Love Kinection (9 page)

“No.”
Oh man I wish he’d stop staring at my ass in these spandex things
. “You’re making me uncomfortable. I’ll be done in like three minutes.” The treadmill began to cycle into its cool down mode.

“Sorry. I like to look at you. I’ll go get in the shower. And if you decide to come in with me, I won’t complain.”

I shooed at him with my hand, and he headed down the hall. I had stepped off the treadmill for good when I heard the water come on. A few hurried stretches and a walk to the bathroom made me remember the last man I’d shared a shower with. Charlie. He’d hogged the shower spray and let me freeze for the most part. I’d been an idiot. He and Courtney deserved each other. I only had to deal with them for my little niece or nephew. Maybe Tom and I would be together during the holidays, and I’d go with him to his family’s celebrations.

There. Problem solved.

I pulled my sweaty clothes off and tossed them into the hamper. My stuff from last night lay in the bottom. Looked as if he’d taken me seriously when I told him he had to clean up.

The bathroom door let out a cloud of steam. I couldn’t see him behind the curtain but the thought of water running all over him in warm rivulets took my brain straight to porno town. I could follow the water with my tongue and see what…came up.

I grabbed an extra razor for him to use from the wall storage cabinet. My armpits had been lasered years ago, and I’d been waxed recently so fuzzy legs were my only worry. But he definitely needed a shave. I didn’t think he’d mind the woman’s razor. My shaving cream smelled floral, but so did my body wash. He would smell girly, I guess.

“Hey. Get in here already.” Tom’s wet head appeared around the edge of the shower curtain, and he flicked water at me. He smiled and took the razor. “Thanks.”

The hand that took the razor reappeared, pulled me over the side of the bathtub, and under the warm water. He looked even yummier than I’d imagined all wet and soapy.

Oh, mama, I wish I were a soap bubble right about now
.

Tom gave me my loofah and squeezed a bunch of body wash on it.

“Wash up, stinky.”

“I’ll bet you smell even better than usual when you work out, right?” He moved out of the way and I got under the shower head and started to scrub down. “Turn around. I’ll wash your back.”

He turned and scrubbed his hair while I soaped his back. What a back. Nice and bumpy with muscles and a big tattoo on his left shoulder blade. It formed a string of Latin in a circle. My fingers ran over it in slow exploration. Some of the words looked familiar, some didn’t.

“Want to know what it says?”

“Of course.” I moved out from under the water so he could rinse his hair. It gave me a nice unimpeded view of his muscular body. Drool would start to run from the corner of my mouth if I stared much longer. Washing my own hair seemed like a good idea. The water spray would cover up the drool. “Yo mamma’s so fat….”

I laughed. “Does not. There’s no Latin word for ‘yo.’”

“You can’t know for sure.” The light of challenge lit his eyes along with the wicked glint of humor.

“Yes, I can. I’ll get a dictionary.” I crossed my arms over my chest and felt ridiculous with shampoo bubbles all over my head, especially when he licked his lower lip and stared at my breasts.

“All right, fine. I’ll tell you the truth. It says ‘May the force be with you.’”

I smacked his arm and switched places with him, rinsing my hair, and refusing to laugh.

“Rest in peace, Gary Gygax,” he quipped.

“Who’s Gary Gygax?”

“You don’t know who Gygax is? Blasphemy! Abby, where have you been living? I thought you liked fantasy stuff. You’re a poser.”

“No. I don’t know who he is. And you’re still lying ’cause none of those words is a name. And I’m not a poser.”

“Gary Gygax is one of the guys who created D&D.”

“Oh. He’s dead?” I put some conditioner on my hair.

“Yeah. Died four years ago.”

“Aww, that’s sad. So what’s it really say?”

“I can’t tell you. Your poor little poser nubbie brain would melt.”

I laughed and smeared some shaving cream over a spot he’d missed. “You’re killing me.”

We moved around again so I could shave my legs. He grabbed my ass when I bent over. He liked the view because when I looked over my shoulder he’d stopped shaving and had a partial erection. I took the razor from him and rinsed it, shaved the spots he’d missed.

Why don’t I keep any condoms in the house
?
Sometimes I am too stupid
.

