Just the Thing
Page 19
“No complaints here.” Though she could release him from her bed. He had a quirky notion of her keeping him tied up for weeks as her willing sex slave. Totally worth getting fired from the gym for that.
“You make me want to play,” she admitted. “To do wicked things to you. To see how far I can push you. Sexually, I mean. Because you get me so hot and bothered. It was good to see I make you the same.”
“Never doubt that. It’s been all I could do not to sport wood around the gym for months while you flaunted yourself at me.”
“Flaunted? Really?” She frowned.
“Yep. Even in your professional clothes, looking all starched and neat. I could see that ass begging me for a slap. Or those breasts pleading with me to suck some plump nipplage.” He grinned at her deepening flush. “I want you to make all your shirts with breast flaps like that. You have no idea how much work you could get done if you wore that. No one, at least, no guy, would ever turn down anything you wanted if you wore that.”
She snickered. “Gavin. I can just imagine the group directors’ faces if I wore this to our next meeting.” She dissolved into more laughter. “Sorry. That was too funny.”
He had a sour thought. “Yeah, well, just don’t wear it around Swanson. He’d take the invite and run with it. I still don’t like that guy.”
“Oh, stop.” She looked so pretty, smiling at him. “Can we talk about your groupies at the gym?”
He groaned. “No, don’t ruin this.”
“Well, you already mentioned Swanson. I don’t normally think of him when my breasts are hanging out and my boyfriend is all tied up. So I think I’m entitled.”
She’d used the b-word. He felt another thrill. “Go for it.”
“Why them? I mean, I get wanting sex. But why those women at the gym? You work there.”
He groaned. “It was stupid. But the thing is, I didn’t think I’d still be working there, not this long. When I first left the military and returned to the States, I told you. I was messed up. I tried working for my dad’s company. That sucked, and I left after a month. I’m not a corporate suit-and-tie type of guy. Then I tried another job at a staging company through my mom. Not a good fit either. Mostly because I was doing all the work while those lazy humps sat back and drank coffee for four of their eight-hour days. I thought about work at a construction company. But the, ah, the loud noises kind of bothered me.”
She narrowed her eyes and nodded. And she continued petting him, which was just perfect. He’d tell her anything she wanted to know if she kept that up. She had a hell of an insidious interrogation technique.
“So I’d started going to the gym. At first, because I needed to release some stress. Landon was already a member, and I really like Mac. He’s a great guy.”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard.”
“I started working there, and I was in a bad place mentally. So when these women came on to me, wanting to get laid, I thought, why not? None of them wanted any entanglements. I sure as hell didn’t. And I didn’t think I’d spend more than a month or two at the gym. It was doubtful I’d see them again.”
“So you had random hookups with gym members.”
He scowled. “Hey. My story. No, they weren’t random. They were planned,” he said primly and saw her roll her eyes. “You know, Zoe, I’m worried about you. Do you think you might have a condition? Your eyes tend to roll a lot while we talk. Might want to see a doctor about that.”
She snorted. “Continue, Romeo.”
“This is awkward. You really want to know about my past sexual history while we’re naked?”
She nodded. “I’m not a fan of your groupies. I’ve heard the stories about how good in bed you are, and that you’re hung like a moose.”
“Better that than a ferret.”
She laughed at that.
“Look. I was no saint. Not even trying to say I was. But I’m not normally such a horndog. I was just… I needed something, and they gave it. But it didn’t last. And sadly, I’m embarrassed to say, it didn’t mean anything.”
Her hands found his chest and she started massaging him, easing the tension he hadn’t been aware was building. Gavin sighed. “This, us…this means something. I’m not trying to freak you out. Hell, I don’t know what it means. But it’s more than coming into a warm woman. It’s sex with you, Zoe.
“I can’t promise much these days, but I can promise I won’t fuck around on you. Having fun, being with you like this, I want it. And as long as you want it too, life is good.”
Life would be better if he’d stop saying this shit out loud and giving her the opportunity to tie it off, ending it because he kept being so fucking honest about not being able to commit. Stop telling her you’re messed up. She knows it already. Don’t remind her. He might have to rethink this honesty policy. Time to talk to Lee again.
Zoe shrugged. “Makes sense to me. It works until it doesn’t work. Why screw with a good thing?”
He melted under a wave of relief and her hot hands. “Exactly.”
“Now, how about you stop sharing while I massage your poor muscles. Then, when I’m good and ready, I’ll untie you.”
Lulled by the promise of more pleasure, he relented. No more talking, only a few groans of satisfaction when she hit several sore spots from his workout yesterday.
They lay together, touching, close, and he wanted to hold the moment and never let it go.
“Falling asleep on me, hmm?” she teased, lying between his thighs as she kneaded his quads.
“Not really.” Great. He sounded sleepy. Except his body was turning stiffer as she worked some of his adductor muscles, the ones leading up and under his balls. His dick spiked when she started kissing her way up the insides of his thighs. “Ah, Zoe?”
She kissed his inner thigh, her cheek brushing him so intimately, and he moaned. Then her mouth was there, taking him, gently sucking one ball while cupping and rubbing the other.
