Attachment Strings (6 page)

I wandered from my kitchenette to my sofa in the living room where I flipped through the TV guide. Nothing caught my interest. I got up again, strolled over to my bookshelves, but nothing caught my interest there either. The newest books were almost one year old. Geez! What had I done in my free time during the last year?

I scowled at nothing in particular, only impressed with the urgent thought that something had to give
.

A structured, small-stepped plan formed in my mind.
Step one: Take a shower, dress in fresh clothes.

When I had accomplished this step, the next one became obvious:
Do the laundry
. I sorted through my dirty clothes and loaded the machine. While I waited for it to finish, I zeroed in on step three.
Take the garbage out, air the rooms, change the linen
.

Maybe I suffered from a nasty bug of spring-cleaning?

I stuffed my clothes in the dryer and inspected my apartment. It would have to do, as the spring-cleaning bug had already left me.

Step four:
Get out; maybe buy a new book or DVD
.

I grabbed my keys and headed outside.

W
ITHOUT
a clear aim in mind, I ambled out the door and drove around. I ended up in the parking garage of one of the casinos. I took the elevator down and walked along the Boardwalk. The crisp, clean air helped me to feel alive and lift my spirits.

I strolled along the Boardwalk for an hour or so, sometimes passing a casino. For a fleeting moment, I was tempted to go inside and try my luck, but irritatingly, gambling had never held my interest.

Chilled to the bones, I watched my breath form little puffs in the air and stuffed my hands in my jacket pockets, hoping to thaw them. For a while I stared at the Atlantic Ocean and listened to the rolling of the waves. The sight and the sounds soothed my tightly wound up mind. I discovered a white boat in the distance, glittering in the setting sun. I wished I could be there.

I expelled a breath. My good mood had evaporated, so I thought that I had better get going. The prospect of getting back to my apartment with no new distraction at hand elicited a grimace. Maybe I should stop by for a drink somewhere?

To my own astonishment, half an hour later, I found myself back in Snake Alley, right in front of the entrance of the
Lion’s Den
. My subconscious had obviously decided a quickie would be a good idea. It might be right. Me being here had nothing to do with wanting to see a certain someone again. Absolutely not.

I ambled over to the bar but stopped halfway. Shaking my head, I tried to clear it of the vision in front me. This couldn’t be real. I closed my eyes but the sudden warmth after being outside for too long had me swaying on the spot. Someone gripped my elbow, steadying me and asked, “Are you all right?”

I opened my eyes. “Yes. Sure, thanks.”

The man looked doubtful, so I forced a smile and walked on. I reached my destination within seconds. “What
the hell
are you doing?”

Two heads swiveled around to face me. Alex’s eyes widened whereas Parker merely raised an eyebrow after the initial shock wore off. He had his arm around Alex’s waist. Blood pounded so fast in my ears, I wasn’t entirely sure if it was going to spill outside.

“Hey,” Alex said. “How are you doing?”

“Fine. Never been better.”

“Really? Does he always look like a berserker on a roll when he’s fine?” He turned to Parker. I turned to Parker too because I was confused. It must have been written all over my face.

Parker laughed. “No, not usually, although he seems to be from the possessive faction.”

Alex pulled a face before he snuggled up against Parker’s side. My hands itched.

“I don’t do possessive guys.” Alex batted his eyelashes at me.

Caught by surprise, I said, “Well, I’m not one of those.”

Alex’s eyes sparkled. They
goddamn sparkled!
“Isn’t that good to know.”

My teeth hurt from gnashing them together really hard. I could barely breathe. This had to be a dream—no, a nightmare. One that I could do without. I kept on staring at the two men in front of me, but no words came out.

Parker rolled his eyes. “Come on, boy, do your duty. I don’t think he’s getting the joke.”

The joke? What joke? What the hell was going on? I had no clue.

