Secret Moves (Secret Dreams Contemporary Romance 3) (16 page)

Trey stared at Adam. "You really think so?" he asked, allowing some hope to seep through. Maybe he had overreacted. Kris did crazy things to his system—his heart. Maybe he'd been too irrational?

"Yes, I think so," Adam replied. "Why did you change your mind about meeting up with her?"

"I went to the coffee shop earlier than expected and I saw Blake there with her. And he was doing this." He leaned over to Adam to rub an imaginary spot on the corner of his lips.

"Oh," Adam said, his expression turning to dismay. "Blake was doing that to Kris?"

"Yes."

Adam was silent for a few seconds before continuing. "That was kind of intimate, wasn't it?" he opined, scratching his head. "Do you know what kind of party they went to last night?"

"No," Trey gulped, the feeling of despair returning in full force. "I only know she didn't go home until one-thirty in the morning."

"One-thirty?" Adam asked incredulously. "Who stays out for that long with a boss?"

"Kris did," Trey said in an almost-whisper. His hand involuntarily went to his chest where a heavy sensation was becoming more bothersome. He knew it. He didn't overreact.

Adam slouched back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "Well…as you said before, you two were not really together..."

"No, we weren't. And it was fucking stupid of me to think otherwise," he growled, suddenly angry at himself. "Consider this a short aberration from the norm. From right now, I'm back to the usual."

"What usual?"

He gave Adam a you-should-know look. "Casual sex, one-night stands—the things that don't make you go crazy."

Trey didn't like the sympathetic look Adam gave him. He didn't want sympathy. He wanted his easy, old life back.

*******

Trey settled himself in a comfortable chair as he watched Adam chat up a woman at another table. His buddy was wasting no time enjoying his single-again status.

He surveyed the club, looking for someone to catch his eye. His gaze landed on a blonde girl in a red dress who was staring at him openly. She smiled and he smiled back. With a flirty bat of her eyelids and a flick of her hair, she turned back to her friends.

She's an option,
he thought to himself as he continued his visual evaluation of other pretty faces. Well, there were always heaps of beautiful women around and he could really take his pick. Maybe he should just settle for the woman in red.

But he felt too lazy to get up and walk over to her. He was quite comfortable where he was. Besides, the night was still young and there was plenty of time.

And yes, he was just making up excuses.

Truth was he was feeling guilty. Being in a club with the intention of picking up felt like…cheating. On Kris.

"Don't be fucking ridiculous, Trey Andrews," he muttered under his breath.

He stood up and walked purposefully toward Blondie in Red, anger at himself and Kris propelling him to do the very thing he didn't feel like doing.

"Hi," he said to the woman.

"Hi," she answered back, her eyes opening wide and her lips curving into a come-hither smile. She was most definitely interested.

"I happen to notice you're almost finished with your drink. I'd love to buy you another one," he said smoothly.

"Sure," Blondie in Red said readily.

"What would you like?"

"Climax," she answered in a seductive tone.

He smiled at her double entendre. "Coming right up," he said, then headed to the bar to get the cocktail drink.

When he walked back to his date-for-the-night, she was all alone. Her friends had disappeared.
Oh yeah, this one knows what she wants.

"I'm Trey, by the way," he said as he handed her his drink.

"I'm Connie," she answered.

"Well, here's to a great night, Connie." He clinked his glass with hers.

"Cheers," she responded with a knowing smile.

They chatted for a little bit about nothing in particular and Trey started to get bored. He was considering making an excuse to leave when Connie touched his hand and leaned close to him, her breast pressing against his arm.

"Trey, how about we continue our conversation at my place," she purred.

Trey stared at Connie for a moment. Did he really want this?

An image of Kris flashed in his head, along with the unprompted, unwanted, highly aggravating thought that she could very well be with Blake tonight.
Fuck.

"Let's go then," he answered Connie.

Kris pushed the food around her plate, not having any appetite whatsoever.

"I know I'm not as good a cook as Sam, Kris, but it's not really that bad, is it?" Ari asked with a frown.

