Bedding The Best Friend (Bedding the Bachelors, Book 4) (18 page)

Ryan shook his head with a shaky laugh. “Any man would be throwing his ante down on the table in a heartbeat for an offer like that. Come on, Annie. Don’t let one creep get you down.”

“I’m not. I guess tonight just reminded me how dull I am. The phone sex with you…that was my first time doing that…ever. I’ve never played strip poker, and maybe it’s because I’m so boring no one ever thinks to suggest it.”

“You’re being ridiculous. You’re not boring.”

“Have you ever played?”

“Well…sure…but not lately.”

“Right.”

“Tell you what,” Ryan said as he walked to the desk. “How about we play a little game? I’ll critique your technique.” He pulled out a deck of cards.

Annie had to really force herself not to smile now. She was better at this than she’d imagined. But since Ryan was what was motivating her, she shouldn’t be so surprised.

“Strip poker?” she said, sounding unsure. “We’ve never seen each other naked. Won’t it be weird?”

“I hardly think we’ll be traumatized. You’re a nurse, remember?”

“Well, yeah. And I supposed you’ve seen so many naked women, there’s nothing I have that would make an impression.”

“You always make an impression on me, Annie. And I’m not going to lie. You strip in front of me, and I guarantee you I’m going to get hard. I’m going to want to fuck you. But nothing will happen unless you want it to happen.”

Do you want it to happen?
she almost asked. But she held back. No sense spooking him at this point when he was virtually handing himself to her on a silver platter. Besides, his words had made lust and anticipation zing through her.

I’m going to want to fuck you. But nothing will happen unless you want it to happen
.

Oh, she wanted, all right. And soon he’d have no doubt that was the case.

“You won’t cheat, will you? I’ve never played before.”

Ryan grinned and put his hand over his heart. “No cheating, you have my word.” But he held one hand behind his back as he said it.

Annie smiled and said, “Let’s see the other hand.”

Ryan pulled it out. His fingers were crossed. He had a silly smile on his face.

“It’s a good thing I already know how to play poker then,” she said.

“How many items of clothing do you have on?” he asked.

“Do shoes count?”

“No.”

“Then three,” she said.

“Damn! You’re almost there, and we haven’t even started. Let’s see, I’m wearing a shirt, pants, boxers and socks.” He bent down, kicked off his shoes, and pulled off his socks. “Now we’re even.”

They both moved to the small dining table and sat across from each other. He started to deal the cards.

“So for every hand you lose, you have to take something off, right?”

“That’s the plan,” he said.

She picked up the cards Ryan dealt her and tossed two aside, facedown. Ryan looked at his, grinned and put one facedown on the table.

“Two?” he asked her.

“Yes, please,” she said.

“Okay, and dealer takes one,” he said. He had a gleam in his eye, and Annie knew he had something good. She laid down her three queens. He had a straight flush.

“You’re sure you’re not cheating?” she said.

“Just lucky,” he told her. “Take it off.”

Annie stood up and pulled the little black dress over her head. She was standing in front of Ryan now in her lacy black bra and panties. He looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head.

“Wow,” he said. “I hope my luck holds.”

Annie giggled. She was having fun, and she was turned on, but she was nervous as heck. “This one is my hand, I can feel it,” she said.

Ryan dealt them each another five cards. She noticed that he was having a really hard time keeping his eyes off the swells of her breasts above her bra. Her nipples were hard as pebbles, pressing against the thin material of her bra.

“How many?” Ryan asked her.

“I’m good,” she said with a broad grin.

Ryan grinned back and said, “Dealer takes one.”

Annie placed her cards down. She had an ace-high flush. Ryan had two pair.

“Strip,” she said, feeling more confident all of a sudden.

Ryan unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. Annie shivered at the sight of his chiseled form. She’d seen his naked chest and muscular abs before, but she hadn’t been sitting nearly naked across from him then.

“I think we’re going to have to make this more interesting. Slow it down a bit,” Ryan said.

“How are we going to do that?” she asked.

“How about the winner can either make the loser remove an article of clothing or he can ask her a personal question that she has to answer?”

“Or he has to answer. I can handle that,” she said. “Can you?”

So Ryan dealt, and again, Annie had the winning hand. “I have lots of questions, but I think I’d feel much more comfortable if you were in your underwear with me. Can you take off the jeans, please?”

Ryan stood up and unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. He looked Annie in the eye as he said, “You know, sometimes I go commando. You caught me on a good laundry day.”

Annie laughed and said, “For the sake of the game, I’m glad.”

When Ryan won the next hand, Annie felt a tickle of anticipation in her belly. He looked over her almost-naked body and licked his lips. “Have you ever been tied up?”

“Like…been busy?” she said with a sly grin.

“Like with leather or silk,” Ryan said in a sexy, husky voice.

“Not in real life,” Annie said. She was flirting, trying her best to entice him. From the look on his face, it was working.

“So, you fantasize about it, do you? In these fantasies, who’s the one tying you up?”

“Huh uh,” she said. “You got one question, asked and answered. Deal.”

Ryan shuffled the cards and dealt. Annie knew from his smile that she was in trouble. He had another straight.

“Hmm…” he said, staring at her breasts. Annie could almost feel the heat from his stare. “Who’s the one tying you up in your fantasies? Kyle?”

Kyle? Who was— Oh. Right. “There is no Kyle. I made him up.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you know?”

“I’m hoping I do. But I need to hear you say it.”

