by Riley Murphy
Recovering quickly, he cupped his hands under her bottom and grinned. He loved how her lashes were stuck together in a series of sooty black triangles. “I want to know everything.”
She tilted her head and looked skyward for a moment and then pinned him with a stare that took his breath his away. Worse, she shifted herself against him in such a way as to create better contact. “How about I give you the short version?”
He nodded, hoping he didn’t swallow his tongue. That better contact was a killer.
“I was one of those girls in school that other girls hated. I was moderately smart. I excelled at sports and I always had the latest fashions. If there was a new kind of anything that came on the market, I had it.”
He blinked not sure what to make of all that.
“Only child. Rich parents.” She looked away. “What can I say? I was lucky.”
It was just a small thing really, her little shrug, but it was enough for him to know that her statement about being lucky was bullshit. Gripping her tighter he pulled her in closer until she turned back to look at him. “Tell me, darlin’,” he whispered. “What don’t you have? That’s what I want to know.”
“What do you mean?”
He tilted his head and searched her face. Unwilling to let her escape. “I mean, if you were a spoiled rich kid you’d have everything you want and yet, I don’t think you do. What is it that you don’t have, but you know that you want? Right now. Today.”
She stared at his shoulder. “I...ah…”
“You can tell me.” He kept his head angled and waited for her to look at him. When she did his pulse picked up speed. He’d thought she’d say something, like she’d been denied owning a dog or her parents wouldn’t let her ride on a motorcycle, but judging by the solemn gleam in her eyes, this was serious. Maybe he shouldn’t press her. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“I-I don’t—” she took a deep breath in and let it out in a rush, “—have a guy like you.”
Now his heart hammered in time with his pulse. She couldn’t be for real. When he saw how mortified she was his heart went out to her. But, hot damn, knowing he was her choice when she could have said a Maserati or a trip to the moon even, made him want to beat his chest in animalistic victory. “You don’t?” He intimately squeezed her ass, so she knew he was definitely interested in helping her out with that problem. “How is it that even possible?”
“You don’t meet the criteria.”
Huh. Here he’d thrown that question out to get some more ego stroking and look at what happened?
She let go of the pool edge with one hand and was now twirling her fingers in the hair at his nape. Tilting her head to one side as she watched the curl twist over and over. Damn, for a woman who’d just said he was unsuitable she certainly wasn’t acting like it.
“I don’t?”
Her hand stilled and she leaned back. “No, you have a strong chin and a weak one is required.” Her eyes roved over his shoulders, devouring them. “And you’ve got muscles. Big, big muscles.”
He almost laughed. She was so transparent. It was as if a huge thought bubble popped up over her head that said, “And I want a piece of them.”
She blinked and he doubted she even knew she was now stroking his pec. “And, if you don’t have a fancy last name, belong to the local country club or possess a ridiculously large bank account, then you’re off the list.”
His heart sank. “Those are things that are important to you?”
“To me?” She stopped mid-stroke and shook her head. “God, no.” Letting go of the edge with her other hand, she placed both her palms on his shoulders. “To my parents. I almost made them happy with Ken, but after he came back from his trip of self-discovery,” she leaned in and whispered loudly, “backpacking in Belize by himself and he was weaker than he went?” She leaned back. “I had to put my foot down. I don’t mind a guy who cries once and a while, but over a sunset? I can’t say I’m a fan of that since, as you know, we have a lot of beautiful sunsets in Florida. He’d be crying every night.”
“He cried?” She had to be joking. “Over that?”
Her head dropped back and she laughed. Damn, it was good seeing her laugh. It made him feel as if he’d accomplished something big. Maybe he had because he was beginning to suspect that Sidney Capp wasn’t a woman who’d had much laughter in her life. Kind of odd given her quirky angels.
“Okay, so Ken is out of the picture. Are you in a relationship now?”
“No.”
He found it interesting that she didn’t ask him the same thing.
“Oh, and what you did before? That’s another thing that gets you axed off their list.”
“What?”
“Cussing.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been spending a lot of time with guys up at the house and well, they speak a different English up there.”
“Don’t be sorry.” She was back to twirling that piece of his hair. Staring into his eyes. Stripping him with her look. “I love to hear you speak like that. It’s natural and—”
He didn’t let her finish because he needed a taste of her now.
Sidney’s heart beat so hard she was sure he’d hear it. Butterflies took off in her stomach and she wanted to melt all over him. The way he kissed her was like they’d done this a thousand times before. There was no hesitancy on his part. No pausing or gauging while he stopped to think about what to do next. He didn’t ask for permission. That’s what got her bell ringing. Finally she was in the arms of a take-charge man.
“Hey, darlin’, open your eyes.”
Her heart still raced and the butterflies hadn’t let up any. The combination was intoxicating. “I don’t want to,” she whispered.
“Why?”
Slowly her lids opened and she met his steady gaze before answering, “I don’t want you to disappear. Not before…ah…”
He quirked a brow and grinned. “Sounds like you have plans for me. Care to share?”
