Hidden Depths (11 page)

She rubbed her breasts side to side, creating a delicious
friction against them, the gentle tug of her nipple rings only added to the
sensation. She twisted her hips again, giving up on subtlety, simply needing
the release her body was craving.

With a little whimper, she twisted faster, pressing even
tighter against him.

Hearing the groan from Josh, his hands gripped her tighter,
using his strength to slide her up and then back down his thigh. He nipped her
ear again, this time biting down a little harder, his hot breath panting out
against her.

"Gia, come for me. I need to see it."

She gasped, his words bringing her even closer to that edge.

Josh heard the song starting to wind down and knew he was
almost out of time. To anyone watching he knew they would simply look like a
couple locked together in an intimate dance. Their friends may ask questions,
but hopefully they couldn't really see anything. No one else would be any the
wiser. Not that he cared, because there was no way in hell he was letting her
go right now.

He pulled again, lifting her slightly as he moved his leg
side to side against her. He was so damn hard he'd be lucky if he didn't come
with her, but he had to see her orgasm. He needed to know that she was as out
of control as he was, that he wasn't alone in this.

He leaned again, whispering in her other ear this time,
"Just imagine my fingers inside you, rubbing that perfect little spot, my
cock thrusting into you, fucking you until you shatter."

He felt her body go taut, so he bit down right where her
neck met her shoulder. When he felt her nails digging into his shoulders, he
stilled his leg, pressing firmly against her while she rode out her release.
His cock hurt, the zipper digging into his shaft. He breathed in deep,
struggling to remember where they were when he really wanted nothing more than
to bend her over the nearest table and shove into her.

Her body relaxed against his just as the song ended and a
faster one began to play. Slowly releasing her, he tilted her chin up one more
time.

"I will see you tomorrow night. I'm coming over to your
house after you close up and we are going to talk."

He turned and strode off to the bathroom without waiting for
her response. He needed a minute to cool down. No, actually he needed a cold
shower.  Or a bag of ice for his groin. Regardless, he needed to get away from
her tempting little body, before he did something that would embarrass them
both.

By the time he came out of the bathroom, Gia was gone.

Chapter 14

Gia woke the next morning, not quite hung over, but not
feeling quite right either. She refused to believe that the headache and queasy
stomach was in any way related to anything but her overindulgence in vodka and
tonics. It had absolutely nothing to do with the horrifying guilt she felt over
her 'dance' with Josh last night.

After he'd left her on the dance floor, she had thrown her
braid over her shoulder to hide his bite mark, grabbed her bag from the table
and all but run out of the bar, mumbling something about too much alcohol.

It was the first time in the three years she'd owned her
business that she had been utterly grateful that she did not work banker's
hours. She didn't even open until noon today. Thank God. She rolled over and
decided that a little more sleep would be just the ticket to making her feel
human again.

As her eyes drifted shut her doorbell rang. She ignored it
the first time, and the second. When the third ring was followed by a
persistent knocking she finally threw back the covers and screamed out,
"I'm coming!"

"Fuck." Yelling made her head hurt. She stumbled
to the door, sure she knew who was on the other side.

She swung open the door muttering, "You weren't supposed
to be by until tonight, Josh..."

It wasn't Josh, but rather Kelly standing on the other side
of the door. Holding a cup of coffee out towards Gia, she asked, "So, we
were expecting someone else I take it? And he's coming over tonight,
hmmmm?"

"What, no... I just figured... after last night...
never mind. What are you doing here, Kell?" Gia knew she sounded grumpy,
but damn it she was grumpy, and the temptation of coffee only did a tiny bit
towards changing that.

"Awww, well good morning to you too, sunshine. I just
thought I'd come on over and bring you some coffee. See how you were feeling
this morning. You know, since you drank so much you had to run home last night.
Without even saying goodbye. After you and Josh danced. Really, really close
together."      

Grimacing and trying to hide her guilt behind the cup of
coffee, Gia took a giant gulp, only to gasp and choke on the coffee. "Holy
fuck, it's hot!"   

