Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series) (23 page)

“Why didn
’t they call me? Why didn’t Nicholas call me? What are you two hiding?”

“You know Nicholas would have called. Dev wanted you to have a nice day and knew this little incident would ruin it. He hid Nicholas
’s phone and tied up the home phone.”

“Dev stole Nicholas
’s phone for the sole purpose of not letting me know he was hurt so I wouldn’t come home early?” Teri stood up, furious that her son would pull something like this.

“I told you our outing was Dev
’s idea, he took it seriously. I already told him it wasn’t cool, Teri. Let it go.”

She hesitated
, that wasn’t the only problem though. Dev was sixteen, occasional poor judgment was expected. This just seemed out of character somehow for Dev.

“He fought with Paul
, but he’s helping you,” Teri said, the discrepancy finally dawning on her.

“It
’s a completely different situation. Paul met you through your work, a world Dev isn’t part of. He was a stranger and, you have to admit, walking a line between being determined and being a stalker. Dev only sees that we know each other because of the band. I’ve spent a lot of time with him, he knows me. He knows that I’ve been taking care of you as much as the band and he trusts me. Plus I took him aside and told him up front that I asked you out, I made sure he knew, understood, and was okay with it.”

“You asked my sixteen-year-old for permission to date me?
”

“Not permission
, no. You can make your own decisions. But I gave him a chance to talk off the record about any concerns he had.”

“Did he? Have reservations?
”

“Nothing that currently applies
, don’t worry about it.”

“When do I worry about it?
”

“Not for a while.
” Flynn hesitated then stepped closer. Almost tentatively he wrapped his arms around her and held her close while examining her face.

“Boys play rough
, they get hurt sometimes. They can take it.”

“But Jess fell down the stairs. He could have been seriously hurt.
”

“I know. I don
’t think he realizes how lucky he is. If he does, it’s because he might be able to get out of Holly’s graduation party now, not because all he broke was a leg.”

“Get out of . . . is something wrong with Jess and Holly?
” Teri finally got used to the idea that Jess might be calming down, that Holly was a good influence on him. Or maybe it was Flynn’s scheme with Cassie.

Flynn smiled. “She
’s really not his type, love. I shouldn’t be surprised that you didn’t notice, you’ve never met the girls he usually dates.”

“There were so many of them. Why
, have you?” Teri asked sharply.

He laughed. “I don
’t have to.”

“That
’s right, you used to be Jess.”

“Used to
,” Flynn nodded.

Teri eyed him suspiciously. “Was that what Dev was concerned about
, you reminded him of Jess?”

“Oddly enough
, it wasn’t. I haven’t made it a secret so I guess he’s decided I’m reformed. Bryan doesn’t seem to think so. Not that he’ll talk to Dev about it, of course.”

“They don
’t tell him things they think might upset him. It’s sweet.” Now if Jess would just stop wrestling with Dev and putting dents in her walls, then that would be even better.

“I suppose you could call it that. I
see it more as self-preservation.”

“Is that why you took him aside to tell him about us?
”

Flynn grinned. “You caught me.
”

“What am I going to do with you?
” Teri smiled, turning out of his arms and stepping toward the door. Flynn caught her and pulled her close again. He leaned down and briefly let his lips press tenderly against hers. A single, soft caress of the lips and he straightened again.

“I have confidence you
’ll think of something.”

Teri blushed slightly and he held her hand as he led her back downstairs.

Chapter Twelve

A month later
, Teri found herself wondering why Flynn was holding back. His kisses were passionate, his touch familiar, warm, and welcomed. Hot even. He always backed away though, making Teri want to scream. She considered the frustrating foreplay as she edited the new photos she’d taken of Kayley and a few of her friends.

At Nicholas
’s suggestion, and Flynn’s enthusiastic encouragement, Teri hired Kayley and several other models to pose for a picture book of semi-nudes she was going to publish as Lexi Frost. Everything fell together quicker than she thought possible, and she had all of her pictures done in only two weeks. Now she was amid touch-ups, urged on by the agent in New York Tim found for her.

Maybe working with nude women
, with frequently only a shadow making the pictures publishable without a brown wrapper around the book, was making Teri more aroused than she should be. It didn’t used to affect her like this. She just wasn’t the sexually frustrated type. She wasn’t before Flynn anyway.

Teri stopped and listened to the quiet house. Flynn was in the kitchen doing something about lunch. The girls were gone for the week
, hiking and camping with Tiffany’s family in the Olympic Rainforest. The boys might come home though.

Dev
’s shoulder had healed and he had his ribs checked again the day before. He got the official approval that he was fit and was celebrating by going skateboarding. Kenny and Flynn agreed Dev seemed to miss his skateboard more than his guitar while he was recovering, although Flynn wasn’t nearly as upset about it as Kenny was.

