The Hookup Hoax (Entangled Lovestruck)

by Heather Thurmeier

She gasped, trying to catch her breath. “You want me now, but you won’t tomorrow, or the next day, or the month after that. This is all temporary, these feelings, this arrangement, all of it. As much as I might want you in this moment, I can’t. I won’t.”

  He clenched his jaw at her reaction, willing his erection to cease and desist so he could think clearly. It refused. Dropping his hands to her waist, he fought the desire to argue with her. Usually women became putty in his hands, letting him caress them, squeeze them, ravish them in any way he saw fit. Olivia was different. He’d known that all along, but her refusal to give in to something they both so clearly wanted was another example of how she was unlike any other woman he’d ever met. And it made him want her all the more.

  “Why can’t you give in to what you want?”

  “Because every time I give in to even a touch, I feel…something, then you turn around and tell me it’s all part of the act. How do I know this isn’t all part of the act, too?”

  He motioned toward his erection, noting how her expression changed as it pressed into her stomach. “This isn’t fake. This is what you do to me.” He tucked his head into her neck, breathing in her scent. He felt more intoxicated by her than he ever had by a night of binge drinking. “You drive me crazy and I can’t get you out of my head. You’re like a drug and I’m an addict. I need a hit.”

  She rubbed against him with a sigh that bordered on a moan of pleasure. Her desire was obvious. Her fingertips brushed across his nipple, escalating his desire. When she slid her hand down his abdomen to the waistband of his pants and played with the patch of crinkly hair at the edge of the material, he almost lost his cool completely. She tugged on his belt until his waist bumped her, and peered up at him through heavy-lidded eyes, with an expression that begged him to ravish her.

  It was all the confirmation he needed. He took her hand and pressed it to his aching length. She circled his shaft and stroked him through his pants. His dick twitched with her touch, and he was unable to hold back a groan of satisfaction.

  “This isn’t going to change anything about our arrangement. It’ll only make the next couple of months longer,” she said matter-of-factly, while still stroking him, her eyes growing heavier by the second.

  “You’re right,” he said, his breath coming out quicker with each movement of her hand. “But it also might make it more fun.”

  “If we do this…” She squeezed and he shivered with pleasure. “There’s no going back. I wouldn’t be another random hookup. You’ll have to see me again. Every day. At home and at work. Are you really sure you can handle that?”

  “I can if you can.”

  “My brother will kill you if he finds out.”

  “He’ll kill both of us. But I don’t plan to tell him. Do you?”

  “Not a chance.” Olivia stepped back, putting an inch of space between them, then dropped her arms to her sides. Her dress fell to a puddle of shimmering crimson around her ankles. “Sounds like we have another secret to hide.”

  The sight of Olivia standing naked before him was enough to make his knees weak and his pulse race. Her perky breasts saluted him with taut nipples he couldn’t wait to suckle. Tan lines from a one-piece swimsuit preserved her ivory skin along her breasts and stomach as if the area was for his eyes only. He liked the thought of that.

  He wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck and kissed her the way he’d been fantasizing about. Hard, needy, raw. It wasn’t his best moment, but damn it, he was beyond the point of restraint. Now was about feeling—her hands on his body, his tongue on hers, himself plunged deep inside.

  Turning with her in his arms, he pressed her back onto the bed then kissed a trail down her neck to her shoulders. Her nipples beaded as he rolled them in his fingers before dipping his head to suck one into his mouth. She groaned and arched her back. Exactly the response he craved. Her hands clawed at his shirt while leaving his dick aching for more attention.

  Moving to the other breast, he bit down gently on her nipple, reveling in her gasp. He smiled against her skin, eager for her to enjoy what he could do other places.

  Sitting back for a second, he took in the view of Olivia naked before him. Her knees were drawn together, hiding her most intimate area. Not for long.

  Massaging her legs, he caressed the slope of her calves as they curved down to dainty ankles. She squirmed as his fingers brushed the underside of her foot.

