by Summers, Jo
She remained immobilized for several seconds, afraid of what might happen if she dared move. Finally he let her go, and it frightened her how much she missed his touch the instant it was gone. Her skin felt exposed and raw in its absence.
“Get back in there and try on something else,” he ordered, waving her away, the tone in his voice commanding but gentle. Colin was startlingly similar to the heroes in her books. He possessed strength, fierceness, and, yeah, a healthy dose of arrogance, but she knew instinctively that if he ever loved a woman, he would protect her with all his might. He would love her well.
I want to be that woman.
She walked back into the dressing room and shut the door behind her, leaning her back against it. She began to pull off the offending panties and bra, replacing them with a much more daring thong and teddy. Satin and lace, the color of dark chocolate, hugged her curves as if the pieces had been designed and tailored to her body. When she raised her eyes, the image in the mirror was almost unrecognizable. She tilted her head to study her reflection.
I’ll be damned.
Colin was right. A pin-up girl stared back at her, in place of the frumpy one she’d expected.
It still sickened Andi to think of how easily her ex had managed to manipulate her. She was so afraid of allowing that to happen again, of slipping blind down the same rabbit hole, that she couldn’t trust anyone—not even herself. Everything that happened had been preventable. She’d let Jared take control of her, hadn’t she? He was the one who had stripped her life of all that mattered. He was the one who’d used language and her own self-doubt to belittle and humiliate her. And he was the one who taught her how to hate herself.
But she was the one at fault for giving him that power, for surrendering to it without a fight. She’d missed all the warning signs once, but she couldn’t survive if it happened again.
She turned, putting her palms on the dressing room door and leaning her cheek against it. She swallowed, willing her voice to come out strong. “Colin?”
“Mmm?”
“What if I don’t want to come out and show you what I’m wearing?”
He paused and Andi waited, pulse pounding in her ears.
“Well. I suppose I’ll be very, very disappointed.” He stopped. “Andi?” His voice sounded closer now and she could see a shadow on the ground below the door. “Are you okay in there?”
She swallowed around the lump in her throat, pressing her warm forehead against the door’s cool laminate. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I told you before—you’re a terrible liar. You’re not fine.” The unmistakable concern in his voice pulled at her heart.
She released the breath she’d been holding. “I will be.”
“I’m coming in there, Andi,” he said.
She backed away from the door and before she had time to protest, he’d pushed it wide open, bursting in. He stood there staring at her with wild eyes, looking every bit the hero as the door swung shut behind him before he crossed the dressing room in one step. He picked her up as if she were weightless and the next thing she felt was her back against the mirror as Colin pressed her against it. His fingers molded into her waist, bunching up the thin material of the teddy, and she crossed her ankles behind his back, wrapping her arms around his neck.
His mouth was on hers in an instant, hot and ravenous, and she opened to let his tongue in. He tasted of cinnamon, and the masculine smell of his warm skin drove her wild. She dug her hands into his hair as he kissed her, deeper and deeper, breaking free only to tug and tease her lips with his teeth until they were both out of breath. Panting, she pulled away for air, but Colin wasn’t having it. No sooner had she sucked in a breath than his lips covered hers again.
He walked backward a few steps, Andi clinging tightly to him as her back left the support of the wall, and he then lowered himself onto the chaise lounge, shoving the clothes she’d shed earlier onto the floor. She slid down his chest until she stopped at his lap, his hard length pressing into her until she throbbed with need. Colin’s fingers slid underneath the teddy’s thin fabric, his hot skin melting into hers as he explored her belly and lower back, sending tremors up her spine. He dropped his hands and wrapped them around her waist before sliding them lower and lower still, until he cupped her bottom, its skin exposed by the thong. The proximity of his fingers to the slickening area between her legs rapidly became too much to bear, and a throaty noise rose up from her abdomen, escaping her lips.
Colin’s body responded, his rigid heat beneath her crotch. Never, ever before had she wanted so badly to have a man inside her. Her longing was intense, visceral, as Colin caressed the curve of her upper thighs, running a finger along the inside near the thin edge of the lace panties.
She found his hand and tugged it away from her burning skin, desperate to cool down so she could make some sense of what was happening between them. As her thoughts cleared, Andi realized she simply couldn’t wait any longer. She needed him in a way she didn’t fully understand
“I want you. Now,” she whispered, pulling his hand back toward her. A stab of shy embarrassment clenched her as she spoke the words, but she shoved it aside by nibbling at Colin’s lower lip. She could feel his grin beneath her mouth.
“Not just yet,” he said, his voice rough in a way that only served to surge Andi’s increasingly chaotic yearning.
Chapter Nine
Colin forced himself to focus on inhaling and exhaling as evenly as he could manage while the desire to plunge deep into her became almost too agonizing to tolerate. As much as he wanted to feel her wet warmth clench around him, he would stick to his rule: ladies first.
