Decidedly Off Limits

by Stina Lindenblatt

  “Pretend you’re making love to the camera,” he prompted.

  Again, easier said than done.

  Trent inched closer to the camera, and the sexy expression on his face had my insides turn into heated goo—like roasted marshmallows.

  “That’s perfect, Kelsey,” Luke gushed.

  Bear barked as if to agree.

  Once Luke was finished taking photos, we checked them on his laptop—with Bear now snoring loudly in the corner. They weren’t bad, but there was nothing special about them. Not like my favorite pictures that I’d seen on social media sites.

  Those had an intimate beauty about them.

  They didn’t look like a department store underwear ad.

  I turned to Trent, an idea forming. “Okay, assistant, take it off.”

  His eyebrow quirked up. “Come again?”

  With my best come hither smile, I started unbuttoning his dress shirt. “I need this.”

  I continued unhooking the buttons through the holes. My fingertips might have accidentally crept under the white cotton fabric and there might have been some caressing of his chest.

  Never one to miss a party, my body might have hummed happily at the contact.

  I glanced at Bear, who was still snoozing, and gave Trent a quick chaste kiss. If it weren’t for Luke and Bear, I’d be doing a lot more to Trent than just giving him sweet kisses.

  I slipped the shirt on but didn’t bother with the buttons.

  Trent’s eyes dilated to Christ-you-look-fucking-hot-in-my-clothes black. Something to keep in mind next time I wanted to seduce him. He pulled me against him and growled low and rough against my ear, “I want you wearing that shirt and only that shirt when we get home.”

  Goosebumps prickled across my skin in anticipation of what was waiting for me once we were through here, which couldn’t come fast enough if you asked me.

  “Woof!”

  Rolling his eyes, Trent took a step back and threw Bear a look. “You’re really cramping my style here.”

  Bear barked what could have loosely been translated as “Sorry. Not.”

  I positioned my knee nearest the camera onto the bed, the stilettos for now abandoned on the floor.

  And then we were shooting.

  A knock on the door jerked me from my lavish thoughts of what I wanted to do with my tongue to Trent’s half-naked body.

  “It’s me,” a male voice said. “I’ve come to pick up Bear.” Ah, Cam, Luke’s boyfriend, who I’d met a few times after class, along with Bear.

  At the sound of his other owner, Bear gave another loud bark and the door inched opened. “Can I come in?” Cam asked.

  On instinct, I pulled Trent’s shirt shut, covering myself. “Yes.”

  Cam entered the small building and Luke introduced him to Trent.

  “C’mon boy,” Cam said to Bear, taking the leash from Luke. “Hope you’ve been good.”

  Still eyeing Trent like he was the enemy, Bear lumbered over to Cam and waited patiently for his owner to click the leash onto his collar, his tail now wagging.

  As Cam walked Bear to the door, Trent called out, “Told you I’d be the one getting the girl in the end.”

  Bear ignored him, Luke laughed, and Cam just looked confused. Once man and dog were out the door, we got back to the photo shoot.

  Afterward, Luke loaded the pictures onto his laptop and showed them to us. The photos turned out exactly how I had envisioned them. A large reason for that was because of Luke. He had a natural talent for getting the best from his models—even me.

  He looked up from his laptop, and his gaze jumped between Trent and me, studying us. “I have another idea, but I need you both to be in the photos this time.”

  “Why do you need me in them?” Trent asked, his heated gaze still locked on the laptop screen.

  “Because I have an idea you might like.” He explained how he wanted us to pose. As a couple.

  After Luke promised none of the photos would end up online without our written permission, Trent climbed onto the bed and I straddled his hips.

  Luke adjusted his camera and the lights, explaining what he was doing for my benefit. Then he began shooting the new round of images. For the most part, Trent and I were to just gaze into each other’s eyes and pretend we were getting ready to kiss, our mouths only inches apart.

  Now, this doesn’t sound too tough, right?

  Bet you aren’t feeling too sorry for us.

