Finally His (8 page)

* * * * *

Today would be the day where the rest of her life began.
Armed with a smile and clothes she was sure Nick would approve of, she made her
way through the bar her brother always hung out at after work, her gaze on the
lookout for the tall blond man her heart clamored for.
There!
Her feet
changed direction as she squared her shoulders.

They were playing pool, the usual acolytes hanging around.
Beer bottle hanging from its neck between his fingers, Nick leaned back against
the opposite wall, a smirk on his face as he called out something to her
brother. Probably some insult or another, she thought, remembering how
competitive the two were, even during a friendly game of pool.

She managed to avoid being seen as she stepped closer and
closer until she was right beside Nick. Almost as if he’d felt her there, he
turned toward her, his smile changing into something else as he spotted her
only inches from him. “Luce?”

That smile still on her face, she put her hand on his
forearm and moved onto her toes, leaning up to drop a soft kiss on his cheek.
That it was deliberately close to the corner of his lips, well, that was only
for her to know. She drew back and leaned against the wall, their arms
brushing. “Hey, Nick. How are you?”

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice sharp.

Her eyebrows rose. “I don’t have the right to be here?”

“No.” He shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. You,
just, uh, never come here usually.”

She shrugged and looked straight ahead, appearing to all and
sundry as if she was watching her brother play pool. “I thought I’d see what
all the fuss is about. After all, Lex and you spend a lot of time here.”

“True, but…” he let his voice trail off, and she knew what
he was thinking.

That she wasn’t the usual bar bunny. Ha, showed what he
knew! Letting out a soft sigh, she turned slightly toward him and said, “God,
it’s so hot out there. Oh, could I have a sip of that?”

He barely had time to respond, “Let me buy you—” but she’d
already grabbed his beer and was taking a sip.

She could feel his gaze on her as she stopped drinking and
made a point of running the cold bottle over the damp skin uncovered by her
low-cut top, cooling herself and heating him up at the same time. “Thanks,” she
finally said, handing it back to him.

He cleared his throat. “You’re welcome. Let me, uh, go buy
you one.”

She watched him hurry away and smirked.

* * * * *

Nick couldn’t take it anymore. Every night of the week, Lucy
had met them in the bar after work. It was Saturday night now and she’d come in
dressed to kill, those damn high heels on her feet as if they’d become a
fixture. He watched as she bent down over the pool table, squinting a little as
she adjusted her shot. Her top drew tight across her breasts, the lacy black
bra she was wearing showcased by the deep V of the shirt. He gulped and took
another sip of his beer, feeling an instinctive urge to get drunk so he
wouldn’t be in control of his senses any longer.

He wanted nothing more than to stand behind her, hands on
her hips, as she rubbed her sexy ass against him. He’d teach her pool the way
he liked to play, just like he’d taught her the way he liked women to ride him.
“Fuck,” he swore under his breath. He was half-hard just by watching her, and
thinking about sex with her wasn’t going to help matters any.

He looked around and tried to find her brother, hoping he
could make him realize she needed to leave. Men were starting to circle around
her, probably excited at the idea of fresh meat. She looked so damn gorgeous
tonight too, with her dark hair pulled up in a ponytail and that sexy ass
waving around. She took the shot and everyone watched as the ball ended up in
the opposite pocket, the white spinning until it stopped right where she’d need
it for her next shot. Damn, but she was a brilliant pool player too.
What
couldn’t she do?
He frowned at his thought and shook his head. Shit, he’d
promised himself he’d make her hate him. He needed to keep away, not find more
positive things about her!

Okay, okay, he needed a plan. His gaze stopped on Alex, who
was chatting away to two very attractive co-eds. The usual, then. An idea began
forming in his mind and he quickly hurried to his friend and companions. Yes,
that should do the trick, all right.

If he thought seeing him on the arm of a pretty young thing
would faze her, he was sadly mistaken. Lucy looked at her reflection in the
bar’s tiny bathroom and reapplied her lipstain. After making sure her assets
were on display, she smoothed her top down and exited, only to stumble on the
girl who’d been on Nick’s arm only minutes before. “Oh, sorry.”

