The Chase (17 page)

She vaguely remembered waking up briefly in the elevator, but honestly, that was it. Scary. “Maybe I haven’t been getting enough sleep.”

“You think?” He rolled his eyes at her.

Evan wasn’t under the covers with her. He was sitting on them in his jeans and T-shirt, barefoot, propped against the headboard.

“Why are you in my room?” If she was dressed, mostly, and he was dressed, entirely, then she doubted somehow they had had sex while she was half-asleep. Besides, she was damn certain that no matter how tired she was, she would remember if that man’s penis had penetrated her.

The thought of which made her grow a little warm under the heavy blanket.

“You were so out of it, it actually worried me a little. I’m just checking on you.”

“How did you get in here?” Kendall felt like she was missing a whole vat of information. Like why Evan had appointed himself her keeper.

“Frankie gave me a key.”

Kendall stopped mid-yawn, outraged at her staff member. “She can’t do that!”

“Don’t blame her. I bullied her into doing it. And don’t worry. No one saw me come in here, so there won’t be any gossip.”

That hadn’t even occurred to her. Now that he’d brought it up, though, she suddenly felt worried. Along with irritated over Frankie betraying her. Frustrated with her inability to process sugar without blacking out. And stressed over the fact that she was clearly running on empty these days.

Not to mention the little question of what the hell she was doing with Evan Monroe. She had flirted with him at the commercial shoot.

“Hey. Stop worrying. Everything is cool.”

“How do you know I’m worrying?”

“Your pretty little face is squinching up.”

“Squinching?”

“Yeah. Like this.” Evan made a face, his mouth and nose lifting, eyebrows drifting together. It wasn’t a good look.

Kendall laughed. “Shut up. I don’t look like that.”

“Yes, you do.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s eight.”

“P.M.?” Kendall looked to her wrist, like a watch was suddenly going to materialize there. “Are you serious? Oh, my God, I slept for . . .”

“Over eight hours.”

“Wow.” Kendall stretched a little, feeling very lazy and content under the covers. “Of course now I probably won’t be able to sleep the rest of the night.”

Then she realized immediately the opening she had just given him. She put her hand out in front of his already opening mouth. “Don’t even say it. I’m not sleeping with you. In fact, you should probably go. I’m clearly fine.”

Evan eyeballed her. “You are most definitely
fine
.”

“Be quiet.” It was a knee-jerk reaction, but the truth was, she appreciated the naked desire on his face.

“Do you really want me to leave for real?” Evan sat up on the bed, his expression very sincere. “I will if you do.”

Kendall hedged. There was something nice about having his body heat and goofy grin next to her. Not only was she burning the candle at both ends, she was spending the vast majority of her time with paid employees. Other than an occasional chat with Tuesday, she was work, work, work. Except for the night she’d spent with Evan, she hadn’t been having a whole lot of fun.

“You don’t have to.”

“That’s just a begrudging concession to politeness.” Swinging his legs around, Evan stood up.

Kendall thought about trying to fall back asleep alone. Thought about watching TV alone. Thought about showering alone.

And she blurted out, “Stay. Please. For the night.”

Evan stopped cold. He turned around, and when she thought he would have teased her, he simply said, “Okay.”

As he settled back onto the bed, she asked, “Don’t you need your bags?”

“Nah.” Evan actually pulled the covers back and slipped under them. “I can sleep in my boxers. I can strip my jeans off in a bit.”

Or he could strip naked. Kendall was very aware of the fact that she wasn’t wearing any pants as Evan settled into bed next to her, and she found herself craving a cuddle.

God, she was seriously stressed out if she needed arms around her to stave off the loneliness.

“Do you want some room service?” he asked, reaching over for the book on the nightstand. “You must be starving.”

She was. For all manner of things. Lying on her side, Kendall wondered if she had the guts to go after him a second time. She had initiated sex the week before. Well, he had kissed her. But it was her who had jumped him on her car at the track. Then she had turned him down both times he had suggested sex after that.

At the moment, he didn’t look like he was going to offer a third time. He looked perfectly content staying clothed, watching the Discovery Channel, and eating a burger and fries with her.

