The OUT OF LINE Series

by Jen McLaughlin

  “Really?” She gave me an odd look, as if she was wondering if I meant something else.

  And, fuck me, I did. “Really.”

  “Why are you being so nice to me? It doesn’t make any sense.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and flushed. “I can’t help but think there’s a motive behind all this that you’re not telling me. Are you…did someone…send you here?”

  My heart twisted at the look she was giving me. All puppy-dog eyes, begging me for the truth. I wished I could give it to her. Wished I hadn’t signed a contract stating I would keep my cover, no matter what.

  Wished I wasn’t a liar.

  I hadn’t expected it to be this hard. I hadn’t expected her.

  The girl was too smart for her own good. She was onto me. The only way to blow her off course was to confuse her. I couldn’t blow my cover. Couldn’t be exposed. No matter what. I grabbed her hand and yanked her sideways onto my lap. I liked the way she felt there. “You want motive? I’ll give you motive.”

  She looked up at me, her mouth in a perfect O. Her hands fell to my shoulders, and she clung to me. “What are you—”

  I slammed my mouth down on hers, telling myself the whole time that I was only kissing her because I had to keep my cover. That this wasn’t real. Didn’t mean anything. But the second her soft lips gave in to mine, I knew I was full of shit. I might be doing this to keep my cover, but I was also doing it because I wanted to see what she tasted like. To hear her little sounds of pleasure.

  Her lips parted to let out a little moan, and I swooped in, entwining my tongue with hers. She gasped, almost as if she’d never been kissed before, and then melted against me. She wrapped her arms around me, urging me even closer, and my hands fell to her hips. Unable to help myself, I pressed my cock against the soft curve of the side of her ass, reveling in the feel of her softness pressed against my hardness.

  Fuck, I wanted her.

  Tearing my mouth free, I took a ragged breath and held her still. She kept trying to wiggle in my lap. If she kept that up, this would be more than a cover kiss. It would be a cover fuck. I tightened my fists on her and opened my eyes. She did the same, looking back at me with smoldering blue eyes.

  Well, that answered my question from earlier.

  Her swollen red lips begged to be kissed some more, but I tamped down the urge. I had to remember the game. Stay on course. “Shit. I shouldn’t have done that. Pretend it never happened.”

  She blinked at me, the heat fading from her eyes and being replaced by confusion. “Why?”

  “Speaking of favorite words…” I mumbled under my breath. I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. “Was that motive enough for you?”

  “Y-Yeah, I guess so.” She licked her lips, her gaze on my mouth. “I didn’t know…didn’t realize you were thinking about kissing me. I wasn’t expecting…that.”

  She sounded so innocent right now. Had she ever been with a man? I couldn’t imagine a girl that looked like her still being a virgin…but then again, with her father, it was definitely a possibility. “Well, I’m a guy. We’re always thinking about—” I broke off, swallowing the word sex. “Kissing. Surely you’ve been kissed before.”

  “Of course,” she quickly said, her cheeks red. “Tons of times.”

  Tons? Why didn’t I like the sound of that? “Oh really?”

  “Really. You’re hardly the first guy to show an interest. I’m not some meek little virgin girl.”

  She had to go and tell me that, didn’t she? “Good to know.”

  I set her on her feet and stood, my heart pounding in my ears. That kiss had been a huge mistake. An even bigger mistake than accepting this assignment in the first place.

  She pressed her fingers to her lips and looked at me. “So that’s why you’re being nice to me? Because you want to kiss me?”

  “Occasionally.” I forced a nonchalant shrug. She had to think I wanted her, but I couldn’t actually have her. What a fine line I walked. One step too far to the left and I would be a goner. “I’m a guy. I’m always in the mood to kiss someone.”

  “Anyone will do?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Oh. I see.” She cocked her head. “So that’s your motive.”

  I dragged a hand through my hair and started for my door. “Sometimes there isn’t a reason or a motive. Sometimes it just happens.”

  “Not in my life.”

  “Well, maybe you need a new life.”

