The Scale (Martha's Way) (9 page)

Rock hard, even in a sleeping state.

Yup! He was what she remembered, absolutely beautiful. The
need to touch him overtook her once more, just to make sure he was real, of
course. She paused and frowned, mulling over whether she should give in to the
temptation.

“Go ahead.”

Horrified, she jumped with embarrassment and dropped the
cover back over his erection. She looked at the man lying next to her. He had
that familiar disarming smile again even as his eyes came to rest on her full
breasts, reminding her once again she was naked.

Very naked.

She pulled the cotton cover as high as it could possibly go,
up to her chin. In reality, she wanted to bury her entire body under the covers,
head included. But instead, she looked and tried with all her might to focus
her attention on the immaculate room.

“I need my clothes.” Her voice was surprisingly calm. The
fact that her heart was racing with so many feelings she didn’t dare try to
decipher was another matter.

“Where are you going?” His voice was slightly hoarse from
sleep, but still held that teasing hint from last night. He shifted his weight
to one side to face her. “Looking at my bedroom will not make me vanish.”

Minka bit her lower lip as she continued to look around the
room.

Please make him go
away, please make him go away.

“Look at me.” Although his tone was amiable, it carried a
level of authority. She tried her best to ignore the order but aware of his
scrutiny, she gradually turned to meet his gaze.

Yup, he was gorgeous.

Through lowered lashes, she watched him use one arm to
support his head. He smiled at her; his gorgeous eyes sparkled with mischief.

“Where are you going?” he repeated the question.
Softer, gentler.
“What’s the rush?” His free hand ran along
her arm, sending sparks of electricity through her.

She brushed his hand away.

“I have to meet Keely.” It was true. She’d agreed to spend
the day ahead with Keely.

“I want another round.”

“I don’t,” she said firmly.

She was officially a liar.

If she was trying to bruise his ego, she failed miserably
because he chuckled before leaning forward to place light butterfly kisses on
her exposed arms. His lips felt so good against her skin. Oh, she wanted more,
but of course she couldn’t allow herself to admit or act upon that feeling.

“Liar,” he said with a grin, calling her on her lie.

“I don’t lie,” she retorted, but not quite in a convincing
tone. She blamed the soft, wonderful kisses he was placing on her arm for her
inability to resist or think. He chuckled at her words, obviously seeing through
her most blatant lie yet.

“Hmm, then admit it.” He reached over to place a hand
between her legs. She wanted to fight him, she really did. Yet, she found her
legs parting for him, allowing him full access to her core. He gave her a
victorious smile.

“I’m really good at morning sex,” he whispered in her ear,
his fingers gently massaging her folds.

Minka sucked in a deep breath. That quickly, her body had
betrayed her.
To a complete stranger, no less.
A
little voice called reason reminded her technically he was no longer in the
complete stranger category but she brushed that thought aside. Besides, she was
busy toying with the idea of actually having one last tryst with him.

“Listen, I have to go.” Still, she made no attempt to move.

“What time do you have to meet?” he asked, slipping a finger
inside her.

Wow, that feels good.

“I’m late.” She was really finding it hard to talk with his
fingers between her legs.
Inside her.

“Then cancel.”

He sat up, leaned forward and took one full breast into his
mouth, then sucked gently on her nipple.
 
“One more time, then I’ll let you go,” he said against her breast, his
breath warm against her skin.

She let out a deep breath. Her body was screaming yes, she
wanted him, wanted whatever he was offering but she also knew she couldn’t
ignore her plans with Keely. Even if she wasn’t looking forward to endless
hours of her sister’s chatter about her wedding plans.

“I have to go. I need my clothes.”

He must have heard the regret in her voice because he pulled
himself slowly away from her, leaving Minka feeling surprisingly empty.

“You don’t have a boyfriend or fiancé back home, do you?”

She almost laughed at the absurdity of the question. But
when she glanced at his face, there was not one hint of amusement.

“What difference does it make?”

