ProvokeMe (33 page)

“I’m done.” But she kept going, snorting and giggling.
“Oh
wow.
That’s great.”

“Not so much from over here.”

“Sorry.
I know it’s a, um, sensitive issue.
But I think it’s
so funny.”

“I got that.
Truly.”

“Not because you couldn’t.
But you never had any problem with
me.
I mean, I had to practically beat you off most of the time.” She glanced
down.
“Should I expect it to be an ongoing problem now too?”

“No.
I can assure you I have zero interest in sleeping with
you at the moment.”

She giggled again and clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Do you
know how long it’s been since I’ve really laughed?”

“Probably about as long since I have.
But I’m thinking this
is more fun for you than me.”

“She’s beautiful,” she murmured, finally quieting.
“Diana.
She’s a gorgeous woman.”

“Yeah.”

“So what happened?”

He shrugged.
“As much as I tried to convince myself what I
was doing didn’t matter, I couldn’t follow through.
It did matter and I
couldn’t do it.
Turns out my body’s not as stupid as my head sometimes.”

“She must’ve been pissed.”

“I’d say that’s a good bet.
Probably why she didn’t break
her agreement with me and let me hold on to my job.
She just wanted to forget
the whole night ever happened.
She wasn’t the only one, believe me.”

“How mortifying.”

“It wasn’t one of my proudest moments.
Not just not getting
it up.
Trying to get it up in the first place for a woman I couldn’t stand.
Knowing I’d hurt you and hating myself for it.
And it didn’t stop that night.
Afterward, wishing I could take back what I said in my office.
Dismissing you
that way…” He blew out a breath.
“I wanted to make you leave as quickly as
possible for your sake, not mine.
If I hadn’t had that little burst of
conscience, I would’ve slept with you and done whatever I could to make you
stay.
But that wasn’t fair.”

“It also wasn’t fair to start something with me when you had
one foot out the door.”

“No.
But I’d agreed to the Sinclairs’ timetable of revealing
the new positions.”

“Sounds like you got fucked as much as you did the fucking.
If not more.” She held up a hand.
“Don’t tell me you deserved it.
Spencer,
you’re seriously the most contrite bad guy I’ve ever seen.”

“What?”

“You want me to think that you’re such a heartless jerk but
you’ve spent all this time in knots.
Let me clue you in to something.” She
leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “Real bad guys don’t feel guilty.”

“That doesn’t excuse my behavior.”

“Who said it did?”

“I knew you’d walk.
I didn’t want you to.
So add that to the
examples that prove Spencer Galvin’s an asshole.”

“So wait.
Now you expect me to be mad because you didn’t
want me to leave you?
Which I wouldn’t have done, by the way.” She rolled her
eyes.
“Fine.
Your priorities could’ve used some work.
So could mine.
I kept a
running list of guys I wanted to sleep with, even though it wasn’t really about
sex.
Not just sex,” she acknowledged when he raised a brow.
“But I didn’t have
the guts to admit what I needed.
Then I dumped all my years of emotional angst
at your doorstep, even though you were lucky enough not to be privy to most of
it.
We were together one week.
Hardly long enough for me to build us up into
some sort of twisted version of Scarlett and Rhett.”

“That week was the best of my life,” he said softly.

“Mine too.
But we never got to know each other beyond work
and sex.
I don’t even know your favorite color.”

“Gray.
Yours?”

“Purple.
And you didn’t even laugh at that question.”

“Because I get what you mean.
It would be smarter to start
at the beginning.
Go on a few dates, drink coffee, talk.
Take it slow.” He
cupped her shoulder, stroking his palm over supple leather and wishing it were
her skin under his hand instead.
“I can’t go slow with you, Kelly.”

“Who’s asking you to?” She reached up to cover his hand with
hers.
“What happened worked for me.
All of it.
Not the breakup part, but everything
else.
Sure, I’d like you to tell me things.
I’d appreciate you sharing parts of
yourself with me before I have to go for a crowbar or threaten to withhold sex.
But we were a work in progress.
I was willing to wait to see what developed.”

“I want you in my life.” He kissed her forehead, drawing her
so close that her heart beat rapidly against his.
“I’m prepared to do whatever
it takes to make that happen.”

“Including spilling your secrets in a restaurant parking
lot.” Her grin came through loud and clear in her voice.

“Yes.
And admitting to my many, many faults.
Like being too
secretive and closed off.
And too obsessed with work.
And too fixated on
getting you naked.”

“That’s one of your best qualities actually.”

“Agreed.” He grinned.
“Can I stop now?”

“No, keep going.” She tipped her head sideways and gave him
a sexy smile he knew he’d never forget.
“I’m liking this conversation.”

“Uh huh.” Another laugh escaped him.
“You know, I think this
is the longest we’ve actually
had
a conversation outside of work.
Every
other time we ended up in bed.”

She ran her hands up his chest, feathered her fingertips
over his neck above his suddenly constricting collar.
“I’m kind of talked out,”
she murmured.

He didn’t dare hope.
But he also couldn’t stop his body’s
immediate and irrefutable response to her nearness.
His cock strained against
his trousers, pressing insistently against her soft belly.

