“Well, have you used these?”
“No.” Her voice carried loudly and vehemently.
Products all arranged to his satisfaction, he tucked the empty box under the table and started browsing. “Why would anyone want edible underwear?” He shook the box and sniffed it. “I mean, it’s not like you’d wear them all day. You would only put them on in the heat of the moment, and wouldn’t that sort of kill the spontaneity of the whole thing? Like here, go put these on so I can eat them off…and how can these possibly be one size fits all? That doesn’t make any sense.”
Ashley came clicking back into the room and slapped a cheese and crackers tray down on the coffee table. “Lucas Manning, some things don’t make sense, all right? They just don’t. People do them because they’re fun. F-U-N. Fun. Got it? Because it’s silly and sexy and exciting to do something crazy and maybe even stupid when you’re attracted to someone. Can you understand that?”
Oh, hell yeah, he could understand that. Because he was attracted to her and about to do something crazy and even stupid.
“So if I pulled up your shirt and smeared this peach powder across your nipples, it would be fun?”
Ashley closed her eyes for a split second. Oh, Lord, help her. He was so smart, yet so damn dumb when it came to common sense. He had no idea that you couldn’t just run around discussing touching a woman’s nipples and not expect them to harden. Like hers just had.
Which was ridiculous. Lucas was talking about her nipples in a purely scientific manner. He was trying to understand the logic behind romance enhancing products, and she was pretty sure there just wasn’t any. And in the meantime, he had somehow managed to arouse her.
It must be all the aphrodisiacs in the room. The power of suggestion. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Lucas, whose smiles were so infrequent as to attract notice, and whose hair looked like he’d forgotten to comb it for a week solid. But in all fairness, Lucas was a very good-looking guy. Who suddenly when she wasn’t looking had sprouted to over six feet tall and broadened out a bit.
“In theory, yes, that would be fun, given the right circumstances.” She put a hand on her stomach, as if she could press the alarming heat out of her womb.
“What would those circumstances be?”
She barely heard the question, frozen in place watching him unscrew the lid on the jar and pull out the little feather duster applicator. “Well, it would be if two people were settling in for a night of making love. I don’t think you’d want to rush through this kind of foreplay.”
His brown eyes pierced hers in concentration as he closed the two feet between them. “So, you wouldn’t want to just smear it on the nipples then? You’d want to start maybe with the shoulder.”
The brush touched her skin and she shivered. He moved it gently back and forth over her shoulder while she tried to find the willpower to step away. But before she could even think to react, his tongue was on her, sliding in little swirls around and around before his mouth dropped down completely over her in a wet embrace and he sucked.
She almost fell off her stilettos she was so shocked. “Lucas!”
“No, the shoulder isn’t right?” The feather dabbed her neck, close to her collarbone. “Maybe here, then?”
And dang it if he didn’t start licking and sucking there too, until she was curling her toes and fisting her hands and tilting her head back. He didn’t touch her anywhere else, and her body started to strum and hum and ache for attention.
Which was just so wrong. This was Lucas. He had seen her with braces and acne and bad hair. This was Lucas, who she loved absolutely, in a pure sisterly sort of way. She’d do anything for Lucas.
Apparently even let him experiment with her body for the sake of sexual science.
A shaky sigh fell out of her mouth before she could stop it.
Maybe this was ecstasy envy. She hadn’t had sex in eight months, since her last boyfriend had moved to Chicago for a better job opportunity. He hadn’t suggested they keep in touch and she hadn’t been all that broken up. Chad wasn’t the brightest bulb in the pack and his jokes had become wearing after a while.
Not that she wanted to date someone smart, like a genius, who would make her feel inadequate, like she had her whole life, growing up with a super-intelligent brother. But she didn’t want to date someone dumb either. She’d settle for a happy medium.
Since Kindra was engaged and her friend Violet was seriously dating someone, she knew they were both getting it on a regular basis. Maybe this bizarre arousal was just her body’s way of reminding her that she was heading into her peak sexual years and this wasn’t the time to neglect it.
