Breathless Promises (Alluring Promises Series Book 3) (27 page)

“Clark!” Tina hissed.

“What?”

“I asked you a question.” She wasn’t even bothering to whisper and I cringed not wanting her to wake Aub. I grabbed Tina’s suitcase and her elbow and pushed both through the front door.

Tina’s expression matched how I felt. “What was that?”

“I didn’t want you to wake her. She has trouble sleeping and likes to watch TV to fall asleep.” I found it odd I had no trouble lying to Tina when just last night I was making every effort to be completely honest with Aub.

I started walking toward the elevator not wanting to get into a fight with Tina. I hoped my actions told her to drop the subject of Aub, but knowing Tina, she’d probably start up in the elevator. I was prepared to kick her ass to the curb. It wouldn’t be long anyway before she goes back to Hank. Oddly enough, that thought didn’t tick me off like it used to.

“I don’t want to fight.” Her tone did a one-eighty from before as did her actions. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her body to mine. I didn’t bother responding and just pretended to agree with her.

I took her to the airport, like a good part-time boyfriend would. I was actually a little relieved she was leaving and kind of hoped to spend some time with Aub again.

I parked the car at the curb and got out Tina’s bag. Placing it on the curb, I stood in front of her, anxious for her to walk into the airport.

“I’ll see you in a couple of weeks, right?” Tina asked and then pressed her lips to mine.

I patted her ass and grabbed her hand. “Yep, just let me know your flight back. Unless it’s your boyfriend’s turn,” I added my jab in.

She had spent the entire drive telling me she chose me and when Hank gets back she’s telling him it’s over. I’d believe that when I see it. But did I even want to see it anymore? She sounded sincere and I’d always thought I wanted her to leave Hank for me, but now I wasn’t sure and I wasn’t sure why. Was it because I’d almost lost Aub for good? Or was it because I was just tired of the back and forth with Tina?

“Cute,” Tina remarked at my jab. “I love you.
You
,” she stressed as she kissed me hard. I’d never doubted her love for me. It was the love she still had for her boyfriend that always annoyed me. “I’ll see you soon.” She flashed me a smile and another quick kiss. I licked my lips. Her taste lingered, filling me with mixed emotions.

I was just leaving work when I received a text from Matt letting me know where we were all meeting out for dinner. I’d thought about Aub all day long. I guess the time up on the rooftop with her affected me more than I thought. I got there just as everyone was ordering.

“Where’s Aub?” I asked as I looked around the table. I hadn’t meant it to come out so anxious, but she’s supposed to be with one of “us” at all times. So whose turn was it to watch her?

“She’s meeting with her old boss, trying to get her job back,” Vanessa answered. “I didn’t know she quit. I wished she had talked to me before doing that. I’m sure having all that time on her hands didn’t help her.” I realized then that Aub still hadn’t told her best friend what happened with that Greg guy. I made a note to continue keeping my mouth shut about that. The table fell silent after Vanessa’s summation. At least now I knew what happened with her job.

“Who’s playing me in pool tonight? I need to be kept occupied,” I announced.

“I’m in,” a familiar voice announced. Aub appeared and grabbed a chair from a nearby empty table and placed it next to mine. We all started making room for her as she set down her purse and removed her jacket. She flashed me a smile as she sat down and for some damn reason my heart jumped.

“Well?” Vanessa asked.

“I got it!” After the table died down from shouts of ‘Congratulations,’ Aub continued, “And, they promised they wouldn’t take advantage of me like before and I wouldn’t have to take all the assignments and can choose like everyone else.” She tilted her shoulders back and forth. “Kenny said they realized how much work I really did after I left and that he was sorry. I even got a little raise!”

“Wow, that’s great,” I told Aub. “Congrats.”

She flashed me her beautiful smile as our eyes locked for a moment. Or maybe that was in my mind. “Thank you.” She held my gaze, which caused another skip of my heart. Her brown eyes had this gorgeous sparkle to them, probably from the excitement of getting her old job back. A round of congratulations was said by all, breaking our mini-stare. The conversation changed to what we decided on for dinner and what we were going to do for fun tomorrow.

