Chasing Brynn (A Tempting Novel Book 2)

by Angela Corbett

  She snorted this time. “Since when do you wear panties?” she asked, genuinely perplexed.

  She had a point, but still. “I wear them…occasionally.”

  Her eyebrows went up like she seriously doubted my ability to put on undergarments.

  I rolled my eyes. “I also trust your judgment. You like the guy, so he must have some merit.”

  She threw a pillow at me. “Everyone has some merit.”

  I shot her a disbelieving look. “I could name twenty guys off the top of my head who definitely do not.”

  “You’re just cynical.”

  She was right about that. I’d been treated horribly in the past. There weren’t many people in my life I trusted because of it. “Guilty as charged, Prosecutor.”

  She sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to win this argument…yet. I had no doubt it would be revisited—frequently.

  Maci came running into the room with her favorite book and plopped down between Syd and I. “Read me a story, pleeeaase!” she asked, holding the book about a princess with pink hair up in the air for one of us to grab. Syd got to it first, and we took turns reading the different characters in different voices. Maci squealed in delight, and my heart was lighter knowing I’d made her day better, even if my mind was somewhere else.

  Tips and Tits: The Word from Mistress A

  To-Do-Me List

  We all have a list of places we want to have sex. I call it Bucket List Diddling. And if you don’t have one, you should make one. On that count, I’m here to help. Here are five that I think should be in your top five!

  1. The beach. Is there anything hotter than having sex in the tropics, a warm breeze blowing through your hair while water rushes around you? Just be aware of the sand because it can get in some uncomfortable places…and don’t get too close to a strong wave, or your sexy times will end with a sea rescue.

  2. Outside under the full moon. A full moon is beautiful, peaceful, and perfect for a summertime sex session! The moon brings out something animalistic in all of us. That primal force combined with sex makes for an excellent partnership.

  3. A vineyard. Not in the vineyard, though you could probably figure out how to make that happen if it’s your thing. But a lot of vineyards also have hotels or bed and breakfasts on-site or nearby. Hello! Wine, a soft bed, the country…it’s the perfect setting for romance…and a go-to overnight date for any love-related reality show. But there’s a reason for that—because it’s damn romantic!

  4. A gigantic bathtub. One of those free-standing ones made for guys who can bench press a small car. The space will give you plenty of room to move around as warm water laps your slippery skin. The thought of your guy naked in the tub, with you wearing nothing but bubbles, should make you weak in the knees.

  5. The car. I’m not saying the backseat of an old beater while parked in a dark parking lot, hoping you don’t get caught. I’m talking about an SUV, or at least something with a bench seat. There’s something intensely hot about not being able to wait to get home, and just pulling over on the side of the road. It’s quick, dirty, and will leave you gasping for breath.

  I walked up the shoveled path to a cute, sage green bungalow with black shutters. The street was lined with cars and I’d had to park almost a block away. It was a good thing I’d worn my favorite skinny jeans, fur lined black boots, a black sweater and heavy coat to trudge through the snow and twenty degree temperatures. I’d have to take the coat off inside and it would probably be hot as hell in there, but the sweater had sleeves that pushed up easily, and the neck was cut low enough that it would help me cool off. I could hear voices coming from inside the house. Apparently the small gathering I’d been told about had turned into a full-on college party.

  I dropped the house warming gift—one of my favorite candles with a wood wick that sounded like a real fire—off on the table, and made my way through the various groups of people. I saw Syd and Jax standing by the drinks, helping to serve people, and wandered over to them. “There’s my favorite sexy couple,” I said, grabbing a plastic red cup and pouring myself a glass of water with lemon.

  Jax’s lips slid up into his notoriously charming grin. “You’re my favorite of Syd’s friends, you know that?”

  “I better be,” I said, taking a sip. “I’m her best friend, and she’d know nothing about sex without me.”

  Jax’s grin stretched. “I probably owe you some chocolate or something as a thank you.”

  Syd rolled her eyes. “You’re both full of yourselves.”

  Someone bumped into me and I looked back to see my friend and occasional hook up buddy, Collin, leaning over my shoulder. His lips were turned up playfully. He’d been a basketball player at Easton, and president of his frat before we’d graduated last year; now he was getting his MBA. “There’s the hot girl I’ve been looking for.”

