Lush (34 page)
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“What is wrong with you? It’s like you’ve never dealt with
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women before. They always send you pictures of times they look
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great. Duh. She’s like, hey, dude, look how foxy I am. Not, hey,
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dude, I’m going to bang a stranger. She wants you to see what
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you have. You’re dumb. Is she supposed to stay home and wear
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sackcloth? Because we’re headed out the damned door to go
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party in Portland. That’s what Mom would call a double
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standard.”
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“I’m not all duded up!”
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“You’re going to get hit on by dozens of women. They’re
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going to show you their tits and buy you drinks.” Paddy
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shrugged. “Are you going to bang a stranger in the bathroom?”
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“No! I told you, I’m with Mary.”
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“So why would you expect that she would do that to you?
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She’s a nice girl. A. Nice. Girl. Sure you’re not used to that, but 24
that’s what Mary Whaley is. You? You’re not so much a nice
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boy, but you’re not going to fuck around on her. So I think you
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should afford her the same trust you’d expect her to give you.”
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“When did you get so fuckin’ wise?”
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“I was born wise. One of us has to be smart since the rest of
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you are dumbasses who lead with your dicks.”
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“Oh, the irony. I’m surprised you didn’t get struck by light-
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ning right now.”
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“Let’s go get our drink on.” Paddy slapped his shoulder. “I
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told Vaughan we’d grab him on the way out.”
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It wasn’t that Ezra couldn’t deal with the sight of them drink-
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ing. He was far enough down his road to recovery that he wasn’t
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bothered by people drinking around him. But they did it out of
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respect and also, Portland had great clubs and hot women. Well,
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for Vaughan and Paddy anyway.
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“You drive. I’m gonna call Mary.” Damien settled in the
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backseat and dialed her number.
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“Hello there, Damien.”
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He smiled at the sound of her voice. There was enough noise
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in the background that he knew she was with her friends. It was
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supper club night.
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He missed her.
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“Hello there, Mary. What are you up to?”
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“Wrapping up supper club and then we’re headed to Adrian
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and Gillian’s for a movie marathon. What are you up to?”
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“Going out with Paddy and Vaughan. Thanks for the pic-
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tures you sent last night. You looked hot.”
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Her laugh made him miss her even more.
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“Thank you. There was some jerk photographer there taking
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pictures of Gillian. We got him removed.”
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So ferocious in the defense of those she loved.
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“Did you punch him in the throat? I seem to recall you have
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a penchant for that.”
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Again she laughed. “No, I batted my eyes and got wistful
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with the management. But I think it was probably more the fact
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that she’s a sort of celebrity in his club and they didn’t want to
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lose her business more than my eyelashes.”
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He doubted it. She had great eyelashes.
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“How’s my pig?”
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“Ha! So far she hasn’t reverted to her former ways. But Ezra
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says she misses you. You should come down again to visit her.
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Keep her on the straight and narrow. Me too.”
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“Are you in danger of straying from the path of righteousness,
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young man?”
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“Only if you’ll discipline me after.”
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Her laugh had changed, lowered. Shivers slid through his
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system.
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“And no, I have no plans to stray. You know that, right?”
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Flirting and joking aside, it was important she understood that.
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“I should hope so.”
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“When can I see you again?” He hadn’t planned to ask, but
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he didn’t plan lots of things about the way he felt for her. It sim-18
ply was. He needed her in his life, damn it.
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“Going into some busy times. Over the next three weeks I’ve
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got jobs every day of the week. Some days I have two. Nice to
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be able to pay for Christmas presents.”
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“We’re going into the studio in November. Would you con-
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sider being our personal chef?” He’d broached the idea with
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Vaughan, who was fi ne. Ezra had brought it up fi rst anyway.
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He didn’t care what Paddy thought by that point. Damien wasn’t
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above admitting he wanted her with him and it would only be
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fair to have her work there. She was good at what she did. He
28S
knew that. She’d be a calming infl uence. “We work all day and
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into the night. It’d be good to have real meals and snacks. If you
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were here to do it for us, we’d probably get a lot more done.”
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Paddy gave him a look in the rearview, but held his tongue.
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“We can talk about this the next time we see each other.”
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“Fine, fi ne. I’ve got to run. I just wanted to check in with you
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because I wanted to hear your voice.”
