Surely if she wanted the same, she wouldn’t have pulled away. She’d been aggressive in bed. Felicity was the kind of woman who took what she wanted. He smiled at her, accepting defeat. “No problem. Have a good time on the rest of your vacation. Give me a call if you need anything.”
“You too.” She grabbed her purse and walked through the crowd toward the bar.
Lucas left the restaurant and tried to figure out where he’d gone wrong.
Felicity forced her feet forward even though her body wanted to stay near Lucas. Her body craved his touch, even after the smashed kiss. She licked her lips and tasted him. At the bar, she found a free stool and ordered a beer. While waiting for the drink, she spun her chair, much like she had when Lucas had given her a lesson in flirting.
The bartender placed the bottle near her elbow, and as she picked it up, she made accidental eye contact with a guy three seats down. He had dark hair and a day’s worth of scruff on his jaw. She smiled and then looked away.
The other faces at the bar blurred together, and she landed back on the guy three seats down. When their eyes met this time, he too smiled. Felicity took a drink from her bottle, and the guy walked over to her.
“Hi, I’m Nick. Can I join you?”
“I’m Felicity. It doesn’t look like there’s a free stool here.”
“We could grab a table.”
She thought for a moment. This was what she’d wanted all along. She’d successfully flirted. A pat on the back was in order, but she didn’t feel like celebrating. “Sure,” she answered before Nick could change his mind.
She followed him to an empty table and set her beer in front of her. “Here on spring break?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Uh-huh. What school do you go to?”
“Stanford.”
And so it started. Felicity was actually at ease with this small talk. She had her arsenal of questions at the ready, but found she didn’t need to dig too deep. Nick was an excellent conversationalist and kept things moving.
All she wanted to do, though, was tell Lucas that she’d been successful. Then an idea struck. “Can I take a picture of you? Maybe of us together? I want to send it to a friend.”
“Okay.” Nick’s smile remained genuine as if her request wasn’t at all odd.
She pulled out her phone, and he put his arm around her shoulder, bringing his head close to hers. She snapped a quick photo, and he moved away. “Thanks.”
She tapped out a quick text to Lucas.
Look.You fixed me.You were right. It wasn’t hard at all.
Her finger hovered over the send button. Was this one of those things she would regret because she hadn’t thought it through?
“Another beer?” Nick asked, interrupting her debate.
“No, I’m good. Thanks.”
She hit send and sipped from her drink. Nick went to the bar. As he walked away, she was suddenly reminded of Lucas all over again. The two men had similar traits: tall, dark hair, talkers. Maybe hooking up with Nick wasn’t a good idea.
Her phone vibrated in her hand.
You never needed fixing.
She stared at the words. She’d sent Lucas a joke to make him smile, and he was serious. In her head, she heard his voice say the words. If he really meant that, if she wasn’t a project to him . . .
Nick wound back through the crowd to their table. Felicity jumped off her seat and grabbed her purse. She thought she might escape before Nick arrived, but he moved too fast. “I have to go see my friend.”
“Can I have your number? Call you?”
She was already moving away from the table. Over her shoulder, she called, “Uh, yeah, maybe later.”
It wasn’t until she reached the elevator that she realized her response made no sense, but it didn’t matter if Nick thought she was dumb. All she could think about was Lucas.
An entire flight of butterflies swarmed her insides, and she jabbed the button for the elevator. What if she was wrong? What if she was interpreting his words to mean what she wanted instead of his intended meaning? What if she ended up looking like an idiot in front of Lucas?
The doors swooshed open, and she automatically stepped in with three other people, but the last thought had her hesitating before pressing the button for his floor.
She didn’t think she could handle Lucas looking at her like she was dumb. Even with all of the mistakes she’d made over the course of the last few days, he’d never once looked at her like she was stupid for not understanding something.
Closing her eyes, she pictured his face. His friendly eyes smiling at her, his gentle hand holding hers. No, even if he thought she was dumb, he wouldn’t let her see. She reached around the guy in front of her and pressed the button. The ride was faster than she remembered, and the doors opened again on his floor.
She stepped off, staring at the pattern on the carpet, trying to find the words for when he would answer her knock. A door closing down the hall had her raising her head so she could avoid a collision.
There he was, standing with one hand still on the doorknob. A smile burst on her face, and while she felt a little silly, she couldn’t control it. He froze staring at her, and a stab of fear that he was going out smacked her.
Be cool, Felicity. This is Lucas. You know how to talk to him.
“Hey, going somewhere?”
“Uh, yeah.”
She stopped her progress toward him.
He stepped forward. “To see you. I was headed down to the bar.”
“Oh.” The smile that she hadn’t realized faded returned to her face. “Then I guess you have a minute.” She walked the rest of the way to meet him, but didn’t get another word out.
Lucas reached for her, lowering his body to align with hers. His hand cradled her head, fingers tangled in her hair, and kissed her. His lips were warm and insistent, and he licked the seam of her mouth. She opened for him, but he controlled the kiss. Every movement, every angle.
