Friends and Lovers (14 page)

“Did it with you yesterday and again this morning.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

She couldn’t stop the blush. “Thanks. Anything else you’d like to try?”

“Depends on how flexible you are.”

She groaned. “Come on.”

Wes took a moment to think about it. “I wouldn’t mind going up in a glider.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why. It just sounds interesting.” He pursed his lips and studied her thoughtfully. “If you could go back to school and study anything, what would it be?”

“It’s a tie between archeology and anthropology.”

His eyebrows went up. “No kidding?”

“I’ve always loved them.”

“I didn’t know that.”

She shrugged. “You?”

“I’m doing exactly what I want to do.”

She tweezed up an orphaned Chow Mein noodle with her fingernails and smiled. “That’s great,” she said, popping it into her mouth.

Wes lifted the bottle and topped off their glasses. “Have you ever wanted to live anywhere else?”

“Who hasn’t? I’ve thought about a lot of different places but I’m all my parents have left now and it would kill them if I took off. They’re looking to me for more grandchildren.”

“Do you want kids?”

“Yes. I always did. How about you?”

“Promise you won’t tell Sherry?”

She laughed. “No.”

“I want kids,” he admitted.

To her cringing mortification and before she could stop herself, the words “how many?” were already out. She immediately hid behind her glass.

“I guess that’s up to you,” Wes said with a straight face.

The wine Lauren just swallowed bolted right back up her throat and she choked. Her eyes were watering like faucets as she fought to hold it together.

Wes chuckled and plucked the glass out of Lauren’s hand before she spilled it then handed her his napkin. He bit his lip as she thumped herself in the chest, glaring at him through glittery eyes.

“You suck,” she managed to say through another cough.

“That was bad of me,” he said, his grin not remotely apologetic. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” Then he got the most curious expression on his face and asked, “It’s what you wanted to hear but didn’t expect, isn’t it?”

The heat spreading across Lauren’s cheeks had to be deep enough to give the red wine a run for its money. Knowing it was a tacit confession only made her blush even hotter. She looked away, intensely embarrassed. “Now you’re just teasing me,” she said in a voice so soft it was barely audible.

There was understanding—and a little hope?—in his eyes when he asked, “Do they look like me, these imaginary kids of yours?”

Her eyes swung back slowly and she nodded, completely embarrassed but unable to deny it.

Wes gave her a reassuring smile. “Well, I’m flattered.”

“An instrument?” Lauren burst out, desperate to change the subject.

His eyebrows pinched together. “Do I play an instrument?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Not unless the music I coaxed out of you last night qualifies.”

That sent her eyes into a dizzying roll. “You have sex on the brain.”

“I waited a long time for you, Lauren. I guess it’s only natural I want to make up for lost time.”

The heat in his eyes was intense, scorching. Lauren felt like she was sitting too close to a sunlamp. Wes was like that damn bug zapper—seductive, hot, impossible to withstand. She was melting now, her pores open, each breath she took shallow and weak.

Wes pushed back his chair and stood, holding out his hand to her. Lauren half expected to feel a painful sizzle the instant they touched but that didn’t happen. It was the kiss he took that seared her skin.

Chapter 13

This was all still a dream. A ‘pinch me’ sort of dream but who’d want to wake up?

Lauren closed her eyes and snuggled against Wes’s warm chest and sighed. Even though he was behind her and had more room to stretch out, his knees still rose several inches higher than hers against the sides of the tub. She cupped her hands over his naked legs and smoothed down the coarse hair, riding the tops of his thighs until she crested the hard knees.

Even his knees were sexy.

Wes lazily swished the lavender scented water over Lauren’s breasts and murmured, “You know, it’s been a good twenty-five years since I took a bubble bath.” He kissed her shoulder. “And I can safely say it wasn’t anything like this.”

“Next best thing to a spa.” She smiled contentedly, soothed by the beads she’d dropped into the bath.

“You seem pretty relaxed.”

“Mmm.”

A few more quiet minutes passed before Wes spoke again. “Are you coming to self-defense tomorrow?”

“Can’t.” She rolled her head back and forth against his shoulder. “I have a PowerPoint presentation at the hospital tomorrow night.”

