Between Friends (Friends with Benefits) (4 page)

Justin gave me a slow smile. “I know where you live,” he said, his voice low and teasing.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “True. But I doubt you ever would have just dropped by unannounced.”

“When I got to missin’ you too much, I would have.”

I laughed. “Right.” I sipped my drink even as our gazes remained locked.

Justin leaned in close, placing one hand on the bar to brace himself. “So I heard you and Evan had a”—he cleared his throat—“good time a couple weeks back.”

My eyebrows shot up as I choked on my vodka and orange juice.

Laughing, Justin held up his hand. “Hey, it’s fine. I’m not judging.”

I finally stopped hacking long enough to find my voice. “You guys talked about me?” Lord, to have been a fly on
that
wall. Had they compared notes? My face grew hot, and suddenly I was extremely happy that I didn’t think it was possible for me to blush.

Justin got a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Are you blushing?”

“What?” I scoffed. “I don’t blush.” I finally managed to tear my eyes away from his face. I stared straight ahead at the deejay booth across the room. “It’s just weird that the two of you discussed me, that’s all.” Oh, screw it, I couldn’t help myself. “What was said about me exactly?”

Justin smirked. “You really want to know?”

On second thought, hell no. I shook my head. “Never mind.”

“Wuss.” He laughed. “Mostly, we talked in general terms. I asked what he’d done the night before. He mentioned running into you at Blaze…” His voice trailed off and he shrugged.

“Mostly you talked in general terms?”

He nodded but didn’t elaborate.

I certainly wasn’t pushing for details. It was weird enough knowing I’d come up in a conversation between two friends who’d both banged me good. I tried my best to sound unaffected as I nodded and said, “Cool.” I brushed some of my hair out of my eyes. “It’s not a big deal. I mean, whatever.” So I’d slept with two friends. That kind of thing must have happened every day. Not to me, of course, but to other, more carefree people. I suddenly got a flash of myself sitting in front of a crowd chanting, “Jerry! Jerry!” I might have to ease up on the sexually adventurous throttle just a bit.

“You want to get a table?”

His question jarred me from my thoughts. “A table?”

He jerked his head in the direction of the corner nearest the exit. “Instead of standing here at the bar. Besides, Hank keeps staring at us.”

“Hank?”

“The bartender.”

“Oh,” I said as I glanced at Hank, “he’s probably wondering what you’re doing talking to a—a nice girl like me.” I smiled.

“Well,” Justin said, grabbing my hand, “not that it’s any of his business, but I might be trying to get in the nice girl’s pants again.”

The feel of his rough hand on mine and his bold words were enough to make me wet. We made our way to an empty table and Justin slid his chair next to me before sitting. I wasn’t even aware of time passing as we talked and got to know one another on a level that was more than physical. I couldn’t silence the warning bells sounding in my head. If we connected in more ways than one, this could start to feel a lot like dating. Emotional entanglements weren’t part of the new Stacy’s plans. Why would they be when I’d discovered how much fun keeping things casual could be? Even so, I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed our time together.

Our conversation turned to work. I tried my best to gloss over my own job, which I wanted to think about as little as possible tonight. I steered the discussion toward his line of work.

“So you own a shop?” He nodded. “I guess that means I can get steep discounts if I ever need a mechanic?”

Justin smiled. “I like you, so, yeah. Hell, you might even qualify for free work.”

I gasped and feigned shock. “Free? You must like me a lot.”

He licked his lips and my gaze was instantly riveted. “You could say that.”

“There you are!” Nina gave me a playful shove from behind. “I’ve been looking for you.” She looked at Justin. “Hi.”

“Hello,” he said.

She looked at Justin again, recognition dawning on her. She whipped her head around to face me. “Oh, this is… Damn, Viper’s calling me over again. I’ll be back.” Nina was off in a flash. The woman was a bunch of things, but subtle wasn’t one of them.

“Your friend is”—Justin searched for the right word—“interesting.”

I laughed. “Nina is, well, Nina.”

He was silent for several moments as he stared at me. “You know, I really am glad I ran into you tonight.” He caressed my bare knee under the table.

“Me too,” I said softly. Suddenly, it was difficult to think. I cleared my throat. “So, you come here often?” Immediately I wanted to smack myself for what sounded like the world’s worst pick-up line.