"Well, duh. I just walked to the coffee house and came
straight over here. So, take a deep breath and spill, Gia. What's going on with
you and Josh?"

Catching her breath, and taking another, smaller sip of the
coffee, she tried to stall until she could figure out what to say. Finally, she
decided on, "Nothing."

With a short barked out laugh, Kelly said, "Sure, it
totally looked like nothing last night."

"What? It was just a... dance."

"Uh huh, a really, really, really close, sexy dance.
Sexy enough that I could feel the steam coming off of the two of you."

All of a sudden Gia was light headed, falling backwards onto
the sofa as her knees gave out. "Oh hell... you saw us? Could everyone see
us?"

"If by everyone you mean Deb... then no. I happened to
pick that particular moment to head to the bathroom and I caught the little
show on my way by. You guys were pretty well hidden from the table."

"Oh... good. I just wouldn't want Deb to have seen
us..."

"Dancing? Are we still going to go with dancing or can
we both acknowledge that's a euphemism for sex in public?"

Gia gasped, choking on her coffee again, this time actually
spitting some of it out of her mouth and down the front of her shirt. She
coughed, trying to get air as she breathed the coffee into her lungs.

Kelly got up from the table and rushed over to Gia's side.
"You okay?" she asked, patting her on the back.

After a minute she caught her breath, and answered,
"Yeah. I'm good."

"Okay then... since I know you're not shy about sex,
what's with the choking?"

"Did it actually look like we were having sex...
really?"

"What? No, not literally, you were just dancing...
there was just this vibe coming off you guys... Wait, you weren't... aaahhh...
were you? Is that even possible?"

Gia, who was never embarrassed by anything, felt her cheeks
heating up. Before she could even respond, Kelly continued.

"Gia, did you and Josh actually have sex on the dance
floor?"

"No!" Gia yelled, taking a deep breath before she
continued a little more calmly. "No, we did not have sex. I have never had
sex with him, and I never will, let alone on a dance floor."

"Okay, then why the red-faced thing you've got going on
right now? I don't think I've ever seen you blush before."

When Gia didn't answer right away, Kelly kept prodding.
"Come on Gia, just spit it out. You obviously need to talk to someone, and
I'm not leaving here until I find out what's going on. Don't make me keep
guessing."

"All right! Damn, Kell you can be really pushy
sometimes, you know that?"

"Yes, yes, I know... Now stop deflecting."

On a sigh Gia finally decided to just spit it all out and
let the chips fall where they may. She figured she was about to lose her
friends over this, but Kelly was like a dog with a bone... she was not going to
let this go.

"Josh... kissed me." On another deep sigh, she
blurted out, "And I kissed him back."

"Last night? At the bar?"

"No, at my shop.... when he got his tattoo."

Gia watched as Kelly did some mental math. "So, like
almost two months ago?"

Gia nodded, waiting for the look of judgment, the disgust
she was sure was forthcoming. Instead Kelly just looked like she'd solved a riddle
of some sort.

"Well, that explains a lot."

"It does?"

"Yes, it definitely does. I even told Shannon there was
something... different with you two at the lake that day, and at the Tavern.
When I saw the tattoo, I just chocked it up to that, like some little secret
you guys shared or something, but this makes a lot more sense."

"And you don't hate me... or think I'm the worst person
in the world?"

Kelly laughed, "No... why would I hate y.... Ahhh,
because of Deb. You think I'll hate you because of Deb."

Gia started to nod, then ended on a shrug. "Yeah,
maybe. Or because, there was more than a kiss."

"Damn it Gia, just spill it... all of it. I promise I'm
not going to judge you, or hate you, or anything else. We're friends. So, you
have had sex with him?"

"No... well, yes... no. Aahh, hell. No, not sex. But,
we've messed around, kind of. Once. But it was before he and Deb broke up.
Maybe that's why they broke up. I ruined a perfectly good relationship because
I couldn't keep my damn shirt on, or stop my body's reaction to his
amazing..."