Kris flushed. "It's good, Ari! Really! I'm sorry but I'm just not very hungry. It's not your cooking. It's…"

"I'm sorry, I was just kidding," Ari said in reply to her flustered response.

"I'll find out what happened, Kris," Dylan said softly.

Kris nodded at Dylan who'd been suspiciously quiet and non-forthcoming since she and Sam turned up at his place after Trey cancelled on her.

"You think Trey's just busy, Dyl?" she asked. "I know he was on a conference call before he was supposed to meet me."

"Something may have come up," Dylan replied.

She nodded again. She wanted to ask Dylan to give Trey a call to find out why he'd changed his mind about meeting her. But she didn't want to come across as some desperate chick, although that was exactly how she felt. She just couldn't shake off the dreadful sensation that something went horribly wrong.

*******

"Are you sure you don't want me to give you girls a lift home?" Dylan asked. "It's quite late already. It really is no trouble."

"No, thanks, Dyl. We'll be fine," Kris answered. "It'll be good for me to see what nighttime public transport's like from here to Kane and Jazzie's, if I'm to stay with them during my three-month stint."

"You know, you're welcome to stay here with me and Ari, too," Dylan said. "You can easily walk to work from here."

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "But I don't want to intrude on your privacy."

Dylan chuckled. "I know this apartment is not as massive as Kane and Jazzie's house, but it'll be more convenient for you, so think about it. Ari and I seriously don't mind, as long as you can put up with the constant noise coming from our bedroom. We can get pretty loud."

Ari lightly slapped Dylan's arm, giving him a mock frown.

Kris laughed. "I'm used to bedroom noises. Jaz and Kane aren't exactly quiet, either. But thank you for the offer, Dyl. I'll think about it."

*

"Let's walk this way so we can burn off more calories," Kris said to Sam as they left Dylan's building.

Sam looked at her suspiciously. "You just want to pass by Trey's place again."

Kris answered her with a shrug.

"You do remember that you and Trey haven't spoken about officially being a couple, right?" Sam asked gently.

"Yes. Why?"

"I hate to say this, but what if Trey really only wanted a fling? So when he saw you with Blake last night, he decided it was time to end it because it wasn't really serious?"

Kris was silent for a second. "Trey told me I was the first girl he'd ever invited to his place. I was also the first he'd slept with overnight since his last serious relationship almost six years ago. He said he broke his rules for me."

"Really?" Sam asked in wonder.

"Yes. So you see, even though we didn't exactly talk about it, it seemed to me like we were headed somewhere as a couple."

"You think it wasn't just a line?" Sam asked.

Kris glared at her cousin. "Are you calling Trey a liar?"

"I'm just saying it's possible," Sam said defensively. "Ari told you he was the biggest playboy she knew, didn't she? Don't playboys have lines they use on women?"

"I can't believe you think that. But just to satisfy your curiosity, let's go back to Dylan's and ask him. He's Trey's best friend, so he would know."

"Oh, come now, Kris," Sam said exasperatedly.

But Kris was already heading back to Dylan's apartment. She didn't want to admit it to Sam, but she also wanted to know if what Trey told her was the truth.

She pressed Dylan's buzzer when they got there. "Hi, Dyl. We're back," she said through the intercom. "I just need to ask you a couple of questions."

*

"We don't need to go in," Kris said as Dylan opened the door wide open for them. "Just two quick questions then I'll leave you alone."

"Shoot."

"Just the honest truth, please, Dyl?"

"Sure."

"Apart from me, has Trey ever invited a girl—apart from friends and family—to his place?"

Dylan took a deep breath. "No," he answered definitively.

"Has he ever stayed overnight with a woman?"

"Apart from you, not in the last six years."

Her face broke into a wide, happy smile. "Okay. That's all. Thank you."

"Wait, Kris," Dylan said. He regarded her for a long moment before continuing. "Trey has deep-seated reasons why he doesn't want to get involved in serious relationships. I'm not sure if he has changed his attitude on that, even though he's broken a couple of his rules for you."

"What reasons? Does it have something to do with how he sees his mother?"

"You know about that?" Dylan asked in surprise.

