Strike (2 page)

“Well it’s not at all like what I had in mind,” Anne replied. “I’m really worried about what you’re going to do without me. I have to prod you into doing anything. Without me here you’ll probably never leave the apartment except to go to work.”

Tori took a sip of her drink as she listened to her friend rant. She had been waiting for this conversation. It was one that had been repeated many times over the years, although not to this extent. She was an introvert, and did depend on others to create social situations for her. This knowledge was piled on top of the guilt she had for not doing what Anne wanted on her last night.

In all the years they had known each other, they had never been apart for more than a week. Now her friend was moving over a thousand miles away and they didn’t know when they would ever see each other again. She was losing more than someone to party with—she was losing her closest friend.

“I will promise to get out of the house and do more if you promise to keep out of trouble. Sometimes I think I’m the only thing keeping you out of prison,” Tori said.

That had her friend laughing, knowing that none of her antics were enough to be arrested for, but acknowledging that she would cause a lot more trouble if she wasn’t held back. Neither of them knew what to say. Tori had been dreading having to say goodbye and still didn’t want to do it. They had the morning drive to the airport to take care of that, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say. So she sat there with her drink in her hand, listening to the television over the bar and the muddled conversations of the people sitting at the tables behind them.

“Got to go to the little girls room,” Anne said as she slid off the barstool.

Tori didn’t move from her seat. She was staring at the television, even though she wasn’t paying attention to what was playing. Her mind was racing about the promise she’d just made. Her friend was right—she did need to get out more. It just wasn’t something she had ever been comfortable doing, nor had she needed to. Anne had always been there to push her into things.

The bell over the door clanged and out of habit Tori turned to see who it was. His brown hair looked as if fingers had just been run through it. Narrow cheeks accentuated his high cheek bones. There was a slight rounding to his chin that just took the square edge off his jaw. Her mouth opened when she realized it was her neighbor, the very guy they had followed to the bowling alley. He stood just inside the door, scanning the room.

She was staring at him and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t look away. Not even when his gaze locked with hers. She got nervous when he started walking her way. By the time he made it to the open stool next to her, she realized that not only was she blatantly gawking at him, but her mouth was open too. The night couldn’t get any worse.

“It’s not very often I get a woman staring at me,” he said.

Her mouth abruptly closed as she realized she’d been wrong…it could get worse. She locked her eyes on the glass in front of her, afraid to let them stray anywhere else. The drink was half gone. Even though she hadn’t had much, she felt buzzed. She swallowed, knowing that the silence was drawing out. She was going to have to say something.

“I thought you were someone else,” she lied. Then she felt guilty, so she followed it up with the truth. “Someone I didn’t expect to see tonight.”

He had already flagged down the bartender and ordered a beer. It didn’t look as if he was in a rush to find somewhere else to sit. She wanted to tell him that the seat was taken, but Anne had been sitting on the other side of her. Sinking down into the seat, she prayed for him to get bored and leave.

“I thought you were staring at me because my fly was down, or something equally embarrassing,” he admitted, angling in closer to her. “I made a beeline over here so you could tell me what it was before anyone else noticed.”

That had her laughing. She relaxed and looked up at him. His eyes were pale from a distance, with only his dark lashes to draw attention to them. From the couple of feet that separated them, she could see they were actually gray, with the many different shades looking like a kaleidoscope. The sound of a barstool sliding behind her was the only thing that drew her out of his gaze.

By the time Tori turned around, Anne was already on the stool. Her friend was giving her a knowing smile and had one eyebrow raised. Usually it only took one look for Tori to know what Anne was thinking. This time, her mind was blank as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to say. Finally, Anne peered around her, and Tori understood.

“Oh, this is my friend Anne and I’m Tori. I guess I didn’t get your name.”

“Collin.” He held out his hand to her.

Tori took the offered hand and then leaned back so Anne could take it. This was the point when Anne would normally take over the conversation. She would have plenty of time to figure out something smart to say.

“Are you guys out celebrating something?” he asked.

The silence drew out. She glanced over at Anne, trying to figure out why she wasn’t responding. Anne was sipping her drink through the small stirring straw and looking back at her. What the hell was going on? Anne usually controlled the conversation, and the one time she needed her to, she was silent.

“Um, no,” Tori finally responded. “Quite the opposite, actually. Anne is moving away tomorrow.”

Anne finally joined the conversation. “But we’ve got the internet and telephones, so we’ll be able to stay in touch.”

“Well, at least you’re keeping a positive outlook about it,” Collin said.

For the first time Tori was grateful to be sitting between them—that way she could give Anne a dirty look without him seeing it. Anne was still sipping on the small straw and looking back at with her an expression that said “what?” Up until that very moment, Tori had been the one constantly comforting her friend, reminding her that they could still talk every day. Now she was the one who was saying it. She had to have something up her sleeve.

“Well, I don’t want to interrupt your last night together,” Collin said.

Before he could get up to leave, Anne’s phone rang. “Hello,” she said as soon as the phone was up to her ear. “Oh, no.” That had everyone’s attention. “I’ll be right over.” She hung up the phone and turned to her friend and the man sitting on the other side of her. “That was my sister. She needs help. I’m not going to be able to hang out like we planned. Don’t forget about the promise.”

With that said, Anne grabbed her purse and headed toward the door. Collin was half out of his seat and slowly sank back down. He looked back and forth between the door Anne had just exited through and the seat she had left.

“That sounded important,” Collin said. “Should you go see if you can help?”

