Remembering You: Pushing the Boundaries, Prequel

by Audra North

  “Can I buy you another drink?”

  His question made her look down at her glass. It was almost empty. Wow, how did that happen?

  She smiled gently. Ben was a nice guy. She was only upset about his being a police officer because she had allowed herself to imagine, for a brief moment this morning, she might be able to act on her attraction with him and ask him out. She hadn’t been on a real date in…oh, ages.

  But then he’d told her what he did for a living, and she couldn’t.

  Sure, intellectually she knew just because Dad had finally come home wounded didn’t mean all police officers were going to get hurt, or even killed. But emotionally, she had a hard time accepting it. Not after all those years of worry over his safety had culminated in such a horrible injury.

  No. Ben Crewes would just be that guy who ran into her twice in one day.

  “Thanks, but one was enough. I needed something to take the edge off this day,” she replied. “Besides, I have to drive home. But why don’t I buy you one to remember me by? I’m about to head out and get some sleep in before another long day at work tomorrow.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a woman offer to buy me a drink before. And certainly not as a souvenir of our acquaintance.”

  She winked at him. “I’m not like most women.”

  He laughed loudly this time, drawing a few eyes in their direction, including those of his buddies. She’d forgotten they were there. But the whiskey was already working, and she was relaxed enough that she didn’t rush to leave right away.

  In fact, maybe she was feeling a bit too relaxed. Ben’s lazy smile was making her feel all warm and fuzzy, and her hand itched to reach out and slip her fingers inside his shirt.

  Forget it and go home. You’re lonely. And more alone than you’ve ever been, when it comes down to it. Don’t make a mistake because you’re feeling a bit off kilter.

  Funny. She rarely felt the way she did now, like she was in danger of losing something special in her life. There had been one time, three years ago, when she had finally come home for a few weeks to take care of her house. She had kept the one she grew up in even after Mom had died, hiring a property management company to rent it out. But the renters at the time had apparently done so much damage to one of the bedrooms the management company wanted her to see it to decide whether to repair it or tear out the section completely and rebuild.

  The renters had fled in the night. But Nina hadn’t cared. She’d only stared at the remains of her childhood bedroom, the walls smashed and spray-painted, the hardwood floor buckled with water damage, and felt the stabbing pain in her chest of some deep emotional loss.

  But she’d kept her cool, even when the acute pain moved lower into her abdomen, and all during the walk-through. By the time she’d told the property manager the room should be ripped down and rebuilt, she could barely talk from the pain.

  That was when she’d been rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy, though she swore to this day it was seeing her childhood destroyed that had caused it to rupture in the first place.

  “You sure you have to leave?” Ben asked softly.

  Strange that she was thinking of that night right now. She’d been wheeled into a shared room after her surgery to rest, fallen asleep from all the pain meds she’d been on, and had woken up in semi-darkness just in time to hear a woman say, I can’t see you anymore.

  She’d felt so bad for the poor guy who’d been left right after some kind of procedure. She’d imagined him alone and hurting and hadn’t been able to resist saying something through the curtain separating them.

  Something about the guy she’d ended up talking to for hours that night had pulled at her in a way few people had ever been able to do. Made her want to be with him, to stay with him, even though ever since she’d finished college, Nina had never been able to stick around for long in one place.

  Like father, like daughter. It was what had made her such a successful reporter—the willingness to pack up and go at a moment’s notice. So why did the words she was about to say to Ben make her feel stupid?

  “Yeah, I do. I have to leave.”

  Disappointment flashed across his face, quickly replaced by an understanding nod. But she’d seen the regret before he’d covered it up, and she wanted to kick herself for hurting him. The instinct that had time and again saved her life as a reporter was now telling her that she should have known better than that.

  Walking away felt wrong. Cowardly.

  You’re crazy. You met him only this morning. It’s not like he’s your soul mate.

  But how else were soul mates supposed to meet? Maybe this morning’s accident had been the universe’s way to get them together.

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” he offered, gesturing to the bartender and pulling out his wallet, but she protested out of habit.

  “It’s okay. I’m used to taking care of myself. And I’ve already pulled you away from your friends for too long,” she assured him.

  But he gave her a weird look in reply. The same kind of assessment the bartender had when she’d first come in.

  “What’s that for?”

  He turned, his eyes pointedly scanning the room. “You realize you’re the only woman in here, right?”

  She didn’t even bother turning on her barstool to see for herself. She was sure he was right, for God’s sake. But it upset her that she hadn’t actually realized it when she’d walked in.

  Fuck, I’m usually more observant.

  “I’m sure you are, but it looks like you’ve had a rough day.”

  “Did I say that out loud?”

  Ben laughed at her surprise. “Yep. Definitely a rough day.” He put some money on the bar and she started to object when she realized he had also paid for her drink, but he stopped her.

  “It’s not every day I get to treat a beautiful woman to some much-needed relaxation.”