  I gave him a wink. “You know how to get a girl’s attention.”

  Collin was fun. We’d been friends for years, and booty-call buddies for almost as long. He had the right equipment, and he knew what to do with it. Every time I got disappointed during my big dick research, Collin was always there to make up for the other guys’ shortcomings. But it never went any further than sex. Because I didn’t do relationships, and neither did Collin. We were both far better at casual sex than anything else, and didn’t want to ruin a good thing.

  I was surprised to see him at Courtney’s housewarming party. Collin was my friend, and kind of Syd’s friend. I didn’t think he even registered on Jax’s buddy list. Their relationship had started out rocky several months ago when Jax punched Collin in the face and broke his nose for letting Syd and I wander out of a Halloween party drunk without taking our keys.

  Collin peered down into my glass. “You should live a little and have something with sugar.”

  I punched him in the shoulder. “I have cocktails all the time!” My tone came out more defensive than I’d intended. I tried to recover, explaining, “I’m driving tonight.”

  “If you weren’t,” Collin said, his eyes twinkling mischievously, “you could enjoy a panty dropper.”

  I laughed so hard, I almost spit the water I’d just taken a sip of out on him. “That’s a new line.”

  “It’s very, very tasty,” he said, attempting a convincing tone.

  I narrowed my eyes, thinking of all the times Collin and I had hooked up. I couldn’t even begin to count them. “I believe you’ve tasted it before.”

  He gave a shit-eating grin. “Many times. But I was talking about the drink.”

  “I definitely didn’t think you were talking about alcohol,” Syd said, handing a girl I’d never seen before a drink. I assumed she was one of Courtney’s friends from Mom to Mom.

  “A friend of mine was traveling in Belize and tried it there,” Collin said. “He said it was fantastic. He also won the chicken drop lottery, so he had plenty of money to buy a lot of panty droppers.”

  “We’re still talking about the drink, right? Not girls’ panties?” I asked.

  Collin shrugged, grabbing some soda from the table and refilling his glass with it before adding some rum.

  “Chicken drop?” Jax asked, curious.

  “Yeah,” Collin said, taking a gulp of his concoction. “He said there’s this numbered checkerboard on the beach outside of a bar. You buy tickets and get your numbers. They let a chicken loose on the board and if it shits on your number, you win.”

  “That’s…odd.” Syd said, confusion clouding her face. Syd liked things to make sense. Paying money to bet on where an animal pooped was not in her realm of logic.

  Collin threw back the rest of his drink before starting to make another. “It’s something to do, and it goes to a good cause. If no one wins the lottery, the money is donated to an animal shelter. Most people who win also donate their winnings.”

  “But not your friend,” I pointed out. “He used it to get himself and everyone else drunk.”

  Collin grimaced. “He’s not a stellar hum
an, it’s true.”

  Jax had noticed Syd’s reaction to the poop drop. He liked taking Syd out of her comfort zone. She’d almost broken up with him over a camping trip a couple of months ago. His eyes sparkled as he said, “Belize sounds interesting, and I bet it’s warm and bikini friendly. Maybe we should visit, Syd?”

  “I’ve been to your version of ‘bikini friendly’, and it involved a tent.” Syd’s eyes were narrowed, but her tone was teasing.

  His eyes darkened. “I made up for it.”

  Syd blushed, but added, “You definitely did.”

  I took pity on her and changed the subject, asking Collin, “How did you find out about the party tonight?” I still wasn’t sure how he’d ended up with an invite.

  “Collin has party-radar,” Syd said, taking a drink of her own mixture. It looked like soda of some kind, and I guessed she wasn’t drinking. She wasn’t a huge alcohol fan, which used to be good for me because it meant I had a babysitter when I decided to go out. That didn’t happen much anymore though—she was usually with Jax, and I usually went out alone, and drank a lot less. “I’m surprised he hasn’t created an app. If there’s a party happening on any given night, Collin’s aware of it.”

  “That’s a good name for an app,” I said. “Any Given Party.”

  “I think he should call it Party Dropper,” Jax offered.

