Tangled (2 page)

She’d wanted Austin so bad all those years ago. Gorgeous, charismatic and kind, he’d sucked her right in,

made her want more. But she had known back then he was gay, and he’d had a boyfriend, Brad. The

relationship had been tumultuous, had ultimately ended and she’d been there for him. Ready to console,

ready to take Brad’s place.

It had never happened. She’d eventually gotten over it and now had a great friend in Austin she could

count on. A great friend that had recently found his true love with another woman.

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9

Karen Erickson

Oh well. Her attention was focused on Drake. She couldn’t let Austin’s change of preference bother

her. But the gay rumors about Drake were quietly swirling around, growing and growing. She couldn’t

deny the fact that he did tend to ignore her.

Maybe it’s because he likes men, you nimrod. You have the wrong parts, and he’s not interested.

She ignored her grumpy inner voice, flashing a fake smile in Trevor’s direction. She needed to get out

of here. Go home and sulk. She’d had enough for one evening.

“Well, you’d better go find him then, huh? You two have fun and tell Drake I said hi. I need to go.

Night.”

“Wait a minute.” The man was lightning fast; she’d give him that. He had his hand wrapped around

her arm, stopping her once more. She glanced up at him over her shoulder, surprised to find him standing

so close.

Close enough to smell him. And he smelled wonderful. Close enough to feel the heat of his body

emanating from him, reaching for her. Close enough she saw the flecks of color in his stormy eyes, a mix

of blue and gray and green.

Survival instinct told her to run. Jerk out of his hold and run as if the devil was chasing her. Fast and

furious and as far away as possible. This man reeked of trouble. She’d observed him enough to know he

was confident to the point of irritation and a known player. Women threw themselves at him on a daily

basis. He was a macho conqueror of an endless stream of females.

She would be another one on his already long list if she succumbed to his charms.

Her feet wobbled and she winced, the shoes pinching her toes. He saw the wince, tugging her even

closer and—oh goodness—she was close enough to see the chest hair peeking from the open collar of his

shirt.

Her survival instinct fled in a rush. The temptation to stay, to touch, to taste swamped her, just like

that.

Just like that. And that proved she was weak.

“Are you all right?” His voice lowered, velvety smooth and soft, enveloping her into a warm, intimate

cocoon.

She shook her head, shifted on her feet. Concentrate on the pain not on the sexy man. “My shoes.

They hurt.”

He glanced at her feet, the black patent leather stiletto shoes, his gaze running up her fishnet-stocking

covered legs. “They’re sexy.”

“They’re painful.” She thrilled at his choice of words. Did he think her sexy? Or just the shoes?

No, no, no. Not the way to think. She hated him. No not him, she hated men
like
him. That’s what she

needed to focus on. His type, they sucked. They were ruthless, heartless and charming. They gave you

pleasure, used your body and stomped all over your heart while wearing a big smile on their face.

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Tangled

It might be unbelievably good when it was actually happening, but the aftermath was always,
always

devastating.

“Let’s go sit down. Get you off your feet.” He smiled, this time full on, flashing teeth. It sent a zing to

her belly, then lower, and she swore her panties grew wet at the sight of it.

This is so not good.

“I’ll be fine.” She tried to withdraw from his touch, but he had a firm hold on her. As if he didn’t want

to let go. “Once I get in my car I’ll kick them off.”

“Come on.” He tugged on her arm, and she had no choice but to follow. Where he was taking her, she

had no clue. She had a suspicion he didn’t know either. But she went with him, his fingers sliding down to

circle around her wrist, his touch gentle. It sent little shock waves of sensation spiraling throughout her

body.

“There you are.” Both of them halted at the sound of Drake’s voice, and she stopped short, bumping

into Trevor in the process.

He was solid, his back a hard wall of muscle and so warm. He felt…amazing.

Her gaze settled on Drake, and she smiled. Here was the man she needed to focus on, the sweetly

handsome doorman at that hot dance club downtown. Drake was beautiful. The light brown hair with the

slight wave, the exotic, stark slant of cheekbones and jaw, warm olive skin and lean body, he was just her

type.

And she had a bona fide raging crush on him.

“Hey, Scarlett.” He smiled, his pale green eyes sparkling. But they weren’t sparkling at her. They

were locked on Trevor. The expression of longing, of pure and utter want that crossed over his face for the

briefest second was so clear, she almost lost her breath.

And in that moment, she knew her chasing had been futile. The man clearly didn’t want her. He

wanted Trevor.

Secretly, so did she.

Talk about awkward.

Trevor glanced from Scarlett to Drake and then back to Scarlett. He’d almost had her. Hell, he still

had a chance if he wanted to think positive. Drake was a distraction. A big one but just a distraction. One

he could squash if he chose. He knew about her crush on Drake, he’d heard it from more than a few

sources, his friend Austin being one of them.

Scarlett didn’t know about his crush on her. How much he wanted her—any way he could get her. He

liked her quirky personality, the way she calmed everyone with a few simple words and tender touches.

How she dressed, the flowing skirts and tinkling ankle bracelet and, yet, she was totally not his type.

But there was something about her. And he really liked the way she looked tonight.

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Karen Erickson

She was dressed as some sort of sexy, yet mean, schoolteacher who looked as if she would rather

smack him than talk to him. It was smoking hot. Those ruby red lips, the hair twisted upon her head,

revealing her slender neck, utterly kissable and tempting. And that shirt, unbuttoned so low he saw her

black lace bra and the creamy flesh of her breasts.

He’d give anything to touch her breasts. Test their weight in his palms, find out what color her nipples

were. Lick and suck and nibble on them until she cried out in pleasure.

Yeah, that was his goal. He had a lot of goals. Getting Scarlett Goldsmith naked and beneath him was

one of them.

