What a day. Carina had turned from a repressed straight-laced banker to a woman with potential. He’d bet there was a naughty girl lurking in the shadows of her psyche—playful and adventuresome.
Dylan heated the oil and poured the egg mixture into a frying pan. The woman was hot, but also cold. Every time he waited for her to make a move, she had stalled. It would take a lot of cajoling and tempting to make her feel at ease, but it would be loads of fun.
The image of her underneath him, staring up at him with those beautiful almond shaped eyes, rocketed heat through him. He’d start slow, savoring every moan he’d elicit from her. He could almost feel her hands running over his shoulders and see her arching into him. He’d spread her legs, running his fingers through her velvety wetness … He couldn’t wait to taste the scent of her arousal …
Carina’s door cracked open and she stepped out wearing a motorcycle blazer over a pair of thin black jeans. She handed him his shirt. “Thanks for wrapping me in your sweat.”
“Any time.” He sucked in his drool, hoping he wasn’t panting like a rabid dog.
She took a deep breath and crossed into the kitchen. “Whatever you’re cooking smells heavenly.”
The smile she gave him was encouraging and frightening. It was the kind of smile that made a man drop on his knees and blabber.
He slid the omelet onto a plate. “I bet you’re sick of eggs by now.”
“Oh, I love them. You make so many varieties, it’s all good.”
“Great, let’s pop open a bottle of champagne and celebrate.”
“What are we celebrating?” Carina propped herself with one elbow on the counter, her jacket open to a low cut tank top that showed her slight cleavage.
She had perfect curvature. What he wouldn’t give to touch those puppies, suck on them. They’d be soft and oh, so sweet.
“Dylan, hello.” She snapped her fingers in front of him and smiled. “What are we celebrating?”
Oh, yeah. He cleared his throat and let out a chuckle. “BRF.”
“BRF?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of BRF—Best Roomies Forever.”
“What are we, fourteen years old?” She made a gagging motion. “Barf.”
“You’ll love it, trust me.” Dylan fist bumped her. “Shall we have some rules? I know you like rules.”
“Sure, while you think up the rules, I’m going to serve myself some of this delicious food. I’m starving.” Carina grabbed a plate and stood with her back to him in front of the counter.
“Me too.” He put both hands on each side of her and leaned down. She smelled sweet and clean, her conditioner scented with a touch of jasmine. “Rule number one. BRFs get to hug and hold hands.”
She tipped her head back. “Is this an excuse to come on to me?”
“Oh no.” He feigned indignation. “Just making sure we get along, like when you had those rules for chores?”
“Which my cleaning service is taking care of.” She picked a snap pea out of the omelet and popped it into her mouth.
He leaned around toward her lips. “Rule number two. BRFs can kiss.”
She ducked and placed her index finger on his lips. “Barfs can kiss, except on the lips, and cuddle together while watching a movie.”
“Why not the lips?” He tucked a kiss on her temple.
“Because we’re Barfs.” She giggled. “That would be gross.”
“Bee. Err. Eff.” He enunciated each letter. “One more. Rule number three. BRFs can tickle and wrestle each other every night before going to bed.”
“Except …” She turned and poked his chest. “… no touching certain body parts.”
“Certain? Sounds too vague to me.” His erection knocked hard in his jeans and he was having trouble maintaining a casual note in his voice. “You’ll have to name the exceptions, one by one, or show me.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’d think the exceptions should be obvious.” Carina trapped his left hand. “It means wherever you want to touch, you can’t.”
He moved his right hand around the small of her back and caressed her behind. She made a small gasp, still holding his left hand, as her other hand rubbed the muscles on his forearm.
Her sharp jeweled eyes, glittering like black onyx, opened wider as her mouth relaxed, inviting him to capture it. But she was the one who made the no-kissing-the-lips rule, so he’d let her suffer.
He worked his hand from her behind to the side of her waist, sweeping up her rib cage. Her eyes were still luminous, focused on him, daring him to brush her breast, maybe even roll her nipple.