It only took a few minutes to shave my legs, even with the distraction Tom provided by caressing my ass and lower back. The moment I stood up, he turned me around and pulled me up against his belly and the hard line of his cock.

“Hey. Wanna make out?” Both of his palms ran over my back and he squeezed my cheeks.

“You don’t have to ask me twice. But hang on a second.” I stuck my legs under the water to get the rest of the shaving cream off. “There. Much better. It gets all itchy otherwise.”

My hands smoothed up over his chest and into the short hair at the base of his neck. His height blocked most of the water from splashing into my eyes. We kissed and groped until the water got cold. Really cold. It wasn’t such a bad thing anyway. It was getting too hot (in all the right ways) and with the lack of protection …well. Better to stop.

“Come on. Let’s go eat.” I pushed against his chest until he released me.

“I know what I’d like to eat, and it isn’t scrambled eggs.”

His erection and the blatant innuendo made the flesh between my thighs swell. I skittered out of the bathroom like my ass was on fire.

“Then you’d better find a pharmacy, because I’m not going to let you stop there.” I tossed the words over my shoulder while I rooted around in my underwear drawer. I found another thong buried toward the back, and I pulled it out. Might as well tease him. Wouldn’t hurt him.

Black lace across the front and tiny pieces of material over my hips comprised the underwear. It took a minute, but I found the bra that matched. He came in buttoning his shirt and stared at me while I shimmied into jeans. He cleared his throat and scrubbed one hand over the top of his head.

“Are you trying to kill me with that get-up?”

I grinned at him and snapped the front closure on the bra. Those gray eyes got darker and his chin lowered toward his chest. We stared at each other for a minute before he regretfully shook his head.

“Hey, do you mind following me to breakfast? Unless you want to come over to my place. I need to check on my cat.”

“You have a cat? Huh.” I buttoned my jeans and gave him a saucy grin. They were getting too tight, but he seemed to want to rip them off. “What’s its name?”

A few steps closed the distance between us, and he took my right nipple between his teeth through the bra. The warm wetness of his mouth a sharp counter point to the coolness of the air he blew over my skin when he let go. Goosebumps chased over my whole body.

“That’s for teasing me with the underwear.” Firm lips captured mine in a kiss full of tongue before he let go and stepped back. I thought I might fall over. The minute I got him alone with a box of condoms, it was game on. The man would kill me if he kept this stuff up.

“Bitsy. My sister named her. The cat.” I must have looked confused.

“Oh, really?”

“She’s really tiny. The size of a kitten still, even though she’s three or so. I found her in the parking lot of a Circle K.” He held out a circle of fingers to represent her size.

I must have looked pretty sappy, because he scuffed his foot on the carpet. “It was winter. I didn’t want her to die. She was so pathetic.”

I pulled a sweater over my head. “You’re adorable.” My stomach let out a rather decisive rumble. “I’d love to come over and compare your nerd collection to mine and meet your owner.”

I didn’t want him to go home. I wanted to follow him around like a puppy. He had invited me, but the idea I didn’t want him to leave my sight was disconcerting. I squashed the thought and followed the village idiot who shouted about Tom being super fun sexy company. That totally turned me on. She wasn’t as stupid as I’d previously believed.

“Yeah. She’d probably agree with that assessment of our relationship,” he said.

“Can we play Xbox again? I think I want to go buy one of my own.”

“Sure.” He stepped in close and kissed my nose. “Just say you’re a more of a nerd than I am.”

“Never.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek and went into the bathroom to brush my hair out, put on mascara, and moisturize my face. The morning temperatures dipped into the thirties so I should have blow-dried my hair, but I put on a winter hat. Early February in Cleveland can be brutal.

We got our coats on and headed for the door. When I opened it to go outside, my stomach dropped before clenching into a hard knot of boiling anger and hurt. Charlie stood there with his hand raised, about to knock on the door.

Chapter Nine

He smiled at me with half his mouth, slow and easy, and gave me the old up and down treatment. Why did I gain so much weight in the last year? No more laziness around here. No way would I feel fat in front of this asshole ever again.

My teeth ground together while I stood there and stared at him, stunned into silence. Then anger surfaced and I glared, stepped out onto the porch, and held my ground. A better response than letting the tears out. He’d seen me cry enough. Hell,
I’d
seen me cry enough over the jerk.

