Bottled Up: April Fools For Love (4 page)

BOOK: Bottled Up: April Fools For Love
4.79Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

CHAPTER FIVE

 

Nate Dallas was kissing her. The man who had been in her head when she’d made sure to replace the batteries in her vibrator last week was kissing her.

His hand was tangling in her hair. But his body was too far away.

Betty was alone in her apartment with the one that got away. If she didn’t take advantage of this, she was insane.

She was probably a little insane for wanting to hop on the plumber like a horse and ride him all the way to the bedroom, but she could give two shits. And those two shits she did give ran streaking down the hallway when his tongue touched hers. She opened for him like she did all those years ago.

Her hands came up to his chest. She felt the little wrench patch under her palm as she pushed him back until he was leaning against the counter.

He moaned into her mouth, and his breath tasted like cinnamon gum, and it was even more perfect. He was adding a little spice to the decadent Nate-filled dessert in front of her, and she was about to devour him. The past and the present blurred for her. All the fantasies she’d had of him coming back to her created a need she couldn’t deny. He hadn’t known he’d see her, but that just made it more perfect. He started to pull back, and she hoped he was just being nice and giving her a way to stop.

He had asked if he could kiss her. Betty’s heart melted a little more. What guy does that? One she wanted to jump on. Her hands slid up into his short dusty blond hair. Tugging him closer, she sucked his tongue into her mouth.

His body was tight, and she couldn’t wrap all the way around him like she had when he’d first taken her. He’d grown up, and it was a man’s body she wrapped her legs around. His ass made the perfect shelf to hook her calves around as she dug her heels in and pressed him towards her core. He was hard for her, and it was very clear that she hadn’t been exaggerating. He did put her other partners to shame.

Nate’s hands wound around her back and held on. Her breasts pressed against his chest and suddenly it was even warmer in the room. Her skin was hot and tight, and all that would relieve the pressure was his hands on her.

She let him pull back then.

“Betty, that kiss…”

He was going to stop
. She couldn’t let him stop this. She’d thought about him for too long. Compared him to every other man for too long. She had to see if he was still the man she wanted, or if she was building up a silly high school relationship. She pulled her tank top over her head. The bra was a little small, but it gave her some killer cleavage, and Betty nearly melted under the heat of his gaze.

Backing up to the other side of the galley kitchen she hopped up on the counter and crooked her finger at him.

“Come here.”

“Betty, I’m not asking for anything.”

But he was staring at her like he wanted to. And she felt the same as she did the night after the last play. Back then, he’d been the man who’d wooed her with written words. He’d rented out a hotel room block for the theater group from his latest paycheck. But he’d taken
her
to the penthouse. And even if it had only been for a night, she’d never felt more treasured.

“I am. You don’t have another modeling job across the world tomorrow, do you?”

He glanced at the toolbox, and for a moment she felt like he was going to tell her he did have another job. But a clogged drain was a far easier obstacle to overcome than three time zones and no cell signal. Then he obviously decided this was better than any job.

He rushed her.

Instead of his hands groping her chest immediately he unzipped his work suit and exposed his chest.

Holy Hell. He was even more perfect now that when he’d been modeling. He was built. He was…
shiny
?

Her brain had no time to process anything but, “Oh yeah.” And when he pulled her close she could feel his pounding heart even through the thick bra. His hands went to her hair, and then trailed down her arms as his kisses left her lips to nibble down her neck and toward her cleavage.

When his tongue dipped into the cup and grazed a nipple, her body bowed.

She grabbed onto his shoulders and dug in her nails and…felt the Velcro give way? The loud noise stopped them both.
He had a tear away work suit?

“Listen, Betty, I can explain--”

That was when the door opened.

“Betty, I am so sorry I left you with the plumber like that, I…”

This wasn’t happening
. Ang really did have the worst timing.

Then the left half of Nate’s jumpsuit fell open, revealing more of his chest.
And was that glitter
?

Ang stormed into the kitchen. “You were supposed to leave! And even if your boss didn’t get ahold of you, all you were supposed to do was take your clothes off, not take advantage of my friend.”

