Unexpected Mr. Right (13 page)

"The best sex you've ever had, huh?” He put his arm around her, his fingers tickling her back.

"Nico."

"I'm kidding. Trying to lighten the mood a little bit. You're too depressed for someone who had ‘the best sex she's ever had'."

She shot him a warning look. Her eyes narrowed telling him now wasn't the time. She wanted him to take this serious. For her it was very serious.

"We have a relationship, Slugger, just not the kind you're used to. Last I checked we're friends, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then. That solves that issue. Second, I'm not against people falling in love and settling down, I'm just not sure it's for me. There's nothing wrong with that."

"But that's what I want, Nico. I'm not saying I'm in love with you or I want us to settle down together but no matter how good this felt, my ultimate goal is forever, not just a night or two. You want to steer clear of that. The two just don't mix.” She hated saying this. Her body wanted nothing more than to engage in a fling with Nico.

Nico pulled away from her and sat up. His hand immediately ruffling his already mussed hair. A deep breath escaped his body. “That's not what you're looking for right now. You said so yourself. Right now you want to have fun, to prove to yourself you can spend time with a guy, who would be me and me alone,” he said sounding a bit territorial.

"Without ending up with a broken heart. Since I'm obviously completely wrong for you as you've told me time and time again, you know you have no risk losing your heart. Then we both win, baby. We're great together. Why deny ourselves that pleasure? Who knows where it will lead us?"

She noticed he called her Slugger when they played around, when they were sexual, she turned into Baby.

He leaned down toward her on the bed. Oh yeah, they were good together. Her nipples perked to attention under his intense stare. “I have to tell you, I'm not done with you yet. You said you want some kind of relationship? We can have that. We're friends, good friends what happen to enjoy each other in bed. I'm not ready to give you up yet.” He kissed her, the touch of his lips soft.

"We can do everything together normal people in a relationship do. Hell, we already are. Give us a chance, Tabby. Give me a chance. I'm really not as bad as you seem to think I am."

She pulled away, guilt assaulting her. “I know I've given you a hard time in the past but it was just because I'm attracted to you and I didn't want to admit it. I know you're not a bad guy. We just want different things."

"I think we want the same things. We both want each other. I know I'm not the right guy for you forever, but I'm right for now. We have too much fun together for it to be any other way."

He was right. She wanted him. She didn't want to give this up yet and why should she? They were both adults. Both friends who she thought could still be friends once they ended whatever it was they were doing. He could go back to his life and she'd go back to hers. Right now, they could pretend they both wanted the same thing. “Can we really do this? The whole friends with benefits thing?"

He buried his face in her neck, kissing the tender spot behind her ear. “It's more than that, Baby. It's a relationship, just not the conventional kind. I'm not a conventional kind of guy."

Didn't she know it? Arching her head back to give him better access, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down on her. Without direction from her, her body started to move against his. “Yes, Nico. I want this."

"There's only one problem."

Tabby stopped moving. She somehow gotten used to the idea of their “relationship” fast. Fear tickled her spine wondering what he had to say.

"What?” a nervous quiver shook her voice.

Nico looked at her, winked, and said, “I don't have another condom.

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That hadn't gone quite as planned. Nico plopped onto his living room couch, his hands ruffled his hair before he again rose and started to pace the room. She had him off balance, like he teetered on the edge of a cliff, or at a crossroads to something major he just didn't know what it was. And that confused the shit out of him. Women never confused him. He prided himself on knowing just what women wanted. Until Tabby.

The woman had fire burning in her veins, if she'd just acknowledge it. She was passionate, funny and fine as hell. Too bad she seemed to think he was such a womanizing asshole. How he'd gotten that rep, he didn't know. It pissed him off that the people around him labeled him that. He never played games, he enjoyed his bachelorhood but always on the up and up with whomever he was with at the time.

Obviously he gave everyone the wrong idea about himself. Just because he never chose to have a relationship in the past didn't mean he wasn't able. It meant he hadn't found a woman who made him burn, made him ache, in ways beyond the little Nic in his pants. Now that he found that woman his past kept her at bay. Made the man who wanted to give a relationship a try for the first time settle for the lame story of friends with benefits he laid out for her.