“Hey, Abby. How’s it going?” The green eyes I’d once been so enamored of now could only look better if my car keys stuck out of them.

“Why are you here? Why aren’t you with your pregnant wife? It’s still early in the first trimester, right? Morning sickness and all that crap?” The door opened wider, closed with a thump, and Tom stood next to me, staring Charlie down with his arms folded across his chest. I got the feeling Charlie was about to eat his teeth.

The thought brought a nasty smile to my face. Actually, the idea of being the perpetrator who made him eat his teeth had merit. I smiled wider. And perhaps a sidewalk vasectomy, too. Yeah, practicing bodily injury on the jerk in front of me would be a good way to spend the morning.

“Who’s this?” The crooked smile that had once charmed me slipped away. A nasty look replaced it. He was jealous. Asshole.

“None of your business. Get the fuck off my porch. I’m going to breakfast.”

“Aww, come on, Abby. Don’t be like that. We’ve gotta work this out sometime. Can’t we talk in private?”

“No.”

“No.” Tom’s voice overlapped my own, and I glanced at him. The macho male stuff left me unsettled. Part of me was pleased and part of me yelled red-blooded American women didn’t need Neanderthal tactics. I told her to shut up. Neanderthal Tom was pretty damn sexy with his chest stuck out and jaw all tensed up.

A half step forward should have gotten Charlie to retreat, but he stared at me and didn’t move. Fine. I’d move around him.

He grabbed me, and I stopped and glared at the hand wrapped around my forearm.

“You lost any right to touch me in any way a year ago. Longer than that, since I’m assuming you and my sister got together before the wedding, right?”

“I want to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk to you. You humiliated and lied to me. You destroyed my dreams. How dare you show up here when I got a text you and my sister were getting married. What, cheating wasn’t enough? You had to rub the salt in real good so you found a blood relative to fuck? Let me go now, Charlie, or I’ll make you eat that thousand dollar tooth you’ve got right there in front.”

“Abby, you’d never hit—”

My fist connected with his upper lip. I’d taken some karate as a teenager. Hours of form training on how to throw a proper punch came to fruition when Charlie let go of my arm and covered his mouth instead. Blood dribbled over his chin. I shook my fist and checked it. My middle knuckle oozed blood.

“Damn it.” I shook it out and cradled it in the other. “Now I’ll have to get another AIDS test.”

The distinct sound of male laughter met my ears. I turned to look over my shoulder. Tom stood right behind me, not close enough to get in my way, but he’d been ready to move in and help if needed.

“What? AIDS isn’t funny.” My scowl made him stop laughing, but his lips still twitched.

“I don’t have anything.” This from Charlie. His voice sounded garbled, as if a bunch of marbles rolled in his mouth. He spit and the front tooth he’d had a root canal and crown on fell out into his palm. Now that I thought about it, the dental work had cost him closer to two thousand than one. “You knocked out my tooth.”

“I told you I would. Now, stay away from me. Both of you.” I grabbed Tom, and he looked at Charlie with a bemused expression.

“Hey there, Charlie, don’t be bothering my girlfriend again.” The undercurrent of promised violence vibrated in his voice. “It’s not a good idea to mess with what’s mine.”

“Look, Abby, I wanted to tell you I’m sorry. And I was hoping we could talk things out.” I continued to walk, ignoring Charlie and the tears welled up in my eyes. “Courtney lied about the pregnancy. I’m getting an annulment. Please, Abby. I still love you.”

Unbelievable. Blood on his lips, front tooth knocked out, and he thought he should chase me through the parking lot and declare his love for me. All while I ignored him and was escorted by another man. He couldn’t have been back in town more than a few hours.

“Are you insane?” I shouted the words but didn’t care. “What else do I have to do to get you to go away? You nearly destroyed me. I will never trust you again, let alone get back together with you. You cheated on me with my sister. You stupid arrogant jerk. Come near me again and I’ll take a shot at the boys.” He blanched and took a step back. Tom squeezed me. He vibrated with energy, but kept whatever he wanted to do to himself.

“I made a mistake. You’re the love of my life. Not Courtney. I was getting cold feet, and she was there to listen…it wasn’t on purpose.”