“I don’t sleep with taken women.”

Slept, she thought. What they did was the past. She had no
intention to ever repeat such madness again.

Nonetheless, she didn’t correct him.

Minka rolled her eyes. “I find that hard to believe. Based
on last night’s display you seem to be the man-about-town.”

He chuckled. “My reputation exaggerates.”

Yeah, she didn’t believe him for a second. In any case,
Minka was in no mood to spend one more second disputing her dating status with
Jason. “Well, you’re in luck. I fall in the neither category.”

She jumped off the bed, yanking the sheet along with her,
shielding her body from his view but only to expose every inch of him.
Lean, well- defined muscles everywhere.

With all of her willpower, she tried desperately not to
look. He was obviously on the arrogant side and looking would only satisfy his
already overblown ego. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

She looked.

Damn! Not only did she look, she gawked and took in all of
his glory.

She heard him chuckle and realized she was still staring,
possibly drooling at the sight of his nakedness.

“You sure you want to miss out on all of this?”

The man was a conceited, pompous ass! “I’m sure.”

He chuckled again, obviously not buying her answer.

She turned on her heels and pulled the sheet tightly over
her. “I need my clothes.”

“They’re in the closet.”

“You put my clothes in the closet?” She was somewhat
surprised that he found the time and energy to do that.

“Where else was I supposed to put them?”

She stared blankly at him.

“You seemed the neat type.”

Great, she was already classified. Minka opened the door to
the large closet and escaped.
 
She
needed a few minutes to think.

Jason was still smiling when she reentered the room, fully
dressed, but without her bra. All of her belongings had been neatly placed in
the closet with the exception of her bra.

“Can you put some clothes on?”

“I’m comfortable.”

“I’m not.”

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why aren’t you comfortable with my nudity?”

It’s not just your
nudity that I’m not comfortable with.

As a distraction to hide the unsettling feeling inside, she
sucked in a deep breath and walked across the room to retrieve what appeared to
be her bra.

 
“I like your
name. Minka,” he said from the bed. “It’s different.”

“I’ll be sure to pass the compliment on to my parents.
Please put some clothes on.”

Jason laughed off her obvious discomfort. “Come back to bed,
darling. I can call Blake and let him know you’ll be late.”

She stood there watching him. Her lips drawn, her eyes
narrowed.

“And
Minka,
did you like the sex?”
He waved a long finger in the air. “Ah, don’t lie.”

“I was drunk. You took advantage. Please put some clothes
on.”

“I never take advantage of a woman. And you weren’t drunk.” He
patted the empty space on the bed next to him. “So how did we compare to your
college make-out session?”

The man was impossibly conceited. Did he really need to hear
that was the best sex she’s ever had? Walking past the bed, she murmured, “I
have to go.”

But damn it, he was coming to his feet, off the bed, in all his
glory.
Don’t look!
Once again, she
failed. She looked at his wide shoulders, his tattoos, his flat abdomen, and… Seriously,
she needed to stop gawking as if she had never seen a beautiful naked body
before. Well, she hadn’t but she didn’t have to make it so obvious.

Minka caught her breath as he came to stand very close to
her, leaving only inches between them. Out of desperation, she tried to
increase the space between them by taking a step back. To her surprise, he
turned on his heels and walked toward the dresser, giving Minka a full view of
his flawless ass.

He pulled out a pair of black boxer briefs and lazily slid
long, toned, tanned legs into them as if he was very aware she was examining his
every move. She hated to give him that satisfaction, but her eyes were glued to
him, even when he turned to face her, in the sexiest pair of boxer briefs she
had ever seen on a man.

He took two long strides to close the space between them.
Minka automatically took several steps back until her back was pressed against
the wall. Toned arms came to rest on the wall, his eyes locked into hers,
holding her prisoner.

“Don’t go yet, Minka.”

Really, did her name have to sound like silk coming out of
his mouth?

