Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (14 page)

"One kiss. Just a peck like you'd
give your grandmother at Christmas." He smiled and moved down brushing his
nose by mine. "Come on, Cora. Just a sweet little-”

I leaned up and pressed my lips to his
roughly. The minute I did, he moved his hand up to cup my jaw and turned his
head a little, rolling his tongue past my lips and driving deeply into me. A
groan left me as the taste of beer and vanilla rolled over my taste buds.
Combined with the smell of his skin and the heavy press of his body against
mine, I was having trouble remembering why the hell I was fighting against him
so hard.

He kissed me a few times, and I returned
the actions, opening myself up to his assault and taking the passion he
offered. My fingers dug into his sides as we made love to each other's mouths
fervently.

"Um, guys?" Emily knocked at the
door. "We're going outside for walk. You wanna come?"

He jerked up and moved to stand as we both
panted softly, staring at each other intently.

"No, I'm tired, but thanks." I
couldn't take my eyes off of him. "I'll see you Wednesday. You got your
kiss, so get out."

He smirked and walked to the door as Emily
disappeared.

I dropped down on the bed and closed my
eyes, memorizing how good the moment felt.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I
want more, too."

"Get out, and close the door behind
you." I tossed a pillow at him as he laughed and closed the door. I rolled
onto my side and curled up into a ball as pleasure danced around in the pit of
my stomach and my imagination went wild with the possibilities. All of them so
damning and yet right.

I wasn't going to get out of having
something with Brody, so rather than run from it, I would just avoid it as best
I could—or maybe just go down trying.

Chapter 15

Two
Days Later

Brody

"Two days. Two fucking days and
nothing." I ran my fingers through my hair as I paced the old wooden steps
on our porch.

"Dude, just go over there." Clay
crushed a soda can and sat up from his reclined position. His chest was burnt
from us hanging out at the island most of the day before.

"No. We have a date tonight, and
honestly, I don't want to appear needy. It's not my style." I ran my
fingers through my hair before pausing and growling. "What is it with this
fucking chick?"

"I don't know, but I love it."
Clay laughed and pointed at me. "You're going to go bald if you're not
careful."

"Don't mention this to anyone.
Alright?" I gave him a look before turning out to the lake. The front door
opened and the other guys walked out, laughing about something. Everyone was
chill but me. I was playing it off as best I could in front of Daniel and Derek,
but Clay and I had been friends too long to pull anything over on him.

I was a mess. A fucking hot mess over this
girl. I hadn't stopped thinking about how good it felt to press her to her cold
sheets and lick at her like she was the last bit of pleasure I might
experience. I was almost embarrassed to think through all the things I'd done
to her in my head, the ways I'd brought her to come for me.

"Hey, man. We hitting the
water?" Derek slapped a hand down on my shoulder, causing me to jump as he
jerked me from yet another wicked thought.

"Yep. Let me grab my shades and a
cooler for us to load up." I turned and walked toward the house, keeping
my eyes adverted. I'd slept like shit for the last two nights and it was
starting to show on my face. I needed my glasses just to make sure I didn't have
to play twenty questions with everyone all fucking day.

"What time is your date?" Daniel
stood at the entrance to the kitchen as I pulled my glasses and cologne out of
the cabinet.

"Around six or so tonight, I guess. I
need to get Cora's number from Clay and make sure she's still up for it."
I shrugged and put my glasses on.

"She is. I was over there yesterday
afternoon while you and Derek watched that wrestling thing." Daniel
shuddered. "Disgusting."

I extended my hand. "Give me your man
card for that comment, or keep it and tell me how you know she's excited."

"She was looking up movies when I was
there." He shrugged and slapped my hand. "Man card? You guys are
idiots."

"Yep. We work hard to keep our simple
ways alive. The world needs more testosterone." I walked to the door and
bent over to grab my sandals as the sound of laughter caught my attention. I
glanced up to see Cora and her friends walking up the stairs.

The tiny blue bathing suit she wore left
plenty of her beautifully tanned skin on display, and my heart nearly stopped
as my eyes moved across her. The translucent dress she wore to cover herself up
was doing very little to help. My hormones were thrilled; my jealousy, not so
much.