  “Maybe.” She bit her lower lip. “It’s not that easy to just trust someone, especially when you don’t even know them.”

  I swallowed the guilt choking me back. I knew she was suspicious, and she had every reason to be wary of me. I was a fraud. A phony. A fake. And most of all? An asshole for kissing her under false pretenses. “Why are you so damn suspicious of everyone and everything?”

  She didn’t follow me, but put her hands on her perfect hips. “I don’t know.”

  “Why are you glowering at me like I drowned your kitten in front of you?”

  “Because I thought we were friends.”

  “We are.”

  She lifted her chin up. “Friends don’t kiss friends then say shit. You obviously don’t like me very much, so I’m going to make this easy for you. I’m leaving—and you’re staying.”

  “No, you’re not.” I rubbed my eyes. Unbelievable. Instead of fixing this screw up, I’d managed to make it worse. “I’m your ride.”

  She pulled out her phone and put it to her ear. “Yes. I’d like a cab, please. It’s an apartment building. Brick with patios and balconies. I’ll be outside.” She rattled off my address, an address I didn’t even know she’d be able to figure out, and then slid the phone back in her purse. “Problem solved. Now go away.”

  She sat down on the curb, her back to me, and promptly ignored me. I hesitated. Should I do what she wanted and go inside to come up with a plan? Or should I try to fix this now? The urge to bang my head against the wall was almost as strong as the urge to pull her into my arms was. She looked so alone sitting there and staring out in the road. I approached her slowly, uncertain how to tackle this.

  “Look, I’m sorry.” I sat beside her, my leg touching hers. She shot me a dirty look, but didn’t move away. “I didn’t mean to kiss you. Not because I don’t want to, but because I just want to be friends.”

  “Then why did you kiss me?”

  “Because I couldn’t stop myself,” I admitted. It was one of the most honest things I had said to her all day. “But I should have.”

  She finally looked at me again. “Why can’t you kiss me? What’s so wrong with it? I mean, if you want to, why is it bad?”

  Good question. “It just is. In my career, I could be gone at any second if they call up my unit. I can’t have relationships.”

  “That’s bull.” Her hands tightened on her knees. “If you don’t want to be with me, just say it. Don’t give me half-assed reasons why you can’t.”

  “I don’t want to be with you,” I said, my voice coming out harsher than I intended. I reached out and closed my hand over hers, trying to soften the blow. “Not in that way, but I do want to be friends.”

  “I’ll think about it.” The cab pulled up and she stood. Her hand on the door, she glanced at me over her shoulder. “But if you want to be friends, keep your lips off mine from now on.”

  “Deal. Still want to surf?”

  She hesitated. “Not today. I have a headache. See ya some other time.”

  And with that, she closed the door in my face and left me standing on the curb. My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out. Her father, of course. The man had impeccable timing.

  Things going well?

  I tightened my grip on the phone and typed fast. I got it covered.

  Good. Don’t forget the rules.

  The ones I’d already broken? As if I could.

  Later that night, after Finn kissed me and dissed me, so to speak, I came out of the bathroom in a pair of frog jammies and found M
arie sitting on my bed, a short dress in her hands. Since Marie was already wearing a way-too-short black dress, I could only assume the tiny blue dress in Marie’s hands was for someone else. That someone else better not be me.

  I raised a brow and eyed the contraption. “What’s up?”

  “What’s up is you’re going to lose the froggies and slip into this.” Marie tossed the dress at me and I reflexively caught it. “And we’re going to go party. And for once in your life, you’re staying.”

  I held the dress to my chest. “I told you, I don’t like parties.”

  “That’s because you never drink at them, I’d bet.” Marie stood up and gave me a little push toward the bathroom. “But tonight, you are. I’ll get you something good, and we’ll party the night away. Monday classes start, so we’ll have a boring week. But tonight?” She shoved me into the bathroom. “We dance!”

  As the door closed in my face, I flinched. Marie might be pushy—literally—but she had a point. The week ahead of us would be long. Would it be so wrong to let loose and have some fun tonight? Look at all the other stuff I had already done since getting here.

