Friends With Benefits (13 page)

“Is it Liam?”

She shook her head. “No.” She regretted opening her mouth. “Never mind.”

Well, there was no way any of them were taking that, they were all over her to tell what she’d meant, and finally she confessed what had happened between her and Mitch.

“I knew it!” Hailey said. “You two were meant to be together.”

“Don’t get all excited,” Kerri warned. “All we’re doing is having sex. We’re fuck buddies.”

At the look of stunned incredulity on all their faces, she laughed. “What?”

There was another moment of silence, then Hailey smiled tightly. “Well, I’m speechless.”

“How long has this been going on?” Laurel demanded.

“Not long,” Kerri said, a little dreamily, remembering their first kiss. “One day we were having a big fight and wham, he kissed me.”

“Oh, God.” Hailey moaned.

“Things were kind of weird after that, but then, the night of the grand opening party we just couldn’t keep our hands off each other. We went back to my place and…did it.”

Everyone sighed.

“That was the night you two were so pissy with each other,” Hailey said with dawning understanding. “But Kerri, that’s not like you. Casual sex is
so
not you.”

“I know.” Kerri sighed. “But it’s soooo good.”

“Oh, God,” Laurel said. “Please, take me with you. You can share him. We could have a little threesome, like in the movie.”

Kerri was so turned on from watching the movie and talking about Mitch, not to mention a tiny bit tipsy from the punch and a couple of Screaming Orgasms, that for a wild moment she actually considered that idea. Laurel was attractive, Mitch always joked about his biggest fantasy being girl on girl action, maybe…

No. She regained her senses. Talk about risking a friendship. She and Laurel would never be able to look each other in the eye again, never mind her and Mitch…

She forced a laugh. “I’m not sharing.”

Amid laughter and teasing, a taxi was called that could take some of them home and Kerri felt very naughty and daring when she gave the driver Mitch’s address.

The doorbell ringing over and over woke Mitch from his sound sleep. He staggered out of bed and headed to the door before he groggily realized he was naked. He grabbed a pair of plaid boxers from a chair and stumbled clumsily into them, the insistent ring of the bell digging into his brain.

He threw open the door. Kerri stood there, leaning against the wall, smiling a sultry smile, wearing snug, low-slung jeans and a black ribbed tank top with a glittery design on the front.

He rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was dreaming.

“Can I come in?” she asked, voice husky.

He could not get a word out, just gawked at her. Giving his head a shake, he stood aside so she could enter.

“What…are you doing here?” he managed to say thickly, rubbing his chest.

Kerri’s eyes darkened as she studied him. She pushed the door closed behind her and turned back to him, running her hands over his chest. He swallowed hard.

“I needed to see you,” she purred.

“I thought you were out with the girls…”

“I was.” She rubbed his pecs, his hard nipples, and got a choked gasp from him. “We watched a dirty movie and I got so turned on I had to come see you.”

His eyes widened, but his hands went automatically to her narrow waist. She pressed herself against him, fisted her hands in his hair and held his head as she kissed him. God.

Her mouth was sweet, fruity and warm, and her little tongue pushed into his mouth determinedly, stroking his. She immediately had his attention as his body hardened in response. He was wide awake and ready to go. She rubbed up against him urgently, obviously feeling his hard-on through the thin cotton of the boxers, and nipped at his bottom lip.

“We had Screaming Orgasms,” she told him in a husky voice. He tried to clear his head. Holy shit. What had they been doing?

“It’s a drink.” She pushed on his chest, still nibbling on his mouth and chin, moving him backward down the hall toward his bedroom. “Now I want a real one.”

After, they lay in Mitch’s bed, drowsy and boneless, Kerri sprawled across his chest, stroking him. His hand moved over her back as he lay there, staring into the dark.

“Do you mind that I came here?” she asked sleepily.

He looked up at the ceiling. He felt kind of strange, considering he’d just had a mind-blowing orgasm and held her in his arms while she came. Talk about a screaming orgasm. “Um, no,” he murmured. “That was awesome.”

“Good.” She was silent, fingers sliding up over his shoulder. “Laurel wanted to come, too.”

