Lipstick Kisses : A Sexy, Standalone Contemporary Romance

by C. C. Cartwright

  Men like Justin don’t do love. He told me so from the beginning, but even with the warning, I couldn’t stop myself from falling into his arms and into his bed.

  I tried fighting it, but it was useless.

  I’ll take whatever time he gives me.

  He doesn’t do forever, and I would be a first class fool to believe otherwise.

  But I can dream. I can fantasize that he’s the perfect boyfriend for now.

  I will enjoy every inch of him and all he has to offer me in and out of the bedroom.

  He treats me like a princess and acts like he cares about me.

  At least I’m delusional enough to believe it.

  Tonight, we’re staying in at Justin’s sleek high-rise condo in Downtown LA.

  I’ve grown to love just being here with him. He’s cooking dinner for me tonight.

  He surprised me. He’s so sweet, actually. Who would’ve ever imagined he’d be the type to cook dinner for a girl?

  He makes me feel special, like he genuinely cares about me. I didn’t expect all of this from a cocky, arrogant guy like Justin. I’m learning, the more time I spend with him, that there’s a caring and sensitive side to Mr. God’s Gift to Women.

  He asks about my dad tonight, and my pain and grief come to the surface. I miss my mom terribly. I wish I could share with her my trials and tribulations with Justin, share with her that I’m in love and we’re in a good place right now, Justin and me. I suppose she can see us. I like to believe she’s still here with me in spirit.

  I hope she would approve. She would know whether Justin was good for me or not. Mothers always know those things. But I’ll have to go it alone, learn the hard way if Justin and I are good for each other and if we will last.

  It’s utter bliss being in his arms, letting him love me. Giving myself to him feels so right because I love him.

  I still have these nagging doubts about whether he feels the way I do. But I never question him. I don’t want to push it, and I’m afraid it may send him running. I let him take the lead in this relationship.

  He’s never said those three words to me, and I’m fine with that—really. I’m taking it one day at a time.

  “What are you thinking?” he asks after he’s loved me completely and we both lie here completely satisfied.

  “It’s blissful being in your bed.” I’m willing to admit that much. He knows how I feel. I know he does.

  He just turns and kisses my forehead, and his gestures make me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. I love him. Does he feel it too?

  “I love having you in my bed.”

  He used the word love tonight.

  I’ll take it and drift off to dream land.

  He doesn’t say anything more, and we fall asleep in each other’s arms.

  Saturday morning, we wake up and I notice a text from Kylie.

  “I just got a text from your sister. She wants to know if I want to go to Club 21 with her and some friends tonight. What should I tell her?” I ask.

  Justin still wants to keep us a secret from his family. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. If he really were serious about me, he would want his family to know. I know this in my heart, but I try and deny it.

  He doesn’t answer me right away.

  “Do you want to go?” he asks.

  “Would you come with me?”

  Silence.

  “It’s alright if you don’t. But I’m in the mood to go dancing. It sounds like fun. I can just go. You don’t have to come.” I’m testing him, waiting to see what he says.

  “You go on then. I’m good with just staying home alone tonight. I don’t want to stop you from going out with your friends once in a while.”

  My heart sinks with disappointment, but I try not to let it show. I wish we could go out as a couple, let the world know that we are, indeed, together, not some dirty little secret. He’s obviously not ready to show the world that we’re together, and maybe he never will be. It’ll probably be over soon, for all I know. He may be right.

  “All right.”

  I start texting Kylie.

  “So, you’re going to go without me?”

  “Isn’t that what you just told me to do?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Justin

  So I let her go out with her friends tonight, my sister included.

  I give Scott a call to see if he wants to be my wingman and spy on Sloane.

  I don’t know why I didn’t want to go with her. I’d never hear the end of it from Kylie, for one thing. She’d ride me about it. Then she would tell my parents, and after what my dad said to me in Carmel, I know I’d be in for a lecture from my old man.

  Scott and I show up at Club 21, and it’s packed tonight.

  “This place is always standing room only,” Scott says once we get inside.

  “Yeah, I know. Let’s look around and see if we spot them,” I say.

  We go upstairs so we can look down on the dance floor. That’s probably where Sloane is, out there shaking her awesome ass.

  Some lovely ladies are giving Scott and me the eye from across the balcony.

  They’re pretty hot, but I keep my eye on the ball.

  I scan the crowd on the dance floor. No sign of her.

  “Do you see Sloane and Kylie?” I ask Scott.

  “Hey, is that them?”

  I follow Scott’s eyes and see them dancing in a group. Some guy is grinding up against my girl, and I don’t like it. She’s talking to him now, and then I see her body shake with laughter.

  “Who’s the guy?” Scott asks.

  “I have no idea.”

  “Does she know you’re here?”

  “Nope.”

  “Are you going down there?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I continue standing along the railing, thinking of my next move, when one of the girls that was eyeing us earlier sidles up next to me. Aggressive, isn’t she? I give Scott a sideways glance.