She'd need proof he could be the man she wanted. Hell, he wasn't saying forever, but they both deserved to give this a try. He'd show her Mr. Wrong could be Mr. Right. That she'd looked for the wrong kind of man in the past. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she liked his flirtatious, fun-loving ways. She didn't want the stiffs she thought she did. Oh, yeah, he'd show her what she really wanted. And if he lost his heart in the process, well, that wasn't as scary as he thought it would be.

Tabby, Kaylee and Bri walked through the florist shop, the scents of the different flowers wafting over them. Kaylee needed to finalize her arrangements for the wedding. It should have been done weeks ago, since the wedding date would be upon them in a short couple weeks, but since Kaylee didn't want big arrangements it wouldn't be a big deal. She'd always loved flowers. In high school she helped her neighbor, who was a florist, in her shop on the weekends. Kaylee asked her if she'd make the arrangements and she'd been happy to say yes.

"What about these?” Bri asked pointing to a loud purple flower that she'd never even seen before. It was unique, that's for sure but not for a wedding.

"They have to be yellow, dork,” Tabby teased. “Remember when she chose yellow for her color?"

"You know me, I like to throw a little pizzazz into things. It's not my fault the two of you are boring,” she said with a smile. The three girls laughed. They loved giving each other a hard time out of fun. They all loved and respected one another too much to take offense.

"No purple pizzazz in my wedding, girl. I want something simple. I'm thinking about a small arrangement of daisies."

"I like it. I think that fits you, Kaylee. We can get fresh daisy's, tie simple yellow ribbon around them, you know something like that, delicate, simple, but pretty.” The wheels turned in Tabby's head. This would be fun. She couldn't wait. “I'll have to make yours a little bigger. We'll want your arrangement to stand out next to me and the purple pizzazz over there."

"Hey,” Bri swatted her. “Don't knock my flowers."

Kaylee laughed. “We're not knocking them but you aren't carrying those things in my wedding either."

"You guys are no fun.” Then changing the subject, Bri said, “So are we done here? Do you have enough to work some magic, Tab? I'm starved. We should grab something to eat."

"Pizza sounds good,” Kaylee added.

Tabby groaned. “You guys would have been so proud of me. I made the best pizza with Nico the other night.” Her heart dropped. The second the words fell from her mouth she realized she made a mistake. Bri and Kaylee both stopped walking and stared at her. Kaylee's eyes were huge in surprise, Bri smirked a knowing smile. Shit. Looks like Lucy had some splanin’ to do.

"Screw the food,” Bri said. “We're going to your place. I need details."

It amazed her they waited until they got to her house before they asked any questions. First she thought she'd use the time to think of an excuse but she didn't. She wasn't doing anything wrong so why hide it? Kaylee and Brianna would do the same thing, hell they had done the same thing so why should she hide in the corner? For the first time she threw caution to the wind and followed her hormones rather than her heart. It felt damn good.

Not only that but she missed talking to her girls. Holding this in hadn't been easy, especially now that they'd slept together. Sex just wasn't the same without girl talk. She wouldn't give them the step by step, but she had to share something. She almost burst at the seams holding it in.

"Talk,” Bri ordered when they walked inside and all took seats in her living room.

"Usually I'd tell Bri to have a little patience but I'm with her on this one, Tab. Time to spill,” Kaylee gave a look that said if she tried to avoid the questions they'd use force if necessary. She didn't doubt the gleam in her best friend's eyes.

"I love being the one with a secret,” Tabby teased. “Usually I want information on your private lives. Mine isn't usually the exciting one."

"Well now it is so get to talkin',” Bri told her.

For the first time in her life, Tabby felt like a bad girl. Like she was about to share some forbidden, naughty secret. She'd done something just for herself, had something just for herself. An illicit affair that had nothing to do with promises of forever. Sure, she still wanted forever but that isn't what this was about. This was about a friend who she felt comfortable enough with to explore the sexual being inside her that had never burned as brightly as it did when Nico touched her.

