The Chase (20 page)

Evan stuck his foot into the tub, hoping he wasn’t going to step on Kendall. “I didn’t count.” But probably more like twenty.

She smiled. “Just barrel in and hope it works out. That’s you.”

“It’s worked for me so far. For the most part.” Evan sat down and reached for her. “Lean against me. I don’t want to be on this end and you’re on that end.”

After a bit of readjusting and water sloshing and bubble spreading, Evan settled back in the tub, Kendall between his legs, leaning on his chest. “Perfect.”

It was. He closed his eyes and let the warm water seep over his tired muscles. Kendall fit perfectly against him, and he wrapped his arms around her middle, wanting to touch her bare skin, feel her everywhere he could. Being naked with her in a way that wasn’t sexual was intimate, soothing.

“So what did the ring look like?” she asked, the curve of her bottom brushing his leg when she shifted.

“Hmm?” He wished he had a bottle of beer in his hand, but other than that, this was fantastic.

“The ring you got to propose with. My engagement ring. What did it look like?”

Interesting that she would ask that. Evan rubbed his thumbs over her stomach. “I don’t know. It was a diamond. A square diamond.”

She made a sound of disgust. “That’s not a description. What was the band? Gold? Platinum?”

“Well.” Evan nibbled at her ear to buy himself time. He wasn’t about to confess that he didn’t exactly remember what it looked like. He had shoved it into a box in a drawer ten years ago and hadn’t looked at it since. “It was silver. Is that platinum?”

He did remember that much.

“Not always.”

“I don’t know, Kendall. I was a kid. I took Eve with me and she helped me pick it out.”

“Your sister knew you were going to propose?”

“Yep.” Her ear really did taste good. Evan was starting to get turned on, his hands roaming just a little higher to cover her slick breasts.

“Huh. What did you tell her when we broke up?”

“I didn’t. Guys don’t talk about that kind of stuff. It was just obvious.”

“I wonder what she thinks of me.”

“Who cares? And I doubt she gives it much thought.” Though truth be told, Evan had no clue what his sister thought about. She was wound tight, and he didn’t really understand her most of the time. He just knew that if he needed a sparring partner, Eve was always ready to go a round.

“But I don’t want to talk about my sister. I want to talk about your perfect nipples.”

Evan tweaked them both at the same time, appreciating the gasp Kendall gave.

“What about them?”

“About how much I adore them and how badly I want to suck them right now.”

“I’m facing the wrong way and I’m covered in bubbles.”

“Always so damn logical.” Slipping his hand down between her legs, he teased at her clitoris. He loved when he got her so hot she forgot to make sense.

“I don’t think I can come again . . . I’ve already achieved some kind of record.”

“Who says you have to come? We’re just playing. Half the fun is getting there, you know.” Evan dipped his tongue into her ear at the same time he moved his finger inside her.

She sighed. “Okay. I guess I can handle that.”

“You can handle a lot of things.” His erection bumping into her backside, Evan suddenly wanted more. All. Everything Kendall had to give. If this was it, he wanted to milk every moment of pleasure that he possibly could. “Up.” He patted her bottom.

“What do you mean?”

“On all fours.”

“No. I’m relaxed.”

Evan pulled his fingers back, his mouth thick with desire, the heat of the water steaming up the room, turning Kendall’s skin pink and dewy.

“Why did you stop?”

“Because I want you on all fours.”

“Oh, for crying out loud.” She made lots of grumbling sounds that Evan knew were pure bullshit.

She wanted to mess around just as much as he did, which was evidenced by the way she stroked his erection in the process of changing positions.

When she was up on her knees, her perfect little ass facing him, covered with bubbles, her back arched, damp tendrils of hair trailing down her back, she asked, “What am I doing like this, exactly?”

As if she needed to ask.

Evan got on his knees also and pushed his erection inside her, finding her tight and welcoming. She gasped.

“Give a girl some warning.”

“You knew what I was going to do.” She knew it and she loved it. Just like he did. Evan held her hips and thrust into her, glancing over and discovering that while he couldn’t see their bodies because the mirror was too high, he could see Kendall’s face reflected in it.

Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open in pleasure. Her hair was clumped to her forehead, finally losing some of its height and volume as it wilted in the heat, and her cheeks were pink. Everything about her seemed to glisten and glow and she looked absolutely beautiful to Evan. More than beautiful. A word beyond beautiful that he couldn’t think of, but knew had to exist.

Kendall started to move her hips, so that when he thrust, they collided together hard. “Oh, damn,” he told her. “You’re so sexy.”

The heat of the room, the sloshing of the water, the slap of their skin, and the increasing volume of Kendall’s cries rose around him, but all he could think about was how amazing it felt to be with her, to be inside her, to give, to take, to share their pleasure.

When he felt her orgasm, those inner muscles contracting and clinging to him, he gritted his teeth and let himself explode along with her.

It was intimate and almost profound, the scent of the bath beads clogging his nostrils, and the taste of her still on his tongue, the need for her, an ache ten years long, still in his heart.

KENDALL
really thought it was possible she wasn’t going to be able to hold herself up as she climbed out of the tub. She felt exhausted, in a good way, but drained nonetheless. Evan was holding her hand, which was probably the only thing keeping her from puddling to the ground in a post-orgasmic blob.

She hadn’t been kidding when she’d told him that this was a record for the highest number of orgasms in one day. One night, really. And yet he was still giving her lecherous looks as he handed her a towel.

He swiped a stray bubble off her shoulder before leaning in and kissing her mouth, then her nose, which just made her want to rub it. It was such a strange feeling, this sort of intimacy swirling around them. They had done something here tonight, changed the rules of the game, and she wasn’t sure what that meant exactly.

Just that she couldn’t stroll away with an awkward thumbs-up this time.

“Let me dry you off.” Evan opened the towel and rubbed it down her arms with just the right amount of pressure, not wimpy, but not vibrating her whole body as he peeled a layer of her skin off either. It was like his massage technique—just perfect.

“I can dry myself off.”

“But this is more fun.”

“This is going to lead to more sex, which is going to lead to me being crippled and unable to walk tomorrow.”

Evan grinned. “Yeah? Because I have such a big dick, right?”

She could have bet twenty bucks he’d say that and won easily. “I’m not even going to respond to that. Wait. Yes, I am. Thanks for the sympathy. You’ll be bouncing around tomorrow and I’ll be carrying a doughnut pillow to sit on when we’re on the plane.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“Not by much.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you alone, Jay. But I’m going to cuddle with you whether you like it or not.”

He dried her legs, and managed to lick her inner thighs only once. Kendall was amazed she felt anything at all. She would have thought she’d be numb there by now. Or that all her girl bits might have fallen off from overuse.

But they were still there and still capable of feeling a pang of arousal. Certain that she would die if they tried to have sex again, Kendall backed away from him. “I’m a kick-ass cuddler.”

“You’re kick-ass all the way around.”

“Why thank you.” She took the towel from him and wrapped it around herself. “Umm. I’m so relaxed. I don’t think I’ve been this relaxed in a year.”

Evan didn’t bother to put a towel on, he just strolled out into the room still naked. “Sleep and an orgasm. Best things I can think of to relax and re-energize.”

“What time is your flight tomorrow?”

“Seven A.M.”

“We’re on the same flight then, I imagine. Damn, that’s early.”

Evan lifted the duvet cover and shook it, forcing the remaining salt and a stray fry off of it. “Guess we really should go to sleep.”

They crawled into bed together, both smelling like bubbles, with the underlying scent of sex on them. “Can you set the alarm on your phone?”

“Yep.”

He reached for his phone and pushed some buttons while Kendall yawned and shucked the towel she was wearing, dropping it to the floor. She didn’t normally sleep naked, but she felt so warm and delicious and satisfied, it seemed appropriate for her mood.

Then he was pulling her into his chest, and Kendall breathed deeply, wrapping her leg over his.

“So, I hate to ruin the mood, but I have to ask, Kendall.”

