Warriors,Winners & Wicked Lies: 13 Book Excite Spice Military, Sports & Secret Baby Mega Bundle (Excite Spice Boxed Sets)

by Selena Kitt

  Krystal raised her eyebrows, showing her skepticism. Apparently she knew they were more than friends, but he wasn’t about to explain their complicated past. “I heard,” she said with a slight grin. Distracted by something in her purse, she pulled out her phone. “This is Lina.” She read the text. “She took a cab home.”

  “Can I use your phone to reply?”

  Krystal’s eyes widened. “Sorry, dude. I don’t think so. My roommate took off for some reason after hanging out with you.”

  “Fine,” he relented. “We kissed,” he admitted. “I must have misread the signs. Can you give me her number so I can apologize?”

  Krystal’s eyes shone with mirth. “Did you now? Well, that makes this evening a hell of a lot more interesting. And I thought the guys with chickens on their schlongs would be the highlight.” She threw her head back and laughed. “I don’t think she’d appreciate me giving out her number. Why don’t you give me yours, and she can decide.”

  “Yeah, sure.” He gave her his number, and she added it to her phone. “Can you tell her I’m sorry? I don’t know what happened.”

  “Will do, captain.” She gave him an exaggerated salute. After donning a mock serious face, she said, “I’ll make sure she gets this information and insist she call you in the morning.”

  “I get the feeling you’re mocking me. What is it you know that I don’t?”

  “Ah.” She peered off with a sly smile. “I’m not mocking you. I can’t explain how, but you’ve made my night.” She spun on her heel and strode back into the club with a light step.

  Antonio returned to the club and had another beer. He couldn’t keep his eyes on the antics on stage no matter how outrageous they became. When a pair of polka-dotted men’s boxer shorts flew by his face, he decided it was time to go home.

  The usual demons prevented him from getting much sleep that night, but insomnia was nothing new. More of a nightly companion these days. At least his body had adjusted to being able to function with little shuteye and erratic sleep patterns.

  Something besides the demons haunted him tonight. The touch of a woman he’d lost a long time ago.

  Her lips were even softer than he’d remembered, her skin like silk under his fingers. She smelled so good. Not the floral scent he associated with her, but a fruity smell that tingled his senses. She must have switched shampoo. Whatever it was still lingered in his nostrils, teasing him as a reminder of her, of something clean and pure. No matter how dirty she liked it when they’d been alone.

  He remembered the hot summer nights they’d spent going to shows. They could barely keep their hands off each other. In the club, he’d hold her close, the way he had tonight. Stroke her arms. Whisper in her ear. All the things that drove her wild. Sometimes they didn’t make it back to her place. One of his best memories was when he took her behind the club. He’d pressed her against the brick walls and pulled her panties off. She was wearing a skirt and hiked it up as he held her up and drove into her. She was so wet that night, the threat of being caught at any moment exhilarating. She moaned, louder than she should if they didn’t want to be noticed. “Shh,” he’d whispered. “Someone will hear us.”

  “I don’t care. Just fuck me. Harder.”

  “You feel so good,” he’d murmured. “Un-fucking-believable.”

  Another time, they didn’t even make it outside the club. They found a dark spot hidden behind some amps. She pulled up her skirt, granting him access to her sweet pussy, and he bent her over, taking her from behind. She was no quieter that time, but with the band playing, nobody heard her over the amplified sound except him. Her moans still echoed in his ear like a favorite song.

  He finally drifted off to sleep. The sweet taste of her soft lips imprinted on his troubled soul.

  Chapter 4

  “Holy shit bags,” Krystal declared, striding into their apartment beaming. “You little slut, you.”

  Lina had been taking refuge on our couch watching a Friends rerun while wrapped in an afghan her grandmother had knitted. “Don’t remind me,” she implored. “You don’t think I’ve been beating myself up about this?”

  Krystal plopped down next to her, pulling the chopsticks out so her dark hair spilled over her shoulders. “Beat yourself up, why? I think it’s awesome. You’re not married and dead yet.”

  “Thanks, that makes me feel better.” Lina let the sarcasm drip. “I know you equate marriage to a slow suffocating death, but some of us look at it more positively. You know, love and happy ever after and all that.”

  Krystal yanked on her high-heeled shoes, struggling to remove them. “You think they’d make these things a little more user friendly.” Once she got them off, she sat back. “What were you saying? That marriage talk always makes me snooze,” she teased. “So what’s the deal? Who is this tall, dark, brooding stranger that got your panties all ruffled? I know you kissed him. Forget TMI, I want to hear all of it. Every sick, gooey detail.”

  Lina threw a pillow at Krystal. “There’s nothing sick and gooey. It was an accident. A momentary lapse of judgment.”

