MoreThanWords (11 page)

She followed them down the stairs. Travis smiled as she
unfastened her system of locks. Not a sympathetic now-I-understand kind of
smile. Something much sweeter. Something she couldn’t put a description to.

“We’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” he said, and she
closed the door behind them.

She stood with her hands pressed to the cold glass,
watching. Six thirty in the morning and Travis was walking her dog.
Unbelievable. First, the volcanically hot sex. Then talking for hours. At some
point, they’d fallen asleep wrapped around each other. She’d met Travis less
than twenty-four hours ago and that just didn’t seem possible.

Travis came into view and she couldn’t hold back the smile.
Snow dotted his hair. Clouds of fog escaped his mouth as he spoke to the little
dog at his side. No sign of discomfort coming from Charming now. Travis was
good medicine for her
and
her dog.

“I think you have a new fan,” she said as they came through
the door. “He’s going to be giving me the bug-eyed death glare next time I make
him use his indoor facilities.”

“Don’t make him. I’ll come by after the store is closed. We
can take him out together.”

“I can’t go out then. I thought you understood that now.”

Travis’ hands rested lightly on her shoulders, as cold from
the minutes in the pre-dawn air as his eyes were warm. “I understand why you’re
afraid to go out alone at night, sweetheart. You won’t be alone. You’ll be safe
with me.”

“It won’t work.”

“You won’t even try?”

“You think I haven’t? With my parents, my sister…hell,
Travis, even with the cop from the night of the incident. Over and over, I’ve
tried going out
there
after dark,” she stabbed a finger toward the door,
“and I can’t do it.”

He withdrew his touch, crossing his arms high on his chest.
A new chill emanated from him. This one reached his eyes. “You haven’t tried
with me.”

“Seriously? You’re going to make this about you?”

“I’m making it about us.”

“Telling you about the attack doesn’t mean I can suddenly
decide to go out and just…go out. It’s not that simple.”

“So, what—you’re going to stay inside for the rest of your
life?”

“If I have to.”

“Come on, Calli, do something about it, take control. Join a
self-defense class, buy pepper spray or a gun. Hell, go for both. Get a shrink
or hypnosis.”

Heat built inside her chest, spreading to her face, making
her temples throb. “Check to everything except the gun. Nothing works.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Ding, ding, ding. Now you get it—and me.” How dare he judge
her? And how stupid of her to think he wouldn’t. She scooped Charming into her
arms and pulled open the door, inviting a blast of frigid November air into the
entryway. “I think it’d be best if…” God, everything was changing too fast.
“Thank you, for…everything.”

* * * * *

Thank god for the boxes of stock that arrived after lunch.
Unpacking, steaming and ticketing merchandise kept Calli’s hands busy, even if
her mind stayed on a certain Scrabble-playing, orgasm-giving man every single
second.

She hadn’t kicked him out this morning, not exactly, but he
hadn’t put up any argument when she showed him the door. Why would he? No,
Travis wasn’t perfect. He’d admitted to a less-than-admirable track record with
women during his party-boy days. Also to having an unhealthy amount of ego.
Those flaws didn’t compare to her list of shortcomings. They’d hit it off, had
some fun and a few hours of heart-deep conversation. That didn’t mean they were
dating. She’d never be able to
date
anybody, not truly, and certainly
not a man like Travis.

Motion caught her eye, pulling her from her pity party.
Caitlyn was halfway to the back of the store. Something must be out of whack
with the door sensor, because this was the third time today it hadn’t buzzed
when opened. Another unexpected expense.

“What’s up with all the sighing?” Caitlyn picked up one of
the packages Calli was shelving in Romance U’s
Spicy Nights
corner.
“Ooh, now I understand. Mr. Right Magnum Eight. Yup, he does kinda make a girl
want to sigh.” She scanned the product features and snorted. “Whisper-quiet.
They all say that. How was it when you tried it out?”

“What do you think I did, Cait? Flipped the sign on the
door, slapped the
mighty-hold suction cup
on my desk in the back room
and went for a joy ride? I haven’t tried it.” She left off the
yet
. But
she totally had one set aside for later. Mr. Right was no Travis Graham, but
that stud had galloped away.

Caitlyn’s robust laugh filled the store. “I meant, have you
put batteries in one and compared the noise level to other models—in a dry
run—like you always do.”

