopping them from making the final seal.
When the doors pulled back, Brett lifted an eyebrow and a slow smile spread across his face as the elevator closed behind him, capturing us together. “I meant it when I said I was going to find you before the evening was up. You weren’t trying to sneak off were you?”
I honestly did lose track of him in the crowd and I wasn’t going to look desperate searching for him. However, sneaking off was my prime agenda so I lied, “I didn’t know where you were and I saw that it was getting late.”
He pressed the button for the ‘ground’ level, and I realized that we had sixty floors to descend, all alone in the confines of an elevator. The tension in the air was electric, sizzling across my skin, and I was fully aware of the heat his body gave off as he moved closer to me. I told Korinne I would give him a chance, but I couldn’t help how nervous I was. I was never nervous around men. His scent intoxicated me as it filled up the small space, and it only grew worse the closer he got.
No! He was getting too close.
I held up my hand and backed up a step. “Look, I’m not doing a repeat of our night three months ago, Brett. It was stupid of me to let it go that far. If that’s all you want from me you can forget it.”
Facing me, Brett growled low and grabbed my hips, lightly pushing me against the elevator walls. Tilting my chin back with his finger, his stormy gray gaze penetrated through to my soul. I swallowed hard to fight back the temptation of just giving in.
“That’s not all I want from you, Melissa,” he breathed against my lips. “I haven’t been able to look or talk to another woman without comparing her to you since then. I’ve tried, believe me I’ve tried, but I can’t seem to get you out of my mind.”
His lips were so close … so inviting. I haven’t slept with a man since him, and my body craved a man’s touch more than anything. Nevertheless, I knew it would be a mistake to start things off with him by having sex, even if the tension between us was thicker than a brick wall.
Placing my hands on his chest, I could feel his heart thundering. It was almost as fast as my own racing heart. “Brett,” I whispered. “I don’t know what you want from me, but I honestly don’t do just casual sex. I really don’t know what came over me that night, but I don’t want it to happen like that again. If you honestly can’t stop thinking about me then you need to prove it to me in other ways.”
“Gladly,” he muttered, deep and gravelly.
Inching closer, his smile grew wider before he crushed his lips to mine, tasting me. He parted my lips with his tongue and entangled it with mine greedily. The grip he had around my waist was protective and tight as he held me against his body, his hands flexing against my lower back. His erection was hard against my stomach and I couldn’t stop the moan from rising up through my parted lips. Did I honestly just say I don’t do casual sex? I felt like a hypocrite in that moment because all I wanted to do was strip him down and ride him in the elevator.
When the dinging noise sounded that we’d reached our floor, Brett slowly pulled back and gave me an inch of space. He looked cool and calm with a smile on his face while I was the one panting and breathless. I wanted to hate him for having that effect on me. I narrowed my eyes and snarled at him so he’d know what I was thinking. However, my body definitely didn’t respond to him like that. Before strolling out of the elevator, I straightened my dress and took a deep breath. Brett put his arm around my waist and led me to the valet counter where they all tried to hide their smirks. Great.
The young guy that had taken my car smiled and nodded at me, and sauntered off in the direction of the lot to fetch my car. “I see you must’ve made an impression on the valet guy,” Brett teased. “He didn’t even need your ticket.”
Nonchalantly, I shrugged. “Yeah, he liked my car when I pulled up.”
Brett smiled and grabbed hold of my hands as I faced him. “I can assure you that wasn’t all he liked when you pulled up.” He glanced down at our locked fingers before slowly lifting his gaze to mine. “Look, Melissa, I happily accept the challenge of proving anything you want me to prove to you, but I need you in this as well. It’s not just me you need to learn to trust, you also need to learn to trust yourself.” He paused and took a stray curl, wrapping it around his finger before unraveling it. “Do you mind if I come pick you up tomorrow? I thought about going out on the lake and I’d really like for you to come.”
“I’m surprised you’re not trying to come home with me now,” I retorted teasingly.
He chuckled and shook his head. “No, baby, I’m not. If I came with you right now I don’t think I’d be able to control myself being alone with you. If you want me to be the gentleman I am then you need to go home alone.”
A ping of disappointment flared in my gut, but it was probably for the better. The last thing I needed was to fumble into what we had going on with sex as our beginning point. “I understand,” I agreed. “Tomorrow sounds great. I love going out on the lake.”
Brett leaned in and swept a gentle kiss across my lips. “Perfect, I’ll see you then. I’ll pick you up at ten in the morning.” He kissed me one more time, lingering for a while longer while he glided his finger down my arm. Chill bumps fanned out over every square inch of my body and I shivered. Turning on his heel, he gazed back at me once before walking back toward the building.
“Wait,” I called out quickly. “You don’t even have my phone number or know where I live.”
Stopping mid-step, he glanced over his shoulder at me and winked, his full blown smile lighting up the night sky. “I’m sure I can figure it out. Sweet dreams, firecracker.”