She stiffened a little. “Ask what?” she said suspiciously as she looked up at him.

“What happens when we get home? Is it like last time, where I don’t see you for days?”

It was a conversation they had to have, but dang, she didn’t want to ruin the mood. Nor did she want insecurities to come flooding to the surface, yet they already were. She didn’t know what he wanted, if anything, and she did not want to be the first one to admit out loud that she would like to be together, in whatever way they figured out how to do that. She didn’t want to not see him. That much she knew.

“It’s complicated.”

But Evan shook his head. “Not really. You either want to spend time with me or you don’t.”

When put like that . . . “I want to spend time with you.”

“Good. Because I want to spend time with you. Hell, I want to date you. But we can call it whatever you want. I just want to know that when I wake up in the morning, I have the right to expect to see you that day, and when I go to bed, it’s you I say good night to. I just want to get to know you again.”

Put like that, it sounded so simple. So easy. “I’d like that, Evan. I really would.”

“Good.” He tilted her chin up to him. “So now kiss me good night.”

“Bossy,” she muttered, but annoyance was not what she felt as she raised her lips to his and softly kissed him.

What she felt was pure happiness.

 

 

EVAN
blinked in the bright sunlight as he and Kendall stepped out of the hotel lobby to catch their ride to the airport. Frankie had arranged a private car for them. “Oh, my God, it’s bright,” he said, lifting his arm to shield his retinas.

Kendall was turned, gawking behind her. “There’s like six famous people in this hotel lobby right now. I’m counting three actresses, one actor, one lead singer of a rock band, and I think that’s a basketball player, given his height.”

Evan tried not to wince when the flash of cameras went off in front of him. “That explains the paparazzi. And smile, because guess what? You’re famous, too.”

He needed coffee and he was pretty sure he looked like shit given he was running on about five hours of sleep. Not that anything was going to spoil his mood, since Kendall had pretty much agreed to date him. But he hadn’t been thinking about paparazzi. Unlike Hollywood types, drivers weren’t always as easily recognizable. But these were clearly pros who took shots of everyone who looked like anyone. They’d figure out what to do with them later.

Which would hopefully be nothing.

“Smile for who?” Kendall turned and stopped walking.

“Just smile. No big deal.” Evan raised his hand in a wave at the cameramen snapping their picture. “How are you all doing this morning?”

They were probably used to scowling and being punched, so he got some friendly waves and hellos.

“What are you in LA for?” the one asked.

“Commercial shoot. Heading back to Charlotte now. Have a good one.”

“Thanks, you, too. Can we get a pic of the two of you? Kendall Holbrook, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Kendall’s smile didn’t look particularly natural, but she did manage one.

And she didn’t pull away when Evan put his arm around her as they posed.

Evan pulled away and gave another wave, before opening the door to the car waiting for them. He handed their bags to the driver then tipped him. Frankie was frowning at both of them as they climbed into the car. She was like an older version of his sister, which was frightening.

“That was weird,” Kendall said as she clicked her seat belt in place. “They wanted to take my picture.”

“Why is that freaking you out? People want your picture all the time in Charlotte.”

“But that’s Charlotte. This is
LA
.”

He didn’t get what the difference was, but he was used to it. His phone rang and he knew from the ringtone that it was Eve. “I’m sorry, I’d better answer this. Eve has called me like seven hundred times since yesterday.”

“Sure.” Kendall looked back behind them as they pulled out, like she still couldn’t believe that anyone had wanted to take her picture.

“Hello?”

“Where the
hell
have you been?”

“I’m good, thanks for asking. How about yourself?” Evan leaned back against the seat and wished coffee would magically materialize in his hand.

“Don’t be cute with me. Carl wants to have a meeting with you this afternoon in his office. You know it’s going to be about Sunday and that little pissing match you had with Elec.”

Evan winced. That probably hadn’t been the most brilliant thing he’d ever done, getting into it with Elec both on the track and off. But tempers flared between drivers sometimes, brothers or not, everyone knew that. “What time?”