Decidedly Off Limits

by Stina Lindenblatt

  Using the rolling pin, Kelsey flattened the dough while I prepared the filling. When she tried to remove it from the counter, part of the dough stuck to it and ripped in half. “That’s not good. It was a lot easier with the pasta maker.”

  Had to agree with her there.

  I mixed the chopped shallots and mushrooms and added the cream. Kelsey continued working on the dough. The finished product wasn’t quite like the one from class—the dough nowhere near as thin—but I didn’t think our friends would complain. Hey, as long as it tasted good, that was all that mattered.

  And, Christ, I hoped it tasted good, or else I’d never hear the end of it from Josh.

  Next was the dessert.

  “You wanna make the dough?” she asked, reading the recipe.

  “Sure, unless you want me to slice up the apples.” I was fine doing either one.

  “No, I can do them.” She grinned that smile that always made my heart trip over itself. “Can I borrow your knife? Mine’s too wimpy.”

  “You think you can handle it?” Good going, dumbass. There was no missing the innuendo in my voice.

  Kelsey’s blush from earlier was nothing compared to now. “I’m sure I can handle your knife just fine,” she replied. But in contrast to her blush, her tone held a your-place-or-mine breathlessness—and my cock got excited.

  Before I could stop myself, “I’d be all for that” slipped out.

  She bit her lip, her gaze raising to my lips. But just as I was contemplating tossing my best-friend rules out the window, she flinched. “Ouch!”

  Blood dripped from a cut on her finger. I grabbed a paper towel from the roll perched on the table. “I don’t think you were supposed to cut off your finger.”

  “Oops! I must have misread the instructions.” Despite the stinging pain she was no doubt experiencing, her tone was like a helium-filled birthday balloon floating free in the sky.

  Fighting back the urge to kiss her silly, I rinsed the wound and wrapped her finger with the paper towel. “Where’s your first aid kit?”

  “Downstairs bathroom. Top drawer.”

  I returned a few minutes later, removed the paper towel from her cut, and replace it with a bandage. “It’s not too bad. You’ll survive.”

  The corner of her mouth quirked up. “I guess chopping isn’t one of my hidden talents.”

  “What can I say? You just weren’t ready for such a large knife.”

  Kelsey sighed. It wasn’t a frustrated sigh. It was the kind of sigh a girl does when she’s thinking about a certain part of the male anatomy, and how it would feel inside of her. Only, it wasn’t my anatomy she was thinking about. That much I knew.

  Or maybe I was wrong.

  Maybe I hadn’t imagined her reaction just before she cut herself.

  Don’t go there! I warned myself yet again.

  Once the dessert was assembled, Kelsey placed it into the oven. “I’m going to have a shower now. Can you keep an eye on the apple tart?”

  I’d rather keep an eye on her…in the shower. “Yeah, okay.”

  She returned forty minutes later, and I barely kept my mouth from flopping open at the sight of her.

  Holy fuck.

  Remember the pink dress she wore the night I crashed her date? The one she’d looked sexy in? That dress was nothing compared to the one she now had on. This sleeveless dress made the other one look like it belonged on a little girl. Black lace covered the nude fabric, and the floor-length dress skimmed Kelsey’s curves in a way that had my cock ready to stand at attention.

  I recited the equation for determining the return on equity in my head five times—fast.

  My cock’s response wasn’t anything new when it came to Kelsey lately, but it was a little unnerving just how often it was happening.

  Inwardly I cringed at what Liam would say if he knew how my body reacted when it came to his sister. Hell, forget what he would say. It was what his SEAL training would mean to me that I was worried about—or more specifically, what it would mean to my cock.

  “You look good,” I said, suddenly feeling underdressed in jeans and a dress shirt.

  “I know it’s a little too much. But since I’ve sworn off dating for a while, I knew this would be my only chance in who-knows-how-long to dress up.”

  She said something else, but visions of Kelsey in her black thong under the dress surfed around in my head, and I missed what she had said.

  I might have also been busy visualizing removing said thong and exploring her hot, wet pussy with my tongue.

