Her chin lifted. “Good idea.” She snagged up the box and held it.
“Why don’t you let me carry those for you?”
Face averted, Becky thrust her packages at him. “Thank you.”
With every second that passed, George got more turned on, more eager. He rubbed his chin and thought about everything he wanted to do to her. He eyed her legs, then made another suggestion. “There are ankle cuffs too.”
She wore a considering frown. “Do you think they’re necessary?”
Oh yeah. “That’s up to you.”
“Yes, of course.” She bit her lip, snagged up the package, and tossed it at him.
“Anything else?”
“Like what?”
Her determination was adorable. “I don’t know. It’s your show, Becky. You tell me.”
That startled her, then she beamed. “Yes, it is, isn’t it?” She looked around, her brow puckered in a frown, then shook her head. “No, I think that’s it for now.”
“Becky?”
She peeked up at him.
“Do you want me to pay for these?”
Her shoulders slumped in relief. “Would you?” She dug in her purse and pulled out several bills. “I have to admit, the idea of getting caught at the register doesn’t exactly thrill me.”
George didn’t take the money. She’d be fulfilling a two-year long fantasy for him, so letting her pay didn’t seem right. “This’ll be my treat.”
His offer stiffened her spine. “Oh no, it’s my expense.”
Seeing that she wouldn’t change her mind, George shrugged. “All right then.”
“But aren’t you going to buy anything?”
He’d already given due thought to his own purchase. “Yeah, I think I’ll get the video we watched. We only saw a small portion of it. Wouldn’t you like to see the rest?”
Becky flushed. “If you’ll watch it with me.”
“Absolutely.” He’d watch her watching it. Seeing the fascination on her face was better than anything on-screen.
Her breath came fast. “When?”
George could see she was anxious, which fed his own urgency. “Friday night?”
It took her a moment before she screwed up her courage. “All right, yes. You can come to my place. I’ll order a pizza if that’s okay.”
He’d rather have her in his house, on his ground. But it wasn’t worth debating the issue. “Do you have a VCR?”
She bobbed her head. “Yes.”
They’d watch the movie, then get those restraints out of the box and break them in proper. God, he could hardly wait. Though today was Thursday, it felt like Friday was more than a month away.
George forced a smile. “Six o’clock?” They both got off work at five, so that’d give her an hour to get home and get ready for him.
“All right.”
By silent agreement, they started making their way to the register. Becky kept watch for other customers, and when they neared the front of the store, George took pity on her and told her to wait out front for him. She smiled and quickly ducked through the door.
When he joined her minutes later, he caught her waving to the factory. He looked up, but saw no one. “Your friends?”
She yelped and whirled to face him. “What? Oh, yes. I think I saw…uh…Erica.”
“Erica Lee?”
“Yes.” Becky frowned in suspicion. “Do you know her?”
He knew both Erica and Asia, mostly because Becky hung out with them every day during breaks and lunch. “Just in passing.”
“Erica’s dated nearly every guy at the factory.” She glanced up at him, then away. “You’ve never been out with her though.”
“Nope.” Erica Lee was a pushy broad, demanding and too damn independent. She epitomized what many men termed a ball buster. She was sexy, no doubt about that, but he liked gentler women.
He liked Becky.
They walked across the street to the parking lot for the factory. When they reached Becky’s car, George handed her the bag. She took it, smiled up at him, and said, “Thank you.”
His gaze settled on her mouth. Damn it, he couldn’t wait another second. For two years he’d wondered what it would be like to kiss her, how she’d taste, how she’d fit against his body. “Friday is too damn many hours away.”
Becky gave him a look of confusion.
“I’m going to kiss you, Becky.”
Her eyes widened and she stumbled back a step. “You are?”
“It’ll be all right,” he murmured, leaning down slowly so he wouldn’t startle her. “Consider it a small prelude to tomorrow night, all right?”
