Licked (L.A. Liaisons Book 1) (15 page)

Quinn gave an exaggerated yawn.
 

“—and he’s blond. Hello, I love blond guys.”
 

“Okay, so this guy is
so
perfect. Tell me about Hunter.”

“He’s…” My mind couldn’t stop thinking about the salacious look in his eyes as he knelt between my thighs and the way his hands roamed my body. “Hunter is… He’s good with his hands,” I finally said.
 

A snort escaped her. “I bet he is. What else?”

“He’s the complete opposite of Cameron. Dark hair, dark eyes, tan, not quite as tall, but super ripped from his job.
That
is what I meant by good with his hands, by the way. Just that he can maneuver a piece of wood.”

“Ooh la la, I bet he can.”
 

“I wouldn’t know
that
. It didn’t go that far. Just—”

“A little pussy nibble, got it.”

“Exactly. Hmm,” I said. “Pussy nibble…that’s a good name for a future shake.”

“Make sure it’s pink,” she said with a wink.
 

“With lots of cherries.”

A smirk crossed Quinn’s lips. “I’m guessing from the smile on your face it was pretty damn good.”

“It was amazing,” I said, groaning. “The man’s tongue is a gift from the gods.”

“High fucking five on that.” She slapped my raised hand.
 

 
We rounded another bend, and when I saw how much farther we had left to go I stopped and clutched my side. “I think I left my hip back there. We should turn around.”

“It’s worth it at the top. Come on, this is the easy side.”

“It’s never worth it, and easy my ass.”

“Easy ass. You said it, not me. Maybe that should be your mantra,” she said, oblivious to the group of guys passing us downhill that were blatantly checking her out.
 

“I could put it on an apron.”

“‘Get Licked’ seems like enough of an invitation to me.”

I wiped the sweat off my brow and looked to my left to see a grey-haired woman with several decades on me speed-walking. She smiled as she passed, and I shot a death glare at Quinn’s back. “Remind me to push you off once we reach the top. You healthy people are on crack.”

“I’d never be able to eat at your shop if I didn’t do this. You’re an enabler. I don’t know how you’re not eight hundred pounds.”

“It’s called walking around in four-inch heels all day every day.”

“No, that’s called suicidal.”

“Blah blah blah. You’re supposed to be helping me.” I moved aside as some crazy yapping dogs off the leash ran past. “Okay, there’s something else I need to mention.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow. “Why do I get the feeling you’re about to drop a bomb?”

“After Hunter left, I answered Cameron’s call. He’ll be home on Friday.”

“And?”

“And he wants to go out that night. Like on a double date.”

“No. No, please don’t tell me he means with—”

“Hunter. Yeah.”

Quinn’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. “Pardon my French, but why the
fuck
?”

“They’re best friends, and he’s been gone for a while. He said it was important for Hunter to get out of the house, go on a date, something something something.”

“From the way you’ve described him, it doesn’t sound like the guy needs help in that department.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“But you’re going? Come on, move your ass. We’re almost there.” She reached for my arm and didn’t let go this time.
 

“Ugh.” At this point, I was ready to crawl the rest of the way. I brushed away the sweaty strands of hair that had somehow come loose and forced my feet to keep going. “Well, I couldn’t say no.”

“Yes, you could’ve. You want to see Cameron.”

“Yeah.”

“
And
Hunter.”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. Tell me what to do.”

When we made it to the top, Quinn faced me and grabbed my shoulders, giving me her best serious face. “Dump Cameron and let him find a cute Barbie to play with. Fuck Hunter until his job is over.”

“Quiiiiiiiiin,” I said, pushing her away as she laughed.
 

“Hey, that’s me telling you what to do. But you don’t want that. You just want a sounding board. So in that case I say play it cool until Friday and see how date night goes. Then you’ll have a pretty clear answer.”

“It’s gonna be a clusterfuck, isn’t it?” I asked.

“Probably so,” she said, climbing up to stand on top of the lone bench overlooking Los Angeles before grabbing my hand to pull me up. “And no offense, but I can’t wait to hear all the details.”

WHEN HOURS PASSED and there was no sign of Hunter, I did what any woman would do—I tracked him down.
 

No, not in a creepy stalker way, I mean he
was
only next door. But the silence was deafening, and I had to make sure we were…good.
 

He was outside the store, clipboard in hand, and checking things off as his team carried supplies inside. When he glanced up at where I hesitated on the sidewalk, a small smile curved his lips, though I couldn’t see his eyes through his sunglasses.
 

“Mornin’,” he said.
 

“No ‘sunshine’ to go along with that?” I teased.

“Nah, I’d call you something different today.”

“Oh yeah? And what would that be?”

His grin grew wider, but he shook his head, looking back down at the pad in his hands and making a notation. “Hey, T,” he called out. “Can you make sure Noel has the updated blueprint tacked to the wall?”

“On it,” a man with a buzzcut said, slapping him on the back.
 

“Thanks.” Hunter looked back at me and pushed his sunglasses on top of his head. And just like that, I remembered why I’d kissed him yesterday and why I’d let him kiss me back—in several hidden places. He was just so fucking gorgeous. His eyes seemed darker today, though no less potent, and I longed to run my fingers through his hair again.
 

“Was there something you needed from me?” he asked.
 