  Whatever she had said couldn’t have been important. She didn’t look like she was waiting for me to respond…which was just as well since it was a well-known fact that men couldn’t multitask. Responding to whatever she had said while I was thinking about her pussy was asking too much.

  Add to that the image of Liam kicking my ass to the next state, and I was just too occupied to understand what Kelsey was up to.

  But once imaginary Liam had kicked my ass as far as Colorado, I realized she was setting the kitchen table. In the center, two candlesticks sat on either side of a short vase crammed full with red and white roses. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she had planned a romantic dinner—for six.

  The doorbell rang and she smiled. “Showtime.” She rushed out of the kitchen and answered the door. I followed her like the good host that I was.

  Erin stepped into the house, hugged Kelsey like they hadn’t seen each other for several weeks, and handed her a bottle of white wine. “Wow, what have you guys been cooking? It smells amazing.”

  She gave me a funny look, but I had no idea what it meant—which was nothing new when it came to my sister. I might have lived with her for most of our lives, but that didn’t mean I always knew what she was thinking.

  Kelsey led Erin and Darren into the kitchen as the doorbell rang again. I opened the door and let Josh in. Unlike Erin and Kelsey, both dressed for a night on the town, Josh was also wearing jeans and a dress shirt.

  He sniffed the air. “Hey, that actually smells good. Were you shitting me when you said you were actually going to cook dinner, or did your friend do the cooking and you’re taking credit for it?”

  I laughed. “Since when did I take credit for something I didn’t do?”

  “True.”

  We entered the kitchen. Erin and Darren were standing by the island with Kelsey, holding the drinks she had already served them. Milk for my sister and beer for my brother-in-law.

  “Josh, you’ve met Erin and Darren, and this is Kelsey.” I gestured at her.

  Kelsey stared at Josh as if she couldn’t believe he was in her kitchen. I hadn’t realized she was a hockey fan.

  Or maybe she wasn’t.

  It wasn’t as if she could’ve missed seeing his picture. His good looks made him popular with the local media, even if he wasn’t one of the team’s star players.

  The doorbell rang again and since Kelsey was preoccupied with Josh (translation: she was still gaping at him), I answered it and let Holly in.

  She was also dressed up and looked ready to hit a gala, if the long, floor-skimming dress was any indication. Her forest-green gown hugged her body. The front formed a deep triangle that traveled past her breasts, and flashed more of her skin than I’d ever seen on her before. The side slit in the skirt continued to mid-thigh, making her legs look never ending. Her auburn hair cascaded down her back in smooth waves.

  Smiling, she handed me her jacket. “Thanks for inviting me. I can’t wait to see what you made for dinner. It smells delicious.”

  “Thanks,” I said, hanging her coat in the hallway closet. “You…you look great.” Like she always did.

  I followed her into the kitchen where everyone was still hanging out. Kelsey took a step back, and Josh placed his hand on her lower back.

  And I saw red.

  Fucking fiery-pits-of-hell red.

  16

  Kelsey

  Holly stepped into the kitchen with Trent right behind her
. Regular Holly was sexy and gorgeous. This version put that one to shame.

  I’m not sure why I took an uncertain step back at the sight of her, but I did…and because I still wasn’t used to stilettos, I wobbled and almost lost my balance.

  Josh placed his hand on my lower back to steady me.

  The smile I gave him was more on the grateful side than the Ohmigod-Joshua-Hoffer-is-touching-me side of things. He was good-looking, but he didn’t have the same effect on me that Trent did.

  Would I have almost sliced my finger off in Josh’s presence? I doubted it.

  My smile widened. “I bet you’re used to women falling over you all the time.”

  “Sure, but usually they’re drunk when it happens. You’d be the first sober woman to do that.” He winked, and my face heated.

  Note to self: practice walking in reverse while in stilettos.

  I turned to Trent and Holly, and waited for Trent to introduce her to his friend. Instead, Trent watched Josh, a scowl on his face. Weird.

