Adrian Lessons (17 page)

“I’m guessing your trip home went well.”

“As well as it can go when your ex brings his new boyfriend to the exact spot in the woods where you’re getting eaten out.”

“Ah.” Marie sits down and pulls the orange juice toward her. “You figured out he was gay, then.”

“
Why did everyone know except me?”

After I finish freaking out at the cold and unadulterated cruelty of the universe, I fill Marie in. She responds with a lot of sage nodding, a reminder to write everything down, and a wave before she heads out the door.

The next few days pass in an excruciatingly slow blur. Marie’s too busy with midterms to schedule another research session, and my writing suffers accordingly. And by writing, I mean my uterus. Apart from a few stolen kisses, Adrian refuses to rip my pants off with his teeth and throw them into outer space.

Apparently, he’s planning something special for the night after our date.

In the meantime, he…cooks for me. Breakfast every morning, whether he’s able to stay and enjoy it with me or not. Puffed pastries, thick strips of organic applewood-smoked bacon, fresh biscuits...by the end of the week, I’ve gained a pound and I couldn’t be happier.

Why wouldn’t I be happy? I have a great new friend who makes me good food and helps me with my writing.

That’s all it is.

Whoa, whoa. The L word? You’re getting ahead of yourself there. Just because I agreed to a couple dates and want to jump his bones with the burning fervor of Mount Vesuvius doesn’t mean I
like
him.

Even when he shows up at my door in a perfectly-cut suit that highlights every aspect of his body, from his broad shoulders to his narrow waist—a black suit that makes his eyes pop even more. Even when he smiles the kind of smile that melts stone.

“Hey.”

“What’s up?” I say, totally casual and unconcerned.

“You’re drooling a little,” he points out.

“Oh, that? That’s not drool. That’s…a mirage. You’re seeing things. Like in the desert when it’s really hot and people see things. Is it hot in here?”

“The only thing hot in here is you.” He brushes his lips over the crown of my forehead, and the entire inside of my body turns to boiling lava.

There is no way I’m going to be able to wait until after this date. I want to lick him all over. I want to bite his bottom lip. The unbelievable fact that I haven’t seen his cock yet makes me want to smash something.

“Cleo?” Amusement dances in Adrian’s eyes. “I just said we should probably get going. And you kind of moaned.”

“I don’t think you should wear suits.” My entire body is pulsing. My voice is husky.

“Oh?” A dark smile emerges on his lips, and he lets the door fall shut behind him. “You’d rather I took it off?”

All I can do is stand and beg him with my eyes.

He understands. In one powerful movement, he has me in his arms and he’s kissing me hungrily, his tongue stimulating the sensitive ridges of my mouth, hot and wanting. Need throbs in my blood. I grind my hips against his.

In a flash, he has me against the kitchen wall.

“The fridge is going to judge me for this,” I manage.

“You’re a little crazy, you know that?” He pulls back and looks deep into my eyes. “It makes you so interesting to be around, Cleo.”

“I think I would be even more interesting if you were kissing me again.”

He laughs, and then his mouth is on mine, and his hand is on my thigh, pushing my dress up. Every inch of my body is screaming for him to be closer, to cover me, to be inside me and outside me, everywhere. He reaches under my dress and groans when he discovers I’m not wearing any panties.

“Fuck, Cleo,” he breathes. “You’re making it extremely difficult to wait until tonight.”

“I can think of some good reasons for you to not wait.” I grind my hips against the rock-hard shape in his pants. “That.” Another grind. “That.” I reach down and grip him. “And that…”

He exhales harshly. His muscles are taut. Just the feel of his hard, ready, masculine body against me drives me wild with lust. He puts his mouth beside my ear.

“It’s taking every bit of my willpower not to enter you right here,” he murmurs.

My uterus cries out at this possibility and starts waving large, blinking neon signs.
Enter here, please!

“But I have special plans for tonight, and I don’t want to ruin them.” He kisses my neck as his fingers circle the outside of my slit. “Tonight I’m going to show you why some things are worth building up to. I’m going to make every single second of this torture worth it. Tomorrow morning, you won’t be a virgin anymore, Cleo Reynolds.”

My eyes open wide. “You mean…tonight’s the night?”

