Stirred Up (6 page)

The bill came and they all threw money
in.

“We’re heading to the Bunkhouse for some
music. You guys want to come?” Lisa asked.

Both Cheryl and Emily turned to look at her.
No one had mentioned going anywhere else, but as usual Lisa was
improvising.

“We’re not exactly dressed for it,” Jason
said, looking down at his tee shirt and gym shorts.

“They don’t care about that there,” Lisa
replied. “Plus we look good enough for both of you.”

This was true, but actually, the two of them
looked plenty hot on their own. Cheryl held her breath, not sure
whether she wanted Jason to agree or not. But when he looked at
her, a question in his eyes, she couldn’t help but smile at
him.

“We won’t even make you dance,” she
teased.

“Oh, I’ll dance all right,” he said, a gleam
in his eye, and her insides turned to liquid heat.

“I’m in,” Evan proclaimed, standing up.

Emily and Lisa climbed into Cheryl’s car and
they headed out, the two men following in their own cars.

“Now’s your chance to snag that hot tamale,”
Lisa said.

“Excuse me?” she said, incredulous. “This is
your game. Clearly you have eyes for the doctor.”

“He’s a fox, no doubt about it, and I’ll be
delighted to look at him all night long, but I’m doing this for
you. How could anyone get sexy in a high school classroom? You two
need a change of environment, and this is it.”

“But I don’t want to get sexy with him,”
Cheryl protested.

“Please,” Lisa said, rolling her eyes. “The
two of you couldn’t take your eyes off each other. And he was about
ready to throw his arm around you.”

“Are you listening to this, Emily?” Cheryl
asked. “Your future sister-in-law is trying to steer me down an
unrighteous path.”

Emily leaned forward until her face was
between the front seats.

“I’m staying out of it. Besides, I’m looking
forward to dancing up a storm with my clothes on for a change.

She had a point. That part would be kind of
fun.

“Let’s just hope the bands are decent,”
Cheryl put in. “Otherwise we’ll be the lame girls in the front
dancing alone.”

“Who are you calling lame?” Lisa said. “We
could be our own damn show, if we wanted.”

“All I know is we should tell Cutter,” Emily
said. “It’s been a while since we went out on the town. Will you
give him a call, Lisa? I left my phone in the car.”

Lisa pulled out her phone and dialed. “Hey
bro, your gal here says you should come out and play with us. We’re
headed to the Bunkhouse.”

She was quiet for a second as he spoke. “It
was kind of a last minute stroke of genius.” Another pause. “It’s
not a girls’ thing anymore. We ran into a couple of guys who are
coming along.” Pause. “Oh, just some guys Cheryl knows. But there
are only two of them, so if you don’t come out Emily might have to
dance with some stranger.” Pause. “Great, see you there.”

She hung up and chuckled to herself. “That
last part did the trick.”

Emily shook her head, but Cheryl could see
her smiling in the rear view mirror. “You are bad, Lisa, but you do
make things happen.”

The club was in full swing when they pulled
into the parking lot behind the building. Jason and Evan pulled in
just as they were climbing out and they all trooped in together. It
was loud inside, a rowdy band playing something between country and
blues that sounded pretty good. All the tables were occupied so
they made their way through the crowd until they found a good spot
off to the side with a decent view of the stage. Of course, Cheryl
was so short that even in her heels she didn’t have a great view,
but she was used to that.

“Can you see?” Jason asked, leaning down and
talking into her ear, his breath warm against her neck.

“I’m fine,” she said, so aware of him she had
to concentrate on breathing normally.

He shifted them around until she could see
better, but he was now behind her, the hard length of him pressing
against her in the crowded space. A man pushed by, jostling her,
and Jason’s hand came around her waist, holding her steady.

“Hey, take it easy,” Jason warned, and the
guy looked down at Cheryl.

“Sorry, man.”

Jason nodded, acknowledging the apology, but
his hand remained on her.

Evan leaned over from Jason’s other side.
“I’m gonna make a bar run. What can I get you two?”

“I’ll have an IPA,” Jason said, pulling out
his wallet. “Cheryl?”