Lucas dusted powder on her chin and sucked. She grabbed his arms for balance and tried not to be turned on. His whiskers rubbed against her cheek and his hair tickled her nose and his tongue started shifting upward and, damn, she was turned on.
Especially when his finger tapped her bottom lip, depositing powder on it. The peachy fragrance drifted up to her nostrils, and without thinking her tongue darted out and licked a tiny bit. It melted in her mouth in a juicy sweet river.
“No, I’m supposed to taste it,” Lucas murmured against the corner of her mouth.
Then he was rolling his tongue across her moist lip, clear from one side to the other, making little sounds of approval at the taste. Ashley’s fingers curled tighter in his shirtsleeves and her breath jerked out of her in little ragged bursts.
She wasn’t sure what was happening, wasn’t sure why she was letting Lucas lap at her like a dog with a bowl of water, but oh my, it felt so good, and no matter how loud her brain screamed, her feet weren’t walking her away.
Suddenly he shifted, and he was kissing her. Just plain and simple kissing her, his lips locked over hers and his tongue doing reconnaissance in her mouth. The sweet peachy powder still clung to both of their tongues and the embrace was hot, wet, exciting, full of heat and passion.
When Lucas finally pulled back, she heard a great lusty sigh emerge from her own mouth. Lucas’s eyes were dark, half closed, his lips shiny. But he simply said, “The peach is definitely better than the chocolate.”
Ashley relinquished her death hold on his shirt and tried to take a step back. She hit the table with her backside, wobbling on her stilettos and upsetting the display of disco vibrators. Whirling around, she placed the yellow, blue, and red vibrators with flashing chaser lights back to the original position. Her cheeks were flushed and hot.
“So I should push the peach then?” she managed, hoping her voice didn’t warble.
Here Lucas had just been curious, like he always was, and she had gone all weak in the knees and wet in her panties.
“Definitely.”
Then she could hear packaging tearing and she was forced to turn around in exasperation. “What are you opening now? This stuff was expensive.”
“But you need some things opened for demos, right? More customers will buy if they can taste, touch, and try the product. These lotions are perfect for that.” He held up a little jar he’d pulled out of the box. “This stuff is supposed to heat your skin and tingle.”
If he tried to pull up her shirt and touch her nipple with that crap, she was going to scream. He was starting to unnerve her. Maybe he was so elevated intellectually that he could isolate his brain from his penis, but she wasn’t on quite such a higher plane. He was making her horny.
Since he had no intention of having sex with her and she had no intention of having sex with her little brother’s best friend, at the end of the night he was going to leave her hot and aroused, with no one but rubber ducky for company.
And no matter how naughty and inventive the Pleasure Party ducky was, nothing beat a real man covering you.
“And your samplers can be for personal use as well then.”
Lucas reached out for her and she yelled, “Don’t!”
But he was only turning her wrist over and rubbing the cream into the soft skin at the bottom of her palm. “D
on’t what?”
“Uh…don’t get it on my skirt, please.” She was aware that sounded lame, but her brain had stopped working. Never in her entire life had she suspected her wrist could be sexy.
But the way Lucas was stroking it with the pad of his thumb, in little floating circles, was oddly, incredibly sensual.
“Is it getting hot? Tingling?”
“Yes. Very hot. Everything is hot and tingling,” she whispered.
All over every part of her she was hot and tingling and starting to think something was wrong with her, and damn, damn, was he going to kiss her again?
His body moved closer to hers.
The doorbell rang. Ashley jumped back two feet. “Oh, shit, someone’s here!”
But she was secretly relieved, even if her show wasn’t completely set up yet.
Another split second and she might have been doing some serious cradle robbing.
Three
Lucas watched Ashley bolt down the stairs like her skirt was on fire.
He knew the feeling. His pants felt capable of melting steel—twenty-five hundred degrees Fahrenheit was all that was needed, and he was certain he had achieved it.