She had no idea how long they stood in the middle of the hallway making out, but she was breathless when he finally pulled away. Her heart raced and blood pounded in her ears. Heat flushed through her body as nerves vibrated with want.
“Glad you came back,” he whispered.
“So am I.” She stepped closer to him, backing him against the wall. “About this moratorium you have going on . . .”
“It ended the moment I met you.”
“Really? You said you needed a break, and I thought you wanted to keep your distance from me because I was your project, something to fix.” She still couldn’t quite catch her breath. She was leaning into his long, muscular body, and his strong arms were wrapped around her.
“You asked me for help. I wasn’t trying to fix you.”
“I’m all those annoying traits I told you about.”
“I think I can work with that.”
She rubbed her body against his. “I have my hotel room for the rest of the week. Do you need to go back to Chicago tomorrow?”
His hands traveled down her back and grabbed her hips. “It’s spring break. I only planned to go back because I had nothing to keep me here.”
He hoisted her up so she could wrap her legs around him. His erection poked her and she moaned. “And now?”
“I have a damn good reason to stay. Will you hold my hand on the plane?”
“Maybe we should ditch the tickets and drive back to Chicago.” She kissed his neck and bit down on his earlobe. “We could make many stops along the way.”
He turned her toward his door and slid the key card in. “That sounds like a plan.”
Epilogue
The damn ringing wouldn’t stop. Charlie swung her arm out and smacked at the table to no avail. “So help me God, Best, if you don’t turn that damn thing off . . .”
“Hey, gorgeous, it’s your phone. Felicity.”
“Ugh.” Charlie forced herself up and took the phone from his hand. “Hello.”
Jonah curled an arm around
her and kissed her shoulder.
“Hey, Charlie. We’re here.”
She rubbed a hand over her face. “We? Where?”
“Lucas and I just landed. In Vegas. We’re supposed to be getting together, remember?”
“Yeah, of course.” Damn, it was Monday already? Jonah’s soft chuckle in her ear irked her.
He whispered, “Told you to stay away from the energy drinks.”
Charlie smacked his leg. “Let me call you back in a couple of minutes, Felicity.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just a late night.” She disconnected and fell back against Jonah’s chest. “The caffeine has nothing to do with how tired I am.”
“Sure,” he said as he stroked fingers down her arm.
“It’s your fault. You kept me up late after the games.”
“Interesting version. I remember you climbing all over me because you were too hyped up to sleep.”
The pattern his fingers traced on her skin lulled her into deeper relaxation. She let her eyes flutter closed.
“You told Felicity you’d call her back in a couple of minutes.”
“Hmmm . . . She knows a couple of minutes means a while,” Charlie murmured. The damn phone rang again. “Fuck.” She squinted at the screen. Layla. “What?”
“Felicity called. She said you were sleeping.”
“Trying.”
“It’s my job to make you wake up. Felicity is here, and we need to celebrate.”
Charlie’s body didn’t feel like celebrating. As much as she loathed to admit it, Jonah was right. The caffeine threw her completely out of whack. “Okay, okay. Where are we meeting?”
She shoved the blanket off and left the warmth of Jonah’s body. She glanced around for paper and picked up Jonah’s phone instead. She typed in a note with the hotel information Layla gave her.
“Don’t be late, Charlie.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” She disconnected again and dropped both phones on the nightstand before crawling back into bed and straddling Jonah.
He sat up and toyed with the necklace he’d given her. “What are your plans?”
“Not my plans. Our plans. We’re meeting Layla and Phin and Felicity and Lucas.”
“I thought you were doing a girls’ vacation thing.”
She smiled and kissed his neck. “We were. That was before you and Phin got your heads out of your asses and made up with us. I guess it’s a couples thing now.” She pulled away and looked into his eyes. “Don’t you want to meet my friends?”
“Of course. I just . . .”
How cute. Best was nervous. Charlie wiggled on his lap. “I promise they’re not scary,” she teased.
“Stop wiggling or you will definitely be late.”
She nipped his neck again. “Might be worth it.”
He grabbed her hips and lifted her off him, tossing her aside. “If I’m meeting your friends, I have to make a good impression. Do I have time to shower?”
She sprawled back over the bed and nodded. His gaze skated over her body.
“Want to join me?”
She jumped up. “Thought you’d never ask.”
Layla hung up the phone. “Task one, complete. Charlie’s up and moving. Your turn.” She swatted Phin’s leg.
“What do I need to get up for?”
“We’re checking out and moving to Felicity’s hotel.”
“What?”
“I told you I made plans with my friends for after the tournament. Tournament’s over. Time to move.”
“You want me to come with you?”
“You said you’d follow me anywhere. Let’s start with meeting my friends.”
He scrubbed a hand over his head. She was still getting used to his short hair and it looked like he was too.
“I guess it is dumb to keep paying for two rooms when we only need one.” He stood and stretched.
Layla tried to see him as her friends might. He was still the sexy guy she’d sent pictures of to Charlie and Felicity a couple of months ago. Lean and dark, and those eyes. Man, had she missed him after leaving Georgia. Coming to this pool tournament was supposed to give her closure. Instead, she got Phin.
