Cinderella Liberty (5 page)

Trish's eyes met his. "Thanks."

Realizing how inappropriate it was to be touching her like this, he let his hand drop. "You gonna be okay with us crashing in your room for the night?"

"It's fine. I chose this hotel because all the rooms are set up like suites with a living area and a little kitchenette. It's nicer than my apartment." Trish eyed her brother and Dawn, who'd gone back to kissing while trying to walk at the same time. They weren't making a very good show of it. "Of course, I'm thinking the walls aren't sound proof."

Obviously Trish didn't want to have to listen to Zippy getting busy with Dawn any more than Crash did. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to. Maybe he could relieve her worry on this front. "You get drunk with your brother a lot?"

"God, no." A frown crinkled the skin between Trish's dark brows.

Crash laughed at her reaction. "Well, I do and I know one thing. He'll go strong until he stops drinking. Then you sit him down someplace comfortable and he crashes hard. Out like a light in a few minutes." Crash tipped a head toward Dawn. "What about her?"

"Not sure. Dawn and I usually have a glass of wine when we go out together, not shots. I guess we can hope she'll fall asleep once he does."

They'd reached the hotel where Trish had parked the car hours ago. He gazed up at the soaring building.

"All right. Sounds like a plan." Crash slapped Zippy on the back to get his attention so he'd stop trying to kiss Dawn while walking into things. Bad enough they were behaving this way in the street. Crash didn't want to make a bad show of it in the lobby too. "Ease up for a second, big guy. We're here. Lead the way, Trish."

 
After one long elevator ride during which Zippy was all over Dawn, and a short trip down the hall, Trish opened the door and Crash could see she'd been right. The room was damn impressive. Way better than Crash's quarters in the staff barracks back in New River. "Nice."

"Isn't it? So I'm gonna go pull out the sleeper sofa in the living room and set it up for you guys to sleep on."

"Sounds good, sis." Zippy, still semi-attached to Dawn, stumbled through the suite, taking a little self-guided drunken tour. "Wow, look at this place."

Crash shook his head at his friend, then glanced around the space, searching for the door to the bathroom. When he turned back it was to find Trish bent over the couch, her beautiful ass poked temptingly in the air as she divested the sofa of its cushions. Trish sure had curves where they mattered.

He dragged his eyes off her butt. "Um, I'm just gonna hit the restroom."

Still bent at the waist, she twisted to look back at him and he got a view down her shirt, all the way to the lace of her bra.
Christ.
He yanked his gaze away as she said, "Bathroom is through the bedroom."

"Thanks." Blowing out a breath, Crash headed for the bathroom. Hopefully she'd be done with the bending by the time he got back.

Fucking Zippy. It just figured he'd have a hot as hell sister. Damn Crash's luck.

CHAPTER 5

Trish tossed the two extra bed pillows she'd found in the closet onto the sofabed and took a step back to admire her work. It didn't look too bad. Yeah, the mattress was thin and with two big men sleeping on it they'd feel every spring, but it would have to do. They'd have a nice air-conditioned place to sleep, sheets, a blanket and pillows. It had to be better than some of the places they'd slept since being in the Marine Corps, so she wasn't going to feel guilty about the quality of the mattress.

"We, uh, have a problem." Crash's voice coming from behind her brought Trish's attention around.

She spun to face him. Was he talking about his makeshift bed for tonight? Maybe he had a bad back and was afraid sleeping on it would mess him up. "What's wrong?"

He hooked a thumb in the direction of the closed bedroom door and pressed his lips together. "I hate to have to tell you this since he's your brother and all, but Zippy's getting busy with Dawn in your bed."

Her brows rose. "How busy?" Maybe she didn't want to know.

"Let me put it this way, when I came out of the bathroom she had no shirt on and his uniform was in a pile on the floor. It about killed me to not pick it up and hang it, but she was about to—" Crash shook his head and let out a laugh. "Never mind. In any case, I wasn't fixin' to stick around for it."