Oh, man, he sure hoped he knew what the hell he was doing here. He didn’t want to ruin his relationship with Ashley, but he couldn’t stand by any longer and pretend he didn’t care about her in a way that wasn’t even remotely brotherly.
If he tried to tell her his feelings and she rejected him, well, hopefully it wouldn’t affect their friendship. But this way—this waiting, this wanting, this ache—he couldn’t live like this. He had to know if there was any chance, however remote, that Ashley might be attracted to him in return.
So far, she looked a little confused. But she wasn’t balking at his overtures either.
And if he wasn’t mistaken, she had enjoyed that kiss.
The feeling was mutual. Tasting her tongue had about seared his clothes right off his body.
Ashley came back up the stairs, her heels clicking on the hardwood floors. Her friend Kindra was with her, wearing shorts and a tank top, her auburn hair back in a ponytail.
“Oh, hey, Lucas.”
“Hi, Kindra. How’s it going?”
“Good.” Kindra set her purse down on the floor. “Except I’m so ready for my wedding to be over. Just done and over. My advice to everyone and anyone is to skip the wedding and elope.” She glanced at the tables of products. “But I also figure if Mack and I can survive planning this wedding from hell without killing each other, then we can make it through anything.”
“Well, I hope it all goes well for you.” Lucas put the lid back on the peach powder and returned the jar to its box. He was tempted to take it home with him, but it didn’t make sense to remove it from the source of its true enticement—Ashley.
Ashley got him hot, not the powder.
“Are you staying for the party, Lucas?” Kindra asked.
“No!” Ashley said, horror in her voice. Then she tucked her blond curls behind her ear and cleared her throat. “Men can’t be at these parties. It’s company policy.”
“That’s logical,” Kindra said. “Otherwise it could have the potential to dissolve into an orgy.”
Lucas tried to picture it, but couldn’t. “Your friends must be more exciting than mine.”
Kindra laughed.
“Lucas was helping me set up, but now he’s leaving. Right, Lucas?” Ashley gave him a bright smile, a warning in her eyes.
He stared back. “Right. I’ll get out of your hair. But I’m coming back after the party to do some shopping. There are a few things I’d like to try—hands-on.”
Ashley’s jaw dropped. Then she glanced at Kindra, who wasn’t even really listening to them. She was fingering a black silk blindfold.
“Lucas has this need to know how everything works. Bikes, microwaves, edible underwear—” Ashley broke off, her hand on her chest. Her cheeks were stained pink.
She was blushing. And babbling. Lucas figured that was a good sign. If she wasn’t interested in him at all, she would have just told him to knock it off and taken the lotion away from him.
Instead, she looked confused.
“I’ll see you later then. I’ll give you a call to make sure everyone has left.” He started for the stairs.
“Okay.”
Lucas shot a long lingering look at that purple tickle-whip as he walked by it. He could really, really see the appeal in that. Brushing that feather over Ashley’s breasts…he glanced back at her over his shoulder.
He definitely had the need to see how that worked.
Ashley broke out in a sweat.
Holy smokes, Lucas had just checked out the tickle-whip. She was sure of it. He had stared at it, then at her. Like he was picturing using it.
On her.
Oh, my.
She didn’t move until the front door downstairs slammed shut, then she collapsed on her bright blue sofa. There was sweat on her inner thighs. Sweat on her goddamn inner thighs. Maybe her air-conditioning was broken.
“Is it hot in here, Kindra?”
“No.” Kindra shook the box of edible underwear then put it back down. “Unless you count the sexual tension between you and Lucas. That was hot enough to melt chocolate.”
Ashley fanned herself. “There is no sexual tension between Lucas and me! He’s my little brother’s best friend. My little brother, who is a genius, by the way. And Lucas is his genius friend. Who is only twenty-five years old. Way too young for me, way too smart for me, even if I were interested, which I’m not.”
She was protesting too much. She knew it and winced.