  I pointed at him, and smiled, nodding my head. “Excellent suggestion, Blue Eyes.”

  Jax grinned, and Syd shook her head. “I can’t believe you still call him that.”

  I pushed my brows together. “I can’t believe you don’t. They’re the color of a goddamn jewel.”

  Syd rolled her eyes, but glanced up at him with an expression so full of love that I couldn’t tell if I wanted to hug them both, or run away screaming. That level of love and commitment was terrifying.

  “The app’s not a bad idea,” Collin agreed. “But I’m not a party crasher.” I eyed him doubtfully. We all knew that wasn’t the case. He’d practically majored in alcohol and poor decisions. “A girl Courtney works with invited me.”

  “Ah,” I said. “That makes more sense.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Collin asked, leaning against me and looking wounded. “It sounds like you’re insinuating I couldn’t get an invite on my own.”

  “With ‘panty dropper’ on your resume, I’m sure you appeal to a specific clientele,” I said.

  “I’ve dropped your panties many times,” he said, apparently completely unware we were in a room full of people with ears. “At least, the times you’ve actually been wearing them.”

  Another girl might have blushed. I was not that girl. “Tonight’s not one of them.”

  Syd groaned. “I’m not sure I wanted to know that.”

  “It seems I’ve stumbled into an interesting conversation.” The voice was deep, male, and one I recognized with absolute certainty. It had been branded into my mind from the first moment I’d heard it. My heart started to race, and I slowly turned to confirm the face belonged to the voice I thought it did. My mental-branding abilities had not failed me. He was wearing jeans that hugged every part that mattered—all of them in Cade’s case, and a cobalt blue sweater that made his gorgeous pale blue eyes even brighter. His cheekbones were sculpted and drew my gaze down to his jaw that had surely been carved by goddesses. He had the fullest bottom lip I’d ever seen, and a skin tone that looked like he’d been on a beach even though it was the middle of winter. Despite barely knowing him, a primal part of me seriously considered lifting up his shirt and licking his stomach. I didn’t even care who was watching. I realized I was staring and my eyes snapped back up to his face. He met my gaze, and it was suddenly clear he’d been assessing me in the same way I’d been measuring him. Electricity sparked between us, and I was immediately uncomfortable with it. Chemistry was one thing…this felt like something more, and had felt the same way every time I’d seen him. I wasn’t prepared for it to continue happening each time we saw each other, and definitely not okay with it.

  “Cade!” Syd said, breaking mine and Cade’s eye contact. Her face lit up. “You came!”

  He slowly shifted his gaze from me, giving his attention to Syd. “Wouldn’t have missed it.”

  Wouldn’t have missed it? Cade got invited to Courtney’s housewarming party, and Syd didn’t think I might need to be advised about that? Especially after our conversation at CARE earlier? She had plenty of time to tell me! What had she been thinking? Maybe I led her to believe a warning wasn’t required, but come on! She was my best friend and knew me better than that. She could have at least mentioned it during the whole you-have-chemistry-with-Cade speech.

  Jax did the dude head nod in Cade’s direction. “I heard you were quite an opponent.”

  Cade tilted his head. “Syd did a great job. She’s her worst critic. I was just glad I didn’t have to argue her side.”

  “Do you want something to drink?” Jax asked, motioning to the table.

  “Sure. Something strong.”

  “Make him a panty dropper,” Collin suggested.

  Cade leaned against the counter, the veins in his forearm standing out against ropey muscle. “I’ve never had a problem in the clothes dropping department,” he said, his gaze sliding to mine.

  My heart sped up even more and I was rather worried about my blood pressure.

  I liked sex. I was interested in sex. Nothing else. So the fact Cade had gotten under my skin before I even knew his name frustrated the hell out of me. No man had done that in years. I’d made sure of it. We had an intense connection from the first moment we saw each other. Chemistry. That’s all it was. I took a deep breath and repeated that to myself again. Chemistry. Nothing more. I just needed to forget about him, or get him out of my system. The problem was that I wasn’t sure which option I wanted. Actually, I wanted both of those things: to get him out of my system, and then forget him. But I was worried I wouldn’t be able to do the forgetting part after the getting part. That was my current quandary.

