Double Coverage (6 page)

But that was then, and this was now.

Now the skirt that was coming between them was walking in the door. Her twisty brown hair gathered at her nape, she wore a blue dress that cupped her magnificent breasts, then fell loose and flowing to her knees and a pair of gold high-heeled sandals. Damn, she was hot. Probably the hottest woman he’d ever seen.

Her eyes scanned the room. He knew she was looking for Trig; she found Bullet instead. Her smile was wary as she approached him with hesitation. The intelligence in her eyes was somewhat intimidating; the come-and-get-me smile she gave him set him at ease. He grinned back, letting his eyes sweep her body so she knew exactly where she stood with him.

“Trig’s still upstairs. I’m sure he’ll be down soon. Why don’t you have a seat so we can catch up on old times.”

*

“How are you this evening, Bobby, uh, Rob? I’m sorry, I’m having trouble keeping all these names right in my head.” She liked the way he looked at her. She knew he was undressing her with his eyes as if trying to imagine what she wore beneath her dress. It thrilled her.

He was beautiful, golden all over except for those eyes—strange, changeable blue eyes that could see through her. He knew how to seduce with those eyes; she felt tingly again from just the promise he conveyed in a single glance. He was quiet now, all the bluster and bravado from the afternoon beside the pool replaced with a quiet intensity she’d never encountered before.

“All these nicknames are hard to keep up with. Just call me Bullet, sugar, everyone does. Even my mother.” He was all southern charm, his drawl slightly different from Trig’s. She missed the low caress of a sweet-talking man, she realized. And she had two of them, both laying it on so thick she had to be candy-coated by now.

“Okay, Bullet. Are you sure you don’t mind if I sit down?” She moved to the chair he pushed out with his foot, the one right beside him.

“What are you drinking tonight, Kailey?” He signaled a waiter over, the same one from last night. His eyes were hard now, as he glanced between them almost reprovingly. “Hey, Sam, bring the lady whatever she wants and put it on my tab. Hell, put everyone at this table on my tab. You want champagne, Kai?”

First Trig had called her that, now Bullet. His voice seemed to caress the stolen endearment, his eyes telling her how much he relished her reaction. Shit, she couldn’t help if her damned nipples had a mind of their own lately. “Yes, thank you, that will be fine.”

Music blared over the loudspeaker, band music, the fight song. People clapped and shouted, but it was just a test of the speakers. It was early yet, and people were just now starting to trickle in, those staying at the hotel followed by those living in town. Yet Trig had still not made an appearance.

“Hey, Bullet, are we at your table?” Two of the unattached Rah-Rahs—what were their names?—Marissa and … Jennifer, that was it. Jennifer, the one who’d do bad things to her for messing with Bullet, sat down at the table across from her when Bullet nodded. Jennifer glared daggers at her because she was at Bullet’s right. Slowly all of the chairs filled up, leaving only the one beside her open, presumably for Trig, if he ever showed up.

Then he did, standing in the door, his brown hair still damp from the shower, his shirt a silky blue that set off his brown eyes, while clinging to his body like a second skin. He spotted her, his smile hesitant as he looked from her to Bullet, then to the empty chair next to her. He ran his hand down her bare arm when he sat down beside her, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s all right, buddy. Seems the fireworks are yet to start.” Bullet’s voice was strained as he spoke, his eyes hard, unlike that afternoon on the beach when they’d both been laughing and playing together in the sand. Something was definitely off now, something she couldn’t put her finger on.

Even the others at the table looked between the two men, frowns of confusion on their faces. No one spoke much, and the liquor flowed like water. Sam—his name really was Sam—seemed to be their waiter exclusively; and even he noticed the tension at the popular table. She just shrugged when he looked at her, a question in his eyes. She didn’t have a clue, but the source did seem to be Trig and Bullet, almost as if she were sitting pretty in the middle of a war zone. Kailey did not like it, not one tiny little bit.

“Welcome, Class of 1996. Wow, has it really been fifteen years?” Bunny stood at the front of the room, microphone in hand, her blond hair pulled artfully into a twist that cascaded over one shoulder. She was just as perky and bubbly as she had been senior year when she was class president and salutatorian. Kailey had forgotten that; Bunny was damn near as smart as she was, yet she’d chosen to have a social life and extracurricular activities instead of immersing herself in books.