Throughout dinner, I couldn’t ignore the thrill that shot through me every time Aub accidentally brushed her body against mine, or the way my blood would spike whenever she would smile at me or say something to me. By the time dinner was over and we were walking to Allure, I stayed closer to Aub so I could get more of that feeling.

“You seem really perky. Anything else happen other than getting your old job back?” I teased Aub as we played another game of pool. Her bending over the table added a throbbing in my dick, not just in my heart.
I probably should have talked Tina into another round of sex before she left. Maybe I was just horny.

“Mmm.” Her lips were pressed together as her eyes did that cute thing. She looked up and over, but the glint in her eyes was…sexy and playful. “I have a date.” She said as she shimmied her shoulders back and forth. I felt a stabbing in my stomach and wondered if I ate something bad at dinner. I managed to press a smile to pretend to be happy for her. Even though I wasn’t.

“A date?” My heart plummeted and it annoyed the shit out of me. I tapped her ass with the pool stick while I made my way over to take my shot. “I thought you said you were going to take it slow and not hook-up anymore,” I reminded her as I leaned down, trying to appear as if I were asking that as a concerned friend rather than out of some sort of jealousy.

“Well, it’s a date-date—like a real date. No sex. I’m going to try to take it slow. If something develops, great, but if not, it’s no big loss, right? And I won’t feel used.” She looked down at the table, her smile faded.

“That’s great. That’ll be great.” I wanted to cheer her back up so I started asking about her date and her smile returned. “So, where’d you meet him?” That question was more for me. If she was going back to those stupid dating sites, I knew I’d have to talk her out of it.

“A coffee shop down the street from work. We were both in line waiting and when he got his order, he turned around and bumped into me. It was cute.”

“He sounds like a klutz,” I teased as she rolled her eyes, still smiling. I was actually serious about him being an idiot, but she didn’t notice my jab. She was too busy having that dreamy look in her eyes. I swallowed not really wanting to know the answer to this one. “So, when’s he taking you out?”

“Sunday night,” she told me, still smiling huge.

My smile dropped. “What about dinner at Mel and Flynn’s?” I asked her.

“Oh, I’m sure you guys will be fine without me.” She said as she waved her hand in the air. She bent down to take her shot, lining up her pool stick with her body. Her perfect tits were in full glory for me to see. I licked my lips as I tried to flick my eyes back to her cue stick on the ball. It didn’t happen that way and I realized my dick was as hard as the stick I was holding in my hand. She looked up at me and I remembered we were talking about dinner on Sunday. I grabbed my beer and took a swig before answering.

“Not really. I mean, it’s nice when you’re there,” I told her, trying not to sound pathetic. She needed to know we like having her around. Especially after the shit she tried to pull. The feeling of panic and fear shot through me as the picture of her lying on her bed passed out popped into my thoughts.

She tapped my ass with her stick this time after taking her shot. “Aww, you’ll miss having me there,” she teased. “Careful, Clark. You’re starting to sound like a regular guy, you know. I’m sure all these women eying you would love to hear you say sweet and sensitive things like that.”

I chuckled and glanced around the room. There were several here that I had noticed and knew if they heard me talk like that, they’d eat that shit up. I walked around the table and eyed my next shot. Smiling, I told her, “I bet you’re one of them, Aub. Is that all I had to do to get you back in bed with me?”

“You know me better than that. I don’t go for that corny stuff. And…you’re back on with Tina. For now at least.”

I took my shot as my heart beat faster. Was it from the playful teasing with Aub or thinking about Tina? “She’ll leave me again soon.”
Crack!
The ball rolled into the corner pocket as I looked back up at Aub. “We both know she’ll never stick around.”

“That’s probably because you don’t give her a chance. Or give her what she wants.”