I watched him disappear inside the doors and as soon as he was out of sight my heart finally returned to normal. Was it always going to be like that, with my heart feeling like it was going to explode every time he was near? He did win points for not wanting to come home with me for the night even though my body protested. My thoughts of Brett were put on hold as the valet guy pulled up to the curb and held the door opened for me as I got in. I think I’m going to need a cold shower when I get home.
IT WAS TEN o’clock the following morning when my doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house. I had to give him credit; he was right on time. I was about to answer the door when a text came through on my phone, which was sitting on a small decorative table in my hall. When I picked it up and glanced at the text, I rolled my eyes and groaned. It was my ex-husband.
Daniel: Hey, can I see you today?
Me: I have a date. Sorry.
Daniel: With who? Do I know him? Why won’t you ever talk to me?
Me: I have to go.
I turned off my phone and put it back on the table. One thing was for sure … I wasn’t going to be taking it with me. I had my bathing suit on underneath a bright green tank top and a pair of low cut denim shorts. I was ready to go and I was going to have fun. Thoughts of my ex-husband were going to be erased from my mind.
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I slowly made my way to the door. When I opened it, I had to try hard not to let my mouth fall open at the sight of Brett. He was masculine and sexy in his white T-shirt, which accented his perf
ectly brown tan, and blue swimming trunks that hung low on his hips.
Whistling, he took off his sunglasses, eyed me up and down, and said one word, “Wow.”
I had my hair in a messy ponytail with my sunglasses propped on top of my head and no make-up on. A lot of women refuse to go out without make-up on, but I wasn’t one of them. I loved not wearing it at times.
“You look amazing,” Brett said as he came through the door. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes I am. I just need to grab my bag.”
Smiling, Brett’s gaze lingered over my living room and then back to me. “Let me guess … Korinne designed your living room for you. It looks like her style.”
I snickered. “Yeah, she did. That’s how I was reunited with her. I hired her not knowing it was the Korinne I grew up with. I gutted everything out of here and had her redo the place. When she got here I had nothing except lawn chairs in here to sit on. Her facial expression was priceless.”
“I would’ve loved to have seen that,” Brett remarked humorously.
“Korinne took plenty of pictures so I’m sure she’ll show them to you if you just ask. She thought it was funny, too.”
Cautiously, Brett nodded and turned to walk further into the living room and then over to the windows to peer out. With his back to me, he asked, “Do you keep in touch with him? Your ex I mean.”
I stumbled with his question because I didn’t know if telling him that my ex wanted me back was a good idea. Instead, I decided to skirt around the truth to avoid the question. The last thing I wanted was for my ex-husband to be an issue.
“I try not to,” I remarked quickly. “He calls and sends texts every once in a while, but after the divorce I made sure to never cross paths with him again. I saw him once not too long ago, but I’ve done pretty well with avoiding him at all cost.”
Brett’s eyes grew hard and protective as he turned his gaze to me. “Good. Then I won’t have to worry about him getting in the way. If I was him I’d be going crazy trying to get you back, but then I wouldn’t have been stupid enough to fuck it up in the first place. Thankfully, I don’t know who he is.” He left the window and marched up to me.
Rolling my eyes, I took him by the arm, leading him back to the front door and replied, “Which is why I’m not going to tell you his name. I had my last name changed back to my maiden name almost immediately once everything was final. I wanted no ties to him when it was all said and done.”
I grabbed my tote bag and keys, ushering Brett out the door so I could lock it behind me. “All right, I think we’ve had enough ex talk for now. We need to find more interesting things to discuss, like for instance, how did you find out where I lived?”
“How do you think?” he replied incredulously.
Shaking my head—because I knew exactly who it was—I rolled my eyes and announced, “Yeah, I figured it was Korinne.”
With a wolfish smile, he opened up the door to his Jeep for me to slide in. Out of all the cars I’d owned, I’d always wanted a Jeep Wrangler. If I sold my Lexus I could buy several of them, and I was determined to do it one day.
“I love your Jeep. One of these days I’ll have one, except mine will have to be an automatic and not a stick shift like this one. I tried to learn once before, but failed miserably,” I admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed. I was surprised I never wrecked any of the cars I practiced on.
Brett put the car in gear and slowly backed out of the driveway. “It’s not that hard. I tell you what … when we come back from the lake I’ll teach you. It’ll be fun.”
Gasping, I shook my head desperately. “Oh no, I’m not. I don’t want to be responsible for screwing up your transmission. Seriously, it’s a bad idea and this looks like a brand new Jeep.” It even had the new car smell still in it.
Brett glared at me and actually rolled his eyes. “So?” he countered. “I trust you, Melissa. You’re not going to mess up my Jeep. What if you were stranded somewhere and you needed to know how to drive a stick. I think everyone should learn how to drive a manual.”
I huffed. “Fine, but if I break your car, don’t blame me. This all rests on you.”
Smiling, he snatched my hand off my lap and lifted it to his lips. “I’ll take my chances,” he murmured before placing a soft kiss to my knuckles.
