Focusing back on her words, I replied, “Then I don’t see the problem. You had a good time. She had a good time. You’re friends now. You’re welcome.”
She continued rubbing her feet, her lips narrowed. “I’m doing you a favor, so the next time you feel like agreeing to something I wouldn’t do on a normal, everyday basis, refrain.”
I hissed air through my teeth and thought very carefully about my next words. “All right. From now on, I’ll do that.”
She sat up straight but then narrowed her eyes. “Wait a second. The way you just said that sounded calculated.” She pointed an accusatory finger at me. “You choose your words very carefully. I happen to know that for a fact.”
Holy crap. You see why I couldn’t get enough of her? She was so intelligent that I wouldn’t put it past her to invent something just as necessary as electricity. I remained silent, though, neither confirming nor denying her accusation.
“What did you do?” she asked in a very measured way, almost as if unsure she really wanted to know.
I placed a finger on my chin, looking up as I contemplated my answer. How would she handle a whole weekend with the Cavallos, acting like the loving couple we weren’t? “Let’s see.Nate stopped by my office earlier today, said we couldn’t get married. I think he’s a petulant child who wants what he can’t have. Must be younger sibling syndrome or some shit. I’m no psychologist, though. My friend, EJ, is in town, he showed up, and we had drinks. I came back here to finish working. Oh, and Mark called.”
She shot up so fast it rivaled that of an arrow being shot through the air at warp speed. “That!” There went that accusatory finger again, pointed directly at me, this time her ring glimmering in the artificial light. “What did you sign us up for with Mark?”
“Aren’t you the least bit curious about my friend EJ? He wanted to know all about you.”
Her nostrils flared, and she swallowed, my eyes drawn to the beautiful lines of the column of her neck. I wanted my tongue there.
“No,” she practically shouted, running her hands through her hair, clearly frustrated. “How is it that you can annoy me as much as you do, and yet all I want to do is rip your clothes off?”
I knew the feeling. “Because you’re attracted to me.”
She rolled her eyes.
I really got under her skin, didn’t I?
“Don’t flatter yourself,honeybun. I’m also attracted to the motorcycle gang president who just got arrested. It’s not a big deal, so forgo the swooning.” She started walking past me, but I reached out from my seat and stopped her, my hand grabbing hers, like I’d wanted to do earlier. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“We both want this, so why aren’t we just giving into it?” I asked, my eyes flickering between hers as her breathing became unsteady, and her chest rose and fell with the way she tried to get ahold of herself. “I never knew you to be a woman who didn’t go after what she wanted.”
“I’m not,” she responded quickly. I didn’t move an inch as her brow quirked at the sight of my hand on her arm. “You going to let me go?”
I dropped my hold on her. And call me cocky, but I wasn’t in the least bit surprised when she stepped toward me and sat on my lap, her feet folding under her legs. “Come here,” I said, urging her over my rock-hard cock.
“So, what’d you agree to with Mark?” she asked, her hands on my shoulders, her fingers digging into my skin as I moved her up and down my straining erection, her skirt draped over my legs.
I growled. “Not the time to talk about another man.”
She tipped her head, her eyes dropping to mine as I lifted her up again. “Are we really going to dry fuck right now?”
“It’s not my first choice, but considering how badly both of us want this, we shouldn’t actually do it. At least, not all the way.” I nudged her off me and eased my pants down, keeping my boxers in place, though, before setting her atop me again.
She leaned in, pressing her lips to my ear in a way that had me inhaling sharply. “Seems like exactly the reason to do it to me.”
“You really think it’s a good idea? Damn it, Jade, our relationship is complicated enough. We don’t need to go adding to that. Let’s just get this business deal over with, okay? Then that will be that.” Who was I kidding? I was dry fucking my brother’s ex, my fake fiancée, and the words coming out of my mouth were complete lies. I was feeding her more shit than a horse owner mucked up from a stall in a day.
I continued rubbing her on my cock, her arms wrapping around my neck as her fingers fussed with the hair at the nape of my neck.
“Shit, Red, it sounds like you think we’re going to become emotionally invested or something. It’s just sex.”
Until it wasn’t. “Agree to disagree.”
“Fine, but at this rate I’m never going to come.”
I moved my hands from her hips and dragged them upward, lifting her shirt. “This tennis outfit may be sexy, but it isn’t you.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking. I look ridiculous.”