Another groan emitted from her and Andi gripped the back belt loops of his jeans, forcing him painfully close to that tempting spot between her thighs. He set his teeth against the fresh wave of need that pulsed through him at the feel of her so near. It would be too easy just to lose the jeans and push that tiny slit of thong aside before sliding into her…but he would make sure she reached satisfaction. Jaw clenched tight, he grabbed the delectably soft flesh of her ass and moved her a few inches back toward his knees, but relief eluded him. In an attempt to slow things down, he leaned in and sprinkled soft kisses along the creamy skin of her neck, holding her hips in place to keep her from inching closer.
With a strong sense of remorse, he realized that he couldn’t have sex with this woman in a boutique dressing room.
As much as the thought thrilled him, Andi deserved something better, at least for their first time together. He didn’t know what had happened to her, but he could tell she’d had some sort of bad sexual experience, and even though he knew it was damn stupid, something in him burned to erase that part of her past. He hated to admit it, but he wanted her to forget whatever the asshole before him had done, and replace those memories with only him.
If he could show her what it was like to be handled with care, to be treasured in a man’s hands—if he could fill her with new physical experiences, maybe she would start to heal from whatever it was he’d caught a glimpse of the night before. He never wanted to see that wounded look in her eyes again, and he wouldn’t give any further thought to what this implied. He’d promised not to go that far again, and he wasn’t a man to break his word.
So, he wouldn’t have her yet. But that could hardly stop him from starting to teach her what pleasure was supposed to feel like.
He slowed his kisses and trailed his tongue along the path to her ear, which he teased with his teeth as the subtle, enticing scent of her perfume filled his nose. The girl was full of surprises. Yesterday, she’d flirted with him at the hotel, then crumbled when they’d gotten too close, but now—now that same girl had forgotten her insecurity and begged him to give her release.
He grabbed her waist and pulled her back toward his hips, careful to keep her a safe distance from the part of him that ached for her. His fingers found the hem of her top and he pulled it over her head, meeting her eyes once it was gone. He w
rapped her hands in his and lowered his mouth to her right breast, tickling her taught nipple with little flips of his tongue until she moaned, then repeated his teasing on the left. When he was certain she’d had more than she could take, he released one of her hands.
There was no trace of the fear he’d seen yesterday in her eyes; now there was only a wild, starved flicker of something that set him on edge. Was he partially responsible for this change in her? Had the true words he’d spoken today, praising her body, given her the confidence to let him take her?
He shouldn’t care, but dammit, he did anyway.
His free hand traced slowly down her side until he reached the curve of her thigh, where he let his fingers linger for a few long seconds. Andi’s eyes pleaded with him to continue, so he thumbed aside the sliver of underwear and found that perfect spot, rubbing circles around her tender nub, gently first, then with urgency as her body started to tremble. She arched her back as he slid a finger inside her, and then another, and he savored the moan his strokes elicited.
The folds of her wet flesh were tight around his fingers as he pulled out and pushed back in, setting a rhythm; she put her mouth on his, kissing him with a roughness he hadn’t expected. Her inhibition grew as she got closer and closer, and she bit into his shoulder to stifle her sounds as she let herself go. He cupped the mound of her soft flesh in his palm as she rode the waves he’d created, slower and slower until she’d calmed, her breathing gradually returning to normal.
“You’re definitely taking this outfit home,” he murmured, gaining a drowsy giggle from the woman in his arms.
He reached up to push the fringe out of her eyes, and she leaned into his palm, her cheeks flushed with exertion and, he hoped, satisfaction. He kissed her softly on her forehead and she wrapped her arms around his neck, still shivering as she tucked her face into the space between his jaw and shoulder, where he held her until he had to let go.
The next morning, Andi’s fingers flew across her keyboard in a blur, but even as she typed faster than she ever had before, she couldn’t keep up with the pace of the story unfolding in her mind. The pleasant ache in her groin reminded her of her new muse, the sexy actor who’d singlehandedly reignited the spark that had nearly fizzled and faded from her work.
She couldn’t wait to see what Lily had to say about the new chapters she’d added since the last time they’d spoken. It felt amazing to have rediscovered her stride, and even though it pained her to admit it, she had Colin—and his capable hands—to thank for busting her out of her funk, in a single afternoon no less. So she’d spent the morning pouring her new lover’s skill into the hero in her next book, and the pages were already sizzling far beyond anything she’d produced before.
She finished the paragraph she’d been furiously keying and then leaned back in her chair for a quick break. Folding her hands behind her head, she closed her eyes, and she was back in that dressing room, his strong but tender hands all over her body, those fingers exploring places in her she’d not even known existed, waking her up inside. She didn’t even care that she’d been pushed so far as to beg him to make love to her. The hardness she’d felt under her as she straddled him on that pink lounge chair was enough to know he wanted more of her.
He had put her needs first, and given her something that, in all the terrible years with Jared, all the times they’d been together, she’d never once experienced. Not once. She recalled the way Colin had focused on her—only her—touching and caressing until she’d been desperate, then fulfilling her need to completion, and still he’d denied himself in favor of her sole gratification.
