ProvokeMe (23 page)

He wasn’t her friend yet.
She didn’t trust him and he
definitely didn’t blame her.
Oddly enough, seeing her act so freely around
Carter and Alana loosened him up too.
Somehow being with her and her friends he
felt as if he were in some sort of safe zone.
And this one didn’t involve
losing his clothes or standing by while others dispatched theirs.

The four of them commandeered a corner table and
conversation flowed smoothly.
He noticed Alana throwing a couple speculative
looks in his direction, but otherwise they all talked as easily as if they’d
known each other forever.
Soon dinner had been ordered and eaten and all that
was left was the rest of the bottle of pouilly-fuisse and dessert.

And quite possibly a trip to the ER if Kelly didn’t stop
rubbing her bare toes along his calf.

At first he’d thought maybe the move was unconscious.
Then
he’d caught her watching him from under her lashes and he’d gone rock-hard.

That was two hours ago.

“Do you really want to see my pictures?” Alana asked
Spencer, leaning forward so her generous breasts were an inch from indecency.
She wasn’t trying to flirt—her attention had been solidly on her boyfriend all
evening—but she couldn’t help being amply endowed.
“I have some on my phone.”

“Sure,” Spencer replied, not quite sure why Carter seemed to
be smothering a smile as he dabbed his napkin over his mouth.
“I’m a bit of a
photography buff myself.
I used to take pictures years ago.”

“Really?”

“Of what?” Kelly asked at the same time.

“Well, actually it was in college.” Good move, bringing up
this subject.
“I answered an ad in the paper.”

“And?”

He slanted a glance at Kelly.
“And it was from a studio that
specialized in a certain kind of art photography.
Nudes,” he said finally,
expecting shocked silence to descend over the table.

“Oh my God.
No way.
You’ll love my pictures then.” Alana let
out a bawdy laugh.

“You took pictures of nude people?”

“No, nude household pets.” Spencer shook his head.
“Yes,
Kelly.
People.
Women.”

Amazing her eyes hadn’t boggled right out of her head.
“
You?
Really?”

“Yes, really.
Is it that shocking?
You do remember where we
hooked up, right?” He was so caught up in defending himself he belatedly
realized what he’d said.
Alana, he knew, hung out at Kink.
But Carter—

“It’s okay.
We met there too.
Well, met again.” Carter
grinned and poured more wine for him and Alana.

“Hold up.” Kelly rubbed her temple.
“Way too much
information at once, people.
Nicky, you were at Kink?
Why?”

“I could ask you the same question.
Except I already know
the answer.” He gestured at Alana.
“This one’s always making you do crazy
stuff.”

“Maybe so, but I’m not the one who keeps pulling her back
there.” Alana wiggled her brows across the table at Spencer.
“That would be the
fault of the nude photographer over there.”

“I can’t believe you went to Kink,” Kelly muttered, still
looking at Carter.
“I thought you would be one of the last holdouts for
normalcy.”

“I was working on a story.”

“And I was working on getting laid.” Alana laughed and
sipped her wine.
“Lucky for me, Ramon found someone else and I was lonely and
needing a friend.” She hooked her free hand through Carter’s arm.
“And
obviously more.”

The look that passed between Carter and Alana was so heavily
charged Spencer felt as if he was intruding by witnessing it.
He picked up the
dessert menu.
He didn’t dare look at Kelly.
What if she was making gaga eyes
like that at him?

What if she wasn’t?

“Anyone else want to try the chocolate cake?”

“The cake can wait.” Kelly thumped his menu.
“I’m still
stuck on you taking titty shots of chicks.”

With a heavy sigh, he set the menu aside.
“Leave it to you
to bring something down to the most base level.”

“Oh I apologize.
Nude photography is only art.
You probably
didn’t even notice they had nipples, right?”

A couple days ago he would’ve swiftly changed topics,
especially in mixed company.
But he’d been around Kelly just long enough he enjoyed
teasing her back.
“Oh I definitely noticed.
You’d be surprised what you can
learn about a woman from her nipples.”

“Listen up.” Alana elbowed Carter.
“Really?
Like what?”

“Do
not
encourage him,” Kelly muttered, lips
twitching.

“Oh my photos!
I almost forgot.” Alana dug through an
enormous tote.
A moment later she pushed her cell toward him.
“Those are from
the latest series of articles I’ve been working on.”

He picked up her pastel-pink phone, assuming the pictures
would be human interest shots or maybe Roanoke landmarks.
Instead the photos
were of sex toys arranged in artful positions.
His eyebrows lifted as he
scrolled through the album.
“Ah, well, these are nice.”

Kelly peered over his arm and huffed out a breath.
“You fit
right in with my friends, Spencer.
Bunch of perverts, the lot of you.”

He turned his head and skimmed his lips over her temple.
“Guess I shouldn’t bring up what
we
did last night then, hmm?”

Her cheeks suffused with color and he laughed.
Again.
Being
around her had that effect on him.

“Good use of light,” he said, returning the phone to Alana.
“They’re actually great compositions, whatever you think of the subject
matter.”

“Thanks.
I’m applying for a new job, see if I can expand my
repertoire a bit.”

“Love how I’m always the last to know,” Kelly said, her
voice a little lower than usual.
Whether that was because of his reference to
their threesome at Kink the night before or because her foot had again found
its way up his pant leg, he couldn’t say.

