by Codi Gary
While she leaned over him, his hand shot up, cupping the back of her neck. Before she could make a sound, he’d brought her down and his soft, full lips met hers, moving coaxingly. Her mouth parted instinctively. The kiss was over too fast for her to fully process it, but as he flopped back on the bed, he mumbled something.
“What is it, Dex?” God, why did her voice have to sound so husky?
Louder, this time, she heard him. “You taste better.”
Better? Better than what?
But before she could ask him, he let out a deep snore.
Chapter 14
A little over a week later, Allie flopped into her office chair with a moan. It felt as though she’d been running around nonstop, and her sensible heels had become torture devices. Kicking them off under her desk, she cracked her toes and flexed the arches, wincing at her sore muscles.
Every inch of her hurt, and while some of it was from being on her feet to oversee the hospital updates, most of it was due to stress.
For the last week, she’d been out with Hunter three more times. They’d gone to a movie, and grabbed dinner twice. He was the perfect gentleman and she liked him a lot.
But she just couldn’t stop obsessing about the things Dex had said to her. Or that kiss, which she’d replayed again and again. It was so quick she’d hardly had time to realize what was happening, so why couldn’t she forget it?
Not that she’d seen much of Dex since then. Either he remembered everything and had been avoiding her, or he had just been feeling lazy these days. He didn’t start work on the cabin until she was gone, and he was never there when she arrived home. Still, he’d gotten the railing up on the front porch and there had been no more raccoons terrorizing her kitchen. She had to give it to him; every time she came home, the cabin looked better than when she’d left.
“How’s my favorite hospital administrator?”
At the sound of Hunter’s voice, Allie smiled warmly. She couldn’t help it. She genuinely liked him.
“Fine. A little tired and my feet are killing me.”
Hunter sat down in the other office chair and scooted around until he was next to her. He picked up one of her feet and held it in his lap.
And then, with the pad of his thumb, he pressed into the arch of her foot and started rubbing away all the aches.
Allie melted into her chair, whimpering with every squeeze, every press of his hands.
“Does that hurt?”
“In the best way possible,” she said huskily.
For several more moments he continued massaging her feet, and then, suddenly, he was pulling her toward him so her legs straddled him on either side of his chair. Her eyes flew open as her simple black pencil skirt rode up her thighs. His arm wrapped around her waist and he dipped his head toward her lips.
“Someone could come in,” she protested.
“I locked the door.”
Such a bold move was surprising from Hunter, and as he gave her a hard, passionate kiss, Allie had to admit that it did stir something inside her. But was it really him or his assertiveness that was affecting her?
Allowing herself to sink into the kiss, to lose herself in it, she waited…and waited for more.
But besides that momentary flutter, this kiss was the same as all the others they’d shared. A sweet, pleasant kiss. It didn’t make her body hum with need or cause her toes to curl.
Damn it.
Don’t be discouraged. There is something here. It might not be an over-the-top, runaway passion, but it will grow.
Allie had never had anything that was real before, nothing that would last. She just needed to be patient.
Allie pulled away and gave Hunter a reassuring smile. “We shouldn’t do this here.”
“Fine, I’ll be a good boy, but what do you think about you and me grabbing a beer after work?”
“I would love to, but I have to get home and relieve Penny. She has to work at the Grizzly tonight.”
Hunter stood up, running his hands from her waist down the sides of her thighs as he released her.
“Another time, then,” he said, shooting her a wink before he unlocked her office door and slipped out.
Allie got home to find Dex up on the roof, hammering.
“Hey,” she called.
He’d barely glanced up when she pulled in the driveway, and his indifference was starting to grate on her. How could he say all of those things and then ignore her? He hadn’t even thanked her for bringing him home when he was too drunk to do it himself.
Looking around for something to throw, she decided upon a pinecone. The goal was to toss it up onto the roof next to him to get his attention.
Instead, she’d hit him in the ass, and with more impact than she knew she had the ability to generate.
Dex jumped and looked at her over his shoulder with a glare. “What the hell?”
“Don’t you have a job or something?”
“I told you I took some time off to fix all the things on the cabin. Is that why you tried to knock me off the roof?”
“Oh, please, it hardly touched you.”
With a shake of his head, Dex turned back to his hammering. Heat crawled along Allie’s skin, pricks of anger tightening her muscles as she worked herself into a full-on rage.
What an ass. He couldn’t spare two seconds to acknowledge she’d done him a solid the other night?
Screw that.
Picking up another pinecone, this time she threw it with the full intention of hitting him on purpose.
Of course it whizzed over his head instead.
Figures.
“What the hell?” He spun around on his knees. “What’s your problem?”
“You are, you selfish jerk!”
Before he could say anything to that, she stormed into the cabin and let out a shriek.
Penny glanced up from the textbook she was reading with Kermit sitting in her lap. “Rough day?”
Dex had no idea what had gotten into Allie, especially since she’d spent more than a week ignoring him. He couldn’t really blame her. After the things he’d said to her and then that kiss…
He was actually surprised she hadn’t slapped him outright.