Care to share? Why did he have to go and say that? That was what her dad always asked when she stared off thinking about doing something she probably shouldn’t be doing.
That hit her like a bucket of ice on a sunbather.
Had she really thought she could hook up with the best looking guy on the planet for no other reason than to have sex with him?
Of course she had. One look at Riker and she realized Mother Teresa would have been tempted. But Mother Teresa only had God to answer to for her transgressions. Sidney had her parents.
“I had plans, but I don’t think I can go through with them now.” She tried to slide off him.
“Oh no. You don’t get to leave me that easily,” he said and held on tight. “What kind of plans did you have?”
As disappointed as she was, she wanted to get this over with quick. Man, there better be some more Twizzlers in the snack drawer. She was going to need them tonight. “I shouldn’t say.”
“Come on.”
“They were bad.”
“Bad is right up my alley.”
How could she resist. When he was relaxed like he was now and holding her hostage, which was better than anything in the whole world, it was as if she weren’t herself. Regular old Sidney Capp would never have the nerve to say, “I was going to take you up to my place and seduce you.”
His eyes darkened and his expression went from teasing to totally serious. The transformation made her gulp.
“You don’t have to take me upstairs to do that.”
“No?”
He shook his head. That answer combined with his killer smile put her at ease and made her want to smile back. Throw in the fact that he was naked except for the shorts? And suddenly she knew she’d traverse the burning embers of hell crawling on hands and knees for one chance with a guy like him. But in order for that to happen she’d have to put the guilt aside so she could take her shot. “I know we’re alone in the complex, but I can’t seduce you out here.” She
turned away, looking for a plausible avenue to drag him out of the pool without seeming too desperate.
“Darlin’,” his voice skated over her like silk over glass and when she turned back his heated look stopped her cold, “you already have.”
“Wh—?”
She didn’t get to finish that thought because he kissed her again. Only this time it was raw and consuming. Epic. The kind of kiss between people in the movies. She tasted his need. It coursed through her like sun-warmed honey. Sweet, smooth and enveloping. Simple and yet so complex.
With one hand speared in his hair she used that anchor to shimmy up higher against him, yanking and pressing, wanting more. When he gave it to her, her body came alive, reacting to his and soon she was afraid if she moved she’d ruin this rarity. This had never happened to her before. Tingles lit in her center and spread, creating a warm and sensual pulse-beat between her legs.
Before she knew it, he’d walked them out of the pool as water fell off them. The sound of his feet slapping against the cool deck got her attention. She tore her mouth away and breathed, “Where are we going?”
He jostled her around his slick torso until she was in piggy back position. “To my place so we can discuss your plans.”
She tried not to look. She didn’t want any reminders. But like the proverbial car wreck, she stared and when he bypassed the second floor and she spied the welcome mat her mother had given her she squeezed her eyes shut. “I shouldn’t be doing this.”
“No?” He paused in the middle of the staircase. “Do you want me to take you home?”
Say yes. Be a good girl and say yes so you can return to your lonely apartment and watch other people doing all the things you want to do.
“No.”
Chapter Five
Riker kicked the door shut with his foot and put her down. “Stay right here.”
“No worries. I won’t get any water on your ceramic.”
“My ceramic?” He grinned. Noticing a piece of her wet hair sticking up, he reached out to adjust it. Then he couldn’t help following the length down to the point where it came to rest just above her breast. Only an inch away from her hardened nipple that poked firmly against the sheen of spandex. One look and he itched to run his knuckles over it so badly he had to step back. “I don’t care about the tile, darlin’, I just don’t want you to slip. I’ll go get us something to dry ourselves with. Then we can talk.”
He grabbed two fluffy terry beach towels. Throwing one over his shoulder, he shook the other out with two sharp snaps. “Here.”
She let him wrap the thirsty cloth around her without a fuss so he took full advantage. He brought her in close, rubbing the sides of her arms first and then the length of her back from shoulder to butt. Making sure to keep the front of her plastered against him.
“Better?”
She nodded and smiled up at him. “Yeah, it’s freezing in here.” She gave a mock shiver and added, “Thanks.”
That overwhelming urge to drag her to him and kiss her senseless was back. He ached to see if she’d go all soft and pliant again like she had in the pool, but her earlier words as they came up the stairs bothered him. “I like it frosty. Are you warm enough?”
“Um hm.”
“Good.” He turned and headed to one of the kitchen barstools. Pulling it out, he sank down and laid his towel over his thighs. He told himself it mean extra warmth for her when he got her on his lap, but closer to the truth was that it was an extra layer between her and him and what he was dying to do with her. “Come here.” When she did, he turned her just before he pulled her up on him.
“Now.” Settling her so her back was against his chest, he used the excess from his towel to cover her legs and dipped down to ask, “Why shouldn’t you be doing this?”
“Guilt.”