“Just a seltzer for me,” she said.

She drank a bit to loosen up on the nights
she stripped, so she made it a policy to go easy the rest of the
week.

“Here,” Jason said, handing his friend some
money. “First round’s on me.”

Cutter showed up as Evan was returning with
the drinks and Emily introduced him all around. Cheryl could see
Cutter sizing the situation up, much like he did when he was in his
bouncer role at the club. Jason leaned in and said something to
Cutter, and she realized Jason was only an inch or so shorter, and
Cutter was a good few inches over six feet. Jason was slightly
leaner but looked equally hard, though his face broke more easily
into a friendly grin. A lover, not a fighter.

The band was in full swing now, playing a
rowdy upbeat song that pulled at her. A crowd of people were
already on the dance floor and more poured onto it.

“Come on, let’s get out there,” Lisa said,
grabbing Cheryl and Emily.

The steady flow of lust Cheryl had been
enduring was about to make her jump out of her skin, so she was
plenty ready to move. What better way to let off some steam?

She was oddly self-conscious at first,
knowing Jason was probably watching. Which was pretty funny
considering what she’d been doing for the last four years. But
after a few minutes she lost herself in the music and let herself
go.

Jason watched Cheryl dance, faintly
disbelieving. Was she
trying
to torture him?

The band had transitioned to a slow, sexy
croon, and all the bodies on the floor had slowed with it. Now
Cheryl was practically writhing right in front of him, her lips
parted as she swayed with the music. She was wearing a pink and
green paisley sundress that stopped several inches short of her
knees. He could see by the low back that she wore no bra, but her
breasts were high and firm beneath the fabric. Images of pulling
her into his body were flashing through his mind, and in some of
them he was taking off that dress.

“I’m going in,” Evan said, putting his beer
bottle down on the nearest table. “You don’t have a problem with me
dancing with your sister, do you?” he asked Cutter.

Jason watched, amused. Evan could probably
have held his own against the big man, but it was a good move to
ask.

“Be my guest, if you think you’re up to it,”
Cutter said.

Evan and Jason exchanged a look. Was that a
challenge, a warning, or just the way the man talked?

Whatever it was, apparently Evan was up to
it, since he headed off and left the two of them standing there.
Jason watched as Evan inserted himself into the small knot of
women, trying to shake off the flare of envy that Evan didn’t have
to analyze his every move and worry he was crossing some line.

A few seconds later Cutter headed into the
fray, moving behind Emily and pulling her close, his stern
expression melting into an unmistakable combination of love and
lust as he looked down at her.

But it was Cheryl who caught and held Jason’s
gaze, Cheryl who was driving him crazy. She was so unconsciously
sexy the way she laughed and swung her hips around, then closed her
eyes and let her head fall back. He was moving toward the dance
floor before he’d even fully realized what he was doing.

Her eyes were still closed when he brushed up
against her. Her body jerked in surprise and her eyes snapped open,
but when she saw who it was a pleased, cat-like grin curved her
lips. Within moments her slanted eyes grew heavy-lidded and her
movements more languorous. She leaned into him almost imperceptibly
and he took that as invitation to slip his hands to her hips.

Her arms came up to twine around his neck and
they were moving together, the heat from their bodies mingling.
Tendrils of hair clung damply to her neck, and he was seized by the
most erotic image of her beneath him, wearing the same expression.
He was hard now, there was no way she didn’t know it, but she
didn’t pull away. If anything she pressed closer, her body so in
tune with his he felt like he could have led her over a cliff.

For surely that’s where they were headed, he
and this woman he’d have to see in class again on Tuesday. But
those were cold hard facts that couldn’t penetrate the heat between
them, couldn’t stop his hands from skimming over the smooth skin of
her back and down to her ass, pulling her closer.

Then the music stopped and the singer
announced the band was taking a break. He and Cheryl pulled apart,
staring at each other as everyone around them clapped. She looked
dazed and aroused, soft and pliant, but even as he watched, her
eyes grew clear and sharp, her expression dismayed. She was coming
back to herself, remembering who they were to each other.

