No Good For Anyone (7 page)

He’d given her a choice of what she wanted to do, had offered to take her out to dinner or cook for her at his place. She’d picked his place, mostly because she thought she’d be more relaxed at his apartment than in some fancy restaurant where she had to worry about things like which fork to use. And something about the idea of him cooking for her was extremely sexy.

When she got to his building, her heart was beating so hard she didn’t know if she’d be able to hear anything over the sound of it. She buzzed his apartment and waited, smoothing her palms against her jeans.

“Hello?” His voice came over the intercom, the same sexy voice that had spent all those hours with her on the phone, only this time, he sounded closer. The thought of him being in the same building as her sent nervous excitement running through her body.

“It’s me,” she said. “I’m here.”

“Hey, Inspiration,” Chace said, “I’ll be right down.”

The sixty seconds it took for him to come downstairs felt like the longest minute of her life. There was a mirror hanging in the lobby, and she kept fussing with her hair, pulling it over her shoulders, arranging it, wanting it to be perfect for the first moment he saw her.

When the elevator doors finally opened and he stepped off, her breath caught.

He’d been gorgeous in the picture, but it was nothing compared to how he looked in person. He moved with a confident ease as he got off the elevator, smiling when he saw her.

“It’s you,” he said.

“Yes,” she said, breathless. “It’s me.”

He hugged her, and she felt tiny against him. She could feel the strength of his chest through the sweater he was wearing. He smelled like a musky cologne, and she inhaled the scent.

When he pulled back, he looked at her for a moment. Attraction passed between them, so strong you could almost hear it crackle in the air.

“God,” he said, shaking his head. “I just.. I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I know,” she said. She couldn’t help smiling. “It’s weird, isn’t it?”

“It’s awesome,” he said. “Wow.” He shook his head again. “I can’t believe how pretty you are.”

She flushed then, and her heart twisted in relief. She’d been afraid she wouldn’t be enough for him, that he would be disappointed when he saw her, when she wasn’t just a voice the phone.

He cooked her dinner, chicken parm with rigatoni, warm ciabatta rolls brushed with olive oil, and red wine. She was careful to have only one glass, not wanting the night to be marred by some kind of alcohol-induced weirdness.

He had one glass as well, and by the time dinner was over, the awkwardness had melted away, and Lindsay was shocked to find that she didn’t feel self-conscious at all.

She wasn’t worried that her laugh was too loud, or how she should sit to make sure he didn’t notice her jeans were a little tight, or if she had tomato sauce on her face.

It was actually the opposite. She felt like she could be herself, didn’t have to worry about anything. It was exactly as it had been on the phone.

Until they were done eating dinner. She’d insisted on helping clean up, and they’d just finished loading the dishwasher and were standing in Chace’s kitchen.

Suddenly, she became hyper aware of his physical presence. Obviously she’d always been aware of it – they’d spent the last two hours together. But now that she didn’t have food or her initial nervousness to distract her, the electricity was back full force, that same feeling she’d had when she’d first seen him downstairs. Butterflies were swarming around in her stomach, somersaulting and diving and making her feel tingly all over.

“So,” he said, leaning back against the counter and giving her the once over. She felt his eyes lingering on her body, and he grinned, like he liked what he saw. “What do you want to do now?”

What she wanted was for him to kiss her, to peel off all her clothes until she was completely naked, and then make love to her right here on the kitchen floor.

“I don’t… I mean, it’s getting late.” It was a canned response, something she’d taught herself to say at the end of dates, just in case the guy was looking for an excuse to get rid of her. She’d watched enough movies and heard enough horror stories about girls who hung around long after their welcome to know sometimes you had to put it out there to make sure you weren’t being an annoying hanger.

Chace glanced at the clock. “It’s only ten o’clock,” he said.

“Yeah, well…” She couldn’t speak. No man had ever had this kind of effect on her, no man had ever made her feel this way. The attraction between them sparked through the room. Did he feel it?