“No worries,” the girl said as she swayed on her feet. “Good
thing you came out, though. I need to pee!” She dashed past her and slammed the
bathroom door shut behind her.

“Right.” Lucy blinked.
Weird
, she thought, but
shrugged it off. She was on her way back to the pool table everyone had been
congregating around when a hairy arm hooked around her waist and stopped her
short. She turned around and glared at the man drunkenly leering down at her.
“Hey!”

“Hey yourself, sexy. Wanna have some fun?”

“I don’t think so.” She grabbed the offending arm and
twisted away from him.

The man didn’t want to be shaken off. He clasped her
shoulder with his other hand and pulled her toward him. “Come on, baby. I’ve
watched you all evening. I know what you want.”

“You do, do you?”

“Oh yeah.” He thrust his hips forward, brushing his
jean-clad erection against her.

Her mouth formed an “Eww”, but the sound never escaped her
parted lips. Probably because she watched the man being flung far away from her
an instant later. “She told you no, asshole!” Nick’s face was red as he stared
the inebriated man down. “Don’t you fucking touch her again, do you hear me?”

“Come on, Santos, you need to learn to share a little. You
can’t—” The other man never got to finish. Nick’s fist found his stomach and he
went sprawling onto the dance floor. Lucy watched, quietly disbelieving all
this was really happening, as the burly bouncer picked the half-comatose man up
and heaved him outside, nodding at Nick as he did.

She turned to him, intent on saying something, anything, but
a very blonde and very loud tornado got to him first. “Oh my God! You were
amazing! I nearly swooned!”

Nick was watching her over the other woman’s head. She could
probably still go to him; she knew she could. But she didn’t. Instead she told
him thanks with her eyes and turned around. After having explained to her
brother what’d happened, and that, yes, she was fine, she accepted his offer of
escorting her to her car.

She sped away, her thoughts a jumble, her feelings all over
the place too.

Only Nick could have this effect on her…

* * * * *

Nick stumbled into his condo hours later, mad at himself
because he’d refused the co-ed’s advances. She’d been perfect. Young, carefree,
not really intelligent, but who cared with that body? Right? No. He hadn’t been
able to even kiss her, the memory of Lucy’s face like a damn chastity belt in
his mind. He’d downed far too many beers in rebellion, but he wasn’t even that drunk.
“Fuck it,” he swore as he made his way to the den.

He flung himself onto his black leather sofa and closed his
eyes. Well, tried to. Instead, the flashing red light of his answering-machine
nagged at him. With a muffled curse, he sat up and pressed the “Play” button.
Lucy’s voice rang loudly in the room.

“Nick, I… I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier.”

She sounded hesitant and a little bit drunk, he thought with
a smile as he leaned back against the soft cushions. Closing his eyes, he
listened to the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about.

“You didn’t have to do that, but you did, and I’m
grateful…and oh God, I’m so turned-on right now.”

His eyes shot open.
What the hell?

“Seeing you like that, it just had that…I don’t know, that
effect on me, and I haven’t been able to think of anything else or anyone else
all evening. I’m so freaking wet right now.”

Say what?
His cock rose inside his pants, in reaction
to her words, but also to the way she sounded. Soft and breathy…

“I miss you, Nick.” A pause, then, “I’m so wet and achy, but
my fingers aren’t as good as yours.”

The front of his pants twitched.

She sighed. “I guess I don’t have a choice, though. You’re
not here and I’m too horny not to make myself come. Night, Nick.”

The machine beeped, indicating there were no further
messages. “Fuck!” He grabbed his head in both hands. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

He should have gone to see her, made sure she was all right
after what’d happened with that guy. He could have comforted her…in her own
bed. Instead he’d stayed at the bar and tried to get himself drunk. He couldn’t
believe she’d left such a message on his voicemail when she’d had no idea who
he’d be coming home with. He could have just as easily listened to it with her
brother there. Hell, what the hell had she been thinking? She’d probably been
drunk; there was just no other explanation.

He was going to have a talk with her about what she could
and couldn’t do.

Chapter Seven

“Luce, we need to talk.”