“Why should I? She’ll just go back to Hank anyway.” Aub nodded and took her shot. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore and I couldn’t even remember how we got on this subject. “So where’s he taking you on your date?”

She was back to smiling now, but shrugged. “I don’t know. He didn’t really say. He just told me we’d do something casual and asked if I was all right with that.”

“So, he’s cheap. A klutz and cheap. Aub, you need to pick ‘em better than that.”

Her smile dropped as a thoughtful gaze swept over her eyes.

“I’m just teasing, Aub. I’m sure it’ll be a nice café or something,” I lied hoping she wouldn’t get upset by my comment. She nodded and took her next shot.

All I kept thinking about is how Aub should have a guy take her somewhere nice. Just so she knows how special she really is. I know exactly where I’d take her. Maybe I’d take her there just for a dinner together. It doesn’t have to be a date with her since she’s my roommate. Although I wasn’t sure why I had a silly fantasy of taking her to my place for a nice cozy dinner. Or why that thought excited me.

******

I took the stairs two by two making sure to get some cardio in since I didn’t workout today; I hate it when I don’t. I like to get my frustration out and right now, I’m frustrated and can’t figure out why. Actually, I know why. Aub went out on her date and I purposefully made sure not to be there when he picked her up. We were coming back from Mel and Flynn’s Sunday night dinner, but Matt and Vanessa decided to make it more of a romantic stroll, so I high-tailed it back to the apartment. I was hoping that I’d make it home in time to console Aub after her date went wrong and he wound up being the loser that I’m sure he is.

I opened the door from the stairwell and started to walk down the hall. When I looked up, Aub’s arms were pinned against the wall by a guy with dark hair. His body was pressed against hers with his lips devouring hers. Every inch of my body shook with rage and all I wanted to do was smash the guy’s head into the concrete wall. I took off running down the hall with my fists clenched and ready to go.

The moment I heard that familiar seductive moan, I stopped in my tracks hearing that incredible sensuous sound that played in my fantasies. I stood in the hallway and watched for a moment as she pushed her hands through his hair. His hand slipped under her shirt and caressed her skin. A memory of how soft that skin is flashed through my mind. Fuck.

I ducked back to the hallway and put my head against the wall.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
The pain shooting through my head did nothing to rid myself of these stupid feelings I was having for her.
I’m not jealous. I’m not jealous.
My hands were clenched and ready to go beat the piss out of him, but I knew I didn’t have a reasonable excuse. She clearly wasn’t telling him ‘no.’

A bell from the elevator pulled me from my thoughts. Vanessa and Matt stepped out just as I rolled my head toward the sound. She was laughing about something and stopped the second she saw me. I swallowed, unsure of what to say. The throbbing through my teeth made me realize how hard I had clenched my jaw.

“What are you doing out here?” Matt asked when they both stopped in front of me.

Vanessa peered down the hallway and cringed. “Ooh, is it because Aubrey is getting hot and heavy with that guy?” Vanessa asked without being able to take her eyes off the scene down the hall. Just hearing her say “hot and heavy” made my fists clench again. I wondered if Aub told her best friend her new life plan; not getting into it with a guy until she dates him a couple of times. That ‘being true to yourself’ shit wasn’t happening for her tonight. I was hoping Vanessa would run down there and intervene so she could remind her best friend of the new plan.

“No,” I snapped, knowing she was catching the rest of the show that I just saw.

Her face snapped to mine, her eyes wide and sparked with laughter. “Oh, my God! Are you jealous?”

I coughed. “No, I’m not jealous. I was just…”

“Giving them some lead time,” Matt chimed in and I gave him an appreciative head nod.

“Clark doesn’t do ‘lead time,’” Vanessa quipped with a smug smile and turned to Matt.

Matt’s mouth formed a perfect “O” as his brows pulled in close. Nodding his head, Matt agreed, “That is true…”

“Would you two quit talking about me as if I’m not here? I’m right here.” The anger in my voice was pretty apparent and I hoped they thought it was directed at them. It’d be easier than if they really believed I was jealous.