Stud by Siskind, Kelly (10)

Ten

 

Owen

My jeans pinched around my cock, not an inch of space between Ainsley’s sensual body and mine, but I needed more. Needed her honeyed hair unfurled over my sheets, her clothes strewn across my floor. Her skin shifting against mine. That perfection would have to wait.

Heart hammering in my throat, I wrapped my hands around the soft give of her waist and captured her lips in a crushing kiss. When I’d imagined kissing Ainsley in the past, it was slow and deep with little bites and licks snuck in. But her revelation of my sexuality and my growing need the past hour had shaken me to the point of explosion.

And I nearly did that. Almost came in my jeans. Tongues sliding hungrily, we kissed and moaned and groped while trying to shrink the nonexistent space between us. Her lips were full and soft, her body lush and yielding. I was all hard lines and painfully aroused. My balls had never been so tight, heat rushing my cock in fierce waves. My chest was the worst, a swirl of emotion cresting through me.

Ainsley wanted me. She’d been as frustrated as I had the past weeks, feeling our connection but not believing it was real. Dammit, it was real. It was wet mouths and breathy groans as our teeth bumped. Her fingers dug into my straining back muscles, her calf sliding around mine as if it could draw us closer. My knuckles chafed against the jagged bark.

A shriek from the playground had me jumping back, the outside world invading. Breathing hard, we watched a couple kids chase each other and giggle in an endless game of tag.

Ainsley unmolded herself from the tree and stood in front of me. She slipped her hands under the bottom of my T-shirt, letting her fingers trace my abs and the tops of my hipbones. “Where were we?”

I hissed out a strangled breath, each light brush of her fingers driving me insane. “You were throwing yourself at me.”

She snickered, a sexy rasp sizzling with want. “Consider me your personal blanket.”

Wrapping myself up in this woman sounded damn good. Her fingers continued stroking my stomach—up, down, side to side. My cock strained against my jeans, every muscle from my cheeks to my calves tensing. A blast of fire shot up my thighs. I clenched my jaw harder and flexed my quads, nearly spraining a muscle. It was time to slow things down. Savor the beauty before me. Not let things get out of hand.

Guiding her so the tree blocked us from the playground, I soaked her in. I touched her eyebrow, traced the smooth arch. She blinked, and her long lashes skimmed my palm. I felt that soft brush everywhere. I wanted to map every inch of her skin. I read her like braille instead, memorizing the curve of her cheek, the cupid’s bow of her lips, the tiny divot under her chin.

She flattened her hands on my stomach and shuddered. “Are we dreaming?”

“If we are, I’d rather not wake up.” Except the absurdity of our misunderstanding had me chuckling. “Can’t believe you thought I was gay.”

“Can’t believe you’re not kissing me right now.”

“Demanding.”

“More like undersexed.”

Ainsley and her bluntness. But like her, I still couldn’t fathom that we were standing here, her hands under my shirt, mine on her gorgeous face. The air snapping between us. We were like Ellie and Peter in It Happened One Night, but instead of a spoiled rich girl, I’d found myself a vegan fashionista with a love of crossword puzzles who’d upended my life. I looped my finger through the pink elastic holding up her hair, dragged it out, and tossed it on the ground.

A dangerous smirk lit her face. “I liked that accessory.”

“You’ll like my hands in your hair better.” Not giving her time to reply, I threaded my fingers through the thick, golden layers, caressing her scalp and giving the strands a gentle tug.

She groaned. “I definitely like that better, but you’re still not kissing me.”

A travesty in need of reform. Noses brushing, I took my time. Barely grazed my lips over hers, mimicking the movement of her lazy fingers—up, down, side to side. I licked the seam of her lips, coaxing them open for me. Languidly, I twirled my tongue around hers, sucked on her bottom lip, teasing us both with light nips. Like I’d fantasized doing. We traded heady moans. Maybe traded promises, too.

We’d spent the past six weeks talking and laughing, both hoping for more. Could be this was the start of something amazing.

Her hands sketched a path over my ribs and up my back, her strokes quickening. Our kiss deepened—wetter, hotter, more tongue and teeth. But we weren’t alone. I couldn’t pop the top button of her jeans and work my fingers into her panties. I couldn’t hoist her legs around my waist.

I kissed her softly on the corner of her mouth. “We should come up for air.”

