Not a Second Chance (3 page)

He stepped toward her, and they started up Yonge again. Since Sidney wasn’t a big fan of this silence thing, he said, “Lovely weather, isn’t it?”

Her eyebrows shot up, as if she was surprised he was capable of talking about something as innocuous as the weather.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s the first day I didn’t wear a jacket to work, though I’m wondering now if that was a mistake.”

“Well, it’s not much farther, right?”

“Three or four minutes.”

“Excellent.” He wouldn’t have to wait much longer to touch her. To grab her ass, not hold her hand.

She smiled faintly at that. “And then you’ve got one hour.
Nothing
is happening between us after that one hour.”

He didn’t know why she thought that would be a problem for him. It wouldn’t. This was how he liked his sex. Quick, no emotional entanglement. It was the perfect setup.

Sidney scrubbed a hand down his face. No, he knew exactly why she thought it would be a problem for him. It was just that he tried not to think about how he used to be, and what had caused him to change.

He tried not to think about the seven months he’d been with
her
.

But tonight he would sleep with her, and then he would go home and have dinner, maybe watch a baseball game. He would prove to himself he was over Allison by treating her just like all the other women he’d slept with. Yes, he still thought she was sexy, but it was nothing more than that.

When they got to Allison’s condo on the fourteenth floor, she took off her shoes, put down her purse, and leaned against the wall, arms folded over her chest.

She did not look like a woman who wanted to have sex.

Shit
. Maybe he’d been an ass, bringing the conversation back to sex again and again. Finally she’d agreed, but she seemed to be having second thoughts. And she hadn’t even kissed him back.

“I can leave if you want,” he offered.

“It’s been two years since I had any decent sex. It’s time I had some.”

“If a woman wants sex, it’s easy for her to get it. She just needs to walk up to any guy in a bar. Hell, there was that other man hitting on you at the bakery.”

She rolled her eyes. “Let’s not analyze this decision.”

“You sure? You don’t seem very enthusiastic.”

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this. But yes, I want to sleep with you.” She swayed her hips as she came toward him, then wrapped her arms around his neck. Her voice a little husky, she said, “I’ll show you some enthusiasm soon enough.”

That was better.

He picked her up and carried her to the kitchen, where he set her on the counter, keeping his hands on her ass. He nudged her legs open and stood between them. Her thighs rested against him—oh, that was definitely better.

Allison shifted forward, pressing herself against his erection. Her lips nearly brushed his ear as she whispered, “I want you to strip me bare. I want you to lay me back on the counter, and slam into me over and over again.” She leaned back. “Is that enthusiastic enough for you?”

Hell yes, that was good. But if she wanted to keep going, that was fine too.

He circled his arms around her, pulling her chest against his. So much of her touched him, and he couldn’t wait until it was more. He kissed her collarbone before slowly dragging his lips up her neck. Up to her ear, where he nibbled on her earlobe.

“I guess it was enthusiastic enough for you,” she said dryly.

Sidney would have preferred a moan. Would have preferred some evidence that what he was doing affected her. He shifted one hand to her breast and stroked her nipple through her shirt.

“Are you wet?” he asked.

“No.”

He quickly unbuttoned her pants and slid his hand down her panties. He shoved his middle finger inside her; she was definitely turned on. Fuck, he wanted her so badly.

“Liar,” he said.

“I knew you would do that if I said no.”

“You were playing with me.”

“Of course. I…
Oh, God
.”

He’d shoved two fingers as deep as he could and pressed his thumb to her clit. Her lips parted slightly, and she bucked her hips against him.

“That’s better,” he said.

“It sure is. Stay right there.”

He pulled his fingers out and placed both hands on the counter.

“I hate you,” she muttered.

“I know.” He planted tiny kisses down her cheek. “Now the man you hate is going to kiss you on the mouth, and he won’t touch you again unless you kiss him back.”

Sidney pressed his lips to hers. He started to kiss her, very gently, very slowly.

She did nothing.

No surprise there. He knew she’d play with him like this, but he expected her to kiss him back soon enough.

Any moment now.

When she finally did, her hands coming up to cup his face, he groaned. He’d missed this—missed making out with a woman, not Allison specifically. He’d been having a bit of a dry spell lately. God, it felt good to do this again.

He started unbuttoning her shirt as they kissed. As fast as he could—he wanted her bare breasts in his hands. But it was hard to focus on the basic task of undoing buttons when she was pleasuring him like this, her tongue running along his lips, now dipping inside. Her mouth was perfect on his, her kiss searing.

He finally managed to pull off her shirt and remove her bra. When he squeezed her tits, she drew back and bit her lip.

“Just moan,” he said, desperate to hear some response from her. “You know you want to.”

He kept one hand on her breast and dropped the other one lower, his fingers flirting with the top of her panties.
This is what I’ll do if you moan for me.
Then he circled his thumb around her nipple. Very lightly—he remembered she had sensitive nipples.

She finally moaned, and he slid his hand lower and fingered her clit. Slowly, not enough to get her off—unless things had changed in the past ten years.

“See?” he said. “Everything’s better when you cooperate.”

“Everything’s better when you shut the hell up,” she shot back.

He stopped moving his finger.

“God, I hate you,” she muttered.

Sidney laughed and went back to rubbing his finger over her clit. And rubbing his erection against her thigh. Damn, she was making him hard. She was half naked now, and she was beautiful. Her dark hair hung to the tips of her hardened nipples. All that smooth skin for him to touch…and touch her he would.

“I know you want me to shut up,” he said. “But I need you to tell me—do you really want me to fuck you on the counter?”

“Hmm.” She unzipped his pants. “Do you have a condom? Or do we need to head to the bedroom to get one of those anyway?”

“I have one.”

He pushed down her pants and underwear, then used his thumb and forefinger to spread apart her folds. He didn’t slide a finger inside, just held her open and imagined being surrounded by her damp heat, taking her roughly in the kitchen. Yeah, that was definitely what he wanted.

“Here,” she gasped.

“Good.”

He returned to kissing her, holding her open and letting her imagine what came next. She wrapped her hand around his cock and stroked him lightly.

What came next would have to happen soon. Very soon.

When he spread his thumb and finger slightly farther apart, she said, “Yeah, you are pretty big.”

“Bigger than you remember?”

She grasped his cock more tightly. “No, same as I remember.”

“So you remember.”

“Of course I do.”

Sidney shoved his fingers inside her and listened to the soft moans that escaped her mouth.

“You’re gonna come for me,” he growled. “Gonna make you scream, whether you want to or not. And then I’ll slam into you while you’re lying back on the counter. Tell me you want—”

“I want that.”

He reached for his wallet and—

There was a knock at the door.

“Ignore it,” she said, her breath heavy. “They’ve probably got the wrong door.”

Well, he would happily ignore it. But when he was about to tear open the condom wrapper, there was another knock.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked.

Allison shut her eyes and reached for her bra.

Shit
.

“Now I remember,” she said. “My friends and I are going out tonight. Which I hadn’t forgotten. But I
did
forget that I told them to come over before dinner for a drink. Fuck.”

He swore too. Every damn word he knew. “Now what?”

“I knew I’d end up regretting this.” She shook her head. “I should never have let myself be talked into it.”

“Two years without any good sex, remember.” He zipped up his pants.

“Screw my miserable sex life. Not worth it.”

Sidney was insulted that she didn’t think he was worth it, but there was no time to argue. “What will you tell your friends about me?”

“Want to camp out in my bedroom for the next hour or two? After we head out, you can go. Just leave the door unlocked.” She paused. “Wait—I’m not sure I trust you alone in my condo.”

“I’d rather meet your friends.” Though it was a tough call. But a couple of hours alone in her bedroom would be pretty boring.

“You’ve met them before. My housemates in university.” She hurriedly buttoned her shirt.

There was another knock on the door. Louder, more insistent.

“Coming!” Allison shouted. Quietly, she asked Sidney, “How do I look?”

“Good. But not like you’re coming.”

She held up her middle finger as she headed to the door.

Goddammit. He was so not in the mood for this.

