Kiss and Burn (2 page)

Three months later…

“I’m sorry. What did you just say?” Eli calmly
asked the man sitting across from him. Honestly, he
needed
clarification because he wasn’t exactly sure he’d heard what
he’d just heard. It just didn’t sound…
right.

Maikao Iona didn’t even look up from the baby advice book in his
hands. “I said Carmen’s planning on
exploring
in Cancun,” he replied absently before opening said book wide and turning
it around the show Eli the pictures it held.

“My God!” Eli covered his face with his forearm. “What
is
that? Why is it secreting and why
would you show it to me?!”

“Because I refuse to suffer alone! I will not endure this walk of
misery and horror on my own!”

“You’re a horrible,
horrible
man and there’s a special place in Satan’s den of shame and iniquity for
you.”

Of course that didn’t seem to faze his best friend of twenty years
in the slightest. Why would it? How many times had they had this precise
conversation? How many times had he told Maikao that he hoped he caught his
cock in a zipper every morning for the rest of his unnaturally born life?

Twenty years was a long time to remain close to an individual but
somehow, they’d managed. No matter how botched or strange their friendship got,
the two had found themselves constantly there for one another. When someone
saved your ass on more than one occasion while running into a burning building,
you inevitably discovered you depended on them to remain behind you, always
there to fall back on.

It was interesting to see the transformation Maikao had made over
the years. Eli could remember a time where the lieutenant fireman didn’t have
to do more than flash what
some
would
consider an appealing smile before he’d have panties thrown in his face within
minutes. Now his friend was only interested in the panties of his significant
other.

Eli couldn’t exactly blame him, she wasn’t the type of woman you
passed up for a few quick nights spent running from bed to bed. Fiercely loyal,
incredibly beautiful and amazingly engaging, Addison McClain was the exact bait
that was needed to hook a man who’d enjoyed his fair share of the female
population. Maikao had fallen shamelessly and
amusingly
hard into love the moment he met her and Eli could tell
the second he was introduced to her. It was funny how the right person could do
that. Now in just a few weeks the couple would be exchanging vows on the
beaches of Cancun.

“No, my friend. That place is solely reserved for whomever thought
these pictures were to be viewed by the public.”

Eli rubbed his
eyes, glared across the table at Maikao “I don’t get why you’re looking
at...at...” He waved a hand towards the book. “
That
anyway. Addison’s
not even pregnant yet. Unless you have something you want to tell me.”

Maikao shook his head, the look on his face borderline hysterical.
“No, you don’t understand. I will
not
be caught off guard. Addie wants
babies.
I
want babies. I need to be
prepared. I need to know what I’m facing!”

“Still a little
sore about passing out during Miss Selena’s graphic detailing of child birth, I
see.”

“I didn’t pass
out!” His friend practically shouted, waving his arms through the air. “I had a
momentary bout of dizziness.” He stopped and shuddered. “You don’t know the
things I heard.” His eyes were wild. “You don’t know my story.”

Eli wasn’t exactly feeling sympathetic at the moment, so his
leaning over the table, snatching the book out of the other man’s hands and
slapping him across the face with it… Totally called for in his mind.

“Son of a bitch!” Maikao wrestled the book back. “What is wrong
with you?!”

“Focus dumbass! When you say exploring, what do you mean?!” He
needed to understand why he’d spent so much time trying to solve the Rubik’s
cube that was the restaurateur and chef, yet Carmen wouldn’t look twice at him.

A wide grin suddenly split across Maikao’s face and he leaned
back, eyeing Eli with obvious amusement. “And why, precisely, are
you
interested in this information?”

Maikao knew
exactly
why but the bastard was trying to fuck
with Eli. He wasn’t surprised. They spent the majority of their off time
attempting to get under one another’s skin. Their friendship was one built on
brutal honesty, underhanded pranks and quite a few phone calls to the police.
Therefore, when Eli once again slapped him with that book… Yeah, it was
still
plausible.

“
Stop doing that!”

“Stop being a twat face!”

Rubbing his cheek, Maikao glared at him again. “I shouldn’t tell
you shit. Carmen doesn’t like you. She especially hates the sight of your
face.”

Eli’s lip curled as he growled back, “I don’t need her to like my
face, just my cock. Explain to me why she’d
explore
when
I’m
going. And why does she
seem to think I’m the devil’s favorite whore?”

“It’s quite possibly because you
are
the devil’s favorite whore, my friend.”

“Bullshit,” Eli argued. “I haven’t slept with
nearly
as many women as you.” He sat back. “You used to be loose,
Mak. I worried about your safety at times, worried that you didn’t value
yourself enough to see that not
every
woman
meant what she said when she told you she loved you. Sometimes they only wanted
you for your body.”

Maikao batted his lashes, falling into the joke. “Is that it or
were you truly harboring an unrequited love for me that you couldn’t speak on? For
fear of sabotaging our relationship?”

“Well…”

The other man gave a mock gasp, placed a hand to his chest and
looked away. “All these years…all this time…I never knew how you felt, Elijah.”

Reaching across the table, he took up his friend’s hand and patted
it. “I’ve wanted to tell you so many times but I…I…”

Maikao looked back to him. “You
what?”

Eli stared down at the table. “I knew that one day I’d wake up,
see your face and…and…and I’d want to set my dick on fire.”

They both burst into laughter.

“Fuck you!” Maikao
said, thrusting his hand away. “I’m a great goddamn catch. Ask my fiancée.”

“Your fiancée is biased and
sort of stuck with you, since you somehow convinced her it’s a good idea to
carry your genetic impurities in the near future.”