Cheeks flushed, she blinked before focusing on me. “Sorry, did you say something?”

Honest to God, this woman’s unabashed humor. Every word out of her mouth had me falling harder. “You distracted?”

“I’m not sure I can feel my lips.”

I ran my thumb over those bee-stung beauties. “They feel nice to me.”

She tried to bite me. “What’s this about air?”

Guess she was listening after all. “Unless you want to get arrested for indecent exposure, we need to take a break.”

She removed her hands from under my shirt, then proceeded to smooth the cotton over my abdomen. “Can I touch you over your clothes? Because your body is ridiculous. I mean, I’ve pictured it a lot, like a lot, but you don’t have an ounce of body fat anywhere.”

Laughing again, I sat on the prickly grass and pulled her between my legs—my back against the rough tree trunk, her spine rounding into my chest. Our own slice of heaven. “When we’re alone, you can touch me all you want, wherever you want. The ravaging I promised will happen. But tell me more about you picturing us naked.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be cooling things down?”

Her hair blew into my face, and I inhaled her scent. Chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream. “Good point. How about telling me why you seemed so sad this morning.” I’d watched her when she’d arrived, couldn’t miss the frown lines sunk into her brow, her uncharacteristic bleakness. Still confused and irked with her behavior, all I’d mustered was a curt wave. Felt like an ass for it.

Turning sideways, she planted her feet on the outside of my thigh, wrapping her arms around her bent knees. “It’s a few things.”

I kissed her temple. Because I could. “I’m a good listener.”

“You are.” She pulled one of my hands into her grasp, traced the dips and curves of my knuckles. Ran her nails over the sparse hairs. I liked the simplicity of it. Ainsley plucking at my skin and calluses.

With my free hand around the back of her shoulders, I pulled her closer and nosed her ear. “Tell me.”

Her shoulder pressed into my chest. “I want to fire ninety percent of my clients, but my folks have unexpected house expenses on top of their usual struggles, so I might be stuck working for assholes for the rest of my life.”

I knew her clients were lawyers and had my own experience with that ego-driven crowd. “Let me guess, they toss their weight around and condescend to you.”

Chewing her lip, she lined up our hands, bottoms of our palms even, like she was measuring me. “Attitude I can handle. These men are lying cheats. Most have mistresses.”

My heart rate sped. Cheating meant they were looking for women to use and discard. Meant they might be hitting on Ainsley. “Are some of them inappropriate? Making advances you don’t want?” The green grass clouded my vision, jealousy and protectiveness surging. If someone had made her uncomfortable or worse, they’d be having a conversation with my fist.

She shook her head firmly. “Nothing like that. I mean, it’s happened. I’ve been propositioned. But it’s never been uncomfortable, and I’d never get involved with a married man. Ever.” Stiffness edged her joints. “I know how damaging that can be.”

She didn’t offer more, but her words were a reminder that, technically, I was still married, and Ainsley didn’t have a clue. Tessa wasn’t part of my life in any meaningful way, but the knowledge weighed on me. I also sensed something ugly in Ainsley’s past. Without even knowing the details, it made me want to rewrite her story. Fill it with nothing but laughter and smiles and success. That wasn’t real life, though. I knew what it was to be discarded, deemed not good enough. My mother leaving her kids wasn’t the same as some prick sneaking around behind his spouse, but it all came down to loyalty.

Cheating was a hard limit of mine, too. Unacceptable. It’s why Tessa’s accusations were such a blow. She should have known me better. Believed I’d never treat my partner with that little respect.

Tired of poking those thoughts, I brushed Ainsley’s hair behind her ear. “So these men you work for, you don’t like being around them?”

Her jaded sigh was dredged from her bones. “It’s more than that. I don’t just buy clothes for them and their wives. They ask me to send gifts to their girlfriends, and I know it’s wrong. Like so wrong. I’m facilitating their affairs, and I get sick every time I think about their wives finding out. I’m friendly with some of these women.” She nuzzled her head under my chin. “I’m sorry. I’m ruining our we-just-found-out-you’re-not-gay time.”

Another laugh rumbled through my chest. “Baby doll, don’t ever apologize. I don’t like seeing you this stressed, but I’m glad you told me. I’ll help you figure something out.”

“Yeah?”

“We’ll brainstorm. Try to find ways for you to expand your client base before making any rash moves. Get you away from those assholes without taking a pay cut.”