“Zoe, shit. Baby, so good.”
Her mouth worked miracles, turning him fully erect, and then some, in the span of seconds. She slid her lips over his balls to his shaft, licking him from base to tip while she played with him, her hands in all the right places. She held him, stared into his shocked gaze, then slid those red lips over his cockhead and down.
Another memory he committed to never forgetting. Before she robbed him of the ability to think altogether. Because Zoe was a good girl, such a good girl.
Chapter 13
Zoe sat with Ava at one of her favorite local coffee bars in Queen Anne. To her surprise, Gavin’s younger brother worked there. Ava pointed him out.
“Wow. All the Donnigans do look alike. Good thing I’d never met Gavin when I was in my late teens. I’d have been heartbroken that much sooner.” Zoe sipped from her latte and watched the youngest Donnigan working behind the bar, singing to himself while he fixed another macchiato.
“Yeah, they’re all like that,” Ava said. “Wait until you meet Van, their dad. He’s sixty-three, runs four or five miles a day, and looks like Landon’s older brother. He’s so handsome.” Ava winked. “Drives Landon nuts when I tell him he owes his father for being so good-looking.”
They both laughed.
“And Linda’s pretty too. You’ve met Hope?”
“I’ve seen her at the gym. The pretty blond who likes to argue with Landon?” A knockout, but with a more feminine version of the Donnigan good looks.
“Yep. That would be her. She’s the only blond who argues with him. The others usually flirt.” Yet Ava didn’t seem bothered by the fact.
“And you’re okay with them flirting with your fiancé?”
“Heck no.” Ava took another sip of her coffee, as if in thought. “The thing is, with a Donnigan, you know they’re going to attract attention. They all do, without even trying.”
Gavin sure did.
Zoe followed her glance to Theo, now smiling politely over the counter at a girl who’d picked up her drink. The girl acted a lot friendlier than a customer just grabbing her order. After she left, he turned to the girl with frosted-blue hair working next to him and winked, then kissed her.
“That’s Maya, Theo’s girlfriend. He’s been with her for a little over a month. They’re so cute.”
“Huh.” Zoe sipped her coffee and watched them.
“So you think it’s only a matter of time before Gavin breaks your heart?”
Theo was handsome. Like a slenderer version of Gavin, and maybe a little taller, wearing a crew cut that was a bit longer on top. So young. She had a feeling he’d fill out as he grew older.
“What’s that?” She turned back to Ava. “Did I say Gavin will break my heart?”
“You implied it.”
Zoe shrugged. She’d been happy to go out with Ava. Finding a new gal pal was always a challenge. But knowing Ava had Dr. in front of her name put Zoe on edge.
Ava sighed. “This is why I don’t have many friends. I swear, I’m not psychoanalyzing you. We’re just out talking, woman to woman, joined by our common bond to the overpowering Donnigans.”
“Well, when you put it like that…” Zoe held up her cup in a toast. “To us, for being brave.”
“Hear, hear.”
Zoe drained her coffee. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing with Gavin. I met him at a low point in my life.” She found it easy to talk to Ava, who watched with a kind, calm expression. “My twin sister, Aubrey, died four months ago. Freak car accident. It was tough, and I pretty much shut down.” She gave a sad smile. “But Gavin just kept annoying me at the gym. Always bugging me to smile. So annoying.”
Ava grinned. “Yes, they are like that, aren’t they? Tenacious and clingy, like a virus that infects you no matter how much vitamin C you take.”
Zoe laughed, feeling good despite her lingering sorrow. Aubrey would have liked Ava, for sure. “Yeah, a virus. Can I use that?”
“Be my guest.”
“Anyway, I’ve been really focused the past few years. I’m a driven career woman. Aubrey was the artist, the dreamer. The sexual dynamo, to hear her tell it.” Yeah, her sister had loved to brag, hadn’t she?
“She sounds like fun.”
“She was great.” And just like that, the waterworks started. “Shit.”
Ava didn’t freak out at all. The woman chuckled. “You know, I’d be disconcerted if I didn’t have this effect on so many people.” She shoved a packet of tissues at Zoe. “I keep extras in my purse.”
“Go, Ava.”
Theo chose that moment to join them, saw Zoe wiping her eyes, and goggled. “Oh my God. Please tell me the coffee’s okay. It wasn’t the coffee, was it?”
“Relax, Theo. Zoe had something in her eye is all,” Ava explained.
“Yeah, tears,” Zoe muttered, impressed with Ava’s ability to fabricate and relieved she hadn’t made a scene. “So you’re Theo.”
Theo sat and gave her a wide, charming smile. Another heartthrob in the making. “Hel-lo.”
Ava huffed. “Theo, this is Zoe. Gavin’s girlfriend.”
Theo gaped. “This is Zoe? But you’re so pretty.”
Zoe put the tissue down. “I’m sorry?”
He flushed. “I just don’t understand how someone as obnoxious as my brother can get such a hot girlfriend. I mean, he’s got muscles, sure. But doesn’t that attitude rub you the wrong way?”