I clenched my hands into fists when Parker gave Alex’s behind a friendly pat. I swallowed hard and stood completely rigid. Parker glanced at me, which he followed with an exasperated sigh. He pushed Alex forward with a quiet, “Go on. He’s harmless.”

“Are you sure? He doesn’t
look
harmless. He looks downright dangerous.”

Parker flapped his hands dismissively. “That’s only for show.”

Alex extricated himself from Parker’s embrace and sauntered over to me. Tentatively, he reached out his hands, smoothed the wrinkles at the front of my shirt, and eventually fastened his hands atop my belt. Dumbfounded, I stared at his hands; slender hands with long fingers, which had felt so incredibly good on my skin the last time we had been together.

“I heard you’ve been giving your coworker here a hard time since you saw me last time?”

I broke out in a sweat. My cheeks felt hot and I didn’t know if I wanted to throttle Alex or Parker.

I managed to choke out, “Arrogant little prick.”

Alex laughed, slipped his arms around my waist, and kissed me soundly on my right cheek. “It becomes more and more endearing each time I hear you say it.”

“You haven’t heard it
that
often.”

“We could change that.”

We could. We really could. I swallowed. “We agreed on no strings attached.”

“Agreements can be adjusted, and it doesn’t have to evolve into anything serious. We’re here to have fun, right? You’re a good lay, and a repetition of last time won’t hurt either of us.”

“You’re quite the self-assured guy, aren’t you?” I replied dryly. I locked one arm around his shoulder while I kneaded the enticing flesh of his ass with my other hand.

“I’m quite the catch, yep.”

His arrogance should have been irritating, annoying, and repellent. It was, but it didn’t faze me much. The grin on his face and the subtle grinding motions against my hip distracted me from getting annoyed. “You’re a blabbermouth, that’s what you are.”

“Oh dear, I’m
hurt
.”

The exaggeratedly coy fluttering of his eyelashes undid me. Laughter bubbled up inside me and I let it out at once. Alex’s grin grew into a face-splitting one before he tipped his head sideways. With closed eyes he searched for my mouth. When he found it, he pressed his lips against mine, gentle, almost uncertainly at first. I kissed back and all uncertainty fled him. His tongue traced the seam of my lips, causing a sudden fluttering feeling deep inside my gut. Nerves, I told myself.

Alex stopped the kiss with a shuddering intake of breath. “Fuck, you’re good at that.”

“I’m good at that fucking business as well.”

“I’m not totally convinced of that.”

I growled. I did, honestly—I
did
growl. What was it with this infuriating, arrogant little prick that got me riled up so easily? “I’d be happy to enlighten you.”

“I’d be happy to become enlightened as well.”

“Wipe that innocent look off your face. Before I enlighten you, you’ve got to answer one question.”

“Shoot.”

“What were you doing with Parker?” I emphasized my disapproval by firmly squeezing his ass. On instinct, he tried to scoot away from the slight pain, which only brought his pelvis closer to mine. A deep, throaty moan trembled over his lips.

Alex pressed his forehead against mine before he answered, “Waiting for you.”

“How did you know I’d be coming? I didn’t know I would be coming until ten minutes ago.”

“I didn’t. Parker did. He headed me off as soon as I set a foot inside the
Lion’s Den
.”

Irritated, I threw a glance over Alex’s shoulder to glower at Parker. The guy didn’t even have the decency of pretending not to observe us closely. He raised his glass in mock salute. I pulled Alex flush against me. Not even a thin piece of paper could have been stuffed between us. “Why did you fool around with him?”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. I regretted my words instantly. In a lame attempt to save face, I added, “I’m not jealous or anything.”

“Yeah, right,” he snorted. “You’ve got no reason for jealousy, because we’re simply hooking up for the night. No strings attached and all that. Remember?”

My own words thrown back at me.
Great
. He was right, of course, so why did it bother me so much? Why did I even consider taking him to bed—uh, fucking him—again? He still wasn’t my type.

“What? No answer to that?”