  “Hi there,” she flirts.

  “Hey, how are you doing?” I say to be polite. She’s got quite a rack on her, and a nice pair of legs in her short dress.

  “I’m Candace. My friends call me Candy for short.”

  “Are you sweet?” I ask.

  “You’ll have to taste me to find out,” she says with a wink.

  Damn, this girl is mine for the taking. But they usually are.

  I glance down at the dance floor where I last saw Sloane dancing with some guy, and she’s gone. A flurry of panic runs through my veins.

  Why am I so fucking possessive of her?

  “Do you see them anymore?” I turn and ask Scott.

  “No, they went back to the VIP section. Do you see them there in that booth?” He nods their direction.

  I squint and can barely make them out.

  “Is she still with that guy?”

  “I think so. He followed her back to her table. Do you want to go down there?”

  I do, but I’m hesitant to confront her, to let her know that I followed her here.

  I turn, and Candy is still standing next to me.

  “Do you want to dance?” she asks.

  If I go down there and dance with this hot girl, there’s a small chance Sloane might see me. But it’s so damn crowded. What are the chances of her seeing me with this girl? Do I risk it?

  “I’m good for now. Sorry, I’m not much into dancing,” I reply.

  “I guess most guys aren’t really into dancing. Do you come here often?” she asks, trying to engage me.

  But honestly, I’m not really interested.

  “On occasion,” I reply.

  My eyes scan the dance floor again, looking for Sloane.

  “Do you see her?” I ask Scott impatiently.

  “Man, just go down there,” Scott says.

  I can’t stand the thought of Sloane down there, flirting with some other guy. But if she finds out I’m here, I don’t know . . . will she embr
ace me and call attention to us in front of my sister?

  It could get a whole lot of awkward.

  “We should leave,” I tell Scott.

  “There she is, dancing.” Scott nods his head in her direction, and I see her.

  The same guy is stuck to her like glue.

  Do I blame him?

  Sloane’s the hottest girl in this entire club.

  “I’m going down there.”

  I don’t give a shit anymore what Sloane thinks. She’s mine.

  “It was nice meeting you, Candy.”

  “Are you leaving?” she asks.

  “No, I just see someone I want to say hello to.”

  “Oh, okay.” Candy looks a little put out, wondering why I didn’t take her bait—why I didn’t try and taste her.

  “Come on,” I say to Scott.

  I don’t know what I’m going to do once I approach Sloane, but I need to get down there and get this guy away from her.

  Once we make our way down to the dance floor, I practically stalk onto the dance floor, weaving between hot sweaty bodies trying to get to her.

  When I reach her, her eyes are closed and she’s getting lost in the rhythm, gyrating her hips seductively, and this guy is practically drooling, his eyes scanning her body.

  “Sloane,” I yell over the thumping music.

  Her eyes open and her mouth drops.

  “Justin, what are you doing here?”

  The guy she’s with stiffens, and his head jerks my way.

  I tower over this guy as he eyes my biceps and steps back away from Sloane.

  I stare daggers at him and he wanders off.

  I pull her to me and lay a hard kiss on her lips.

  She swoons into me.

  “Justin, what are you doing here?” she asks again.

  “Come on, let’s go,” I command and grab her hand.

  “No. I’m not ready to leave. I’m having fun.”

  “Really, with some other guy?”

  “We’re just dancing,” she says defensively.

  “He was eye fucking you,” I growl.

  “Stop it, he was not.”

  “Get your things. Let’s go.”

  She just stands there, obviously exasperated with me.

  I tuck her under the chin. “Come home with me tonight,” I say, staring seductively into her eyes.

  She gets my message loud and clear.

  “Alright, let me tell Kylie I’m leaving.”

  “I’ll wait for you by the door.”

  Once we get in my car, Sloane tells me, “I told Kylie I was leaving with that guy.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we’re a secret, remember? Why, was I supposed to tell her YOU were taking me home?”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “Justin, what are we doing here?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Are we together, a couple? Or would I have been free to give that guy my number or go home with him?”

  “Don’t you dare even think about it.”

  She doesn’t say anything more. She just stares straight out the window.

  I’m angry and jealous that she would even think about giving another guy her number.

  I’m going to take her home to my bed. She won’t want anyone else once I’m finished loving her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Justin

  A few of us from Goldman Sachs are at our local watering hole after work tonight.

  “Hey, Alexis Cavanaugh has a thing for you,” Connor says.

  “I’m aware.”

  “Well, you going to do anything about it?”

  “Not sure. If the mood strikes me, perhaps,” I reply vaguely.

  “I thought you started something with Sloane?”

  “Yeah, we’re seeing each other.”

  “You’re a lucky man, Harlow. I wouldn’t blow it if I were you.”

  “Mind your own business.”

  “My, aren’t we testy? Speak of the devil.”

  “Hi, gentlemen,” Alexis purrs as she walks up to us in the crowded bar.

