Fender Bender Blues (24 page)

She could have stomped on her own foot for spilling her woes, but she hadn’t had anyone to talk to about it since Leah was busy with Rick the Best Friend Stealer. The glare off the table from the light above them caught her eye, and she stared down at it, perturbed.

“It’s because you aren’t looking for the right job.”

He was right, but her temper flared anyway. “Oh really? I think I’m doing just fine.”

Not true, but her frustration had gotten the best of her. They both knew she wasn’t doing fine and his crossed arms and amused expression let her know she wasn’t fooling anyone. It irritated the hell out of her.

“Okay, okay.” His surrender didn’t make her feel any better. Instead, it ignited her anger and for some reason she found herself insulting him.

“Leah told me your dealership is a family business. You walked right into it. I don’t need a lecture from a spoiled rich kid.”

He bristled and stood, leaning over the table to stare her in the eye. “Maybe you need a lecture from a spoiled rich kid. Sounds to me like you don’t know what the hell you’re doing or you’d have found something by now. Acting like a brat won’t get you a new job, so don’t take it out on me. “

She’d been an idiot for thinking this highfaluting, Corvette-driving jerk would understand where she was coming from—which would be impossible since Rach didn’t even understand where she was coming from. In an icy tone, she said, “That’s your opinion.”

“If you weren’t in denial it’d be your opinion, too.” His eyes challenged her and she wasn’t up for it despite the fact she’d started it.

Rach made it to the front door before he put his hand on her arm to stop her. She shook it off and whirled to face him, ready to fire another insult to get him to leave her the hell alone, but all she saw when she turned around was concern in his eyes. Her shoulders sagged.

She wasn’t angry with him, but at herself for falling into the mess that was now her life. She’d done it to herself. His eyes narrowed, looking like he might shake her or yell at her, and Rach flung herself into his arms and crushed her mouth to his.

So maybe the rest of her life was a crap shoot, did that mean she had to give up this feeling, too? In his arms she felt alive and sexy and loved.

His arms wrapped around her and his hands drifted down her back to grasp her butt. In one fluid motion he lifted her off the ground and she wrapped her legs around his middle. She clung to him and he fisted his hands into her hair, deepening the kiss and robbing her of breath. If time would allow, she’d have stayed in his arms forever. She moaned against his lips and opened her eyes just a sliver to see where he carried her.

His bedroom
. Didn’t she deserve this, a gorgeous man touching her, caressing her? And then it hit her—she wanted this gorgeous man to
love her
, not just to make love to her. Her heart thumped madly in her chest, the sound thundering in her ears, so loud she wondered if he heard it as well.

How could she feel this way for someone she’d only known a handful of weeks? Was it possible to desire someone’s affection when she’d spent most of their time together trying to stay away from him—or irritate the hell out of him?

Rach opened her eyes to stare into his, hoping he wouldn’t see her internal struggle of emotions. A man like him, afraid of commitment, would make a run for the hills if he had any idea what was going on in her head. If it frightened her, it would no doubt scare the crap out of him.

But all she saw in the deep blue of his eyes was the same desire running through her veins. Rach reached out and brushed her thumb across his forehead then trailed her fingers down the side of his face to the back of his neck, pulling him down to meet her kiss. Now was not the time to worry. All she wanted was to feel him against her, loving her.

He took his time undressing her. The caress of the soft cotton of her shirt as he drew it up and over her shoulders made her shiver. When it tugged free of her hair, he dropped the shirt at the end of the bed and replaced the cotton with his large hands, the pads of his fingers tickling her skin as he pulled her close. She needed him now, wanted nothing more than to feel him inside of her, yearned for that moment so much that it was an ache inside her belly. Eagerly, she hurried to remove her bra.

Craig stilled her hands, drew them up over her head and pinned them against the pillows. His mouth hovered over hers. “Let me.”