Bryan and Kenny were spending more time with Brenda and Alicia. They alternated taking Dev with them and even double dating with Dev in tow for the past month to try to break him in to the idea of relationships. Dev didn
’t seem to be interested as far as she could tell, but he stopped being bothered by it after awhile. Now they were watching Dev skateboard and cheering him on. Kenny promised to call her if anything unfortunate happened.

Jess got the number of a nursing student at the hospital
, and quickly traded Holly for Trina. She wasn’t sure what Trina was getting out of the relationship, other than the obvious, but there was less friction among the boys now so Teri took Kenny’s long standing advice and didn’t look too closely at what Jess was doing.

She and Flynn were alone in the house for now. She got up and slipped upstairs to change. A short skirt and halter was casual
, and a nod to the hot weather outside. Stepping quietly so she didn’t attract Flynn’s attention prematurely, Teri rationalized she wasn’t really sneaking up on him. Regardless, she felt silly and was less careful as she pushed herself up on the counter and sat down.

Flynn glanced at her
, then again a little longer before turning back to his grilled tomato sandwiches. He looked almost done, so she wasn’t interrupting.

“It
’s hot.”

He turned and smiled at her
, his eyes flickered down to notice how her skirt rode up her thigh. Teri gave herself a point in today’s impromptu match.

“It
’s July, it’s supposed to be. Speaking of hot, how’s the book coming?”

“I need to walk away for a bit and get it off my mind before I go back and look again.
” Teri uncrossed her legs and let her knees fall several inches apart. “You look like you could use a distraction too.”

It only took a moment for Flynn to turn off the burner
, come stand between her knees, and let his mouth meet hers. Teri put her arms around his neck, and let her ankles cross behind him, sliding forward against him in the process.

Flynn pulled her hips against him harder still and kissed her with increased heat. His tongue teased hers; his hands slid along the outside of her thighs
, under her skirt and slowly up to her hips.

Teri wrapped her legs around him tighter to keep him from backing away. Letting her fingers fall away from caressing the back of his neck
, she let them trail down his chest and abdomen slowly before grabbing his T-shirt and starting to pull it out of his tight jeans. Flynn didn’t protest, instead he gently fingered the waistband of her panties.

“I want you
,” Teri whispered, running her fingers across Flynn’s toned stomach muscles.

“You already have me
,” Flynn covered her mouth with his, stopping her reply.

Teri pressed her breasts against him. “I want more. I want you inside me.
”

Flynn groaned in what sounded like frustration. He started kissing her neck
, pulling her forward off the counter. Teri let her feet drop to the floor. Flynn wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her close and she put her arms around his neck again for balance. His other hand slipped inside her panties, and he gently tested the moistness between her legs. Teri was almost weak with anticipation. She felt the hard bulge in Flynn’s pants against her hip and knew he wanted this as much as she did.

She moaned softly as Flynn slipped a finger inside her. He let his thumb rest on her clit and began to push deeper. A flutter across her stomach told Teri he
’d found her G-Spot, and she gasped involuntarily. Flynn laughed softly and kissed her as he began to stimulate the sensitive place inside her.

At first Teri succumbed to the growing urgency. The subtle pressure of his thumb on her clit complemented the finger rubbing inside her. Even his knuckles pulling her labia open was stimulating. In fact
, the gentle rocking of his whole hand between her legs made her hot and breathless.

She realized this wasn
’t foreplay. Flynn made no move to undress her or release the power between his own legs.

“Flynn
, this isn’t what I meant. I —” Teri stopped as Flynn kissed her again.

“I know. I
’m ready to explode myself, but this is all I can give you at the moment, love.”

Flynn
’s whisper in her ear was strangled, pleading for her to understand. She didn’t. When Teri tried to reply, he pushed his finger in deeper, thrusting and brushing against the sensitive spot inside her and her clit as he partially withdrew. The renewed attention was more than Teri could withstand, she convulsed and cried out in released pleasure almost immediately.

Teri
’s legs quivered unsteadily after the orgasm drained her of all her strength. Flynn caught her in his arms, setting her once again on the counter and she leaned heavily on his shoulder.

“That wasn
’t fair,” Teri whispered, her eyes were closed and she felt weak.

“I agree
, but that’s the way it has to be. For now anyway.”

“Why? Does this have something to do with Jess? We
’ve been going out for a while and saw each other a lot before that. I know you want this.”

“I do. God
, you have no idea how much I want this. What I want to do to you. It’s not Jess, it’s . . . I’m just taking it slow.”

“There
’s slow as in cautious and then there’s slow as in glaciers. One I can appreciate, the other not so much.”

Flynn laughed. “Understood. Stop teasing for now
, love, because this is all you’re going to get.”