“If something good happens, you’ll be the first person I
call.
Well, second.” She shot Carter a sly glance.
“Since this guy helped me
get a line on the position, he deserves to know first.”

“She’ll get it.
No doubts.” Carter slipped his arm around
Alana’s shoulders.
“You’d have to be a fool not to see how talented she is.”

Again that vaguely uncomfortable veil of intimacy fell
around them, separating the table into two distinct halves.
Except this time he
and Kelly exchanged a glance of their own, one full of innuendoes and promise.
His hand crept onto her thigh, his fingers stretching until they were
millimeters away from her center.
He didn’t move away when the waitress came to
take their dessert orders or when a mini-tower of chocolate cake dripping with
a thick raspberry sauce was set before him.

Kelly reached for her silverware.
“Oh you’re so sharing
that.” Before she could dig in, Spencer forked up a heaping wedge of cake and
lifted it to her mouth.
“Or this way’s good too,” she said, letting out a
startled laugh just as he slipped the bite between her lips.

Crumbs clung to her chin as she licked up the dark pink
sauce and it took everything in him not to whisk them away with his tongue.
The
others at the table must’ve noticed because Carter chuckled.

“Maybe we should leave you two alone.”

“We’ll be alone soon enough,” Kelly murmured, offering a
bite of cake to Spencer.

“Thank God,” Alana chuckled.
“Don’t want to have to visit
you in jail if any more of those smoldering looks fry the tablecloth.”

Somehow the conversation drifted back to Alana’s job
prospects, eventually circling around to the bookstore and the new stores
opening in Virginia.

“One of them’s right next to The Edge’s offices.
I’ll make
sure I use my discount to set up your advertising campaign before I leave.”
Alana’s generous mouth pursed.
“
If
I leave.”

“I can’t believe you’re moving home again.
That’s so
awesome.”

“Well, things are just falling into place.
I’ve wanted to
for a while, but I thought I needed to stay and clean up my messes.
Then I
bumped into Nicky, and well…” Alana’s smile bloomed.
“Home’s where I need to
be.”

“I can’t believe this either.” Kelly waved her fork between
Carter and Alana.
“I never in a million years would’ve thought this would work.
You’re so completely different.”

“Opposites attract,” Spencer said, hoping he could just eat
his cake and avoid partaking in anything resembling relationship chatter.

“Maybe so, but long-distance relationships are beyond
tough,” Kelly said.
“A state apart doesn’t seem like a big deal at first.
But
then it gets harder and harder to make time to see each other.
You end up
growing apart if you aren’t really vigilant.
The phone and email aren’t good
enough substitutes.”

Spencer reached up to loosen his tie.
Had it suddenly gotten
hotter?
“You do what you have to,” he said, not realizing he’d spoken aloud
’til three sets of eyes swiveled toward him.

“And the King of Romance weighs in yet again.” Kelly rolled
her eyes and took another bite of his cake.
“Have you ever been in a
long-distance relationship?”

Not yet.
He cleared his throat.
“No.
But sometimes
there’s no choice.”

“There are always choices, if people want to make them badly
enough.”

“For a new relationship, it’s not always feasible to move
heaven and earth.”

“If no one’s willing to stretch farther than for the remote,
nothing’s feasible.”

“Do you get the feeling they’re not discussing us anymore?”
Carter asked Alana.

“Of course we are.” Kelly laughed uncomfortably and finished
off her wine.
“Who else would we be talking about?”

Spencer remained silent.
Couldn’t they enjoy even one nice
evening without the elephant in the corner raising its damn trumpet?

The next half hour passed quickly.
After finishing up
dessert and paying the bill, the four of them walked together to the parking
lot.
As they reached Carter’s car, Alana glanced at Spencer.
“We had a terrific
time tonight.
It was great to finally meet you.”

He didn’t question the
finally
.
Truthfully he didn’t
want to know what Kelly had told her best friend about him.
“Same here.
This
was fun.”

More fun.
Christ, he’d had a banner week.

“You guys should come out with us tomorrow night.
We’re
going to a comedy club.
Try to get some laughs in before I have to leave.”
Though her voice sounded cheerful, her eyes lost some of their sheen.
“What do
you say?”

He nearly agreed.
From the look on Kelly’s face, she clearly
wanted to go and they’d had a great time tonight.
Then he remembered the
Sinclairs.

“I have plans I can’t break.
I’m sorry,” he said, and meant
it.

“Oh yeah.
I forgot.
That work dinner.”

“Yes.” He rested his hand on the small of Kelly’s back.
“Next time you’re in town, definitely.”

Only once the words were out did he realize their
implication.
Alana might not be back for a month.
Two.
What exactly was he
saying?
Did he think this thing with Kelly would last that long?
He’d be in
Virginia by then.

“There are always choices, if people want to make them
badly enough.”

“It’s a date.” Alana leaned in to hug him.
Surprised,
pleased, he hugged her back.

“Take care.
You be good,” she said to Kelly, wiggling her
pointer finger as if she were a schoolteacher.
“I’ll call.”

He watched the two of them embrace, whispering to each
other.
Kelly and Carter did the same, again whispering.
Spencer balled his
hands in his pockets, feeling completely left out.
And for the first time in
recent memory, he wanted in.