Page 10 of In a Bind

Chapter Eight

Zane

I could have just liedto myself and pretended that the kiss hadn't left me standing for five minutes like a stunned fool. But it would still have been a lie. I wasn't sure exactly when the turning point had happened, when this had turned into a game, but I was highly competitive and I wasn't planning on losing to a sassy, smart ass twenty-two-year-old. I needed to regroup and figure out my next move.

Trey and Georgie had decided to head to the theater room where people were gathered to watch the original version of Psycho. Since I'd never seen the flick on the big screen and since I needed some time to devise a plan, I decided to head in and join them.

Carter's home theater was big enough to house fifty people. There were eight rows of plush recliners lined up in the room. There was even a popcorn maker and drink bar on the far side of the room. The sounds system and screen rivaled any commercial theater.

The movie had just started and the room was dark. Trey's tall head was in the second row, but his arm was curled around Georgie's shoulders. I decided not to sit next to them and break up the movie date. The last row was empty. I scooted through to the center seat and sat down. The row in front of me was filled with several of the guys who had been playing pool. I had no idea what had prompted me to ask Raini the totally rude and none of my business question about her brother's friends. I suppose it was just my way of keeping on top of things. She kept getting the upper hand on me, and it was driving me fucking nuts. But then she showed me. Instead of telling me to drop dead or slapping my face, something I deserved, she showed me up by not only acting unfazed but by embarrassing me in front of the guys in the room. Then she topped it off with the unexpected kiss and that was it. I knew I needed to be more on my toes. She was good. Really good.

I leaned back and just started getting into the movie when the door opened. Light poured in and then the door shut, bathing the room in darkness again. I was still staring straight up at the screen when someone plopped into the chair next to me.

I looked over at Raini.

"Oh, was this seat taken?"

"Nope. Be my guest."

"Oh wait, I'm going to need some popcorn." She stood up and moved to stand right between my legs. She was a pro.

I made a point of taking in every inch of her body, which was wrapped nicely in a pair of short shorts and a midriff top. The tattoos trailing along her side and disappearing below the top of her shorts were begging to be touched, and possibly even licked, but I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind.

"Do you want some popcorn?"

"No thanks." I forced a polite smile, which was the only way I could keep from grabbing her into my lap and kissing her.

She slipped past me and scurried over to the popcorn cart. She filled a bag and as she walked past her brother's friends, one of them reached for her. "Sit here, Raini, and share that popcorn."

She ducked out of reach and sent several kernels of popcorn to the ground. "Get your own bag. Besides, I'm sitting back here with my new friend, who doesn't know it yet but he's secretly in love with me."

My face flashed her direction, and a few of the guys in front of me turned back to check out the sucker in the back row. Seemingly pleased that she'd again earned a point, she sat down next to me. Then climbed up on her knees on the large cushiony chair and faced me. I stared straight ahead at the screen.

She shoved the popcorn bag in front of my face. "Want some?"

I shook my head and continued to watch the movie with feigned interest.

"I don't mind the shower scene, but I hate the screechy music that goes with it." She mimicked the infamous scene and added in sound effects. Someone up front shushed her, but she ignored it.

I leaned my head closer to talk quietly, only to find myself temporarily stunned by the fragrance of her hair. It took me a second to stop thinking about pressing my face into her hair as I fucked her from behind. "Do you always talk in a theater?"

"Only ones where my date is more interesting than the movie." She attempted to whisper, which was an altogether cute and sexy sound. Of course.

She sat forward with her bag of popcorn and stretched her suntanned legs out in front of her, crossing them at the ankles.

I leaned my head her direction again. "I'm not your date. You sat here, remember?"

"Do you want me to move?"

"You're free to sit anywhere you want." The truth was, I wanted her to stay right there next to me, even if she was going to talk through the whole movie. Which, apparently, she planned to do.

She leaned her arm on the rest between us. "So when do you think you'll give me a proper kiss."

I looked over at her. After lobbing that zinger my direction, she pretended to suddenly be interested in the movie. "First of all, there is nothing proper about my kisses, and secondly, who said I had any plans to kiss you?"

She rocked her thin shoulders up and down. "Just a hunch since you're always looking at me when we're in the same room. In fact, I think I know why you keep watching me."

I had no idea where this was leading. She was playing games again, and I needed to get ahead of her next move.

"I'm watching you and thinking is she really twenty-two? She seems more like sixteen or seventeen." I knew my words had stung, but I waited for her response with my guard up.

"Nope." She moved her mouth right next to my ear, and as her warm breath brushed over my skin, my cock stirred to life. That was all it took from her, I thought with annoyance. A breath. Fragrant hair shampoo. Fuck.

"I can see those dirty thought bubbles over your head when you're looking at me," she whispered. "You're thinking, I wonder if she likes it gentle and slow, or fast and furious, or if she just likes to be fucked six ways to Sunday, in every way and every place imaginable."

She sat back and let me absorb the impact of her statement for a minute. The she leaned her head toward mine. "By the way—it's the last one."

The door to the theater opened as she leaned back again. I tried to regain my composure and erase the raging erection she'd just summoned with her words. Raini hopped up suddenly. "Mindy, take this seat. I'm just on my way out." Her sister looked more than a little irritated when she saw who was sitting next to Raini, but she was happy to take her sister's place.

It took all my willpower not to watch Raini walk out.

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