Decidedly Off Limits

by Stina Lindenblatt

  The doorbell interrupted any further comment he may have had. I put my “artwork” aside and answered the door.

  And my breath almost stole away at the sight of Trent in the doorway. He was wearing khaki shorts, sneakers, and a light grey T-shirt that practically molded to his body. His black hair was messy and only served to make him look even sexier than normal—if that was at all possible.

  “Love the outfit,” he said, his gaze taking in the view. It swept up my cute-cartoon-owl pajama bottoms and landed on my white tank top. His eyes darkened and for a moment I couldn’t figure out why—and then the reason hit me. The fabric of my bra was thin and did little to hide my nipples, especially when teamed with my tank top.

  I crossed my arms over my breasts.

  His gaze continued to my messy ponytail. I hadn’t even bothered with my makeup yet, other than a layer of lip gloss. His gaze locked on my mouth and the tip of his tongue traveled along his lower lip. The sexy lip that Holly wanted to kiss. The sexy lip that I had kissed.

  The thought of Holly broke the spell and I blinked. Trent shook his head, as if to snap himself out of the same daze. Then he glanced behind me. “Is Josh still here?”

  “No, he left last night, shortly after you and Holly.”

  “He did?”

  I nodded. “I’m not interested in him that way.”

  A small smile appeared on Trent’s face, and he leaned his forearm against the doorframe. “I’m glad to hear that. He’s my friend, but I’ll be the first to tell you that you can do better than him, even if you aren’t looking for a relationship right now.”

  I didn’t want to discuss Josh, so I quickly changed the subject. “So what are you up to today?”

  “Depends.”

  “Depends on what?”

  “You.”

  “Me?”

  He nodded, my favorite sexy grin on his face. “I thought we could go hiking.”

  “You, me, and who else?”

  “Just you and me.”

  My brain wanted to calmly discuss the pros and cons of accepting his offer. My body chimed in with its own opinion, which was more along the lines of “hell, yes.” My brain reminded my body that after the kiss last night, the last thing my lust-filled body needed was to spend the day with Trent. My body gave my brain the finger, and my heart decided it was best to keep out of the discussion.

  “Let me get dressed.” I opened the door farther and let him in. Mr. Kitty Whiskers rubbed against Trent’s legs and purred. I wasn’t sure if that meant he was siding with my body or he was just happy to see Trent.

  “I picked up some sandwiches and drinks at the deli before the cab dropped me off here,” Trent said, “so we’re good to go.”

  I returned a short time later, showered, dressed in shorts, T-shirt, and my hair in a neater ponytail than before. I grabbed my point-and-shoot camera and stowed it in my small backpack. Trent then drove us through San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge, to a popular wooded area. For the entire drive there, we avoided the topic of the kiss, but that didn’t mean the memory of it still didn’t taunt me. With the clean, familiar scent that was all Trent sitting next to me, it was hard to ignore how the same scent had been wrapped around me just hours before, when his lips were pressed against mine.

  “I tried to get tickets for Cavalia,” he said. “Unfortunately they’re all sold out. The person I know who might’ve been able to help me couldn’t get any either.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  “So, how’s the drawing class going?”

  “We haven’t done much yet.”

  He glanced at me. “Are you enjoying it more than the cooking class?”

  I shrugged, unsure how to explain it. “I liked the cooking class, but not enough to get excited about cooking. The art class is interesting so far, but it’s just not what I was hoping for.”

  “What were you hoping for?” He pulled into an empty spot in the parking lot near the trail.

  “Something that’s more fulfilling. Something I can get lost in and that gets me excited. Something that makes me feel more complete. So far none of that’s happening.”

  “Maybe that’s ’cause you just started it.” He turned off the engine.

  “True.”

  I gathered my backpack by my feet and climbed out of the vehicle. Trent was removing his backpack from the trunk by the time I walked over to him.