“Okay, how about Thursday? Feel like doing some boxing if the gym is free?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” She was clearly hedging.

“Come on. I want to know you can protect yourself.”

“I want that too.”

“Then make an effort.”

Lauren elbowed Wes in the ribs and he grunted.

“Hey, I’m serious.”

She blew out a breath in resignation. “Fine, I’ll consider Thursday.”

He gave her a grateful squeeze. “Think we’re pruny enough yet?”

“You’re ready to get out?”

“Well, this is fun, but it’s not why I asked you to stay over.”

She sat up and looked back at him. “Is that right?”

“I’m just saying.”

She laughed at the double eyebrow lift he gave her. “You’re lucky I find you so irresistible.”

Lauren stood and stepped carefully onto the bath mat. Wes rose behind her and she could hear the water running off of him. She took an appreciative peek back at his exquisite body when he hit the drain release with his toe. Feeling a little playful now, Lauren blocked Wes, trapping him behind the shower doors. He wasn’t going anywhere until she moved aside and allowed it. She began to dry off, taking her sweet time and pretending she wasn’t aware Wes was probably shivering in that rapidly draining pool at his ankles.

“If you don’t mind,” he said, prodding her along.

“Hmm?” Lauren asked innocently, tucking the large towel tightly around her chest.

“Move your luscious ass or I will.”

“Promises promises,” Lauren said archly and crossed over to the vanity.

She caught her wicked grin in the mirror when she picked up his folded towel. Lauren turned and Wes held out his hand for her to give it to him, but she laughed and took off running instead.

“Last one to the bedroom is a rotten egg!” she called over her shoulder.

There was an unexpected, high-pitched squeak as her heel slid across the floor, immediately followed by a startled shriek as Lauren wiped out in the hallway.

He was behind her instantly, lifting her to her feet. “Jeeze, are you okay?”

“Stupid wooden floors,” she said with annoyance. “I think I skinned my elbow.” She twisted her arm to check.

“You sure did. Come on.” Wes dragged her by the arm back to the bathroom and set her on top of the vanity. He threw open the medicine cabinet and grabbed the bandages and antibiotic ointment. “I need to wash it first, and it’s probably going to sting. You nailed it good.”

He let the tap run hot while he found a clean washcloth. Lauren held her breath when Wes clapped it over her elbow.

“Now I’m going to tell you what my mom always told me when she was doctoring my wounds.” Wes did her voice too, or an approximation anyway. “This is what you get when you horse around inside.”

Lauren snorted. “And I’ll bet you listened too.”

Wes laughed. “Course not.” He stretched the bandage tight and pressed it down. “There you go. Good as new.” He gave her boo-boo a soft kiss.

Lauren looked at him helplessly, utterly astonished at all the unknown sides to the man. She learned something new and remarkable every day and felt herself sinking deeper under his spell with each revelation. She wished there was a way to merge with him, learn from the inside how he saw things, felt things, experienced the world, because he opened her eyes and her heart to a degree she never thought possible. It should frighten her, that level of vulnerability, but Wes somehow managed to make her feel more secure instead.

Loving Wes wasn’t what came as such a surprise to her—no, it was
falling
in love with him all over again, but deeper this time, that made everything so intense and special. This wasn’t a one-sided infatuation with a fantasy, this was the real deal, warmly reciprocated.

Dropping her eyes down his body as he dried his hands, Lauren wondered if Wes even noticed he was still naked. She certainly couldn’t help it.

“Come here,” she said with a husky voice, pulling him close and wrapping her arms and legs around him.

Wes dipped down and kissed her, and Lauren gave herself up to the heady sensations of bare skin to bare skin, tongue to tongue, and their heartbeats synchronizing. She tightened her grip on him and felt his erection brush against her. She pressed back willingly.

He groaned. “You realize this isn’t the bedroom.”

“Your point is?” Lauren put her ear against his chest and listened to his heart as she ran her fingertip lightly along the underside of his cock, making both jump to attention.

“Hold that thought,” he said and dashed to the bedroom for a condom.

Lauren’s towel was draped over the top of the shower door when he got back.

* * * *

Wes escorted Lauren to her car the next morning and pressed her up against the cool door.

“When will you be through tonight?” he asked.