She fiddled with the edge of the terry while an elegant foot, tipped with sparkly pink polish, swung out in a less than elegant bop. He could tell she wanted to say more, but was holding back. Hooking a finger under her chin, he lifted until she twisted and their eyes locked.
“Just about your parents, or…?”
Her cheeks bloomed in a stunning pink that rivaled her polish. “I should probably just come clean about all my nefarious plans.”
He smiled. Nefarious? He highly doubted that.
“This is the first weekend my parents aren’t around to check in on me. They went to meet friends at our beach house in the Keys, but I couldn’t go with them because I had to look after the complex for Martha. So this was going to be my first taste of freedom. Without them or a boyfriend of their choosing breathing down my neck, you know?”
He didn’t since he’d pretty much been on his own from the age of sixteen but he nodded anyway. “Sure.”
She bumped her shoulder against his chest and said, “But then you showed up in the laundry room handing out invites and I was all drunk with power. I started making plans and talking myself into things. Thinking I could go through with them. I am an adult, after all.”
“You are.”
“I’m twenty-four,” she rushed to assure him when she looked up again. “Almost twenty-five. And I’ve always been a goodie-two-shoes. Do you know how exhausting that is? Especially when it doesn’t come naturally?” She shook her head. “Anyways, the point I’m trying to make here is that I’d love to hook up with you and have one really dirty, and I mean totally filthy, night-I’d-never-forget kind of sex with you but I can’t. I already live with guilt over hiding one bad thing I do from them.” She leaned up and whispered close to his ear, “Let’s just say they’d die if they found out about that one. I can’t add a one night stand to the list, because then it would become a list. Does that make sense?”
He opened his mouth to answer but she was faster and beat him to it.
“I shouldn’t be telling you all this. It’s not your problem. I’m sorry.”
Here again he had to corral her. “Hang on a minute. You don’t get to leave. At least not before I say something about this.”
“You probably think I’m jerk. Twenty-four and I’m still scared of my parents.” She stopped fidgeting and if he weren’t mistaken she was currently holding her breath.
“You’re not a jerk.” He heard the air rush out of her lungs and he frowned. “So, why are you afraid of them?”
“I think afraid is the wrong word. I’m in awe of them. Yeah, that’s a better explanation. I don’t want to disappoint them. They have this great relationship. They are both successful, and if I want to be a part of their team, I have to live up to that, you know? Find the right guy that fits.”
“I see.” He figured this had something to do with her being the only child. “They have high expectations for you I’m guessing?”
“Oh yeah. My dad has only approved of one guy I ever brought home. And man, do I curse the day I made that huge mistake.”
“The sunset crier?”
“Yup.” She hugged the towel tighter. “Don’t get me wrong. Ken’s an okay guy but definitely for someone else. It’s just that Mom and Dad don’t see this. They absolutely love him. Dad kind of helped him get his insurance license and a job with one of the biggest carriers in Florida.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
More than she knew. When she looked up he nodded. “They want the best for their girl. A man who has a good and stable job so he can take care of her.”
“Exactly.” It was her turn to nod. “But I don’t want to marry him and they can’t expect me to just because they love him. Wow, now that I think about it, I should speak to someone about my parent problem. Their expectations of me are ruining my life.”
“You could look at that way.”
She tilted her head back. “I hear an or hanging there.”
“Or maybe you could stop worrying about what they think and do what you want to do instead.”
She blinked and then scowled. “Yeah, no. I thought we covered that. Nefarious plans, remember? Normally what I
have in mind to do is bad.”
“According to who?”
Now her eyes widened. “Everyone.”
“Not everyone, darlin’.” He gave her a squeeze and reminded her, “I happen to love bad.”
She sat up so straight she almost fell off his lap, but he was fast and caught her before she slid off him. “Whoa. What’s the matter?”
“When your voice goes husky like that it—I—it makes me breathless.”
Breathless? Right on. “What’s so bad about that?”
“Do you want the clinical answer? The lack of blood to my brain makes me want to forget about being a good girl.”
“Whose version of good?” She continued to look at him. Frowning, but she didn’t answer, so he added, “As in, your parents’ idea of a good girl or mine?”
Her frown deepened as though she were really, really paying attention. “There’s a difference?”
“Oh yeah.” He curled down and rubbed his nose against her forehead before he pulled back. “Where your parents want you to be a happy well-adjusted daughter who behaves accordingly, I’d want you to be a happy well-adjusted woman who doesn’t behave according to anyone but herself.”
That thought bubble was back over her head, and if he was reading the byline correctly, it said eureka.
“I’ve grown up. Moved out of their house and started making a life for myself, but I’m still living by their rules.”
“It’s not unusual. Although normally in college the umbilical cord gets chopped freshman year.”
“I went to Florida State.”
Even though she was staring at his chin he winced, “Too close, huh?”
She looked up. “Yes.” She searched his face. “Wow, I need to start pleasing myself.”
And judging by her look he knew what, or more precisely who, was going to be the first on her list to do that with.