“That really doesn
’t explain why.” Teri sat upright and looked at Flynn’s face. He wanted to tell her something, indecision was written all over him. He shook his head, apparently realizing she was trying to read his mind. Like it would do any good, it’d probably just get her turned on again.

“You
’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Another time. For now
, I would dearly love to take you into my arms and make love to you, and only a very compelling reason is stopping me. Please, just trust me, love. And maybe not tease.”

“I wasn
’t teasing.”

“I know.
”

• • •

Teri had trouble sleeping that night. Her desire for Flynn kept her semi-aroused, and repeated memories of his hands on her body kept pushing her too far to settle down. It wasn’t fair. He wanted it, she wanted it, he was holding out. For what? Everything she knew about Flynn indicated this wasn’t normal behavior, and it was hard on him by his own admission. She considered a strip tease the next time the kids were out of the house, see if he could refuse her then.

Why wait? Teri got out of bed and halfway to the closet before she considered waking him at three in the morning might not be the best idea. She returned to bed
, still half considering the idea. There was that charcoal trench coat in the closet that she could wear over lingerie. Ring his doorbell, flash him, have her way with him.

The front door opened
, prompting Teri to hurry downstairs. Flipping on the light switch for the living room, she caught Jess sneaking through the dining room to the kitchen in the half-light. He turned to face her, eyes wide and a guilty look on his face.

“Hi
,” Jess smiled. He was damp, evidence that it was raining again. The guilty expression on his face wasn’t from tracking wet footprints across her floor.

“What are you doing?
” Teri asked, leaning against the wall.

“Getting a glass of water to take to bed.
” He tried to put an innocent look on his face, Teri wasn’t buying it. Jess was almost as much her son as Dev was. She knew him better than his own mother.

“Right. Are you just getting home? Jess
, it’s three.”

“Yeah
, I would have just slept over, but Trina’s got a new roommate.”

Teri shook her head
, not understanding why a new roommate was a problem. Trina’s old roommate didn’t stop Jess from sleeping over.

“Not that I
’m tickled you’re starting the casual relationships again, but —”

“I used to date the new roommate
, Teri,” Jess said quietly. “Trina’s not thrilled with the revelation.”

“Oh. I
’m sorry, Jess,” Teri reached out and let a hand rub his back to comfort him.

“It
’s fine. Trina’s kicking out the new roommate.” Jess turned to go downstairs. Teri couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t been dating Trina long, and Jess’s reputation suggested he wouldn’t keep her long term, but she chose to get rid of the roommate over Jess. Amazing.

Flynn used to be Jess
, Teri remembered and suddenly she could almost see the reasoning. Shaking her head, she went back upstairs to bed.

Teri woke early after only a couple of hours of sleep. Flynn was on her mind almost immediately and the idea of surprising him with a trench coat came to mind again. No
, something more feminine. And not a strip tease, she doubted she could pull it off. Turning the tables on him was definitely in order though.

By seven-
thirty Teri stood outside Flynn’s door. She stood straight, composing herself and trying to get her heartbeat back to a normal pace. Whether it raced due to fear or excitement over what she was going to do, she didn’t know, only that she was about to hyperventilate. Running a hand down to smooth her white eyelet sundress, Teri rang the doorbell before she could chicken out.

Flynn opened the door and surprise filled his face. He
’d be more surprised if she’d gone with her original idea of a trench coat and flash him. Maybe another time, she decided and held up a bag of fresh bagels.

“I brought breakfast.
”

“Breakfast?
” Flynn backed away from the door and Teri walked in.

“Bagels. I thought maybe here so we won
’t be interrupted,” Teri said. Flynn had his jeans on, tight jeans, but was still holding a shirt in his hand. She ran her fingers softly across his chest, letting the curls of hair tickle her palm. “Do you always answer the door shirtless? It could give a girl ideas.”

“No teasing
,” Flynn growled and closed the door.

“Hmmm
, yes, you mentioned that before.” Teri carried the bagels to his small kitchen and set them on the counter. “Hungry?”

“Actually I had a light breakfast earlier.
”

“How odd
, so did I.”

“So the bagels are a ruse.
”

“I wanted to talk to you.
” Teri left the kitchen and walked into the living room. Flynn followed.

“Just talk?
”

“That
’s what I wanted to talk you about. I stayed up last night thinking about yesterday’s not-quite-an-explanation. On one hand, I trust you’re doing what you think is best. On the other hand I’m not sure I’m okay with this arrangement.” Teri sat in the middle of the couch and patted the space beside her.

Flynn sat down beside her in defeat.

“All right, listen,” Flynn paused as Teri slid onto his lap, put one arm across his shoulders, and laid her other hand on his chest.

“I
’m listening,” Teri prompted when Flynn hesitated. She ran her fingers through the hair on his chest.