Her head fell back as he kissed along her neck, nipping at her ear on his way back up. He loved how she clung to him for support. “I don’t know, sometime after eight,” she said weakly.

“Mmm,” he said, nuzzling along her jaw next. “Are you going home afterward?”

“That was my plan. I didn’t get any sleep here last night. I could sure use the rest.”

Wes chuckled and fastened his mouth over her earring, tracing it with the tip of his tongue. “Now that you mention it, sleep sounds awfully good. You wore me out. I think I’ll leave the driving to Chuck today.”

“You should. And now I have to go.”

“So do I,” he said, moving in for her mouth next.

“No,” she said more firmly, the voice of reason returning. “I have to leave, which means you have to back up and let me open my car door.”

Wes kissed her again, slipping her a little tongue, and Lauren melted against him.

“You sure?” he whispered suggestively.

He’d just spent most of the night making love to her, so letting Lauren go shouldn’t be this hard. Then again, neither should his dick, yet there it was, rearing between them once more.

Lauren sighed. “Unfortunately.”

Accepting the inevitable, Wes stepped back and opened the door for her. “We’ve probably given my neighbors enough of a show anyway.”

Lauren got in and started the engine. “I’ll talk to you later.”

He shut the door and leaned in. “I’m serious about Thursday night, so keep your schedule open.”

“I said I would.”

“And obey the speed limit. I’m not fixing any tickets for you.”

She made a face at him, and he grinned and waved as she backed out. When she was safely on her way Wes went back inside to turn off the coffee pot.

* * * *

“Don’t say it,” Lauren said, pointing at Jackie as she rounded her desk.

Jackie shook her head, looking both amused and worried. “Honey, don’t give him everything all at once. Draw it out. Keep him coming back for more, or he’s going to put you in traction.”

What Jackie didn’t say hung in the air like thick humidity.
Or he’s just going to move on that much sooner.

Lauren danced away from the unpleasant thought, unwilling to even consider it. This was her moment, damn it!

“I would if I could, but I have no willpower,” she admitted, drooping against the doorjamb. “Am I going to miss anything important if I bail early and go home to nap for a couple of hours?”

“I’m surprised you even bothered to come in this morning. Since you’re working tonight anyway, I figured we wouldn’t see you until at least noon.”

“I would have liked to stay in bed, but I wasn’t actually
in
my own bed and Wes had to get to work. Is there any coffee in the pot?”

“Plenty.”

“I could kiss you.”

Jackie laughed. “Save it for him.”

“He’s covered.”

Lauren walked across the entry to the kitchen and smiled at the newest crayon artwork hanging on the gold refrigerator. The big, irregular block lettering on the bottom said
Addy
. Someone was learning how to write her name. Cute. Lauren shifted the paper on its magnet so she could grab the handle underneath.

Setting the flavored creamer on the counter, she took her favorite mug out of the cabinet and held it under the thermal pot.

Jackie walked in holding out her cup. “Since you’re at it.”

Lauren smirked. “Hand it over.”

Jackie leaned against the counter and folded her arms under her chest. She shook her head and accepted her cup back. “Those are some serious circles under your eyes. Go home. You’re never going to get anything done when you’re this tired.”

“I have books to do and checks to write.”

“They can wait a day. Nothing’s overdue.”

Lauren covered a big, drawn-out yawn. She had to wipe her eyes when she opened them. “You’re right. I’m wiped.”

Jackie took the cup out of Lauren’s hand and dumped the coffee into a thermal mug that was sitting in the rack by the sink. She clapped the lid on it and handed it back to Lauren. “Here, and don’t fall asleep on your way home.”

“I’ll drive with my windows down.”

“All of them.”

“All of them,” Lauren agreed and bumbled her way out to find her purse and keys.

* * * *

Wes called Lauren after four to ask if she wanted to catch dinner with him when he got off.

“I just ate.”

“You did?”

“Sorry. I’m not following my schedule today.”

Wes’s eyes tracked a car going down a side road when they crossed an intersection. Dismissing it, he said, “No problem. Oh, while I’ve got you on the phone, I found out that the gym is booked the next two nights, so you’re off the hook—for now. How do you feel about renting a movie instead?”