Take Me (32 page)

She moaned again and he traced kisses down her breasts, down her stomach, pushing her legs open gently. He grinned up at her. “I’ll bet you taste amazing,” he said.

He slid the fabric of her panties softly to the side, and then his mouth was on her wetness.

His tongue moved over her slit, the pressure getting harder and deeper until she felt like she was going to explode.

Finally, he stopped, and she raised her legs as he pulled her panties off. He got on top of her and moved until his cock was resting against her, ready to give her what she’d been begging for.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his body on hers. He looked into her eyes as he moved her hair back from her face and kissed her softly.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“I really want to be inside of you,” he murmured.

“Please,” she said. She pushed her hips up, and this time, mercifully, he entered her.

It was instant ecstasy. She tried to move faster, but he held her still, moving inside her slowly, the whole time staring into her eyes.

“Does it feel good?” he asked her softly.

“It feels amazing.”

“Kenley,” he whispered. He was still looking into her eyes, moving faster and faster now, kissing her hard, then breaking away to look at her. Her whole body, every nerve, every fiber of her being was on fire.

When her orgasm came, it exploded through her, and Chad came at the same time. She cried out as he filled her up while wave after wave of pleasure reverberated through her body.

Finally, they were still. He kissed her again, playing with her hair as he rolled off her and laid next to her on the couch. He pulled her close. “Holy shit,” he said. “That was unbelievable.”

“It was,” she breathed. She snuggled into his arms and after a few minutes, they both fell asleep.

Kenley woke up the next morning at eight o’clock, surprised to find that she was still on the couch. She’d slept soundly, not waking once during the night, something that was rare for her. Chad was next to her, breathing softly, his arms wrapped around her body. Panic swelled up inside her as she realized what had just happened. She’d slept with him. The one thing that she had promised herself she would not do, no matter what.

She couldn’t believe it. Yes, Chad he was hot. And yes, he’d been nice to her last night, taking care of her after she’d run into Jeremy. But one night of niceness shouldn’t have allowed her to let her hormones take over.

She’d practically begged him to have sex with her! Her face heated at the thought of the things she’d said last night. They hadn’t even gotten around to eating their food.

She thought of the delivery man who’d probably ended up waiting outside, finally going away when he realized no one was going to answer his knock. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, willing herself to be in some kind of nightmare. But when she opened them, she was still there, in Chad’s living room.

What a horrible mess. Okay, she thought, and took a deep breath. It was time to regroup. She was going home tomorrow. All she had to do was make sure she stayed detached today, make sure the press got some pictures, and then she could collect her money and go home.

She slid out from under Chad’s arm, careful not to wake him, and then headed for the shower.

***

When Chad woke up, sun was streaming through the large floor-to-ceiling windows. He squinted, then stretched out on the couch lazily, reaching his arms behind his head. From the other side of the apartment, he could here the sound of Kenley showering.

He smiled, remembering the way he’d felt last night, how amazing it was, how close he and Kenley had been. He wondered if she was going to stay longer, if she could just stay here, in his apartment, indefinitely. No, that was ridiculous. Of course he couldn’t ask her to just uproot her life and just move here. But after last night, there was no way he could let her go home tomorrow. First things first, he told himself. Shower.

Then breakfast.

He headed for the master bathroom and got into the shower, letting the hot water beat over his skin. He ignored the hardness between his legs, doing his best not to think about Kenley, how amazing it had felt to be inside her. They had all day, he realized, smiling to himself. They didn’t have to anywhere -- they could just curl up inside and be with each other.

He whistled to himself as he dressed in a pair of jeans and a gray sweater. When he got to the kitchen, Kenley was still in the shower, so he started opening cabinets, thinking about what to make for breakfast. Omelettes, he decided, and began pulling out the ingredients. He was chopping tomatoes and peppers on the cutting board when Kenley finally appeared.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, moving toward her. She was fully dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, a long black cashmere sweater, and black boots. She smelled amazing, like fresh strawberries and lilacs. He moved in to kiss her, but she immediately pushed past him toward the refrigerator.