She didn’t argue. His fingers played with the clasp and in seconds the bra joined the blouse. She inhaled when his mouth found a nipple and suckled, shooting pinpricks of pleasure down her insides, past her navel, and straight to her core.

Rach squirmed under his mouth, his tongue teasing the already taught nipple. She moaned, she couldn’t help it, and when he groaned, she realized his body reacted with each sound. She moaned again and arched her back, letting him take as much of her as he wanted and this time when he groaned she wrapped her legs around him and drew him close so that the soft fabric of his slacks rubbed against her tummy. She whispered, “Please, Craig.”

That was all the invitation he needed. His eyes turned glassy and she reveled in the fact that she was the cause. Rach reached down to tug his shirt from his pants and pushed the buttons out of the way. He threw the shirt off, pulled the undershirt over his head and fell with her onto the bed.

“My turn,” she told him and rolled on top of him.

She placed herself between his legs and swiftly undid his pants. With a tug she pulled them off and dropped them to the floor behind her.

In the darkening room, his jaw muscle clenched in anticipation and she leaned down to pull his boxers off. His penis sprung to action and stood erect. She didn’t take her eyes off him when she bent to take him into her mouth. His flesh jerked inside her mouth. She trailed her tongue up the hard, silky length of him to play with the tip. His hands clenched the comforter beneath him and he moaned, “
Red
.”

Rach ignored his plea and drew him deep into her mouth again, sucking and running her tongue against his flesh. If she kept playing games, he wouldn’t last. She gave a final flick of her tongue, then climbed up the length of him and settled herself over his hips with his penis temptingly beneath her. She lowered her hips, the tip of him brushed against her moist flesh, and she leaned down to kiss him.

His mouth opened beneath hers and she accepted his tongue inside to play with her own. She loved it, loved that she had the power to drive him crazy. Before he could gain control of the situation she pushed him back. Reaching down between them, she whispered, “Just relax.”

She held his swollen shaft still and slid down over him, slow, then stopped before he was fully inside. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done, not taking all of him. She wanted to, yearned to, but the look of pleasure and pain that crossed over his face slowed her movement and she leaned down to kiss him again with him buried halfway inside of her. Her moist flesh pulsed around him, and she ached to seal the deal.

“Does that feel good?” she whispered over his lips. He grunted and grabbed for her hips. She almost lost focus with his touch, but steeled her legs so he couldn’t pull her down any further.

“
Rach
...” he moaned. She dropped just a sliver of an inch and he flexed inside of her.
Amazing.
Had she ever felt so sexy in her life? Not that she could remember. Being with him opened up a side of her she hadn’t known existed. It made her feel powerful, wanted.

“Yes?” she breathed, dropping down a little more. The heat of him inside her almost sent her over the abyss. She was slick with need and didn’t think she’d be able to hold out much longer. To excite them both she rose up, the tip of him barely inside, then slid back down in a slow, agonizing, erotic motion, again stopping before the movement was complete.

“Rach, I won’t last this way,” he argued, his voice ragged and lips pinched.

She bent to kiss him, lightly nipped his lips, and slid down over the length of him to the hilt. Her eyes widened at the sensation, and said, “
Oh my
—’’

Grasping her hips, he cut her off and rolled her beneath him in one swift movement. He took her lips with his and savaged them in a fierce, possessive kiss that left her reeling and her body burning beneath him. He pushed up into her and with the rocking motion of his hips, she cried out in ecstasy.

There was an ache deep in her belly, rippling inside her as he thrust into her. She met him each time, as if there were no other choice. His lips kissed their way to her earlobe, taking the tender skin into his mouth and she writhed beneath him.

It happened too fast, she didn’t want to come so soon, but when the shudders of release started to unravel inside of her and her legs tightened around him, she gave in and cried out in the quiet room. He covered her lips with his, absorbed her cries of pleasure, and he gasped. His body tensed over hers and she pulled him deeper into her as he collapsed onto her chest.