  “I don’t even know what’s in your fabled panty dropper,” Jax said to Collin. He grabbed some alcohol and poured it into a cup with soda instead, then handed it to Cade.

  “Pineapple juice, orange juice, cranberry juice, vodka, triple sec, coconut rum, schnapps, gin, and delicious regret.”

  “I feel tipsy even hearing the list of ingredients,” I said.

  “I can think of worse things than tipsy sex on a beach,” Collin said, wiggling his eyebrows.

  Syd shook her head. “Beach sex is tricky. Sand. Everywhere.”

  Collin grabbed a cookie off the table next to the drinks. “Clearly, you don’t read Mistress A. Beach sex is on her To-Do-Me list.”

  I looked away, trying to make myself seem inconspicuous. I knew exactly what Mistress A’s To-Do-Me list was because I’d written it. I’d been working on my poker face lately, but I still got nervous every time Mistress A was brought up in conversations I was part of. What if I slipped and said something I shouldn’t, and someone figured out my secret identity? It was a scary thought. I didn’t want it to affect my life, school, or volunteer work. The reality of it was that could very well happen. Only people I trusted completely could ever know I was Mistress A.

  “Not true,” Syd said. “I saw that blog post. And based on her suggestions, I’d be worried about getting arrested for indecent exposure.”

  Jax grinned. “You’re almost a lawyer. I’d be fine with that.”

  Syd gave him a look. “I’m in my first year of law school. That hardly qualifies for ‘almost a lawyer’. Not to mention that it would be tough to represent myself if I was the one caught fornicating.”

  “Who even uses that word?” Collin asked, giving her a dumbfounded look.

  “Lawyers,” I said.

  “Good thing you’re such good friends with Cade then,” Jax said. “He’d get us out of it.”

  Cade’s lips stretched, slow and sexy. “I’d have you out of the cell in no ti
me.”

  My mind abruptly wandered to a memory of Cade and handcuffs. I shut it down immediately.

  “Who’s this Mistress A, anyway?” Jax asked.

  “You haven’t read her posts? She has a sex blog,” Syd explained. “She gives advice.”

  Jax pushed his brows together. “Lots of people give sex advice. What makes her so special?”

  “She’s witty, and no topic is taboo,” Collin said. “Her blog’s been up for a couple of months. But the thing that makes her especially popular here is that she’s referenced the Winchester area and Colorado in some of her posts, so there’s speculation she’s local. Everyone’s trying to figure out who she is.”

  A knot formed in my stomach. That concerned me. I was prepared for speculation, and had taken every precaution possible, but there was still a chance word could get out. When I’d first started, I hadn’t considered there would be so much interest in my identity. I’d let a few minor things slip about Winchester and Colorado that people had latched onto. They were references that could easily be explained away, like a post I did during a blizzard that listed ways to make snow sexy. But people had made connections, and the connections had turned into theories. No one had proven any of them yet and I’d been much more careful since, but it still made me nervous.

  “That,” Cade said, “and unlike some sex advice columnists who are just going off of personal experience alone, she actually seems to be educated in her responses.”

  My mouth started to gape and I quickly picked it back up. Cade Brett, buttoned-up attorney to be, read my blog? I mean, it was out there. Right on the internet for Zeus and everyone, but still, I hadn’t really considered the star of my current fantasies would be reading the things I wrote. I was slightly embarrassed at the level of intimacy, even though I shouldn’t have been because the blog was public, and no one knew it was me. However, I was putting myself out there and people would read into it a thousand different ways that I couldn’t control. I’d made peace with their likely erroneous opinions about Mistress A and her sex life. It’s not like I’d actually tried everything I advocated—but I made sure to research and get educated on the subjects I wasn’t familiar with before offering advice or opinions. I’d intended the blog as a helpful, fun tool to improve people’s sex lives. I hadn’t considered I might be giving tips to the guy I wanted to climb like a tree. I shook the feeling off. There was no reason to be embarrassed, or feel weird. Nothing had changed, except I now knew Cade was reading my posts. He’d clearly been reading them for a while and the world hadn’t ended.