  Tearing my gaze from him before my heart could let out a dreamy sigh, I studied the light-blue sky and the few puffy clouds drifting by. Including one that reminded me of a penis.

  Oh, God. Even out here I had sex on the brain. “I bet the stars look amazing from here at night.”

  “I didn’t know you’re interested in stargazing.”

  “I wouldn’t say I’m interested in studying it, if that’s what you’re asking. But I’ve never seen the sky before without the light pollution from the city.”

  Trent looked up at the sky. “I used to believe that the stars were the people we once loved. When they died, they became a star in the sky.”

  “I remember that.” It was one of the many small pieces of trivia that we used to talk about when we were younger. I smiled at the memory of us lying in the backyard, along with Erin and Liam, discussing the stars and various myths and legends. The guys had quite a vivid imagination. “When did you stop believing?”

  “When my aunt died of cancer,” he said, still staring at the sky.

  I gave his hand a light squeeze, knowing how much she had meant to him and Erin.

  We began hiking along the trail between the trees. A few other hikers were out, but other than that the area was fairly quiet. I paused and closed my eyes, enjoying the calming sounds of nature: birds singing in the trees, the occasional rustle of leaves, the gentle gurgle of water rushing over large moss-covered rocks. Now this I could get passionate about.

  I opened my eyes and continued to where Trent was waiting for me. A little farther ahead, we stopped at a bridge crossing the wide stream. I removed my camera from my backpack and lifted it to take a photo of the forest. But as I scanned the area for a good picture, I noticed Trent lost in thought, gazing out at the water. Thanks to the trees, the light on his face was just right.

  Without him having a clue what I was up to, I snapped a picture of him and checked the result in the LCD screen.

  I inhaled a soft breath at the image. I had, mostly by fluke, captured him in a way that I hadn’t seen in a while. He looked relaxed, at ease with the surroundings. At peace. He wasn’t thinking about the stock market and the companies in his portfolio. He wasn’t thinking about his promise to my brother to keep an eye on my dating life—and disrupt it if necessary.

  He was just enjoying the moment.

  And I could honestly say I’d never seen him look more breathtaking than he did right then. My heart sped up. Not because I was turned on from seeing him this way (which I was). My heart got excited at what I had accomplished. The photo had been a fluke. Now I wanted to learn how to consistently take great photos.

  “You’re smiling.”

  I looked up from the screen to find Trent watching me. “I am.”

  “Want to tell me what you’re smiling about?”

  My grin widened. “I’ve figured out what I’m passionate about.” I showed him the picture.

  He looked at it, then his gaze jumped to mine. “You’re passionate about me?” His voice came out I-want-to-do-you-against-this-bridge husky, and for a second I forgot what we were talking about.

  Yes! I wanted to say out loud. You’re all I can think about. Instead I said, “Photography.” It came out as a croaked whisper and I cleared my throat to hide what I was really thinking. “My friend taught me a few things in college, and I enjoyed playing around with her camera. I guess I’d forgotten about it.” Until now.

  My mind started to swirl at what I needed to do. I had to figure out what camera and equipment to buy. And I needed to study books…maybe sign up for a workshop.r />
  I could do this.

  “I think you might be onto something.” Trent handed the camera back to me. “This is the first time since deciding you need a hobby that you’ve actually been excited about it. You weren’t this excited when you signed up for the cooking class.”

  He was right. I had looked forward to it but that was about it.

  We continued hiking until we stumbled across a fallen tree blocking the path, its trunk too massive to easily step over. Trent climbed up first, his long legs making easy work of it, and jumped down on the other side. I followed, but before I could jump down his hands were on my waist. The warmth from them seeped through my T-shirt and spread through my body, concentrating on the area between my legs.

  You could gather all the teenage boys on a football team together, and they would be less horny than I was from his touch.

  I jumped down with Trent’s help and our bodies almost collided. Like in the kitchen when we kissed, only a narrow gap existed between us.

