Page 20 of Friends With Benefits

“You stupid, horny idiot! What the hell do you think you weredoing? You’re supposed to be my friend!”

He stared at her, rubbing his shoulder. “Do not ever hit me again,” he bit out, eyes narrowed, jaw tight.

Her fury faded as she viewed Mitch in a different light and she took a step back when he stood and moved toward her. She tried to back away but wasn’t fast enough.

He grabbed her wrists and hauled her up against him, his body still hot and rock-hard. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He pushed her away from him in frustration and turned his back on her, shoved his hands back through his hair. He stood like that for a moment.

“I better go,” he said tightly.

“Good idea. Because if you don’t, I’ll kick you out.”

He glanced around at her and the intensity and heat flaring in his eyes startled her again and she swallowed. But he walked out, slamming the door behind him.

She sank back down onto the floor, trembling, legs weak. She put her hands to her mouth again, and just stared into space.

Okay, that was so bizarre. She had no idea why Mitch had done that. They were friends, for God’s sake. Just friends, never more than friends. It could only be that she had made him so angry he’d lost control, and instead of punching her like he maybe would have if she were a guy, he’d kissed her. So it didn’t really mean anything.

Yeah, that was it. It was just the way he expressed his anger.

She didn’t even want to think about her own reaction. Holy smokes, she’d actually been turned on! She was wet and aching between her legs. What was wrong withher, never mind him. That was a totally inappropriate reaction to a friend who was angry.

She had never been kissed like that before, never felt that way before, and…never been terrified like that before, terrified of the lust that had surged inside her for her best friend. Even more scary was the way she couldn’t stop thinking about it—the feel of his mouth on hers, how his body had felt against hers, the taste of him.

That night she dreamt about endless hot, consuming kisses that went on and on. And in her dreams, she was kissing Mitch.

Chapter Nine

Mitch’s anger resulted in a burst of adrenaline-fueled energy and he finally got around to doing all kinds of stupid things around his house he’d been procrastinating on—fixing a leaky tap, repairing a hole in the wall, cleaning his garage. He wanted to be angry at Kerri, but instead he was angry at himself.

What had possessed him to attack her like that? He could guess the answer. He’d been so frustrated by her stubbornness, impatience and crazy obsession with finding a husband even before she’d started in on him with all those stupid ways she had of twisting his words.

Kerri was an intelligent woman. Why couldn’t she see how insane this whole thing was? Why couldn’t she see this was jeopardizing their friendship? And why couldn’t she stop pushing his buttons?

He ran a hand through his hair as he took a break and drank a glass of ice-cold water. He’d been working hard in the un-air-conditioned garage moving things, cleaning. He stripped off his shirt and went back to work in his shorts, perspiration running down his chest and back.

Man, he’d have to phone her and put things right.

Could he put things right, after a kiss that hot? Holy shit. The biggest reason he regretted what he’d done was because now he knew what Kerri tasted like, what she felt like in his arms, and he wasn’t going to be able to ever get that out of his mind.

He yanked the ties of a big plastic garbage bag together and tossed it into a trashcan. Yeah, he’d phone her. Apologize. Tell her they’d just pretend that never happened. They were going to the wedding together in two weeks.

Did she realize how hot he’d been for her? If she knew, how were they ever supposed to go back to being friends?

He drew the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead.

God, how embarrassing and stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Well, therewasone thing he could do to make sure she never knew how he felt. He could try one more time to set her up with someone. There had to be someone.

His gut twisted. He’d managed to play along with the whole insane plan this long but it was getting harder.

It was just that marriage was such a bad idea. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want her to be happy. She was his friend and he loved her. Like a friend. And he knew, better than most people, what marriage could lead to.

Yeah, he’d have to phone her. Right after he scrubbed his toilets.

Not that he was procrastinating.

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