Justin smiled. “Not really. A friend plays here occasionally with his band. They took the stage about half an hour ago.”

I focused on the feel of his hand and everything else faded away. He leaned over to give me a slow, lingering kiss. He was masterful with his tongue and I moaned into his mouth. Even sitting in the shadows, I felt completely brazen to be making out with someone in public like this. It felt great.

Justin apparently did not share my sense of shyness. He pulled my hand to the front of his jeans and rubbed it against his stiffening cock. He put his lips to my ear. “You know what I want?”

I could imagine. “Here?” I asked, my eyes growing wide.

“Not right here at the table.” His tongue darted out to lick my ear and I shivered. “Well, not unless you want to.”

“I’m not that much of an exhibitionist.”

“Pity.” Justin smiled. “Stick with me; I’ll open up a whole new world to you.” He stood up and held out his hand. “Come on.”

I allowed him to lead me out of the back exit of the noisy bar. We stood in an empty alley. The loud music from inside the bar was now muffled and I could hear the far-off sounds of traffic. “Here?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

Justin took a step toward me. “Here.” Without warning, he backed me up against the brick exterior of the building and kissed me hard as his hands roamed my body.

My nipples tightened in response. I gasped when he pushed my short skirt up and began to stroke me through my panties.

“Mm,” he said, “you’re wet for me already, baby.”

I gyrated my hips against his hand as I pulled my top and bra up, exposing my breasts. The cool night air caressed my bare skin even as Justin warmed it.

He leaned down to flick his tongue across my nipple. I closed my eyes and my knees almost buckled when he pushed the thin material of my panties aside and slipped his finger into my pussy. I fumbled with the button and zipper on his jeans, finally undoing them with shaky hands. There was no time for foreplay; I needed him inside me.

I tugged his jeans and underwear down just enough to let his cock spring free. I wrapped my hand around it and stroked. His moans made me even wetter and more eager than ever to have him. Knowing someone could catch us at any moment was a little nerve-wracking, but the new me was bold. It wasn’t difficult when the only other option was telling Justin to stop.
That
wasn’t happening. “Now,” I breathed.

Justin pulled a condom out of his back pocket and tore open the package. All the while, I worked my hand back and forth over his dick, never losing rhythm. “Shit,” he said, once I removed my hand to allow him to roll the condom on. “You ready?”

I smiled as I fondled my breasts, squeezing the nipples. There was only one other man who could get my pussy this wet, this fast. “Oh yeah,” I said. Justin grabbed my ass and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pushed his cock into me. There was no leisurely pace, no gentleness. He was ramming into me with abandon and I loved every second of it.

His grunts of pleasure mingled with my moans until I was sure we’d attract random passers-by. The thought encouraged me to at least attempt to be quieter. If someone happened upon us by accident, that was one thing. I wasn’t looking to draw visitors on purpose. I bit my lip and dug my fingers into his back. Justin didn’t have the same compulsion to be quiet as I did. He yelled, he cursed. The man was vocal and obviously didn’t care who knew it.

“Fuck,” he cried, “I’m close.”

“Justin,” I admonished, “shh.”

“Shh, my ass, I’m about to come.”

I laughed before the sound was overtaken by a gasp. Justin had angled my body back just a bit and he was hitting a very nice spot. “Oh God,” I yelled. With his hands on my ass, he pumped me faster and harder on his dick.

As his body tensed for his release, I felt my own coming on strong. We cried out at the same time, the waves of intense pleasure rocking me from the inside out. After we allowed ourselves a moment to catch our breaths, Justin gave me a sheepish grin.

“So…” he said.

I narrowed my eyes. “What?”

“Can I call you?”

We laughed, and as much as I knew I shouldn’t, I said, “You’d better.”

The next night, Justin did call me. I tried my best to sound nonchalant when he asked if he could pick me up at my place. “Sure,” I’d said lightly, as if super-hot guys asked me out all the time and this was no big deal. I had to remind myself that, whether or not we’d done things backwards and slept together immediately, this was not a
date
date. We were just two people who were going to hang out together and… well, I wasn’t sure. Justin had gone all mysterious on me when I’d asked what we were going to do.

“Dress casual,” was all he’d offered shortly before hanging up.