  But then everything lately when it came to Trent had been weird. Off-kilter.

  Or possibly just my imagination.

  My wishful, lust-filled imagination.

  “Holly,” I said, “have you met Josh?”

  She shook her head, but it was clear that she also wasn’t lusting over him. A wave of disappointment surged through me. If she had been, I could have switched to hooking her up with Josh instead of with Trent.

  Josh did the standard nod guys did to acknowledge someone without having to say actual words, and rubbed his thumb against my back as I asked her what she would like to drink.

  I expected Trent to pour Holly a glass of wine, but he just glared at Josh’s arm. God, hopefully he wasn’t planning to be an ass tonight on my brother’s behalf, especially since Josh and I weren’t on a date.

  Shaking my head to myself, I removed the bottle of Chardonnay from the fridge and poured Holly a glass. “I love your dress,” I told her. “Don’t you love her dress, Trent?”

  Was that a little obvious?

  “Yes, it’s very nice,” Trent responded halfheartedly, and it took everything inside of me not to roll my eyes.

  “Your dress looks great,” Josh said to Holly. Then to me, he said, “I love your dress. It’s sexy.” Enough seduction oozed from his words to fill a giant birdbath.

  Trent continued scowling at him.

  Having no idea what Trent’s problem was, I smiled at Josh. “Thanks.”

  While Holly asked Josh about the current hockey season, I finished making the French onion soup. She then said something to Trent and leaned into him. My heart slumped against my ribs with an echoing thud, knowing that by the end of the night he would finally find out how she felt about him.

  The fear that had plagued me while I was engaged to Owen re-ignited. Even engaged, I’d been alone. Sadly, from the looks of things, nothing was going to change.

  I would always be alone.

  Cue the violin music.

  More than anything, I wanted what Erin had. She was loved, admired, appreciated. Not once did Darren ever make her feel like she was a forgotten toy, temporarily played with only when the child remembered she existed.

  “I’m currently taking a drawing class,” I said as I slid the cooking sheet with the soup bowls into the oven. I glanced at Josh to see his reaction and got the confirmation I was expecting. Guys didn’t find that sexy or exciting. “…but I don’t think it’s the right hobby for me. I was thinking that maybe I could find a class on how to…to rebuild classic cars.”

  Okay, that was kind of random.

  Both Josh and Trent looked at me as if I’d announced I was joining Cirque du Soleil. Although in Josh’s case, he looked more turned on than surprised.

  “Since when were you interested in doing that?” Trent asked.

  I shrugged. “I love classic cars and I thought it might be fun.” Or not.

  “That would be cool,” Josh said. “The closest I’ve come to rebuilding a classic car are the model cars I build in my free time.”

  Oh sure. Even Josh had a life outside of his career.

  Trent gave me a funny look but didn’t say anything else. Instead, he checked on the soup. The cheese was bubbling and had turned light brown. Perfect.

  “God,” Erin moaned. “That smells so good.”

  I directed everyone to the table, where I had set up place cards, purposefully making sure Trent and Holly sat together. By default, that meant I was sandwiched between Trent and Josh.

  I filled a saucepan with water and placed it on medium heat for the ravioli.

  “I thought you weren’t interested in dating anyone for now,” Trent said, his voice low so no one else could overhear him. His body pressed lightly against my back—his clean scent a warm caress—and I sucked in a soft breath.

  If this had been Josh, I would’ve said he was coming on to me.

  But it wasn’t Josh—it was Trent.

  “And that’s still true,” I told him, unconsciously leaning back against him.

  Oops. My bad.

  Kinda.

  But it wasn’t like you could blame me. You’d have to be made of stone not to react the same way.

  “Then why were you flirting with Josh?”

  I blinked, trying to figure out why Trent would believe that. I came up blank.

  I turned around to face him. “I wasn’t flirting with him. I was being friendly. Big difference. Besides, what’s the big deal if I flirt with him?”

  Rubbing the back of his neck, Trent glanced at the saucepan. “Josh is a player and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “I’m a big girl, Trent. I know how to take care of myself.” Most of the time.

