Falling for the Wingman (The Kelly Brothers, Book 3) (9 page)

Caleb turned around and closed the gap between them in three long strides. Without any warning, without asking for permission or testing to see how she’d respond, he pulled her against him and covered her mouth with his own.

She gasped, her body stiffening in surprise, and he mentally cursed.

Then her arms wrapped around his neck and her tongue dove into his mouth. She was kissing him back with a passion that matched his. Now it was his turn to stiffen in surprise, followed by releasing the moan he’d been holding back. He dragged her deeper into the water, never missing a beat. He wanted to drown in her kisses.

As if she’d known what he’d been fantasizing about, she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her fingers alternated between digging into his shoulders and running though his hair while her hips ground against his growing erection in a seductive dance that left him hating the layers of clothes between them.

He stumbled back, the water up to their chests, and finally came up for air. “Alex, if we’re not careful…”

She pressed her finger to his lips. “Shh!” she hissed before kissing him again.

The knot tying the bottom of her shirt came loose, and the fabric billowed around her chest, giving him the perfect opportunity to explore the silky flesh underneath. As he worked his way up along her ribs, he became painfully aware of her lack of a bra. He cupped one of her small breasts, and the ache in his cock intensified. But that was nothing compared to what the moan that rose from her throat when he rolled her nipple between his fingers did to him. That almost sent him over the edge.

Alex clawed at his T-shirt, bunching it around his shoulders until he was forced to end the kiss long enough for her to yank it over his head. Then she was on him again, her lips hungrily devouring his and leaving no doubt in his mind that this wasn’t an act. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, and if they continued, a simple wade in the lake would turn into some X-rated skinny dipping.

She tilted her head back, exposing the lovely lines of her neck for him. As he tasted her sweet skin with a series of alternating nips and licks, he began fumbling with the tiny buttons of her shirt, determined to get her naked as quickly as possible.

He was working on the third one when a voice called out from the shore, “Hey, there’s a law in this town against public indecency.”

Alex jerked against him and snatched her shirt closed. A slew of whispered four-letter words spilled from her mouth before she shouted back, “We still have our clothes on, J.T.”

“At the rate you two were going, I doubt they would’ve stayed on for long,” he answered.

“Crap,” Alex muttered and buried her head against Caleb’s shoulder. “I’m not sure if I should thank him for interrupting us or slap him into next week.”

“Me, too.” Alex was still in his arms, her legs wrapped around him, but her movements had stilled to the point where he could finally get control of himself. A few more seconds ticked by before he felt like it was safe enough to emerge from the water without a tent pole in his pants. “Should we get out and join the others?”

She unwound her legs, but didn’t move away from him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think I am.” He placed a quick peck on her forehead and carried her back to the beach, where the other couple waited for them.

Mindy looked like she’d just eaten a lemon as her fingers hastily typed a message on her cell phone, but J.T. gave them a wink. “When Lisa said you two had gone for a walk along the water, I didn’t think I would stumble across you two going at it. If you two need a little more time alone—
ow!
”

J.T. rubbed his ribs after Mindy silenced him with a jab of her elbow. She glared at Alex. “Some people just have no sense of decency.”

For her part, Alex didn’t seem to be bothered by the other woman’s hostility. She fastened up the two buttons he’d managed to undo and climbed out of the water. “Like I said, our clothes were still on.”

Mindy narrowed her eyes. “I should’ve told J.T. to shut up until he could arrest you.”

“Sorry, honey, but this is private property, and I’m off duty.” J.T. kissed her cheek and offered his hand to Caleb. “Glad to finally meet you, Caleb. I’m J.T., and this is my girlfriend, Mindy.”

“Nice to meet you.” He glanced over J.T.’s shoulder at the way Mindy stared down her nose at him. “And I’ve met Mindy before.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot you used to date Kourtney.” J.T. flung his arm over Caleb’s shoulder and dropped his voice to whisper as he led him back to the house. “And if you’re just using Alex to get back at her sister, I swear to God I’m going to castrate you.” He slapped him on the chest. “Just so we’re clear on that.”

He doubled back to his girlfriend, who was already whining about the heat and humidity.

Caleb stood where J.T. left him, wondering if he’d heard Alex’s friend correctly. “Does he know about your plan?” he asked in a low voice.

Alex shook her head. “I didn’t tell him because he’d blab it to Mindy.”

“Gotcha, because he just threatened me.”

She paused from wringing the water out of her shirt. “Why?”

“Seems he’s worried I’m using you to get back at Kourtney.”

“And are you?” She closed the space between them until her body was just inches from his.

“After what just happened between us, what do you think?” Never mind that her sister hadn’t crossed his mind since he’d left the garage. All he could think about was the woman in front of him, and one of them was bound to get hurt if they didn’t set some boundaries soon.

Her brown eyes searched his face, her expression unreadable. Then, ever so slowly, the corners of her mouth rose into a bittersweet smile. “That’s up to you.”

The air whooshed out of his lungs like she’d just punched him in the gut, and his feet remained rooted to the ground as she walked away. Was it all up to him? Was it as simple as choosing Alex over Kourtney? And if he did, would he ever forget about all those things her sister had written while he was deployed? Or would part of his heart still long for Kourtney?

Chapter Six

Alex crossed her arms around her waist to keep from doubling over as she walked back to Bubba’s house.
Why the hell did I do that?

She’d had Caleb right where she’d wanted him. He was kissing her, caressing her, getting her hornier than a cat in heat, and J.T. had to interrupt him. Worse, she should’ve answered his question by reminding him of how good they were together, but instead, she’d seen that flicker of doubt in his eyes that morphed into a wall, clearly saying he wanted to keep some space between them. It didn’t matter that she’d proven to him they had some seriously sizzling chemistry. As long as he wanted Kourtney, she would never be anything more than her little sister.