But she wanted more than that. Crazy or not, stupid or not, she knew what she wanted, and it was Evan.

Again.

“Sure, I could eat.” Kendall shifted closer to him, leaning against his side and his chest on the pretense of looking at the menu in his hands.

Evan cleared his throat. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Something hot.”

Evan paused at Kendall’s words. She could mean soup. Or she could mean sex. He seriously hoped it was not that she was having a hankering for lentil soup. “I can see what kind of soup they have,” he said, trying to sound casual.

He wasn’t feeling it, though. Ever since he had come into Kendall’s room and seen her sleeping, her face somehow worried even in her sleep, he had been feeling an odd assortment of emotions. Tenderness. Compassion.

And good old-fashioned lust.

He could admit he’d lifted those covers earlier and discovered Kendall was only wearing a T-shirt and panties.

“Mm,” she said in a noncommittal voice, propping her head up with her hand. “How long does it take for room service to arrive?”

“Usually thirty minutes.”

Her foot slid along his leg, her thigh making contact with his. “Just order me a cheeseburger and some chocolate cake if they have it.”

“Okay. Do you want a drink, too?”

“Just water is fine.”

“Probably a good idea for you, Miss Red Bull.”

He expected her to stick out her tongue at him. Roll her eyes at the very least. Or make a smart remark. But instead she just made a contented sound in the back of her throat, a sexy, sleepy sigh that was like fingers sliding down his cock. Kendall looked beautiful lying in bed, her hair still fuller than normal, an endorsement for the hair spray Trevor had used given that it had held through a marathon sleep session. There were still smudges of eyeliner above and under her lids, giving her a smoldering tousled bedroom look.

She looked so lazy and content it did seem as if she had just spent the afternoon being made love to.

“That was the best nap I’ve ever had in my entire life,” she said, sighing again.

God, it was seriously like she was talking about sex. Everything about her was screaming sex, and Evan remembered what Frankie had told him. Kendall wanted to jump his bones. Just because she wasn’t actually making a move didn’t make that any less true. Kendall had made the move last time. It was his turn.

Okay, and so technically he had asked her twice after that to have sex with him and she’d shot him down, but what was a little rejection? Given the state of his career, by all accounts he should have no ego left whatsoever, but he did. He could handle it if Kendall said no. In fact, he totally expected her to say no, but hey, you never got anything if you didn’t ask for it.

Evan picked up the phone and tossed the room service book onto the nightstand. “Is there anything else you want? On or off the menu?”

Her eyes widened, but it was a mock innocence. “What do you mean?”

“We have thirty minutes until the food gets here.”

The room service operator picked up. Evan said hello and placed an order for a turkey club sandwich and fries for himself, using his free thumb to reach over and stroke across Kendall’s bottom lip. Now her wide-eyed stare was genuine. Trailing down her jaw, to her shoulder and beyond, Evan found her nipple through the cotton of her T-shirt.

“Yes, and a cheeseburger with fries please.” Listening to the operator, he made circles over her nipple as Kendall’s eyes darkened. “What kind of cheese, Jay? American okay?”

She nodded. “Sure.” Her voice was breathy.

“American, yes, thanks. And a slice of chocolate cake for dessert.” Evan pinched Kendall’s nipple hard, enjoying the gasp she gave. He loved her breasts, their fullness, perfect shape, very responsive nipples.

“Just a water and a Coke please.” Evan was running on empty himself, and unlike Kendall he hadn’t napped, knowing he would then be up all night. A beer would just put him straight to sleep, and it was a few hours before he wanted to crash. There were some things he intended to do before he passed out.

Trailing his thumb down from her nipple over her abdomen, Evan slid it across the silkiness of her panties, up and down over her mound, lightly, teasingly, enjoying the hitch in her breath, and the way she seemed to be holding her whole body very still, like she was afraid he’d stop if she moved.

Which was what he did as soon as he thanked the room service person and hung up the phone. Lazily pulling his finger back, he told her, “Yep. Thirty minutes.”