He took a step closer, putting his arms on either side of her hips, gripping the counter behind her, essentially trapping her.

“So I guess you’re leaving then?” he asked, his eyes on hers. His voice was low and sexy, the voice he sometimes got on the phone when it was getting late and he was tired, the voice she’d fantasized about whispering into her ear.

“I should probably, yes,” she said. It was a nonsensical sentence. Every nerve ending in her body was on high alert, every sense was at its peak. She tried to memorize every line of his face, the cut of his jaw, the dark smoothness of his eyes, the tiny little scar he had on his forehead.

“You sure?” He was teasing her, knew damn well she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Because I bought some dessert.”

“You did?”

“Yeah.” He took another step forward, and now his body was pressed against hers. “But if you have to go…”

“Well,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to be rude. If you bought dessert and everything.” Her heart was beating almost out of her chest, and she knew he could hear it. His body was too close to hers, and it was completely quiet in the kitchen.

He took his hand and put it on her heart. “Nervous?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Liar.” He grinned, but didn’t move, just stayed there, a half smile on his face, watching her, waiting to see who was going to blink first.

Lindsay kept her gaze on his. His hand was still over her heart, and his touch was making her hot and heady.

He slid his fingers over her skin slowly, until his hand was on the back of her neck, right on the soft spot behind her ear. The gesture, even though so small, was the most erotic thing Lindsay had ever felt.

He pulled her head toward his, until there was just a sliver of space separating their lips. Lindsay closed her eyes and waited for the kiss. He made her wait a second longer than was necessary, causing the anticipation to burn so bright she felt her knees go weak.

Then his mouth was on hers. Fireworks exploded behind her eyes. His lips were strong and soft at the same time. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he slipped his hands off the counter behind her and encircled her waist.

Time stopped. They kissed for what seemed like forever.

“Let me take you upstairs,” he said finally. It was a command, not a question, but Lindsay didn’t have to be asked.

She nodded, and he took her hand.

When they got to the bedroom, he took his time. He pulled her clothes off slowly, like he wanted to savor her in every level of undress. And the kissing, my God, the kissing! What had started off slow upped in intensity.

She usually felt vulnerable being naked with a man for the first time – not that there had been that many – but with Chace, she didn’t feel any of that. He made her feel beautiful, the way he pushed her hair back from her face, the way he would stop kissing her for a moment to stare into her eyes, the way he stroked her skin.

It was two hours before they were completely naked. And even then, he lay on top of her, kissing her, until she was breathless.

“God, Lindsay,” he whispered.

He slid in slowly, still taking his time. He began to move slowly, then faster and faster, the pleasure building in her body until it exploded. They climaxed at the same time, and when it was over, he pulled her close.

They lay there like that, him stroking her hair and kissing her forehead, not saying anything. She drifted in and out, somewhere between wakefulness and sleep, drowsy and high off their love-making.

Finally they fell asleep, limbs tangled up in each other.

When she awoke, Chace wasn’t there.

The smells of bacon and coffee were coming from the kitchen.

Her clothes from last night lie crumpled on the floor, so she took a chance and pulled on one of Chace’s t-shirts.

When she got to the kitchen, he was scrambling eggs, wearing track pants and nothing else. His eyes were droopy from the lack of sleep, his hair rumpled for the same reason. Her breath caught as she took in his half-naked body. His chest was broad and defined, the six pack of his abs visible over the waistband of his pants.

“Hey,” he said, breaking into a smile when he saw her. “You’re awake.” His eyes raked up her body.

“Sorry,” she said, pulling his shirt tighter around her. “My clothes were on the floor, and so… I hope it’s okay.”

“God damn, you look sexy,” he said. His voice, just a moment ago scratchy with sleep, had deepened even further.

He turned the stove off and came toward her. This time, he wasted no time.

He pulled her shirt off, and then he tugged off his sweatpants. He entered her immediately, like he couldn’t take being without her for another minute.

It was just as delicious and perfect as it had been the night before. Her body must have been on the edge the whole time she was sleeping, because her orgasm came so fast she couldn’t believe it.

