A Major Attraction (9 page)

Physically they meshed. Boy did they mesh. Every time they made love, she had an orgasm, an unheard of occurrence in her short history of boyfriends. She found Kyle a stimulant all on his own. Touching him, smelling him, even tasting him made her wild to have him.

He inspired her mentally as well. An intelligent man, he had no problem conversing about everything from politics to religion to her favorite cartoon. He asked her opinion about things and listened when she spoke.

Emotionally... That was the huge problem between them, as she saw it. The blasted Marine was making her fall in love with him. She kept trying to label her feelings as obsession or infatuation. But deep down she knew the difference. Odd as it was, she’d fallen in love with Kyle in just a few week’s time, and she didn’t know how to handle this new, perplexing situation.

Since she’d opened Cava’s Java, she’d had a plan. In five years, she would expand her business to Wilmington, North Carolina. How would that move happen if the love of her life resided in California, Japan, or even Hawaii?

She tossed and turned in bed, wanting to sleep but unable to keep the worry from overtaking her. Loving Kyle could be detrimental to her future, to her very self.

Though her mother had adjusted to her father’s career, Olivia knew the times back then dictated such. Her mother had grown up in an age when women were expected to raise their children. They didn’t have major careers. For that matter, they rarely had sex before marriage.

Olivia came from the next generation, from a world that encouraged women to be professionals, to have both a career
and
a home life. Yet her career, which before Kyle had meant the world to her, now paled in comparison to the togetherness they shared.

What to do? She needed to talk to someone. Maria immediately came to mind, but Olivia didn’t think she’d understand. Maria was totally in love with Mike, perfectly content to follow him around the globe. Part-time work suited her fine, and she looked forward to the day she and Mike would produce a passel of children.

As much as Olivia respected and even admired Maria’s ambitions, she didn’t share them.

She rolled to her back and stared at the ceiling. She definitely needed to talk to someone. At this point, it seemed only Elizabeth Cava could help.

Resolute in her decision to seek her mother’s advice, Olivia finally drifted to sleep. In her dreams, she walked down the aisle in a white bridal gown, her pregnant belly bursting at the seams and her coffee shop in flames behind her as she and Kyle said “I do” amidst the foreign climate of Japan.

****

When Kyle returned from his monotonous six-hour journey from Augusta, Georgia, to Swansboro, North Carolina, late Monday night, he wanted nothing more than a cold beer, a steak to fill his belly, and a juicy kiss from the woman of his dreams.

Instead, he found the refrigerator empty of alcohol, the freezer devoid of anything resembling red meat, and the house as silent and dark as a tomb.

“Well, this just ends a less-than-perfect weekend.”

He cursed and opened the refrigerator to allow a sliver of light, grabbed his selection, and closed the door. He downed a bottle of lemonade, wincing when the acidic lemon burned his parched throat.

It had been fantastic to see his brother, now a happily engaged man. Kyle still couldn’t believe that Tim, a confirmed bachelor, had agreed to take the plunge. After meeting the fiancée, he understood what had attracted his brother. Brenda Durn’s sexy exterior contained compassion, loyalty, and an abiding love for Tim Waters.

Though Kyle had wanted to jump on the bandwagon, singing Olivia’s praises, he hadn’t felt comfortable enough about their relationship to mention her. How did he tell his brother he’d fallen in love with a woman he’d really just met? Sure, he’d fucked her brains out. He knew her favorite color and flavor of ice cream. But he’d never met her family. Oh, and she had a hang-up about not dating Marines.

Kyle had wished his brother the best, remaining cheerful in spite of the weird dread in the pit of his belly.

Once the introductions and pleasantries had ended, Brenda left the brothers alone—to a torment Kyle hoped never to experience again. Tim turned into the broker from hell. Lecturing through dinner and long into the night, Tim refused to acknowledge Kyle’s need for rest, as well as his disinterest in the stock market.

Finally feigning sleep, an act not too far from the truth, Kyle managed to escape his long-winded but well-meaning older brother. Bunking down in the spare bedroom, he did his best to ignore the sounds of love-play in the room across the hall.

