Thermal Dynamics (Nerds of Paradise Book 5)

by Merry Farmer

  “Hi,” Sandy repeated, her smile growing. He might have been in a crappy mood, but she obviously wasn’t.

  Then again, his mood was improving in a hurry.

  “Everything okay?” he asked. “How’s your dad?”

  “He’s doing much better today,” she said with genuine joy. “He still has to take it easy for a bit, but Mom is determined to beat him into shape.”

  “Glad to hear it.” He nodded, smiling in spite of himself.

  He had a lot to smile about. Sandy looked good. Far more relaxed than the other day, although he did detect more than a little tension hanging over her. Her thick hair was pulled back in a braid instead of the sophisticated chignon she usually wore, and her face bore only a hint of lipstick. She was dressed in a fashionable sundress and wore her trademark heels, though. Best of all, her skin had a sun-kissed, spicy glow to it, especially where the v-neck of her dress showed off the generous swell of her breasts.

  As soon as he realized he was staring at her cleavage, he also realized they were standing there in silence.

  “You gonna invite me in?” Sandy teased. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

  He definitely wouldn’t. Although his head, his heart, and his dick all reached that conclusion for different reasons. He grinned and rolled his eyes at himself, then stepped back and extended an arm to invite her into his apartment.

  “I haven’t been up here in months,” she said as she entered. She drew in a deep breath. “God, I love the way this place smells.”

  “Would that be the perfume of cooking oil and coriander from my misguided attempts to cook like my mom used to?”

  “Yes,” she answered without a hint of sarcasm. “You’re a better cook than you think,” she told him, pivoting to face him.

  Jogi shut the door and moved slowly to join her. “Is that why you’re here in the middle of a Sunday afternoon? To tempt me to cook for you?”

  He was trying to keep the mood light, but her face pinched with discomfort. Great. Things were going downhill already.

  “Jogi, I came to apologize,” she said.

  And just like that, maybe they weren’t. He shrugged. “Apologize for what?” If it was for the way she broke down at the hospital, he would have to lecture her on how it was okay to need a shoulder to cry on in a crisis.

  Instead, she answered, “For a lot of things.”

  The wry glance she sent him through her deliciously curled eyelashes filled him with curiosity. “Like what?”

  She bit her lip, sighed, and walked over to lean against the back of his sofa. Jogi watched her every move, then rushed to the sofa himself to turn off the video game so that he wouldn’t be distracted.

  “I messed things up between us,” she said. “You have no idea how much I regret that.”

  Jogi’s heart sped up. She had tried to apologize to him for something right before she got the phone call about her dad. Was this a continuation of the same apology? It would have been smooth if he could think of just the right thing to say to make her feel more at ease getting whatever it was off her chest, but once again, he was tongue-tied.

  Sandy seemed to sense that, and it clearly made her nervous. She fiddled with the trim along the top of his sofa with one hand, eyes glued to her fiddling. “I like being in charge,” she said. “It’s why I became a lawyer. I like debating. I like winning.” She glanced up and met his eyes with a wavering smirk. “I’m sure you figured that out about me.”

  “Uh, yeah.” He crossed his arms, wondering where things were going.

  She chewed her lip again and lowered her eyes. “It’s hard for me to figure out when to be Sandy the lawyer and when to, well, stop.”

  “Understandable.” Although what wasn’t as understandable was why listening to Sandy confess her shortcomings was pushing all the right buttons in him. Instinct told him to take her in his arms, though whether to comfort her, kiss her, or dance with her remained to be seen.

  She shook herself and stood. “I don’t know what I was thinking after the orienteering event. I knew I wanted you, but I thought it was only physical. Maybe I thought I could enjoy myself for a while and then we’d both move on without getting attached.” Her gaze faltered, but she forced herself to keep looking at him. “I didn’t count on you being such a wonderful guy.”

  He shifted his stance, let his arms drop. “Thanks.” It was the only thing he could think to say, but it hardly seemed adequate.

