Playing for Keeps (15 page)

I sucked it up and started the car. There was only one way to find out.

I was surprised I didn’t throw up on the drive over. Or on the stairs up to his apartment.

Really, it was more than an apartment. More of a flat. He had the entire two upper stories of a building. He’d bought the building years ago and converted the upstairs himself. He let out the storefront downstairs to a nice Chinese couple who had a laundromat. I loved how his apartment always smelled like fresh laundry.

Now, I barely noticed the scent. I was more focused on keeping my legs from wobbling as I climbed up the stairs to his door. I took a deep breath and knocked.

Nothing.

Maybe he wasn’t home.

Maybe he was otherwise occupied with a petite blonde.

I stiffened my lip so it wouldn’t quiver. This was a sign. I’d royally screwed up and I wasn’t going to get a second chance.

I wilted, completely dejected, when the door opened.

“Grace?” Pete frowned, which I barely noticed because I was too busy taking in the fact that he wore jeans that hung low on his hips and nothing else.

I couldn’t help looking him over head to toe. Twice. I never realized bare feet could be so sexy.

“Grace? What are you doing here?”

“Well…” Clearing my throat, I looked into his eyes and saw my best friend. The knot I’d been carrying in my stomach the last few weeks eased. “I really screwed up and I’m so sorry. I was so scared of losing you that I lost you.”

“Come inside.” He propelled me in.

I went for the leather couch. I couldn’t count how many hours I’d spent curled on it over the past couple years, but I decided I needed to stand.

Actually, I needed to pace. “I was so stupid. All those excuses seemed so valid but now they just seem
stupid
.”

“Grace—”

“I can’t believe I let my fears control me like that. They just seemed so tangible. But the last couple weeks have been just so
wretched
. You didn’t call, with good reason, and I couldn’t call you—”

“Grace—”

“How could you ever forgive me? I know it’s too late but I had to try because—”

“Grace.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him.

I gazed into his eyes, trying to determine his mood. They were a brilliant blue, totally unclouded except by mirth.

“Are you
amused
?” I asked in disbelief.

“No, I’m in love.” He lowered his head and kissed me.

I came alive the second his lips touched mine. Every cell in my body started to tingle. I reached around his neck and tangled my hands in his so-soft hair.

Wait a minute. I yanked his head back. “What did you say?”

“What?” He lips glistened and I had this insane urge to run my tongue along them. His eyes were bedroom yummy—hot and slumberous—and I could feel his heart thumping between us.

“What did you just say?”

A corner of his mouth quirked. “You mean the part that I’m in love?”

“Yeah.” I frowned. “With
me
?”

He laughed in his whispery way. It gave me goose bumps. He pulled the rubber band from my hair and ran his fingers through it. “Is that so hard to believe?”

“Actually, yeah it is. It seems so sudden.”

“To me it seems like forever.” He bit my lower lip before sucking it.

Hello. That caught my nipples’ attention. As if they hadn’t been at full salute since he opened the door.

I pushed him back. I didn’t even gratuitously feel his chest up—very much. “Wait.”

“What is it?”

I swallowed, looking up into his eyes, and I just knew. “I’m in love, too.”

At first, it was like he didn’t hear me. He had no reaction as he studied me. Then, his frown faded, the corners of his eyes crinkled, and his mouth curved slowly. “About time you came to your senses.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

He did more than that. He picked me up and carried me to his bedroom. I would have protested if my mouth weren’t so deliciously occupied. I’m no heifer but I’m certainly not dainty. I’m only a few inches shorter than Pete.

The fact that he had no trouble lugging me was a turn on. Actually, everything about Pete was a turn on.

He tossed me onto his cushy bed. “Don’t move.”

Laying back, I propped up on my elbows as he lit candles all over the room. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you romance.”

“I don’t need romance.” I just needed him. Inside me. Bad.

“Yes, you do. Tonight’s special.”

“It is?”

“Tonight you become mine.”

My heart jumped into my throat.

I had to admit the candles were a lovely touch. I knew that from then on when I smelled candles burning I’d forever remember that night.