She entered the house, not glancing back once to see if Caleb was following. “Lisa, do you have some dry clothes I can borrow?”

“Of course.” She turned around from stirring a pot of beans, and her lips curled into a frown. “What happened?”

“Caleb and I got a little carried away in the water.”

“Uh-huh.” She beckoned Alex to follow her to the master bedroom. “Care to talk about it?”

“Why not?” It had always been far easier to confide in Lisa than it had her own sister. She went into the master bath, closed the door, and began shimmying off the wet shorts that clung to her body. “We were talking by the water, and the next thing I knew, one thing led to another.”

Lisa handed her a T-shirt and a pair of loose-fitting khaki shorts from the other side of the door. “Who started it?”

“He did.” She shivered as she remembered the way he’d grabbed her and kissed like a starving man. It was so rough, so desperate, so divinely erotic that she’d been helpless to fight it. Even when her mind warned her that she shouldn’t give into him until she was certain he wanted her and not Kourtney, she couldn’t resist the way his tongue danced around hers or the growing hardness of his erection.

And this time, there was no doubt in her mind it was his dick and not his good luck charm pressing against her.

“And?”

“And it was hot.” She flung off her cold wet shirt that he’d almost gotten her out of and donned the T-shirt Lisa had given her. “Really hot.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s just…” She paused with one leg in the khakis. “No matter how hot things are between us, I know he’s still in love with Kourtney.”

“Let’s back up a minute. He’s in love with your sister because of the emails he received from her while he was deployed.”

“Uh-huh.”

“The emails you wrote once you hacked her email address.”

“Yep.”

Lisa banged open the bathroom door and crossed her arms, her brows bunched together. “Then why the hell haven’t you told him that you’re the one who wrote them?”

“I was going to, but last night, he made this comment about how he hated using deception to get someone to fall in love with him, and—
bam!
—I chickened out because it was like he was accusing me.”

“Do you think he figured it out?”

“No idea.” Alex grabbed a towel from the linen closet and rubbed her hair with it. “There’s a part of me that wants to see if given the right conditions, he’ll forget all about her and fall for me, just as I am. No need to bring up those letters until afterward. I mean, you’ve read a few of those emails. Do you honestly think Kourtney would’ve said those things?”

“And what if you miss out on a chance for happiness with him because of your stubborn pride?”

“I’m not stubborn.” She flicked the towel at her friend, even though the question still nagged at her conscience. What if she missed out on her chance with him because she was too scared to come forward with the truth? What if Kourtney snatched him back by taking credit for those emails?

“Aw, honey, you need to get your head on straight when it comes to him, and don’t you dare sleep with him before then. It’ll only confuse you even more if you do.”

“I know, I know.” Alex leaned back against the counter, her shoulders slumped in defeat. “It’s just—you and Bubba have always been together. You’ve never had to live in Kourtney’s shadow. You’ve never had guys dump you the moment they see her. And you’ve never had to win a guy over when he’s in love with someone else.”

Lisa hugged her. “Don’t think about it that way, Alex. Remember, it’s your words he fell in love with, and sooner or later, he’ll realize that they came from your heart, not hers.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then one of you is an idiot.” She rumpled Alex’s hair. “And if I hear he’s marrying her and not you, you can sure as hell bet I’ll be objecting at the wedding and giving him the cold hard truth. Of course, it’ll probably end better if he hears it from you.”

“I know. If things go to hell tomorrow, I’ll tell him.” Alex turned around and checked her reflection. “Do I look okay?”

“Fine, but I think you might’ve lost your bra in the lake.”

“I didn’t wear one.” Not that it mattered. The only reason she needed one was to protect her nipples from a sudden chill in the air. Or the presence of one sexy, arousing man.

“And was that planned?”

Alex gave her a naughty grin that said it most definitely was planned.

“You’re asking for trouble,” Lisa warned with a matching grin.

“Well, if we end up staying the night, I’ll make sure to pitch the tent some place where we won’t keep you two up.”

“Who’s to say it won’t be the other way around?” Lisa scooped up Alex’s wet clothes. “Let’s get these in the dryer before you decide to get dirty again.”

When they came back to the kitchen, Caleb was standing there with his shirt still off, giving her an ample view of his perfectly sculpted abs and pecs. His borrowed shorts hung low on his hips, a tempting trail of hair disappearing below the waistband. He met her gaze and stared at her with enough heat to make her skin flush. Sweet Jesus, the man was sex on a stick.

“Damn,” Lisa whispered in her ear before nodding toward him. “If I wasn’t married…”

“But you are.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh. “Can I help you with something?”

His eyes lingered on Alex a few seconds longer before he handed Lisa his wet shirt. “Bubba said I could toss this in the dryer, but I have no idea where it is.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Lisa took the shirt and disappeared into the laundry room.

Alex bit her lip to keep from giving in to temptation and finding out where that trail of hair went. “You should probably put some bug spray on before going back out there, or the mosquitoes will have a feast.”

“Yeah, Mindy hasn’t stopped bitching about them.”

“She’s good at that.”
Much like my sister
. “Lisa keeps the spray here.”

Alex reached into the cabinet by the door and pulled out the canister, spraying his upper body and legs with the DEET mist before applying some to her own skin. “That should do it, especially since I see Bubba’s already lit the citronella torches.”

“Thanks.” Caleb tucked his hands into his pockets and gave her a shy smile as he came closer. “Listen, Alex, about earlier…”