Envious of Tim’s love life, tired, and horny as hell for Olivia, Kyle fell into a restless sleep. Beset by erotic dreams of Olivia that had him hard half the night, he freely admitted to himself how much he missed holding her in his arms.

Standing in his home without the kiss he’d anticipated, he felt as if he’d been socked in the gut. She knew he’d planned to be back tonight. He’d wanted to call her over the weekend but thought that would have made him seem too needy, so he hadn’t. He’d texted her to announce his arrival and his departure.

Now he thought not calling her might have been a mistake. What if she’d turned to someone else while he’d been away? He had just met her after all. It hadn’t taken Becca long to find someone else while they’d been dating, and they’d been together for months.

No, not Olivia
. He told himself to relax, that he suffered the aftereffects of a long weekend. Just because Olivia hadn’t been waiting for him didn’t mean she was down the street screwing some asshole captain with a god complex. She was not Becca Morris.

The door opened and closed. There, at the front entrance, stood Olivia, looking ragged. She wore jeans and a smock splattered with gold paint.

Relieved, Kyle buried his distrust. “Olivia?”

Her head whipped around, and a huge grin broke over her face. “
Kyle.
” She launched herself at him. In seconds they were burning up the kitchen. “I missed you.”

He devoured her, kissing every section of her he could reach. He fisted his hands in her hair and drowned in her like a starving man. “Baby, I missed you too,” he said when he could find a breath.

He was hard, remembering her softness and needing it desperately. Uncaring of how unromantic it might seem, he unbuttoned her jeans and shoved them, panties, and shoes off her feet. Then he lifted her by the waist and deposited her on the kitchen table, fusing his mouth to hers again.

After several moments she broke from his mouth to order, “More,” and ground her lips against his, sabotaging his intention to slow things down.

Within seconds he had his jeans unfastened and his cock in his hand, guiding it to her slick pussy. He thrust deep, and they groaned, the sensation exquisite. Kissing her, he mimicked with his tongue the motion of his cock, thrusting deep to touch every part of her that he could.

“Three days.” He groaned and pumped faster, reaching between them to finger her clit. He found the plump nub rock-hard and knew she had to be as close to the edge of orgasm as he was. Taking her on the kitchen table, with no foreplay and utter need, triggered his lust into a full-fledged fury.

He pistoned his hips in a rage of desire.

“
Oh yes, yes
.” She clutched at him and seized around him, her silky inner walls like a vise. “I’m coming. Oh yeah. Come in me. All in me,” she said as she trembled, holding him tight.

“
Yes,
” he hissed and jetted inside her. She milked every drop he’d hoarded for three precious days, and he sagged against her, breathing hard when he’d finally finished.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Olivia said on a sigh. “Much as I hate to admit it, I’ve been
dying
to make love to you again.”

He grinned against her lips. “Why do you hate to admit it?”

“Because it makes me seem needy.”

He laughed, having recently thought himself the same. “I just shot inside you for like a full minute. How needy is that? Hell, I took you on the kitchen table without a ‘How have you been?’”

“I guess that’s all right then.” She chuckled. “You’re earlier than I thought. Sorry the fridge is empty. I was planning to restock the fridge but got sidetracked by my mom. Why don’t we adjourn to the bedroom, where you can tell me all about your trip to Georgia? I’ll tell you all about my foray into professional painting.”

“
After
we order a pizza,” Kyle added on a moan when she clamped herself down around him again.

“Great minds think alike.” Olivia sighed into his lips, and Kyle felt his heart shatter at her feet.

****

The next week passed for Olivia in a haze of happiness. Work showed steady profit. Her customers ate and drank in record numbers, passing word of Cava’s Java so that from ten to noon in the morning and from six to nine in the evening the place was mobbed.

She and Kyle made love every night, and the sex kept getting hotter. With just a touch, he could turn her into a shivery mess, something she’d only read about before meeting him. She smiled at memories of their lovemaking and cleared another table as the last of her customers huddled near the display case, pondering what to buy.