  Krystal put her feet on the coffee table and glanced at the television. “Joey, got to love him. Dark, hot Italian guy. Hmm, remind you of someone?” She peered at Lina with eyes wide and a playful grin.

  “What am I going to do?” Lina burst. “Do I tell Brett?”

  “I’d say no. But if I were you, I wouldn’t take my advice in this situation.” She stood up. “I have to wash all this gunk off my face.” Her eyes widened, and she pulled out her phone. “He said he’s sorry, and he wants to apologize. Here’s his number. I promised you’d call him in the morning.”

  “Krystal!”

  * * *

  After Krystal left for spin class, Lina paced her living room, staring at Antonio’s number. Should she call?

  She bit her lip, remembering how he’d affected her, her skin burning with heated awareness under his touch. The press of his lips on hers was something she’d never forgotten. He’d always been an exquisite kisser. Not rushing or invading her mouth like some other guys she’d dated, but exploring it on a slow erotic journey—patient yet demanding until they were both breathless. When they’d embraced in the club, Lina forgot where they were, forgot all the implications involved.

  Forgot she was engaged to another man.

  It doesn’t feel this way with Brett.

  Different people have different connections, she rationalized. Sure, she and Brett didn’t have the same kind of spark that burned between her and Antonio, but they were compatible. They enjoyed each other’s company. They could be good together.

  You’d never have that passion, a voice in the back of her mind tormented her.

  She had to call Antonio and tell him it was a mistake. Explain she was engaged, and she wished him well, but she couldn’t see him again. She paced while she dialed.

  “Hello.”

  His deep, rich voice almost did her in, and she had to sit down. “Antonio, it’s me, Lina.”

  “Lina,” he repeated, her name rolling off his tongue.

  Whenever he said her name with a stronger accentuation than most people used, shivers of excitement would course through her.

  “I was hoping it was you. Hold on a sec.”

  She heard all kinds of chatter in the background, and then it became quieter.

  “I’m back.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Just getting out of church. My mom insisted I come, say hello to all the people who prayed for my soul and all that.”

  Lina laughed, picturing Antonio’s mother giving him the guilt trip. She loved that woman. Protective and perhaps a little overbearing, but it came from a good place. She cared. Her own mother, on the other hand, would never bother; she was too busy with her career, wrapped up in the world of academia as a professor at a Cambridge university. “That sounds like your mother. Tell her I said hello.”

  “I better not. She’d give me an inquisition to find out where I saw you, wh
at happened, are you married, do you have kids—you know.”

  “Ah, yeah,” Lina agreed. “Listen, the reason I called is last night—”

  “I apologize. I came on too strong. I shouldn’t have done that right after seeing you. Let me make it up to you this morning. Breakfast?”

  “I don’t think we should.”

  “How about coffee then? Let me start over the way I should have done last night, and then you can go on with your day.”

  The conversation wasn’t going the way she had planned. She meant to talk to tell him it was a mistake over the phone, not see him again. “Um—” she began while trying to come up with an answer.

  “I’ve been away for so long. Where can we get a decent cup of coffee?”

  “There’s a new coffee shop in Central Square I think you’d like.”

  “Perfect. Meet you there in half an hour? Where is it?”

  She gave him the location. After ending the call, she stared at her phone. What did she just do? She not only blurted out the info about a coffee shop, but one he specifically would like? If these damn phones were so smart, why did it encourage her to bury herself in deeper?

  When she arrived, Antonio was already seated at a booth with a large coffee. He’d probably arrived fifteen minutes early, knowing him. Her insides did back springs. She fought the mounting excitement, but when he saw her and grinned, her heart thundered all the more.

  He stood, scanning her from head to foot, sending flames racing down her spine. “You look beautiful.”

  “Thanks,” she said, questioning her decision-making skills this morning. Why had she put on this sundress? A crocheted off-white number that showed far too much skin. Because you know how it flatters your curves and shows off your tan. For the hundredth time since she’d seen him last night, she asked herself what the hell are you doing?

  “Have a seat,” he said. “I’ll get your coffee. Are you still drinking lattes?” he asked.

  “That would be great,” Lina replied.

  “Muffin? Bagel?”

  The knots tying up her stomach squelched her appetite. “Just the latte, thanks.”

  Her foot twitched as she scanned the coffee shop while Antonio placed the order. She glanced at the patrons having breakfast together or focused on their laptops. A few read newspapers. One guy talked on his phone at an obnoxious level. Her eyes returned to the area she’d been avoiding, the register, where Antonio waited to place his order. She had an excellent view of his backside. The wide shoulder blades tapering in a V-shape to his waist. The sculpted butt. The lean, sinewy legs.

  Damn, he looked fine; the four years in the Corps sculpted his muscles to primo shape. While Lina studied his fine physique, she didn’t notice him turn her way. He grinned, catching her ogling him. She glanced out the window so he wouldn’t see the flush rising to her cheeks.