“What’s wrong, Kai?” It was Bullet who felt her disquiet, not Trig. She looked at him—his eyes were serious, the bluster gone.

“Nothing. I’m just thinking about what I missed out on.” She’d never admitted that little detail to anyone before. “Maybe I should have gone out for the volleyball team. I could have been active in student politics and clubs, instead of hiding behind a wall of textbooks.”

“You can’t judge yourself by what-ifs or the accomplishments of others, Kai, especially Bunny up there. She was an overachiever; still is from what I hear. And then there’s me. I didn’t miss out on anything and look at me. I’m thirty-three years old; I don’t have a college degree, and I have only one skill. In a couple of years I’ll be put out to pasture, if my knees hold out that long.” Leaning close to whisper in her ear, Bullet laid his hand on her thigh under the table.

Something liquid and warm swirled in her belly. Need, want, desire—son of a bitch. Trigger was sitting on her other side oblivious to his friend’s advances. The memory of his slow lovemaking that afternoon was still fresh in her mind, and here she was craving the touch of another man.

“Ahem, why, mmm, why didn’t you graduate?” She hoped to distract her philandering little mind, but his fingers gently stroking her leg just below the hem of her skirt had her brain whirling. “I thought you went to college.”

“I did for four long years. As soon as I was eligible for the draft, I thought it was more important to move on with my career instead of finishing the semester of school I needed to graduate. Trig was the smart one, he went to medical school instead of going pro. Of course, it took having his knee torn to shreds, or he’d be right here with me, wouldn’t you, Trig?”

She looked up to find Trig watching them. His eyes landed on Bullet’s fingers on her thigh. Something flared there—something bordering on violence. As she watched in amazement, he locked his gaze with hers and smiled. Oh God, liquid puddled between her legs, making her squirm. Trig knew what Bullet was doing, and he didn’t mind, his eyes blazed with a fire that had her gasping.

“I would have graduated on time regardless, Bullet. I didn’t dick around by changing my major three times or taking just the bare minimum required to stay on the team. But yeah, if I hadn’t been injured senior year, I would have been right there with you. I wouldn’t have gone to med school.”

“So it was good thing you were injured, then? I’m confused.” Mostly because Trig had her hand in his, stroking her thumb, and Bullet’s hand was inching her skirt up. The double assault made it extremely hard to focus on anything but their insistent touch and the increasingly erotic thoughts swimming through her mind.

“Shh,” Jennifer shushed them from across the table. Her eyes narrowed when Kailey looked up. “We’re trying to listen to the program.”

“Sorry, Jen,” Bullet, not the least bit contrite, said. He smiled darkly across the table, sipped his drink, and slowly slid his fingers up her thighs. Trig didn’t bother to apologize. He turned his attention to the group at the front and the slide show that was starting. His hand rested on her other thigh.

A jolt of something carnal swept through her then. She wanted their hands on her, both of them. Oh God, she wanted to be touched so badly her whole body throbbed with need. Her brain melted, literally melted, when Bullet eased his hand along her inner thigh, parting her legs. One finger grazed her mound, making her jump just as her name was called out over the speaker, dragging every eye in the room her way.

“Kailey Whitmore, valedictorian, now a professor of archaeology at Princeton University in New Jersey. Kailey holds three bachelor degrees, a masters, and a doctorate but prefers to spend her time digging in the dirt. Voted most likely to become a rocket scientist, Kailey became the Indiana Jones of our class.”

Images of her flashed on the screen at the front of the room, images from back in the day, an elementary yearbook photo, her braids from middle school, the thick glasses she’d worn, and the braces. God, she’d been such a geek. The images changed to her in college. There was one with Charlie that had her cringing. Several of her on digs around the world, her hair sun-bleached and wild, dressed in tank tops, cargo shorts, and work boots. She hardly had time to wonder where the reunion committee had scared up the photos when the slide moved on to the next unsuspecting classmate.

“You are one hot archaeologist babe, Kailey,” Bullet leaned over and whispered in her ear, his finger resting between her legs so close to that spot that craved his touch she thought she would explode. “And I know your secret.”