Her fair skin was already flushed, but now a
deeper flush overtook her and her gaze skittered away. His heart
sank. He couldn’t find it in him to want to take back that sexy
dance, but neither did he want it coming between them.

“Can I get you a drink?” he asked, trying to
act like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“That would be great, thanks,” she said,
still not quite looking at him. “I’ll be right back.”

He watched as she made her way off the dance
floor and away from the bar, disappearing from view. For a split
second he panicked, wondering if she was taking off, then felt like
a jackass when he realized she was heading for the restrooms.

“Want another beer? This one’s on me,” Evan
said, cutting into his thoughts.

Evan was looking at him with amusement, but
made no move to pry into his psyche. Not for the first time he was
thankful men didn’t ask each other questions.

Cutter was talking to someone he knew, so he
and Evan wandered over to the bar together and ordered their
drinks.

“Pretty good band, huh?” Jason asked, the
question sounding totally inane to his own ears.

“Yup, great band. Nice club, too,” Evan
replied, the glint in his eye making it clear he was humoring
him.

Jason ignored the look and tried to make
regular conversation, but he was too distracted to pull it off. He
ordered a seltzer for Cheryl, then took a swing of his beer and
looked around, trying to make it look casual.

He finally spotted Cheryl and Lisa coming his
way, but when they got to him Cheryl hung back a step, as if
wanting to keep her distance. He handed her the seltzer and she
smiled but stayed where she was.

“You two going back in?” he asked, nodding
toward the dance floor where the band was tuning up.

“Actually, I probably should head out,”
Cheryl said. “I have a lot going on tomorrow.” She turned to Lisa.
“Cutter can take you and Emily back to your cars, right?”

“Sure,” Lisa said, her gaze darting between
the two of them. “That’s fine.”

Cheryl turned back to him. “I’ll see you
Tuesday,” she said, not quite meeting his eyes.

“I’ll walk you out,” he said, determined not
to leave things on an awkward note.

For a second he worried she was going to
protest, but she just gave him a perplexed smile and said goodbye
to Lisa.

Jason followed her out the door, trying not
to look at her sweet ass, but there was no part of her that didn’t
send him into erotic territory. As little as she was, her legs
seemed to go for miles, and her back was bare nearly to her waist,
the skin smooth and damp with heat.

They reached her car and stood there for a
second, the tension between them palpable. But maybe it wasn’t what
he’d thought, and her tension was discomfort rather than desire. Or
maybe she danced like that with every guy she met, and he was only
imagining there was something between them. Or just maybe, she felt
something but knew how stupid it would be to let anything happen
while they worked together.

“Sorry. I guess I got kind of carried away in
there,” he ventured, hoping to tease out what was going on.

“I guess we both did,” she said.

She started to say something else but
stopped, and instead stood there looking uncomfortable.

“I’m not going to hit on you, if that’s what
you’re worried about,” he said. “I’m pretty sure this is as weird
as I want things to get.”

She smiled then, a bit sheepishly, her whole
body softening as the tension left her. “We should probably keep a
lid on things while we work together.”

“Agreed.” He stepped back from her car. “I’ll
see you Tuesday.”

“See you,” she said, flashing him her
smile.

He stood back and watched her drive away,
replaying their exchange. Unless he was seriously misreading
things, Cheryl was interested, and the only thing stopping her was
the same thing stopping him. Which meant he had a lot to look
forward to when the semester was over. Until then, he’d just have
to be patient and let their friendship grow. Some things were worth
waiting for, after all.

***

Cheryl woke up to the sound of her phone
ringing and looked at her clock. Ten o’clock. Damn, she was going
to be late for class if she didn’t haul ass.

Rolling out of bed, she staggered to where
her phone was charging on her bureau. It was Emily, no doubt
calling to deconstruct last night’s events.

“Nothing happened.”

“Well good morning to you, too, Miss
Sunshine,” Emily retorted.

“Sorry,” Cheryl grumbled. “I just figured you
were calling to see what happened when Jason and I left last night,
and the answer is nothing.”