"Hey, Brody." She lifted a bag
toward me a smiled. "I got some chips and cookies for the afternoon
boating trip."

"And, we brought beer and lemonade.
Cindy made it herself." Dedra moved past me, bumping me with her hip as I
stood, staring at Cora.

"Hey, dude, wake up." Clay
popped me in the chest, and I reached out, taking the bag from her.

"Awesome. Sorry. I slept like shit
last night. That
Friday the 13th
movie
has been dicking up my dreams since we watched it. Don't tell anyone that I'm a
total puss." I was grateful for the sunglasses. Otherwise everyone,
including the beautiful woman before me, would know that I'd eye fucked her ten
times over the last few minutes.

"Alright, well, let's get rolling. I
have a friend date for the movies tonight." She smirked. "And, guess
what they're playing?"

"
Ghost
?"
I shrugged, already having looked at the listing ten times.

"You looked?" She laughed and
pushed at my chest. The bitch I'd started to fall for was long gone, though
something told me that she might show up any minute if her protection services
were required. I was almost a little concerned with Cora being so open and
friendly. Maybe that meant that I had been friend-zoned and there was no reason
to be pissy. Maybe Derek was completely wrong and the girl wasn't at all
interested.

Was it the kiss? No. It couldn't have
been.

"I sure did. You look fucking hot, by
the way." I walked past her and jogged down the stairs. "Wanna sit in
my lap while I drive the boat?"

"Nope, but thanks for the
offer," she called out behind me.

No snappy comeback or rude back up
comment? Fuck. She wasn't interested.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Cindy
closed the trunk to Cora's BMW and handed me a bowl of dip.

"No clue. Just a rough couple of
nights." I glanced down at the bowl. "Is this what I think it
is?"

She laughed. "Sure is. Come on, let's
get on the boat before everyone else and take the captain seats."

I smirked and offered her my arm.
"Sounds like a plan to me."

"You know that Cora is really excited
about going to the movies tonight, right?" Cindy glanced over at me. Her
hair was the color of fire and her complexion pale. She reminded me of a model,
but seemed far too fragile for someone like Derek.

"Really, or are you just saying
that?" I glanced over at her as we walked across the street and made our
way down the pier.

"No, I'm serious." She paused at
the edge of the dock.

I sat the dip down and climbed into the
boat, offering her a hand and grabbing the bowl of dip once she was in the boat
behind me.

"Well, it should be a good time. I
realized maybe you guys were right. I'm not looking for anything other than a
friendship with her. That's probably why things are less tense between us
now." I shrugged and handed her the bowl before turning back and waving at
the others as they walked toward the dock. "Hurry up. It's getting busy
out here on the lake. Too much competition is never good."

Derek laughed and reached up to adjust his
cowboy hat. "When in the world would we ever have thought old Brody Myers
would be worried about some healthy competition? The fucking world must be
coming to an end." He winked at Cindy, who giggled beside me.

"Keep it up. I owe you a good
ass-whooping, anyway. All of you, if I recall." I reached up to help Emily
in the boat and moved back as the other guys jumped in. Dedra and Cora were
pulling up the rear and I was quite grateful for the extra moments I got to
study her legs. My stomach contracted as my cock hardened, making it quite
obvious that I was turned on or sporting a gun in my shorts.

I reached up and offered my hand to Dedra
as she smiled. "You happy to see us, or is that a gun in your
shorts?"

"Four beautiful women? I'm a guy,
remember?" I smirked and glanced up at Cora as the first sign of
embarrassment rolled over me. How long had it been since I'd been embarrassed
by something? Forever. "Come on. Let me help you in the boat."

She glanced across the lake and then down
to me with a smile on her beautiful lips. "Yeah. Just don't get any
ideas."

"I'd respond to that, but you'd like
me less if I did." I reached up and took her hand, making sure to back up
a little as she jumped down into the boat. I caught her in my arms and didn't
release her right away. "I wanna spout a million poetic things, but I'm
not thinking you'd enjoy them much. I'd get a good tongue lashing, hmm?"

"Isn't that what you're after? A
tongue lashing?" She smirked and pulled out of my arms before making her
way to the front of the boat. The girls moved about, getting everything
situated as my friends lay around like there was nothing going on.