More like the right way, she thought but would never say, not to Gavin’s brother. Her time with the sexual dynamo last Sunday had been magical. But the guy never stopped. He’d officially worn her out yesterday, giving new meaning to hump day. Still, she’d met him thrust for thrust. Then they’d mutually agreed to give each other a break.
Dinners together, home movie dates, board games; they’d been spending every available waking moment together. Even she knew that couldn’t be healthy.
Theo seemed to be waiting for her answer, so she gave a casual shrug. “I find him tolerable.”
He laughed, a deep boom that didn’t seem to go with his slighter frame. “Well, thanks for getting him out of the house at least.”
Gavin had spent time with her, way into the late hours, but he always went home after. That separation also made it easier to rationalize her time with him. But lately Zoe wanted to wake up in his arms. That she didn’t mind him crowding her precious space alarmed her.
“Can I ask you something?” she said to Theo.
“Sure.”
“Why were you so worried the coffee made me cry? Are you new here? You seem to know people, and you’re doing a great job.”
His smile looked strained. “Thanks. I’ve actually been working here for a while. I kind of left for a little but came back. Maya missed me.” He glanced back at his girlfriend, then sighed. “A few days ago, I got a text message telling me to be careful about what I served at work. A direct threat from your boyfriend.”
“What?”
“It’s escalating.”
“The prank wars.” Ava let out a breath. “I told Landon to put a stop to it. But does he listen to me? No. See, the four of them—”
“No,” Theo shook his head. “Mom and Dad too. You remember Mom’s announcement at dinner.”
“Right. The six of them take turns pulling pranks on each other. At our last family dinner, Linda tricked us into thinking she and Van were having marital problems.”
“Really?” Zoe looked from Ava to Theo.
Both nodded.
“Yes.” Ava chuckled. “Of course it all started back up when I was dating Landon. One of them, though they won’t say who, put a blow-up sex doll in his bed. She looked just like me. It shocked the heck out of him.” She laughed.
So did Theo.
Zoe grinned. “Wish I could have seen that.”
Ava snickered. “He was so embarrassed. And not much gets to him.”
“Don’t tell,” Theo said. “But I did it.”
Ava pointed. “Ha. I knew it was you! I had thought perhaps Hope, but you’re more devious.”
Theo flushed. “Aw, thanks.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell. Keeps him on his toes not to have guessed the culprit yet.” She turned to Zoe. “Landon even blamed me for a while. As if I would stoop so low…and get caught,” she tacked on with a wink.
“So the prank wars are still going on? How long do they last?” Zoe asked, not sure she wanted to be drawn into such a thing, even by distant association.
“Well…” Theo scratched his jaw. “After they gave me a mohawk and dyed my hair orange a couple months ago, I got back at them. Each of them. I saved Gavin for last weekend, when I sicced our cousin on him. Colin is seven. Great kid, but he’s a kid. And I made it so Gavin had to take care of him.”
“Ah. I heard about that.” Zoe smiled. “Apparently Colin is not good with sugary cereals.”
Theo’s evil laugh stirred hers again, Ava’s too. “Yeah. It was classic. Anyway, I think Landon messed with Gavin and the toilet—don’t ask—and for a while Hope had pink hair. Oh, and I think someone messed with Mom’s toothpaste, but she won’t confirm that.
“Now Gavin is getting back at everyone. I’m freaked he’s going to mess with me at work.
And then yesterday I woke up by smacking myself in the face with a handful of shaving cream. It’s lame, but it’s still annoying. Plus he took pictures,” he added glumly.
“Well, I haven’t seen them yet. Don’t worry.” Ava patted his shoulder.
“Yeah, well, it’s the ones who wait to get even who are the worst. At least Gavin’s getting me back right away.” He noted the girl behind the cashier waving at him. “Oh, gotta go. Great meeting you, Zoe. Hope you come over and hang before wising up and dumping my brother.” He left before she could respond.
“Scary, huh?” Ava teased. “It’s all immature, yes, but the guys seem to enjoy it. Linda sure did. And I’m sorry to say I might have pulled a prank of my own.” Ava chuckled. “You haven’t met their parents yet, have you?”
“Um, no.” Zoe swallowed. “But Gavin mentioned having dinner with them this weekend.”
“Ah. Best of luck.”
“Wait. That’s it? No tips or tricks to surviving the dinner?”
“No. They’re actually wonderful people. Your problem isn’t Van and Linda. It’s dealing with Gavin.”
“Nice segue.”
Ava grinned. “Thanks. Yes, I always circle back to a point until it’s been covered. And you still never quite answered about your fears of Gavin breaking your heart. But considering your state of mind when you met, that seems normal. Plus anyone entering a new relationship will wonder how to recover when and if it breaks up.” She shrugged. “I still wonder about that with Landon, and we’re engaged.”
“Really? You two seem so in love.”
“We are.” Ava played with her ring, a stunning square-cut emerald set between two sparkling diamonds. “But there’s never a guarantee of a happily ever after in your future. And considering I deal with marriage counseling a lot in my practice, I can’t help but think about it.”
“I’ll bet.” Zoe toyed with her cup. “So can I ask you something, in your professional opinion as a therapist?”