Yes. Yes, there was. But it was nothing I should be asking for.
 

“I just…hadn’t seen you today and I…um,” I stammered.
God, just spit it out.
“Well, I just wanted to make sure everything is…good. With you.”

He squinted in the bright sun and his hand came up to shield his face as he studied me for what felt like minutes. Then he dropped his hand and said, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. We’re good.”

Relief swept through me. “Great. Um. Happy to hear it.”
 

“And you?”
 

“Fine here too.”

“You sure?” His brow furrowed. “You looked like you were hobbling a bit.”

“Hobbling? Oh. I went hiking this morning. Remind me never to do that again.”

“Not a fan of the great outdoors?”

“Not a fan of exercise in general, no.”

“Noted,” he said.

I kicked at a pebble with the toe of my wedge and tried to find something else to say. I knew what I
wanted
to talk about, but I wasn’t sure how the hell I was supposed to bring that up. Being at a loss for words wasn’t something I was used to, and I had a feeling it was the same for him.
 

Yeah, this was not awkward at all.
 

“So,” I said.
 

“So.”

I wanted to know if he’d agreed to Friday, but I didn’t have to ask. I could see it in his eyes. And the look I found there made me want to call the whole thing off.
 

“Hunter—”

He cleared his throat and looked down at his clipboard. “The first round of furniture orders will be here in two weeks, and I’ll make sure we’re in good enough shape to start moving things in. We’ll just need to touch base on the timeline once Mitch gives me firm dates on when you can expect the rest of your shipment.”

“I just want to say—”

“I’ve got to run out for an appointment in just a few minutes, so if you need anything, let T know,” he said, nodding to the man he’d spoken to earlier.

“Oh. Everything okay?” I asked.

“Yep.” He stuck the pen over his ear and looked past me. “Well, I should probably get back to it.”

“Right. Yeah, okay.” I moved aside so he could make his way into the store. As he passed, I wanted to reach out and grab his shirt, pull him back to me. But of course I didn’t do that.
 

“Wait—Hunter?”

He stopped and then turned around. I found myself opening and closing my mouth several times, nothing wanting to come out. As if he sensed what I was trying to get out, he walked toward me, closing the gap between us.
 

“No regrets, okay, Ryleigh?” he said. “None.”

CAMERON DIDN’T REALIZE he was making a massively bad decision when he’d organized a double date with all of us. He wanted his best friend and his…well, whatever I was, to celebrate his work success, and what could we do, say no?

But there was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, one I knew would only grow once I was in the same room with Hunter. It had to have been a mistake, what had happened between the two of us, one brought on by some kind of twisted case of lust. Why my body was betraying my mind, I had no idea, but now that Cameron was back, I was determined to put the past few weeks out of my head and start fresh. Even though technically we weren’t exclusive, I still felt guilty, no matter what Quinn said. Hell, I couldn’t even bring myself to tell Shayne and Paige, so that had to mean something.
 

I had put my hair half up that night and made sure to bring a cardigan, remembering the last time we went out and the freezing, not-quite-sexy scene at the beach. I’d told myself things would be different tonight. Just a casual, fun time with friends and a guy I’d still like to kiss one of these days. Besides, Hunter was bringing a date too, so it wasn’t like it’d be some awkward threesome.
 

“Remind me not to leave you for so long next time. I missed the view,” Cameron said when he opened the passenger door and pulled me to my feet. He laced his fingers through mine and smiled as we made our way into La Trattoria. It was a gorgeous night, one of the many perks of living in Southern California. We chose a table outside on the veranda, strands of yellow lights and ivy hanging from the wooden lattice above us. It was intimate, but jovial, the sound of laughter and the scent of Italian spices permeating the air.

“I’m regretting inviting anyone else,” Cameron said as he laid his arm on the back of my chair. “I think I should call them and cancel.”

I was about to respond when a familiar head of hair caught my eye. Hunter was heading toward the table, accompanied by a brunette in a very tight, very short red minidress.
 

You’ve
got
to be kidding me. Is that his type?

“Too late,” Cameron said, following my gaze, before standing and greeting Hunter with a clap on the back. I stayed right where I was, still looking at the short hem of the girl’s dress. If she bent over, the whole restaurant would get a nice view, there was no doubt about that. Under the dimmed lights, her deep tan looked almost orange, or at least that’s what I was telling myself. Okay, so she was kind of pretty, even though most people would look skankalicious in something like that.
 

“Hey, Ryleigh,” Hunter said, nodding at me without smiling. “Ryleigh, this is Cassidy, Cassidy, Ryleigh.” And that was as far as the introductions went before he sat down and waved down a waiter to order a bottle of wine for the two of them. Red wine.
 

“I’ll have a double Grey Goose, straight, and a…” Cameron looked at me expectantly.
 

“Oh, I’ll have a, um…” I scanned over the drink menu, trying to find something that wasn’t wine or pure vodka.
 

“She’ll have a frozen peach bellini,” Hunter said, his eyes focused on the food menu in front of him.
 

I smiled at the waiter. “A frozen peach bellini would be great. Thank you.”

“Looks like I’ve got to catch up on your tastes,” Cameron said. “I’ve never had one of those. Mind if I try yours?”

“Absolutely you can have a taste,” I said.