She looked up into Kelly's face, and she still saw no anger,
only... humor? Was that a little smirk she saw?

"His amazing... what? Ass, shoulders, abs, kisses, or
did we just go straight to the package?"

"Kell!"

Now Kelly did laugh, long and loud. "Come on Gia, I've
known the guy for the better part of a decade, same as you. It hasn't escaped
my notice that he is well put together. I'm just trying to figure out how I
didn't see this before."

"See what before?"

"You and Josh... it actually makes sense, really.
Almost more sense than he and Deb."

"Huh... bullshit. It makes no sense whatsoever. That's
why I kept it to myself all these years," Gia mumbled under her breath.

"Years, huh? How many years, exactly?"

"Shit, if I'm confessing my sins, I guess I may as well
confess all of them... probably about eight years."

"So, since you met him?" At Gia's nod, she
continued, "He and Deb have only been together for like four or so years,
why didn't you say anything before that?"

Gia cocked her head to one side and raised her eyebrow.

"Don't give me that look... answer the question."

"Same reason that nothing else is going to happen now.
It won't work, it can't work. Not then, not now, not ever."

"Okay... so then what's with the 'dancing'?"

Gia sighed again, "That would be my body betraying my
mind. I'm blaming it on vodka."

They talked for awhile longer, until Gia was actually
convinced that Kelly didn't hate her. After awhile they moved on to different
topics, including some things happening at Kelly's work. Specifically a cute
guy that had recently been hired. When Gia looked at the clock and realized she
needed to shower and get ready for work herself, Kelly headed for the door.

"Kell, let's not mention anything to anyone else please?
About my... rather indiscreet behavior. It's over... it won't happen again. I
promise."

Kelly nodded. "Sure thing. But Gia, just so we're
clear, if it did happen again, or if you wanted a relationship with him or
something, I still wouldn't think less of you. He and Deb are done, regardless
of why they're done, they are. And I don't think it was because of you and a
kiss, regardless of how amazing it was. There has been something... off...
between them for a while now. Or at least, nothing seemed exactly right. So, if
you want to, then go for it. He is a free man."

Gia smiled, "Thanks. But no, it's not going to
happen."

Kelly shrugged, then smirked at Gia. "Well then, I'll
keep it to myself. But, you may want to put some makeup on that giant hickey you're
sporting."

She turned and left, shutting the door behind her, leaving
Gia gaping after her, stunned right down to her toes.

Hickey? She had a hickey?

Damn that man!

Chapter 15

Gia's day had sucked. It turned out that her morning coffee
with Kelly, blended with the inquisition and the grueling admissions, had
actually been the highlight of her day. Her constant trips to the restroom to
make sure her makeup was still hiding the bite mark on her neck had done
nothing to improve her mood. So, by the time nine o'clock rolled around Gia was
more than ready to close up early and go home.

As soon as Aaron was done with his last customer Gia sent
everyone home. Her mood was apparently bad enough that no one even questioned
her, simply grabbed their things and headed out the back. Gia turned off the
lights, dropped the blinds and locked the front door behind her.

She turned to see Josh sitting in his Shelby, watching her,
a predatory look in his eyes. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't stop the
little shiver of pleasure that ran over her skin.

"Josh," she said by way of a greeting. She flipped
her keys around, finding the key to her jeep and walking toward her car. Which
just happened to be parked right next to Josh's. Something she had no doubt had
been intentional on his part.

When she didn't say anything else, he jumped out of his car,
over the side not through the door, and walked over to her, pressing up against
her back as she tried to open the door.

"So, you really think that you can just ignore me?
Ignore this? That will make it all go away?"

Gia took a deep breath, trying to ignore his body heat, his
chest, his groin, all brushing against her back. Apparently she didn't respond
quickly enough, because Josh continued.

"I told you I was going to come over tonight. I wasn't
entirely sure what time you were going to close up, so I thought I would wait
for you. I'm guessing you're done for the night?"

She nodded, not trusting her voice.