Kindra raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you poor thing. Suffering from sexual tension and delusions.”
Was she? She certainly felt delusional. Like she had dreamed that erotic kiss they had shared.
“Just a little friendly advice…why don’t you just go for it? You like Lucas, don’t you?”
“As a person, yes, of course I do. We grew up together. He’s a very sweet, honest guy. I love him like a brother.” Which made her current feelings sick and incestuous.
“Maybe there’s more to those feelings than that. You’re not the kind to just sleep with a guy for the heck of it, and Lucas doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to do that either. So maybe there’s something really there and you should explore it.” Kindra picked up a vibrator and waved it around. “I don’t think Lucas is really all that interested in sex toys. I think he’s interested in you. That’s why he’s coming back here tonight.”
Oh, damn, he was coming back, wasn’t he. She honestly wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “You know, the problem with your friends getting married is that they suddenly think they know everything about relationships. Just because you and Mack are happy nesting in your house with your poodle doesn’t mean the rest of us are looking for that.”
Kindra laughed. “That may be true. But if love and marriage were there, you wouldn’t say no to them, would you?”
No, she supposed she wouldn’t. But the thought of love and marriage at all, let alone in relation to Lucas—well, it gave her hives. She literally itched and ached to get out of her own skin.
“And you can’t tell me you aren’t completely preoccupied thinking about Lucas, because you haven’t even once mentioned how you hate my outfit, which is usually the first thing you say when you see me.”
Well, now that Kindra mentioned it. “Those shorts do look kind of outdated, Kindra. They go practically to your knees.”
“My fiancé doesn’t seem to mind my clothes.” She grinned. “Though truthfully, he prefers me in no clothes at all. And given the look on Lucas’s face, I bet he would love to see you naked.”
The doorbell rang. Ashley stood up, relieved to escape any conversation that mentioned love, nudity, and Lucas in the same sentence. “Sometimes it’s better to leave things a mystery.”
Kindra cleared her throat, a smile on her face. “And sometimes the real thing, with a man who adores
you, is better than any sex toy could ever be.”
Ashley couldn’t dispute that. “I’m not arguing with you Kindra, but before I can even consider falling in love and start planning my own wedding from hell, I need to sell some sex toys and get my credit card debt down into the single digits. And even if I did fall in love and get married, it wouldn’t be with Lucas.”
She didn’t think. It would be highly unlikely. Even if she did already love Lucas, it wasn’t love. Or was it?
The thought had her rushing down the stairs too quickly, stumbling, and nearly breaking her neck before she skidded to a stop at the front door. She threw the door open. “Hi! Thank you so much for coming.”
The next ten minutes were spent answering the door and giving greetings. Then Ashley was knee-deep in her demos, passing lotions and candles around for her friends to smell.
It should have been enough of a distraction to turn her mind from Lucas. Instead, it only made it worse. With every laugh, every bawdy remark someone made, every product she picked up, she thought about Lucas and his strange, arousing behavior.
It didn’t help that her brother Jason’s girlfriend, Hope, was there, showing an incredibly inappropriate amount of interest in every single item. Hello. Boyfriend’s sister here. Didn’t Hope know that she was getting all sorts of gross mental images?
Of course she had invited the girl, but she had just thought Hope would come along and buy some shaving cream out of charity. Her brother’s girlfriend was a medical student, aspiring to be a surgeon. She wore glasses. She wasn’t supposed to be coveting a book on sexual positions.
Ashley’s friend Trish was glancing through the book with Hope. “Ooh, that’s a good one.”
“Done it already,” Hope said.
“No kidding?” Respect crept into Trish’s voice.
Bile rose in Ashley’s mouth. She turned and grabbed her glass of wine.
“It’s the scientist in Jason,” Hope continued. “He likes to try and defy gravity.”
Eeew! She so did not want to know that about her brother. And God, did that mean Lucas would be the same way? Huh. Now that was kind of sexy.
Bad Boys Over Easy Page 2