“Can we do this brainstorming naked? Like tonight? I’m feeling a wave of insight coming on, but my clothes are distracting me.” She placed two fingers on my chest and walked them toward my belt buckle. “Yours are distracting, too.”

I exhaled a pained grunt. “As tempting as that sounds, I have bad news.”

“You only have four hours left to live?”

“If you keep looking at me like that, I do.”

She screwed half her face into a beastly grimace. “Like this?”

“Yeah, weirdo. Like that.” I dropped a kiss to the end of her adorable nose. “A friend’s in San Francisco for a visit, and we have plans. Then I’m heading out of town for a few days.” The way her face fell shouldn’t have made me grin. The defeated slump in her posture shouldn’t have had me wanting to run a victory lap. I was in trouble. “I need to head back to D.C., tie up some loose ends there.”

Meaning I had to surgically remove Tessa’s talons from my neck.

“Work stuff?”

My lungs stilled. Each nob of my spine scratched into the coarse tree bark.

Ainsley had never asked about my past. She’d obviously assumed I was seeing Emmett and left my romantic history at that. I should open my mouth and tell her about the clusterfuck of a divorce chasing me, but it had taken me months to tell Nana the lewd details, worried she’d believe the slander. Ainsley and I were just finding our feet. If I told her about my divorce, there would be questions, and I’d have to explain the extent of Tessa’s accusations.

I offered her a partial truth. “I have a house that hasn’t sold yet and some furniture pieces I have to ship.”

“That sucks.”

“It does.”

Unaware of my unease, she pushed away from me and flopped on her back, pouting like a child. “I am not disappointed at all. I will not be using Blue Bunny while wishing you were between my thighs. Won’t happen.”

Leave it to this hellcat to ease my discomfort with her ridiculousness. I straddled her, pinning her wrists by her sides. “Who is this Blue Bunny? And do I need to be jealous?”

“You do. His stamina is remarkable.”

“Explain yourself, doll.”

“He’s my fuck buddy, and he’s rechargeable.”

My blood burned hot again, and my grip on her wrists tightened. “Sounds like a busy bunny.”

She tried to blow away the blond hairs streaking across her face. “You know what they say about rabbits. Plus I’ve had some issues to work through lately.”

Her and me both. My recent evenings made my teen masturbation-athons seem amateurish. I could swing by her place later, after drinks with Jimmy, steal a few hours with her before sleep and waking for my flight. But that’s not how I wanted things to begin with Ainsley. “If I can cut my trip short, I will.” I pushed to my feet, then helped her up. “You need me to dust off your ass?”

She shoved at my chest, and her belly rumbled. “What I need is food.”

What I needed was to get my life in order.

By the time I walked into The Blue Door, most of the unpretentious wine bar was full. Luckily, Jimmy and Emmett had already secured a table. The dim lights cast a glow on the wine collection filling the back wall as Eric Clapton drifted from the speakers. I found an empty place at the crowded bar and nodded to Cameron. “Hey.”

He reached for a bottle of Pliny. “The usual?”

I’d been here enough that I could order with as little as a head nod, but my impending trip and my slight deception with Ainsley had me craving something harder. “Double Scotch on the rocks.”

“Coming right up.” Cameron was as tattooed as Jimmy, but instead of sporting a mess of wavy black hair, his blond pompadour was neatly styled. He poured my drink, then pushed my tumbler of amber liquid toward me. “Who’s the new guy?”

I glanced at my friends. Jimmy had been a fixture here awhile, introduced me to it when I’d moved back, but it was Emmett’s first night here. “My brother.”

“Seriously? You look nothing alike.”

Emmett’s wavy dark hair, olive skin, and darker eyes gave him a European look. As a kid, my sandy hair and square jaw often had people labeling me All-American Boy. “You mean I’m much better looking?”

His gray eyes cut to my brother, an appraising perusal that had my eyebrows inching up. Emmett attracted every available man in sniffing distance. I picked up my glass. “He’s trouble. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Cameron was a good guy, and I dug hanging out here. Last thing I needed was my brother the manwhore making the place uncomfortable.

Still, Cameron cast a searching glance at him. “Noted. You can settle up after.”

I made my way to the boys and sunk into a seat opposite them. “Here’s to a crazy day.”