  “Ticklish?”

  She nodded.

  “Tempting,” he smirked.

  “Don’t you dare,” she said, trying to pull her foot out of his grasp. As she moved, he caught a glimpse of what waited for him farther north, and this time it was his own gasping intake of breath he heard.

  He kissed her knee and she stopped fidgeting, moaning with pleasure. Her thighs parted slightly as she relaxed. He took it as an invitation and kissed a path up her inner thigh until he found her wet heat. His tongue flicked across her sensitive skin, making her grip the sheets while arching against his mouth. Her reaction to every stroke of his tongue made him eager to please her more. Her body trembled under his careful attention and she called out his name, urging him on. He had no desire to stop until she was fully satiated.

  Hearing her pleasure made his dick even harder but he ignored his own needs. There’d be plenty of time to meet those later. Right now, he only wanted to focus on the sound of Olivia coming undone.

  When she finally did, her nails raked across his shoulders as her thighs quivered around him. He’d never heard or felt anything as awesome as Olivia in the throes of ecstasy.

  “That didn’t tickle, did it?” He kissed her belly button, dipping his tongue inside. She moaned and squirmed. “How about here?”

  “Stop. Enough.” She tugged on his shoulders. He took his time, pausing to suckle each breast again.

  He’d watched her walk around in tight skirts, thin pajamas, and sexy dresses for the last few weeks, fantasizing about how she would look, feel, and taste naked. Now that he finally had her that way, he was in no rush to finish the job.

  By the time he’d made it the rest of the way up her body, she’d found her strength. She flipped him over onto his back and straddled his stomach, her heat radiating against the skin of his abdomen.

  “You had your fun, now it’s my turn,” she said, bending to kiss him hard on the mouth. Her tongue swirled around his, mirroring his hunger. When she finally broke away, she slid down his body, taking his boxers with her.

  “I’m pretty sure you had fun too, sugar. I definitely didn’t hear any complaints.”

  She didn’t waste any time exploring like he had. Her hot mouth wrapped around his length and it was like waking up in heaven. Every flick of her tongue was intensely arousing. Every stroke of her warm, wet mouth along his shaft amplified his desire to take her fully. By the time he made her stop, he could barely think straight.

  “I need a condom,” he said, holding on to his last rational thought.

  “I didn’t bring any.” She sat back on her heels, leaving him exposed to the cold air. He ached to feel her heat surrounding him again.

  “I did,” he said, propping himself up on his elbows.

  “Planned this, huh? And here I thought we were being spontaneous.” She folded her arms across her chest, covering her breasts.

  “Not planned,” he groaned, pent up sexual energy beginning to irritate him. “Hoped for maybe, but not planned. I’m a guy. I pretty much always think sex might be an option.”

  “Where are they?” she asked.

  “My bag. Side pocket.” He enjoyed the view as she walked around the room naked. At the sound of a foil packet ripping, he held out his hand. Instead of giving him the condom, she carefully rolled it down his length. He’d never been more turned on by a single action.

  “You really did learn a few things while you were away, didn’t you?” he asked as she climbed on top of him again. Normally he liked to be the one in control, but having her hovering over him, waiting to t
ake him, he was willing to give over the reins.

  She bit her bottom lip, looking innocent and seductive at the same time. “I knew before I graduated high school. But it did get lonely traveling. Every now and then it was nice to have some company of the foreign relations variety. Men in other countries are talented at more than speaking multiple languages.”

  Oh, he’d give her multiple somethings, all right, and he’d do it without speaking a fucking word. Challenge accepted.

  He wouldn’t stop until he showed her how talented a little “Made in the USA” could be. With that in mind, he held her hips, lowering her slowly until he completely filled her. She threw her head back and sighed, accepting all he had to offer. When he thrust deep, she moaned and rolled her hips in time with him. Every thrust was better than the last, urging him on.