Betty pushed the man she’d been ready to take into her bedroom back. Her libido was at war with her brain, and as Nate’s pecs flexed under her palms, she nearly cried out at the horribleness of it all. She had been given another chance with him. She’d been about to scratch an itch she hadn’t been able to reach for a decade…and her roommate had poured cold water all over them. But there was more mortification to be had.

The suit with Velcro, the glitter… Nate’s suit slipped more and she caught sight of his neon green g-string before he pulled the fabric over himself. “You’re a stripper?” She squeaked.

“I wasn’t going to go through with it when I realized you recognized me. I was going to fix the sink.”

Like that made it better?
He really thought that made it better?

Betty hopped down. Nate Dallas didn’t miss her. Nate Dallas didn’t regret walking out on what they could have had. No, he’d been paid to be here. But she had to hear him say it. “Weren’t going to go through with what, Nate?”

Ang picked up Betty’s tank top. “He was really just going to fix the sink?” she asked.

Betty slapped the fabric out of her hand. She was already without a shirt. This confrontation was going to be over really soon, and then she’d climb into a shower and let the hot water wash this shitty day away.

Betty watched her roommate pick up the shirt again and fold it before putting it on the counter next to her in case she changed her mind and wanted to cover herself.

Ang huffed. “Betty, look…I hired a stripper from the Bently Bombers to pretend to be a plumber. I thought it would be a funny, sexy April Fool’s Day prank. It was dumb. I’m sorry.” She looked at Nate and cocked her head to see his abs around the fabric that had slipped away. “Although I have a greater appreciation for why you still masturbate over a high school romance.”

Betty pinched the bridge of her nose. Not only was the guy she put up on a pedestal for long, a stripper…she’d been dumb enough to not realize it. “Okay. I am completely mortified, and I really want you both to leave now.”

“Betty…” Both Nate and Ang said her name at the same time, and then looked at the other like they were both pissed the other was apologizing.

There was a knock on the half wall behind them.

Another plumber stood with another tool box. “Is this a bad time? The super sent me up for a clogged drain. The door was open.”

“Of course it’s a bad time,” Ang yelled. “She’s topless!”

Betty grabbed the tank top and put it on then. She noticed Nate had stepped between her and the real plumber’s line of vision. Why would he care if someone else saw her topless? She felt her heart twist at the thought that there might be something between them still, but she was too mortified to think about it.

“I’m leaving,” she told him.

“I’ll go with you.” Both Nate and Ang said the same thing at the same time again.

It was messing with her head. This whole situation was the weirdest she’d ever been put in. Someone needed to pop out from behind her couch and inform her she was on candid camera, because seriously, the only way this moment could be topped was to have it televised.

“I am leaving,” she repeated. “By myself. Ang, stay here so the actual plumber can fix the sink. Nate…I think you’re off the hook for dinner.”

“Well, it looks like you already gave him dessert, anyway,” Ang said with a raised brow. “But…” Ang grabbed Betty’s arm. “Was he really trying to fix the sink when you jumped him?”

Betty pulled free. “Argh.”

Her purse was on the hook by the door along with her keys. She took off. She’d head to the book store and buy enough to fill a basket. She needed to escape into someone else’s reality. Hers was too damn weird today.

CHAPTER SIX

 

Nate rubbed his forehead as the door slammed. He was supposed to be good at being a stripper. It was supposed to be easy money with no emotional ties to anyone.

He had been on his own after his modeling career ended. It shouldn’t surprise him that another person who knew him as a model had just walked out the door, but it did. He’d never thought Betty would be the one to walk away from him. Then again, he was the one who had left without bothering to call her back all those years ago.

It had been stupid to kiss Betty. Even if he had been a real plumber, it would have been a dumb thing to do. He couldn’t date her as a stripper. And it was obvious by her reaction that he’d been right to try and keep it from her.

His eyes caught the picture on the fridge. Well…at least she wouldn’t date someone who took off their clothes in a private setting. But she was the only person he’d ever thought saw past the glamor. She would have been happy to date him if he really had been a plumber.

She hadn’t batted an eye. Well, not until she saw the body glitter he’d borrowed from one of the other strippers. He refastened the Velcro to make sure he had his nipples put away before he turned to face Betty’s roommate.