“What!” he choked out. He felt her smile against his chest.

“We were all turned on from watching that movie. Everyone else had husbands or fiancés to go home to, except her and me. Then I made the mistake of telling everyone I was going to come see you.” She lifted her head and peered at him in the darkness. “Is…is that a problem?”

He moved his head, a bit confused. “You told them we’re…sleeping together?”

She nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Yeah. I didn’t want people to know, but it kind of slipped out.”

He looked at her and discovered he could care less if people knew about them. In fact, he was glad. Somehow it made it seem less sleazy.

“It’s okay,” he managed to say, his hands relaxing on her bare skin again.

“So anyway,” she continued with some relief, laying her head back down. “Laurel wanted me to share you. Like the threesome in the movie.”

“Jesus,” he said in a strangled voice.

“And I was almost tempted,” she continued, causing his heart to stop beating. “Because I know you have that fantasy…”

“You have got to be kidding,” he gasped.

“Yeah. Isn’t that your ultimate fantasy?” Her fingers curved over his shoulder, her thumb stroking his clavicle.

“Not any more.”

“Oh. Then what is your ultimate fantasy?”

“Um…Kerri…”

“You can tell me,” she coaxed.

There was a long pause. “Naked yoga,” he finally said.

“Hmm?” She lifted her head again. “Naked yoga? Explain.”

“You’re teaching a yoga class and you’re naked. I’m in the class and I’m naked. Everybody’s naked. You’re demonstrating poses and I can see everything, and then you’re helping me and you’re putting your hands all over my body.”

“The whole class is naked?”

“Yeah…although they don’t figure very prominently in the scenario. Guess I have a bit of exhibitionist in me.”

“A bit!” She laughed. “Remember that pool party where you guys were having a contest jumping off the diving board to see who could get their shorts off before you hit the water?”

He chuckled. “Were you watching that?”

“Me and about twenty other people. So, hmm, naked yoga. Sounds…intriguing.”

“Don’t even think of adding
that
class to your schedule.”

They drifted off to sleep in each others arms.

Mitch’s alarm woke them at seven-thirty. He climbed out of bed, turned back to Kerri and gently pushed her hair off her face to kiss her. “Stay here if you want,” he whispered against her mouth. “I know you don’t have to go to work as early as I do.”

She drifted back to sleep for a while, then got up and had just finished dressing when Karma chimed on her cell phone in her purse. It was Hailey.

“Where are you?” Hailey asked.

“Mitch’s place.”

“Still?”

“Mmm. I was just going home to shower and change. Mitch left for work a while ago.” She wandered over to the dresser in his room and ran her eyes over the assortment of personal items…some change, sticky notes with cryptic scribbles from work, a dry cleaning tag.

“I want to take you for lunch,” Hailey said.

“Aren’t you kind of busy? You’re getting married tomorrow.”

She drifted into Mitch’s living room to find her shoes. She’d always liked Mitch’s house. Maybe that was because she’d helped him pick it out. They’d gone around looking at houses together, and it had been a big joke when the realtor thought they were married. Mitch had wanted her opinion before he made the offer on this one and she totally agreed this Craftsman bungalow was the one for him.

“I have time for lunch. I need to talk to you.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you at Darby’s.”

“Excellent.”

They sat on the small wooden deck shaded by a big fig tree outside Darby’s, and Hailey ordered a bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado sandwich. Kerri ordered a salad.

They made conversation until their meals arrived and Kerri asked, “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

Hailey pressed her lips together. “I want to talk about you and Mitch.”

Kerri raised a brow as she pushed her fork into a piece of avocado.

“This friends with benefits thing,” Hailey continued.

“What about it?”

Hailey looked down at her sandwich. “It’s such a bad idea,” she blurted out.

Kerri stared at her. “Why do you say that?”

“Look, I’m a high school teacher. I see kids doing this all the time. It’s an easy way for them to not have to deal with serious relationship issues at their age. But it always ends up bad, and it’s almost always bad for the girl.”

Kerri just looked at her. “We’re not teenagers, Hailey.”