She pulled out a carton of juice. “So what are we going to do today?” Her tone was slightly removed. Not unfriendly, but just a little bit… guarded. Clipped. Like she was in a business meeting, instead of in the kitchen of a man she’d made love to the night before.

“Whatever you want,” Chad said. He gestured around the kitchen. “I’m making omelettes.”

“Do you mind if I just take my juice into my room? I want to make a few phone calls, let my mom and my sister know I’m okay.”

He nodded, disappointment welling up inside him. He’d just assumed that she would feel the same way he did after the night they’d spent together. But obviously she didn’t. Maybe for her it was just about sex. If that were true, it would serve him right--–

over the years there had been a lot of women he’d used just for sex.

“And then after I’m done with my phone calls,” Kenley continued, pouring her juice into a glass, “we should go into Manhattan, head for all the places where there might be actual paparazzi. You know, Fifth Avenue, maybe Nobu or Balthazar or whatever other swanky restaurants famous people hang out at. You’d know better than me.”

“You sure?” Chad said, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. “We could just hang out here today if you want.”

“I’m sure,” Kenley said. “I need to make it up to you for bailing last night.”

Chad nodded. “Okay,” he said finally. “Whatever you want.”

***

Kenley took her glass of juice into her room, her heart pounding in her chest. She set her drink down on her nightstand, then flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She couldn’t stop thinking about the look on Chad’s face when she’d told him that she wanted to go into Manhattan today. He’d seemed disappointed. But why? Was it possible that maybe he felt the same way she’d been feeling after last night? That maybe he’d wanted them to spend the day together, just hanging out, getting to know each other? He
had
said they could hang out here. Of course, when she’d said no, he hadn’t fought her on it.

No, she told herself. He was just trying to be nice. There was no way last night meant anything to him other than sex. And there was no way she was going to let herself believe it was anything more than that.

She reached over and grabbed her cell, then dialed her sister. “Hi,” she said when Melissa answered. “How’s it going?”

“Mom is freaking out,” Melissa reported, not bothering with any pleasantries.

“She can’t believe you’re dating a famous baseball player, and she wants to pick you up from the airport tomorrow.”

“No,” Kenley said. “Tell her no way.” Her mom showing up at the airport would be awful. She’d be barraging Kenley with questions, asking her where she met Chad, what he was like, if it was serious. The ride would get more and more uncomfortable, until Kenley would be forced to either lie to her mother, or tell her the truth. She wasn’t sure what would be worse.

“You tell her!” Melissa said. “I’m sick of doing your dirty work.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I can’t deal with it.”

“Well, I’m not going to tell her! So if you don’t tell her, I guess she’s just going to be there at the airport tomorrow, waiting for you.”

“Not if she doesn’t know my flight number,” Kenley said.

Melissa was silent on the other end of the line.

Kenley sat up in bed. “Melissa,” she said. “Please tell me that you did not tell Mom my flight number.”

“I had to!” Melissa whined. “And you should consider yourself lucky. She was about two seconds away from driving to New York and pulling you back to Connecticut by your hair.”

“Great,” Kenley said, and sighed.

“So how’s it going over there?” Melissa asked. “That picture of you two kissing is all over the place, it even got posted on the US Weekly website.”

Wonderful. Now Kenley would have a constant reminder of Chad. A picture of them kissing. “I have to go,” she told Melissa.

“Why?”

“Because we’re going out,” she said. “I’ll call you later.”

She hung up the phone. She could hear Chad clanging around in the kitchen as he made breakfast. She had no idea how she was going to go out there and face him, how she was going to be able to pretend that last night had meant nothing to her. She felt the prickly heat of tears starting in her eyes, but she blinked them away. It was going to be okay, she told herself. It was going to be okay because she was in complete control. She wasn’t going to let her guard down. All she had to do was get through the day, keep her cool, and make sure that the paparazzi got some pictures of her and Chad together. And then tomorrow she could leave and never look back.