“I must go,” she heard herself say in a whisper. Minka wondered
who she was trying to convince. At this point, she wasn’t so sure.

“I want to see you again.”

Were her ears deceiving her?

A gorgeous hunk of a man wanted to see her again after a
night of sex. This couldn’t be. She wouldn’t allow herself to entertain the
idea. He was too beautiful. He belonged with someone just as beautiful, someone
like Keely. At that thought, her heart sank. But it was better she protected
herself from any more humiliation.

“I have a boyfriend,” she said out of desperation.

A soft laugh escaped his throat. “You just told me you were
single.” As he spoke the words, he drew his face closer to hers, his lips
inches away from hers.

He was about to kiss her again; only this time she was one
hundred percent sober. Minka toyed with the idea of begging him to have a little
mercy on her. But she didn’t, instead her long lashes fluttered when he paused
for a mere second.

Then he was kissing her, another mind-blowing kiss. His lips
felt just as great as they had last night, if not better. Minka heard a soft
noise from her throat as he deepened his hold on her.

Against her lips, he whispered, “God, you feel good.” His
voice was raspy as he spoke the words, the heat of his mouth caressing her
lips. “Let’s go back to bed.”

She wanted to, oh how she really wanted to go back to bed
with him one last time.

“I really have to go. I promised Keely I’d go to her fitting
with her.” Where she found the voice to speak, Minka wasn’t sure.

“Otherwise you would have stayed,” he challenged, still
standing way too close to her, his lips too close.

“Yes, probably.”
He raised an
eyebrow. “Yes,” she admitted. At least for one last time, she would have
stayed.

He nodded and took a few steps back away from her, seeming
to understand her dilemma. The space unexpectedly left her feeling empty.

He walked over to the bedroom door and opened it. She
quietly followed him as he led her down the spiral mahogany stairs. The house,
she realized, was quite large with a certain charm. A Victorian style house
that was clearly a work-in-progress, with what appeared to be freshly stained
and finished floors, newly painted
walls and sparse furniture. With the exception of his bedroom and the
big leather sofa in the living room accompanied by a big screen television, it
didn’t look like any other furniture had been purchased.

She wondered who was actually behind the man and why he
lived in this big old house alone. Was he coming fresh off a relationship,
perhaps a divorce? And if so, had he gotten his heart broken or had he been the
heartbreaker? Minka decided it was probably the latter.

“So, should we try this again?”

Lost in her thoughts, the question caught her off-guard and
she bumped into him. Her hands landed on his bare chest and stayed there for a
second too long. She really should have insisted he put a shirt on as well. Not
that the sexy, thigh-hugging boxers were helping much.

“We should try this again,” he repeated, but not as a
question this time. “I want to see you again, Minka.”

“I can’t.”

“Because…”

Okay, so he was persistent.

Because next time,
there won’t be any alcohol. Because next time you will see I’m not built like a
model.
Because next time, I won’t be good enough.

“Because whatever kinky sex we had was induced by alcohol,
and that wasn’t me,” she said instead. Her voice sounded almost remorseful.

“I was sober. So were you,” he said gently, looking at her with
such intensity Minka wanted to run and hide.

“I had a few drinks.”
Two to be exact,
nothing that could have clouded her judgment.

“Then I think you owe it to us to try it once more, not
drunk.”

He didn’t wait for her to agree or disagree; he lowered his
head to kiss her again, a soft, delicate kiss that left her breathless. The
thought of blowing off her sister crossed her mind. She could use a few more
hours without having to feign happiness. The vibration of her phone brought her
back to reality. Sadly, she pulled out of his hold to retrieve the phone inside
her purse. Upon seeing who the caller was, she answered the phone.

“What’s on your agenda today? Tell me the MOH slept with the
best man.” Lily’s voice was filled with humor on the other end of the line.
Minka couldn’t help but smile.

“Lily, can I call you back? I, um…I have to get in my car.”

There was a slight pause on the other end of the phone,
then
her friend burst into full laughter.
“OemGee!”