“I know, but the problems are the same. In this friends with benefits thing, the guys are the only ones who get the ‘benefits’.” She made air quotes with her fingers.

Kerri grinned. “I wouldn’t say that. The benefits are pretty good for me.”

A smile tugged at Hailey’s lips, but she went on. “Right now, maybe. But women aren’t made like that.
You’re
not made like that. You go on having sex with Mitch, and your emotions are going to get involved whether you want it or not. It just happens. Then you want more than just friends with benefits and he doesn’t. And someone ends up getting hurt.”

Kerri wanted to squirm in her seat listening to Hailey.

“You’re both my friends.” Hailey leaned forward. “I don’t want either of you to get hurt. And if
you’re
just using Mitch for sex, maybe
he’s
the one who’s going to get hurt.”

Kerri pursed her lips. “I’m not using him for sex.”

“Really? Then what was last night?”

Kerri didn’t want to answer that. She
had
used Mitch for sex. But it wasn’t like he didn’t get anything out of it. He’d been only too willing. She put down her fork and gazed down at her plate. Her throat tightened like she might cry and she swallowed painfully.

She pushed her half-eaten salad away.

“The kids at school talk to me, I guess because I’m not that much older than they are,” Hailey said. “Especially the girls. I’ve heard this Jack and Jill story so many times.”

“Jack and Jill?”

Hailey waved a hand. “That’s what they call it.”

Kerri sighed.

“Will you think about it?” Hailey asked.

Kerri looked at her. “It’s kind of late for that. We’ve already crossed that line. How do I go back?”

As she talked and laughed with friends and Hailey and Miguel’s families, she was constantly aware of Mitch nearby, the way he looked at her, his eyes so warm, his smile so affectionate. It made her feel good that they were friends again, but damned if his just
looking
at her didn’t turn her on, too. How was she supposed to go back to being just friends if she got wet every time he smiled at her?

She smiled back at him across the poolside patio where he stood talking to some of the guys.

Liam had called her Thursday afternoon to invite her out, and she’d regretfully told him she couldn’t see him again. The first “normal” guy she’d gone out with in a while, and she just was flat out not interested in him.

Maybe she was making a mistake in turning him down, after Hailey’s dire predictions. If things between her and Mitch were really just friends with benefits, there was no reason she couldn’t keep pursuing her goal of finding a husband. And she really, really needed a husband.

The only problem was, she no longer had any interest in any other guys.

Oh, man, Hailey was so right. She was in big trouble.

Kerri didn’t usually wear much makeup and when she did, she thought she did a pretty good job, so someone else doing it gave her visions of clownish red cheeks and lips.

“I know, I know,” Danica soothed. “You want a natural look.” Kerri submitted to her brushes and tools and when Danica turned her to the mirror, her skin glowed subtly, eyes shadowed and enhanced, and her lips gleamed a nice berry color, not too bright.

“Hey. It looks nice.”

Danica grinned. “Finishing touch.” She whipped the cape off Kerri’s shoulders and dusted her shoulders and chest with the same golden shimmer she’d used on her face.

“Who’s my next victim?”

When Danica was finished, they all admired each other, but Hailey especially glowed.

“I’m giving you each one of these lipsticks,” Danica said. “You’ll have to touch up the glossy topcoat, but the color should last all day. Maybe after dinner touch up your color too. Laurel, yours is a different color, you can’t wear that berry color with that red hair.” She handed them each a double-ended tube which Kerri examined doubtfully. Lipstick that lasted all day?

“And the good thing about this stuff is, you can even kiss and it doesn’t come off on the other person.”

Kerri kissed the back of her hand and held it up to show the others, amazed.

“Now for the hair.”

Again, doubts fluttered inside Kerri. “It’s not long enough to put up,” she told Angel.

“Sure it is. Just wait.” Angel started curling Kerri’s wavy hair and Kerri closed her eyes apprehensively. But when it was done, Angel had swept her hair loosely back in waves, her long bangs and a few tendrils framing her face. “Oh. That’s nice.” She turned her head to one side, then the other.

“I’ve got to get started on Hailey,” Angel said. “It’s going to take a while.”

