Off Base (18 page)

He looked at her beneath him as if seeing her for the first time and blinked once. “Shit.”

With that curse, he sprang off her and dropped to the floor in one deft move.

She inhaled a shaky breath. Okay. That hurt. But at least she knew where things stood. She shoved her skirt down and scooted to the edge of the bed, scanning for her panties and trying not to show how much his rejection stung.

“Huntley, listen—”

“No.” She whirled around and faced him with the bed between them. “There’s nothing to say. Forget it.”

Before he could add anything else, or worse, before she broke down and started crying, she rushed out into living room, grabbed her bag and ducked into the hall bathroom.

Flipping on the light, she stared at her reflection in the harsh fluorescent glare. Her eyes looked overly bright and huge in her face. Her skin was flushed. Even her lips looked redder, puffier. She realized with a start that he had not even kissed her. Well, he hadn’t kissed her on the mouth. She traced her lips with fingers that trembled the barest amount.

Her sex tingled and clenched, ready for round two. Or ready for the real thing. Him between her legs. Pumping inside her. Claiming her.

She groaned and dropped her head. This was too mortifying. Clearly, he was horrified things had gotten so out of hand. She had to end this and get things back into proper perspective between them. They were friends. Good friends. He was her brother’s best friend.

Resolve squared her shoulders. She reached inside her bag for her phone. After a quick search, she dialed for a cab to pick her up. Hanging up, she slipped her underwear back on and ran fingers through her wild hair, wondering how long she could hide in the bathroom. She stared at the paneled wood. It wasn’t exactly like he was knocking on the door. He’d probably be relieved to see her go.

Chapter Four

Usually women didn’t dive into bathrooms after making out with him. Not that Cullen usually made out with women. He wasn’t seventeen. When he was with a woman, the outcome was sex. Pure and simple. They were both in it for the same thing, and that expectation was clear on both sides going in.

Tonight though, with Huntley, had been something else. Something organic. Something wild and unprecedented for him.

And they hadn’t even had sex. A fact that both tormented and relieved him. On one hand he wanted her so badly his teeth ached. On the other hand, there was still time to salvage their friendship.

Huntley had been in the bathroom for ten minutes before she emerged. She paused when she saw him sitting on the couch. He’d thrown on a T-shirt and jeans. Partly to make her feel more comfortable, but mostly in case his dick decided to misbehave again and rise to full-mast.

To say he was sexually frustrated would be an understatement. Seeing her again only drove home how much he wanted her. She looked well-pleasured. Her face flushed and her eyes shining.

“Hey,” she murmured, flags of color staining her cheeks. “I called a cab.”

Those words doused him in cold. “What did you do that for?”

“I don’t think I should stay the rest of the night, do you?”

“I can sleep on the couch.”

She shifted on her bare feet, looking uncomfortable. “I want to go home.”

“So I’ll take you home. I’m sober enough now.”

She arched an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“A sober Cullen never would have—”

He laughed roughly. “Oh, you’re going to blame what happened on the alcohol?” He snorted, draping his wrists over his knees. “That’s original, Huntley. The beer lowered my inhibitions? Really? I wouldn’t have touched you otherwise?” He rubbed at his lips, tasting her there. “You go ahead and tell yourself that if it makes you feel better.”

Her chest lifted on a sharp inhale, her full breasts pressing against the cotton of her blouse, and he suddenly regretted that he had not gotten her naked while he had the chance. He could have satisfied his curiosity after all these years.

It had always been there, buried beneath the surface. Sure, he treated her like she was one of the guys. Just another pal. It was the only way a friendship between them could work. But tonight he had crossed the line. It wasn’t irreparable, however. They hadn’t fucked. Not even when she had quivered under him in surrender, her tight heat milking his fingers, her soft little sounds driving him wild and inviting him to take her.

He had stopped even though it killed him. Even though he had wanted to drive deep inside her until he couldn’t remember his own name. Until he forgot the guilt eating at him.

This was salvageable. He could forget what they had done, the way she felt. The way she tasted … like honey and butter on his tongue.

