Tempting Mr. Wrong (Wrong Man) (11 page)

Chapter Ten

So, that just happened.

Carly turned her head, a feat she found difficult with all of Lance’s body weight on top of her, pressing her into the hard wooden table.
OMG, we had sex on the table.
She let out a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a laugh. Lance’s head popped up.

“I’m sorry. I’m probably crushing you.”

Carly giggled. “No, it’s not that.”

He propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at her with the most adorable expression, a mix between seriousness and confusion.

“Um, we’re on the table,” she said.

He grinned even as his face blushed. “Looks that way.”

“So,” she began.

“So,” he replied.

“Um, well, there’s…I mean, you know…”

“Carly?” Lance said.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.” With that, he took her lips in a sinfully decadent kiss. It was like the triple chocolate mousse of kisses. She wrapped her arms around his back, pulling him closer to her.

Suddenly her phone let out a little chirp, alerting her to a message. She had no clue where her phone was. Only the thought that it could be about Mya sprang into her head. She looked around the room, spotting it on the counter.

“Let me,” Lance said, reading her mind.

It took some effort but he untangled himself from her and rose. She felt the loss of his weight, his warmth, acutely. At the same time, she had to admire his fine naked ass walking to the counter. She whistled long and low. Lance turned and winked. But he wasn’t all confidence. The blush on his face gave him away.

Carly grabbed her panties and shirt and threw them on. The rest of their clothes were strewn all over the place. They’d have to deal with that later.

Lance handed her cell phone over. Carly quickly read the text. “Caitlin’s mom said they’re leaving in twenty minutes to bring Mya back.” Again, she eyed their clothes and the ripped condom wrapper. “OMG, Mya.” She jumped up, ran a hand through her hair and tried to think what she should tend to first.

With humor in his voice, Lance said, “Carly, calm down. We have plenty of time. It’s fine.”

Was it? The elephant in the room was the fact that they’d just slept together. Something she’d resigned herself to place in the iron-clad category of “never gonna happen.” Hadn’t Lance made that fact clear over and over again? First, she was Chris’s sister and then there was the fact that he wasn’t staying here.

Any further thoughts were cut off when Lance grabbed her and gently pulled her to him. “Stop thinking.” He pressed his lips to hers and she melted into the strength of his embrace.

When they finally came up for air, she took a deep breath. “Thanks. I needed that.”

“I could tell.”

“I hate to break up this party, but since Mya will be home soon we should probably…” She broke off, gesturing between them and then at the table, the scene of the crime.

“Right, of course.”

She noticed the tips of Lance’s ears turning red. It delighted her to see the big, strong soldier get embarrassed.

“Why don’t you go grab a shower and I’ll just clean up down here?” He leaned over and began collecting strewn clothes.

“Sounds like a plan.” She started walking toward the stairs.

“Carly?” She turned at his question. But it took him a minute to finish his thought. “Are we still good?”

He didn’t have to elaborate. She got it, what he was implying. There would come a time when she’d have to really contemplate the implications of sleeping with Lance.

But right now, Carly didn’t want to think about the what-ifs and maybes and should-haves. She could hear her friend Anna’s voice in her head admonishing her for once again jumping in too quickly. But she actively tried to tune it out.

This wasn’t about Anna. And this wasn’t like the other times she’d fallen too hard, too fast.

She’d known Lance for years. Even when they first met and she’d barely been old enough to vote, she’d known. Something about Lance Townsend drew her to him. He was special. And she fully believed that they could have something amazing together.

So today she wouldn’t think about the fact that he didn’t live in North Carolina. She would even put the fact that she desperately wanted a real family out of her mind.

For however much longer Lance remained in Pine Springs, she would enjoy every second. After everything she’d been through in the last year, no one understood the value of living for the moment more than she did.

“Oh yeah,” she finally answered Lance. “We’re good.”

...

After an evening of mass excitement thanks to Adam, a mound of presents, and one very energetic four-year-old, Mya had practically fallen asleep in the middle of playing with one of her new games. Adam put her to bed with Carly and left shortly afterward, with the promise to come back the next day.