She turned around and smiled. “Nick! Hey, good morning. What
are you doing here so early?”

He sat down opposite her, but not before grabbing himself a
cup of coffee. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Really? Good, I wanted to talk to you too. I need advice!”

She looked awfully peppy this morning, he thought as he
sipped his third coffee of the day. And it was only nine… “Advice about what?
And where’s Lex?”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding? He’s not up yet.
Well, he is, but not alone. He’s with his co-ed
du jour
. She seemed nice
enough last night, but she seriously needs to improve on her faking.”

“Huh?”

She grinned. “You know what I mean. She’s so bad at it.” He
watched as she tilted her head and let out a very loud moan. “Ohhhh. Gawd,
Alex, fuck me! Fuck me hard!”

“Lucy!”

She started giggling. “You should see your face. Don’t
worry, babe, I don’t fake.”

“I wasn’t worried about that!”

“Oh. Well, good then.” She took a sip of her coffee, and
while he was still recovering from that moan, asked, “I need advice. Can I ask
you something?”

He knew this wouldn’t end well, but he braced himself and
nodded. “What do you want to know?”

“Do men prefer Brazilians or landing strips?”

His brain became mush for a good thirty seconds. He forced
himself to stop gaping and, hoping his voice wouldn’t crack, asked, “Why do you
need to know that?”

She beamed back at him. “I’m going to the spa this morning.
Actually, I need to leave soon.” She pushed her chair back and stood up, and
while he admired her body, clad in a simple T-shirt and shorts, she kept
talking, “I’m going to get waxed, but I was wondering about shaking it up, you
know. I usually keep a little bit there, but I’ve read that men like the bald
look best. So?”

It took him a little while to understand she was waiting for
his opinion. He gulped. “Huh. I don’t know.”

“That’s not very helpful, Nick.” She grabbed their cups and
deposited them in the sink, running water over them before turning back to face
him. “You sure men don’t have a preference?”

“I liked, huh, what you had. Before, I mean. It was, you
know…it was fine.”

“Just fine?” She scrunched up her nose.

He exploded. He shot out of his chair and pointed his finger
at her. “Let’s talk about something else, like what you were doing leaving me
messages while you were drunk! Anyone could have heard you, damn it, Lucy!”

“Oh.” She waved her hand in the air as if it didn’t matter.
“That was nothing.”

Nothing?
After he’d spent the entire night tossing
and turning in his bed, driving himself crazy as he wondered whether he
shouldn’t go to her and take care of her “problem”. But no, she thought it’d
been nothing? “Are you freaking kidding?”

She shrugged and took a few steps toward the door. “I’m
going to be late. Tell Alex he needs to clean the bathroom, okay? Have a good
day!” She whirled around, but stopped and turned back to add, “And who said I
was drunk?” She winked and left.

He fell back in his chair and dropped his forehead onto the
tabletop. Her words spun inside his head. She hadn’t been drunk. Was that
really what she’d implied? That she’d left that message, knowing fully well
he’d hear it and go crazy with need? Was she really that devious? Lucy?

No, he must have understood it wrong. No, she wouldn’t do
that. Not his Lucy.

* * * * *

He’d been very wrong, completely and utterly wrong for that
matter. His Lucy was all grown up, and man, could she play hard. Summer was at
an end, but nothing had changed. It felt as if every time he turned around, she
was there. Teasing, flirting, driving him up the wall.

He hadn’t been able to fuck anyone else since their weekend
at the lake. He’d tried, damn, but he’d tried. To no avail unfortunately. His
dick was ready to self-combust. He didn’t think he could go much longer without
sex. Without Lucy wrapped all around him, her breasts bouncing as she rode him
to heaven and back.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath as he readjusted
himself in his pants. Again.

“Problem?” she asked sweetly from her seat only inches away.

He’d arrived at their house just minutes before, sure he’d
find Alex already waiting for him, until Lucy had informed him he’d called to
say he’d be late. That he should wait for him here. He knew what that meant.
The asshole was busy with his latest conquest. Fuck, now he was jealous of his
best friend, just because he wanted to get busy too!