Annie looked up at him. For the first time since she’d fallen in love with him all those years ago, she was going to admit to him that he was the object of her fantasies. Her pulse was racing, and she could hardly breathe as she said, “Because when you asked me who my fantasy man was, I was too scared to admit it’s you.”

He swallowed hard enough to hear. “So you want me?”

“For years. Since we first met.”

He inhaled sharply. “That long? How come you never told me?”

She glanced away. “For the same reason you didn’t tell me you’d thought of having sex with me. I was too afraid it would mess up our friendship.” She took a deep breath and met his gaze. “But now I’m willing to take the risk. Because I don’t really think it’s much of a risk at all. Not anymore.”

“You don’t?”

She shook her head. “We mean too much to each other. No matter what happens, we’ll always be friends. You’ll always be a part of my life.”

He was breathing faster now and his eyes glittered with some fiery emotion that was more than lust. “But there’s always a rink, Annie. We made a pact in high school, remember? To never let sexual chemistry jeopardize our friendship. What about that?”

Was that all it was between them as far as he was concerned? Sexual chemistry? She felt her confidence leaving her. “I didn’t want to make that promise. You’re the one who asked for it.”

He stared at the deck in his hand before he began shuffling the cards.

“Do you remember what happened before I asked you to make that promise?” he asked.

“We were studying. And talking about that other couple…friends who were no longer friends…”

“Right. And you said you understood why Suzanne Miller took the chance with Peter Horace. That he was handsome. Smart. That he had it all.” He finally looked up at her. “I thought you were telling me you wanted a shot at him.”

She sucked in a breath. Oh God. How could he have thought? Hadn’t he been able to tell how much she was into him? “He
was
all those things. But I didn’t mean I wanted to go for him. I guess…in my own lame way…I was telling you that I’d take the chance with you. Ryan, I wanted so badly for you to notice me as more than a friend. Why couldn’t you see that?”

His mouth twisted. “I guess it was hard to believe you’d really be interested in me like that. I’m not smart. Not like Peter Horace. Not like your ex, Daniel. Not like you.”

“That’s not true, Ryan Hennessey.”

He shrugged. “I’m not a rocket scientist. I’m okay. But I’d never get into med school.”

She swiftly stood, then just as swiftly sat down, her face flaming, when she remembered she was in her underwear. Ryan smirked.

“Neither would I. I’m a nurse, not a doctor, remember? You’re the most incredible guy I know. You’re very smart. You’re stunningly handsome. You’re everything.”

“Careful or you’ll have my head as big as a house.”

“I wouldn’t care. Besides, you’re huge all over.”

He looked at her with a gleam in his eyes. Something like predatory intent. “You do know you haven’t seen me all over, don’t you?”

She blushed. “It’s one of my biggest regrets.”

He cocked a brow. “Is that so?”

“Weren’t you listening when I said I want you? In case I wasn’t clear, I’ve thought about having sex with you in every way imaginable. I’ve thought about what your—your d—dick looks like. How it would feel. How it would taste. Now what do you say about that?”

He looked dazed, his expression taut. Then he held up the stack of cards. “Ready for the next hand?”

Before she could answer, he dealt again.

She won that hand.

Keep this simple. Keep this about sex,
she told herself.
That’s something he’ll understand. Talk about the emotions later.
“Have you ever had sex in a public place?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Where?” she asked.

Ryan grinned and said, “Weren’t you the one who said, ‘Asked and answered’? I’ll deal.”

Ryan dealt the next hand, and Annie won…again.

“Okay, where?” she said.

“In the bathroom at a club downtown,” he said.

“Eww.”

“You disapprove?” he asked.

“Completely,” she said. “Do you know how germ-infested those places are?”

“Wasn’t actually thinking of that at the time. Haven’t you ever had sex that made you forget where you were?
Who
you were?”

“No.”

“That’s a damn shame.” Ryan dealt again. “Maybe I can do something about that for you.”

Okay, that was both putting it all out there and at the same time teasing her until she wanted to scream. She didn’t want to dance around their desire for each other anymore. “Why does there have to be any
maybe
about it?”

Their hands were both crap, but Ryan won with an ace. “Take something off,” he said with a mischievous grin.

Annie hesitated. Did she really know what she was doing here? Was this really just about sex for Ryan?

Even if it was, she decided, she’d take what she could get. At least she’d have the memory of the physical intimacy between them. But she was torn about whether to remove her panties or her bra. At least with the panties, the table would cover her nakedness. She slipped her fingers into the elastic, then hesitated. She grabbed her dress, lying nearby, and tucked it underneath her so her bare ass wouldn’t be touching the leather chair. Then she maneuvered the underwear down her legs. Ryan didn’t take his eyes off her.

“What?” she finally asked him.

“You’re blushing,” he said. Then he bent slightly at the waist and turned his head sideways in a dramatic attempt to see her lower half.

Annie closed her legs tightly. “Stop it!”

He was still laughing at her as he dealt the next hand.

Annie won with a pair of jacks.

She was ready to explode from the sexual tension in the room. She wanted to move things to the bed but stayed where she was. She waved at his boxers. “Take them off, mister.”

Ryan didn’t hesitate. He stood and looked directly into her eyes as he slid the boxers over his hips and let them drop to the floor. Annie willed herself not to look down, but she was only human. Her eyes dropped below his waist, and her mouth went dry. He was fully erect, even bigger than she’d imagined, and all Annie could manage was, “Hmm.” She supposed that was better than
yummy
and
gimme gimme
, which is what she really wanted to say.

Ryan laughed again. “Hmm? You really know how to hurt a guy.”