  I have a much better way you can help me relax. The thought accompanied an image of Ben, naked and thrusting into her as she convulsed around his cock, and heat flooded her body, making her feel suddenly threatened. She shouldn’t have been surprised, given how attracted she was to him, but the intensity of it caused her to stand upright a little too fast. She stumbled, her foot catching on the last rung of the stool, and she pitched forward.

  Warm, strong arms closed around her. “Steady there, sweetheart,” his soft voice caressed her ear.

  Steady? Well, definitely not now. Not anymore. She was pressed full length against him and she could feel the heat of his body beneath hers. Her hands were resting lightly against his hard chest, and she couldn’t stop herself from moving them down, ever so slightly, stroking the tight muscle underneath. His body flinched at the touch and his grip around her tightened almost imperceptibly.

  Shit. What are you doing?

  Her cheeks heated and she sprang back immediately.

  “I’m—I’m sorry, I’m usually not so clumsy, either,” she insisted, but it came out weak. She was certainly doing a lot of apologizing today. He probably thought she was a dimwit and a klutz. But he didn’t say anything, just shook his head, and Nina was suddenly very aware of his friends watching them surreptitiously.

  One of them—Brewer, she thought his name was—turned to her. “You heading out?”

  “I am. But it was so nice to meet all of you, and good to run into you again, Ben.”

  She’d meant it as a brush-off, to send him the message she’d get to her car all right on her own, but he grabbed his jacket from the barstool he’d been sitting on earlier and walked toward her.

  “I said I’ll walk you to your car.”

  She stared at him for a moment, wondering whether to argue with him in front of his friends, but luckily one of them—the one with the lazy bedroom smile and shining blond hair—spoke up.

  �
��No use denying Crewes what he wants, girl,” Goldilocks told her. “If you refuse, he’ll still walk a few feet behind you until he’s sure you’re safely in your car and driving away.”

  No use denying him what he wants.

  He wanted her, she could tell. And she wanted him, probably just as obviously. That brief touch when she’d fallen against him had only whetted her appetite for more. She wanted to feel him again, this time without clothes between them.

  Maybe one night wouldn’t hurt. It wasn’t getting involved. Just…sex between acquaintances.

  She shrugged. “If you insist.” She looked at Ben, waved goodbye to his friends, then headed out of the bar with him at her side. She was all too aware of his solid presence beside her as they exited into the cold night, the heat coming off his body. Nina wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying not to shiver. The drink had helped a bit to warm her up, but her buzz was quickly dying with the effort to keep the chill off.

  He looked over at her and grimaced. “Hell. You’re freezing.” He shrugged out of his jacket before she could even register what he was doing, and draped it around her shoulders. He had to step close and put his arms behind her back to do it, and when his chest brushed her breasts, she gasped.

  Her inhibitions were still a bit down, and it felt so good…

  His arms stilled for a second when he heard her gasp, and he looked into her eyes questioningly. Everything she’d been thinking about him must have been written all over her face, because the next thing she knew, his warm lips were on hers, and she was drowning in him.

  Chapter Five

  Did people ever really say, “I feel like I’ve known you all my life” outside of movies?

  Ben was on fire from merely kissing Nina, the heat spreading through his body like an explosion at the press of her lips against his. She stroked her tongue into his mouth and he shuddered, too hot and too wild-feeling not to let it out somehow.

  She already felt so different from any other woman he’d ever known, and at the same time he felt he’d always known her. He wanted her as much as he’d wanted that woman from the hospital room. More, even. Because this woman was flesh and blood. Touchable. Lickable…

  He broke the kiss and moved his lips to her neck, nuzzling the soft skin there. She moaned at the sensation and he couldn’t help himself. He pushed his hips into hers. Hard.

  “Oh God. That feels so good,” she gasped, pushing back against him, grinding hard.

  Hell yes, it did. He was practically dizzy from the sheer pleasure of feeling her against him, his hands on her shoulders now, over the rough fabric of his own jacket covering her slender body. He moved his hands downward, stroking her arms, moving closer to those sweet, soft breasts—

  Beeeeeep! The sound of a car horn at the end of the street had them springing apart.

  Shit. Really? Did he really just maul a woman on the street, in full view of the public?

  There weren’t many people around this part of downtown at this time of night, but still…he’d completely forgotten everything else but her. Them.

  A journalist, for fuck’s sake.

  And somehow, he couldn’t seem to muster up the animosity he usually felt toward the press. In fact, what he was feeling was something very, very far from animosity…

  He took a few deep breaths and looked at her.

  Flushed, even in the dim light from the street lamps. Lips swollen from his kisses. Wide-eyed, panting, needy…

  Fuck it. They needed to get out of here. To where, he wasn’t sure, but…somewhere else.

  “Where are you parked?” He practically growled it.

  She moved her head slowly to the side, almost dreamily, pointing in the direction of Whitehall Avenue. “I’m in Center Garage.”

  Of course. Because their lives seemed determined to intertwine today.

  “I’m parked there too,” he breathed out, not sure how to ask her for what he wanted so badly.

  But turned out she did the asking for him. “Why don’t I follow you home, then?” she purred. “You know, to make sure you get there safely.” She stepped forward and punctuated her offer by licking the cords of his neck.