“Good to see you, too.” Jimmy clinked his wineglass with my tumbler, Emmett following with his beer bottle. Jimmy swirled his glass. “To what do we owe the crazy?”

After the day I’d had, that was a loaded question. I hadn’t mentioned Ainsley to Jimmy yet. Emmett didn’t have much more dirt on the subject. Neither knew about Tessa’s accusations and how painful seeing her would be on tomorrow’s trip.

All this drama had my mind drifting to the one person who’d helped me when things had caved in with Tessa. Summer Daniels. Meeting her on my first Habitat build in D.C. had been a stroke of luck. We hadn’t been in touch since before my divorce, and I hadn’t thought about her in ages, but this trip to my past was dredging up all kinds of memories. The urge to contact her struck. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure she’d want to hear from me. Not with how our last talk had ended.

That left the boys.

My generous swallow of Scotch burned a warm path down my throat. “I’ve met a girl.”

“Nice.” Emmett grinned. “The one you were having lunch with at the Habitat build?”

“Yeah, but there’s a funny story there.” Guitar licks reverberated through the room, chatter rising and falling with it. The guys stared, waiting on me. This story wasn’t just funny. It was downright ridiculous. “She was being all cagey with me, tossing out all kinds of mixed signals, because she thought…” I sighed, aware I was inviting ridicule. I looked at my egotistical brother. “She thought you and I were an item.”

His grin spread until I could see his fucking molars. “She thought you were gay? That we were dating?”

All I could do was nod.

He released a roaring cackle. “Honestly, man, don’t buy me anything for my birthday. We’ll consider this my gift.” He grabbed his ribs and tipped forward, laughing his ass off.

Jimmy joined in, nearly spitting out his wine. When the wheezing assholes finally calmed down, Jimmy dragged his wrist over his eyes. “Because I can’t resist, what made her think that?”

Christ. I shouldn’t have told them. Emmett would never let me live it down, and Jimmy would have enough material to make our soccer matches hell. I scrubbed my hand over my mouth as I mumbled, “She knew Emmett from the gym.”

They both leaned closer, eyes squinting. Jimmy spoke first. “Didn’t catch that.”

Emmett’s contribution: “Louder, fucknut.”

I was so screwed. “She met this loser”—I jabbed a finger toward my giddy-ass brother—“at the gym and had a crush on him until she found out he was gay. So when he met me at the Habitat build and decided to grab my ass, she assumed we were a couple.”

If they were wheezing before, the two of them were nothing but a pair of frenetic hyenas now, smacking the table and hooting. Every eye in the place was on us.

I sunk lower in my seat. “You two are such jackasses.”

“Man—” Emmett spat out one word before dissolving again.

“Too damn good.” Jimmy wasn’t much better.

Emmett took a few deep breaths like a goddamn yoga instructor. “I remember her now. Didn’t recognize her that day I visited you. But it’s Ainsley, right? She’s hot, man. Not great in a step class, but hot.”

“Yes, it’s Ainsley.”

“Back up a second.” All humor drained from Jimmy’s face. “Her name is Ainsley and you met her through Habitat for Humanity?”

His intensity had me sitting straighter. “Yeah. She started volunteering there, like, six or seven weeks ago.”

“Does she have long blond hair?”

“Yeah…”

“Curvy girl who looks like she should be toting a Chihuahua in her purse, sounds like a sexy chain smoker, and has a wicked sense of humor?”

I wasn’t just ramrod straight now, the air was leaking from my lungs. “How do you know her?”

“You will not believe this.”

“Try me.” My curiosity was spinning into dread. Had they dated?

He waved his hand in the air. “It’s nothing bad, just…wild. Sounds like she’s one of Rachel’s best friends.”

“Like Rachel Rachel?”

“No, dipstick. My other girlfriend.” He shook his head. “There are three of them, best friends who happen to have the same birthday. They met when they were out celebrating turning twenty-one. They’ve been close ever since. Ainsley had mentioned wanting to volunteer for something ages ago, and Rachel knew you were at the build and suggested it, but we didn’t think she’d actually joined up.”

What were the odds? Maybe there was destiny involved in our meeting. A reason we’d found each other. “Wild is an understatement. You know her well?”

“Just met a handful of times, but the girls are really close. I’m guessing Rachel doesn’t know about you, or she would’ve brought it up.”

