Something Borrowed (23 page)

* * *

T
he numbers were starting
to make Chloe’s eyes blur. Not enough sleep meant she was struggling to make the maths work, but Sam and Greer had texted to say they wanted an estimate soon so they could start the wedding ball rolling. Plus, the wine was starting to make her head feel a little woozy. Even so, there was no way she’d take a risk on losing this contract; it had to be sent tonight.

But her thoughts kept swinging her back to this morning when Vaughn had been here in this room and next door, in her bed. His scent still lingered everywhere, but the taste of him was just a memory. Down low in her gut, her body tightened at the thought of him inside her, how good he had felt.

Concentrate.

She started to do the sums again but was interrupted when the doorbell rang.

So late?
Chloe glanced at the clock on her computer. Nine forty-three. Not so late in reality, but it just felt like it, given the number of hours she’d spent in bed but not sleeping, and the sheer amount of energy Evie had taken up.

God knew how Jenna managed, every single day.

She peered through the blinds.

Vaughn?

Vaughn.

Damn. Typical that he’d just turn up when she was in her PJs and with wet straggly hair. She briefly thought about changing, or not answering the door, but decided, to hell with it; he’d have to take her as she was. This was her life; this was who she was. If he didn’t like it, he could walk away.

‘Hey.’ She opened the door, trying to control the thrumming of her heartbeat as she took in his messy hair and kind eyes. ‘How was the football?’

Those eyes were like bright stars shining with pride. ‘We won. Three-two.’

‘Well done. And you’re not out celebrating with the lads?’

‘There are better ways to celebrate. I brought you a present.’ Smiling, he held out a punnet of strawberries. There was no trace of pink varnish on his fingers, she noticed.

‘Wow, thank you. This is… unexpected. I can’t wait to… ahem… eat them.’ And lovely for him to turn up unannounced, asking for more of her. ‘You got rid of the varnish.’

He grinned and glanced at his fingers. ‘It was either that or risk a whole lot of questions you don’t want me to answer.’

‘Oh, yes. Of course. Well, thank you for thinking of me.’

Now he ran the varnish-less fingers through his hair. ‘Is it insane of me to say I can’t stop thinking about you?’

‘Hell, no. I’m very flattered.’ It was so damned hard not to jump on him right now, every part of her was screaming to let him in, but she had to stick to her priorities.

He watched her reaction to him, reading her body language so well. ‘Is this a bad time? I should have texted, but thought I’d surprise you. Bad idea?’

‘Normally, no. Normally, a fantabulous idea. Normally the best bloody idea ever. But I’m working; I have to get a quote off tonight.’

If he thought it strange she was working late on a Sunday evening, he didn’t say so. He just nodded, the smile still there, confident that she wasn’t fobbing him off. ‘Okay. No problem. Another time, then?’

‘You can come in and wait until I’m done if you like?’

‘I don’t want to disturb you. You’re already short on time because you’re working for me. You didn’t get to do this earlier today because you were caring for your sister’s needs. You need time for you. I’ll head off and leave you to it.’ Which was so unlike Jason’s usual response she was taken aback. Her ex would have spent the evening disturbing her simply because her work was diverting her attention away from him. She used to think it was endearing that he needed to be entertained by her. In hindsight, she could see it was just his insecurities toying with her innate ability to feel guilty about things she should never feel guilty about.

And hell, the thought of another night with Vaughn perked her up a surprising amount. Her body began to tingle in anticipation of his touch on her skin. She wrapped her hand around the fruit punnet, then breathed in quickly as he kissed her softly on the lips.

When he stopped, she felt the smile spreading through her body, waking up parts of her that she’d assumed would be resting tonight. ‘No. Come in. If you’re happy to sit and read or listen to music until I’m done?’

‘I’m sure I can entertain myself.’ For the first time ever, he looked a little sheepish. ‘I just couldn’t get you out of my head.’

‘You too?’ His honesty made her heart flutter, and she pulled him to her, kissing him some more, her hands finding those hard muscles of his arms and stroking the nape of his neck. It felt like there would never be enough kisses.

But he stopped her, slowing things down with his hand on hers. ‘Noooo. Work first. Then you get your reward.’

She shrugged his hand away and placed hers on the waistband of his jeans. ‘This first.’