Her lips parted. “But…”
He cupped her nape, turned her face up to his. Her blond hair was as soft as he’d always imagined. It felt warm against the back of his hand. “Just one kiss, Becky.”
Her eyes drifted shut. “Yes.”
She had one of the prettiest mouths George had ever seen, soft and full, always ready to smile. She never wore lipstick, but that was fine by him. He loved the way her naked mouth looked.
The moment his mouth settled on hers, he realized she tasted wonderful as well. She was breathing too hard and fast, as if she’d never been kissed before, but George decided it was anticipation that had her nearly panting. He understood that, because he wanted her so badly right now, he felt near to exploding.
Her bag dropped to the ground with a thump.
One of her hands touched his chest, fisted in his coat. The other curled over his biceps.
George slipped an arm around her waist, pulled her up close against his body, and sank his tongue deep with a groan. Her mouth wasn’t only pretty, it was delicious, too. Sweet.
And damn, she was hot.
She went on tiptoe and kissed him back, awkwardly at first, but with enthusiasm. She stroked his tongue with her own, even sucked at his tongue a bit.
It was a caress guaranteed to make him nuts.
He wasn’t just kissing a woman, he was kissing Becky. And she was wild for him.
Finding himself overwhelmed with rioting sensation for the first time in ages, George hugged Becky closer until their bodies pressed from knees to chest, until he could feel the wild beat of her heart and the gentle cushion of her belly. He wanted to absorb her. He wanted to take her right here, right now.
Lost in the sensuality of the moment, he drifted his hand down to that curving bottom of hers. She was a sexy handful and Friday night she’d be his.
Her ragged moan brought him to his senses. George lifted his head and looked around. Thankfully the lot was empty, but it was still a public lot, still out in the open and visible to anyone driving by or coming in or out of the building. Cold wind blasted his face and tossed Becky’s hair, but it had little effect on his lust. He teetered on the ragged edge and knew it. “Jesus.”
Becky, still clinging to him, still burning hot, stared up at him with vague eyes and a damp mouth and rosy cheeks. “George?”
He wanted to drag her behind a parked car, lift her long skirt, open his pants, and sink into her. He just knew she’d be wet. And tight. And she’d groan….
He had to stop. Now.
Damn it, he wasn’t a man who went crazy with lust. He wasn’t a man who took women in parking lots in the middle of cold fall weather. He was a man used to control, and Becky, more than most women, wanted his control. She wanted him to restrain her with velvet bonds.
He shook with that thought and the resultant carnal images.
“I’m sorry.” He drew a ragged breath and tried for a smile. “We’re out in the open, baby.”
Her eyes were large and dark and hungry.
George muttered another curse. “Look, Becky, maybe you should just come home with me now. We’re both free tonight, right?”
“Oh.” Becky stiffened, looked around in appalled awareness of their surroundings. The warm flush of excitement was replaced by the hot wash of embarrassment. “Oh no, I can’t. Not yet.”
�
��Why?” George was so tense he’d never live till Friday. He wasn’t sure he’d survive another two minutes.
“I’m not…ready.”
Not ready? The hell she wasn’t. She’d been clinging to him, all over him, with him every step of the way.
George drew himself up on an ugly suspicion. Did she have another date for tonight? Had he just warmed her up for another man? No way in hell was she going to crawl into bed with another guy who’d get to tie her up and watch her burn.
The mere thought had George outraged, and that bothered him, too. What she did away from him shouldn’t concern him—but damn it, it did. He frowned. Maybe they should get a few things straight right now.
But Becky was back to blushing and she turned to fumble with her car door. The second she had it open, she slid into her seat and stuck the key in the ignition.
George picked up the bag she’d dropped and handed it to her. Leaning down into the car, eyes narrowed, he said, “Listen, Becky…”
She locked her hands on the steering wheel. “I have to hurry. Asia and Erica are, um, coming over tonight.”