“What am I supposed to think, Cullen?” she demanded. “This was a difficult night for you. I was a welcome distraction. And combined with alcohol …” She shook her head, her mane of dark blonde hair tossing around her shoulders. “It explains a lot about what happened between us.”

He resisted insisting what happened between them had been coming from day one. Ever since Beck demanded he come and meet his sister and help her move in. He was screwed the minute she stepped outside her house. Dressed in blue jeans and a Georgia State University sweatshirt, she was your squeaky-clean girl next door. Her long blonde ponytail bounced as she jogged down the steps to greet them. He had hesitated behind Beck, taking in her makeup-free face.

When she turned those blue eyes on him he felt like someone punched him in the gut. She was sweet and innocent. A regular Girl Scout and yet all he could think about was getting her on all fours and taking her hard and fast and dirty. He was one sick bastard. His first glance at his friend’s sister and he wanted to ruin her, and tonight he had finally come close to doing that.

It dawned on him that she was giving him a way out. An excuse to pardon tonight’s actions. They could get beyond the fact that he had felt her up like she was some girl in the backseat of his high school Bronco and pretend this never happened.

A horn honked outside.

She bolted for the door. “I’ll see you at the ceremony tomorrow.”

He lunged after her, stalling her at the door with a hand on her arm. “I’ll walk you out.”

She opened her mouth like she wanted to protest, but he didn’t stick around to hear it. He opened the door and strode outside, heedless that he was barefoot. He released a sigh of relief at the sight of the driver. A harried-looking woman, not a day younger than sixty, sat behind the wheel. She jerked her chin at him in greeting.

He opened the door for Huntley, feeling safer knowing she was in the cab with the older female rather than some strange man.

She paused before ducking in. “See you tomorrow?”

He nodded. “Sure. Tomorrow. Thanks for babysitting me.”

She averted her gaze, nodding. “No problem. That’s what I’m here for.”

That’s what I’m here for
. To babysit him? He swallowed a growl. She probably wasn’t talking about letting him feel her up.

His gaze crawled over her face and hot color suffused her cheeks. He knew she was remembering it all in that moment. His mouth on her, his fingers. His dick stirred. Hell. How were things ever supposed to go back to normal between them now when all he wanted to do was follow through on where his mouth and fingers had been?

Because there was no other choice. They were friends and he needed to make sure they stayed that way.

“See you tomorrow.” He nodded.

She slammed the door shut behind her and the car pulled away from the curb. He watched the taillights fade down the street and turn the corner.

He stared, peering unseeingly into the night for several moments before returning inside to his empty house. Empty bed.

Pulling the sheets up to his waist, he closed his eyes and tried to pretend like he couldn’t still smell her all around him. When he took himself in hand and started stroking, he told himself it was a simple release he was after and it had nothing to do with her specifically. He clung to that lie until the moment he climaxed and it was only her face in his mind.

Chapter Five

Huntley picked up Beck and took him to an early dinner. It was good to have a little time alone together. Even if it was hard to meet his gaze after last night, knowing what she had done with his best friend, knowing what she had allowed his best friend to do to her. Allowed? Hell, she had reveled in it.

“Mom wants you to come home,” he announced over his burger. “And everyone else does too.”

She nodded, finishing her juice in a long sip. “I know.”

And by everyone he meant
everyone
. They had aunts, uncles and cousins by the truckloads. Everyone also meant Jackson. Her ex kept up with her online and via text. He liked to call her between his breakups and remind her that once upon a time they had planned to spend their futures together and that even though he dumped her she was still in the running for his future wife. His coaxing voice had the opposite effect on her, however. A future with him meant she had to fit into his idea of what she should be. Jackson loved her as long as she placed him at the center of the universe. He never wanted her to work. He expected her to put him before everything and everyone.

“I know.”

“So why don’t you then?”

“I like my job.” That was one reason.

“And that’s enough to stay here? Even if our entire family is halfway across the country? Are you dating anyone? Last time we talked—”

“No. I’m not seeing anyone.” An image of Cullen’s face hovering above her in the near dark of his room flashed through her mind and sent a warm blast of heat through her.