He gave her a wry half smile that was so sexy it almost undid her then and there. ‘Work. And then you’ll need sustenance. The strawberries will do for starters. I have plenty planned for the main course.’

‘Greedy. And a very, very attractive proposition.’ Her eyes met his and she saw the need for her shimmering there. Vibrant, like him. He was surprising, this man. He hid what he felt, and he fought what he wanted because of a promise he’d made, but it shone there in his face, in his body. He wanted her.

He kissed the dip in her throat. Then her nose. Her eyelids. Her mouth. ‘Greedy for you, yes. Bloody ravenous.’

‘I’ll never concentrate with you here and this’—she palmed his erection—‘in the room.’

‘God, Chloe,’ he groaned against her mouth. It was such a sexy sound; she felt the thrill of it through her body.

She started to unzip his jeans. ‘Clearly someone doesn’t need a lot of encouragement.’

‘No, me neither.’ He laughed, his hands on her waist as he walked her into the lounge, backed her up to the sofa and lay her down.

‘I can’t work and want this at the same time. I can’t work until we’ve got this out of our system, full stop.’

Soft kisses became more charged, more intense. The strawberries were discarded somewhere on the floor. Along with her pyjama top. His jacket. T-shirt. Jeans. Her pyjama bottoms.

Then he was inside her again, slow this time. Tender. Each stroke deeper and more intense than the one before. Each breath in sync. Each heartbeat in harmony. She felt as if every cell in her body was alight. Her head was blurred with the pleasure of him filling her. His taste. His strength. His care for her, and his need.

As he moved inside her, he held her there captured in his gaze. The way he looked at her filled her chest with a bright light, a flame shimmering, burning down the defences she’d built. Erasing her reticence, it built pathways of warmth to her heart. This man.
This.

The bright light seemed to engulf her, a powerful emotion that filled her heart, singed her skin, branded him onto her—his name, his touch, his kisses. He thrust deep and hard, and she responded by bucking against him, urging him on, wanting to savour every inch of him. Wrapping her close to him, he breathed in her ear, ‘This is amazing, Chloe. You are blowing my mind.’

‘Is it real?’ she asked him, because it was too perfect, too right, too damned beautiful for her ever to have contemplated that sex could be like this. This went deeper than fun. This meant something. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop liking him, wanting him. No matter how hard she tried, he was kissing a trail straight to her heart.

‘I bloody well hope so. I want you, Chloe. I want you so damned much.’ His gaze caught hers again, and she snapped her eyes closed, afraid he’d see the emotion swimming there. But it didn’t help. Her kisses, her body melting into his, his name on her lips, all betrayed her. She couldn’t not feel something for him. She couldn’t hide this desire. And she couldn’t stop.

So she kissed him some more, urgently. Greedily. Rising with him to his climax. Edging nearer and nearer to the edge. And that connection, the tiny threads strengthening, tugged them dangerously closer and closer and closer.

‘
F
eel better
?’ Vaughn dragged a throw over them both and held her tight against his chest. He was laughing, which was becoming more and more common with him. He’d hidden that part of himself at first, but he’d let her in, just a little, and every day it was a little more. But at some point he’d stop, she knew, and she wouldn’t hear that delightful rumble that came from deep in his chest. ‘Think you can concentrate on work now?’

Never. Never while he was within the nearest hundred miles or so. ‘I suppose so. If I have to.’

He tapped her bottom. ‘You have to. The plan was that we celebrated after you got your work done.’

She tapped him back.
God,
he had a great backside. ‘Slave driver.’

‘Someone has to be. Otherwise, we’d spend all day doing this and be bankrupt by the end of the week.’

We.
One word that was so tiny and yet so significant.

Her heart stretched, but she didn’t want to pursue that line of thought. He’d warned her of how little he could give, and she wasn’t sure how close he was to shutting her out. ‘Okay, give me time to catch my breath, and I’ll get to it in a minute. And you can make some tea while I’m slaving over a hot laptop. I’m parched.’

He sat up, pulling her with him, seemingly unwilling to let her go quite yet as he absentmindedly stroked the inside of her thighs. ‘Are you saying you actually own tea bags now? That is a step up. Next thing, you’ll have all those luxury extras like bread. Milk?’