“You’re simply jealous.”

“
No,”
Eli retorted. “I’m
simply sexually frustrated and I have the inkling that said frustration won’t
end until I know what the taste of Carmen’s—”

“Not discussing
this!” Maikao interrupted, slicing a hand through the air. “I am a soon to be
married spud and being that I’d like to stay that way, I prefer to
not
be included on any sexual
molestation you have planned for my spouse’s best friend.”

“Molestation has a negative connotation to it,” Eli responded. “I
like to think of it more so as a…fervent groping.”

Maikao made a face of disgust. “That imagery…it offends mine
eyes.”

“As does the sight
of you during locker room showers at the station and yet I live with it.
What
do you mean
explore?”

“Your enthusiastic need to
fervently
grope
her is both amusing and creepy but, Addison’s threats to dismember me
should I breathe a word to you Carmen’s plans are simply disturbing. Thusly, I
shall remain quiet and neutral. For I will not find myself missing a kidney
just to discover later that it has been sold on the black market.”

Sighing, Eli sat back. “You take that book out again, I’m slamming
it against your Adam’s apple.”

Maikao simply shrugged. “Why do you think it’s now under the
table?”

“Why
is she planning on seeing other people when
I’ll
be there?”
It was making him fucking
mental!
Eli didn’t consider his ego to
be any larger than the next man’s but he had a lot to offer a woman. Or at
least he
thought
he did. Carmen
seemed intent on disillusioning him on that particular notion. Ninety days and
he
still
had no idea what her voice
sounded like in the morning or whether or not she was as resolute as she
seemed. Somehow this made pursuing her so much sweeter.

Eli couldn’t tell what it was exactly but, her unwillingness to
take what he so graciously offered made her more…
appealing.
It had been a long time since a woman was able to ignore
him, as though he was nothing more than a stray who was consistently begging
for table scraps. It still amazed him that Carmen managed to do it for so long.
No matter how many times she stared at him; sizing him up for a shallow grave
in the middle of the desert, he still found himself fantasizing about tangling
his fingers in her hair, fist wrapped in the strands and pulling her head back
while he lunged his cock deep enough inside her that he’d unintentionally move
a few things around.

God, he needed sex and he needed it from
her.
He’d had a few fleeting partners as time passed but nothing
sated the lust Carmen had provoked,
nothing.
Eli was starting to wonder if he were pathetic for his obsession but, how
could he not be completely fascinated? How could he keep his head on straight
and his pants from tenting when she was so close? He couldn’t. He accepted that
the night she’d stared at him in such a cool, detached way and told him that he
wasn’t her type. Eli
still
found it
laughable. He was too busy imagining the way she’d sink down into his lap,
lower lip caught between her teeth, eyes heavy and glazed over right to take
her seriously. More importantly, he fantasized about hearing her admit how
incredibly wrong she was. Oh, he was her type. The type to smack her ass until
she—

“That look,” Maikao suddenly said, interrupting Eli’s thoughts.
“It makes me uncomfortable. Stop it.”

Eli’s lips curved. “I can either sit here with this look or tell
you why said look exists.”

The other man waved a hand. “Please continue your creepy leering.”

And so he did but a voice interrupted.

“Obviously my child should invest in security.”

He looked up to see Angelina Sanchez walking towards himself and
Maikao. Oh…right. Lunch with Maikao had been at
Carmen’s
restaurant. With them sitting out back on the deck, he’d
all but forgotten.

The older woman glanced about then leaned down and asked, “Do you
like
have your bits intact?”

His brows winged as he cupped a hand over himself. “As a matter of
fact I do. I use them for stuff...important stuff. Is this appropriate? I feel
like it’s not appropriate.”

She quirked a brow back. “I’ve experienced the joys of child
birth, colic and the determination of a toddler who refuses to give up the
nipple. Appropriate is relative.”

“I don’t like the direction this conversation is going,” he
retorted leaning away from her. “While I find you incredibly beautiful, I don’t
think we should be discussing your anatomy, Miss Angie.”

She turned her gaze to Maikao. “Why is he this way?”

Eli’s friend gave a solemn look. “I believe it’s called a
birth defect.”
 

Nodding, Angelina turned eyes identical to that of her daughter’s
back to Eli. “I’m feeling gracious enough to tell you that if Carmen finds you
out here, she’ll probably attempt to sauté your most coveted physical
treasures. Your face is pretty and I enjoy it in that state. Try to avoid
having it maimed.”

“Once again,” Eli said slowly, leaning even farther away. “I’m
so
uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation.”

Her lips curved. “My God, is she going to ruin you.” With that
disturbing statement, she went on her way.

“Well, that escalated quickly,” Maikao murmured.

“It did, didn’t it? I find the insanity that surrounds her and
your mother-in-law-to-be highly entertaining.”

“You know she’s right though.”

He did. Eli had no idea why he liked to test the limits of
Carmen’s restraint by regularly patronizing
Mi
Aliento
but the annoyance on her face when she spotted him was rather…
placating.

“Why are you in my establishment and breathing my air? I want it
to be noted, the second one pisses me off more than the first.”

Eli slowly turned his head and took in the sight of Carmen
standing a few short feet away. He’d been so lost in his thoughts that he
hadn’t heard her approach.

He scanned her hands for any signs of a knife and came away
relieved. “Because,” and yes, he grinned, “I do so enjoy the fire in your eyes
as you glare down at me like a nun staring at a naughty schoolboy.” With his
gaze still on hers, he waggled his brows, leaned forward and asked, “Would you
like to paddle me Sister Sanchez?”

***