Stacking the Deck (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 2) (29 page)

And he was a horny teenager all over again.

After she spoke, she went perfectly still, her eyes closed, as if she were afraid of his response.

And suddenly the game was over as her eyes met his, all flirtation gone, replaced with a raw hunger that matched his own. Another hot rush of fire to his groin made it impossible to speak even if he’d wanted to. His hands tangled with hers at the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head, his fingers fumbling with the clasp of her bra as she pushed down her jeans. “Here. Let me,” she murmured, pushing his hands away. Then her breasts were free, lovely and firm, as she bent to skim her panties to the floor.

When she stood again, the uncertainty was back in her eyes. He could see her thinking. Worrying. Wondering.

“Stop thinking so much,” he chided her. “This is supposed to be fun.”

“I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Sex?” he teased gently.

“No,” she blushed. “
This.”

“You mean sex on a kitchen table? It’s easy, really, only a little harder.”

“Don’t you feel a bit silly? We’re in broad daylight. Anyone could walk to the back slider and see us standing here in our altogether. What would they think?”

“That we were really hungry? Because I know I am.” He pressed forward, flesh against flesh, heat against heat. Her hands came up to press against his chest and splayed there. His heart hammered against her palm. He’d never felt so relaxed and excited all at the same time.

“I’ve never had sex anywhere but in a bed,” she confessed.

“Then we have some work ahead of us. There are floors, shower stalls, grassy meadows...”

“How do you know you’ll want to do it again?”

“Good lord, Liz. I already want to do it again and we haven’t done it once. Stop talking and touch me.”

“I am touching you.” She peered down at her fingers.

“I mean
really
touch me.”

“Can I kiss you first?”

“God, yes.”

Her lips brushed his, the softest most tantalizing caress that sent heat spiraling to his toes. He groaned and leaned into her.

“I just don’t want to get it wrong,” she murmured against his lips.

“Honey, the only way to get it wrong would be to tell me to stop.” And with that he lifted her to the table again and kissed her like the first time.

“I
DON’T WANT TO BREAK the mood, but can we get that pizza now? I’m hungry.”

Carter’s lips tilted in a lazy grin. “I thought you’d never ask.” He rolled onto his side and slid his finger down her bare arm.

In the end they’d moved to the living room; although, now that she had rug burns in unmentionable places, Liz was only sorry the table hadn’t seemed up to the task after all.

“Do you think we broke it?” she asked.

“I think I’m all right.”

She swatted him playfully. “I meant the table.”

He grinned and leaned forward to press a lazy kiss just north of her breast. “Nothing that can’t be fixed. Just need to tighten a couple bolts, I think, and we’ll be good to go.”

She could feel her face warm. “I really am hungry.”

“In a minute. You have gorgeous breasts, you know that? You should dress this way more often.”

“You mean naked?” She laughed and felt the heat of a blush again, though she wouldn’t have moved away from the warm brush of his lips for the world.

“
Mmm
. Suits you.” He sighed and gave her breast one last peck before sliding up her torso and pinning her to the rug.

She looked into his gorgeous green eyes. Wow. She’d just made love to Carter MacIntyre. Correction.
She’d just fallen in love with him.

The breath froze in her chest.

He frowned slightly. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yes,” she lied, forcing a smile. “Just, um, hungry.”

Keep it light
she counseled herself. She needed to get dressed. She needed to
think.
Oh God, she felt so
naked,
like every single emotion was laid bare for all to see.

“I’ll get that pizza.”

“Great idea,” she said striving for a bright, relaxed, post-coital air. She scurried toward the kitchen for her clothes. Carter trailed her, naked, looking more glorious than any man had a right to.

She pulled on her jeans and shirt, needing to cover herself again as she tried to avoid staring at his body. If she looked at him again she’d probably blurt something out, like her undying love, and then embarrass them both. He’d signed up for sex not a china pattern.

Keep it casual
, she told herself.
Feel him out
. “So, that was… something,” she said.

His lips twitched as he pulled on his boxer briefs. “
Mmm.”
He said, stepping closer. He smiled. “Tell me why we never did that before? I’m feeling a little annoyed we’ve wasted all this time.” He picked up his shorts and stood in front of her, bare-chested, the light smattering of dark hair there making her woman bits stand up and take notice most inconveniently.

Her heart fluttered happily in her chest. “We’re here now,” she said.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Not nearly enough time. When do you have to go back?”

Her heart skittered. “About a week.”

His eyes went dark as he looked at her mouth. “Then we’ll just have to make the most of the next seven days, won’t we?”

She let him kiss her again as his words sank into her like a cold rain.
Seven days.
That’s all he saw between them. And why would he see anything else? Oh Lord, and how could it
be
anything else?

She trembled as his lips pulled from hers.

He nudged her chin with his knuckle until she met his eyes.

“No regrets?” he asked.

“No regrets,” she said, forcing a smile.

“Good. I don’t want to hurt you.” His lips tilted. “I can do that sometimes without meaning to.” He brushed the hair from her temple.