"I'm talking. Chill out.” Tabby filled her lungs with air before exhaling deeply. “A couple weeks ago Nico showed up at my house after dinner on Friday. He made me realize what a bitch I'd been to him lately."

"Thank God for that. You really did give Super Chef a hard time, girl,” Bri stated honestly coating her words.

"I know. Don't make me feel any worse. Anyway, he brought up spending time together, getting to know each other more but just as friends, ya know? At first I was leery, I thought it was just a ploy to get into my pants but he seemed sincere and I realized it was something I had to do.

"Any man I've ever been close with I had a romantic relationship with, I pursued the relationship hoping, thinking that he may be the one. Honestly, I felt a little pathetic. I'd never had a close male friend before. I needed to prove to myself that I could have one and that I could get close to a guy without falling in love and getting my heart broken."

Tabby stretched and wondered how much she should tell them. She felt bad not talking with Nico first. They'd promised to keep their “friendship” on the down low. Once Bri and Kaylee knew, it would no longer be the secret they'd agreed to. “So, we've been hanging out ever since. He's teaching me to cook, too,” she said with a smile. “Did you get laid?” Bri's eyes held hers not letting her escape the question.

Well, that settled the how much to tell them problem. She couldn't lie, they'd see right through her. Plus, she kind of wanted to tell them, Nico was too good not to share. Not figuratively speaking. “Yes,” she said her eyes glancing down.

Charming jumped on Kaylee's lap and she started to pet him. “Don't start getting sheepish on us now. How'd it go from friends to sex? Are you guys seeing each other? Are you sure you're not going to get hurt?” Kaylee fired questions at her one after another.

"Give her a chance to reply, Kay. Tabby's finally grown some balls and I want to hear about it.” “Hey. I've always had balls!” As soon as the words left her mouth she realized how foolish they sounded. Bri looked at her, smiled and said, “I bet Nico was pretty damn surprised when he discovered that."

Laughter erupted from all three women. Deep, belly laughs that you could only get from spending time with your girls. Well, and Nico. He made her laugh like no one could. He did a lot of things like no one could. Once her laughter calmed enough to speak, Tabby said, “You know what I mean. You better stop giving me a hard time if you want to hear the rest of this story."

They both quieted enough that the only sound in the room came from Charming. He purred in pleasure as Kaylee stroked his head. “Friday night he woke me up pounding on my door like the damn world was coming to an end. The second I opened it he pounced, kissing me, touching me. It almost like he couldn't keep his hands off me even if he wanted to. Like he had to have me. I don't know what came over him but it felt too good to deny."

"Jealous,” Bri and Kaylee said at the same time.

Tabby shook her head at the crazy suggestion. “What is there to be jealous about? It's not like I have a man, or even a prospect for goodness sakes. Plus, jealousy means feeling more than just sexual attraction. Besides friendship, there is nothing between us beyond overpowering sexual attraction."

"Hello? Lance? He totally wanted you and Nico knew it. He's staking his claim.” Bri looked proud of herself when she spoke.

"Don't be ridiculous.” That didn't make any sense whatsoever.

"I love you, Tab, but for a chick who wants a man so bad, you really don't know jack about them.” Her eyes were teasing, a smirk tilted her lips.

If she didn't love her friend so much and know her words came from the heart, she just might have given them a whole new reason to call her slugger.

A couple hours later, Tabby sat curled up on her couch tossing buttery popcorn into her mouth, an old romance movie on TV. She wasn't paying attention to the movie, instead she nuzzled deeper into the soft fabric of her couch and let out a sigh. Though Bri seemed happy about her little tryst with Nico, Kaylee hadn't been so optimistic. She worried about her heart getting involved. She worried about her getting hurt.

Not that she could blame her friend for her fear. Tabby's track record proved her most likely to be right but this felt different. Nico felt different. She put up a mental roadblock to that kind of thinking. Nico wasn't different, she was. This whole relationship wasn't about ‘the dream'. She put that on hold for the first time in her life and decided to focus on herself, on her friends, and on enjoying her very new friendship with Nico.