The biker jacket was in the way. He lifted his eyebrow, asking permission, as he loosened it off her shoulder.
Her gaze still challenging him, she nevertheless let the jacket slip to the floor, baring her smooth, creamy shoulders.
He dipped his head and pressed his lips on her neck, eliciting a sigh as her arms went around his shoulders. Kissing a trail from her neck to her collarbone, he alternately licked and nipped her exquisitely delicate skin.
“Any more rules?” he mumbled as he gently rubbed his beard shadow over her chest.
“No, except—”
Her phone rang.
~ ~ ~
Carina whimpered, her fingers wrapped in Dylan’s hair. “I have to get it.”
“Moonlight Sonata” was her parents’ ringtone.
“It’s okay.” He backed away abruptly. “I think the omelets are getting cold.”
“Thanks.” She picked up her jacket and dug the cell phone from its pocket. “Hello?”
“Oh, thank goodness,” her mother said. “Your brother’s refusing to take his medicine. He accuses us of poisoning him.”
Carina wiped her forehead and paced to the living room. “Will he talk to me?”
“Yes, you’re always so good with him. He doesn’t understand why you’re all the way in California and can’t jump on a plane to see him. Let me get him.”
Dylan set a flute of champagne on the coffee table along with a plate of food. “I can eat in my room if you want privacy.”
“No, you stay, it’s fine.”
“Here he is,” her mother said.
“Hi Eddie,” Carina chirped. “What’s happening?”
“I’m in danger,” Eddie said breathlessly. “The spies of the Southern Barbarian King have switched my pills to poison me.”
“Oh, but Mom and Dad have killed the spies and spoken to the Moon Goddess. She will send new pills down for you tonight. But she is very lonely and wants you to be her friend. All day long, she is stuck on the moon, making pills of life, but people are ungrateful and won’t take their medicine. She’s crying and her tears are rolling like a river of moonlight. Can you look out the window and tell me what you see?”
Carina waited for Eddie to sweep aside his curtains and come back to the phone. She cupped her hand over it and said to Dylan, “My brother’s having a manic episode and won’t take his medicine. He thinks he’s the Lost Emperor of China and people are poisoning him.”
“Oh … you don’t have to explain.” Dylan rubbed her upper back. “You’re tight.”
She rolled her head. “That feels good. But I’m tired. We have a client presentation coming up next week.”
“I’m glad we had a chance to spend time together.” He nuzzled the back of her neck while both strong hands worked on her shoulders.
“Carina, I see her,” Eddie said. “She looks like you.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful.” Her voice was shaky and she bit back a moan. “Did she leave a packet of pills for you?”
Dylan nibbled her ear, his breath sending a cascade of tingles down her spine. Oh, gosh, his touch had her melting like butter, weak-kneed.
“She did, and she promised to tell me a bedtime story.” Eddie sounded happier. “I want to hear the one about the spider witch.”
Carina cupped the phone and whispered to Dylan. “He wants to hear the spider story.”
Dylan wiggled his fingers and sat b
ack on the couch. “Sit on my lap. I want to hear it too.”
~ ~ ~
“And so … once a year, the spider witch takes pity on the two lovers and weaves them a bridge of stars.” Carina slapped Dylan’s hand. “Stop it.”
“Why does the spider say that?” Eddie sounded like a petulant child, despite his manly voice.
“Oh, because the Lute Maiden wants the Traveling Bard to pluck the lute strings, not pull her hair.”
Dylan snickered. “You have any hair you want me to pluck?”
“You nasty boy.” She elbowed him.
“I promise to be good,” her brother whined. “Tell me the rest of the story.”
“It’s almost finished,” Carina said, glaring at Dylan.
He shifted and grabbed her hips, moving her bottom against his erection.
“Oopf.” She gasped as sparks sizzled throughout her body. Did he have a peg leg in there? Damn, he was bigger than all the guys she’d ever danced with.
“What does the bard do next?” her brother demanded.