As he went to shower, she began packing her stuff. He’d already moved some of his clothes to her room, but he hadn’t checked out of his room yet. Now that she thought about it, it was odd. Why hadn’t he checked out?
A tiny bubble of anxiety popped in her chest. Maybe he was having second thoughts about his words. In the grand scheme of things, they were moving pretty fast. He’d said he wanted to follow her wherever she moved because he wanted to plant roots for the first time in his life.
They’d spent less than two weeks together. One over spring break and this week of the tournament, half of which she’d spent trying to avoid him.
Maybe they needed to slow down.
She finished packing her clothes and neatly folded his into a pile on the bed. When he emerged from the bathroom, he wore a towel slung low on his hips. She licked her lips and then bit down. “I’m going to go meet Felicity. Here are your clothes so you can take them back to your room.”
“My room?” His eyebrows came together like she was speaking a foreign language. “I thought we were going together.”
“It’s just . . . well, you have a point. I kind of assumed . . .”
“It’s okay to assume. I just didn’t know you were ready for me to meet your friends.”
“I won’t be mad if you want to keep your room here. You can still meet my friends. It’s not like I’m breaking up with you.” Her hands twisted together as she spoke.
He grabbed her hands and stilled them. “I want to meet your friends.” He stepped closer and his lips brushed hers. “And I want to stay with you. I have months to make up for.”
His tongue darted out and swiped her lips. She opened her mouth and met him, loving the warmth and calm he gave her. Her hips bumped his and dislodged the towel. His hard dick poked at her. She drew away slowly and checked the time.
“Check out is in twenty minutes.”
The side of his mouth lifted. “That sounds like a challenge. I think I can have you screaming my name in fifteen.”
Layla dropped to her knees with a smile. “I can do it in less than ten.”
Felicity unpacked her clothes, folding them in neat piles in the dresser. She eyed Lucas’s suitcase. “Are you sure you don’t want me to put these in a drawer?”
“Nope. I can live out of my bag.”
She bit her lip and he laughed. He sat up on the bed and added, “If it bothers you that much, put them in the drawer.”
She released a small sigh and lined his shirts up next to hers. “Do you have a place picked out for lunch? Charlie and Layla should be here soon.”
“Nah. I figured we’d go over to the strip and choose something when we get there.”
“Okay.”
He laughed again. “Have I steered you wrong yet?”
“No.” He was right. When she followed his lead, she didn’t have issues. Why she was nervous now made no sense. She’d already told Charlie and Layla all about Lucas. Charlie had even met him one weekend when Felicity had come home. She knew they would love him. How could they not? She did.
She walked over to the bed and pushed him back gently, climbing up and straddling him. She ran her palms over his rough jaw. He’d been running too late that morning to shave, and although she liked his jaw smooth, there was something to be said for the rasp of a growing beard.
“Thank you for coming with me.”
“How could I pass up Vegas?”
She raised an eyebrow. “You came for the gambling? The shows? The view?”
His hands skated up her sides. “I came for you. But let’s face it. Vegas is a party.” He planted a kiss on her collarbone. “I plan to party with you and your friends and then spend lots of time naked with you. Lots. Of. Time.” His kisses trailed across the top of her chest, stealing her breath.
; She closed her eyes and enjoyed the journey his hands took over her breasts and down her hips. Pulling up all of her resolve, she stilled his hands. “We don’t have time. My friends are on their way.”
“But it’s been so long.”
“It has not. We slept together last night.”
“Yeah, but before that, it’d been two weeks.”
Felicity sighed. And a long two weeks that had been. After all the hours they’d spent together on spring break and the drive home, they’d done their best to see each other as often as possible throughout the last couple of months of the school year. But it had never been enough. FaceTime, Skype, phone calls, and texts could never make up for having his hands and his mouth on her.
He took her lack of response as assent and slipped his hands from her grasp. He thrust his hips up and she felt his erection straining behind his zipper. He was hard, which made her hot and wet. He bit down on the sensitive skin on her neck and she whimpered.
He reached under her skirt and stroked her through her panties. She dropped her forehead on his shoulder. God, did she miss this.
“We have to be quick,” she whispered as she wiggled her hips against his persistent fingers.
Lucas did some fast maneuvering, pulling his cock from his pants, donning a condom, and sliding her panties off. He settled her back on his lap. She gasped as he pushed into her, stretching and filling her, making her realize how very much she’d missed him. He held her there a moment, but she needed movement, friction, to ease the ache he created.
She bounced on him. His hands didn’t allow her to move far, but her slight movement caused him to groan. She pushed against his shoulders to do it again, but he rose up and flipped her on her back onto the mattress. He drove into her, his fast rhythm making her dizzy. Then he pressed his thumb against her clit and she screamed.
He kept his hand pushed against her as she rode wave after wave of spasm. She felt her interior muscles pulling him in, gripping tight.
“Fuck,” he grunted between clenched teeth before following her into a puddle of loose limbs.
Hot & Nerdy Page 30
