Kiss Is a Four-Letter Word (6 page)

"I thought we weren't going to talk about it," Eli answered, still not moving his hand.

Sherry spared a single brain cell to be thankful that even though it was July, the day had been cool. She was sweating in her jeans and tank top. Eli felt like a live coal all down her back.

He must be dying in that suit
, she thought, distracted. She wriggled, enjoying the twin grunts from the men.

"I don't even know what this is," Simon countered. He glanced at Sherry then dipped his head down for a brief kiss. Sherry melted against him, relying on Eli to hold her up.

"I know that's one of the hottest things I've ever seen," Eli said. He moved his hand.

Finally.
Sherry shattered, her hips bucking as the most intense orgasm she’d ever experienced sparked up and down her spine. She shuddered through the aftershocks.

"Ah, hell," Simon said, dropping his head to her shoulder. He thrust once, twice, then growled, hips jerking.

Eli shuddered and pressed into her, his hand tightening for a moment. Sherry heard him suck in a breath and then he groaned quietly. His cock pulsed against her back as he climaxed too.

Sherry closed her eyes and Simon kissed her, his body still glued to hers as Eli hung on to them both, trying to recover.
Holy hell. What did we just do?
Sherry was in shock. Simon broke the kiss, smiling down at her. As a headlight flashed over his face, Sherry wrenched her brain into working order. "There's a car coming."

Simon licked his lips. "I'm not sure I care."

Eli laughed and extracted his hand, making both Sherry and Simon moan. "I don't think any one of us wants to get arrested for public indecency."

Simon didn't move away. Sherry felt her heart flip over as he kissed her again then eyed Eli.
Oh my God
, Sherry thought.
He's going to kiss Eli
. She could tell by the look on his face. Apparently Eli could too, because the hands on her hips convulsed, then held tight. Simon pushed in, crowding Sherry up against Eli even more. He kissed her again briefly, pausing before leaning in over her shoulder and kissing Eli. No charity booth, no cajoling.

Eli's body went still, then his cock leaped up against Sherry's back as he moaned. How was that even possible? Didn't he need recovery time? Sherry tilted her head back and watched them kiss each other from mere inches away.
Wow. I could watch that all night long.
Erotic was the word that sprang to mind.
Really, really erotic.
When the men finally broke the kiss they were panting. So was Sherry, just from watching them.

"Whoa," she said. A car pulled into the spot next to hers. Simon stepped away, adjusting the fit of his jacket over his pants to conceal his newly sprung erection. Sherry kind of slid to the side and leaned on her car. Eli shoved his hands into his pockets. With his jacket bunched up over his wrists no one could tell what he had been doing. Sherry wished she had a similar trick. No one who got a good look at her was going to mistake her flushed face for anything but arousal.

"Sherry? Oh my God, we've been calling you for the past half hour."

Sherry flinched as her friend Barbara came hurtling out of the car. Aw, hell.

"Barbara? What are you doing here?" Sherry ignored Simon's grimace as Barbara dashed over and hugged Sherry, jostling him with her elbow.

"We were so worried. When you didn't show up at Woodbury and we couldn't get you on the phone, Josh and I drove back down to see what happened," Barbara explained, hugging Sherry again. Sherry absently patted her friend on the back. Josh was here too? Dammit.

"I stopped to pee and then my car wouldn't start. And you know how spotty the cell service is out here. The state parks don't have a lot of towers." Sherry pried her friend off her as another door slammed.

"It's probably just your battery," Josh said, walking over.

No shit Sherlock
, Sherry thought.
Why did Barbara have to bring him with her?

"We've got it under control," Simon said from under Sherry's hood. She frowned as she realized Eli had edged away too. Both men were now bending over her car fiddling with the jumper cables. Eli reached out and adjusted one, ignoring Simon's eye-roll. Sherry narrowed her eyes. She could tell Eli was faking it so he'd have something to do. Simon had already set the cables on her battery.

"Who are you?" Josh asked, his tone sharp.