  Trent and I had kissed a lot during the past few weeks. True. But staring at someone’s mouth for at least five minute when all you wanted to do was kiss him and taste him was sheer torture. I was positive this pose had been listed in the Guide to Effective Torture Techniques back during the Spanish Inquisition.

  But it wasn’t just lust that was boiling inside of me, hot and heavy to get it on with him. There was something about staring into his eyes, into his soul, and realizing that everything had changed. The man you liked as more than just a friend, the man you had craved for who-knows-how-long was the man you were in love with.

  Too bad for me it was one-sided.

  “Okay,” Luke finally said, “I’d like to try something else. Kelsey, take off the shirt and your bra. You’ll be in the same pose, but your breasts will be pressed against Trent’s chest. Nothing you don’t want seen will be visible.”

  “You didn’t tell me there would be added perks to this assistant gig,” Trent said, his breath a hot kiss against my ear.

  “Do you think you can handle it?” My gaze dropped to his package, hidden in his jeans.

  “I was hoping you’d be handling it later.” He chuckled.

  I turned my head a fraction of an inch. “If you’re a good boy,” I murmured, “I’ll be doing more than just handling it later.” I brushed my lips against the shell of his ear.

  A muffled curse tumbled from his mouth and I couldn’t help but grin.

  Before Trent could say anything else, I slipped off the shirt, letting it pool around my hips. I removed my bra and stuffed it under the covers so I could easily retrieve it once we were finished.

  I shifted forward, pressing my suddenly achy core against Trent’s thickening length and my breasts against his chest. “Okay, we’re ready,” I told Luke, who had been busying himself with his camera while I was removing my bra.

  Luke returned to behind the camera and began shooting again. “Pretend you want to make love to each other,” he directed.

  Pretend? That was one thing I didn’t have to pretend.

  I ran my lips along Trent’s jaw, relishing the feel of his light stubble against my face.

  “Wow, you guys are seriously hot,” Luke said, the camera still clicking away. “Good thing Bear is gone or else his fur would be singed.”

  I pulled back slightly and looked into Trent’s eyes. My breath caught at the love reflecting back at me, but unlike the feelings I had for him, his were based on what he was projecting for the camera. He was getting into it, giving Luke what he wanted.

  My heart slouched in my chest, knowing I would never get that for real with Trent. But this was what I had signed up for when it came to our friends-with-benefits agreement. I just had to suck it up.

  “And we’re done,” Luke said, fanning himself. “I knew you two would be good together. I just wasn’t expecting that much heat.”

  “You mean it was better than when I was pretending to make love to the camera?” I asked, half joking.

  Luke burst out laughing. “Girl, it wasn’t the camera you were making love to earlier.” His gaze slid monetarily to Trent, then he walked away, allowing me time to slip my bra and the shirt back on.

  I gave Trent a quick kiss. “I’m just gonna put my clothes back on. I’ll be right back.” I started to climb off his lap.

  He grabbed my hips and dragged me back. “I have a better idea.” His eyes held the familiar heat I’d seen so many times with him lately. “How about Luke leaves and I’ll be your model.” With the way he was looking at me, it was i
mpossible to say no. “On one condition,” he added.

  “What’s that?”

  His fingers slipped under the shirt opening and traced along the edge of my bra. “You don’t get changed yet.”

  “Are you sure about this?”

  He nodded.

  “All right.” I turned to Luke, hoping he wouldn’t take offense to me turning down his offer to model for me. “It looks like I won’t need your help after all. Trent’s volunteered to be my model.”

  “You sure?” Luke asked.

  “Definitely.”

  He jerked his chin at Trent. “Thanks, man, for the pictures. If you want, I can burn them on a CD for you.”

  Trent glanced at me, the heated expression still in his eyes. “I’d appreciate that.”

  Luke packed up his stuff, moving quickly, possibly to bail before things became R-rated between Trent and myself. After starving for the feel of Trent’s lips during the photo shoot, I was more than happy to kiss him again, only this time deeply.

  Which was exactly what I did once the studio door shut behind Luke.