He’d been drunk, admittedly, and he hadn’t been able to stop railing on himself for being an inconsiderate dick, especially to Hunter. There was no reason for him to be so hung up on this one woman, so he’d made it his mission to do the right thing and stay away from her.
But now, the crazy lady was throwing things at him while he was on her freaking roof.
That shit would not stand.
An hour later, once Penny left, Dex climbed down the ladder and opened the door to the cabin without knocking.
Allie shut the fridge and turned on him, her brown eyes blazing. “I thought we agreed you would stop barging in here without knocking?”
“Actually, you said that. I chose to ignore you.”
“Well, that’s a big change.”
“I want to know what your problem is.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Dex. Maybe it’s the fact that I left my date early to drive your drunk ass home and I didn’t even get a ‘thank you.’”
“You want me to thank you, I’ll th—”
“And, you not only spouted off a bunch of total bullshit that messed with my head, but then you kissed me.”
Dex felt his face fall. “You’re right. I was drinking, but that is no excuse to disrespect you while you were just trying to help me. I acted like an asshole. I’m sorry.”
Allie seemed surprised by his admission, if her excessive blinking was any indication. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. So, are we good? Or are you going to continue to throw things at me like a twelve-year-old?”
Allie blushed. He secretly loved the way she looked when she was flushed, even if it wasn’t for the reason he wanted her to be.
I just apologized for being a dick. I need to stop imagining Allie Fairchild flushed and moaning in the midd
le of my bed.
Chapter 15
Allie had no idea what else to say now that Dex had apologized. Part of her screamed to show him the door, but that wasn’t what she did.
“Are you hungry? I was going to pop a pizza in the oven, because I’m too tired and sore to really cook.”
“Why are you so sore?”
“Just a lot going on at the hospital. Stress and I’ve been running around. No big.”
Without saying anything, Dex walked to the freezer and pulled out the pizza. “How about you pour yourself a glass of wine and sit down. I’ll put the pizza in the oven.”
“No, really. That’s okay. You’ve been doing so much on the cabin that I’m sure you’re exhausted—”
Waving his hand at her, he laughed. “It’s a frozen pizza, not a four-course meal. Seriously, go sit.”
Allie wasn’t going to stand there arguing, not when her lower back was crying out at her to sit down. Grabbing a bottle of wine and a glass, she sat on the couch. She poured a glass as Kermit trotted over and tried to jump up next to her. She picked the puppy up and let him crawl across her lap as she leaned back into the couch with a sigh.
She heard the tread of Dex’s feet behind her before his hands even touched the sore muscles of her shoulders.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making you feel good.”
The way he said it, with an almost husky edge to his tone, sent a shiver down her spine. For the first time, she didn’t fight him. She leaned back into his touch as he rubbed, thumbing the knots in her muscles firmly. It was heaven, and the irony that she’d received two massages from two completely different men in the same day did not escape her.
She was practically asleep by the time the oven beeped, alerting them that it was preheated, and he stopped his administrations. She turned around on the couch to watch him go back to the oven, teasing, “You know, if you ever get tired of the search-and-rescue gig, I think you’d kick ass as a masseur.”
“Is that a fact?” He was bent over, his jeans-clad ass with its sexy leather tool belt facing her and spinning all kinds of dirty fantasies in her head. Should she ask him to take it off?
She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Once the timer was set, Dex came back and her fantasy was realized. The tool belt came off and he set it down on the coffee table before sitting next to her on the couch. Spinning his finger in a circle, he said, “Turn around. I’ll work out the kinks in your lower back.”
Allie didn’t even hesitate, just scooted around, pulling Kermit off her lap and setting him on the floor. She presented him her back and her skin hummed with anticipation as he spread the palms of his hands out and began to knead her sore muscles. His thumb and fingers worked at her, and she relaxed, moaning in utter ecstasy. She didn’t even start when his hands crept up underneath her shirt, his rough, calloused hands against her smooth skin sending pleasure from her lower back down her thighs.
“God, that feels amazing.” Allie hardly recognized her voice, it was so low.
Dex’s hands lifted her shirt higher, and the cool air on her back broke through her stupor. She was just about to ask what he was doing when she felt something soft press against her spine.
His mouth. He was kissing her.
Another brush of his lips on her skin was electric, and she tensed. Not because she didn’t like it, but because the sensation was wreaking havoc on her.
Dex’s hands smoothed over her lower back and around her waist, splaying over her abdomen, and still, she didn’t say no. Didn’t want to say no.
He brought her back against him, his mouth finding the curve of her neck. With a sigh, she reached back, cupping his head with her hand. He twisted her around slowly until he had her draped across his lap, and when his lips closed over hers, it felt like she was being licked by a thousand flames.