For God's sake
, Sherry thought, irritated.
Not this again
. Josh liked to pretend Sherry was his girlfriend. He wasn't. Sherry wouldn't go out with him if someone paid her a million bucks. Why Barbara kept insisting he was perfect for her was a total mystery.

"Barbara, this is Simon," Sherry gestured to the dark-haired man still fiddling with the cables. He stopped and smiled at her. "And this is Eli." She grinned at Eli who leaned against her car, arms crossed over his chest. He looked very corporate. Like one of those rich bankers you see on television. When Simon joined him, Sherry couldn't help mooning over the two of them. They really were gorgeous.

"What are you doing here with Sherry?" Josh's voice was still aggressive.

They were busy kissing me senseless, dumbass
, Sherry thought.
And if you hadn't interrupted us—
Sherry sighed. Aloud she said, "They were giving me a hand with my car. They're friends of mine. Happily they showed up just as I was trying to start my car." She shrugged.

"Wait, you're Eli Moest! Aren't you?" Barbara suddenly shrieked.

Sherry frowned.
Who?

"And that means you must be Simon River, oh my God!" Barbara's voice went even higher, which Sherry didn't think was possible.

A faint grimace passed over Josh's face as he glanced at the Mercedes parked next to Sherry's car.

"Sherry, you didn't tell me you were friends with Eli and Simon. How come?" Barbara seized Sherry's arm.

Sherry extricated herself from Barbara's grip of steel. "Um—"

"We asked her not to mention our last names," Eli said, sounding suave and impenetrable at the same time.

Neat trick
, Sherry thought.
If only I knew who the hell Eli Moest and Simon River were.

"Oh, I see," Barbara nodded. "You probably didn't want us bugging Sherry about her rich and famous friends."

"Fat chance now," Simon muttered.

Sherry choked on a laugh and turned it into a cough.

Barbara turned back to Sherry after giving Eli a full-body leer. The sudden sting of jealousy surprised her.

"Even so, we've been best friends forever. How could you not tell me that you knew New York's two most eligible bachelors? They were in the New York Post.
Three
times." Barbara looked hurt.

"I thought I did?" Sherry was desperately confused. Eli? Simon? Rich? And famous? What the hell? "I told you about the guys that helped me when I fell off my bicycle, didn’t I?" Sherry offered, desperate.

Barbara pounced. "Oh my God! You mean they were the ones at the kissing booth? The ones who kissed each—"

"Barb! Oh my God, shut up," Sherry hissed, stealing a glance at Eli and Simon. Both men looked uneasy. Shit.

"What do you mean, kissed each? Each what?" Josh asked. He looked ready to punch someone.

Sherry tried to head him off. "They were volunteering at a kissing booth. My mom bought me a kiss from each of them." She watched Josh's face darken. Uh-oh. Her explanation was not helping with him, but Eli and Simon again seemed relieved. She frowned, thinking about their kiss tonight. What they'd said to each other. Clearly they hadn't kissed after the booth incident. They hadn't kissed each other again until tonight, with her between them. Hmm.

"Well, we're here now. Thanks for your help, but we can take care of Sherry," Josh said, nodding toward the jumper cables hanging out of her car.

Wait, what? Sherry shook herself out of her reverie. Did Josh just tell Eli and Simon he would take care of her? Oh, hell no.

"I can take care of myself," Sherry frowned at Josh. She wasn't ready to make a scene, but if he continued with this high-handed chauvinistic bull, she would definitely flip her shit. All over him.

"I know how scary it can be to get caught out in the middle of nowhere. Especially after what happened to you. That's why we came looking for you." Josh was oblivious to Sherry's growing anger. Even Barbara was looking at him side-eyed. And why did he have to bring up that thing from high school? It was a long time ago and the only reason he knew about it was because he used to date her best friend Melody. Josh was such a jerk. She glanced at Eli, but he just looked angry. Simon seemed coldly amused then turned a questioning look on her.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

Sherry waved her hand dismissively. "Nothing happened, Simon. And I wasn't scared, Josh. I can take care of myself." Sherry wondered if Josh was really going to pursue this. One look at his face and she knew he was. The asshat.