“How about Gucci?” Kenley asked. “Aren’t there always tons of paparazzi at Gucci?”

“Um, I’m not sure,” Chad said. They were walking together in Manhattan, and Chad was doing his best to try and keep Kenley away from all the places he thought there might be photographers. He was afraid that once they got their picture, Kenley would decide that she wanted to go back to Brooklyn, and then once she got there she’d barricade herself in the guestroom and not emerge until he had to take her to the airport tomorrow. Keeping Kenley away from the cameras was not an easy task. She was like a woman possessed.

“I always see them hanging out there,” Kenley said, dodging a man holding a big Louis Vuitton bag. She looked at the Louis Vuitton logo, a pensive look on her face, like maybe she was considering ditching her Gucci plan and looking for paparazzi at Louis Vuitton instead.

“Where?” Chad asked.

“Near the Gucci store!” Kenley said, sounding exasperated.

“No, I mean, where do you see them?”

“On reality shows,” she said. “TMZ, that kind of thing. And when I googled, it said that you can usually see paparazzi hanging out in that area of the city. It’s supposedly where all those reality TV socialites shop.”

“Well,” Chad said, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about. “I don’t think photographers really congregate down there unless they know there’s a celebrity in one of those stores. You know, like if they get tipped off.”

She sighed. “Can we stop walking for a second?” she asked. “My feet hurt and I’m starting to get cold.”

“Absolutely,” Chad said, brightening at the idea that she was getting deterred from her mission. “Why don’t we go sit down and grab a coffee and figure out our next step?”

She hesitated, looking around, probably trying to figure out how off track this was going to make them when it came to her master plan. “Okay,” she said finally. “But I don’t think we should waste too much time hanging out in a coffee shop. We’re definitely not going to get noticed there.”

Ten minutes later, they were tucked away in a booth in the back of a Starbucks, Chad with a black coffee and Kenley with a pumpkin spice latte. The air in the café was warm, and Chad took off his brown leather jacket and draped it over the back of his chair.

He hoped Kenley got the message that he was planning on being there for a while.

“So what should we do?” Kenley asked. She was looking at him for the answer, cupping her hands around her latte. Her nails were painted a pale pink color, and Chad resisted the urge to reach out and hold her hand.

“I don’t know,” Chad said, pretending to think about it. “I think it’s great that last night we got some fans to take pictures, but maybe the paparazzi thing just isn’t going to happen. I mean, I don’t know where else to go.” It was a lie. There were a million places her could take her, the kind of places that would definitely get them recognized, the kind of places that were crawling with paparazzi. And if he got really desperate, he could always take her out tonight to some clubs, the kind of trendy, hipster spots that those Kardashian sisters were always hanging out in. Hell, he could take her to the Kardashian store if he wanted to go that route.

“Can’t you call in a tip or something?” Kenley asked.

“A tip?”

“Yeah like when you call the paparazzi and let them know where you are? Like, on purpose? Isn’t Paris Hilton always doing things like that?”

“I wouldn’t know who to call,” Chad lied again. He took a long sip of his coffee.

Kenley narrowed her eyes at him and then sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “What’s going on?” she demanded.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what’s up with all this not wanting to get our pictures taken together?”

Realization dawned on her face. “Are you.. are you
embarrassed
of me?”

“No!” he said. “No, not at all.” The situation was starting to get away from him.

She was too smart not to be suspicious of all the stalling he was doing. Shit. He looked around the restaurant nervously, then took another sip of his coffee, trying to figure out what to say. Jesus, this woman had him on the ropes. And then he had a brilliant idea.

An amazing, wonderful, perfect idea.

“Listen,” he said, and leaned across the table. He gave her his patented grin, his Chad Parnell I-can-get-anything-I want grin. “New York isn’t really the place to be if you want to get noticed.”