Score.
Now he knew how I’d felt earlier in the summer when I’d seen him with that floozy in the bar.
Roman said, “See ya later,” and walked around me. He nodded at Ridley but didn’t say another word. I suppose I should have been grateful that he’d spared me the trouble of having to make an awkward introduction, but instead I felt empty.
Ridley walked closer to the door and said, his voice lower, “Who’s that?”
I almost shrugged, wanting to pretend Roman was nobody, but my heart wouldn’t let me. I felt like a big jerk, but my head was still in the game. My head and my loins were thrilled to see Ridley…and looking so fine to boot. “He’s an old friend of mine. We teach together at WCC.”
One nod. A smirk. A fast move. Before I knew it, I was in Ridley’s embrace, and his hands cupped my ass, pushing my body into him. It was as if he wanted me to know I belonged to him.
But I didn’t.
For the moment, though, I was confused. Beyond belief.
So I didn’t hold him back. My hands were pressed against his chest. My heart was going nuts, though, a good ninety miles an hour, and I’m pretty sure the rest of me was hoping for some good old-fashioned pretend boyfriend action.
“I missed you, Liz.” Oh, yes, his lips said it, and I know he meant it and believed it on some level…but I could see more in his eyes. Or maybe it was just my knowledge of the man. Maybe Roman had rubbed off on me. I knew I would never be more to Ridley than a plaything when he was bored.
Or maybe it was me.
Because I wasn’t thinking about Ridley so much. I was thinking about Roman and about how much this embrace alone felt like a betrayal. Roman, the friend who’d been by my side for years. Roman, the lover who’d awakened something crazy in me. Roman, the guy I thought maybe I was starting to care for more than I would have imagined…the guy who really had my heart.
I patted Ridley’s chest—a friendly pat, nothing sexual about it. “Ridley…I want to thank you for all you’ve done for me. It would be so easy to go back to the ways things were, wouldn’t it? Except…that guy. My friend?”
“Yeah?”
“He’s been my substitute boyfriend while you’ve been away.”
“Your what?”
I smiled. “I always called you my pretend boyfriend, whether you knew it or not. Roman became your substitute.”
Ridley loosened his embrace. “You sayin’ you fucked that guy?”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m saying.”
He let out a breath of air…and he let me go. He considered me for a moment, then said, “Well, I guess that’s only fair. Now we’re even?”
I couldn’t find it in myself to be mean, because I didn’t think Ridley’s waters ran deep. “I suppose we are, but I’ve moved on.”
“Moved on?”
“Yeah. I don’t…want to go back to the way we were.” In fact, something was itching at the back of my brain, telling me I needed to hurry—HURRY!—and catch Roman immediately before he completely wrote me off. I didn’t want that man hurting for any longer. And, somehow, I knew he was.
“What? You’re kidding, right?”
Okay, so that was the part of Ridley that I used to love—you know, the cocky God’s gift to women attitude. It had somehow made him more desirable to me, all while making him seem unobtainable—and that’s what made him feel extra hot. Now? Well, now, it just made him seem like an asshole. That said, I wasn’t the kind to be a rude bitch, especially when he had helped me out so much in the past. I pulled myself the rest of the way out of his arms and said, “No, I’m not.” I took a deep breath. “Look, Ridley, you are super hot. I appreciate what you did for me, but…I’ve moved on. Thanks for the time we had.”
“You fuckin’ with me, Lizzie?”
“Nope. Sorry.” I took a deep breath. “And don’t call me Lizzie.”
He acted flabbergasted…which, I supposed, he should, considering he’d probably always gotten any girl he’d wanted. He shook his head and grabbed the doorknob. “You’re one crazy bitch.”
Yeah…but I wasn’t his crazy bitch.
Chapter Thirteen
I GAVE RIDLEY five minutes to clear out of my building. Yeah, it was overkill, but I didn’t want to risk running into him again. Oh, I’d experienced bad breakups before and this wasn’t one of them, but I didn’t want to change that.
While waiting the requisite time, I touched up my lipstick and changed my blouse again. I could smell Ridley’s cologne on me and didn’t think Roman would appreciate that while I was begging for his forgiveness.
I considered calling first but knew Roman. I didn’t need him blowing me off and then us talking about it hours from now or even days. I wanted to do it now, now while things were escalated and tense and horrible.
I couldn’t hold it in any longer.
I felt keyed up, so nervous, wondering if I’d destroyed it all before I’d had a chance to even realize what it was. I drove to his apartment, half out of my mind, understanding that while I might have thought I’d kept Roman in the friend zone, the emotional part of my brain clearly had not. It had been so easy for me to think, since Roman was playing various male characters to my heroines, that I had no deeper feelings for him than when we started.
I was dead wrong.
Not only was it dawning on me that I fucking loved this man, he was a hell of a lover. I would be absolutely insane to let him go.
So I wouldn’t.
Fuck propriety. I ran up the stairs to his apartment, not caring how crazy I looked, and I was a little breathless when I got there, but it all felt so urgent to me. I pounded on the door. “Roman. Roman! Are you in there?”