Gazing through the window into the distance, she saw the black sheet of Intracoastal Waterway under the bright moonlight and wondered if anyone could ever replace Kyle in her heart.

“Baby girl, I missed you,” a deep voice growled before long arms reached around her waist to lift her from the floor.

She screeched in surprise. “Brad?”

Her brother set her down and spun her around for a tight hug. “What are you doing here all by yourself tonight?” He looked around. “Where’s your help?”

She couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. Her brother had returned safely from God-only-knew-where. “John had a hot date. I gave Emma the night off, and it’s almost closing.” She glanced at her watch. “Ten more minutes.”

She rang up a few customers and waited while others decided whether to order or not. Turning to Brad, she punched him in the arm. “Why didn’t you let us know you’d be back?”

“I wanted to surprise you.” He frowned at her, looking so much like Mike they could have been twins. “Why are you always punching me?”

Familiar sibling bickering ensued, and Olivia wondered,
Could my life get any better?

****

Kyle entered to see Olivia roughhousing with a man, a tall Marine by the look of him. He tried not to feel jealous, but seeing her in the stranger’s arms stirred old feelings of distrust.

Calling himself a fool for doing so, he quietly backed out of the store and waited down the street, trying to calm his unexpected suspicion.

The time ticked by as several last-minute customers entered and finally exited. After another ten minutes, Olivia and the man left the shop. They walked a few steps and stopped when Olivia tugged at his arm.

“I really missed you,” she said and kissed the man
on the lips
.

“I know, baby. I missed you too.” The man returned her quick kiss, and Kyle froze where he stood. “No woman compares to you, Liv.” The bastard had the nerve to hug her
again.
Worse, Olivia didn’t push him away
.
“I hear you have a new roommate.”

She shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

He was no big deal?

“No one important, hmm?”

Olivia didn’t answer him, and Kyle wanted to strike out at something in his rage.

“I’d rather talk about you, handsome. Let’s go somewhere special. How about our place?”

The asshole grinned. “Best food in town. And it’s on me.”

“Right.”

“Come on. We’ll make it a sleepover and have some fun.”

Kyle didn’t hear what she said, he only saw her smile, watched her kiss and cuddle with that muscle-bound dickhead. He couldn’t believe he had misjudged
again
. Pain and rage vied for supremacy until he was a mass of frayed nerves, just waiting to vent. Instead of confronting Olivia with her deceit, he backed into a cluster of bushes, not ready to deal with her yet.

The happy couple walked right by him, completely oblivious to his presence behind the brush. He watched them enter an unfamiliar car parked on the side of the road. They drove away, leaving Kyle in a state of fury

Had she been making it with that idiot while he’d visited Tim? Was this the man who made her reject all the Marines who’d previously asked her out? Maybe she’d needed Kyle to fill the hours, a good fuck until Mr. Right returned.

But they’d been so tight together. He’d thought she’d come to sincerely care for him.

“I hear you have a new roommate.”

“It’s no big deal.”

God, that hurt. He felt cut to the bone. He recalled her connection to Becca Morris and gritted his teeth. He should have guessed. Olivia Cava was too good to be true. So their chemistry fit on every level. So what?

He stalked back to the house, so angry he could barely see straight. Knowing he had to relieve this anger in a healthy way, he changed into PT gear and set out on a very long run.

As he ran, he debated how to approach Olivia, what to say. In his mind’s eye, he saw Olivia and Becca laughing, conspiring to set him up. Anger coursed through him, surging his adrenaline to increase his pace. He continued to run, determined to tamper his out-of-control emotions. Through it all, he tried to ignore the pain that beat at him.

When Olivia returned to the house an hour and a half later, her spirits were so high she felt as if she were flying. Her parents and Mike and Maria spent Friday nights playing cards. Presenting Brad to them felt like Christmas come early. Laughter and hugs floated around the house, where they enjoyed “the best food in town” until she wanted to burst with joy. Only one thing marred the evening, that Kyle hadn’t been a part of it.

The talk she’d shared with her mother on Sunday had put a new perspective on life with “the one you think you love.” She recalled the conversation with ease, needing it to bolster her confidence tonight.