They lay that way, spent and sweaty for minutes until his breathing slowed and their hearts no longer pounded through their chests. Her brain, fuzzy and drunk, clicked back on.
Mine, at least for right now.

Craig rolled off her chest to lay beside her, staring up at the ceiling barely visible in the dark. She wondered what he was thinking, hoped he didn’t regret what they’d done. A mistake didn’t happen twice. No, this time she’d wanted it to happen. She cared for him, more than she’d ever thought possible. She’d fallen for Craig the Angry Hot Guy, Craig the Jerk, Craig the Womanizer. Though she didn’t think of him as much of a jerk anymore, the womanizer part was still up in the air.

Rach rolled to her side and propped her head up on her hand. She could make out his face in the dark, but she couldn’t read his expression. He opened his eyes and she sensed the smile before she saw the shadow of it in the dark. Relief flooded through her.

He might have sensed her uncertainty because he rolled over and slid his arms around her middle, pulling her to his chest where he held their naked bodies together in the dark. She grinned against his flesh and snuggled closer, allowing herself to melt against him and relax. For once she blocked out all the doubt that normally plagued her.
Not tonight
.

Craig kissed her forehead and settled his chin on top of her hair. “I’m thirsty. Would you like a glass of water?”

“
Mm-hm
,” she answered with a sated nod, too weak for a better response. When Craig disappeared out the bedroom door she rolled to the end of the bed and stood up, her knees like jelly. She went to the adjoining bathroom. The lights came on with a brightness she wasn’t prepared for and she blinked against the stars she saw behind her lids. She stared at her reflection. Her lips were swollen and pink from Craig’s kisses. A smiled tugged at the corners of her lips.

The shower was oversized like everything else in his apartment and she reached in to play with the knobs until she was satisfied with the temperature. Stepping under the warm spray, she tilted her head back to let the water caress her skin. Rach was happy for the first time in a long time. Since she’d quit her job with Health and Human Services. She grasped a tall red bottle of body wash and squeezed the gel into her hand. The smell filled the steaming shower stall. His smell was all over her body and she smiled behind closed eyes.

When she stepped out and grabbed for a soft towel, Craig was there standing in the doorway, his eyes on her naked, wet body. She smiled and pulled the towel around her loosely, tucking the end in between her breasts.

“Why didn’t you join me?” she asked, amazed at how sultry her voice sounded.

He strode to her in three quick steps, taking her into his arms. “Let’s go back to bed,” he whispered against the wet skin of her neck. She didn’t argue.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Rach opened one eye and scanned the room. Light peeked from behind the dark curtains, casting slivers of gold onto the deep brown walls. She opened her other eye and turned her head to peer at Craig, who was fast asleep next to her, his breathing soft.

Waking him was not an option. Sure, it had been amazing, utterly crazy, mind-blowing sex—everything she’d known it would be with him. Then the phone calls began and continued until around ten o’clock that night. Each one from Maggie, a woman who was supposed to be his ex, insisting they needed to talk. After the third call, Craig had gotten up to turn the machine on mute, but it hadn’t changed the fact the woman was desperate to talk to him and he wasn’t offering up any reason why. All night, Rach’s eyes had been drawn to the red blinking machine in the corner of the room, reminding her there was more about Craig that she still didn’t know.

She scooted to the right toward the edge of the bed, snagged the sheet and it tugged beneath Craig’s body. Sucking in a breath, she froze in place. The seconds ticked by and she waited, nervous, listening for his breathing to change. It didn’t. She resumed her slow side-scoot, inch by careful inch, until she’d left the warm sheets behind.

Just ask him why his ex is calling, that’s all you have to do.
But she couldn’t make herself roll over, tap him on the shoulder and ask the question that had kept her up all night instead of sleeping like a baby in his big arms. Was there still something going on between them? She swallowed the lump in her throat. It was time to admit she’d fallen in love with Craig and the fear of rejection had her scrambling for an exit.