Chaste (McCullough Mountain) (24 page)

He
knew her drink and that did things to her too. Unfortunately, he also knew her
date was drinking a daiquiri.

Two
stools opened up and they settled in. Kelly placed her soda on a napkin then
returned a moment later with a totally feminine glass complete with paper
parasol and cubed pineapple dangling from the rim. “Your
daiquiri,
sir.”

She
scowled at him, but he only made a face that said,
Really? This guy?
Davis
didn’t see Kelly’s expression because he was too busy moaning over his fruity
cocktail.

Thankfully,
the crowd made it impossible for Kelly to hover over them. The hour passed and
he’d barely had time to replenish their orders due to the bevy of bar flies
vying for his attention. It hurt and she tried not to look his way. A while
later, she excused herself and slipped into the back to visit the ladies room.

When
she left the bathroom Kelly cornered her in the hall. “Are you kidding with
this guy, Ash?”

She
rolled her eyes and tried to step around him, but he blocked her. “Leave me
alone, Kelly. I’m on a date.”

“I
know, and Princess Charming’s on her third daiquiri. Better watch with the
calories in those things. From lips to hips.”

That
was enough. “You have a comment about everything, don’t you?”

“Oh,
come on, Ashlynn. Don’t act like you’re remotely into this guy.”

“Davis
happens to be a very nice person.”

“I
noticed you didn’t say man.”

“Man,”
she amended.

He
cornered her and gave her one of those sexy smirks. “Come on, Ash, where’d you
find this guy?”

She
shoved him. “It’s none of your business. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to
get back to my date.”

When
she stepped away he caught her wrist and spun her back into the shadows. He
covered her exit, his arms boxing her in, and his mouth way too close. “Don’t
do this, love. Don’t lower your standards. Not for that dweeb.”

Her
lips thinned with indignity. Suddenly she felt like crying. “Stop it, Kelly.
You keep doing this. You have no right. I can dance with or date whomever I
want. So long as you continue to play the town gigolo and aren’t offering me
what I need, it doesn’t matter what you think. This is my life and I can go out
with whoever I please.”

All
humor left his expression. Her words appeared to cut deep. He stepped back.
“You’re right.” He laughed without humor. “Well, you and David Lee Roth. I’m
just a gigolo.
Life goes on without me.”
He bowed theatrically,
attempting to be his lighthearted self, but fell short.

“Kelly—”

He
held up a hand. “Enjoy your date, Ashlynn. I’ll see you around.”

“Kelly.”

He
disappeared into a door at the back of the bar that said Employees Only. She
debated for a moment, wondering if she should go after him, but what was the
point? Besides, Davis was waiting.

When
she returned to her date the crowd was crushed from one end of the bar to the
other. Sue was franticly trying to fill orders. Ashlynn felt responsible for
Kelly’s sudden disappearance. The only good turn of events was that the bar was
so loud it drowned out whatever Davis was saying.

Finally,
he suggested they call it a night. Kelly still hadn’t returned and she wanted
to make sure he was okay. Davis paid their tab and she waited until they were
just at the door to make an excuse.

“Hey,
you know, I think I see my friend over there. You go ahead without me.”

He
paused at the door, briefly looking for the friend that didn’t exist. “I was
going to walk you to your car.”

“Oh,
that’s all right. I’ll be fine. You go ahead. I just want to say hi to my
friend.”

He
hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.
Thanks for a nice evening.”

He
squeezed her hand and guilt tasted as bitter as the lie on her tongue. She was
certain they’d never go out again, but he looked hopeful for another date.
“I’ll email you tomorrow.”

That
was another thing. It was weird they never talked on the phone. She wondered if
he had robot parts under his clothes. “Okay.” Before he could hold her up any
longer she’d disappeared into the crowd.

It
was almost midnight and the patrons had livened to a rowdy mob. Kelly still
wasn’t at the bar. She went into the back, determined to find him.

Working
her way past the line at the ladies room she knocked on the door that said Employees
Only. “Kelly?”

It
was difficult to hear over so many voices and the drowned out bass of the
stereo. She knocked again and heard his muffled reply, but couldn’t make out
his words. “Kelly, it’s Ashlynn. I’m coming in.”

Her
hand closed over the knob and she pushed. The office was dim, but not dim
enough to miss the two bodies entwined on top of the desk. Ashlynn gasped and spun
away.

“Fuck,”
Kelly snapped.

“Um,
we’re a little busy here. Do you mind?” a female voice said.

Oh
my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!
“Not
at all.” Ashlynn pivoted and bumped into some piece of furniture then quickly
fled the office, getting caught up in a web of women by the bathroom. “Get out
of my way!” Her eyes blurred and stung.

“Ashlynn!
Wait!”

She
needed to get out of there. She needed to get to her truck before she puked or
worse, burst into tears. “Excuse me. Pardon me.” She fought her way through the
crowd. When she finally shoved through the front door of the pub her feet hit
the pavement running.

Visions
of Kelly wrapped in the arms of that woman wouldn’t get out of her head. When
she reached her truck she fumbled with her keys. “Open!” she snapped at her truck,
batting away the tears in her eyes. She wrenched the door open and threw her
bag against the passenger door, her belongings scattering over the mats.

“Ashlynn?”

She
stilled at the vaguely familiar voice, then quickly turned, slipping a finger
beneath her glasses, surreptitiously rubbing the moisture away, and gasped. “Evan?”

“Hey,
sugar. You all right?”

No.
“Yes. I couldn’t
get my door unlocked.”

He
tilted his head and stepped closer into the light showing from the open door of
her truck. “You sure? You look upset.”

She
nodded then sighed. Here was the perfect example of the nice kind of man Kelly
had stopped her from getting to know while he was doing God knew what, to God
knew who on his desk. “No, I’m not all right. I…I’m really sorry I never
properly thanked you for dancing with me the other night.”