A wrench was thrust in his face.

“I assume this is yours, Sparkles?” The real plumber was laughing at him.

At least it wasn’t an old lady this time.

Nate put the wrench in his toolbox and grabbed his phone before standing back up. The Angela girl was standing in the doorway.

She shifted from foot to foot before finally asking, “Does your company offer
other
services?”

“Bently Bombers provides role play based dances of all kinds. What were you looking for?” Nate cringed as he repeated the sentences that had been burned into his brain over the last week of training. If he couldn’t perform up to par, he was told to sell other dancers. Did he really even need to bother after this screw up?

“No. I mean…well, you were about to…do you sleep with your clients?”

And now she thought he was a prostitute.
Wonderful
.

“I just strip.” Nate thought about the nursing home. “Badly, apparently. Betty took me by surprise, and I forgot why I was really here. Could you tell her I’m sorry?”

Angela narrowed her eyes but still didn’t step aside to let him run out with his tail between his legs. Which it pretty much already was, with how far his g-string had ridden up his ass.

“Did you get her number before you shoved your tongue down her throat?”

“Yes.” He held the phone out to Angela. “Did you want to delete it?”

She didn’t answer right away. Another foot shift and she moved out of his way. “You should call her.”

Nate laughed. “I don’t think she wants me to do that.”

“She talked about you, you know.”

Nate froze, and his heart pounded as he held his breath waiting for her to continue.
Talked about him?
He should get the hell out of this apartment, but before he accepted how much he’d screwed up again, he had to know if she’d forgiven him for the first time. “What did she say?”

“She told me about the letters, and after her last breakup, she told me about how sweet you were. I tried to steer the conversation to your ass, but turns out she thought a lot of you.”

“I thought a lot of her too. I regret not trying harder to get back to her.”

He wasn’t sure if she believed him or not.

Angela pushed the door open for him. After he walked into the hallway, she leaned out after him. “She
is
single, but you better come back with more than the basic woo. The last guy she dated wasn’t worth her time.”

“And a stripper would be?” She’d made it pretty clear she didn’t think so, hadn’t she?

“Betty’s a lot more progressive than you think. And a guy who tried to fix a sink even though he had no idea what he was doing might be just what she needs.” Angela looked over his shoulder. “Although you might want to wash off the glitter first.”

Then she closed the door, and Nate was faced with the reality of going to another job where he’d have to take his clothes off.

He sat in his car and turned on the radio. He flipped from the pounding beats of the pop music and went through the stations until he found a classic rock channel. The singer’s voice rasped out of the speakers and crackled out into the car as he turned up the volume.

What was he doing with his life?

He was going to be a nurse. There had to be other things besides stripping he could do to make money. He’d taken the stripping job because it was easy. Or he’d thought it would be.

The song wailed out of the cracked window, and he heard the wind whistle through the interior as he pulled out from the apartment parking lot. He’d need to turn in a couple of his props when he went to quit. Because he was doing just that.

There was enough gas in his car to make it to a few places along the strip and hope he could get a job. It was still early enough in the season. Most of the summer job applicants wouldn’t be out in force yet.

He passed a boutique and saw a help wanted sign. It took him two blocks to turn around, but only a couple minutes to flash a smile at the manager and get her to set up his training. They needed some muscle to move the stock around the store and process the merchandise as it was delivered off the truck.

They also needed someone to clean the toilets, and she was honest when she told him he could help sales simply by flashing his dimple and telling women they looked pretty in the clothes.

There were worse jobs. As he climbed into the car and stared at the toolbox in the front seat next to him…he realized there were
much
worse jobs.

BOOK: Bottled Up: April Fools For Love
4.79Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

The Governess Club: Claire by Ellie Macdonald
State of Grace (Resurrection) by Davies, Elizabeth
The Christmas Angel by Jim Cangany
The Rational Animal: How Evolution Made Us Smarter Than We Think by Douglas T. Kenrick, Vladas Griskevicius
Lady Outlaw by Stacy Henrie
A Dead Man in Trieste by Michael Pearce
Kissing Steel by Laurann Dohner
A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist
Outlaw MC of Mars by James Cox