  God, he already adored this woman. She knew exactly how to handle him. Except at this rate, they wouldn’t even make it to the parking garage before he pushed her against a wall, yanked her pants down and wrapped her legs around his waist. He didn’t bother questioning that he’d do it, even though he had never, ever done such a thing in his life.

  “Let’s go,” he managed to get out before grabbing Nina’s hand and walking toward the garage.

  They took turns surging ahead, pulling the other one along, and when they got inside the garage, he recognized her car immediately from the big dent in the bumper.

  Plus, he’d memorized her plates.

  Habit.

  Against the car, he kissed her again, thrusting his tongue gently until she pulled away. “I hope your place is fit for company, Crewes.”

  He grinned at her use of his last name. “I’ve got a bed, if that’s what you mean.”

  She stilled for a minute, and he immediately regretted his words. He hoped he hadn’t offended her. He hadn’t intended it to come out so crudely. Or maybe he had, but he meant it in a good way, not an offensive—

  But then she whispered, “I’m not sure we’ll make it all the way to your bedroom.”

  He groaned and yanked open her driver’s side door, and she slid behind the wheel, buckling her seatbelt before turning back to him for a quick, rough kiss.

  “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” He searched her face for any signs of inebriation. She looked pretty sober now. Sober and sexy.

  She nodded. “I promise. I’ll be fine as long as you don’t drive like a granny. Then I might be forced to tail you and flash my lights and honk my horn.”

  “I should have known you’d be the kind with road rage.”

  “Not rage. Just skilled enough to find other people frustrating. Try driving in Africa sometime.”

  He gave her a last, quick kiss. “I’ll take my chances on the 116.” That was the freeway leading to the west of Greenbriar and the one they’d both been driving when he had rear-ended her this morning. “My car is one level up. I’ll pull right around here and you can follow me home.”

  He shut her driver’s door, then turned and sprinted to the stairwell, taking the stairs two at a time. Thank God for all those punishing workouts and training sessions that kept him in great shape. Every minute he spent away from Nina was a minute he lost in kissing her, touching her and sliding in and out of her luscious body.

  He reached his car, unlocked it, jumped in and pulled out of his parking space in record time. The garage was fairly deserted at this time of night on a Monday, and he was in front of Nina’s car in less than a minute.

  Please don’t let her change her mind.

  He’d never wanted a woman this much before. He’d never needed a woman like this, like he would die if he didn’t have her. Well, a whole woman, anyway, and not just the voice of one. By the time they pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex, he was sweating with need, nerves and the dull pain of an erection contained for too long in his pants.

  Ben willed himself to slow down, not to jump on her like a great beast in heat, but even as he told himself those things, when he met her on the sidewalk in front of their cars and their bodies pressed together, lips fusing, all he wanted to do was fuck her right there on the concrete.

  Slow down. Slow down.

  He pulled away slightly. “And here I thought you were joking about not making it to my bedroom.”

  Thankfully, his words made her giggle, the sound cooling his urgency a little.

  But then she nipped his ear and ran her hands down his back, squeezing his ass gently. Urgency back to level: spontaneous combustion.

&n
bsp; “Lead the way, then, unless you want to put on a show for your neighbors,” she murmured, a husky tease. And even though he knew she wasn’t serious, the idea of Nina pushing him down and riding him right there made his cock stretch the fabric of his pants to an unbearable degree.

  He practically sprinted to his apartment—which wasn’t easy to do with a massive erection—and fumbled with his keys as he unlocked the door. As soon as he got it open, he stood back and held it for her to enter.

  Extreme horniness apparently did not overrule his manners.

  As she passed him to go inside, one hand trailed over his chest, fingertips leaving a sensation of throbbing fire in their wake.

  Ben drew a ragged breath, then stepped in behind her and shut the door.

  She was on him so fast he didn’t even have time to flip on a light. The borrowed jacket fell off her shoulders, dropping to the floor and leaving her in only her billowy top, which was much too light for the cool weather outside.

  She must have assumed she’d be going from her car to her office and back.

  Not hooking up with a guy who’d dented her bumper, bought her a drink and considered her to be even more amazing than a voice he’d shared himself with in the past.

  Of course he couldn’t tell her that. She’d leave in a heartbeat, to get away from his crazy.

  He gripped her waist, squeezing. Wow, she had a tight, strong body. His hands moved under her shirt and ran upward, skimming over her ribs as she slipped her own hands over the buttons of his shirt, slowly undoing them to reveal the cotton tee he was wearing as an undershirt. He reached her breasts as she tugged both shirts from his pants, pushing up the fabric to touch his bare skin.

  Fuck. Just…fuck. They really weren’t going to make it to the bed. The feel of her hands on his stomach amped up everything. They were moving too slowly. He needed to get to her. He needed to be in her.

  Now.

  He pushed aside the cups of her bra and squeezed her breasts, too hard, too desperate, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she moaned and arched into his hands even as her own fingers worked at his buckle, then she leaned back toward him for a hot, wet kiss.