"All righty." Noise from the bedroom halted whatever more Trish had been about to say. Dawn had a loud voice on a normal day. Drunk, and in the throes of passion, she was even louder.

Crash hiked up one brow and reached for the remote control. "Maybe I should turn on the television."

"Yeah. Good idea. Loud." Trish sat on the edge of the mattress. Maybe Danny had done her a favor. What a perfect excuse to spend more time with Crash.

He grinned and then shook his head. "I really am sorry about this. I know it must not be funny for you."

"It's not your fault. It's my brother and my friend." She drew in a big breath. "So, I guess I'm out here with you for the night."

"You can take the open-up couch. I'll sleep in the chair."

Was that offer from Crash his way of being a gentleman? Or was he simply not interested in sharing the bed with her?

"No, don't be silly. We can both fit on the—" Another sound, this time Danny's voice, filtered through the closed bedroom door.

Crash pushed the remote and raised the volume a little higher. He tossed the control onto the table before turning back to her, looking pained. "Trish, I'm gonna be perfectly honest here. Since I'd planned on sleeping on the boat tonight, I don't have any other clothes with me. I can't sleep in this uniform and still be presentable enough to be seen in it tomorrow morning when I check back in. I'm gonna have to sleep in my underwear."

"I understand that. There's sheets and blankets, if you're worried about modesty."

"That's not the problem." He let out a breath. "I've got enough booze in me that I don't think I can lie next to you without it getting to me. Especially if I have to hear them doing that in there."

A smile twitched her lips at his confession. Nothing like a man admitting he was going to get a hard-on just from being next to you in a bed. Sick as it seemed, Trish was going to take that as compliment. It was more than she'd gotten lately in her woefully pitiful social life. There was a serious man drought in New Jersey. Or maybe Trish was a walking guy repellant. Either way, she'd been sans boyfriend and in fact lacking in any sort of male companionship for far too long.

The man before her looked yummy in his uniform and, she was sure, without it. He was just the recipe to end her fast. She certainly could make a feast out of Crash. "Can I be honest with you too?"

He dipped his head in a nod. "A'ight."

"I understand what you said earlier about not wanting to get involved with anyone right before you deploy and I think you're right about that. But I also believe that two mature, consenting adults can engage in pleasurable activities together without getting involved and it doesn't have to be complicated if they both agree to that condition up front." Trish was fairly impressed with herself.

That had been quite a speech she'd come up with on the fly while her heart was pounding so hard it was beginning to shake her whole body. She watched for a reaction from Crash, and boy did she get it. His mouth dropped open before he clamped it shut again.

His sandy-colored brows drew low. “Um, Trish.”

Crap. That was not a promising start to his statement. And he was frowning. She must have misinterpreted everything he'd been trying to say to her before. He wasn't interested. She could tell that by his hesitation now, which meant she'd just made a huge ass of herself and probably made him think she was some sort of loose woman who routinely slept with a guy the first night she met him. A New Jersey 'ho like all the girls on that reality show she hated with a passion. The sad thing was if that were true her sex life wouldn't have been on a year long dry spell.

Trish held up one hand to stop him before he tried to let her down gently. "No, it's fine. I was kidding anyway. A joke that was in bad taste. I guess a few beers and a purple shot and my good sense disappears."

He reached out and wrapped that incredibly big and strong hand around her arm. God, how she'd love to feel those hands all over her body.

"Trish, stop. There's nothing I'd like more than to spend tonight with you, engaging in all sorts of
pleasurable activity
. Believe me. But you're Zippy's sister. That's pretty much the worst thing one guy can do to another guy."

He'd leaned closer while he'd spoken, keeping his voice low and just for her, as if Danny could have heard them anyway over the sound of the television and Dawn's moaning.

