Page 54 of Friends With Benefits

Warning bells went off in his head. Uncomfortably, he remembered Kerri’s liquored-up confession that Laurel had wanted to join them in a threesome. His dick stirred at the idea, but his mind closed off that train of thought.

“Having fun?”

“Sure.” He shifted slightly away from her as she leaned closer. “How about you?”

“Oh, yeah.” She moved closer again. “Listen, Kerri told me that you and she are…well, having sex. But you’re just sex pals. So, if you’re looking for another sex pal…”

Incredulous, Mitch stared at her and she put her hand on his shoulder, her thumb stroking his neck. He put a hand up to cover hers, intending to remove it from his shoulder, and his gaze fell on Kerri across the room, watching them with wide eyes and an open mouth. Then she whirled around and darted out of the room into the dark gardens outside the gazebo.

Mitch’s heart stopped momentarily, then thudded painfully. He removed Laurel’s hand gently from his shoulder and placed it on the table, and stood. He laughed, trying to save face for Laurel. She’d probably had too much too drink and would be embarrassed about this tomorrow. “Yeah right,” he said, forcing a smile. “You can do way better than me, honey.” He shook his head ruefully, flashed another smile and strode away, following Kerri.

Glowing lights lit the way along the brick path through the shrubs and palm trees of the resort. He followed the path, not sure which way Kerri had gone, until the music faded behind him, accompanied by the soft chirrups of crickets in the dark shrubbery. The path curved around a palm tree and he spotted her ahead. She had left the path and was leaning against the smooth trunk of a palm, her head resting against it, her back to him. He stopped momentarily, unsure how he was going to approach this. He’d wanted to apologize for what he’d said earlier, but seeing the look on her face when she’d seen him with Laurel made him wonder…hope…

“Kerri,” he called softly. She whirled around.

“Oh. You startled me.” Her face was indistinct in the darkness but he saw her quickly raise a hand to her cheek and swipe. Ah shit. She was crying.

“Sorry.” He moved closer and she turned away from him again. He put his hands on her bare shoulders, her skin silky and cool in the night air. She tensed beneath his hands.

“I’m sorry, Kerri,” he murmured.

“Sorry for what?” She leaned her forehead against the smooth trunk of the tree.

“For being so cynical about Hailey and Miguel.”

“Oh.”

“When you asked what I was worried about, that wasn’t really it.”

“Then why did you say that?”

He paused, enjoying the feel of her slim shoulders under his hands, her skin flower petal soft. “Because I didn’t want to tell you what I was really thinking about.”

There was a beat of silence. “What were you really thinking about?”

“I was thinking about you.”

Still she said nothing. She was letting him do all the work here. Perspiration dampened his forehead, stung his armpits.

“Liam called me on Thursday.”

Mitch gave his head a little shake at the conversational leap.

“He asked me out again.”

It was like a fist in the gut. “Oh.” His hands tightened on her narrow shoulders.

“Is that a problem?”

He couldn’t hide his anger. “Shit.”

“You’re the one who fixed me up with him. Remember?

“Oh, yeah, I remember,” he said curtly. “Stupid idiot that I was. I should never have agreed to that. Are you going to go?”

“No.”

Again a pause. The music and crickets faded away, the only sound Mitch could hear was his heart beating heavily.

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