"Yes. He seems to think of her as a gold-digger."

Dylan stared at her, seeming to decide what to divulge. "I'm sure his mother's antics have a lot to do with his view of relationships," he finally said. "He never knew his dad and he was only eight when his mother first left him and Rebecca in the care of his grandparents to run away with a rich Frenchman. She'd done that more than once—going back to them, only to leave them again and again."

Kris' eyes watered. She felt for Trey and wished she could heal his hurts.

"He likes you, Kris," Dylan continued. "But I don't know why he's avoiding you. I'd say he's afraid of how he feels. For all his self-confidence in other areas, he has a hard time dealing with emotional pain so he shuts himself out from the sources of it. You're pushing him out of his comfort zone."

She gave Dylan a grateful smile. "Thank you for telling me."

*******

"What do you plan to do?" Sam asked Kris as they took the longer route to the bus station.

"I don't know. I just want him to talk to me so we can sort things out. You do think he has feelings for me, don't you?"

"Well, it does look like it. But, Kris, the question is how much does he care? I'm glad he feels something for you, but what if his feelings are not as deep as you want them to be? I know that's not what you want to hear, but that's a very real possibility."

"You sure know how to lift up my spirits," she said dryly.

"Oh, Kris, you know I just don't want you to get your hopes up too high only to be disappointed. You'll be more crushed then."

Kris nodded, knowing Sam meant well. Sam had always been her voice of reason, the one who showed her all sides to the story when her impulsive nature only focused on what she wanted to see. But still, she could really use some supportive words right now. Trey meant so much to her—

They just turned a corner, and Kris froze. Her heart stopped for a beat before racing painfully in her chest. Even her lungs seemed to fail for she found it extremely hard to breathe.

There was Trey, hailing a taxi. A blonde in a tight-fitting red dress had both her arms around his neck while his was around her waist. She seemed to be whispering something in his ear. Either that, or she was plain kissing him.

He opened the passenger door, his hand lingering on the woman's lower back as she scooted inside the cab. Then he got in beside her and the taxi drove them away.

Trey looked out the window. The longer he sat at the back seat of the cab, with Connie rubbing herself against him like a cat, the more his gut wrenched.

It just didn't feel right.

He'd been fighting that sensation since he'd agreed to go home with Connie, and the closer they got to her place, the stronger it got.

Connie's hand started rubbing his thigh. "Is everything okay? You've been very quiet."

He gave her a smile. "Sure. Just thinking about something."

"Problem?"

"Yeah," he said with a sigh.

"Well, in my experience, the best way to solve a problem is to stop thinking about it for a while. Then you can revisit it from a different perspective. The best way to distract yourself from it is with some good, hot sex," she said seductively, placing soft kisses along his jaw.

He chuckled. He actually agreed with her. But again, the thought of having sex with Connie made his stomach twist in protest. Or was that his heart?

"We're here," Connie announced.

"I'll get this," he said, pulling his wallet from his back pocket.

"Okay, thank you," Connie said as she climbed out of the cab.

Trey pulled out some cash and gave it to the driver. "Can you wait here for me?" he asked. "I'll only be a couple of minutes."

"Sure," the cabbie said in surprise.

He joined Connie at the front porch of her apartment building. When she inserted the key in the lock, he stilled her hand.

"Connie, I'm sorry. But I'm afraid I can't go through with this."

Connie stared at him in surprise before smiling her understanding. "That's okay. It's a girl, right?" she asked.

He smiled at her. "Yeah."

She nodded. "Well, Trey, it's a shame. But I understand. Hope you sort it out."

"Thanks, Connie. Sorry for ruining your night."

She laughed. "Hey, you just actually made my day. I can still live in hope that a man like you is waiting for someone like me. You can't be the only one of your kind in existence."

"What kind is that?" he asked curiously.

"The ones who can only get their dicks hard for the woman they love."

He stared at her, more than a little shocked with her words. "I…um…"

Connie chuckled at his discomfiture. "Hey, whatever. Thanks for the drink, anyway. At least I had one Climax."

He grinned. "Thanks, Connie. Take care."