  But as my legs began to melt beneath me, I remembered where we were and why we were here. I reluctantly pulled away.

  “We should get started,” I murmured, my lips close enough to Trent’s that I could feel his warm breath on my mouth.

  The corner of his mouth twitched up. “I thought we were getting started.”

  I lightly punched his arm. “I meant the photos.”

  “That’s too bad. ’Cause I was enjoying the kissing part.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close again. “I don’t suppose there’ll be kissing involved with your photos. But real kissing. Not the almost kissing crap that practically killed me.”

  I gently whacked him on the arm. “Sorry, no kissing in these photos. Not unless you want me to call Luke back. But something tells me he’s not your type.”

  Trent rolled his eyes and gave me one final kiss. Then I pulled away and set up the lighting and props for the photo shoot.

  With a level of self-control I didn’t know I possessed, I told Trent how to pose without touching him.

  That wasn’t to say I didn’t want to.

  There should’ve been a gold medal for that level of restraint.

  31

  Trent

  If you think Robert De Niro has the easiest fucking job around, then you obviously haven’t spent the last two hours of your life preparing to convince your sister that the stranger sitting next to you is your new girlfriend.

  And that the woman in the back seat isn’t the one you really wanted to make love to.

  That’s right. Kelsey and I were driving to Napa Valley, where we would be spending the weekend convincing Erin and Holly that the two other people in my BMW were our new significant others.

  Yes, maybe it would’ve been easier to just come clean and risk the wrath of Erin. But the thought of what she would do to my balls for screwing around with her best friend was what held me back.

  “Just so we have this straight,” Jillian asked from the passenger seat, “what’s the policy on PDA?”

  I peered in the rear mirror at Matt. Did he look familiar? Hopefully Erin and Holly didn’t think so. He had recently been on Criminal Minds as some Ted Bundy type. Nice, huh?

  “Hand holding and hugging is fine,” I said. “No kissing.”

  Did I mention Matt was extremely good-looking?

  While I was confident I was the one Kelsey really wanted, the caveman part beat his fists against his chest and grunted, “Mine.” Any man who claimed he didn’t do that when it came to his woman was lying—or just wasn’t that in to her.

  We all did it.

  End of story.

  “Got it,” Matt said from the backseat, where he and Kelsey had been working on their “story.” Jillian and I had been doing the same. How the hell I would remember all of this was beyond me.

  Ask me anything about the companies in my portfolio and I could tell you every last detail. Ask me how Jillian and I first met and I was still a little fuzzy.

  Fortunately, Kelsey and Matt had only been on a few “dates” (same with Jillian and me), so we didn’t need to know each other all that well.

  Just well enough to be spending the weekend in Napa Valley with them.

  “You owe us big time for this, Trent,” Matt said, laughter in his voice. The guy was enjoying this way too much for his own good.

  “Says the guy who had me cover his ass big time in college,” I reminded him. Not that he had needed to be reminded of that when I’d asked him if he and Jillian could help us out.

  “What happened?” Kelsey asked.

  “Genius boy decided in college that it would be a great idea to date the daughter of one of our professors.” I pointed to Jillian so Kelsey would know who I was talking about. “Never recommended at the best of times…”

  “And especially not recommended when your professor already dislikes you,” Matt added.

  “My father didn’t dislike you,” Jillian said, looking back at Matt in the backseat. She laughed at his expression, the expression that said, “Yeah, right he didn’t.” “Okay, the two of you didn’t exactly share the same opinions most of the time…”

  “Which wouldn’t have been a problem except her father always thought he was right and no one was allowed to think otherwise,” Matt said.

  “All right, I’ll give you that.”

  “So long story short,” I said, “I covered for Matt’s ass so many times, just so he could continue sneaking around with Jillian until the semester was over. Which got me into hot water a few times, especially when our professor thought I was the one dating his daughter.”

  “Hey,” Matt said, “it all worked out in the end.”

  “But considering what Trent did for us,” Jillian added, “there was no way we could say no when he asked us to help you guys out.”