Asia and Erica? Well, that was different. She could visit with all the women she wanted to. Then it occurred to George how close the three women were. They spent every break, every lunch hour together at work. Would Becky tell them everything? Would she share every intimate detail? Would they know he intended to restrain her with hand-and foot-cuffs?
Women could be so damn gossipy. George wasn’t sure he wanted his private affairs discussed—especially before he’d even had the private affair. He frowned and rubbed his jaw. “Erica and Asia, huh?”
Becky nodded so hard, her curls bounced wildly. “Yes. But I’ll be ready Friday. I promise.”
She looked eager to escape him. George gave up. “All right.” But he added, his tone tinged with warning, “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
That idea seemed to horrify her. She gave him a sickly smile, slammed her door, and started the car. George stepped back and Becky, with an airy wave and unnecessary haste, drove away.
Friday. About twenty-four hours. He could wait, just barely.
But no way would he allow her to avoid him at work. Regardless of her kinky preference for bonds, Becky was naive so she probably didn’t understand what they’d started. He’d have to let her know that they were now on new footing. They had something going, and he expected to reap the benefits of their new association for as long as it lasted.
In fact, the sooner they got that straightened out, the better.
Becky barely got to the top of the stairs leading to her second-floor apartment when she felt the stairs shaking. She knew even before she turned back to look that it was Asia and Erica thundering up the steps after her. She unlocked her apartment door and waited.
Asia and Erica burst onto the landing. Asia looked ripe with curiosity, and Erica was grinning like a loon. They both saw her, grabbed her, and screamed together, “You did it!”
Becky couldn’t help but laugh. They knew how shy she was, knew that she never dated. For her to have actually gone through with her end of the pact was nothing short of a miracle. “Shhh. Come inside before my neighbors call the police. They’ll think you’re both accosting me.”
The women moved inside, still huddled together, and shut the door. The second they all had their coats off, Asia enfolded Becky in a tight hug. “Becky, that kiss. Oh man. We watched from the window, and shew. Talk about a scorcher. Even Erica was impressed. That man’s ears were steaming.”
Erica snatched her up for a hug, too. “And you were in the shop for so long.” She held Becky back and teased, “Had to check it all out, huh?”
“No! Of course not. It’s just that…well, George and I got to talking…”
“And?” Erica squeezed her. “Did you buy any bondage stuff?”
Blushing, Becky gestured toward the bag. “Actually, George went through the checkout for me. Wasn’t that sweet of him?”
Both women went mute. Asia rolled her lips in and stared at Erica with a worried frown.
Erica finally laughed. “George Westin, sweet? Now, Becky, honey, don’t get disillusioned. He’s a wolf, a hunk, the baddest of the bad boys and sexy as they come, but no way in hell would any sane woman call him sweet.”
Becky thought he was very sweet. And very sexy.
“Becky,” Asia cautioned, “he’ll eat you for dessert if you’re not careful.”
Becky’s face flamed at that unintentional double entendre. If they only knew how partial George had seemed to that idea. She remembered the way he’d stared at her lap while claiming he knew exactly how to make a woman happy in the sack.
She lifted her chin, not about to let them talk her out of her decision. She wanted George, and he was willing. That was good enough for her. “He’s the one.”
Asia surprised her by nodding in satisfaction. “I just knew it.”
Erica frowned at her. “What do you mean, you just knew it?”
“I, ah, well, I could tell he was a bit kinky and because he obviously knows women, he’ll be the perfect man for Becky. That’s all I meant.”
Becky wasn’t quite convinced, but then Erica dumped out her bag. “Oh my. Look at this stuff.”
Being fair-skinned was a curse, Becky thought, as she felt her face turn hot yet again. At this rate, she was going to give herself a sunburn.
Planning to handcuff a big muscular man to her bed for sexual purposes, and actually discussing it with her friends, were two different things. Normally she told them everything, but now, because it was George—her secret fantasy man—the idea of discussing him made her feel disloyal.