I didn’t imagine Ainsley would have gushed to her friends about the gay man she fancied. What about now? I hadn’t told her about my divorce or why I was heading to D.C. If she confided in Rachel and they put two and two together, the things I’d avoided would sound way worse than they were. “Does Rachel know about my divorce?”

Jimmy’s nose was in his glass, his eyes closed as he inhaled his wine’s bouquet. He swished a sip around his mouth then swallowed. “No. She knows you were in a relationship and are single now, but nothing more. You’ve always been tight-lipped about it. Figured it wasn’t up for public discussion.”

I blew out a shaky breath. “Thanks. I haven’t told Ainsley yet.”

Emmett cleared his throat. Fixated on Jimmy’s revelation, I’d happily ignored my obnoxious brother. Or maybe he was ignoring us—his attention was lasered in on Cameron. “I’m gonna get the next round.” He scraped back his chair and strutted to the bar like he owned the place.

We watched him a minute. Emmett leaned his weight on the bar. Cameron looked shy as he smirked and rubbed the back of his neck.

Jimmy cocked his head. “Is Cameron gay?”

“Whatever he’s into, he has his sights set on Emmett. I warned him about Casanova already.”

“That’ll be interesting.” He turned his dark eyes on me. “Might not be my place to say anything, but if you’re into Ainsley, don’t you think you should tell her about your ex? Unless things are casual.”

I had no idea what things were with Ainsley. When we’d left the park to get her lunch, we fell into step. Our arms had swung in time, the backs of our hands nearly touching. I wanted to interlace our fingers, fold her small hand over my forearm and hold her close. Except I had no clue if Ainsley wanted that kind of affection. We often laughed. We enjoyed our time together. There was no doubt our attraction was mutual. But she was a free spirit who spoke her mind, and the pain she’d hinted at in her past could have soured her toward relationships. A hookup might be all she was after.

“It’s not casual for me. I’m really into her, but she works for a bunch of dicks who cheat on their wives, and I think she has personal experience with that hell. Not sure she’ll take kindly to my divorce details. Haven’t figured out how to tell her.”

A few people stood from their table and squeezed by us to leave. Jimmy pulled his seat closer. “I can’t help if I don’t know specifics.”

I’d already spilled all to Nana. I was ready to ignore my lawyer’s advice and get involved with a woman before the divorce was finalized. There was no point continuing this charade. Head bent, I laid out the gist of it. How Tessa had freaked when I told her I wanted out. That she blamed me. Claimed I was having an affair. My anger and irritation rose with each word.

I’d picked apart our relationship countless times since it had unraveled. We’d met at college. She was beautiful—blond hair and red lips and full of confidence. I was away from home, missing Nana and Emmett, even my soccer team. Feeling at loose ends. Like I was a kid again, left to fend for myself. I got wrapped up in Tessa quickly. Her friends became mine. We spent our free time together. I proposed before we graduated, didn’t hesitate moving my life to be with her. I craved building my own family.

That should have been my first clue things would fall apart. When I’d bring up kids, she’d sidestep the conversation. Her work hours extended. My job sucked. We’d fight. I wound up feeling more alone and discarded than I had since I’d stopped searching the beach for broken glass. Now here I was.

Jimmy finished the last of his wine. “Tessa sounds like a wack job.”

“Vindictive, yeah. It’s how she’s been so successful at her firm. Thing is, Ainsley might not believe I’m innocent in all this. Since Tessa’s spinning nothing but lies, and the divorce has to end sometime, I figured she didn’t need to know yet.”

He drummed his thumb to the music, nodding. “Just be careful. I won’t say anything to Rachel, but you need to get this sorted before it bites you in the ass. And where the hell is your brother with our drinks?” He nudged his empty glass aside.

Another glance at the bar showed Emmett punching something into Cameron’s phone, his number likely. Cameron was still smiling shyly, his hand lingering on my brother’s as Emmett returned the cell. “Looks like drinks might be a while. But yeah, I’m trying to organize some face time with Tessa. That’s why I’m heading to D.C. tomorrow. I’m hoping to talk some sense into the woman. Get our house sold and the papers signed.”

“Sounds like an upward climb. I’d love to go out soon, though. With Ainsley and Rachel, when you’re back.”

Ainsley and Rachel. Still couldn’t get my head around that. “We’ll make it happen.”

As long as Tessa didn’t fuck everything up.