There was nothing Anne needed to help with. She didn’t even have a sister. Neither of them did, so it had become their excuse when one of them needed to be alone with a guy—only normally it was Tori leaving for a fictitious emergency and Anne being left with the guy. Tori had never even signaled for her to leave.

“No, I’m pretty sure she can handle it,” Tori said. “I guess I don’t have plans this evening after all.”

* * * * *

Collin got up from the barstool after Tori did. She’d been saying that she needed to leave for the last half an hour, but was just now actually moving toward the door. He’d really had no intention of following her, yet he was. He’d just realized that although they’d been talking for over two hours, he didn’t have her phone number or know where she lived. He couldn’t let her get away just yet.

He held the door open and had to catch her as she stumbled across the threshold. With just a little help she was righted and out the door. She obviously wasn’t an alcoholic if she was intoxicated after only two drinks. He found that reassuring. He wasn’t interested in a woman who spent a lot of time at the bar.

The cold wind slammed into him as soon as he was out on the sidewalk. His whole body shook from the shock. He knew a cold front had been expected the next day—it must have come in early. Tori was visibly shivering and he realized that neither of them had a jacket.

She looked miserable. He wished he had something to offer her. He knew it would be silly to give her his T-shirt. He had to do something, so he pulled her against his chest. Her back was to him, with the wind stirring her blonde hair around his face. He started to wrap his arms around her, then realized that was probably too forward, so he just rubbed her upper arms.

“Where’s your car at?” he asked directly into her ear.

“I don’t have one,” she said.

He could barely hear her response over the howling wind. He looked around to see if there was a taxi coming, but the street was empty. The next shiver that racked his body was strong enough to move her with him. He needed to think of something fast, or they were going to freeze.

“Can you walk like this?” he asked.

He was glad he had followed her out. He would have worried about her being alone in the cold. Knowing that she didn’t have a car just made it that much more important to get her home safely.

The first couple of steps were tentative because they were plastered to each other. They started out with their right feet moving in unison. Thankfully they didn’t stumble and soon found they were making headway down the sidewalk. They had to stop at the intersection to wait for the light. He thought about jaywalking, but there was too much traffic. As he stood trying to figure out some way to speed up the process, she wrapped her arms around his hips. Her hands rested on his thighs, just below his butt.

His whole body went rigid and he had to shift to make room for the growing erection. He forced a breath out between clenched teeth, reminding his body that it probably had nothing to do with sex. She was just trying to stay warm. But if she was cold, he could at least be a gentleman. He reached his arms around her and held her to his chest. He leaned forward, resting his chin on top of her head.

He tried to remain detached and not focused on the body that was pressed up against him. Instead, he inhaled her scent and hoped that the wind would cover up the moan that slipped out. He closed his eyes and drew in her fragrance again. She smelled of honey and apples—it was a fragrance he was never going to forget.

She started walking. He opened his eyes to see the light had changed. Though he didn’t need to see—his body just followed, keeping as much of her in touch as he could. His fingers skimmed over her stomach, only to be instantly clutching her. The muscles were firm, almost hard, and not like those of any other woman he had been with. He had instant images of the hours she had to work out.

His hands were roaming, exploring. It wasn’t until they reached the swell of her breast that he realized that she might not appreciate being molested while she was trying to walk. As if he had vocalized his concerns, she slid her hands up until his butt cheeks were in her firm grasp. It was a possessive hold, leaving no doubt in his mind that they were no longer just trying to stay warm.

Her nipples were hard, but he imagined that had more to do with the wind chill factor than it did with him. It didn’t matter what the cause was. He ran his fingers back and forth over the top of the hard nubs. Then he kneaded the soft tissue underneath. He was pretty sure it was the only part of her body that wasn’t hard muscle and was praying for the chance to find out.

She stepped on his foot and he laughed to himself. So, he was having an effect on her. Only she wasn’t the only one who had gotten caught up in the fondling. He realized that he had no idea how far they had walked, and looked up.

“That’s my place coming up on the right,” he said. “You should come up.”

“I should?” she asked.

He didn’t answer her with words. Instead, he leaned down to the only skin available to him. The wind was blowing her shoulder-length hair off her long, slender neck, beckoning his lips to explore it. Then he found an earlobe and suckled on it. Her skin felt cool to his mouth. Then she arched her back, forcing her butt to grind against his thighs.

If he wasn’t worried about hypothermia setting in, he wouldn’t bother leading her up the steps. He could picture taking her right there on the foot-wide concrete railing. He unfolded himself from her and drew her into the building. It was driving him crazy not being able to touch her, but he knew it was smarter to get up the stairs before he plastered himself to her again.

The only thing he could think about was how much he wanted her. The need had his cock throbbing and his gut clenching. He was leading a beautiful woman to his apartment for the sole purpose of fucking her. And to think, he had been upset they’d had to forfeit the bowling game.

When they got to the landing, he couldn’t take the separation from her any longer. She seemed to have the same thought, the way she came into his arms the second they were on level footing. She was pawing at him with the same determination he felt pushing him. He hadn’t thought it could be like this.

It was almost savage, the way his mouth came down on hers. He was kissing her hard, almost bruising her lips with his, but she didn’t seem to mind. As long as she was willing he was going to imprint himself on her. He might not know much about her, but he was not going to be someone she would forget. Somehow they had managed to make their way to his door. He had her sandwiched against it and realized she couldn’t be that comfortable. He could do better than this. Placing one hand on either side of her head, he used his arms to force himself away.