Making Sense (26 page)

She shifted in her seat. “I don’t understand. Why say this now? That night we kissed at my eighteenth birthday party… The next day you cold-shouldered me. I’d assumed you weren’t interested in me.”
 

She hadn’t mentioned it since it happened. It had surprised her at the time. It had been six months before the death of her and Dan’s parents. Blissfully unaware of what the following year was to bring, she’d been dancing in the garden, and Rusty had caught her hand and dragged her with him into the lemon trees. She’d gone laughingly, the sound of cicadas loud in her ears and the scent of lemons and mandarins in the air, expecting a quick peck or a teasing grope from an old friend to mark her coming of age, which she knew she’d be expected to resist with feigned indignation. Instead, however, he’d cupped her face in his hands, studied her for a moment and then kissed her. He’d brushed his tongue with hers and slipped his hand through her hair, making her heart thunder with unexpected passion. She’d gone to bed excited and dreaming of him, but the next day he’d been his usual self, cool and offhand. She’d felt hurt and a little stupid for being childish enough to think it meant something, but had done her best to forget it ever happened, wanting to keep his friendship, even if she couldn’t have anything more.

“Do you remember what I looked like the next morning?” he said.

“I don’t…oh wait, you had a black eye, didn’t you? You said you walked into a lamppost on the way home.”

“It wasn’t a lamppost—it was Dan’s fist.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re kidding me.”

“No. He saw us. And he knocked me flat into a pile of gorse. Fucking stung, I can tell you.”

She laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. “Oh Rusty, I’m sorry.”

He grinned. “No worries. I backed off after that. I didn’t want to lose his friendship, and I realised he was right. I’m no good for you, Faith. Hell, I’m no good for any woman. I’ll never make a great husband. I’m under no illusions about that.”

She frowned again. “I hate it when you talk like that.”

“Well, it’s true.”

“No, it’s not. Just because your dad’s a prick doesn’t mean you’ll be the same.”

He shrugged. “It’s in the blood, and I’m not going to give it a chance to rear its ugly head.”

“Rusty…”

“Look.” He shifted in his seat. “This isn’t about me—it’s about you. I may be useless long term, but I’m not bad in bed.”

“I think you’re underestimating yourself, from what I’ve heard.”

“Well, that’s very kind.” He gave her a sexy smile. “Don’t you think it would be fun to practise your seven sins on me?” His green eyes were hot and lusty.

A strange shiver ran through her from her toes to the top of her head. They studied each other for a while. A smile crept onto her lips at the teasing look in his eyes. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re imagining doing each of the sins to me.”

“I am.”

“Well stop.” Her cheeks burned again. “This is crazy. I’d be mad to agree.”

“Why? I thought we were friends.”

“That’s what I meant.” She frowned. He was so gorgeous. She didn’t have any trouble admitting that. And she was happy to admit this wasn’t the first time she’d wondered what he was like in bed. His girlfriends had always enthused about his talents, even after he’d dumped them, and she’d been curious from a very young age as to what he got up to under the covers. But she’d always considered Dan’s friends to be off limits because he’d been so adamant that was the case, so she’d never considered any of them seriously. And because of that, they’d all grown to be close friends.

He reached out and took her hand. “Don’t look sad.”

“I couldn’t bear to lose you.”

“Lose me? Why would you lose me?”

“Afterward. Wouldn’t it be weird?”

He shrugged. “Toby and Eve dated before she went out with Dan.”

“True, although that was several years ago.”

He studied her for a moment. He brushed her knuckles with his thumb. The gesture wasn’t sexual, but it made a frisson of desire run through her, and she realised that she
was
attracted to him, very much. He tipped his head, and she saw his gaze rest on her lips. “You know it was only a matter of time.”

“What?”

“Before we got down and dirty.”

Her eyes widened, and her heart thumped. Suddenly she realised Rusty wasn’t helping her out of the kindness of his heart. He really wanted to go to bed with her. Rusty Thorne, who, let’s face it, knew his way around the bedroom and could teach her a trick or two. The thought made her dizzy.

Then her brain kicked in.
This is a bad idea
. How many girls’ hearts had he broken over the years? She knew what he was like, how he refused to commit.

But he wasn’t talking about a long-term relationship, was he? He was talking about a finite agreement, seven sexual encounters. A tutor in the ways of love, to teach her all the things she’d never experienced. As a professional educator, Rusty saw it as his duty to instruct those less knowledgeable than him.

She licked her lips. “I’d want a contract.”

His lips curved. “A contract?”

“Specifying it would be for seven times only.”

“Of course.”

“Don’t make fun of me, Rusty.”

“I’m not.” But his eyes were amused.

“This is all about research. I’d have to take notes.”

He gave a short laugh, but nodded. “Okay.”

“I mean it. I’d run the show. My work’s important to me. I’d want to get it right. If we did this, it would be for exploring these seven sins with the aim of writing the articles. No messing around, no getting sidetracked.”

“I understand.”

She looked at his mouth. She could still remember how soft his lips had been that night he’d kissed her. “Strictly business.”

“Absolutely.” He met her gaze. “Can I kiss you now?”

Her heart pounded. “Absolutely not. I haven’t finished yet.”

“Okay.”

“The contract will state that this remains secret. No telling any of our friends and definitely no telling Dan.”

“Well, obviously. I’d like to keep my balls intact.”

She bit her lip, trying not to smile. She was serious about this. “And if we did go ahead with it, we couldn’t go to your place or mine. A motel, out of town.”

“Sure. Sounds fun.” In the darkness of the car, his green eyes were the colour of a forest stream, wild and mysterious.