“Oh. Well, no.”

“Hmm. My sister off her game…interesting.”

With the few details Caitlyn knew about last night, she
wasn’t likely to let this opportunity pass. Caitlyn didn’t talk while they
powered up an ivory Mr. Right Magnum Eight and tested his variable settings and
functions, but the smug smile never left her face. Saving her best remarks
until they’d completed their examination of the whopper dildo, no doubt.

“He’s not so quiet, this Mr. Right.” Caitlyn ran a hand up
and down his length. “And he’s extremely hard. Like, maybe too rigid for some
stuff. What d’ya think?”

“Ugh, I hope not. I got two cases of twelve—I’d hate to send
them back so close to Christmas. Let me see.” Calli swapped spots so she could
get a better grip on Mr. Right where they’d attached him to the glass-top case.
He was definitely a handful—one point in his favor. “Hmm. You’re right about
him being overly rigid. But the veins are nice and the cock head is probably
the most impressive one I’ve seen.” She stroked upward again, the PVC shaft
creating more drag against her palm than she’d like. “He’d certainly require
lube, especially for anal use.” Caitlyn was grinning at her like a schoolgirl
caught with a
Playgirl
magazine. “What? You know people will want to use
him that way. His suction cup and scrotum make him perfect for that—no worries
about him getting lost up there in the heat of the moment.”

Caitlyn licked her lips as she straightened, her focus no
longer on the sex toy’s attributes. Calli turned her head, following Caitlyn’s
sightline. Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit.

“Don’t stop
working
on my account, ladies.” Travis
weaved around racks of lingerie that got racier the farther into the store he
got.

Caught with one hand wrapped around a big, plastic cock and
the second one cupping its balls. And the stuff she’d said… Calli’s face burned
with the heat of a struck match. After the way things had ended at the bottom
of her apartment stairs, she hadn’t expected to see Travis again. Certainly not
so soon, or sporting a smile that made her glad for the absorbent cotton gusset
in her bikini panties. She kept her head down, fumbling to get Mr. Right Magnum
Eight back into his package before Travis reached the back of the store.

“Cal, you forgot to take out the batteries. Saving that one
for later?”

Oh, nice. Caitlyn couldn’t have said that any louder or
clearer, could she? Calli shot her sister the death look. She stretched over
the counter, scrambling to shove the enormous plastic package amongst the dark
shopping bags they used to ensure discretion. But Mr. Right refused to be
crammed into a small space—no surprise there. The package dropped to the floor,
where Mr. Right burst out of his plastic housing and began vibrating in earnest
against the polished-concrete floor. Kind of gave new meaning to the term
dry
humping
.

“That’s something you don’t see every day,” Travis said. The
grin on his face grew while she scurried around the counter to trap and contain
the rogue vibrating mega-dildo.

Calli peeked up through the screen of her eyelashes. Despite
Caitlyn having repositioned her gorgeous, outgoing self at Travis’ elbow with
her high-sheen lips pulled into her patented sexy pout, he didn’t give her a
second look. Catching Calli’s glance, he winked. She flushed hotter and dropped
her eyes to the task at hand. Without seeing, though, she knew exactly where
Travis was looking—the heated trail down her spine, over her ass and along her
legs gave it away. A wave of dizziness washed over her, despite being on all
fours. Or maybe that was part of the reason. That’s how she’d been before the
action had screeched to a halt last night—in the doggie position, waving her
booty at him and ready for something much more fun than the toy now safely back
in its box.

“I’m glad you decided to come back,” Caitlyn said, moving
her hand into direct contact with Travis’ on the frosted glass countertop.

Calli brushed invisible dust from her hands and knees,
standing back while Caitlyn did her flirt thing, oblivious to the attention she
wasn’t
getting from Travis. Calli snorted. Actually snorted at her
sister—smirked too, the corners of her lips drawing upward despite her best
attempts to keep them down. Not that it mattered. Caitlyn was so absorbed in
Travis, she didn’t register either action. When it came to men, there’d never
been any competition between them. Caitlyn got the hot, popular guys, Calli
didn’t.

Until this one.