He caresses my neck and gestures at the books surrounding us. “I’m going to show you a night that all these romance heroines couldn’t even dream about.”

Jesus. I have no idea how I’m supposed to sit up straight and drink wine tonight with
that
image circling in my head. “I changed my mind about the restaurant I want to go to. I’m thinking McDonalds. Suddenly I understand the appeal of fast food.”

“We won’t take long. I promise.” He rests his forehead against mine, ever so briefly. It’s so tender that it takes my breath away in an entirely different way than his hand under my breath. “But we have to go. Your sister’s waiting.”

I’d forgotten that I told him it was going to be a double date.

We leave the apartment building and get in his car. That’s right. The car of someone who is just a good friend.

A good friend who is going to take my virginity tonight.

I’m completely giddy and turned on at the thought, and he must feel the same, because we end up pulling over for two more makeout sessions. By the time we get to the restaurant, I’m flushed bright red.

“You know, romance and pomp are great when it comes to taking a girl’s virginity, but there’s also nothing wrong with going at it in the restaurant bathroom,” I say semi-casually as he opens the car door for me.

He takes a deep breath and gives me a quick kiss.

“Let me guess—‘don’t give me any ideas?’” I say.

“Oh, I already have ideas. Lots of ideas. And after tonight, Cleo Reynolds, you’re going to find out what all of them are. But I want your first time to be special.” He takes my hand, giving me a special smile, and my stomach does three backflips in a row.

My stomach should really try out for the Olympics.

~17~

ADRIAN

I thought I would be able to make it through tonight okay.

I have a lot of willpower. Couple years ago, a friend dared me to spend a month as a vegetarian. I like meat the same amount as any other red-blooded male, which is to say that meat is secondary only to sex. But I did it.

But Cleo’s not meat.

Cleo’s not even just sex.

She’s a tier all to herself. A drug isn’t even an appropriate comparison. There’s no comparison, because wanting her is like feeling the jagged edges of a part of me that was ripped away before I was born, a part of me that I never knew existed before I met her, but now can’t live without.

It also doesn’t help that she’s not wearing panties.

This little gem is now punctuating every single one of my thoughts. Like, ‘Oh, the car in front of us has a taillight out…and Cleo’s completely bare under that dress.’ ‘Hey, it takes longer to get to The Frontier than I thought…also Cleo’s pussy is concealed by a scrap of fabric.’ ‘I wonder if that Psych lab assignment is due next Tuesday or the Tuesday after…Cleo. Not wearing. Panties.’

The mind is a complex and elegant thing.

To be honest, I’m about one more fingering session away from being driven completely insane. There’s only so much a guy can take.

I couldn’t endure this for anyone but Cleo, no matter how much her restaurant bathroom observation turned me on. Years from now, I don’t want her telling our grandkids that the first time she got intimate with Grandpa was in a restaurant bath—

Wait.

There’s no way I just thought that.

Cleo’s incredible, and I’m feeling things I never felt before, but…grandkids? That’s a whole new level of commitment, and commitment and I have always been like hot chocolate and a summer day in Arizona. Not meant to be anywhere near each other.

But with Cleo, the idea of commitment feels somehow…right.

Which is a scary thing all on its own.

But I don’t need to think about that right now. The only thing I need to think about is how I’m going to show this girl the meaning of pleasure after dinner. How I’m going to carry her to my bed, undress her, set off some fireworks between those smooth, creamy thighs…

Maybe I don’t need to think about that. Not unless I want to walk into the restaurant with the world’s biggest hard-on.

Cleo smiles at me, and we walk into the restaurant together. It’s a nice place, if a bit campy—a candle on each table, soft paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, the sound of jazz hanging over it all like a warm blanket.

Damn. Nothing will make you poetic like being in l—

Whoa. Almost slipped up with the L-word there.

“Come on,” says Cleo, pulling me toward the back of the restaurant. “Therese already texted me where she was sitting. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

My brows furrow. “Meet her? I’ve already—”

But then we’re standing in front of her table, and Therese leaps up. Her date’s not here yet. If you asked an average guy which of the two sisters was prettier, he’d probably say Therese, but the average guy is an idiot. She’s the kind of woman that guys like, sure, all blonde hair and long legs and tanned skin, but Cleo’s beauty is softer. More real. The kind I prefer.