A thrill of excitement ran through her. Was she really considering this? Having sex with Rusty? Carrying out each of the seven sins with him? Watching porn, letting him lick chocolate sauce off her, letting him…oh dear Lord…perform oral sex on her? She couldn’t. Could she? She swallowed. “Why did you say ‘it’s only a matter of time’?”

He shifted in his seat, moving closer to her. “Because I’ve been waiting for it to happen. Haven’t you?”

“No,” she whispered.

He smiled. “Liar.” He was inches away from her now. “I’ve wanted you since you were eighteen.” He leaned forward and brushed her temple with his lips. “Actually, longer than that. Only I don’t want to sound like a pervert.”

“Rusty…”

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

She wanted to refuse but found she couldn’t. His arm was along the back of her seat, tanned and muscled, sprinkled with reddish-brown hairs, his bare chest inches from her fingers. Why hadn’t she noticed before how tall he was, how broad his shoulders were? “No tongues,” she warned him, heart thumping. “Not till the contract’s signed.”

There’s having fun… And then there’s falling in love.

Just for Fun

© 2012 Erin Nicholas

The Bradfords, Book 4

It was a chance meeting, a spontaneous, hot moment, a never-to-be-repeated encounter. So when the gorgeous redhead he knows only as Sugar walks into the bar and heads straight for him, Doug “Dooley” Miller knows he’s in trouble. But he’s sure not going to mind.

She needs a date to some swanky something-or-other. He’s a fish-sticks-and-denim guy, but for a woman who’s not afraid to get naughty in an elevator, he can stand a couple days of smoked salmon and Armani.

Morgan James admits she doesn’t really know
Doug, but she needs him to keep her mind—and hands—off her ex. A man who, despite the fact he stole her ideas, she’s afraid could charm her into repeating her mistakes. Only Doug can make her forget the weasel exists. Besides, it’s just this one time.

What started as not even a one-night stand has Dooley feeling things that he’s never felt before. And that’s
outside
of the bedroom. Don’t even get him started on what’s happening between the sheets. Why does he have a feeling that, as far as flings go, they’re doing something wrong? Then again, if they’re falling in love, they might just be getting that right.

Warning: Contains a woman who knows what she wants, a man who knows what he doesn’t want, and a proposition that shows them both that they’ve never really wanted anything like this before.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Just for Fun:

“You date a lot?” she asked.

“Enough.”

“Lots of regular girls in Omaha?”

The corner of his mouth curled. “Enough.”

“How come you haven’t married one of these real regular girls?” she asked, breaking a chip into little pieces.

His eyebrows shot up. “Marriage isn’t in the plans. I date girls who know that, who feel the same way. I don’t date anyone exclusively, or too many times, for that matter. Things get complicated if you get to know a girl too well and vice versa.”

“But you do have sex with them?”

“Of course.”

She rolled her eyes, irritated by the conversation. Which made no sense. “You just keep things at sex and a few laughs and that’s it?”

“Right.” He said it more emphatically than was needed.

Okay, already. She got it. Hell, it was what they were doing—casual, sex, fun, period. He didn’t have to act like she was getting too close for comfort. This was more or less a business arrangement. Even
more
straightforward than the relationships he apparently had all the time.

“So,” she said, selecting another chip. “You worried about some performance anxiety or something?”

He set his glass down hard. “What?”

“You need to dress me down and take me bowling before we go to bed because that’s what you’re used to? You can’t perform under different circumstances?”

He narrowed his eyes. “You think I need to see you with your hair down and eating nachos before I can get it up?” He laughed. “Uh, no.”

“Then what is this? This wanting me to be a regular girl?”

“Regular girls have more fun. They’re not uptight. They don’t have big business deals nagging at the back of their minds keeping them from focusing on me. They don’t have fancy lingerie so they don’t care if I rip it getting it off of them. They don’t worry about what other people think so they don’t hold back on orgasms the neighbors can hear.”

She swallowed hard. Having Doug rip her panties off sounded damned appealing. Even if they were expensive. “Is this wisdom based on experience with regular girls or…not-regular ones?”

Morgan could admit business was never far from her mind. But she wasn’t sure she held back on the orgasms exactly. It was more… Oh hell, she didn’t know. Maybe she did hold back. She had orgasms but she didn’t lose her mind.

“I’ve been with enough of both to have formed an educated opinion,” he said.

Of course he had. Why did she keep bringing this subject up?

“Meaning you’ve pegged me as high maintenance and too much work?”

“Pretty much,” he admitted. “Life’s short. Best to spend it doing things I love. I’m not going to wait an hour for a woman to fix her hair to go to the grocery store or paint her nails or try on a hundred dresses. The best look for any woman is a rumpled old T-shirt, no panties and her hair in a ponytail.”

He was talking about all the reasons he didn’t think he’d like being with her and yet she couldn’t help her smile. “You’ve put some real thought into this.”

He nodded and shoved a chip into his mouth.

“What are some of these things you love that you want to spend your time doing?”

They were wrong for each other and that was wonderful. This was a weekend thing and the more reasons they had to cheerfully part ways at the end of it, the better.

“Being with people I care about and who care about me. Working a job I love and I’m good at. Sports, camping, being my nieces’ favorite uncle.”

“You have nieces?” She wasn’t sure why that surprised her.

“Yep, three of them. One of my sisters has two girls and the other has one.”

“What makes you their favorite?”

He gave her a grin that made her stomach flip. “I like to play. I’ll get on the floor, get loud and messy and silly with them.”

She had no trouble believing that. But all at once his childish tendencies were a lot more attractive. Plus, she knew now that he could turn it off. At least for long enough to eat dinner with her boss. He was interesting. And very, very hot.