Pete opened one of the floor length windows so the gauzy curtains undulated gently. He stalked back to the bed, his eyes never wavering from mine. “You have too many clothes on, but I can help you with that.”

“God I hope so,” I said fervently.

He chuckled and pulled my shirt over my head. Throwing it on the floor, he sat back on his haunches and groaned. “You aren’t wearing a bra.”

I wondered what he’d say when he found out I didn’t have underwear on either.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve imagined looking at you like this.” He held my hands lightly in his.

I was conscious that, lying like this, my already meager breasts looked nonexistent, but he didn’t seem to mind. “You have no idea how it drives me crazy when you don’t wear a bra,” he said.

Mental note: throw away all bras first thing tomorrow.

Still holding my hands, he ran his knuckles over my nipples. I bit my lip to stifle a moan.

“Now things are getting interesting.” He let go of my hands and ran his hands down my torso, from my collarbones to the waistband of my jeans.

Two could play this game. I did the same to him, gliding over his pecs. I grinned when he gasped as I touched his nipples. I wrapped my fingers in his waistband and brushed the thin line of hair that pointed down to his personal danger zone.

Holding his gaze, I undid one of his buttons. Then another, and another.

He did the same to me. “Grace?”

“Yeah?” I closed my eyes, savoring the feel of his thumbs caressing my belly.

“You’re missing your panties.”

“Gee.” I got up on my elbows and looked down. “I wonder what happened to them.”

He tugged at my jeans. “Off.”

“Yours too.”

We raced to get the rest of our clothes off, tumbling onto the bed once we were naked. We lay on our sides, facing each other, our legs twined.

He stroked my hair back and cupped my face. “I love you.”

I felt oozy and warm on the inside. Then he kissed me and suddenly we ignited.

He was everywhere at once. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn he had three sets of hands. I gripped his shoulders and held on for dear life.

I thought for sure my senses would short-circuit when his fingers slid between my legs from behind. Especially when he found that spot.

I cried out and arched up. His mouth nipped a path down my neck to my nipples and took what I offered.

The room started spinning and then everything shattered. I heard a scream in the distance. It took me a moment to realize it was mine.

Somehow, Pete managed to get a condom on because the next thing I knew he was sliding slowly into me.

He muffled a curse against my neck. “You’re killing me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said halfheartedly. I was too engrossed by the feel of him stretching me.

“You’ve done this before, right?”

I shook my head. “No.” What I’d done before was nothing like this. What I was feeling right now could never compare.

Pete raised his head. “You’re a virgin?”

I considered that. It’d been so long since the last time my hymen had probably grown back. “Maybe a little.”

He groaned and dropped his head. “What does that mean, Grace?”

“If this is what sex is, I’ve never had it before.”

“Thank God,” and he dove in.

I felt uncomfortable for a second but he did some swivel thing that made me real comfortable, real fast.

“You like that?” He swiveled some more.

“Not sure,” I panted.

He tried it again and suddenly everything was spinning and bursting all over again. I felt him stiffen and heard him cry out my name before he collapsed on top of me.

One time in biology, I saw a movie about the human body. In the movie, there were two tissue samples from two different hearts in one Petri dish. Separately, each piece beat continued to beat in its own time. But then they touched and somehow they started beating in sync.

Lying with Pete on top of me, that was how I felt. Our hearts beat in one rhythm between us. I put my hand on his back and pressed him closer, not wanting to give up the link.

He rolled off me. “Be right back.”

I didn’t have energy to do much more than wave my hand and grunt. Closing my eyes, I waited.

The toilet flushed and a moment later I felt the mattress dip. Pete scooped me to him, pulling me over him so I was sprawled on top.

He nuzzled my hair. “Sleepy?”

“If I say no, can we do that again?”

His laugh rumbled through my soul. He gripped my butt and settled me so certain intimate parts of him were cradled between my legs.

“You’re happy to see me.” I wiggled experimentally.

His hands tightened on me. “What are you doing?”