  When she started to slow her pace, he flipped her over onto her back and shoved a pillow underneath her, raising her hips off the mattress. She wrapped her legs around his waist and gazed up at him with lust-filled eyes as he moved within her all encompassing heat—faster, harder, deeper.

  Everything stopped. There was no hotel checkout time, no drive home, no work on Monday morning, and certainly not another woman in the universe as captivating and enticing as the one currently surrounding his body in warmth.

  As he coasted near the edge of oblivion, she trembled for the second time, caressing his length with aftershocks and shattering any last hold he had on control. She called his name and clung to him while he tumbled after her, collapsing on her chest. His satisfaction was complete, uninhibited…mind-blowing.

  For the first time he could remember, the urge to get dressed and leave didn’t even enter into his realm of consciousness. He could happily stay there, wrapped in Olivia, for hours.

  Shit, he cursed internally. So much for temporary.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sex wouldn’t change anything, remember? Yeah, right.

  If that was true, then why was she currently hiding in her room instead of hanging out in the living room watching TV like usual?

  Because he’s out there.

  And that would mean more small talk like on the way home from the hotel. Conversations about unimportant nonsense and nothing about how they’d seen each other naked. Or how they’d given each other the most incredible orgasms. And the orgasms had been un-fucking-believable. Why couldn’t he have been bad in bed so she’d be less inclined to be with him again?

  Because he’s Sawyer, and he’s not bad at anything.

  The man had skills. He could have a master’s degree in the art of foreplay.

  She’d said that sex with him wouldn’t change anything because that’s what she really wanted to believe in the moment. She’d wanted an excuse to give in, to be with him like she’d been fantasizing about, but of course she’d known all along how ridiculous that really was. How could one night in his arms, being kissed by him, touched by him…

  Oh God, what his mouth could do.

  What was done was done. She had to figure out how to get through the rest of this arrangement without either wanting to climb into bed with him again or feeling completely uncomfortable around him. She didn’t want things to be awkward. She wanted things to be fun and flirty. They could be, couldn’t they?

  Then get out there and be not awkward!

  Whether she wanted to or not, she had a relationship with Sawyer to maintain, both as his fake girlfriend and as his real roommate and employee. She’d given in as if it was a quick fling without ramifications to their relationship. But there were ramifications, and ignoring them wouldn’t make them cease to exist. The best she could do was act mature about the whole situation and assume that he’d do the same. Luckily, this was nothing like her last experience with dating her employer. No one would go around slandering her name and ruining her reputation. They were consenting adults who’d made a decision. A stupid decision, possibly.

  She smoothed her hair then opened her door. No going back now. The living room had two choices for seats: the big comfy chair over in the corner, where she liked to curl up and read, but watching TV was terribly uncomfortable, or the small couch facing the TV, where Sawyer was lounging in his gym shorts and a tight fitted T-shirt. She chose the couch. That was where she would have sat last week, so that was where she had to sit this week. See, nothing’s changed.

  “Hey,” he said, as she snuggled under the throw blanket from the back of the couch. “I thought maybe you’d gone to bed early.”

  “Nope. Still up. Just hanging out in my bedroom for a while.”

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Sure. Fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  He shrugged. “No reason, I guess.” Sawyer reached into the bowl of popcorn that was often on the couch between them and grabbed a handful. His strong fingers clutched the kernels without breaking them, reminding her of how he’d grabbed her rear, tenderly and commanding at the same time, while he’d kissed her in places that had made her quake with aftershocks.

  Popcorn. Focusing on something else for a little while would take her mind off of Sawyer and his talent. As she shoved a handful into her mouth—why be lady-like for a guy I’m not trying to impress, right?—the salty taste of popcorn assaulted her taste buds. Her thirst tripled, and it did nothing to help her forget their night together.

  Chocolate, she thought, heading to the kitchen. What every girl needed after any bedroom activity. The first three cabinets she rooted through produced not even so much as a chocolate chip. “Is there any chocolate in here?” she called, still searching.