“Hey, Therese,” I say, a perfectly normal, friendly greeting.

Which is why I’m so blown away when she giggles, hooks her arm through mine, and pecks me on the lips with a, “Hey, you.”

Wait.

What?

I glance at Cleo automatically, who looks as shocked as I’m feeling. Instinctively I yank my arm back, but Therese’s got a grip like a dinosaur on steroids.

“Cleo, this is the guy I wanted you to meet,” she says, stroking my arm. “Adrian King. He actually went to our high school, so you might remember him! I’ve been running into him at the gym and I was never totally sure if it was one-sided or not, but he said yes when I asked him, and then I realized he was interested.”

Holy shit.

No way.

I have to explain. Have to explain quickly. The hurt and confusion written all over Cleo’s face are more than I can bear.

“Cleo, where’s your date?” asks Therese, craning her neck.

And my sweet Cleo stammers, “He, uh, must be running late. I…I’ll call him.”

I have to get a handle on this situation fast. With no idea of what else to do, I follow her lead. “Cleo, your phone’s in my car, and it’s locked. I’ll take you out to get it.”

Therese plants a kiss on my cheek before I can escape. “I’ll be waiting here, big boy.”

Cleo looks like she wants to run far, far away. Possibly to a different country. I’d join her. Instead, though, we walk toward the door.

As soon as we’re out in the night air, I grab her shoulders. “Shit, Cleo, I’m so sorry. Your sister does go to the same gym as me—”

“You never told me?” she whispers. A knife slices sideways into my heart, but it’s okay. I just have to explain.

“It never came up. But I swear I’ve never hit on her or anything before. When she asked me on a double date with you, I assumed she was asking me
for
you—”

I flash back on Therese walking toward me, sweat glistening over her body.

“Adrian! I wanted to ask you something. You know my sister Cleo? She wants to have a double date this Friday, seven o’ clock at The Frontier. You in?”

“Yeah, of course,” I’d said. “A double date is fine.”

I swallow. “I thought she was bringing her own date. I figured you’d decided you wanted our date to be a double thing and she happened to mention it first. I didn’t know she was into me. I had no idea.”

She’s shaking her head. I force a laugh. “It’s just a misunderstanding. Kind of a funny one, actually. I’ll go back in and explain—”

“You don’t get it.” She’s pale and quiet. “I made a promise to Therese. She’s insecure, and one time in high school we had a big fight over a guy. After that, I swore never to make a move on someone she already liked.”

“But you didn’t—”

“Yes, I did! Accidentally, but I did!” She smacks herself in the forehead and groans. “This could be really bad, Adrian. You don’t know what my sister is like with guys.”

I think about how she grabbed my arm. “Possessive?”

“Worse than that. She falls really, really hard. The way she looks at you—Adrian, she’s in love with you. She’s been talking about you for ages. I just never knew it was you. If she knew we have a thing, she’d never forgive me.”

“I’m sure she would,” I say, but it sounds empty even to my own ears.

“No. She wouldn’t. That’s just the way she is. She’s crazy and intense, but she’s my sister, and I promised myself a long time ago I’d never put a guy above my relationship with her.”

I’ve never seen Cleo like this—deadly serious, sad, but resolute.

“So what do you suggest?” I ask, trying not to let my tone betray what I’m feeling.

“We have dinner. We pretend my date never showed. You’re here as her date,” she says robotically.

“And…” I’m almost afraid to say it. “After dinner?”

She won’t look at me. “There is no after dinner.”

“Cleo.” A little bit of anger works its way into my voice. “I have no interest in your sister—”

“That doesn’t matter,” she interrupts. “She’s family. We can’t…we can’t be a
we
, Adrian.”

This can’t be happening.

She tries to smile. “I mean, it’s fine, right? We were just friends anyway. We can keep on being just friends. Only without the…other stuff.” Then her smile wavers. “You’ll still like me if we can’t do the other stuff, right?”

My heart breaks in three places. My hands tighten on her shoulders. “Cleo. I don’t give a shit about sex, or hooking up, about any of that. I only care about you.”