“You’re going to be hard for me to stay away from,” he said as they lay on the couch. He was playing with her hair again.

They drifted in and out of sleep, the breakfast he’d been making totally forgotten.

When they awoke around noon, they ordered lunch in and ate in the living room while they watched TV. All of it felt very intimate and coupley, and Lindsay couldn’t help but think maybe this was it, that maybe she would just stay here forever, having sex and eating food and watching TV and writing her books.

But when the HGTV marathon they were watching was over, Chace turned to her and stretched.

“So,” he said. “What are your plans for the day?”

“I don’t know,” she said slowly. She didn’t have any plans.

“I have to go down to my dad’s restaurant today on the Cape,” he said. “We’re having an anniversary party for him and my stepmom.”

“Cool,” Lindsay said, keeping her voice nonchalant. It was no big deal. He had a party to go to, so what? What did she think, that she was really going to stay here with him all weekend, eating food and having sex? That was ridiculous. People had lives.

But still. A niggling thought was eating at the back of her mind. She’d had sex with him. A man she’d never met. She’d come to his apartment and had sex with him twice, the very first time she’d met him. Her face burned when she thought about the things they’d done last night, and then again this morning.

At the time, those things had seemed perfectly natural, but now she realized she didn’t know anything about Chace, really. She’d never slept with a man on the first night she’d met him, but that wasn’t the problem – she’d didn’t think having a one-night stand made you a slut or that it was anything to be ashamed of.

No, the real problem was that she was afraid maybe it hadn’t meant as much to him as it did to her. That maybe it was just sex to him, that maybe she was never going to hear from him again.

But that was crazy, she told herself as she changed back into her jeans and sweater. Chace didn’t seem like that kind of person. They’d had all those phone calls, and he’d never done or said anything to give her the impression that he wouldn’t want to see her again. By the time he kissed her goodbye, and promised to call her that night when he was done with the party, she was feeling better.

That night she had dinner with her sister, but she didn’t tell Jamie anything about the date. Jamie would want all the sexy details, and right now, it felt too raw, too private to be talking about. Also, she didn’t want to jinx it.

When Chace didn’t call that night, Lindsay told herself it wasn’t a big deal. He was busy with his family. He would call the next day.

But he didn’t.

Or the day after that.

She signed onto the dating site, hoping maybe he’d left her a message. But there was nothing.

Still. It had only been a couple of days. Surely at some point he would email or call.

But as the days added up, her emotions turned from nervousness to sadness to anger. She wrote him a nasty email, but stopped herself from sending it. Her pride was all she had left, and she didn’t want him to know that he’d gotten to her.

She was extremely miserable for a while, more upset than she’d ever been about a man. But time passed, and after a while, the sting began to fade. She reminded herself that she’d never really known Chace in the first place, that he’d just been a voice on the phone, a voice that had kept her company while she was writing.

And after she’d repeated this to herself enough times, she began to believe it.

Until he’d shown up on her doorstep the other night, forcing her to face the fact that she’d been lying to herself the whole time.

C
hapter
F
ive

Chace rushed over to Lindsay. She was lying on the floor of the kitchen, her hair spread out in a tangle behind her, her face flushed, her eyes closed.

“Lindsay!” he said. “Are you okay?”

Her eyes fluttered open, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing her there, on the floor, had made him feel like a vice grip was crushing his throat.

She swallowed a few times, and then looked up at him.

He put his arm around her. “Sit up.”

She sat up, the color starting to come back to her cheeks.

“Say something,” he commanded.

She shook her head, looking a little dazed. “My wrist hurts.”

He looked at her wrist, then reached out and touched it gently.

She snapped her hand back. “Hey! That hurts!”

“Sorry.” He turned to Chuck. “I’m going to take her to the hospital,” he said.

“Someone needs to look at her wrist.”

“I’m okay,” she protested, trying to stand up. But she couldn’t put pressure on her right arm, and without the leverage she ended up back on the floor.