“Then think about it, Huntley. You shouldn’t be here all alone without any family around you.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to remind him that she had Cullen. She wasn’t alone. Beck himself had appointed him as her watchdog, after all, but then she stopped herself. She didn’t
have
Cullen. No one had Cullen. And after last night, he’d probably treat her with the cool distance he treated every one-night stand. He’d be Sullen Cullen, even to her.

“Hey, you okay, Hunt?”

She forced a bright smile. “Sure. Now, let’s go get you that medal.” She reached across the table and dusted a speck of lint off his dress uniform shoulder. “I’m proud of you, you know.”

He grinned. “And I’m proud of you, little sister.

She rolled her eyes. “Seventeen minutes.”

“I’m still older.”

“Keep lording that over me.” Smiling, she looked out the diner window. “This place feels like home now.”

She didn’t want to go back just to get sucked into that world again. She liked what she had here. She winced, realizing a lot of her life here was wrapped up in Cullen, and if she wanted things to return to normal, she needed to clear the air between them and put last night behind them for good.

“I’ll try to explain it to the family,” Beck said as he tossed down money on the table and slid out from the booth. “But I can’t promise they’re not going to continue to nag you about it.”

Nodding, she led the way to where she parked her car. “You sure you want to go back? Even with Mary there?”

He nodded. “I’m not scared of facing her. I’ve moved on.” Beck sounded truly unaffected. He really wasn’t broken up over Mary cheating on him and dumping him. He settled into the passenger seat and stared ahead out the window, tapping his thigh with an almost anxious energy.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Fine. Why?”

Huntley shook her head. “You just seem different.”

He smiled slightly and rubbed at his chin. There was something elusive in the curve of his mouth. There was a time in her life when she could practically read his thoughts—and he hers. Right now she couldn’t get a read on him. He was keeping something from her.

Suddenly the thought of what
she
was keeping from
him
hit her full force and she was grateful they couldn’t read each other quite as well as they used to. Heat flamed her face as the memory of Cullen’s fingers touching her, filling her, swept over her. Fast on the heels of that memory followed longing for something longer and harder of his to fill her.

Her fingers clenched tighter around the steering wheel. She stared straight ahead, inhaling and fighting back the fire in her face as she pulled into the parking lot and found a spot. Turning off the engine, they both stepped out in the afternoon and started walking toward the building.

“Oh, hey, there’s Cullen.”

There were several other soldiers attired in dress uniform throughout the parking lot, but she identified Cullen instantly. Her gaze zoomed in on him as though he were a homing device.

Her pulse jack-knifed against her throat as her brother shouted out for his friend.

Cullen stopped and turned, his lean body strong and tall. He cut a fine figure in his uniform and all her girl parts tingled with awareness as they crossed the lot toward him. Sunshine glinted off the shiny buttons and medals on his uniform.

They stopped and she held silent as Beck and Cullen shook hands. She scarcely breathed as they exchanged greetings.

Cullen’s dark eyes were cool and distant as they settled on her. “Hey, Huntley.”

She forced a smile. “Cullen.”

She fell in beside her brother as they entered the building. Cullen and Beck stopped every few feet, greeting people they knew. She stood by patiently, trying not to devour the sight of Cullen. He was so hot it hurt to look at him. Not that it stopped other women from looking. Every female in the vicinity did double takes of Cullen and her brother, lust and admiration bright in their gazes. She wanted to slap them. Or worse. She wanted to walk up beside Cullen and put her hand on him in some way that marked him as hers. Yeah, that was definitely worse. And ridiculous.

Beck led her to a seat at the front of the auditorium. After a quick kiss on her cheek, Beck left and took his place up on the stage. Cullen left her, too, moving off to talk to another man in his dress uniform. Voices buzzed around her as others found their seats. She crossed her legs and settled her hands on her lap, staring straight ahead and wishing this thing would get started so she didn’t have to focus on the fact that Cullen seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder. Or maybe he was just doing what he did after he fooled around with a woman. A painful thought. He had never treated her to Sullen Cullen before, and she didn’t like it. Not one bit.