  He opened his mouth to say more. I didn’t give him a chance. I joined our friends at the table. He sat next to me a moment later, and the unspoken tension between us incessantly poked me in the shoulder, like an annoying mosquito.

  If I could have, I would have removed my stiletto and splatted it.

  Or maybe I could hit Trent instead.

  The way he was acting, he deserved it.

  Holly took a sip of her soup. “Mmm. This is one of the best French onion soups I’ve ever tasted.” The others agreed with her, which was the first time anyone had complimented me on my cooking. Unfortunately, because cooking still wasn’t my thing, it would probably never happen again.

  “Do you know Cavalia?” I asked everyone as we began eating the second course—the ravioli—to another round of “Wow, this tastes great,” and “I didn’t know you could cook.”

  “Don’t they do acrobatics on horseback?” Holly picked up her wine. “Like Cirque du Soleil but with horses?”

  “That’s the one. They’re in town next week. I’ve heard they’re really good.”

  “I would love to see it,” she said, eyes glowing with excitement. “I used to ride horses as a girl. I even did a bit of show jumping.”

  Wow, what couldn’t she do? The closest I’d ever come to riding horses was the carousel ride at Disneyland when I was a kid.

  “If you want to go,” Trent said, “I could probably score us tickets.”

  Thinking he meant Holly, I didn’t respond and did my best to ignore the disappointment that had come back for an encore. He’s a workaholic and my brother’s best friend, I reminded myself. He’s perfect for Holly.

  And Erin didn’t seem to mind that Holly was interested in Trent that way. Apparently she was exempt from the friends-aren’t-allowed-to-date-my-brother rule.

  Trent said something else but I was too busy staring at my ravioli to catch what he’d said. It probably had to do with the date he and Holly were going on. Together.

  Possibly even him confessing his undying love to her, right here at the table.

  “Kelsey?”

  I jerked my head up. “Huh? Sorry, what did you say?”

  “Do you want to come too?”

  “That sounds like a great idea.” Josh’s hand rested on m
y lower back, startling me. I jerked slightly, but not enough for him to notice. “Can you make that four tickets?” he asked.

  With his gaze on Josh, a brief look of annoyance crossed Trent’s face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. Trent then glanced at me, the annoyance shifting to hope.

  I nodded and finished my wine. Without asking if I wanted more, Josh re-filled the glass and unleashed his brilliant smile. It was the same smile that no doubt left women panty-less at the mere sight of it. But when my parents had me immunized against the usual childhood illnesses, it had worked better than expected.

  My panties stayed firmly in place.

  Holly leaned in and whispered in Trent’s ear, then ran her finger along his arm. He chuckled at whatever she’d said and my heart squeezed hard. I sucked down some wine, hoping it would help loosen the tightening in my chest.

  It didn’t.

  “So how come Trent hasn’t introduced me to you sooner?” Josh’s warm breath brushed against my cheek.

  “Maybe he was worried you would steal me away from him.” The corner of my mouth curled up to one side to let him know that I was kidding. “And just so you know, I’m not looking for a relationship right now.”

  He moved his hand to my upper thigh, hidden under the table. And because that wasn’t enough, he started caressing my leg. “That’s good. ’Cause I’m not looking for one either.”

  It’s not Trent’s hand. It’s not Trent’s hand. It’s not…

  In my head, it was totally Trent’s hand on my thigh.

  “How come?” I might have squeaked that as the hand moved higher.

  I subtly shifted my leg away from him, removing his hand from my thigh.

  “I don’t have time for one. My career comes first.” Something in Josh’s tone warned me there was more to the story, but it also warned me not to go there. “What about you? Why aren’t you looking for a relationship?”

  “Same thing. My career comes first.” Close enough. He didn’t need to know the real reason.

  “And what is your career?”

  I was suddenly aware of everyone’s gaze on us, watching us expectantly. And that’s when I realized just how cozy the two of us must’ve looked, with our “private” conversation.

  “I’m a physical therapist at the children’s hospital,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear.