ProvokeMe (17 page)

“Told you it was possible with just your mouth, though there
was some cheating.”

“Mmm-hmm.
Possible and incredibly beautiful.”

She shifted her face away to stare at the wall.
Emotions
whirled inside her, glittery, fragile ones she was afraid would show up in her
voice.
Searching for something to lessen the moment, she braced her hand on the
back of the loveseat and smiled.
“Compliments will get you everywhere, Mr.
Galvin.”

Spencer traced his fingertip under her eyes.
“You’re tired,
so it won’t get me anywhere tonight.
And it’s not a compliment.
It’s truth.”

“Your place isn’t that far from here.
And I’m not that
tired.”

“Liar.”

She wrapped her fingers around his erection and rubbed.
“Seems a shame to waste this.
Besides, it’s not fair sending you home alone all
hot and bothered.”

“That’s what the shower is for.” The full-on grin he gave
her left her as dazed and stupid as the two Midori Sours Jack had given her at
Kink.
“Trust me, I’ll make do.”

“Sometime I’d like to see you make do in front of me.” She
thought of the club the other night.
“Without my help.”

“That could be arranged.
And ditto.” With more gentleness
than she ever would have imagined, he picked her up and set her on the
loveseat.
“I don't want you driving.
I’ll take you home.”

“But my car—”

“We’ll park it around back.
No one will know it’s here.”

“You’ll have to bring me back later.”

“Oh the hardship.” He slid his laptop into its case and
cocked an eyebrow at her when she stared at him.
“Is there a problem?”

Kelly shook her head and gazed at the fists she’d balled in
her lap.

She’d tried to talk herself out of her feelings before
they’d become lovers, telling herself that their tempestuous working
relationship was hardly grounds for emotional harmony.
He hid so many parts of
his true nature.
From her.
From everyone.
She didn’t know him yet.
Maybe she
never would.
But the snatches of himself he
had
shared, along with the
inner voice that wouldn’t let her turn away, made her incapable of shutting down
her heart.
As foolish as it was.

Oh yeah, there’s a problem.
I think I’m falling for you.

Chapter Ten

“It’s not logical.
I barely know him.
I don’t know much
about his family or his interests.” Kinky sex, books and business aside.
“I
don’t know his favorite food or his favorite color or—”

Alana chuckled.
“For real?
His favorite color?
Is that
important?”

“Yeah.
It is.
To me.”

Kelly took a shaky breath.
They were seated in their usual
spot at Retreat, their favorite restaurant.
That spot just happened to be
outside in the bright sunshine, which contributed to the sensation of being
lobsters broiling in a pan.
The nearly 100-degree temperature didn’t help
either.

Of course, she’d also never been in love before.
Maybe
sweating and the shakes were part of the drill.

“No one falls in love in three days,” Kelly added, searching
for empirical evidence to support her hypothesis.
Maybe then she’d be able to
knock some sense into her head.

“Some people fall in love in three hours.
Ever heard of love
at first sight?
Or love at first fuck?
It happens.”

“Love at first fuck.
Now that’s eloquent.” Despite her
misery, Kelly leaned her cheek on her fist and grinned.
“He’s not the
instant-love-inspiring type.
He can be a jerk.
Usually is.
But the little
moments of sweetness throw you off and make you appreciate them even more.” She
sighed and crumpled her straw wrapper.
“I’ve never been attracted to
emotionally unavailable men before.
Why now?”

“Does he have a big dick?” When Kelly’s lips pursed, Alana
pointed.
“There ya go.”

“I’m not that shallow.”

“You keep saying how pretty he is.”

“That’s just a bonus.”

“It’s enough to totally turn you into a glowworm in three
days, so it counts.
Kel, you let a complete stranger paw your boobs two nights
ago, as part of some weird extended foreplay with him.
That’s not you.”

“But it was me.” And that was the craziest thing of all.
With Spencer, she didn’t know herself anymore, or know how far she would go.
The feeling was both scary and thrilling.
“I never guessed I’d be into that.
But I am.
It’s sexy, with him.
Because I know he wants me.”

“For how long, is the real question.”

“Yeah.”

She swallowed hard as the waitress delivered their orders—a
salad for Alana, a double-decker turkey club for her.
Her diet had gone out the
window.
She had enough on her mind without counting calories.
She also didn’t
have her PDA to keep a running tally.

Damn Spencer.
He’d fucked with her in more ways than one.

She shook off her thoughts and picked up a hunk of her
sandwich.
Her appetite hadn’t suffered, that was for certain.
“I’m going back
to the club tonight.”

Alana forked up carrots and croutons and said nothing.

“You think I’m being ridiculous.”

“No, I don’t.
I think you’re following your heart.
And other
lustier parts of your anatomy.” She winked.
“I’m just concerned where they’ll
lead you.”

“I am too.
But that doesn’t mean I can stop.”

“I hear you.” Alana glanced away and sighed.
“Believe me, I
hear you.”

Kelly peered more closely at her best friend.
She’d been
strangely quiet for the past hour and her sarcasm didn’t have its usual zing.
“So what’s the deal with you?”

Alana snapped her gaze back to Kelly’s at once.
“What deal?”

“Normally you’d be prying me for details about what
Spencer’s like in be—” Realizing she’d gone too far, she stopped and forced down
the bacon wedged in her throat.
“I, uh, didn’t mention his name before, did I?”

“No, you most certainly did not.
You let me believe it was
some random joker you worked with and I didn’t press you for his name because—”
She trailed off and dropped her fork.
Apparently she didn’t intend to finish
that statement.
“Spencer?
As in your freaking boss?
Number ten?”

“Shh, shh!” Kelly flicked ice water at her.
“Keep your voice
down.”

“No one knows who he is.
Jesus, paranoid much?” Alana
narrowed her eyes.
“He’s the end game.”

“I…” Kelly took a breath and set down her sandwich.
“Yeah.
I
thought it was just hormones.
But there’s more there.
I don’t know how I knew
before I knew.
You know?”

“Yes.” Alana stared at her salad as if the cucumbers and
tomatoes held the answers to all the world’s questions.
“I
so
do.
It’s
sick.”

Kelly laughed and tucked her hair behind her ears before
picking up her sandwich again.
“So what’s going on with you and Ramon?
Have you
coordinated the next time you’ll be home yet?
You have to be out of vacation
days from the paper.”

“I am.
Not that it matters.
I’m thinking of quitting.”
Before Kelly could question her further, Alana’s cell phone rang.
She glanced
at the readout.
“I have to take this.
Okay?”

“Sure.”

While Kelly ate, she watched her typically outspoken friend
talk in hushed tones behind her hair.
Even across the table, she could barely
make out a word.
All she heard for sure was the name Nick.

The minute Alana hung up, Kelly leaned forward.
“Who’s Nick?
Why are you quitting your job?”

“Not yet, Kel.” She stabbed a lettuce leaf.
“When I know for
sure what the hell’s going on, you’ll be the first one I tell.”

“But I’m your best friend.”

“Yeah, and I’m yours.
And you didn’t tell me about Spencer.”

“I wanted to.”

“I want to tell you too.
When I know.
Right now all I know
is it’s hot as fuck out here and I’m about to need mouth-to-mouth by a really
sexy paramedic.” Alana reached for her soda and downed several gulps.
Her
cheeks were becoming redder by the minute, but Kelly was reasonably sure that
had more to do with her phone call than the heat index.

“All right.
I’ll wait.”

“Thank you.” Alana gave her a completely inauthentic smile.
“Now you were going to tell me how Spencer is in bed…”

* * * * *

Kelly expected to spend the day with Alana but that didn’t
play out as planned.
While exploring Gimler’s department store in search of a
sexy dress Kelly couldn’t afford, Alana received yet another phone call and
split.

Something big was up there.
She really hoped her best friend
hadn’t gotten herself into something she couldn’t extricate herself from—or
that if she had, it was good.
With Alana, nothing was a certainty.

Rather than worry or dwell, Kelly kept shopping.
A little
retail therapy never hurt anyone.
Especially those newly and stupidly in love.

After she paid for her purchases, she called Spencer and
asked if he could come pick her up so she could get her car.
He agreed, but
only if she’d stay for a quickie dinner at the deli next to The Book Nook.
Unsurprisingly, she couldn’t say yes fast enough.

She already missed him.
And he already missed her, if the
vibe she’d picked up from his voice meant anything.

Their quickie dinner was exactly that, a couple sandwiches
in a back booth as far away from the door as possible.
The entire time he watched
said door as if he expected them to be found out at any moment.

She didn’t get the big deal.
Yeah, he was her boss but they
were both adults.
Anyone acquainted with Spencer knew nepotism would never be a
factor in his world.
He did everything by the book, always.

Even so, her annoyance at his behavior was mitigated by the
fact he’d so wanted to see her he’d risked supposed exposure.
He’d even held
her hand for a couple minutes across the table, discreetly hidden by the napkin
dispenser.
His concerns were almost cute, if viewed in the right way.

She really wanted to view them the right way, rather than
get pissed he was freaked out at the possibility of being seen with her.

Before they parted, he kissed her—a real kiss, with tongue
and wandering hands—shielded by a large fake tropical plant.
His hot dark eyes
never left hers while he ensured she’d be at Kink later that night and she
merely nodded, incapable of speech.
He’d whispered to her what he wanted to do
in front of everyone, how he wanted to show her off, and she wasn’t about to
deny him.

This was it.
She was going to have full-on public sex.

By the time Kelly pulled up to the club, her case of nerves
had reached epic proportions.
Why full sex vexed her when she’d already been
draped all over Spencer for the world to see, she didn’t know.
But public
penetration seemed different.
More intense.
Hotter.
Almost as if they’d taken
things to another level.

And maybe she needed to lay off the snack cupcakes she’d
been scarfing since dinner, because clearly excess sugar was making her loopy.

Trying not to drag her feet, she took her spot at the end of
the line, which already extended halfway across the parking lot.
Apparently,
Saturday night was all right for sexin’ too.

“Kelly Crossman?
No fucking way.”

She stared ahead and hoped the ground would swallow her up.
She recognized that slightly high-pitched voice.
Just who she wanted to run
into at Kink—an ex-boyfriend.

She’d dated Paul Grimes briefly in college.
He also had the
dubious distinction of being her first lover.

She hadn’t seen him in years.
Naturally he’d show up
tonight.
Here.

“Paul.” She turned and gave him her brightest smile.
Then
the smile died.
Holy fuck, who was this gorgeous hulking specimen?
The Paul
she’d known had been kinda slight and not fully grown into his body yet.
His
hair had been prone to sticking out at odd angles and he hadn’t been a great
dresser.
They’d been lab partners who became good friends.
Then even
better
friends.
Even if her first time hadn’t been spectacular, they’d had a decent time
together.
“Wow.
Paul.”

He laughed and gave her a slow, thorough up-and-down look.
The kind of look that told her he wanted to get on
extremely
friendly
terms with her again.
“Right back at you.
Where’d you get all those curves?”

“Weight-on shakes,” she said without thinking.

He grinned.
“Well, whatever the reason, you look good, Kel.
Really good.”

“Thanks, you too.” She shifted forward as the line moved,
her pleasure at seeing him transforming into distress.
This wasn’t her new pal
Gary from the other night.
She couldn’t play games with him she didn’t intend
to finish.

Maybe she’d misread his signals and he was only happy to see
an old friend.

“So you here to meet someone?” His hand found her hip, about
two inches from her ass.

So much for that hope.

“Yes.” She bit her lip.
“I sort of have a…lover.” Not
boyfriend.
That was a term Spencer would never wear comfortably.

“A sort of lover.
And he lets you come here alone?”

“He doesn’t
let
me do anything.
It’s not the 1800s.”
Her ire comforted her as she slid out of reach of Paul’s groping hand.
“But I
usually meet him here.”

“I see.”

Did he?
Moments like this reminded her why she found this
whole situation so odd.
It wasn’t normal to visit a sex club as casually as if
you were going to the movies.

Maybe she just had too many hang-ups.
Hell, it seemed as
though everyone and their cousin thought Kink was
the
place to be.