"Lazy bums." I kicked at
Daniel's legs to get him to move so I could go to the front of the boat.
"One of you guys drive. I'm laying out with the girls. I need to work on
my tan."

Cora glanced over her shoulder, and I took
it as an opportunity to pull my shirt over my head. Her eyes moved across me
slowly and a smile tugged at the side of her mouth. There was the look I wanted
to see on her face. Why she felt the need to hide if from me was a mystery.

"I like those shorts. They're cute.
My cousin has a pair." She tugged at the edge of her covering and pulled
it over her head, leaving me frozen in place for a minute. She had on the
perfect bathing suit for her body type.

"Your cousin?" I licked at my
lips.

"Yeah. He's ten." She winked and
turned around, laughing at me.

"Why am I not surprised by
that?" My eyes moved down her taunt back to the curve of her ass,
memorizing her sexiness and trying to talk myself out of reaching out and doing
something that would surely end with me getting slapped.

"Come up here with us." Dedra
patted the open spot between her and Cora as the two of them crawled up onto
the flat tanning part of the boat and reclined.

I reached out and gripped the side of the
boat as Clay hit the gas, almost sending me flying backward. "Ass."

Cora pulled her sunshades on and looked my
way as I crawled up in between them.

"That swimsuit was made for
you." I laid down on my back and stretched my arms above my head before
turning to Dedra. "You look lovely, too, Dee."

"Dee? You already giving me a
nickname?" She pushed her shoulder against mine and smiled like a tomcat.
I liked her. She would be good for Daniel, but I needed to pull her aside to
explain his situation a little more. He hadn't dated much, and Dedra looked
very much like a confident woman who had.

"You look pretty hot yourself, white
boy." She leaned her head back and let out a long sigh. "This is the
life."

"Agreed." I closed my eyes and
lifted my chin as I stretched. "All I need is the right woman in my bed
tonight, and it will be the most perfect day ever."

"Not happening," Cora mumbled
before moving up to her elbow and glancing down at me. She tugged her sun
glasses off and glared a little. "Speaking of. Did you really go out with
that blonde from the movie rental place the other night after you kissed
me?"

"What?" I turned to face her and
propped up on my elbow. There was a wicked turn up ahead that I knew would have
her rolling my way. Nothing like setting up the perfect accidental situation.
"Of course not. I went home with the guys after the walk you refused to go
on. I couldn't go out with that girl."

"Why not?" Her expression
softened a little.

"Hold on, guys!" Clay yelled.

I reached for Cora, wrapping my arm around
her waist and pulling her to almost lay on top of me as I pressed my other arm
to Dedra's chest and grabbed the bar on the other side of her.

"Fuck, hold on." I ground my
teeth and kept the girls locked to me as they screamed.

The boat righted itself, and I half
expected either of them, or really both of them to jump up and light into Clay.
Instead, I got a lot of giggles.

Cora rolled off of me and laid back onto
her back. "Shit. That was crazy. Why didn't you warn us?"

"I forgot about it for a minute
there. Clay drives like a bat out of hell." I moved up to a sitting
position and glanced over my shoulder to see him giving me the thumbs up. I
flipped him off and let out a long sigh.

Cora sat up and pressed her shoulder
against mine, surprising me a little. "Why not, Brody? She was cute."

"Who was cute?" I leaned back,
pressing my hand just behind her rear as I extended my legs out.

"The blonde from the movie rental
place."

"Oh. Yeah, she was alright." I
looked up at the sky. "I'm not interested in another fling right now. It
gets tiring."

"What?" She chuckled. "Are
you being serious?"

"Yeah." I turned my head to
watch her. My heart skipped another beat, and I realized that I was in trouble.
I could easily find myself coveting the idea of her time, her attention, her
sex.

"Stop it." She pushed at my arm.

"What am I doing?" I pulled off
my sunglasses and let my eyes move down her chest over her tummy to her legs.

"Pulling my leg." She crossed
her legs and turned her attention back to the water.

"Whatever you say, pretty girl."

Women. I would never figure them out. That
I was trying was a tell-tale sign that I needed to get a couple of beers in me
and find a quiet place on the beach to fall asleep. Pretty soon, I'd be trying
to sweep the woman next to me off her feet.

No. Never. That wasn't me, at all.