“Where are you two going?” The pointed tone in Drake’s voice was clear. He didn’t approve of them

being together.

Drake wanted Trevor all to himself.

If Scarlett wasn’t around, Trevor might have taken Drake up on the unspoken offer. It was one of his

deepest secrets that he enjoyed partaking in sex with other men on occasion.

Not often, hell, he didn’t even consider himself bisexual, and he definitely didn’t think of himself as

gay. He just liked to get his dick sucked by a man sometimes. He liked to fuck them too. Sexual attraction

was attraction after all, despite what gender a person was. He had no problem with it so why should anyone

else?

The brief affair he’d had with Austin long ago had been out of control. The two of them together had

combusted like wildfire. Two men who preferred to be in control fucking constantly, anywhere they could.

Blowjobs in bathrooms, hand jobs in cars, you name it they did it. Until Austin had found someone new

and dumped him like yesterday’s trash.

Which had been fine with Trevor. He hadn’t been looking for a relationship then. He and Austin

remained friends, and he was happy for him. Happy that Austin had found Michaela. He’d shared a few

details with Trevor, nothing too personal, but he got the sense that Austin and Michaela had a wild sex life.

That she was uninhibited and willing to experiment in almost anything.

Secretly Trevor wanted to find someone just like Michaela. And he thought Scarlett was the perfect

choice.

“Uh, we’ll be right back, okay?” Trevor smiled, reached out and gave Drake’s upper arm a quick

squeeze. “I just need to take care of Scarlett real quick.”

“I don’t need taking care of…” she started, but Trevor cut her off with a look.

Surprisingly, she shut up. Nibbled on her plush lower lip instead, her teeth stark white against the

deep red of her lipstick. The urge to kiss all that lipstick off was overwhelming, all encompassing and he

breathed deep, trying to control himself.

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Tangled

He wasn’t one to lose control.
He
was always the one in control. Women threw themselves at him. He

knew this, appreciated it, thanked the good Lord above every day for his bounty. He preferred men he

could dominate as well. He liked to be in command though he wouldn’t consider himself a total caveman.

There was something about Scarlett tonight that made him feel possessive. Like he wanted to throw

her over his shoulder and cart her off to a quiet room, where he could explore and ravish her body for the

rest of the night. She would fight him off at first with little shoves at his shoulders, protesting whimpers

low in her throat. Until finally she would give in to what she really wanted, which was him. And he would

show her just how explosive it could be between them.

Yeah that sounded good. Too good.

“Let me take care of Scarlett, she’s hurting. Just give us a few minutes,” Trevor said to Drake though

he hoped the last part wasn’t true. If he had his way, he’d cart Scarlett off and spend the rest of the night

with her. Alone. Naked.

“Okay. See you later,” Drake said slowly, his expression wary. As if he didn’t believe him.

“Let’s go,” Trevor murmured close to Scarlett’s ear, catching a whiff of her delicious scent. The

woman smelled good, sweet, like vanilla and something else he couldn’t quite figure out.

But he wanted to find out. He wanted to take his time with this woman. Wanted to get to know her,

what made her tick, what she liked, what she disliked.

The problem was, he had a distinct feeling she disliked him. She seemed downright immune to him

though he swore he saw a flicker of interest in those fathomless dark brown eyes.

That minute show of interest kept him in pursuit.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked once they got out of hearing distance of Drake.

“I don’t know. There are private rooms around here aren’t there?” He slowed his pace for her, wishing

he could haul her into his arms and carry her somewhere. Though he figured she’d balk at that. Probably

call him a few filthy names and demand he put her down.

He was sorely tempted to do it to see her reaction.

“You can’t take me to a private room.” She sounded indignant. Also, a little intrigued.

“Why not? You need to get off your feet, get those shoes off.”

“Once I take them off, I’m never putting them back on.” She hobbled along, the wince that appeared

on her face driving him insane.

“Why do women buy shoes that torture their feet? I don’t get it.” Trevor shook his head, his hands

itching to grab her.

“They’re hot right? Sexy? You said so yourself. We do it to impress
you
.” She said
you
as if he was

the most disgusting thing on this planet. The expression on her face matched her inflection.

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Karen Erickson

He couldn’t stand the fact that she didn’t like him. What had he ever done to her? He’d never gone out

of his way to talk to her out of fear he’d make an utter ass of himself. He’d bided his time, wanted to

approach her at the right moment, but now he was afraid he’d made a bad choice.

Yeah, nice choice asshole. Approaching Scarlett at the sex club she frequented. What the hell are you

doing anyway? Are you really interested in a woman who actually frequented sex clubs?

“So was it worth it?”

She stopped, her delicate brows crinkling in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“The shoes and looking hot for
me.
Were they worth it?” He slid his arm around her waist, this close

to picking her up.

“I didn’t wear them for you specifically. Just for, um, someone who might notice.”

“Who? Drake?”

Scarlett sighed. “Does everyone know about my personal business?”

“Pretty much.” He smiled. “But I’ll tell you this. I definitely noticed. And I like what I see.” Deciding

to go for it, he bent at the knees and swooped her into his arms, holding her against his chest.

A little squeal escaped her. She automatically circled her arms around his neck, her face so close he

could feel her breath fan across his face. “What are you doing?”

“Tell me where the private rooms are.” He started walking, headed deeper inside the building. Her

fingers fluttered on the back of his neck before pressing into his skin, sliding up into his hair.

“There’s a bank of them to the left, down that hall,” she offered. “Not everyone knows about them so

most of them should be empty.”

Trevor followed her direction, forcing down the wave of lust that threatened to consume him at

having Scarlett in his arms. She was tiny. She weighed hardly anything, and she snuggled against him as if