  “And that’s why I felt so strongly about entering your photo in the competition.”

  He tensed. The last thing he wanted was to go there again. But the vulnerability in her expression kept him listening, whereas before he would have shut down.

  “I love that picture,” she confessed in a soft voice. “And not just because you took it. In that picture, I look so…relaxed. So free. I never saw myself that way, but you did. And I…I wanted the world to see it.”

  A rush of emotion, of finally understanding something that had kept him tied in knots for so long, brought a half-smile to Jogi’s face. “You could have told me sooner. You could have said a lot of things sooner.”

  She shook her head. “I couldn’t.” Jogi raised his brow. “I know it’s hard for someone as open as you to understand, but for lawyer Sandy to admit to something so vulnerable, even to tell all my friends that we were together, would have threatened everything that I’ve worked so hard to project.”

  She was right. He didn’t understand. “Why?” he asked with a shrug. “Why does it matter what anyone else thinks?”

  “Because I assumed things would end at some point.” She looked away. “And I knew that if I was quick to tell everyone we were together, they would all assume it was my fault when it inevitably fell apart. People would blame me for being callous. They’d all get on my case for treating a great guy like a toy.” She glanced back to him, looking completely miserable. “Which I did.”

  His mouth dropped open, but he still didn’t know what to say. He shut his mouth and shook his head. “So you broke up with me because you liked me too much and thought we would break up anyhow?”

  “Technically, you broke up with me,” she reminded him. Her cheeks flushed rose. “But maybe I sabotaged things because…because I was scared. I’m sorry. You deserve better.”

  “Better treatment, maybe, but not a better person.”

  She burst into a smile that involved blinking fast enough to make him wonder if she was trying not to cry. “See what I mean? You’re a great guy, Jogi.”

  His lips twitched and he crossed his arms again. “Is there a ‘but’ coming?”

  “No.” She shrugged and took a step closer to him. “No but. I just wanted to say what I should have said a long time ago. That and I’m glad we got paired together for the dance competition.” She paused. “We are going to win, you know.”

  “Of course, we are.” Jogi smiled.

  “And I’m grateful that you were there to help with things in the hospital the other day,” she went on. “That meant a lot to me.”

  “Hey, any time.” He shrugged.

  “And since I don’t have a whole lot of ways I can make it up to you at this point, since I burned a lot of bridges, I wanted to offer to reach out to that guy who plagiarized your picture. As a lawyer. Pro bono. But only if you want me to.” She held up her hands to prove her point.

  “Thanks. I could probably use that, since the jerk hasn’t replied to any of my emails.” It would take a load off his mind to know that he had a trained professional in his corner.

  And yet, even with that load lifting, he still felt as though the air crackled with unresolved tension.

  That was made even worse when Sandy nodded and said, “Okay. That’s what I came over to say.” She hesitated, almost as if she were waiting for him to initiate a turn in a dance, then started for the door.

  “Okay,” Jogi said. He followed her across the room, then jumped ahead to hold the door for her. “Thanks for being so honest with me. It’s never
easy to look back at things.”

  “In this case, I really wanted to.” She reached the open doorway and turned to face him. “Thanks for making it so easy.”

  “Any time.”

  There was another silence. A voice inside of him screamed at him to do something. “See you at dance class tomorrow night?”

  “Yeah.” She smiled. “I can’t wait to find out what our next dances will be.”

  “Me either.”

  Neither of them moved. Neither of them said anything.

  “Well, bye.” Sandy broke the silence at last.

  “Bye.” Jogi raised a hand in a lame wave.

  Silence again.

  Sandy inched forward, planting a short kiss on his lips.

  She started to pull back.

  Jogi reached for her, drawing her into his arms and closing his mouth over hers in a kiss that made the one they’d shared at the lake the other day look like child’s play. His hands spread across her back, and he pressed his hips into hers. Sandy made a sound as if she’d been waiting for that kiss her whole life and would have died if he’d waited another second. Her arms slipped around him as she brushed her tongue along his.