  He sat in the booth across from her and slid the coffee her way. “One latte for the pretty lady in the sundress.”

  “Thanks.” She added one sugar and stirred with extra zealousness, then hid her trembling hand under the table. What was up with her nerves? “So what are you going to do now you’re a free man?”

  “Ha,” he laughed. “Are you ever free of the Corps? I’m on inactive reserves, so they could call me back.”

  “That would suck.”

  He shrugged. “It would only happen if there was a need. I knew what I signed myself up for.” He took a sip of coffee and leaned back in the bench. “But to answer your question, I’m going to school in September. Work part-time and use the G.I. Bill. I’m living with my folks until I can find a place. I saved some money, so I’ll look for a car, too.”

  “What school are you going to?”

  “Northeastern. I got accepted into their engineering/co-op program. I start in September.”

  “That’s cool.”

  “What about you?” The way his eyes bore into hers was so intense, she had to resist quavering.

  She sat up straighter. “I graduated from UMass Boston in May, but I’m starting a graduate program at Lesley University this fall.”

  “Congratulations,” he said. “Nursing?”

  “Thanks. And no. I switched to education my sophomore year.” After they’d split and she went through a prolonged period of self-evaluation.

  “You’re going to be a teacher?”

  “I’d like to.” She took a sip. Focusing on her coffee meant she didn’t have to fight the heat that built inside when she looked into those deep dark eyes.

  “My brother ended up becoming a teacher in the city.”

  “Did he? That’s great.” Still avoiding eye contact, she became more aware of his voice, dark rich velvet that ignited the embers within. “What does he teach?”

  “English or composition or something. High school kids. You should talk to him if you’re interested in teaching in Boston.”

  “Maybe I will. Thanks.”

  “What grade are you hoping to teach?”

  She glanced at him at last. When she caught him staring back at her with obvious interest, she forgot what she was about to say. Could he really be here sitting with her in a café? After all this time, she doubted she’d ever see him again. Now that she did, long buried emotions bubbled to the surface, reminding her of a time when he was the center of her world. And when he’d left it…

  She swallowed and forced her brain back to the question. “Middle school if I can. When I did my observations, I was fascinated by the social dynamics. Many people shy from that age group, but it’s such an impressionable time. It’s an opportunity to reach them, maybe the last real chance before they’ve claimed their identity.” She heard herself babbling, but couldn’t stop. If she kept talking, maybe she could ignore the sparks that had ignited right in her core. “I did my student teaching at a middle school and loved it.”

  His intense stare burned through her, so penetrating, and so damn unnerving.

  “I think you’d be fantastic at it,” he declared.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” She took another sip and clutched the mug, focusing on the heat on her hands. Anything but his eyes.

  “I’d never have a doubt when it comes to you.”

  When she glanced up, his eyes still probed hers. She shuffled her feet and adjusted in her seat.

  “You’re great with people,” he added. “Great with kids.”

  “Not like you. You always had a way to reach the kids you coached. You think you might volunteer with them again?”

  His gaze drifted off. “Hadn’t crossed my mind.” He glanced at her again with one of his irresistible grins. “Got enough going on right now. They say the readjustment is as tough as the initial shock of entering the military. If not more so.”

  When he captured her gaze again, her brain fizzled. The hold he had on her clearly hadn’t dissipated with time. She had to do something to squelch the rising heat between them. “Listen, about last night,” she began.

  “I apologize. I was out of line.”

  “I was just as much to blame,” she admitted. “But, I didn’t want it to lead you on. A lot has happened in three years. We can’t pick up where we left off.”

  “I know. It was out of habit, I guess. Being in the club with you again, having you close. It seemed natural. What can I say, old habits die hard.”

  The tension embedded in her shoulder blades ebbed away. “Rock hard,” she added with a smile.

  While they drank coffee, she asked him what it was like in Afghanistan. He told her stories of living in the desert, the people he’d met who were the most hospitable people he’d ever encountered. Even though they had next to nothing, they’d share whatever food they had with guests.

  “And the stars,” he said. “It was incredible. We slept many nights under the stars. The desert could get frigid, cold like you wouldn’t believe. We usually had cold weather gear so we’d be good. You’d look up and see a blanket of stars.”

  Lina listened, enraptured by his sto
ries. “You’ve seen so much. Met so many people while I’ve been here all these years. I envy you that.”

  He uttered one word. “Don’t.”

  Her curiosity bloomed. What he’d gone through the past few years, she couldn’t begin to imagine. “Why do you say that?”

  “I only told you the good stories…” His voice trailed off.

  The haunted look in his eyes drove a dagger through her heart. She wanted to comfort him somehow, soothe his pain, but didn’t know where to begin. “People you’ve lost?”