Allison was so not in the mood for this. After her friends saw Sidney, she’d have to hear about it all evening. Meaningless sex was definitely a better way to end the week than being teased mercilessly about the meaningless sex she hadn’t quite managed to have because her friends didn’t have the courtesy to show up late.

She flung open the door.

“Hey!” Kristy held out a bottle of white wine. “How are you?”

“I’m great,” Allison said, hoping she sounded normal. But her ex-boyfriend had been about to fuck her on the counter a minute ago. It was probably impossible to sound normal.

Maya narrowed her eyes and skipped the pleasantries. “Why are you still in your work clothes? And your shirt’s not buttoned properly.”

Allison looked down. The buttons were off by one; the last buttonhole had no button. And Sidney had told her she looked fine.

She took the bottle of wine. “Thanks. Why didn’t you buzz?”

Kristy shrugged. “The old man in front of us held the door open, so we didn’t need to.”

“He’s not supposed to do that,” Allison grumbled.

“Seriously, what’s up with you tonight?” Maya said.

“Nothing.” But it was stupid to deny it. Just delaying the inevitable for a few more seconds. Unless it wasn’t inevitable. Maybe Sidney would climb out the window and down fourteen floors of glass, and Maya would stop pestering her.

Yeah, right. No way would her friends let this go.

“Are you sure?” Kristy asked, her face full of concern. “Maya’s right. Something’s off.”

“Yeah. Out with it.” Maya put her hands on her hips. “And maybe you could move away from the door so we can come in.”

Allison stepped back. As her friends entered, she tried to prepare herself for the moment they saw Sidney. Which should be any second now.

Except Sidney seemed to have disappeared.

Hmm. Maybe he’d decided to camp out in her bedroom after all.

“You have a guy over.” Maya pointed at his shoes.

Okay, that was stupid of him. Hiding in her bedroom was pointless if he didn’t take all the evidence with him. He better not have left a condom on the kitchen counter. There was no point denying the truth now, but that would make it even more embarrassing.

“Yeah, I have a guy over.” Allison set the wine down on the counter. No condom. Good. “I forgot you two were coming over before dinner, so…yeah.”

Kristy gave her a little push on the shoulder. “Where did you meet him? Tell us everything!”

“It looks like that’s the last thing she wants to do,” Maya said.

“You’ll meet him soon enough.” Allison glanced down the hall. The washroom door was closed. “I need a drink.”

She motioned her friends toward the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living room. Then she walked to the cupboard and got out wineglasses. Three wineglasses.

“I take it he’s not staying,” Maya said as she sat down.

Allison was opening the bottle of wine when Sidney entered the kitchen. The sexy man who happened to be her ex-boyfriend. And who irritated the crap out of her.

“Hey.” He nodded at her friends. “Kristy. Maya. Have I got that right?”

Kristy and Maya just stared at him, eyes wide.

Maya found her voice first. “Did Allison tell you our names? Or do we know you?”

“Unfortunately, yes. You know him.” Allison pulled out the cork with a
pop
, then cast a sidelong glance at Sidney. Unlike her, he did not look like he’d been fooling around just a few minutes before. Damn him. She still needed to fix the buttons on her shirt.

Kristy’s face lit up. “Sidney. Can’t believe I didn’t recognize you at first. I like the long hair.”

Allison couldn’t believe Kristy had figured out who he was faster than she had.

“Well, that explains everything,” Maya said. “Nice to see you again, Sidney.”

“Same.” He turned to Kristy. “You figured out who I was faster than Allison.”

Did he really need to say that? She poured three glasses of wine and slid two over to her friends.

“Really?” Kristy said. “I know you’re not very good with faces, but—”

“I’d blocked him from my memory.” Allison had a sip of wine.

Maya snickered then looked at Sidney. “Why don’t you stay and catch up? Allison, get him a glass.”

“He was just leaving.” She glared at her friend.

“I thought I was staying until seven?” He winked at her. “It’s only six thirty.”

Her traitorous body got a little excited at the thought of what they were supposed to be doing until seven. At the thought of his hard body pressed against her, his finger taking her toward climax…