Time to change the topic, quickly. “Let’s forgo the talking stuff in favor of doing the horizontal stuff.”

“Same hotel?”

I shrugged. “Why not?”

“Think we can get the same room?”

“Narcissistic much, huh?” I grinned at him. With his dilated pupils he was the personification of desire. He could be as narcissistic as he pleased if he invited me to watch.

“It was quite the show. You know, watching myself in the mirror, bent in half, with you thrusting into me over and over again. I wouldn’t mind watching again.”

I shivered. Alex grinned at me impudently.

“I won’t tell you again that you’re an arrogant little prick.”

“Aww, but I like your pet name for me. It’s such a turn on.” He almost choked on his own laughter at the end of his sentence.

“You got any supplies at hand? Because I haven’t.”

That caught his attention. “You haven’t? You really hadn’t planned on swinging by here.”

“That’s what I said.”

Alex turned around in my embrace to glimpse at Parker in confusion. “But how did he know…?”

“That’s what I asked.”

Alex pursed his lips and shook his head. A strand of blond hair fell on his forehead and he brushed it away absentmindedly, only to have the same lock do as it pleased again a second later. It struck me. “Was the shop out of gel?”

“What?”

“Your hair isn’t slicked back with a pound of gel this time.”

Alex shifted from one foot to the other, his face showing all signs of a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. I grinned evilly. “Have you been looking for me?”

“No! Why would I? And what does that have to do with my hair or Parker or… or anything?”

Alex ducked his head before he rested it on my shoulder. The clear affection and comfortableness of this gesture had me reeling. What had happened here?

“Are you blushing?”

“No!” came the squeaked reply. I chuckled.

“You are! You totally are and you deserve that tidbit of embarrassment.”

“Can we skip to the good part now?”

I wanted to ask questions, a lot of them. Had he been waiting for me? How often had he been here? Did he want to look nice for me? Did any of that matter? We were supposed to get our rocks off. Nothing more, nothing less. Wait, didn’t I chant that mantra before?

We jumped when Parker clapped us both on our backs. He grinned at us. “There’s a frequently used backroom in case you’re desperate.”

Alex and I started talking simultaneously. “How did you…?”

We even trailed off simultaneously.

“How did I
what
?”

“Know that he’d be here?” Alex asked. He loosened our embrace but stayed very close, his left arm wrapped around my waist. I allowed him some space, though one of my hands slipped in the back pocket of his jeans.

“As I told you before, he was a real grouch the last two weeks and I kept him well riled up. It was only a matter of time before he would show here up in desperation.”

Indignantly, I said, “I’m not desperate.”

“Oh please,” Parker huffed. “Get going, you two. Maybe you’ll thank me one day.”

“There was no need for you to interfere, I assure you.”

“There was. Lots of need, you stubborn piece of shit.”

“Wow,” Alex exhaled. “Want me to be the referee while you punch each other’s lights out?”

Parker cracked a grin before he grew serious. “Get out of here, you two. I’d guess you have better things to do.”

“We do. Hey, Jeff, I do have supplies.” With that quip Alex held up a strip of condoms and a small tube with lube.

Someone whistled. Another someone, a big, dark-haired man with an equally dark mustache, clapped me on my shoulder and said, “You better get that boy out now before someone else takes him up on his offer.”

My grip on Alex’s ass tightened immediately. He laughed and wiggled his ass against my hand invitingly. “Come on, we’re finished here.”

After Alex stuffed the supplies back into his pockets, he did something surprising. He went over to Parker and gave him a fierce hug. Parker looked to be as surprised as I was. Yet he reciprocated in kind.

I reached out for Alex and hauled him back by the scruff of his neck. “That’s enough gratitude.”

Alex surprised me again. This time by cupping my face in his hands and kissing me soundly. A second later, he took my hand and led me out of the club. “Come on, caveman, before you decide you have to protect what’s yours with your fists.”