  Buying a surfboard? Check. Riding a motorcycle? Check. Kissing a hot surfer boy? Double freaking check. As long as I wasn’t crazy and didn’t get caught on camera naked or something, there wouldn’t be any backlash. Surely Dad drank in college, right? Oh, but that was different. He was a man, and I was his baby girl.

  Rolling my eyes, I sent a mental eff you out in the universe. I made quick work of shedding my froggie pajamas and slid in to the short dress. Spinning in front of the mirror, I cringed. The thing barely covered my butt. Wait. Maybe it didn’t even cover it at all.

  “I’m coming in,” Marie called. As she opened the door and barged through, she paused. “Wow. You look amazing. All you need is makeup and we’ll be ready to go.”

  “I don’t really—”

  “Wear makeup? I know.” Marie pulled out an eyeshadow brush. “But tonight you’re different, remember?”

  Different. That sounded nice. I closed my eyes and let Marie work her magic. But when I closed my eyes, I remembered that amazing kiss Finn had given me. And then I remembered our fight afterward. He was always acting so…contradictory. It didn’t make any sense. Marie started applying the eyeshadow, and I belatedly said, “Not too dark.”

  “I know, I know.” Marie set to work, and I tried to relax. This was supposed to be fun. “Your dad called. I told him you were studying at the library.”

  I swallowed. “Why did you do that?”

  “He calls every hour. He needs to back off. He a cop or something?”

  I laughed. “No. Just overprotective.”

  “Ah.” I felt Marie’s shrug, even though my eyes were shut. “My dad was like that before he died.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. Dad was annoying, sure, but I couldn’t picture life without him. “How long ago?”

  “Two years.” Marie closed the mascara, and seemed to close the topic. “Open your eyes now.”

  I refused to look at myself yet. I was scared I would look more hooker than sexy. “Done?”

  “Not yet.”

  I fidgeted. “Are you sure it’s not too short?”

  “Positive.” Marie applied a layer of lip gloss, grabbed a piece of toilet paper, and said, “Blot.” I pressed my lips down on the toilet paper. “There. Now you’re ready to go.”

  I peeked in the mirror. Smoky gray eyes and black eyeliner stared back at me, making my eyes seem brighter than usual. And the red lip gloss actually looked…good. “Wow.”

  “Right?” Marie put the rest of the makeup away, fluffed her blonde hair, and grinned. “We’ll be the prettiest girls there. Now let’s go.”

  We linked arms and walked out of the dorm. As we passed, boys gaped at us, making me smile. Okay, maybe Marie was right. Maybe I needed this. After Finn kissed me and practically wiped his mouth to remove my taste from his lips, my self-esteem had been lagging. It might be fun to go out and drink. Flirt a little bit too much.

  And then Finn could kiss my un-kissable ass.

  Marie dropped my arm when we reached the crowded frat house. Girls in dresses even shorter than mine filled the room, as well as guys in plaid shorts and solid-colored shirts. From a distance, they all looked the same. Marie tugged me toward the “bar” area, which was really just a bunch of wine coolers and beer cans on a folding table. “Which one do you want?”

  I eyed the choices skeptically, then reached for a pink drink with a picture of the beach on the label. “This one, I guess.”

  “Good choice.” Marie opened it for me and grabbed a beer from the table. After opening her own drink, she nodded to the room. “Next assignment is for you to find a cute guy and start talking to him. Think of this like a class. A class at how to party properly.”

  I rolled my eyes. “But—”

  I turned around and Marie was gone, already chatting up a guy I vaguely recognized. Great. Just freaking great. Now what? Everywhere I looked, people were already engrossed in conversations. I wasn’t the type of girl who just barged in and invaded other people’s conversations. Giving up on finding someone who wasn’t already busy, I scanned the room, looking for somewhere to sit. As I searched, I tilted my drink to my lips. It tasted sweet and a little bit like pink lemonade.

  Whoever came up with this type of alcohol was brilliant.