  Neither of us said anything. My brain was having problems piecing together a logical argument for why I should step away. But judging from the battle of emotions dueling it out in Trent’s eyes, I wasn’t the only one dealing with this dilemma.

  Just as I thought he was going to snap out of it and remember who I was, his head lowered to mine and he kissed me.

  The kiss was nothing like last night. It was tentative. Gentle. The brushing of lips. Even though it wasn’t the same, I still moaned softly. The heat in my body that had begun as a small flicker morphed into a forest fire, and without realizing what I was doing, I parted my lips and let him in.

  My tongue brushed his and my previous moan was answered by his own. Or maybe that was a groan as he realized he was kissing his best friend’s sister and his sister’s best friend.

  He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Why not?” Shit, what was I doing?

  “Your brother wanted me to keep an eye on you and make sure you were okay while he was away. I can guarantee kissing you wasn’t what he had in mind.”

  “You never know. Maybe it was exactly what he had in mind.” Hello, brain? What the hell were you doing?

  I stepped away. “You’re right. We shouldn’t have done that. Holly’s my friend and…” The words faded away as I realized what I was saying. Oops.

  I bit into my lip to keep the rest of the sentence from escaping.

  Trent frowned. “What does Holly have to do with us kissing?”

  A stream of curses paraded through my head, enough to cause even a sailor to chuckle. I started to turn away, but before I could get anywhere Trent grabbed my shoulders.

  “What does Holly have to do with us kissing?” he asked again.

  “Um.” If I were to rank this on a scale between one to ten when it came to awkwardness, it would definitely be a thousand. “She likes you.”

  And she was going to kill me. Possibly with her stilettos.

  He shrugged, clearly not getting it. “Yeah, we’re friends. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “No, I don’t mean likes you as a friend. She likes likes you.” Great, now I sounded like we were back in middle school.

  “Oh.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he started pacing back and forth in front of me. Not quite the reaction I had been expecting.

  He suddenly stopped. “You sure about that?”

  I nodded. “I was trying to get you guys together last night. I figured you just needed a little nudge in the right direction.”

  “Then why did you kiss me last night?”

  My mouth dropped open. “I’m pretty sure you were the one who kissed me.” But now that he knew the truth about Holly’s feelings for him, that would be the end of the orgasm-inducing kisses for me.

  And knowing this was like giving a chocoholic the best truffles ever created, then never letting her have another one—but leaving them in a glass case for her to see every day.

  Trent resumed pacing, forming a new path in the dirt.

  “So now that you know the truth about Holly’s feelings for you, do you think you could forget you heard it from me?” I flashed what I hoped was the equivalent of puppy-dog eyes.

  He nodded but continued forging his new path in the dirt. If he kept this up, he would’ve dug a hole to the earth’s core by dinner. “Shit, what am I going to do?” he muttered to himself.

  “Well, for starters, do you feel the same way about her?”

  He kept pacing. “She’s a great person and, yes, she’s sexy.” He paused and looked at me. “But she’s not you.”

  My heart suddenly forgot to how to beat, hoping that he meant what I thought he meant.

  But how could he have? Holly was everything I wished to be: sexually confident, well-rounded, and great at sports. She was also one thing that I wasn’t, but it just made her that much more perfect for Trent. “She practically lives at the office, like you. You guys are made for each other.”

  “Why? ’Cause we’re both workaholics?”

  “Exactly.” Holly might be well-rounded, but at the end of the day she was still a workaholic, putting in more hours at the office than the average person.

  “Just because we’re both workaholics doesn’t mean we’re perfect for each other.” He stepped closer to me. Mere inches separated us. He reached up and caressed my jaw with his thumb. “You’re the one I keep thinking about at night, Kels—you naked in my bed. Not Holly.”

  I swear my heart gave up beating at those magical words. Trent, the guy I’d wanted for all those years, was telling me that he thought about me at night? In his bed? Holy crap.