The bridesmaids gathered in a different room to dress. The girls all wore identical cobalt blue, bias-cut slip dresses, cut low in the back, with tiny straps, which flattered all of them.

“We look gooooood!” Laurel cried and they all laughed. When Hailey emerged from the other room moments later, they all gasped.

“Hailey, you look so beautiful I’m going to cry,” Kerri said, her throat tight. She blinked rapidly and smiled. Hailey’s dress was a similar style to theirs, ivory bias-cut silk with pearls and crystals on the bodice and straps. Instead of a veil, pearls and crystals sparkled in an intricate arrangement in her hair.

Kerri produced a bottle of champagne and poured them all a glass. “I’d like to make a toast to Hailey, for not making us wear hideous poofy bridesmaid dresses!”

“To Hailey!”

The photographer waited for them to do some photos before they left for the church. The spa provided some excellent photo locations, in front of the French doors leading to the yoga studio, in front of the huge arched window at the front, and in the lounge.

Then it was time to leave for the church in the limo. Kerri tossed her overnight bag in with all the things she’d need for the next day. A thrill ran through her at the thought of spending the night with Mitch. Hotel sex.

Miguel and his attendants waited at the front of the beautiful church. As musicians played Pachelbel on violin and piano, Laurel started down the aisle, followed by Kerri then Melanie. When Kerri arrived at the front, Mitch caught her eye and winked, and she smiled back at him. God, he looked gorgeous in that black tux.

They all turned to watch Hailey walk down the aisle on her father’s arm to begin the very traditional ceremony. Afterward, as they left the church, Mitch paired up with Kerri, holding out his arm for her to take as they walked back up the aisle.

“You are the sexiest bridesmaid I’ve ever seen,” he murmured in her ear, and she shivered.

The bridal party drank champagne in the limo on the way to the resort where the reception was being held. In contrast to the traditional ceremony, the reception was much more relaxed. After a gourmet meal, the party really got started with dancing under the stars in the open air gazebo. White lights twinkled in the palm trees and in the masses of white tulle hanging on the walls and around the tables. A soft breeze off the nearby Pacific Ocean flickered the flames of the candles glowing on every table.

“I think we have to dance together now,” Kerri said to Mitch.

Mitch turned to look at her. Oh, yeah. She was one sexy bridesmaid. He took her hand and they joined the rest of the wedding party on the dance floor. They’d danced together many, many times, fast, slow, they’d even learned to swing dance together. But tonight, the feel of Kerri’s small, firm body so close to him gave him strange feelings—a possessive urge to hold her close, to not let anyone else near her, to drag her up to their room and screw her senseless.

He held her closer than he usually did, wanting to feel her body against his. He’d been watching her tits jiggle lusciously under the silk dress all day, tormenting him, and he wanted to feel them against him.

But he wanted more.

When she’d come to his place the other night, of course he’d taken what she’d offered. And he’d given in return. But afterward he’d felt…used. He couldn’t help but be amused at the irony of it. He was being used for sex. Every guy’s wet dream. What could be better?

He wanted more. He needed to tell Kerri—but how?

“What are you thinking?” she asked softly. “You look worried.”

He hesitated, then said, “I’m worried about whether I’ll represent Hailey or Miguel when the divorce happens.”

Kerri stared at him open-mouthed.

“I’ve known Hailey longer,” he continued blandly. “But Miguel is a good buddy now.”

“I can’t believe you just said that,” she said slowly, drawing away from him. “At their wedding!”

He shrugged. “Marriage is crazy.”

Shit, that wasn’t what he’d meant to say at all. He swallowed a groan at his own cowardly stupidity.

“Do you really believe they’ll end up divorced?” she asked.

“Nah.” He turned her expertly with a little pressure of his right hand. “They’ll make it.”

She looked at him as if she didn’t believe him. The song ended and they moved apart. Kerri walked away from him and there was no mistaking the coolness in her demeanor.

Mitch noticed Hailey giving them the eye and she didn’t look happy. What was up with that?

He ran a hand through his hair and went back to his seat at the head table to find his half-finished beer. The more he tried to hide his true feelings, the worse he made things.