‘Whoa… baby steps. Like I said, I’m a work in progress.’ She kissed him again, slipping her fingers into his. ‘You ever thought about how weird this is? I mean, when I saw you striding up the aisle all grumpy and serious in your morning coat, I never imagined that this could happen. It wasn’t even on my radar.’

‘I would hope not, seeing as you were waiting to marry another bloke.’

She remembered his taut expression as he’d walked towards her. The tight shoulders, the fixed jaw. Every step he took closer, she knew. She just knew what he was going to say, so when he reached her, she was already at boiling point. ‘I hated you. I mean, really, really hated you for ruining my day. My whole life, actually. And Jason too… I hated him more than anything.’

‘I know. I’m sorry I had to do it. If it helps, I hated Jason at that moment too, to be letting you down and not having the guts to say it himself. You were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. The second I set eyes on you in that frothy dress and long veil, I knew you were something. I also knew my cousin was an idiot. But there you go. His loss and all that…’ He laughed again. ‘Of course, that was until you beat me up with the flowers; then I realised you’re just plain crazy. Beautiful, but completely mad.’

‘Hey! It takes one to know one.’

His legs wrapped around hers, cuddling her in. ‘I’m just grateful you weren’t wooed by guitar guy. Or dog-in-a-bag man. Then we might not be doing this at all.’ The Love Plan seemed such a long time ago, when she’d been trying hard to be someone she wasn’t. ‘Believe me, I was torn. Unfortunately, neither of them appeared to think I was remotely the girl for them. Actually, I’ve been thinking that
DrewsAmused
might be the kind of man my mum would fall for. If he managed the dog hair a bit better and bought a comb.’

Vaughn grunted. ‘Matchmaking? Really? I don’t know your mum or your sister very well, but are you sure that’s such a good idea?’

‘It does make me feel just a little bit weird thinking about my mum and a man.’ She squirmed. ‘Ugh. But we all need somebody.’

‘Do we, though? I thought you were done with love.’ His smile was still there, but his body language had changed. His shoulders had hitched, and there was a little twitch in his cheek.

‘For stress relief. And fun.’ She kissed him, trying to diffuse the emotion in her chest and trying hard to convince both of them that there were no emotions there at all. ‘And strawberries, of course. Who are we to deny that to anyone? I’ve already texted Jenna’s friend, Nick, and asked him to meet me and Jenna for a drink next week.’

He frowned. ‘Are you sure it’s a good thing to get involved in something like that?’

Chloe thought about how spooked Jenna was yesterday about even thinking of Nick in any way other than a friendship—and because of some misplaced loyalty, she wasn’t going to let a good man into her life, friend or otherwise. That would be a shame, for herself as well as Evie. Her daughter needed good men in her life. ‘I don’t know if it’s the right thing at all, to be honest. But she gave me a push to jump back into the dating pool and look what happened. Fun, yes?’

‘We’re dating?’ He froze, then tried to hide it behind a grin. She was also aware of a momentary panic in his eyes that left as she brushed off any suggestion of connection between them.

‘Don’t be daft. I think dating involves going out, you know, for dinner, or to the cinema, dressing up nicely. I don’t think a walk to the play park with a toddler or random sex in a variety of locations counts.’

He sat up a little more, putting some distance between them. ‘Do you want to go out?’

Dredging up a smile, she made her voice lighter than she felt. ‘When would I have the time for a date? Seriously? I work two jobs and spend the rest of my time babysitting.’ Judging by the relaxation of his shoulders, he seemed suitably reassured, although she wasn’t. Because the thought of dating Vaughn made her undeniably happier. Which made her feel worse. Which made her switch the conversation to something else. ‘I think I need to repay Jenna after getting me back on your horse—excuse the terminology.’

‘Excused.’ He actually looked quite proud at that. ‘Glad to oblige.’

‘Although, I’m not going to suggest she does the whole beautifying thing I did. It’s way too much hassle.’ She saw his eyebrows raise and regretted mentioning it immediately. ‘Not that you need to know anything about my bikini waxing fails.’

‘Oh? I think I do.’ He prodded a finger into her ribcage, again and again, making her wriggle and squirm. ‘I’m not going to stop this until you tell.’