It didn’t take long for us to get to the marina where Brett stored his boat since it was located just down the street from me. On the way over I tried to imagine what kind of boat he would have and came up with one conclusion. Something big and fast was what I was thinking, but when he took me to his boat slip I was surprised to see that it wasn’t a fast one at all. It was perfect.
At my astonished expression, Brett chuckled. “Let me guess … it’s not what you expected?”
“Not at all,” I quipped. “I’ll admit, I kind of thought you would have a fast, flashy boat, but this right here is much better. It’s more laid back. There are so many things you can do on a pontoon boat like this.”
“Yes, there is,” he mumbled under his breath. When I gazed over at him, he winked and shrugged his shoulders. “What? There is, and I didn’t mean that sexually.”
Jumping onto the boat, I dropped my towel and bag on the seat before stripping off my tank top and shorts. “Do you plan on seducing me out on the high water, Mr. Walker?” I teased.
His eyebrows shot up. “Only if you want me to, baby. I’m going by your lead here so when you’re ready I’ll be there. If not, then I’ll wait.”
Just thinking about it made my muscles clench between my legs. Instead of answering him, I smiled and spread my towel out on the wide seat so I could sit and enjoy the sprays of water that flew up each time we bumped over the waves from other boats. How long was I going to wait before I slept with him again? I wondered. I feared the more time I spent with him, the harder it was going to be to hold out.
We cruised around on the lake for about forty-five minutes until Brett pulled us into a little private alcove where no one was around. It was a hot day on the lake, and finding a vacant spot was almost impossible at times, but he found one. He stopped the engine and came to join me at the front.
“Will this do?” he asked. “I thought we could hang out and talk for a while, or maybe go for a swim.”
I cringed at the thought of jumping in the lake water. I’d been out in it a lot, riding jet skis and riding on boats, but I’d never had the desire to actually swim in it. Not only did I think the water was dirty, but I was always afraid a dead body would float up. The movie The Cabin by the Lake had turned me off of lake water … permanently.
We both sat down at the edge of the boat and stuck our feet in the water; I could handle that. “Umm … I don’t really like to get in the water,” I admitted sheepishly.
With a curious grin on his face, he asked, “Why not? Afraid something’s going to eat you?”
I smacked him on the arm. “I just don’t like swimming in water that I can’t see the bottom in. There might be dead bodies in there somewhere. Did you ever watch The Cabin by the Lake?”
He furrowed his brows together and bit his lip, thinking. When he realized what movie I was talking about he shook his head and burst out laughing. “Yeah, I remember that movie. It was kind of creepy, wasn’t it? Okay, so we won’t get in the water. It’s not that big of a deal anyway.”
“Phew.” I sighed in relief. “Thank you. I don’t get in the ocean either so it’s not just lakes. So,” I began, “where are you originally from, Brett? I know you can’t be from around here.”
He smirked. “How do you know that? Is it my accent?” Speaking of his accent, he didn’t have a thick one at all. He didn’t sound like a southerner and he didn’t sound like he was from the north either. It was hard to pinpoint it. “Actually, I’m from Charleston, South Carolina. I moved to this area when I was a teenager, and then to New York when I attended Columbia University. That’s where I graduated from.”
“Wow,” I exclaimed. “Columbia is a really go
od school. When did you get your job at M&M?”
Brett smiled and looked out at the water. “The same day I met you was the same day I landed the job with Galen’s company. That’s why I was out drinking.” He turned to me and grinned. “I was out celebrating.”
And celebrate we did.
I narrowed my eyes at his gray gaze. “Yeah, I remembered you saying something about a new job, but you never told me where. So to celebrate you were looking for a one night stand?”
He chuckled. “No, that wasn’t my intention at all. When I met you it just happened. Don’t forget you were there, too … and enjoyed every minute of it.”
Flashbacks from that night had me growing wet between my legs. We had celebrated for hours, nonstop. He was insatiable in the sheets, and his stamina was unbelievable; I could barely keep up with how hard he devoured me. It literally took a couple of days before the soreness went away after that night.
Brett’s smile slowly faded as he moved closer to me and I could feel the energy spark between us and the heat emanating off his body. His gaze lowered to my mouth, staring at me with a hunger in his eyes that sent a shiver through my veins even though I was sweating. He pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth and slowly closed the distance between our bodies. When his lips touched mine, it was a light, simple graze that had more feeling in it than the possessive kiss that he bestowed upon me in the elevator the night before.
His large, warm hands came up and gently cupped my face as he deepened the kiss. I melted into him and leaned into his touch willingly as his tongue danced along with mine. He growled low in his throat and that one sound did me in; I was starved for his touch and he knew it.
In one quick move, Brett was on his feet with my legs wrapped around his waist and my arms around his neck. Getting us away from the edge of the boat, he carried me to the middle where he laid me down gently on one of my towels I had sprawled out from earlier. Brett cuddled to my side and draped a leg in between mine while leaning on his elbow, looking down at me.