  Spying an empty spot by the door, I carefully made my way across the room in my heels and sat down on the step leading outside. I hadn’t left, but it gave me room to breathe. It was a win-win. No sooner had I sat down than a man was next to me, a beer in his hand and a sloppy grin on his face.

  “Hey, there,” he said, his voice slurred. “Haven’t seen you around here before.”

  How many drinks had he had? I got nervous around drunk people. They were too unpredictable. Dad had thrown a dinner party once and a man had gotten drunk and punched another guy for looking at his wife too long. He’d been perfectly fine, and even polite, before the drinking.

  Though my urge to run was strong, I forced myself to take a sip of my drink. I’d been running away enough. It was time to stand still. “Yeah, I’m new here.”

  “Freshman?”

  “Yep.” I took another sip. The drink was delicious. “You?”

  He scooted closer to me, pressing his body against mine. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, overwhelming and sickening. “I’m a junior.”

  I stiffened. Though Finn had done the same thing earlier, his body pressed to mine hadn’t made me want to gag. It hadn’t made me feel like a thousand worms squiggled under my skin. I scooted away from him. “Nice.”

  He reached out and played with my hair, leaning so close that his beer breath washed over me. “I like this color. Is it real?”

  “Uh, yeah.” I pulled my hair free and slid into the corner of the banister. “What’s your major?”

  “You are,” he said, following me.

  That had to be the corniest line I had ever heard or read. And I’d read a heck of a lot of books. I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Okay, that was funny.”

  “It’s only the beginning.”

  Without warning, his lips closed over mine. Instead of the electric whir I had felt when Finn kissed me, the itchy need to get closer to him…I couldn’t breathe. I tore free of this man’s smothering mouth, but he moved on to my neck without a second’s hesitation.

  “Get off me.” Shoving at his shoulders, I stood up and took a calming breath. After setting my half empty bottle on the step, I said, “I have a boyfriend.”

  “Oh. Why didn’t you tell me before you kissed me?” Beer Breath asked. He stumbled to his feet and adjusted his junk.

  So freaking attractive.

  “I didn’t—”

  “Get lost,” a hard voice that I recognized said from the shadows. “You’ll go back to your stupid little party and find another drunk girl to hit on.”

  “Says who?” Beer Breath asked, a cocky grin
on his face.

  “Says me,” Finn said, stepping out of the shadows. He flexed his fists and stepped closer to me. “Go ahead. Give me a reason to punch your fucking face in, and I’ll gladly oblige.”

  Beer Breath paled and shuffled backward. “Dude. She kissed me.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “We wouldn’t expect you to know the difference, now would we?” Finn asked, his voice mocking. He was practically begging for a fight. And all because of what? Because some dude kissed me? Why did he even care? “You have five seconds to be gone.”

  Beer Breath turned red. “You know what? Run off with your little boyfriend and don’t ever come back to this frat again.”

  Beer Breath stormed off, leaving Finn and me alone on the porch. I pivoted and gave him what I hoped was an annoyed look. “You do realize I can handle a grabby-hands boy by myself, right? I dealt with you, after all.”

  He stepped closer, towering over me. “Ginger, you have no idea how to deal with me.”

  I stiffened. “I know that if I kissed you now, you wouldn’t push me away.”

  “Of course I wouldn’t. Look at you.” His gaze dipped over my body, and when he met my eyes again his own were blazing and hot. “Any man would kiss you back.”

  “You’d push me away after.”

  He lifted a shoulder but said nothing.

  He was so darn condescending and cocky. “Why are you at another frat party that I just happen to be at? Who are you? Why are you following me?”

  Finn leaned against a palm tree and looked far too casual, but he reminded me of one of those lions on the Discovery Channel. He looked perfectly calm on the surface, but in a second he could be all deadly and lethal. “I’m here because I was taking a walk down the beach, and I saw you and that loser kissing. Then I saw you push him away. I wanted to make sure you were okay, but now I’m wishing I had bashed his head into the fucking wall before I let him go.”

  My heart rose to my throat. “Why?”

  “Because you should be kissing me,” he practically whispered. “Not some college boy who doesn’t know what he’s doing.”