  They took a stumbling step back into the apartment, and with a loud crash, Jogi kicked the door shut. His mouth continued to ravage hers as he gathered up her skirt in his hands. He wanted to feel the heat of her skin, to taste every inch of her. He wanted her breasts in his hands, his mouth. He wanted to sink himself inside of her and lose himself there.

  She must have had the same idea. In an instant, her hands were under his t-shirt, pulling it up and off before they were halfway to the bedroom. They bumped into the doorframe as she raked her fingertips down across his chest, teasing his nipples. He managed to tug off her dress before they reached the bed. All the while, their mouths joined and parted, tasting whatever they could whenever they had a chance.

  They broke apart as their legs hit the side of the bed, but only long enough to shed the rest of their clothes and shoes. Part of Jogi thought he was insane for letting the fire of what they knew was good between them carry him away, but a far bigger part of him knew that this was exactly what they should be doing. They were dance partners, after all, and sex was the oldest dance there was.

  As soon as they were both naked, they melded back into each other in a kiss that chased rational thought far from Jogi’s mind. Even more mind-blowing, instead of stretching Sandy across his sheets like he’d planned, she pushed him to his back and climbed on top of him.

  “You were good to me the other day,” she purred, dipping down to flick her tongue across one of his nipples. “Let me be good to you now.”

  “Okay,” he said, the word turning into a groan as she kissed her way across his stomach and abdomen. “But first.”

  He pulled himself farther up the bed, regretting that he moved away from her as he did. He had a feeling the whole thing was going to move fast, though, and he wanted to be ready. He rolled to open his bedside table and pulled out a whole strip of condoms.

  “Is that a challenge?” Sandy asked, one brow raised.

  The way she straddled his legs, her breasts heavy, her nipples large, her skin as smooth as chocolate, the smoothness between her legs where, once again, she’d shaved, tempting him was more than enough of a challenge as far as he was concerned. He throbbed with need to be tight inside of her.

  “Consider it a goal,” he panted, and rolled fully to his back again.

  She laughed low in her throat. “I do very well with goals.”

  Those were the last words either of them were capable of. She leaned forward just enough to slide her hands across his chest, down his abdomen, and over his erection. He let out a ragged sigh as she took him in hand, gripping just enough for him to half lose his mind as she stroked him. The pleasure that radiated from her touch, pouring urgency through him, had him gripping handfuls of the quilt that covered his bed.

  That was nothing to the sensations she roused in him when she shifted and brought her head down, taking him into her mouth. He groaned with the pleasure of it, barely able to catch a breath as she drew him in more and more. He’d always had mixed feelings about women swallowing him, but Sandy did it with such deliberateness, such obvious enjoyment in bringing him pleasure that he felt himself near the brink in no time.

  “Stop, stop,” he panted, warning her of how close he was.

  She let him go, drawing him out slowly with a flicker of her tongue across his head that nearly undid him right there. “So soon?” she teased.

  “You undo me,” he replied, barely able to find the air for the words.

  She must have liked that. A downright wicked grin spread across her face along with the pink heat of their lovemaking. She reached for the condoms, tore one open, and sheathed him. And then she slid up to spread her hips over him, guiding him to her entrance.

  He surprised them both with a strangled cry as she bore down on him. The sensation of her taking him in and squeezing him had him breaking out in a sweat. But that was nothing to the hurricane of pleasure that hit him when she found her rhythm. She lifted just enough so that he could watch her—watch the slick sheen on her skin, watch her breasts shake, watch the look of abandon and ecstasy that came over her as she rode him.

  She rode him hard. He gripped her hips and thrust with her, as turned on by the sight of her using him to pleasure herself as with the intense sensations lighting him on fire from his groin to his fingers and toes. When she slid one hand down her abdomen the smooth flesh of her mons to touch herself, he lost it. Orgasm crashed over him with a feverish intensity. He burst inside of her, then continued to burn as she slammed into her own orgasm. Her face contorted and she cried out as she took him in to the hilt. It was one of the hottest experiences of his entire life.