Casual
. That wasn’t much to go on. After getting out of the shower, I stood in front of my crammed closet as I decided just how laid-back I wanted to be. Whatever I wore needed to be on the sexy end of the casual spectrum. I smiled to myself. I wanted him to lay me in every way imaginable, so my outfit had to be perfect. Finally, I decided on a pair of hip-hugging black jeans and a snug, pale blue T-shirt with a deep V neck. My fabulous new push-up bra was working its magic, and I definitely didn’t want that fact to go unnoticed by Justin. After slipping my feet into a pair of flats, I was as ready as I was going to get.

Doodle’s barking signaled my visitor’s arrival. I snuck one last peek at myself in the bathroom mirror and immediately frowned as my gaze traveled to my hair. I’d foregone my usual flat-ironing routine for sake of time management, and now I regretted it. My locks were a thick, wavy, unruly mess. Knowing no hair clip could hold me now, I shrugged and flipped off the light. “Doo, shh,” I said to the dog as I hurried to the door. I opened it, ready to say something witty or flirty, but my brain stopped cooperating.

In faded jeans that rode low on his hips and a plain white T-shirt that showed off his incredible arms and those sexy tattoos, Justin looked amazing. A wickedly slow smile spread across his lips. “Hi.”

I tried to swallow, though my mouth was suddenly dry. I gave a nervous laugh when I realized I’d not only been ogling him, but I’d been totally caught as well. “Hi.” I stood back to let him enter. “Come in.”

“Thanks,” he said, stooping to give Doodle some attention when he jumped up on his leg. Justin’s focus found my blazingly hot face soon after. “You look gorgeous.”

I gave him a slightly puzzled smile as I tilted my head. “I do?”

His gaze slid up and down my body as he walked over to me. “You do,” he said roughly, pulling me to him in one swift move.

I gasped, but that was all I had time to do. In a flash, his mouth captured mine in a searing kiss that left us both breathless. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I tiptoed to get even closer. Wow—this bra really
was
magic. I moaned into his mouth and braced myself. As much as I hated to, I knew keeping this up would indeed land us back in my bed. It sounded good to me, but I didn’t want to ruin Justin’s plans for us tonight, whatever those plans were. Which reminded me…

I managed to tear my tongue away from his and pulled back to search his face. “So,” I asked, panting like Doodle on a hot day, after a run in the park, “what are we getting into tonight?”

Justin’s smirk as his gorgeous blue eyes bore into mine was enough to start my pulse racing all over again. “Well,” he said, stepping back, “if I don’t stop touching you right now, we’ll end up in bed.”

I smiled and arched my eyebrow. “Really?”

He shrugged. “And on the floor, against various walls…”

I laughed. “Impressive.”

Justin chuckled. “You have no idea. Maybe I’ll give you some later, though—if you’re good.”

I bit my lip as I narrowed my eyes at him. It was far too easy to flirt with this man, when I’d never been any good at it before in all my years. “How good do I have to be?”

“Depends on how you do tonight.”

A twinge of anxiety hit me. “Uh… what are we about to do?” Too late I realized my mistake in blindly going along with his idea of fun without bothering to ask exactly what that entailed. There was no telling with Justin. He laughed and my frown deepened. “What’s funny?”

“You,” he said, still smiling, though now he was also shaking his head. “I wish you could see your face. Still beautiful, but a little on the panic-stricken side.” His laugh intensified once more before his face grew solemn. “Aw,” he crooned, “are you scared?”

I felt a smile forming on my lips, but I resisted it. “Shut up. I’m not scared. I’m just… aware.”

His blue eyes shone with mischief. “Of?”

“Of the real possibility that you’re crazy. You could have me skydiving or bungee jumping or something equally as insane.”

His brow furrowed. “Ooh… you’re not into that kind of stuff?”

I widened my eyes. Holy shit. Should I risk my life tonight for the chance at another roll in the sack with this man, or should I just wimp out, say no, and spend the night staring at Doodle chasing his own tail? I knew what old Stacy would choose. I mean,
that
was a no-brainer, but—

“Just kidding.”

I did smile then, right after I gave him a light punch in his rock-hard stomach. “Not funny!”

Justin gave me a lopsided grin. “Those things are awesome, but no. We won’t do anything that insane… yet. I’ll ease you into the super-scary stuff.”