  “Does your father know you married Matt?” Kelsey asked.

  “Yes. He eventually got over it once he found out we were together, but this was long after Matt had finished with the class. And it didn’t exactly happen overnight.”

  The sun was low in the sky by the time we pulled up to the ivy-covered mini mansion. Because Kelsey had a photography class today, the four of us had left after that. Erin, Darren, and Holly had arrived earlier this afternoon.

  “Nice place,” Jillian said, her voice filled with awe. Not much different to Kelsey’s expression.

  “I wouldn’t get too attached,” Matt said. “Not unless Criminal Minds offers me a hundred-thousand-dollars-per-episode contract as an agent for the next five years.”

  “Given you were killed off during your one shot at the show, point taken.” Jillian flashed her husband an adoring smile, then blew him a kiss.

  “Showtime.” Kelsey nodded toward the house as Erin and Holly walk down the front steps, smiling. “God, I hope this works,” she muttered, then opened the car door and slid from the back seat.

  She hugged Erin and Holly. Jillian, Matt, and I joined her as Darren stepped out of the house. Kelsey moved closer to Matt and lovingly wrapped her arm around his waist.

  Lucky bastard.

  “So, here he is. My boyfriend. Matt.” Her cheeks reddened and she chewed on her lip. The lip I longed to taste but had to wait a few more hours before I could do just that.

  She introduced him to Erin, Holly, and Darren, then I introduced them to my “girlfriend.” I could tell from the way Erin looked Jillian over that Jillian had already scored points with my sister. She was wearing a simple sundress and had a low maintenance look about her, much like my sister and Kelsey. Her long blond hair was pulled back in a messy bun. But as pretty as she was, she still wasn’t Kelsey.

  I wrapped an arm around Jillian, and had a whole new level of respect for Robert De Niro. Shit, why did acting have to be so tough? It took everything in me not to glance at Kelsey and give away how I felt about her.

  Once the introductions were finished, we ente
red the house and Erin showed us around.

  “This is Kelsey and Matt’s room.” Erin opened the door and we followed her inside.

  The large picturesque window overlooked the local vineyard and its breathtaking view. The room was designed with a mix of mahogany furniture, latte-colored walls, and floral bedding. A forest-green wingback chair sat near the corner—and thoughts of what Kelsey and I could do in the chair and on the four-poster bed left me all shades of excited.

  “Wow,” Kelsey said. “This is gorgeous.”

  “The bathroom’s down the hallway.” Erin pointed in the direction we had to go to get to it. “Holly’s room is across from this one. And Trent and Jillian, you’re next door.”

  I let out a relieved breath that Matt and I didn’t have to go too far to get to the rooms we were supposed to be in—and to the women we were supposed to be with.

  Jillian and I followed Erin down the hall to what was supposed to be our room. “Darren and I are staying in the room at the end of the hallway.” She pointed out the bathroom, which was sandwiched between her room and Holly’s. “We have the en-suite. There’s also a bathroom with a shower on the main level.”

  Erin showed us our room, then left us alone so we could unpack before dinner. I stepped onto the balcony, which had the same view as Kelsey’s. Unfortunately her room didn’t share the same balcony. That would’ve made things easier when it came to sneaking around.

  I checked the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. “Don’t go anywhere,” I told Jillian before leaving the room.

  Matt and Kelsey were chatting when I entered their room, her suitcase open on the bed, filled with her stuff and mine. “She’s waiting for you,” was all I said. Matt slapped me on the back and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  I locked the door and crooked my finger, summoning Kelsey over to me. She was instantly in my arms and my lips didn’t waste time. They explored her sweet-smelling neck, her jaw, and finally her mouth. My hand cupped her equally sweet ass and I pressed her against my cock, which had come to life the moment I’d stepped into the room and saw her.

  I crouched slightly, running my hands down the backs of her thighs, and lifted her. Her legs went instantly around my hips and she rubbed her seam against my straining length. I groaned against her lips and walked to the bed.