Alone again, all it had taken was one look from Carly and they’d flown up the stairs to her bedroom where they’d made love again. Just as frantic, just as passionate as their earlier experience on the kitchen table.

Lance had had good sex before. He’d even had great sex. Hell, he’d had mind-blowing sex. But what just happened between him and Carly had set a new bar so high that an Olympic athlete would be hard-pressed to jump over it.

He couldn’t believe it. They’d taken a huge step in their relationship. Could he even call it a relationship? Would she? Surely, the fact that they’d now had sex two times in less than twenty-four hours resulted in an upgrade in their relationship. Something to think about later.

For now, neither of them stirred. Instead, they lay in a tangle of limbs and sheets and pillows. Quite frankly, he didn’t know if he would ever regain the strength to stand up straight again. He attempted to lift his head and look down at her. Her eyes were closed, but she wore a satisfied smile.

This was the first time he’d been in Carly’s bedroom. He’d only peeked in from the hallway before. Now that he studied it, the room was decorated in an array of bright, bold colors, with everything from the throw pillows to the comforter and the curtains all bursting with pinks, purples, blues, and golds. It suited her. He detected hints of lavender, or maybe some other flower. He wasn’t sure what, but he saw that she’d lit three candles on her dresser, and the dancing light illuminated mounds of jewelry and other female accessories.

She began running her hands up and down his back. The motion made him want to let out a purr. “Give me a minute, and I’ll be able to move again.”

“Only one minute?”

“Maybe twenty.” He returned his gaze to her. Her skin was dewy, her lips swollen, her hair mussed. She looked sexy as hell. He brushed his lips across hers, and her arms tightened around his neck as she let out a sound.

“Mm.”

He chuckled. “Someone looks pleased.”

Even in the dim light, her eyes sparkled. “I’m not the only one.”

Touché. Sex with Carly had been amazing. He glanced at her again. For someone so confident in bed, she also had a vulnerability that called to him. It was that vulnerability that finally had him shifting, removing the bulk of his weight from her tiny body.

He hopped from the bed and quickly flicked the lock on the door. “Just in case Mya needs us,” he said. “By the way, I’m happy I finally got to see your fairy.”

With a blank expression, Carly tilted her head. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

Lance laughed. “Your tattoo, crazy. It’s a fairy. I’ve been wondering since the first day I met you.”

“Oh.” Carly joined in his laughter. “I like to think she’s good luck.”

“Certainly was for me today.”

She cuddled next to him when he returned to the bed, throwing her arm around his waist as he fixed the sheets and blanket around them. He wrapped one arm around her so he could cradle her head against his chest.

“Comfortable?” he asked.

“Mm-hmm.” She placed a kiss to his chest for emphasis.

“Good day?” he asked.

She chuckled. “Some might say so.” She shifted, throwing one of her legs over his, and then propped herself up on one elbow and gave him a hard stare. “So tell me something about you, Townsend.”

He ran a hand over his face. “Like what?”

Her answer was an amused smile. “Like anything. What do you like to do for fun? Where do you live when you’re not deployed? Do you have any friends? What’s your favorite food?”

He tapped the tip of her nose. “That’s a lot of questions.”

But her stare was unrelenting. “How about we start slow? If you could have any food in the whole world right at this minute, what would you want?”

Without thinking, he blurted out the first thing to come to mind. “My mom’s kimchi and mandu dumplings.”

“What’s that?”

“My mom’s Korean and my dad’s an American mutt. She didn’t cook Korean food often but when she did…” He licked his lips. “Man, was it good. Kimchi is this cabbage dish, and the way my mom made it, it was spicy and had peppers and garlic and ginger, I think. She always used beef in her mandu dumplings, and they were the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth.” He slid her a cocky stare. “Until tonight that is.”

Carly slapped his arm. “Dirty, dirty boy. That food sounds delicious. Maybe I can try to make it for you.”