"Come on Sherry, I'll get my own cables and we can get going." Josh reached for the cables only to be stopped as Eli grabbed his arm. Josh glared.

"We've got this," Eli said quietly. Sherry suppressed an involuntary shiver of arousal. Eli laughing was sexy. Eli angry, and quietly throwing his weight around? Incendiary.

"Let go of my arm!" Josh tried to shake Eli's hand away. Eli didn't budge. "What's your problem?"

"My problem is that everything is fine here. Sherry doesn't need your help," Simon interjected, smoothly disengaging Eli's hand from Josh's arm. He looked at Sherry. "Do you want us to go?"

Sherry bit her lip and glanced at Barbara. Her friend lifted an eyebrow and Sherry had to smile. Barbara could be kind of hyper but she was a nice person. And she knew her well. Sherry turned back to Eli and Simon, ignoring Josh's increasingly red face. "No, your car is already in place. Please stay."

Josh made a sound that was somewhere between a growl and a curse. Sherry frowned. She no longer had any desire to go to Niagara Falls, especially now that she knew he was coming along. "Actually, Barbara, I'm not feeling so great. I'm going to have to take a rain check for this trip. When Eli and Simon get my car started, I’m heading home."

Barbara nodded, reading between the lines. "Of course. I wouldn't want you to come and then get sick. You'd spend all your time in the hotel. That would totally suck."

Sherry felt as though a weight had been lifted from her. "Yeah, that would not be fun at all. You might as well head out." She squinted as a new car pulled into the lot. Seemed like everyone was stopping for a bathroom break now. No way to kiss Eli and Simon some more, damn it to hell. She sighed as yet another vehicle parked and a family of four got out. She could hear the kids whining. Sherry had to shake her head. She felt like joining them.

"OK. Come on, Josh," Barbara said, grabbing him by the arm and towing him to her car. Josh aimed a poisonous glare her way but let Barbara hustle him out of there. Sherry didn't relax until they'd left.

"How did they know you'd be at this rest stop?" Simon asked, leaning against her car, his hands in his pockets.

Sherry shook her head. "They probably drove down to the state border, turned around, then had to go to the bathroom. I bet it was sheer bad luck." She squinted as another car pulled in, the headlights blinding her momentarily.

"Well, it's probably a good thing they stopped. One more minute and I'd have dragged you off into the woods," Eli said, his voice low and quiet. He shook his head and walked to the Mercedes. He opened the driver's side door and leaned in, pulling the lever to open the hood.

Simon laughed. "And I'd have helped." He grinned at Sherry. She blushed. His expression sobered. "You're really not going to go with your friends this weekend? You could've left your car here, gone with them..."

Sherry grimaced. "Barbara neglected to mention she was bringing Josh. He's an ass. I definitely do
not
want to spend the weekend with him."

Eli frowned, turning away from where he'd been fiddling with the cables on his car. "Why would your friend bring him? Doesn't she know you don't like him?"

Sherry sighed. "She probably had no choice. He's her cousin. Their moms are twins. Barbara's been cursed with his company her whole life. If she hadn't brought him, her mom and aunt would've made her miserable for weeks." Sherry shuddered.

"Ah," Eli said, then bent over the engine again. "Well, I think I've got it set up. Just remember, if we start your car, you'll have to drive home without stopping. No telling whether it'll start up again if you turn off the engine."

Sherry nodded. "I know." None of them made any move to start the cars. Sherry wondered if this would be the last time she'd see them and felt a pang of dismay. Maybe she should ask them out to dinner. She gathered her courage. "Hey, would you like to—"

Simon started talking at the same time. "We're sponsoring a dinner next week—"

They both broke off and laughed. "You first," Sherry said, smiling.

"We're hosting a charity dinner next week, a formal. Would you like to come as our guest?" Eli asked.

A charity dinner? Who did that?
Sherry wondered.
Whatever. I don't care if it's some horrible, stuffy, corporate thing as long as I get to see them again.
"I'd love to," she said aloud, smiling. "Where is it?"