“Oh, ah. The bard kisses his lovely maiden, but before he can sing her a love song, the mean spider witch dissolves the bridge of stars, and the two lovers are flung back to their separate planets to wait another year before they can see each other again. The end.”
“That’s a shitty ending,” Dylan whispered. “If I were telling the story, the hero would kill the spider witch, rescue the maiden and take her to his woodland home. They’d live happily ever after, have many children, and make love on a bed of stars at night and on a table of moss during the day.”
“Eddie, nighty night, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.” Carina ignored the big bug trying to bed her and said goodbye to her brother. Not that it was easy when her girlie parts yowled like cats in heat.
“Bye, Car. You sound tired.” Her brother yawned and hung up.
“You, Barf Boy,” Carina said, unable to resist a wiggle, “broke all the rules.”
“Girl, if you don’t stop moving, I’m going to bend you over my knee and spread those silky lips of yours, and …” His baritone voice drew a delicious shiver in her ear.
“And what?” Carina lifted her face, exposing her neck, challenging him.
Dylan’s breath rasped against her moist lips, but he lowered his eyelids and inhaled deeply through his nose. “Go ahead, break your no-kissing rule.”
Sweat moistened her upper lip. He was so close, smelling so sweet, inviting. But one kiss would lead to another, and what would stop them from going further? Could she handle it? A relationship with a player? One of thirty-one flavors?
Her heart thudded like a dirge at a funeral. She played for keeps, and Dylan Jewell was not a one-woman man. There was no way she could stand by and watch him have another woman over after sleeping with her.
“Good night, Dylan. The rule stands.”
Chapter 12
Friday evening rolled around faster than Carina expected. She hadn’t gotten out of work earlier than midnight all week, and she hadn’t seen much of Dylan other than over their morning latte. He’d been distant since she rebuffed him, and she couldn’t blame him. After all, she’d been more flirty than a roommate should have been.
Someone rapped on her cubicle partition. Carina looked up and almost choked on her spit. Rebecca was dressed in a form-fitting cocktail dress with a stretchy panel of snakeskin down the front. Champagne colored diamonds dripped from her ears and her flaming red hair was pinned up, exposing her long, elegant neck.
“Has Dylan started to trust you yet?”
“Yes, we’re getting to be friends.”
“Good, his father and I are worried about him hanging with the band. Did you know some of the members are drug dealers?”
“Well, no. I wasn’t aware,” Carina stammered.
“Be careful, okay?” She patted Carina’s desk. “Why don’t you go home early today? Let me know how Dylan’s doing. We’ll talk tomorrow about giving you a spot on the Crowns and Thrones acquisition team.”
“Sure, thanks. Have a good time,” Carina said, but Rebecca was already heading toward the elevator.
Carina glanced at the band’s website again, her stomach clenching. Nico and the gang seemed nice, and Dylan always spoke highly of them. But long term, being in a band was not a viable career option for a smart guy like Dylan.
She checked her messages as she descended the elevator and pushed through the revolving glass door behind a group of interns.
James clapped an arm around her shoulder, almost causing her to drop her phone.
“Don’t be so jumpy.” He smirked. “Hot date tonight?”
“Nope, catching up on sleep. How about you guys?”
“Models and bottles.” Daniel hooked his thumb and made a tipping motion into his mouth.
“Merger models?” Carina wasn’t sure what bottles had to do with them.
“Oh yeah,” Hal said. “Mergers and acquisitions. That’s what we’ll be doing tonight.”
“Wanna come with us?” James tightened his grip. “Except you’re not showing enough skin. That skirt’s too long.”
“It’s okay, strip off a few layers and you’ll fit right in.” Daniel pulled a flask from his briefcase. “Cognac X.O. Napoleon. That’ll get you in the mood.”
Carina unhooked James’ fingers. “You guys enjoy. I’m going to take it easy tonight.”
James touched the tip of her nose. “What are you? Too much of a prude to party with us? I-Banking is 1% technical knowledge and 99% networking and socializing.”
“My loss then.”