It was quiet outside his apartment, but somehow I could sense he was home. I rang the doorbell this time, a little more civilized. “Roman!”
I could hear his baritone voice on the other side of the door. “Quiet, you. You’re gonna wake the neighbors.”
I started laughing. “All your neighbors work graveyard?”
He opened the door. “They might. You never know.” He stepped aside. “Get your noisy ass in here.”
That was good. Felt like old times. “Roman, I need to tell you—”
“Don’t.” I was confused, angry, hurt—all in that millisecond. But then he pulled me into his arms and kissed me hard before I could even protest. When he stopped, I caught my breath and opened my eyes. He could see the uncertainty in them. “You got here fast. That told me all I need to know.”
“It did?”
“Yeah. We’re friends, remember?”
“You psychoanalyzing bastard.” He laughed again and then kissed me even harder. Oh. Mama might need to play a book heroine soon. But first… “I, uh, I need to tell you something.”
He raised his eyebrows. He looked amused. Again. “What’s that?”
I felt a little irritated that he found his knowledge of my brain so entertaining. “No. Forget it.”
“Aw, come on, Beth.”
“Nope.”
“Okay.” He raised his eyebrows and searched my eyes. He raised his voice slightly, imitating mine. “Roman, I want to pledge my undying lust for your hard body that I never knew you had. And oh, my God! Your prowess in bed! I can’t wait to write about it.”
“You bastard.” He laughed again and kissed me.
“Beth, I had no idea.”
“I didn’t either. I…” I took another deep breath. “I love you, best friend.”
He grinned. “I love you, too.”
* * *
I stood in the first floor hallway of the Humanities building one evening in early September. Classes were back in full swing and we were immersed in the fall semester. Tell that to summer, though. Autumn hadn’t officially started and the heat was still a bitch. Not indoors on campus, though. It was plenty cool enough, and I was enjoying the relative silence in the halls. I could barely hear students and teachers out there.
One minute later,
though, and students started pouring out of doors, propping them open as they did—first one down the hall, then one right across from where I stood, and, next, the one I stood next to. Once the line of people exiting dwindled down, I peeked in the room to see if it was empty. Nope. One stray student taking his time packing up his books.
I looked across the room at Roman. He was cleaning his notes off the white board. Damn, he looked fine. He was teaching his abnormal psych class evenings this semester. It was over capacity, as usual. The lingering student made his way past me and I entered the room, closing the door behind me after making sure it would still be locked when I closed it.
Roman turned around and spied me at the door, a huge grin covering his face. I tilted my head, keeping the look of seriousness on mine, and stared him down. He cleared his throat and he lost the smile. “Can I help you?”
I marched across the room, down the center aisle toward the front where he stood, guarded by a computer set up, podium, and desk. Talk about overkill. “Yeah. I want to know why you gave me a B.”
He shook his head. He was fully in character now. Good. “I gave you the grade you earned.”
“No, you didn’t. I earned an A, Dr. Carver.”
“You earned a B. And that was pushing it. Really, I should have given you a C plus.”
I took a deep breath. I could take this scenario one of two ways. Did my heroine want to use sex to get what she wanted (which would make her less sympathetic) or did she want to earn a good grade fair and square but still get the hot professor she’d been lusting for?
Yeah.
“Dr. Carver, maybe you could give me a few tips on what I need to study for so I can earn that higher grade, but I need to tell you something. I think…” Roman’s eyes searched mine, a look of sincerity in them. Damn, he’d gotten good at this. “I think I’m so sexually attracted to you that I just can’t concentrate in class.” I touched his chest with my finger.
“Hold up, Beth.”
I let out a breath. Damn it. “What?”
He tilted his head to the right. “Shouldn’t we close the blinds first?” I looked over and saw through the windows. Off in the distance, I could see the parking lot—brake lights, street lamps, student bodies making their way there away from the building—and I realized he was right. “Just a suggestion…unless you wanted that in your book.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure losing our jobs would work really well.”
He shrugged, grinning. “Well, if this next book is a bestseller, maybe we’d have a little leeway.”
I laughed and started to pull away so we could begin closing the blinds but he held me tight and kissed me. I melted in his arms. When I opened my eyes, I looked in his. He looked full of love and lust, and I had to be careful. We weren’t going to be able to play out my scene if we once again confessed our undying love. “Listen, Dr. Carver, shouldn’t we get started? I have a lot of work to do to get that A.”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am. And security will be coming around in the next hour, so we have even more incentive to get cracking.”
I moved over to one of the blinds. “Only an hour?”
“You don’t think I can make you feel like you’ve died and gone to heaven in an hour?”
I smirked. “I think you can.”
“I know I can. More than once.”
Oh, hell. I knew he could. I felt a shiver crawl up my spine as I realized that this was my guy forever…one hour at a time. No more substitute boyfriend. He was the real deal.
Lucky me.
Up next!
Inked
An Anthology
Five contemporary romance and erotica authors bring you the collection Inked—five full-length novels centering around all things tattoos.