Allie opened her lips to his tongue and moved her arms around his neck as he made love to her mouth. Hard and soft, light and teasing, and then his hand was tangled in her hair, pulling slightly until her scalp tingled. The drumming of desire between her thighs made her squeeze them together against the ache, wanting so much more than his kiss.
And then his hand was there, cupping the front of her pants, his finger sliding over her. She arched up into his touch as he rubbed her, and she could feel the warmth of his hands through her cotton panties.
He unfastened the clasp of her pants and slipped his hand inside, and when his finger found the nub of her clitoris, she jerked. He pressed harder, rubbing in tight, fast circles until she was gasping against his mouth, her nails digging into the back of his neck.
Oh, yes, I’m—
As her orgasm rocked her, sending tremors throughout her body, she saw bright, flashing lights behind her closed eyes. She came back down, slowly, and realized Dex was still brushing her lips softly, with gentle pecks that brought her back to reality.
Her eyes flew open, and met his bright green ones.
Good God, what did I just do?
Dex knew the moment was over when Allie opened her eyes. The horror in them was like a sucker punch.
Slipping his hand out of her pants, he refastened her slacks, taking his time without letting his gaze leave hers.
A few moments later, when the oven timer went off, Allie still hadn’t moved or loosened her grip around his neck. Reaching up, he pulled her hands down and set them across her stomach with a pat. “I’ll go get that.”
After Allie scrambled off of him, he got up, silently cursing himself. How could he have let this happen? The moment he’d touched her, he knew he was doing something wrong. He should’ve left, gone home, taken a cold shower, and forgotten all about Allie—but he hadn’t been able to stop. He’d waited for her to say no, to grab his hand, to do something…
But she hadn’t. She’d melted into him, kissing him back so sweetly, and his mind had moved onto one track. Touching her, tasting her. Branding her as his.
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t real. Whatever this attraction, this passion was between them, he wasn’t the guy for her. He wasn’t the long-haul, “get married and tuck the kids into bed every night” kind of man.
Hunter was, though. Hunter could give Allie what she wanted.
Dex went to the sink and washed his hands, gritting his teeth while the hard-on pressed painfully against the front of his jeans. Ignoring it as best he could, he slipped on Allie’s oven mitts and pulled the pizza out. Once he’d set it on the counter, he cleared his throat.
“Look, I’m sorry. I let things get out of hand.” With a dry chuckle, he tried to go for nonchalant. “We can just forget this. Chalk it up to temporary insanity.”
Allie stared blankly at him over the couch, her blond hair messy and her lips red and raw from his kisses. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and yet, he was going to walk away. They needed some distance.
“Look, um…I’m gonna skip out on the pizza. But thanks for the invite. I’ll just…I’ll see you later.”
Like a coward, he walked out the door without looking back. Because when he’d see the look of relief on her face, he wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Chapter 16
Hunter knew something was going on with Allie. Over the last week she had been avoiding him and he couldn’t figure out why. He’d invited her to dinner, left her flowers, and still, she kept coming up with excuses.
Suspicion clouded his mind, and armed with two coffees and a smile, he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
He tapped on her office door and poked his head in. “Hey, you got a second for coffee?”
And there it was, that guarded look. “Well, um…I have a lot of paperwork to finish.”
Hunter’s patience snapped and he closed the door behind him. “Allie, I feel like you’re dodging me and I’ve got to know. Did I come on too strong or do something?”
“No, I mean…” Allie groaned, putting her face in her hands. When she finally looked up at him,
her face was filled with regret. “I am so sorry I’ve made you feel like that…I’ve just…I’ve been confused and needed a little time.”
“Confused about what?”
He waited for her to answer, holding his breath.
“Well…last week, Dex…” She took a deep breath, as if she were preparing herself for what she was about to say. “He kissed me.…”
Blood pounded in Hunter’s ears. “He kissed you.”
“Yes, and I feel terrible about it—”
“Did you kiss him back?” Why was he even asking this? Of course she kissed him back; she wouldn’t have avoided telling him about it if she hadn’t.
“I…yes.”
“I see.” Taking a deep, shaky breath, he smiled. “It’s okay. We weren’t exclusive or anything. Are you interested in seeing him, or was this a onetime thing?”
“No, no, it just…happened. And he is definitely not interested in me. He told me that outright.”
Hunter’s fists clenched. Asshole.
It wasn’t even the fact that Dex had kissed her—well, it was partly that he’d kissed her—but mostly, it was the lies that got to Hunter. Dex had told him he wasn’t interested in Allie. Then he’d made a play for her and didn’t say a word to Hunter about it? They’d had drinks several times over the past week and he’d had plenty of opportunity to bring it up.
And then, after kissing her, he’d told Allie he wasn’t interested?
Hunter was about to lose his shit.
“I am so sorry.” Her words were coming out a little choked.
Giving her a no-big-deal smile, he said, “It’s okay. Really, I…why don’t we take a little break and you can take all the time you need to figure things out.”
Allie’s eyes were shiny with tears, but he was too keyed up right now to comfort her.
He needed a break himself, some air.