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“I’m glad you did. I miss you.”
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Pride roared through him. She rarely gave him little bits of
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praise like this when they were apart. It made him unbearably
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happy.
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“Yeah?”
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“Yeah.”
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“I miss you too. Sweet dreams, Mary Whaley, very nice girl.
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I’ll talk to you soon.”
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“Bye, Damien Hurley, very dirty musician with the very big
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heart.”
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She hung up and missing her came right back.
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“What’d she say about the personal chef thing?” Vaughan
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asked.
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“She said we’d talk about it when we see each other next.”
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Which would be very soon because he was sick of not being
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with her.
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he was still smiling when she pulled up to the garage. It
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had been an awesome night with her friends, though she
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was the only uncoupled one now. Adrian had asked her
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to do an event for Gillian. Just a little gathering with their
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friends and family to celebrate the pregnancy.
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There had been too much food, lots of laughter. Ice cream
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and scary movies. She’d left full up of laughter and love. Though
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she did still miss Damien.
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She grabbed the totes with all the dishes in them. Adrian,
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Cal and Miles had done cleanup in exchange for the cooking,
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so all she had to do was put her stuff away. When she came
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around the corner to her back door she screamed and jumped
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three feet when a man stepped away from her stoop.
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“Curly, darlin’, it’s me. It’s Damien.” He stepped closer his
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hands up in the air, voice calm the way you use with toddlers
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and crazy people.
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Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest as she tried to
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catch her breath.
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“You scared the hell out of me! I thought you were a prowler.”
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“I’m so sorry.” He approached and she allowed him to hug
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her. His scent registered and she calmed a little. “I didn’t mean
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to scare you. I didn’t want your neighbors to call the cops if they 10
saw me on your front porch so I’ve been back here. I parked on
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the side of your garage like I always do. I fi gured you’d see me.
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Um. Surprise?”
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“I didn’t see the car.”
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“It’s a rental. I had them meet me at the airfi eld. I . . . Is it 15
all right that I’m here?”
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She hugged him again. “Yeah. Better than all right. I’m glad
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to see you. Come on inside.”
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He took the totes and went in fi rst, making sure no giant zom-
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bies or anything were inside. She went to her junk drawer and
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pulled out a key. “Here. You may as well have a key. That way
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you don’t have to sit on the back porch in the cold. How long
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have you been here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
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He kissed her and she melted into his embrace. Loving his
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mouth on hers.
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“Now then. Thank you for the key. I’ve only been here about
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forty- fi ve minutes or so. I didn’t call because I wanted it to be 27
a surprise. I knew you had two jobs today so I fi gured I’d come
28S
in later so as not to interrupt. Also, yesterday when I called you
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and heard your voice I knew I’d rather be here than anywhere
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else.”
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“Oh. Well.” She grinned and tiptoed up to kiss him again.
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“Hi. I’m glad to see you.”
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“Me too.”
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He looked back over his shoulder. “Door locked?”
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Her heart, which had just stopped pounding over being so
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surprised, started to
thud-thud-thud
again. Desire pulsed 08
through her, slow and heady.
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“Yes. Why?”
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He smiled. “I have plans for you, Curly. Plans that would
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send a casual viewer into therapy.”
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“Only because they’d be sorry you weren’t doing it to them
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instead.”
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“You always know exactly what to say. How is that?” He
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unzipped her fl eece, peeling it back and then down off her arms.
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Her hands went to his belt, getting it unbuckled, and then
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to his button and zipper. His cock was hot and hard in her hands
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within several breathless moments.
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But he spun her to face the wall, his hands moving to cup
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her breasts before he peeled the cups of her bra back to tug on
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her nipples over and over until she nearly cried for him to get
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on with it.
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His cock nearly burned through her pants as he pressed
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against her. Taunting.
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One of his hands left her right breast and slid down into her
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jeans, down into her panties. He cupped her pussy for long
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moments, just holding. The heat of him singed her memory.
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She’d be unable to forget this moment. Not for a long time and
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maybe not ever.
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No one had ever done this to her. Only Damien with his
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cocky smile and his clever fi ngers. With that mouth of his. He
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drove her crazy.
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Her head fell back to his shoulder and he kissed her temple
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with so much tenderness it brought the prick of tears to her eyes.
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“All I could think of over the last two weeks was this. The