  Damn, this is a real woman. She’s got her sexy going on. A real sophisticated siren who screams take me to bed. The type I usually go for.

  “How goes it?” I ask to be polite.

  Connor just stands there next to me, drooling. Close your mouth, Connor.

  “The Asher account is so high-maintenance. I’m at their beck and call 24/7. It’s absolutely exhausting,” Alexis replies.

  “Blake Asher?” I ask.

  “The one and only.”

  “He seems like a man you could handle,” I say. That sounds laced with innuendo, but I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.

  She looks at me like she wants me. I’m all too familiar with that look of wanton lust. I’m God’s gift to women. Why wouldn’t she want me?

  “Oh really, Mr. Harlow?” she replies, looking me up and down from head to toe, and then her eyes settle on mine.

  “Yes, Alexis, I’m sure you can hold your own with Blake Asher.”

  “He’s a man who gets everything he wants,” she says in her throaty voice.

  “Does he want you?”

  My suit trousers are feeling a little tight right about now.

  “I try to keep it professional.”

  I have to glance away.

  Alexis is pure, unbridled temptation.

  She’s mine for the taking. Connor is right.

  The way she speaks to me, the way her eyes lock onto mine, the way her body moves, all scream she wants me.

  Alexis dresses elegantly professional, but her dresses and skirts hug her curves perfectly.

  Connor is still standing next to me.

  “Excuse me,” I say, and walk over to the bar to get another drink. I need to put some distance between us.

  Sloane and I have been going at it for a couple of months now. I’m nearing my limit, my expiration time with any girl I’m seeing. But I do thoroughly enjoy Sloane. I gave into my desire, my yearning for her, against my better judgment. I do care about her. She’s sweet and sassy, innocent yet seductive. She can be such a walking contradiction, but that’s what I love about her.

  And sex with Sloane—what can I say? It’s special and she’s special.

  She trusts me implicitly, even though I thought I would never go there with her, ever.

  Unfortunately, the grown up Sloane is just too damn alluring for her own good. The week together in Carmel killed me. All of my resolve to resist her slipped away, and in its place, I resigned myself to officially making her mine. Not just a fling, but my attempt at dating her, trying to give her the steady relationship a girl like her deserves, and it’s been going well, for the most part. She satisfies me completely, which is saying a lot for me.

  But as satisfied as I am, do my eyes still wander?

  Hey, I’m still a living, breathing, hot-blooded man.

  Have I noticed Alexis?

  Sure I have, but I’ve tried to keep it professional. Not until Connor mentioned it and pointed out the obvious did I start to notice the bait floating on the hook at the top of the water.

  The question is, will I take the bait, nibble on it, and get hooked?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Sloane

  “How’s it going with Justin?” Emily asks once I sit down at the dining table with my bowl of cereal this morning.

  “Okay, I guess,” I reply.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” she says.

  “Lately, he keeps getting these text messages from some girl named Alexis. He works with her.”

  “Do you think something’s going on between them?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “You sound so down about it.”

  “I should’ve seen this coming. Justin warned me from the beginning, before we even started something, that his attention wanes after a couple of months. That’s about how long we’ve been together now. I should have seen the writing on the wall and heeded his
warning.”

  “I’m sorry. We knew he was a player from the beginning. Look at the guy.”

  “I know, I know. I should never have let this start. You know how I feel about him.”

  “Your heart is all in, I know. You’ve been in love with him forever.”

  “I’d better just cut him loose now, let him go do his thing.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, why prolong the inevitable?”

  “Are you sure? Maybe you’re jumping to conclusions, and nothing is going on between him and this other girl.”

  “I suppose that’s possible.”

  “He’d better not ever cheat on you. He should have the decency to break it off if he does want to see someone else.”

  “I totally agree. That’s why I may just give him an out before he tries to do it behind my back.”

  “So are you going to confront him about it?”

  “I don’t know how I’m going to do it. All I know is that I’m unsure about where I stand with him, and it’s killing me. I’d rather know one way or the other, you know?”

  “Has he been his usual attentive self? Honestly, when I see him around you, he seems to really care about you.”

  “He has, just those texts are bugging me.”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  “I’ll figure it out, one way or another.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Justin

  I’m having dinner at Sloane’s apartment tonight, and I hear my cell alert me to text.

  “Who’s the text from?” Sloane asks.

  “Alexis from work,” I answer after I see her name flash across the screen.

  “A fan of yours, no doubt.”

  I don’t respond, because Sloane called it. She gets quiet.

  She clears the dishes after dinner.

  We head for the sofa and flip through the stations until we find something to watch.

  “I’m letting you off the hook with me,” she finally says.

  “What?”

  “You go ahead, have your dalliance with this woman from work. She obviously wants you. I’m fine with it.”

  I don’t believe what I just heard.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Look, Justin, I knew going into this—two months, tops, and your eyes would wander. I’m totally cool with it. You gave me fair warning from the beginning.”