  I needed to sit down.

  Maybe breathe into a paper bag.

  “You…what?” I gasped. He grabbed my arm like I was going to have a seizure. And maybe I was. “Since when?” I asked.

  “Christ, have you taken a look at yourself lately, Kelsey? You’re gorgeous and sexy and ever since I saw you on the side of the road, I’ve wondered why I haven’t…fuck, I don’t know. But it’s complicated. You’re my best friend’s little sister. Liam would kill me if he knew how I’ve been thinking about you naked in my bed.”

  Heat rushed between my legs, ignoring what Trent was saying. He had a point, though. Liam would do exactly that. He was way too overly protective for his own good.

  “And after he’s finished with me,” Trent continued, “my sister would rip me a new one, too.”

  He had a point there as well.

  I stared at the ferns growing near us. “And I can’t go through another relationship like I had with Owen.”

  But I also couldn’t imagine surviving another day without Trent touching me like I longed for him to touch me. “And then there’s Holly. She’s my friend. Even if Liam and Erin were okay with us being together, I refuse to hurt Holly because you and I can’t keep our hands off each other.” I swallowed, shoving down the words I wanted to say but probably shouldn’t. Too bad they were stubborn. “But I…”

  “But you what?”

  “But I also want to be with you. I want to kiss you. I want to touch you.” I want to make love to you.

  20

  Trent

  There was something about standing in the middle of the woods, with the warm breeze cheering you on, to help you forget all your common sense. Throw in a cawing crow and you were set.

  “Trust me, Kels, I want that too,” I said.

  She bit her lip in that adorable way of hers, which made me want to push her against a tree and explore her mouth again, except this time more thoroughly.

  “But like I said,” she pointed out, “I don’t want to have a repeat of what happened with Owen. I’m not ready for another relationship.”

  Neither was I.

  “So what are you suggesting?” I asked. “That we become fuck buddies?”

  Remember the first three best-friend rules (never fuck the guy’s sister, never think of fuck
ing the guy’s sister, and never thinking about her naked while not thinking about fucking her)? I was positive there was also a fourth rule: no fuck-buddy arrangements with his sister.

  But if this was the extent of my being able to kiss her and explore her in ways I could only have dreamed about until now, then fuck buddies it was. And given neither of us was looking for a relationship right now, it worked for everyone.

  Everyone except for Holly.

  I’d been so blinded by my lust for Kelsey, I’d failed to notice the shift in Holly’s feelings toward me. Now things started to make sense, like her long hours in the office when she didn’t need to stay so late. Like why she had shown me the thongs she had bought that one day—only it hadn’t ended with the reaction she’d hoped for.

  “I was thinking more like friends with benefits.” Kelsey shrugged at my what’s-the-difference expression. “It sounds less crass than your version.”

  “Even though it’s the same thing?”

  She nodded, the grin on her face as bright as the sun overhead. But then it disappeared as quickly as it had come—and I knew why.

  “We just have to make sure Holly understands where things stand between her and me,” I said.

  “We?” Kelsey poked me in the chest. “There’s no ‘we’ here. You want to break her heart, so you’ll be the one doing it, not me. Anyway, it’s not like we can let anyone know about us.”

  “Why’s that?” I asked, even though she was right. She wasn’t my girlfriend, which meant that what was going on between us was no one else’s business.

  “Hello, have you met your reputation? If my brother has you calling interference on my dating life, do you think he’s going to be supportive of me messing around with someone who changes women as often as he changes his underwear?”

  “Hey, I’m not that bad.”

  “Yes, you are. And your sister wouldn’t be too impressed either. Not after what happened with She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.”

  “Who?”

  “Michaela. Just don’t mention her name to Erin.” She gave a dramatic shudder.

  “Why’s that?” I mean, I got that things didn’t go down too well after I broke up with her, but I didn’t get what this had to do with Kelsey and me.