  And like a storm passing, it was over. Every drop of energy drained from Jogi as Sandy collapsed on top of him. They lay together, sweating and panting, in stunned silence. The tell-tale signs of sleep closed swiftly over him, try as he did to fight it. He wanted to wrap Sandy in his arms and tell her how good they were together. He wanted to make sure she was happy and comfortable. Beyond that, he wanted to know where he stood.

  But that could all wait. Because, in truth, as hot as things were between them in bed, they had a long way to go before those dynamics translated to the rest of what made a relationship work.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was good. Everything was good. At least, that’s what Sandy kept trying to tell herself. Her dad was recovering right on schedule, and things were in a good place with Jogi.

  Strike that, they were in a very good place. She’d bucked up and said what she should have said to him a long time ago, and she couldn’t help but feel as though she’d been rewarded for her efforts. Her friends had been right after all. She’d eaten humble pie, then fallen into bed with Jogi. And it had been amazing. Beyond amazing. For the first time, it was as if they were completely in tune with each other.

  So why hadn’t that feeling lasted? There she was, walking into the high school gym at Jogi’s side, ready for their dance lesson, and her insides felt as if someone had attached electrodes to them and turned the juice up all the way. And unfortunately, her jitters didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Are you okay?” Jogi asked as they made their way over to a group of his colleagues who were waiting for class to begin.

  “Yeah.” She pressed a hand over her stomach and attempted a smile. It was clear from Jogi’s expression that he wasn’t fooled. She shrugged. “I’m still worried about Dad. He hates taking it easy, and I’m worried that he’s going to make things worse by pushing himself.”

  Jogi threw her for a loop by grinning. “What is it with your family and pushing yourselves?”

  Sandy paused to send him a look that walked the line between being offended and amused. “Templesmiths have always been hard workers. We’ve had to be. You don’t exactly see a lot of prominent black businesses in Wyoming, but ours has th
rived for five generations now.”

  Jogi nodded slowly and they continued walking. “So it’s pride then. Determination. I get it.”

  She wanted to reply, “Do you?” but chances were, he did. There wasn’t exactly a surplus of Indian professionals in Wyoming either. She hadn’t stopped to consider that they had the whole outsider thing in common.

  She didn’t have time to dwell on it as they reached Jogi’s colleagues. It wasn’t the usual group that were now her friends too. The only one she’d ever had much to do with was Natalie. The best she could do was make small talk as the guys fell into conversation about some computer model PSF’s IT team was working on. Sandy focused on her breathing, determined to beat whatever weird thing was going on with her nerves.

  “You don’t look like you’re having a good time.”

  She nearly jumped out of her skin when Ronny’s murmured comment came from right behind her shoulder. With a small gasp, she turned to frown at him. “Weren’t you ever taught not to sneak up on people like that?”

  Ronny shrugged, looking as smug and overconfident as usual. “I didn’t think it mattered since we’ve been friends for so long.”

  Sandy crossed her arms. “Friends is stretching it.”

  The rest of the group acknowledged Ronny with nods or waves. Natalie seemed far more interested in the IT discussion than moving over to hang out with her dance partner. Sandy couldn’t say she blamed her, but that left her squarely in the center of Ronny’s attention.

  “Sorry to hear about your dad.” It wasn’t possible for Ronny to sound any less genuine.

  “He’s doing fine,” Sandy answered the question he didn’t ask. “He’ll be back at work, running the show again in no time.”

  “Yeah, right.” Ronny snorted a laugh.

  Sandy’s temper flared and her eyes widened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Ronny sent her a look as if she were being stupid. “Come on. You know as well as I do that if his position at the bank was tenuous before, it’s really in trouble now.”

  A cold rock of dread dropped into Sandy’s gut, but she pretended to ignore it with a shrug. “I don’t see why. He’s as sharp as ever, and now he’s under a doctor’s care.”