“Making up for lost time.”

Pete kissed me, slow and sensuous, his tongue teasing mine until my juices were flowing again. When he spoke, I felt his words more than I heard them. “No need to rush, love. We have the rest of our lives.”

“This is so wrong.”

Pete shrugged. “It’s a classic redefined.”

“It’s a travesty.” I shifted on the kitchen counter top and poked the contents of my bowl with the spoon. I looked at Pete but he didn’t seem bothered. He sat on a bar stool, eating calmly and watching me with amusement.

“It turned my milk
blue
. Blue milk isn’t natural.”

“Maybe you aren’t hungry enough.”

My tummy rumbled its answer.

I sighed. “The Crunch Berries of my youth didn’t turn the milk blue,” I mumbled, lifting a spoonful to my mouth. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore what I was eating.

He caressed the length of my hair. “Next time I’ll make sure I buy some groceries before you come over.”

I perked up. “Next time?”

“Next time,” he promised.

Maybe multicolored cereal with blue milk wasn’t so bad after all. “I’m willing to take the blame.”

Pete’s lips quirked. “So magnanimous of you.”

“It
was
my fault we played in bed so long that it got to be too late to order pizza in.” I tried not to be too proud of that fact.

“That’s true.” He eyed me like he was imagining me back in bed.

Letting the T-shirt he gave me to wear fall off one shoulder à la Flashdance, I crossed my legs, which made the hem ride dangerously up my thighs.

“Are you done?” Pete asked.

I set down the bowl, slid off the counter, and leaned into him. “I haven’t even started.”

“Let’s go.” Pete dropped his bowl into the sink. His expression when he faced me again made me catch my breath in anticipation. He smiled, but it was an
I’m going to eat you up, little girl
smile.

“Pete.” I swallowed my grin and played along, taking a step back in mock reluctance. “You’re not going to turn werewolf on me, are you?”

He growled and lunged at me. I shrieked and tried to make a break for it. I let him catch me, of course.

He threw me over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. I half laughed and half squealed all the way to his bedroom.

He dumped me on my back, covered me, and pinned my hands above my head. I could have gotten out of the hold, but I only struggled weakly. I was no dummy.

He nipped my neck, right over my pulse. “Stay with me tonight.”

“I don’t know.” It was tempting. Daddy and Chloe probably wouldn’t miss me till the morning. I could be back before they noticed I was even gone.

He gazed down at me, running his hand up my side to cradle my breast. “I want you to stay, and I’m not ashamed to use whatever means I have to make that happen.”

“Maybe I should protest just to have you convince me.”

“No.” He flicked my bottom lip with his tongue. “Just say you’ll stay and the reward will be much more worth it.”

I wanted to stay with all my being, but there were so many complications. “I’ll stay on one condition.”

His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“We have to keep this under wraps.”

“Under wraps?”

“A secret.” The last thing I needed was for my family to know about me and Pete. Every time before when I’d brought a guy home, they’d driven him off. If I could keep this thing with Pete and my life at home separate—just until I figured out what was going on—then maybe it’d have a chance. “For a little while.”

“This would make you feel better?”

“Yes. A lot.”

He silently studied me for so long I was afraid he was going to say no. But then he nodded. “But I won’t hide our relationship forever.”

“Thank you.” I exhaled in relief. Then I showed him just how thankful I was.

Chapter Twelve

Knowledge of the enemy’s disposition can only be obtained from other men.

— Sun Tzu, The Art of War

The next few months passed like a dream. Fawn and Leif finally left on their quest, so the tension around the house eased. Daddy had been more and more scarce, which was great because it meant he didn’t notice how many nights I didn’t sleep in my own bed.

And Pete—well, one word still summed it up: YUM.

It was just as passionate as it’d started, but we’d managed to keep our friendship too. No one knew, so there was no chance of anyone spoiling it. And since Pete knew my crazy family life, I didn’t have to do much explaining when I had to leave him to take care of someone. He didn’t love it—I could tell—but he didn’t nag me about it like my previous boyfriends had.