Punctured, Bruised, and Barely Tattooed – Jade C. Jamison
Kory McCallister has had her eyes on tattoo artist Stone Bowman for quite some time—so long, in fact, that no other guy will do. Stone pushes every turn on button Kory has—he’s tattooed from head to toe (well, at least she prays he’s tattooed on his lower half); he’s hot; he’s funny and charming; and he’s also mysterious. So when Kory’s friends dare her to ask Stone out on a date, she can’t believe she actually finds the guts to do it.
More surprising? He takes her up on the offer.
She discovers that, while his past might not be quite as dark or mysterious as she’d imagined, it’s bigger than she’d expected, and it’s something she will need to contend with if she decides she wants to keep him around to color her life for good.
Shattered Strings – JM Walker
Evancroft. This one word means everything to me. My band. My heart. My life. Without the music, I am nothing. I don’t exist. When we play, we are one. We are in control.
On stage I am a woman. Powerful. Dominating. Forcing the crowd to submit to my words. Off stage? I am the complete opposite. Innocent.
Jace Croft. He is the oil to my water. The darkness to my light. My band mate. My best friend.
One unexpected night together unleashes new feelings that we both try to ignore but the band comes first. It always comes first.
Or so I thought.
House of Payne – Stacy Gail
Life is supposedly what you make of it, but that’s crap as far as 3D artist, Becks Delgado is concerned. She never wanted her brother to die in a car accident… or to be the one who was behind the wheel. Her external scars are nothing compared to the raw wounds inside, and death seems to be the only way to find peace.
Sebastian Payne took the concept of a tattoo parlor and transformed it into a sophisticated gallery of living art. The House Of Payne now caters to the rich and infamous, has garnered a worldwide following, and is run by Sebastian with an iron fist. He knows Becks is exactly what The House Of Payne needs, but there’s a problem. The accident that changed her life left its mark on him as well, and whether he likes it or not, it’s time to put his House in order.
Sunny and 75 – Scarlett Metal
Julia had the perfect life...or so she thought. On the eve of her wedding, her world came crashing down on her. She escaped it all, heading out on the trip that was planned as a celebration.
Aiden was living the dream, working as the head bartender at a resort on Punta Cana. Every day, he fights the demons of his past as a Marine, even in the midst of paradise.
He comes to Julia’s rescue one night and after numerous run in, start spending time together. Things get physical quickly, but is there more to their relationship? What happens when Julia has to head back to reality? Will Aiden join her or is he unable to get past the memories back home?
Between the Raindrops – K. Pinson
Nevaeh Daniels isn't like your typical twenty-four year old. She doesn't have life all figured out and, frankly, she just doesn't give a damn.
She parties too hard, cusses too much and has no true direction in life.
Her parents gave up on her long before and focus solely on her identical twin sister, perfection at its finest, Heaven Daniels. Well, at least they did... until she commits suicide and puts the reputation of her family and herself at stake. Her parents refuse to go back to a life of squalor, so they devise a plan. A plan to give Nevaeh a life she never thought she'd have: fortune, fame and the love of fellow Hollywood hottie, Tate Monahugh.
But he isn't the only one interested in getting inside her head and discovering her true being. The past will be dredged back up, forcing Nevaeh to realize what is really important.
Are the lifestyles of the rich and famous all they are really cracked up to be or will Nevaeh succumb to her old life of solitude and forget-it-all attitude?
Walls will be taken down, lies will be washed away and the truth will be revealed Between the Raindrops.
Other books by Jade C. Jamison:
The Bullet Series
Jade loves her rock star series, and the Bullet series has been her most popular thus far. It all started with a little book called
Bullet:
An Epic Rock Star Novel
What if you discover the man you want is toxic?
She’d tasted a little bit of heaven with him, and now they’ve gone through hell and back, but can their relationship take anymore?
Valerie Quinn is a naïve college freshman when she meets on-the-rise rock star Ethan Richards. He’s an idealistic, handsome, reckless young man, but he’s captured her heart. She doesn’t give up on him and eventually his walls crumble down. By the time Valerie has given herself to him completely, she discovers he’s damaged and may be beyond help. Can she save Ethan and their relationship before he implodes, or will he self-destruct and take her with him?
Then Kiss Me
Casey Williams has left a loveless marriage and is trying to rebuild her life. She finds that, even though you can never go home again, you can find lust again, and she finds a love interest in Scott, her coworker. She also discovers his secret, that he’s a drummer for a heavy metal band, and falls hard for him…just in time to find that, between his questionable friends and psychotic maybe-ex-girlfriend, he might not be the right guy for her. But her heart beats like a drum for him, and she finds herself willing to play with fire to get closer.
Quickies
Sexy Short Stories and Other Stuff
Quickies is a collection of miscellaneous words that really don’t fit elsewhere and certainly can't stand alone. A mixture of poetry, short stories, and bite-sized nuggets, Quickies is full of small stuff that won't consume an entire day of your life but that you'll enjoy just the same. Stories like “Drawn to Him” and “Dancing on Air” are hot and sexy...and fun. And there’s also a bonus for fans of Jade's book Bullet—all the stories she wrote for fun for blogs (as well as one deleted scene) are also collected in Quickies. So enjoy Quickies...because sometimes you want it slow and steamy, but other times you want it super-hot, nasty...and quick!
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