Lance held the burst of laughter in for a whole two seconds. Then he let loose.

“Hey,” Carly said, hitting him again.

“You’ve just mastered spaghetti. I think traditional Korean food might take a couple more weeks.”

“You never know. Maybe I’ll surprise you.”

He had no doubt that she would. In fact, her next question definitely threw him off-balance.

“Are you close with your mom?”

He looked away, studied the very loud and bright painting hanging on the opposite wall. It wasn’t a flower exactly, although it had a bit of a rose shape, but it looked like it had been painted in the rain with all of the deep, rich colors bleeding together. Carly had hung a sparkly hat off one corner and a blue scarf off the other.

“My mom died about six years ago. Cancer.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Were you close when she was alive?”

He took a moment to mull over her question. “She was my mom.”

Carly sat up, one eyebrow raised. “That’s not an answer.”

He shrugged. “We had a complicated relationship.”

“Doesn’t everyone when it comes to their parents?” she said easily.

For the most part, Lance liked his personality. Well aware that he lived a structured, organized existence, he found those traits to be very helpful getting through life. But since he’d met Carly, he’d found her nonchalance and nonplussed way of dealing with situations appealing.

“I suppose you’re right.” He joined her sitting position by shifting the pillows and leaning back against the headboard. “My mom was strict. She kept me on a pretty tight schedule growing up.”

Carly nodded as if she understood, but how could she really get the amount of structure he’d dealt with growing up?

“Ah, those three
S’s
,” she said.

“Definitely the three
S’s
. Lots of lessons and classes. My grades were excellent because they had to be. I won spelling bees and science fairs. I played the piano, guitar, but I was also an invaluable member of the baseball team.”

Carly’s eyes had widened. “Wow. I don’t think I was even in one school long enough to join a club. Although, I did like to dance.”

He laughed despite himself because he could just see a young Carly shimmying around a room with reckless abandon.

“I believe the term people are using lately is ‘tiger mom’.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. She wasn’t quite that bad. There were no massive punishments if I didn’t do something right. Maybe because I never messed up.”

The words were pouring from him at record speed. He’d never talked about his mom before. Not with anyone. Not with Chris and John, or any of his other army buddies. They knew when his mom had gotten sick and passed away, but that was the extent of it.

Something about Carly made it so easy to open up. He might not know everything about her, but one thing he was absolutely sure of was that she wouldn’t judge him.

“That’s pretty heavy stuff,” she said. “So you never pushed back? Never got caught drinking or TPed a house, or did some other adolescent revolt?”

He shook his head. “I rebelled one and only one time. I joined ROTC.”

Carly’s mouth dropped open. It looked like she was trying to form words but nothing was coming out.

“My ROTC scholarship got me through college and then I went into the army to complete my required time. Mom was pissed.”

Carly held up a hand. “Stop. You’re telling me that your way of rebelling was to join the army?” He agreed silently. “Oh, honey, no wonder you’re all into this bucket list.”

Exactly. She got it completely. Lance had never had the time to go off on his own and explore. From all the lessons and camps and duties he’d had as a child to ROTC in college and then the army afterward, he’d never had time to call his own.

“This is the first time in my entire life that I’m going to get to do what I want to do. On my own time line. For myself.” He emphasized each sentence because even saying it out loud made him feel good. This was his time.

“And yet you came here first,” she said, a thoughtful look in her eyes. “You finally get out of the army, finished with your mandatory duty, and you head straight to Pine Springs, North Carolina.”

“To help a friend,” he added.

“Because you’re responsible.”

“Because I would do anything for my friends.”

She sighed. “You’re one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met, Lance Townsend.”

Once again, this tiny little spitfire surprised him. He really needed to stop trying to anticipate her next move.

Scooting closer, she met his gaze and offered a big, lopsided grin. “You’re so funny. Those damn three
S’s
and all of that structure is so embedded in you.” She placed her palm against his chest and pushed for emphasis. “But no matter how regimented you might be, you can’t seem to cover up this.” She tapped his chest again.

He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”