His hand remained on her arm. Warm. Strong. It had her insides heating. She found herself leaning closer to him. "First of all, I'm my own person and I make my own decisions. Second, what Danny doesn't know won't hurt him."

Crash swallowed. His gaze dropped to her lips before he pulled it back up. His eyes were narrowed as they captured and held hers. "I guess all it takes is a few beers and some purple shots to do in my good sense too."

As he moved closer, Trish's pulse vibrated her from within. This was going to happen and damn, she couldn't think of anything she wanted more.

His eyes remained on her until their mouths touched with the spark of barely held restraint on both their parts. She'd imagined but hadn't allowed herself to assume this would happen, but now his hand was in her hair and he was angling his mouth across hers.

His tongue slipped between her lips and the kiss rocketed to another level. She couldn't help the moan that escaped her. The sound had him pulling back and drawing in a shuddering breath.

Crash cradled the back of her head with his palm as, breathing hard, he leaned his forehead against hers. "You sure you want this?"

"Yes. You?"

"Oh, God, yes."

He leaned back and started to unbutton his short-sleeved khaki shirt. She watched as each button opened revealed more of the tight, white T-shirt stretched across the muscles of Crash's hard body beneath.

It was like a ritual watching him undress. The uniform shirt came off but it didn't go on the floor like Danny's had. Crash hung his on the back of the desk chair. He even adjusted the shoulders so it hung straight. The belt and pants came off next. Those got draped just as neatly over the back of another chair. His black shoes, still looking shiny and polished even though they'd been walking around in the dirty city all day, he lined up beneath the desk. He'd taken off his cover the moment they'd entered the building. That sat on the desk where he'd laid it when they first walked in.

Crash glanced up and caught her watching. He cocked a brow as his gaze dropped to take her in from head to toe. She realized she'd yet to take anything off herself. That could come later. She was enjoying the show now. Besides, maybe he'd like to help her get undressed. That might be nice.

His black socks came off. He laid those over his shoes and then took off his wristwatch. That left him in nothing but his underwear and a T-shirt when he walked toward her, closing the distance in a few long strides. Her breath came in short bursts as he put his hands on her waist, leaned down and took her mouth.

Those hands didn't stay idol as he kissed her. He gathered up the fabric of her dress and raised it over her hips, all the way to her waist. She felt the cool air of the room brush the skin, newly exposed as he pushed higher. He leaned away from the kiss and pulled her sundress up and over her head.

He shook it out and carried the dress to the far arm of the sofa where he draped it carefully. Trish's lips twitched with amusement. She understood the care he'd taken with his uniform—he had to put it back on in the morning and he needed to look presentable when he checked in. But for him to take such care with her dress gave her the impression this wasn't about the uniform. This was Crash. This was the real him. Obsessively neat and absolutely adorable.

The smile finally won out and spread across her face so wide there was no hiding it so she figured she'd better say something. "Are you going to fold my bra and underwear too?"

Those sandy brows rose until his lips curved in a smile. "Maybe. Let's take them off and find out."

He came back to stand toe to toe with her, so close they almost touched. So close he had to lean away to pull his T-shirt over his head. She waited and watched the conflict visible in his expression as he held the shirt.

"Go on. You can hang it over the chair. I know it will kill you if you don't and I want all of your attention on me, not on thinking if your shirt will be wrinkled in the morning."

"Thank you." Crash spun to the desk chair, shaking out the shirt with one brisk flip of his wrists as he walked. While he went, she got a look at the tattoos the shirt had hidden. An eagle, globe and anchor on his back. A confederate flag on one shoulder. An American flag on the other shoulder. She liked them. She'd have to take a closer look. Later, when she wasn't so distracted by other things, such as anticipating what this bad boy could do to her with that tattooed body of his.

The T-shirt neatly draped over the chair and safe from wrinkles, he was back to her in an instant, gloriously shirtless with all those tempting, hard muscles exposed. She ran her hand up the skin of his chest, moving her fingers over the fine blond hair covering him.