While he sat there staring moodily at the dancing crowd, Laurel appeared and slid into the chair beside him.

“Hey,” he said, forcing a smile.

“Hey yourself.” She smiled flirtatiously.

Warning bells went off in his head. Uncomfortably, he remembered Kerri’s liquored-up confession that Laurel had wanted to join them in a threesome. His dick stirred at the idea, but his mind closed off that train of thought.

“Having fun?”

“Sure.” He shifted slightly away from her as she leaned closer. “How about you?”

“Oh, yeah.” She moved closer again. “Listen, Kerri told me that you and she are…well, having sex. But you’re just sex pals. So, if you’re looking for another sex pal…”

Incredulous, Mitch stared at her and she put her hand on his shoulder, her thumb stroking his neck. He put a hand up to cover hers, intending to remove it from his shoulder, and his gaze fell on Kerri across the room, watching them with wide eyes and an open mouth. Then she whirled around and darted out of the room into the dark gardens outside the gazebo.

Mitch’s heart stopped momentarily, then thudded painfully. He removed Laurel’s hand gently from his shoulder and placed it on the table, and stood. He laughed, trying to save face for Laurel. She’d probably had too much too drink and would be embarrassed about this tomorrow. “Yeah right,” he said, forcing a smile. “You can do way better than me, honey.” He shook his head ruefully, flashed another smile and strode away, following Kerri.

Glowing lights lit the way along the brick path through the shrubs and palm trees of the resort. He followed the path, not sure which way Kerri had gone, until the music faded behind him, accompanied by the soft chirrups of crickets in the dark shrubbery. The path curved around a palm tree and he spotted her ahead. She had left the path and was leaning against the smooth trunk of a palm, her head resting against it, her back to him. He stopped momentarily, unsure how he was going to approach this. He’d wanted to apologize for what he’d said earlier, but seeing the look on her face when she’d seen him with Laurel made him wonder…hope…

“Kerri,” he called softly. She whirled around.

“Oh. You startled me.” Her face was indistinct in the darkness but he saw her quickly raise a hand to her cheek and swipe. Ah shit. She was crying.

“Sorry.” He moved closer and she turned away from him again. He put his hands on her bare shoulders, her skin silky and cool in the night air. She tensed beneath his hands.

“I’m sorry, Kerri,” he murmured.

“Sorry for what?” She leaned her forehead against the smooth trunk of the tree.

“For being so cynical about Hailey and Miguel.”

“Oh.”

“When you asked what I was worried about, that wasn’t really it.”

“Then why did you say that?”

He paused, enjoying the feel of her slim shoulders under his hands, her skin flower petal soft. “Because I didn’t want to tell you what I was really thinking about.”

There was a beat of silence. “What were you really thinking about?”

“I was thinking about you.”

Still she said nothing. She was letting him do all the work here. Perspiration dampened his forehead, stung his armpits.

“Liam called me on Thursday.”

Mitch gave his head a little shake at the conversational leap.

“He asked me out again.”

It was like a fist in the gut. “Oh.” His hands tightened on her narrow shoulders.

“Is that a problem?”

He couldn’t hide his anger. “Shit.”

“You’re the one who fixed me up with him. Remember?

“Oh, yeah, I remember,” he said curtly. “Stupid idiot that I was. I should never have agreed to that. Are you going to go?”

“No.”

Again a pause. The music and crickets faded away, the only sound Mitch could hear was his heart beating heavily.

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to see him again.”

Say it, damn it. Say it.

“Why did you run away when you saw Laurel talking to me?” he asked instead.

Silence. Her head tipped down. “Don’t,” she whispered.

Her shoulders vibrated beneath his hands and he slid them down her smooth arms. He was putting it out there, but not in so many words. Was she brave enough to meet him?

“Tell me,” he murmured, bending his head to press his mouth to the soft curve where her neck met her shoulder. He inhaled her scent and it made him dizzy.

“Mitch, why did you sleep with me?”

Oh Christ. He dragged in a breath. “I slept with you because I…because you’re…okay, screw it.” He was going to do it.