She sucked in a breath and forced herself to keep breathing. “I’m a big girl, Carter. You don’t have to tiptoe around the fact that we’re having a fling.”

His hand stilled. “A fling?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Hook-up. Friends with Benefits. Whatever you want to call it. I get it. You don’t have to give me ‘the talk.’” And she’d repeat that message over and over until her heart heard it loud and clear.

“A fling,” he said again, pulling away to put on his shorts.

“Yes, well, what I mean is... nothing serious. Just casual sex.”

“Nothing serious,” he repeated, zipping his fly with a yank.

“Absolutely. I mean, we both know I’m only here a few more days, and then I’m headed back to Chicago. I have a job—a life—there.”

“Right.” He stared at her, and she swallowed, wishing he’d contradict her, praying he’d stop and tell her she was wrong, that it
wasn’t
just sex.

But then his lips titled in a half smile. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. Okay, I suppose I should get that pizza.” And then he was tugging his T-shirt over his head, slipping on his sneakers and striding to the door as if her heart weren’t breaking into a million, shattering pieces.

But at the last moment he stopped, turned and flashed a wide smile. “I suppose I should thank you. Because as cheap, casual, nothing-serious sex goes… I’ll never forget it.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
____________________

O
N THE SAME PAGE?!

Liz stopped, groaned, and turned to pace in the other direction.

She was
such
a fool! How could she be so
careless
as to fall in love with a heart-breaker like Carter?

It’s not as if he meant to be hurtful, but she’d watched him roll through enough relationships to recognize the pattern. He’d start dating someone, they’d inevitably fall for him, and the next thing you knew, he’d given the old ‘it’s not you it’s me’ speech. What made Liz think she’d end up any differently? At least he was honest from the beginning about it.

But he was right. This
thing
between them couldn’t be anything more than a fling. Practically speaking, they were too far apart. They lived in different states, for heaven’s sake! They led different lives. Not to mention, they were
completely
ill-suited. She was punctual and orderly. He was habitually late and...

“I hope plain cheese works for you.”

Carter’s voice cut off any further thought. He hadn’t knocked. Or maybe he had and she hadn’t heard.

“You’re back.”

“I’m not going to let you starve,” he said, setting the pizza on the table. He winked at her. “We need to keep our strength up.”

For some reason she found it hard to look at the pizza sitting on the table. It seemed wrong to have something so ordinary and normal in the place where something extraordinary and carnal had just occurred. Something life-changing. Except what had really changed? She still harbored go-nowhere fantasies about a future with a guy who only saw her as a good lay.

Damn. This was becoming a pattern.

“Let me wipe that off before we eat,” she blurted.

Carter stared at her, his eyes saying that her lips had already touched whatever had touched the table, and what did it matter? But she went to the sink anyway and squeezed the sponge under the water until it ran so hot she had to yank her fingers from the spray.

“Liz.”

“It’ll just take a moment. Plates are in the cupboard by the sink.” She knew he knew where the plates were. The plates were in the same damn cupboard they’d been in forever.

“Liz.”

“Do you want an apple with it?” she asked as she wiped the table in long, measured strokes.  “A salad?”

“Liz.”

She set the sponge by the sink and turned to face him. “I’m having iced tea. Can I pour you some?”

He was in front of her now, his cheekbones sharp angles over his taut mouth. “You mind telling me what’s going on?” He stepped a little closer, and she could smell the scent of something earthy, forbidden lingering on his skin. His thumb stroked her cheek and she closed her eyes.

Gah!
It was her own fault. She’d willingly participated—no,
invited
—what had happened between them. She’d opened herself up—again—to heartbreak at the hands of Carter McIntyre. But, continuing to be intimate with him when she knew the inevitable outcome would be like pouring salt in her own wound.

Her lips were suddenly dry and she darted her tongue out to moisten them. She took a quick breath and forced herself to look at him. “What happened earlier was… amazing,” she said.
Amazing? How about earth-shattering? Soul-searing? A memory I’ll take to my grave?
“And you are… incredible. But, I’m leaving in a week. I think it makes sense… to not let this happen again.”

He stepped even closer and she could feel the heat of his body through her shirt. His eyes turned dark, and his gaze fell to her mouth. “To hell with what makes sense.” Then he dipped his head for a kiss that left her clinging to him, breathless. He smiled as he pulled back. “I never gave a damn for what made sense before,” he said as he abruptly let her go and turned toward the table. “And I don’t intend to start now.”

She stumbled to a chair and lowered herself in, her legs like noodles. “Carter, we shouldn’t start something we can’t—”

“Liz, I’m eating pizza now, because I
want
to. We had sex earlier because we wanted to. It isn’t any more complicated than that.”

“Sex is always complicated.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” Carter pulled a slice of pizza from the box and took a bite. Liz’s cell phone rang. They both looked at it where it sat on the middle of the table.

“I’ll call him back,” she said.

Carter’s eyes narrowed as it rang a second time. He looked at her. “Him? Is this about your inter-office guy?”