A black Mercedes limo pulled to the curb. Dance music spilled through the windows, and two scantily clad women popped out the door, holding champagne glasses. Their breasts bounced like silicon volleyballs, and their paint-by-number hair color came from plastic bottles sporting ice cream flavor names.
One of the women wiggled her finger at James in a come hither motion, as the other one fell back into the limo with Hal and Daniel.
“Sure you don’t want to come with us?” James tugged Carina toward the limo. “Only the most exclusive clubs with the most exclusive girls.”
Carina stormed off, utterly disgusted. If those women were models, she had a nice bridge to sell.
An hour later, Carina arrived at the downtown Berkeley BART station. She powerwalked the few blocks to her apartment. She could use some extra sleep. Hopefully Dylan wouldn’t be bringing home a “model” and digging into the condom jar. Her stomach rolled at the thought. She’d been diligently counting the condoms every morning and the count had remained the same.
Rather than wait for the elevator, Carina ascended the stairs for exercise. She slipped the key into the lock and opened the door. Ominous battlefield noises sounded at a low volume, and the living room was dark, except for the video game on the TV. Dylan sat on the couch by himself.
Carina threw her tote in the coat closet and collapsed onto the sofa. “Hey, Barf, it’s Friday night and you’re playing by yourself? What happened to the band?”
Dylan shrugged. “They’re at an engagement party.”
“Why aren’t you there?”
“Not interested.” Dylan’s eyes remained glued to the screen as his thumbs moved the video game character deftly up and down a labyrinth.
Maybe he’d had a falling out with his bandmates, or they were going on the tour without him. This could be a chance for him to get his career back on track.
“Are you still with the band?” she asked.
“Yep. They can do what they want.” He flicked his wrists and bashed the monster repeatedly with his sword.
He was in man-cave mood, and she knew better than to try and talk to him.
She picked up a spare controller. “Can I play?”
“Sure. Let me put it on two-player mode. You know how to work these?”
Carina hated to admit it, but whenever she was home, she spent hours playing with her brother.
“Yep, let me be the mage,” she said.
His half-hearted smile didn’t even make it to his cheeks, much less his somber eyes. Their characters gathered at the base of the castle and resumed the assault. Dylan, the knight, led the charge into the tunnel. After clearing the goblins and skeleton army from the cavern, they entered the chamber of the troll king.
Without warning, a red dragon swept its tail and knocked Dylan flat. As the numbers counted down on the screen, Carina raised her hands to heal him. But Dylan threw down his controller. “Forget it. Let me die.”
Whoa. He was really unhappy. She set her controller down and touched his arm. “What’s bothering you?”
“Nothing. This game’s boring.” He stared at the screen as his character died.
The hollowness in Dylan’s eyes drilled into Carina’s heart. She ached to find out what had turned the happy-go-lucky Dylan into this brooding man sitting in the dark. She picked up the remote and turned off the TV.
“Seriously, did the band break up?” Carina prodded his arm.
“No, why are you bugging me?” Dylan’s voice was tight.
“Because I care about you. Is it the engagement party they’re playing at?”
Dylan trained his sad eyes on her. “Partially.”
“Oh, no. It’s her, isn’t it? The woman who broke your heart.”
His shoulders slumped. “Are we done with all the questions?”
Carina looped her arms around him and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Remember, I’m your best roomie.”
He didn’t reply, his slow, steady breathing his only movement. Carina rubbed circles between his shoulder blades. She couldn’t pinpoint why her heart was beating so fast, or why she wanted him to feel better.
Maybe it was his sudden vulnerability that didn’t make him seem so intimidating. Maybe it was knowing another woman had done him wrong that spiked the protectiveness inside her.
Maybe it was simply Dylan.
~ ~ ~
Dylan closed his eyes and held Carina’s hand. Had she just said she cared? About him? Having her arms around him comforted him, but not at the cost of seeing him in a bad mood.
He was supposed to be the fun one. The one without any cares, whose life was about being happy. Taking a quick breath, he looped one arm around Carina.
Whole Latte Love (The Jewells) Page 12