She didn’t say anything, just stared at him with hooded eyes for a second.

Then she said what he’d been hoping to hear. “We can each have an orgasm in that time.”

Evan sat up and stripped off his shirt. “I’ll save mine for after dinner. Which means you get two now.”

It was clear Kendall was still sleepy, because instead of him smart-ass response, she just said, “Oh. Okay.”

Her eyes were enormous, her hair equally so, her cheeks flushed pink from sleep, and Evan had never seen a woman look so gorgeous. Ever.

“Roll on your stomach. I’ll massage you.”

She made a sigh of pleasure as she started to roll. Then she stopped abruptly. “If you rub my back, I’ll probably fall asleep again.”

The naïveté. “No, you won’t. I promise.”

Evan helped her finish her roll by taking her hips and forcing the turn. Her face fell into the pillow with a soft thump, hair a fluffy cloud around her. She turned her head so she was looking to the right, crossing her arms up above.

“Mmm. This feels good already.”

It did. As he ran his hands up either side of her spine, giving a slow, deep rub to the muscles, Evan appreciated the softness of her skin under his callused fingers. On his knees, he stroked up under her shirt, over her shoulders, and down her arms as far as he could reach, before getting entangled in her sleeves. He wanted to take her T-shirt off, but room service was on its way, and truthfully there was something very sexy about touching her under her shirt . . . like he was being granted access to somewhere private.

She had beautiful skin, paler than it had been in their younger years. It was clear she wasn’t lying out in the sun the way she did then, which had probably helped preserve the softness he felt beneath his fingers. Kendall gave soft moans of encouragement as he dug in and rubbed with a fair amount of pressure. She stiffened slightly when he crossed over her panty line and cupped her backside, but once he started to massage her rounded cheeks, she relaxed again.

“I should be weirded out by that, but it feels too good to object.”

“Why would it be weird? It’s just another muscle, and I’ve touched it before. Many times.” Evan ran his hands over her panties, kneading very lightly. “Remember those skirts you used to wear? The little short denim ones? I loved those. It was so easy to just sneak my hand under there and touch your ass. And then I got cocky and started fingering you every chance I got . . . in the car, at the park, in the movies.”

He was getting hard just remembering it. He had gotten off on getting Kendall off.

“That’s why I wore them all the time,” she said, her voice slumberous yet sexy. “After the first time you got me off that way, I ran out and spent my whole savings buying four more of them.”

Evan paused. “Are you serious?” That was seriously, seriously hot, and he suddenly had a full-fledged erection to prove it.

“I’m totally serious. I was a horny little thing.” She twisted her head a little to look back at him. “I never thought to question why you were always so willing to do that for me when I never gave it back. That really wasn’t fair of me.”

Running his hands inside her panties, he drifted to the center and low with his index finger, turned on by the idea of turning her on the way he used to. “I enjoyed it. And I was a horny thing, too. I think it was still always a little shocking to me that you were willing to let me have sex with you. I would have done anything to express gratitude.”

“Gratitude, huh? I think there was plenty of mutual pleasure going around. It always amazed me that you could barely touch me and I was going crazy.”

He liked the sound of that. Slipping his finger between her cheeks, he rounded the curve and teased at her entrance, not touching her so much as hinting that he might. Her hips rose slightly off the bed in invitation.

But instead of giving her what she wanted, Evan pulled back and removed her panties, taking them all the way down her legs, bending over so his mouth was close to her flesh, but not touching. He drank in the scent of her skin, still warm from her nap, free of lotions and other mysterious products. She just smelled like . . . Kendall.

She sighed again.

And again her hips lifted slightly off the bed.

Evan ignored the invitation. He returned to her back, massaging right above her pert backside, wanting to touch her, but wanting to tease more. Her shoulders had tensed and her teeth were worrying her bottom lip. Evan moved farther away from her ass, up to those clenched muscles. She didn’t relax one bit, so he skipped right over her midsection and went down to her feet. Starting at the heel, he pushed his thumb up to her toes, repeating the action until she did manage to release her lip and relax her head back down.