Erica, correctly reading her hesitation, looked at her with a wide smile. She pulled the velvet-lined handcuffs out of the box and let them dangle from her finger. “I can just see Geoge now, all stretched out and naked, straining, sweaty, sexy…”
Becky snatched the cuffs from her and stuffed them back into the bag. “Are you two staying around awhile?”
Erica folded her arms and looked at Asia. “Is she trying to get rid of us?”
Asia lifted one brow. “Probably wanting to moon over George.”
“She can moon with us, right?”
“We’ll give her pointers.”
Erica laughed. “Have you ever tied up a man, Asia?”
“Well…no.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Asia flipped her long brown hair over her shoulders. “I have a good imagination though.”
“You’d have to, because I can’t see Cameron letting you tie him down any time in the near future.” She heaved a sigh. “Looks like it’s up to me to instruct her.”
“And I suppose you have experience in bondage?”
“Why certainly.” Erica winked. “Men are most enjoyable when controlled, you know.”
Becky ignored her friends and headed for the kitchen. She tied on a starched white apron over her denim skirt. “I’ll put on some coffee,” she called to Erica and Asia, “to go with the cookies I made this morning.”
While her two friends continued to debate sexual experiences, Becky pondered the wonders of experiences to come. Though she was nervous, she could hardly wait. Stretched out naked, straining, sweaty and sexy… Oh yeah, she could hardly wait to see George that way.
In between conjuring up images of George naked, George touching her, George kissing her again, Becky remained aware of Asia and Erica sitting at her small kitchen table. They blustered back and forth, teasing and joking. Erica claimed to have a lot of sexual experience, and neither Becky nor Asia disbelieved her. She was a strong, confident woman, and she knew what she wanted where men were concerned. But they still liked to tease her about her hard-nosed ways with the guys.
Asia on the other hand had gotten involved with Cameron during her foray into the porn shop. In whirlwind fashion, they’d both fallen hard, and subsequently gotten engaged on Valentine’s Day, a mere month ago. The wedding would follow just as soon as th
ey could get everything arranged.
As Becky measured coffee, she considered Asia and Cameron. Unlike Erica, Becky didn’t doubt for a minute that Cameron would let Asia do whatever made her happy, even if it meant tying him up.
“When’s the big date, hon?” Erica asked.
Drawn from her thoughts, feeling the tiniest bit melancholy because Asia had found something so special, Becky shrugged. “Tomorrow. After work.”
Asia flopped back in her seat. “So soon?”
Erica snickered. “I don’t remember you and Cameron waiting. And why should Becky wait anyway? If George is willing, and it looks like he is, why then, I say go for it.”
The coffee machine began spitting and Becky got out three cups. She set them on the table near the matching sugar bowl, then filled the small creamer. “If I wait, I’m liable to chicken out.”
Erica looked at the cloth napkins and silver spoons Becky arranged on the table. “You’re such a Suzy Homemaker. It’s a wonder some guy hasn’t talked you into marrying him yet. Men adore the domestic types. Makes them secure.”
Without meaning to, Becky heard herself say, “George is already secure.”
“Oh Lord.” Erica tangled her hands in her blue-black hair and groaned. “She’s singing his praises and the man hasn’t even made it to her mattress yet.”
Becky frowned. “Well he is.”
“And she’s defensive of him too!”
Asia shook her head. “Erica, not all men are weak asses.”
“No, only most of them.”
Asia threw her spoon at her. “You, lady, are a sad cynic.”
Erica merely laughed. Trying to ignore them both, Becky got up to pour the coffee. She’d just finished filling all three cups when her doorbell rang.
She froze. Somehow, with absolute conviction, she knew who was at her door.
Asia and Erica stared at her, then Asia took the coffee-pot from her and set it on the hot pad. “Expecting company?”
“No.”
Erica rolled her eyes. “Well, do you suppose you ought to see who it is?”
“Uh…” Becky wrung her hands together. She knew who it was, she just didn’t know what he wanted.
I Love Bad Boys Page 3