She glanced down and then up again, grinning.
“Feels like a
green light to me.”

“Light’s definitely green.
Too green, if you know what I
mean.” He tugged her hair, loving the way her mouth curved.
“It’s been a long
three months.”

“For me too.”

“You’ll notice I’m not asking if there’s been anyone else.”

“You don’t have a right to.”

“No.” He paused.
“So has there been?”

“You first.”

“Are you kidding me?
You’re the only one I’d dare go near
after that fiasco.
I think you retrained my cock.”

Again she laughed, so long and low that every nerve ending
in his body came awake from hibernation.
“If I haven’t, I will.
Starting
tonight.” She flashed him one of her saucy grins and he thought he’d died and
gone to heaven.
“Because this is all well and good but if we’re not still
compatible in other important ways, no deal.”

The cool wind that blew over his skin did nothing to diffuse
the blast of heat her words had caused.
“I thrive under pressure.”

“Mmm, I remember.
So I have a question.

His soft groan made her laugh.
“Shoot.”

“That video…from your office.”

“You’re not getting it.
It’s mine.”

She grinned.
“So have you been watching it?”

He didn’t want to ruin the lighthearted mood but he had to
be honest.
Hiding things wouldn’t work anymore.
“I couldn’t for a long time.”

“No?”

“No.” He stroked a fingertip along her temple.
“I missed you
too much.
Then it became a lifeline, my only link to you.
And it also helped in
other particular ways,” he said, glad to see her smile return.

“You haven’t been to the club?”

He shook his head.
“Not without you.” He shrugged at her
smirk.
“Hey, some couples have a special restaurant.
We have a sentimental sex
club.
Works for me.”

“Me too.” She gave him a quick kiss then turned and walked
to her car, dangling her car keys over her shoulder.
“Race you to my place.”

“Your place?”

“Got a problem with that, Galvin?”

He yanked open his car door.
“Absolutely not.
Better drive
fast, Ms.
Crossman.”

She was taking him home to her apartment.
If that didn’t
speak of trust, Kelly didn’t know what did.

A reconciliation demanded big gestures.
And while no one
Spencer’s size could claim to be thrilled by an invitation to share her snug
full bed—though at least her sweet Delaney’s discount had enabled her to invest
in a much nicer real wood frame—she hoped he would get what this meant to her.

He’d told her parents he loved her—
whoa
—so tit for
tat, she’d let him invade her bed.
Then, maybe,
maybe
she’d encourage
him to finish invading her heart.

He got to her apartment before she did, which made her grin.
Apparently erection difficulties were a thing of the past.
Hell, she liked
being his Cialis.
She’d happily take on that role for the rest of her life.

She parked beside him and climbed out of her car, brushing
her hair away from her face as the wind kicked up.
The first few fall leaves
scattered across the asphalt, skidding around his feet as he approached.
For
some reason, she couldn’t stop staring at the sneakers poking out from under
his dress pants.
Weird and very un-Spencer-like.

Sneakers.
Dress pants.
The sixteenth of September.
A memory
tickled the back of her mind and she gasped as she lifted her gaze to his face.
His very amused, sexy face.
“What are you doing here?”

“Um, you invited me?”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean.
It’s September sixteenth.
I
didn’t realize before.
Why aren’t you in Virginia for the opening of the
Roanoke store?”

“Took the night off.” He shrugged.
“I was there earlier.”

She reached up and held her hand against his forehead.
He
grinned and she knew he was thinking of the time she’d done that at Kink.
“I
should call 9-1-1.”

“Save that phone call for after we’re through.”

“This day is huge for you.
You’ve been waiting forever for
Roanoke to open.
But you’re here, with me.
Why?”

“You remember how you said you just didn’t feel the same
about the store anymore?”

“Yeah.”

“Neither do I.
It took me awhile to get where you got in a
couple days.
I didn’t want to give up.
But eventually even an old dog’s gotta
find some new tricks.”

Her breath caught.
It wasn’t possible.
“What are you
saying?”

“I’m done, Kelly.
All the way done.
I stayed for the launch
today, went to the fancy party in my sneakers,” he grinned, “and then walked
out the door.
I called Diana on the way to the airport.”

“But—”

He covered her lips with his finger.
“If I promise to
explain everything later, will you trust me enough to let me enjoy the rest of
my first night unemployed?”

Her mind whirled.
Spencer had
quit
?
Just walked away?
“I can’t believe this.
Any of it.
That you’re really here, that you really—”

Love me.

“Believe it.” He leaned down to nibble her ear, licking the
spot just behind her lobe she hadn’t realized was such a trigger zone.
“I hope
you have condoms.
Lots of them.”

Right on cue, she shivered.
His tongue was like warm silk
and she wanted to feel it everywhere.
“We don’t need any.”

He edged back and tipped up her chin.
His stare was so
probing, she jerked a shoulder to divert some of his attention from her face.
In a minute she’d be blushing.
He always had that effect on her.
“You said you
didn’t sleep with Diana, that you haven’t been with anyone else.”