Travis looked from Calli to Caitlyn, then back. “I had to
come back…my wallet must’ve fallen out of my jeans in Calli’s apartment last
night.” He flicked a quick glance at Caitlyn’s dropped jaw, then gifted Calli
with a naughty smile. “Probably when you were picking your panties out of my
back pocket.”

“Oh my god. Oh. My. God.
This
is the guy you slept
with last night?”

In her entire life, Calli’d never seen her sister in this
state. Completely lacking in cool self-confidence. Flabbergasted. Karma might
get her for this, but what the hell—Calli kept her chin up and savored the
moment.

“How?” Caitlyn’s question bordered on sputtering.

“I met Calli playing online Scrabble. I couldn’t stop
thinking about her, so I pieced together her clues and found her. Sort of. That
mix-up between us the other day—entirely my fault, sorry.”

“You came in here looking for her, not me,” Caitlyn said.

Yes, it was a first, but did Caitlyn have to drip disbelief
all over the floor? Geez.

“I should’ve been more straightforward, but I didn’t want to
freak Calli—who I thought you were—out.”

“Yeah, I suppose not, since you essentially cyber-stalked
her whereabouts.”

“Cait!”

“Well, didn’t he?”

“No—I told him parts of my name, the city and the slogan of
the store. I think—” In retrospect, she’d been far from anonymous. “Part of me
wanted him to find me.” She met Travis’ gaze and held it. “Hoped he would.”

“Did you know who
he
was?”

Warmth spread through Calli’s veins. “No, not really. Just
some word nerd with a flower for a picture and a dirty sense of humor who
claimed to play guitar.”

“Wow.” Caitlyn pinched the bridge of her nose between two
hot-pink-lacquered fingers. She shook her head, then stared at Calli again.
“You, of all people, led a complete stranger to your door. Do you know how
dangerous that was?”

This from the woman who’d been encouraging her to join
Plenty of Fish or Match.com. Something smelled rotten and looked green.
Caitlyn, jealous of
her
. Much as she wanted to call Caitlyn on it, the
words didn’t come.

“Can you watch the store for a couple of minutes while I
find Travis his wallet?”

“I’ll help you look,” he said, less than two steps behind
her.

Caitlyn released an exaggerated sigh and shrugged out of her
jacket. “I have places to be, Cal…save your
Scrabble playing
for
afterhours.”

Travis followed her through her office-slash-stockroom to
the door leading to her apartment stairs. He didn’t touch her, didn’t need to.
Her skin remembered the sensation of his fingers, palms, tongue, exploring
every inch of its surface, every curve and divot. With each stair she climbed,
her breasts shifted inside the black demi-bra. The lace scraped her nipples.
They tightened, pulling some invisible string running directly between her
legs, making her clit ache for contact. The incidental brush of Travis’ arm
across her hip as he palmed the railing fanned the flame to a roaring blaze.
Above the tops of her stockings, her thighs went from moist to slick. She tried
squeezing them together as she stepped. The clenching merely added to the
friction, making it worse. Much worse. Oh god, if she could smell it—the
telltale scent of horny woman—he had to be able to. Especially being two risers
below her.

“If you’d called or messaged me, I could’ve looked for your
wallet earlier and had it waiting.” Downstairs, in a public setting.
Safer—sexually speaking.

Inside the apartment, she made a beeline for the couch while
Charming went bananas over Travis. Yeah, she knew how the little dog felt,
unfortunately.

“He looks pretty spry. You took the wrap off his leg.”

“No,” she said while digging between the couch cushions. “
He
took it off. While I was in the shower, the naughty little bugger.”

Travis laughed. “I don’t blame him. I prefer to be naked
around you too.”

Her head snapped up to find him in a crouch. Petting the
dog, but unabashedly staring at her ass and legs. And why not—she’d practically
given him an engraved invitation, bending over the sofa in a short skirt and
calf-high black boots. Instinctively, she smoothed the black twill with one
hand, over the curve of her butt to the bottom of the skirt. Her fingers met a
thin strip of bare skin instead of nylon stockings. She coasted along the exposed,
hot flesh until she encountered the strap of her garter.

“Do you always dress this way?”

“Skirts instead of pants?” The wallet was in her right hand,
still buried between the cushions. She didn’t move from her compromising
position. Couldn’t. Not with Travis’ eyes glued to her body, his tongue swiping
across those Greek-god lips.