Afterward, he’d taken her back to his rented condo and cooked for her; then he’d driven her to the hotel like a regular gentleman. It was almost like a real date. Well, except for that part where he’d produced her first climax in years. Then again, that was her favorite part, and if her dating history consisted of episodes like that, she was pretty damn sure that Lily wouldn’t have had to counsel her on the increasing flatness of her new book’s love scenes.
Still, as Colin had kissed her goodbye at the hotel last night, promising to see her again today, she’d felt she owed him something in return. He’d quickly brushed the notion aside when she brought it up, assuring her that her pleasure was of utmost importance, and that there would be time for everything else. It was becoming harder and harder by the minute to tell the difference between what was real between them, and what wasn’t, and she found herself wondering if maybe, just maybe—behind all his talk of loving bachelorhood and of this being a sex only arrangement, no strings attached and all—there was something more.
What she’d found in his eyes yesterday as he’d plunged his hands into her over and over was unlike anything she’d expected to find there. It was a look she’d never seen in Jared, and it simultaneously electrified and terrified her. She wanted to confront Colin, to ask if he’d felt anything beyond arousal when he’d touched her, because she certainly had, but at the bottom of her heart she knew he would run. He’d told her in no uncertain terms that he didn’t want anything permanent; and she had agreed.
If only she had that much control over her own feelings, life would be much simpler. Instead, she was the girl who hoped, against all evidence to the contrary, that true love might be possible outside of the novels she loved so much, and those she created. She would never admit that, especially not to Colin, but even if it made her weak, there it was.
So she would have to keep it to herself that the very thing he wasn’t looking for in life—the very thing he’d sworn off completely—was exactly what she had only recently begun to realize she wanted, maybe even deserved, more than anything in the world.
Andi looked up from her computer and saw the object of her thoughts pull up in a rented blue truck just outside the coffee shop window, looking ridiculously awesome in a leather jacket, blue and green plaid shirt, and dark jeans. Dark sunglasses hid his famous face, but she’d know it anywhere for the rest of her life. He looked up to catch her staring at him and gave her a small wave as he shut the door and stepped onto the sidewalk.
As soon as he walked into the shop, eyes were on him, but he didn’t even seem to notice. Andi couldn’t imagine living life in a glass fishbowl; luckily it wasn’t something she’d have to worry about for more than a few more days.
“Good morning, Gorgeous,” he said, pulling up a seat across from her. His long legs barely fit underneath the table and when he bumped her foot with his, she felt a little thrill, just like a teenager.
Andi gave Colin her best smile as he set his elbows on the table and made a little tent with his fingers…fingers she knew intimately now.
Andi swallowed, willing the heat from her chest not to spread to her neck where he could see it.
He pointed to her laptop and the notebook she had open next to it. “Writing about me?” he asked, eyes twinkling.
She closed the notebook quickly—real smooth—and covered it with her arms. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would, actually.” He leaned across the table and kissed her square on the mouth. Several additional pairs of eyes latched onto them, but now they weren’t looking at Colin; they were fixed on her. Her mouth went dry and she fought to keep from overreacting. He kept going, lips close to her ear so that only she could hear his words. “I’d like to know if you’re writing about the way I touched you yesterday, and the way I’m going to touch you today, only much, much more.” She pulled away from him and caught herself just in time to keep from upturning her chair. Colin sat back, arms crossed over his chest, clearly enjoying watching her squirm.
Andi collected herself and began shoving her notebook and pen in her bag. When she reached for her computer, Colin grabbed it and flipped it around so he could see it. But before he had a chance to read anything, she snapped the lid shut. He looked up at her, surprise flashing across his features before he covered it up with a grin. “You must have really had a good time in that dressing room.”
Andi couldn’t help but smile. He had a way of making her laugh just when she was about to get too serious. It was…refreshing. Her life up to that point hadn’t seen much light.
“Alright, smartass,” she said, slipping the laptop into its sleeve and shoving it under an arm where he’d have less chance of commandeering it a second time. “Ready to get out of here?”
Colin jumped up from his chair, gesturing for her to hand him her tote bag, and Andi’s heart did a little flip at the gentlemanly move. It hit her again how different he was from the image the media portrayed, and, before she could dismiss the thought, she spent a second wondering if perhaps she was the one who brought out that side of him.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Touché. But seriously, where are you taking me?”
He winked at her. “It’s a surprise, love.”
He hooked her arm under his elbow and led her out the door, and, out of the corner of her eye, Andi noticed a man staring at them from behind a newspaper. As Colin unlocked his vehicle outside the shop, the man followed them, snapping a picture as Colin opened the door for her and helped her into the cab. Colin caught a glance of the guy without making eye contact, his lips pressed together in a thin line.
“Does he know who you are?” Andi asked as he joined her in the truck, trying not to let on that she was getting a little anxious.
“Probably,” Colin said, his tone revealing nothing. He started up the engine and pulled away from the shop and the photographer who was still snapping away on the sidewalk.
“And you’re okay with that?”
Colin slid his aviator sunglasses off his head and down to the bridge of his nose, hiding his eyes from her. They only served to add to his attractiveness. She wondered how it would feel to see that face on a movie screen, or dressed in a tux on TV, walking down the red carpet with a beautiful actress on his arm.