  “There should be, on a shelf to the left of the fridge.”

  She moved to the cabinet in question and scrounged more. Cans of soup, bottles of sports drinks, a few boxes of mac and cheese, but no chocolate of any kind. “Any idea which one?”

  “This one right here.” He reached around her to retrieve the milk chocolate bar hiding behind a bottle of salad dressing. Clearly, the man had no idea how to organize his cabinets.

  His warm breath tickled her earlobe, but it was nothing compared to the heat of his lips pressed to her neck. When his tongue flicked across her skin, a wave of pleasure coursed through her body, making her limbs wobbly and weak with desire.

  “Stop,” she whispered, trying to make her voice stern and confident. The last thing she wanted him to do just then was stop, but she couldn’t give in to him again. Giving in would lead to more, and more would eventually lead to her heartbreak when their arrangement ended.

  He was a mistake, and she shouldn’t have let herself get carried away by him last night, no matter how amazing their night together had been. Great sex did not change the fact that she wanted long-term and he wanted right now. Theirs was probably the perfect set up for him—a roommate-with-benefits situation with a built-in expiration date.

  “You didn’t want me to stop last night.” He nipped at her skin with his teeth.

  He was good. Good enough to make a nun burn her habit.

  “We agreed it wouldn’t change anything, or have you forgotten that part already?” She turned to face him. His broad chest loomed inches away, begging for her touch, while his arms, with palms flat on the counter top, pinned her in place on both sides. Not a single piece of him physically touched her, but a million nerve endings had awakened with his proximity.

  “I haven’t forgotten. Nothing has changed. I’m still your fake boyfriend for the next couple of months. We still work together, still live together, still flirt together at family functions. The only difference now is that the flirting doesn’t have to stop when we’re alone.”

  She didn’t respond. What could she say? Part of her really wanted to agree with him, but the other part saw the warning signs—the giant red flags of his past, and what she wanted for her future.

  “I know things were a little weird today. I can tell you’re not sure what to do or how to act. It’s strange for me, too, but I don’t think it has to be. I’m still the same guy I was two days
ago. The only difference now is that you don’t have to hold back during those moments of desire I’ve seen flaring in your eyes when you look at me.”

  He stroked a path from her ear to the round of her shoulder with the back of his fingers. She fought the urge to lean into him. Already her body responded to him like a spark from a match.

  “You know, that first night when you walked in here in your tiny night shirt, with just a thong on?” he asked.

  Heat flashed in her cheeks. How could she forget? She’d never been so embarrassed. “Mmm,” she mumbled, unable to find a word befitting the moment.

  “What I did to you last night, I’ve been thinking about doing since then. You’re always on my mind, and judging by the way you look at me, like you are right now, I’m on your mind, too. So instead of suffering through the next few months, pretending we didn’t see each other naked, pretending I didn’t kiss every inch of your body, pretending you didn’t get pleasure from every second of my lips on your flesh…why don’t we enjoy ourselves as much as we can?”

  A tempting offer, but not one she could accept. It was flattering that he wanted to be with her, that he thought about her as much as she’d been thinking about him, but everything he wanted was temporary.

  She wanted forever.

  If she slept with him again, she feared she’d end up wanting forever…with Sawyer.

  It was one thing to agree to an arrangement that was mutually beneficial, but getting into his bed again, maybe even multiple times over the next couple of months, wouldn’t benefit her in the end.

  She ducked under his arm. “Last night was awesome.” He smiled and moved toward her, but she pressed her palms to his chest, keeping distance between them. “But it won’t happen again. So unless we’re with your family or someone else we have to fool, don’t expect me to participate in flirting, touching, or kissing of any kind. Got it?”

  He crossed his arms, jaw set, eyes narrowed. “Got it,” he replied flatly.

  As much as she wanted an encore performance, she couldn’t allow it to happen. Not with Sawyer. Not now. Not ever.