“Oh God.” She couldn’t stifle the low moan, aware that Trig was staring at her, his hand still resting lightly on her other thigh. He knew where Bullet’s hand was, and he didn’t care. In fact, lust blazed in his eyes when he glanced between them. Her stomach twisted; a vague feeling of nausea nearly overwhelmed her.

“I’ve got to go. I can’t do this.”

Chapter Six

“Kailey wait.” Trig gripped her thigh. She was about to run. Her breathing had gone shallow and fast; her face flushed. It was obvious she was on the verge of panic, at least to him. Bullet just smiled; it was all fun and games to him. “Not here,” he said to Bullet, watching as he reluctantly withdrew his hand from between her legs.

“Wait a few minutes and then you can slip out without notice.”

She nodded; her eyes were aflame with lust and confusion.
Damn it, Bullet, why did you have to be right?
Kailey wanted him. Hell, she was turned on just from his hand on her thigh. Goddamn, she was just like all the rest.

Twenty minutes later, the slide show turned to a tribute to the classmates they’d lost over the years, the lights grew dim and music swelled. “Now, Kailey.”

She turned liquid eyes on him, her hand trembling as she took one last sip of her drink. Then without a word to anyone, she excused herself and headed for the exit. A minute later, he followed her, giving Bullet a look that told him to behave. Bullet just smiled innocently up at him and raised his glass of water in salute. Only Jennifer saw him leave, her eyebrow raised as she watched him follow Kailey out to the corridor.

A few moments later he found her exiting the ladies’ room. She looked composed now, but wary when she looked his way.

“What was all that about?” she asked softly as another classmate followed her out of the restroom. “What are you and … and … whatever his name is playing at?”

“I’m sorry, Kailey—just a bit of jealousy that got out of hand.” He wondered exactly who he was referring to, himself or Bullet? God, Bullet had her orgasmic with just a touch—and he’d played along. What the hell was wrong with him?

“The two of you were feeling me up, and everyone in the whole room saw. Trig, do you know how embarrassed I was sitting there with his finger on my pussy and yours on my thigh?” Her voice rose as her agitation level rose. Her nipples were hard beneath her dress, her chest heaving as she threatened to launch into a full-out assault.

“You really are magnificent.” He hadn’t meant to let the words escape his lips; she’d been on the verge of orgasm with every eye in the place on her, yet she looked so cool and collected, no one looking at her would have suspected the red infusing her face was anything more than humility. The more he watched her, the more he touched her, the more he wanted her.

“What?” He’d startled her, her eyes went round as he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers.

“You are magnificent, Kailey. Don’t you know this? All of your accomplishments aside, you grew into a beauty, and you have this innocence about that you that drives men wild. You’re a contradiction, and you’re driving me crazy.” There, he’d said it. He was crazy about her, the fantasy of her be damned—the real woman was everything he ever wanted.

“Trigger.” She leaned into him, her body thrumming in his arms, her voice soft, and her breath warm. “You’ve got me so confused. I want you so much my skin hurts every time I look at you. It hurts to want you so much, knowing we live in two different worlds.”

“Come to New Orleans for the summer, Kailey. Give me a chance. I want to get to know you, I want to wake up with you every morning and go to be bed with you every night. I want you so much I ache from it, Kailey. I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“Don’t say that, Trig. I might believe you.” Her voice caught on the words. “I’m not ready to love again. I’m not ready for another commitment.”

“I know, baby. I know it’s too soon, but I’m not like him. I’m not your ex, Kailey.” He said the words with his heart hammering in his chest.

“I know you’re not, Trig, but…”

He touched his lips to hers, stopping the words. He didn’t want to hear anymore. He didn’t want to know that when she walked out the door that night he would never see her again. She leaned into him, sighing as her eyes fluttered closed, her hands clasping and unclasping his arms. “We have tonight. I want tonight.”

“Umm, look at this.” Bullet’s voice was soft when he stepped up behind her, his presence overwhelming, his eyes alive with lust and greed. “My two favorite people all hooked up. Mind if I join you?”

“Get lost, Bobby.” Trig pulled Kailey tight against him, hoping to protect her from this thing between him and Bullet that just would not go away.