His
smile was gentle. “Yeah. I sort of assumed your friend wasn’t really just a
friend.”

“He’s
not even that.”

Evan
blinked in confusion. “Why don’t you come back inside and let me buy you a
drink?”

Her
fingers pinched the bridge of her nose under her glasses. She wasn’t going back
in there. “I’d rather just stay here.”

She
removed her glasses and frowned at the smudge on the lens. Evan carefully pried
them from her hands and proceeded to buff them with the hem of his shirt.
“Here.”

He
slipped them back on her face. “Thanks.”

His
fingers gently brushed her chin. “Wanna talk about it? I’m a good listener.”

“There
isn’t anything to talk about. Just another pathetic day in the life of Ashlynn
Fisher.”

“Don’t
say that.”

She
laughed, the sound dry and self-deprecating. “You’d say the same thing if you
knew who you were talking to.”

“So
tell me. I want to know you.”

She
smiled up at his shadowed face, looking for sincerity. Evan was nice. “Do you
ever just wish you could start over, erase everything you know?”

“Sure.
That’s why I travel. I’m never anywhere long enough to hold regrets.”

“That
must be nice.”

“It
is and it isn’t. It gets lonely.”

“Oh,
I know all about being lonely.”

“I
find that hard to believe.”

She
chuckled. “You’d be surprised.” He smirked and she sensed he wanted to say more.
“What?”

He
shrugged a large shoulder. “Seems to me, two lonely people…maybe we could help
each other escape for a while.”

“How?”

He
raised a brow and understanding dawned.
Oh.
“I’m not really that sort of
girl.”

He
had a nice voice, the kind that was aged and manly. “What sort of girl are you,
Ashlynn Fisher?”

“The
inexperienced type.”

“Nothin’
wrong with that.” He stepped closer. His fingers slowly trailed over her jaw
and she tried to remember how long this man would be around. Was it two weeks?
Months? Either way it wasn’t permanent. Figured.

“I’ve
thought about you, Ashlynn.”

Oddly,
his confession was flattering and made her smile. “You have?”

“Mm—hmm.
A lot.”

She
swallowed as he stepped closer. Her mind flashed to Kelly and that wretched
woman wrapped around him like an octopus. Her eyes shut in a brief attempt to
block out the image. That was when Evan’s lips found hers.

She
drew back and stared at him. “I just want to kiss you, Ashlynn. Maybe make up
for a few of those fireworks we missed the other night.”

She
didn’t know what to say. Gazing up at him, she realized he was quite an
attractive man. His mouth lowered again and she was surprised at how soft his
lips were. When he slid his hand around her back and slowly corralled her into
the alcove of her open door a bit more, she let him.

Evan
was a good kisser. Everything about him seemed agreeable. Their heads tilted
and he deepened the kiss. Wow. The guy really knew how to use his tongue. Her
hands went to his shoulders and his large palms slowly roamed her back. She
didn’t normally go around kissing strangers, but at the moment the distraction
was needed.

Things
heated up quickly. Her head was fuzzy from crying, but Evan was quickly helping
her forget what had upset her in the first place. When his palms cupped her
bottom through her skirt she decided things had gone far enough. She gently
caught his wide wrists and turned her face, but he chuckled and kissed her
throat sending chills down her spine.

“Evan,”
she giggled as he nipped at her shoulder, tickling her.

His
mouth skated over her jaw and found hers again and they were back to kissing.
His fingers curved around her waist and lifted her to the seat of her truck.
She gently pressed into his chest, signaling him to slow it down.

“You
have such a sweet mouth, Ashlynn.”

Her
face heated and she again broke the kiss. His hands massaged her hips. She
should get his number. Maybe let him take her to dinner before they got too far
into the kissing stuff. “Wow. We need to take a breather.”

He
leaned into her shoulder and kissed inside the collar of her shirt. She
shivered and tried to focus on less tempting things. She didn’t even know his
last name. His mouth kissed up her throat and once again found hers. It was
drugging.

His
lips slanted over hers and she moaned softly. Cool air touched her belly
followed by the unprecedented presence of a hand on her breast. “Whoa. Settle
down, big guy.”

 
“Oh, come on, sugar.” His hand sifted farther
up her shirt and his fingers pulled at the lace cups of her bra.

She
grunted and twisted in order to catch his wrist. “Evan, I don’t do that.”

“Sure
you do. I saw you with your ‘friend’ at the lake, saw you two going at it
against his truck.”

He
pinched the tip of her breast just as his words set in. “Ouch. Stop it.” All
warmth fled as she recalled how she’d let Kelly kiss her that night. The
thought of someone watching them was not a welcome image.

Evan
didn’t seem to get the message. He pressed her more into the truck and again
put his mouth over hers. She turned away. “Evan—”

“Don’t
be a tease, Ashlynn. You need to make new memories to erase the old.”

His
other hand slid under her skirt and she panicked. “I said stop!”

He
drew back and eyed her as though he were testing her. Unbelievable, as his hard
glare held her stunned gaze, he pressed his hand upward and cupped the material
of her panties. Shocked, she gasped and slapped him. Hard.

His
face whipped to the side and he growled. When he turned back to her she was
truly terrified. There was an enormous stranger holding her down, one hand up
her skirt, the other under her shirt, and she’d just slapped him.

His
hand on her breast tightened. “I can do rough too, sugar.”

* * * *

Kelly
came barreling out of his office with one thought on his mind. He desperately
needed to find Ashlynn. He was such a fucking idiot. He didn’t even know the
girl’s name he’d been groping. It was a bad reaction to Ashlynn calling him
exactly what he was—a whore.