Taking the Heat (23 page)

“Hi, Roni,” he said. “I didn't expect to see you here.”

She stiffened before she turned slowly around. “It's Veronica,” she reminded him.

“Right, sorry.” He rocked back on his heels at her clear reluctance to talk. His eyes swept over the table and lingered for a moment on Naomi and Monique. What a dick.

“Well, I can see you're busy,” he said. “I'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait.” He walked away after dropping that bomb. Naomi caught Gabe's gaze and raised her eyebrows, but then she turned back to the others to join in the conversation.

Veronica sank a little in her seat. “I needed a favor from my dad.”

Gabe wasn't sure he had a right to feel pissed, but he did. Dillon made his skin crawl. “What does that mean?”

“I asked my dad for the name of a therapist for help with that letter I told you about. And my dad asked me to see Dillon in exchange.”

“I see. So you're going on a date?”

“No!” Her eyes jumped to the other people at the table and she lowered her voice. “It's not a date. I said he could come by the bar after my show for a drink. That's it.”

“You said you didn't want to have a drink with him,” Gabe pressed.

“I don't!”

“Then why don't you just tell your dad no?”

“It's complicated, okay? Nobody tells my dad no.”

“Veronica, come on. You're not just anyone—you're his daughter.”

She barked out a humorless laugh. “Like that makes it easier. It's just a drink. It's not worth fighting my dad over this.”

“It's not just a drink,” Gabe snapped.

She pulled back and stared at him for a moment. “You're asking me not to go have one harmless drink?”

“No, I just can't stand the thought of you with that asshole!”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? Monique is
living
in your apartment and she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen!”

“That's not what I meant.” He tipped his head back and took a deep breath. “He was an asshole to you, Veronica. He hurt your feelings. I don't want you forced to spend time with a guy who hurt you.”

“Oh,” she said.

“And if your dad knew, he wouldn't want you to see that guy, either. So just tell him.”

“Gabe...” She shook her head and crossed her arms tight over her chest. “That's what you don't understand. My dad does know, and if I complain, he'll tell me to grow up and stop worrying about high school bullshit. To be fair, that's also what he told me when I was in high school, so at least I can count on his consistency.”

Gabe couldn't wrap his head around what she was saying. “Your dad knows that Dillon made out with you and then made fun of you?”

She let go of the death clasp on her own arms to reach for her martini glass. She didn't gulp it down, though; she took a very careful sip. “I asked him to get my stepbrother to stop calling me Ronald. I mean, he said it constantly. At school, in the house, around the dinner table. It wasn't something my father could have missed. So yeah, I explained what had happened.”

“What did he do?” Gabe asked, though he now felt sure he didn't want to know the answer.

“I already told you. He said I should grow up and stop letting people use my weakness against me.”

“What weakness?” Gabe asked.

She shrugged and took another sip. “Who knows. Sensitivity, shyness, small breasts? Any weakness. All of them. My dad is not a big fan of weakness. Or me.”

“Veronica,” Gabe breathed. “That's ridiculous.”

“Yeah. It is ridiculous. So it's just not worth saying no over something so small. I save up my resistance for more important things.”

“Maybe that's a mistake. Maybe that's why he pushes you around.”

“Do you think I haven't considered that? I just... I can't ask for his help and then tell him to leave me alone! What don't you get about that?”

He put his hand over hers. He wanted to tell her that it wasn't like asking for help with an apartment or money, but she was already upset, and this wasn't the place. “Okay,” he said, “I'm sorry.”

She shook her head.

“I get why you said yes. I just hate it.”

She didn't look up when she spoke. “I live in his building. I don't pay rent. I put my foot down and refused to move back home with him, but I still live off his generosity. So I can complain about him all I want, but look where I am. It's like I never left home at all.”

“Bullshit. You took a risk and went after something you wanted. Not many people actually do that, you know. It didn't work out, but at least you
tried
.”

“Yeah,” she breathed. He watched her paste on a smile before she met his eyes. “That's what I've been trying to tell myself. I just have to figure out what to do now.”

“What do you want to do?”

Her fake smile softened into something more genuine. “Long term? I'm not sure. But I have definite goals for tonight. Want to get out of here?”

“Oh, hell, yes,” he said. He threw some cash on the table and leaned close to Naomi. “You good here? I'm thinking of taking off with Veronica.”

“Oh, yeah? Hang a tie on the door until you're done.”

“I'm staying at her place. You can have the bed. You and Monique, I mean, not one of these horny bastards.”

“Party pooper.”

He stood and said his goodbyes as he took Veronica's hand.

“Have fun, you two!” Naomi called.

Veronica's face blazed, but she waved good-naturedly as they left. Once they were out the door, Gabe stopped her for a quick kiss. “You look pretty,” he said, sweeping his eyes down her skinny jeans to her heels, “but I miss your legs.”

“I was not wearing a short skirt around women with four-foot-long legs, thank you.”

“Fine. Save your shameless nudity for me.”

She tossed him a coy smile and began walking away. “Deal.”

He let her stay a few steps ahead of him for a minute, admiring the sight of her ass in those jeans. Sure, he missed her bare thighs, but this was a nice treat, too. She glanced back at him with another coy smile.

“I've been thinking,” he said, “that you rescue a lot more people than I do even though I'm on a search-and-rescue team.”

“I don't rescue people. Not most of them, anyway.”

“Sure you do,” he insisted. “It's not just the life-changing stuff. It's smaller things, too. Just helping Benton out with his nephew. That's important.”

She ducked her head. “I don't know. I was thinking of going back for a master's in psychology. I think maybe I could be a therapist, but I'm not sure I've been successful enough to guide other people.”

“I don't believe that's a requirement.”

She laughed. “I guess it's not.”

“You're good at listening. Good at seeing what people are saying.”

“I guess.” She shrugged off the compliment. “I had fun tonight,” she said. “And today was pretty nice, too. You're very sexy climbing up those rocks, you know.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.” She sneaked her hand around his arm and squeezed his biceps. “You're very strong. I like your arms. And your hands.” Her fingers slid down the inside of his arm and over his palm, leaving his skin tingling with pleasure. “I like seeing what makes your fingers so rough. It makes me think of how your fingertips feel against my nipples.”

“Jesus,” he breathed.

“What? I had my bath and I finally got my drinks.”

“I wanted to give you a bath,” he growled.

“Then I guess you shouldn't have ditched me for a couple of hot girls.”

“You're cruel. You know I had no choice.”

“You still have to make it up to me,” she sang, dancing across the street toward her apartment. “Drinks, a bath, you know what's next on the list.”

Yes. An orgasm. And he couldn't wait to make her come again.

* * *

V
ERONICA
 
FELT
 
AS
 
if she were floating as she breezed into her apartment. Strange that this already felt normal, bringing Gabe home to have sex with him. She hardly felt shy at all. In fact, she felt almost confident.

She'd started the evening off with fear, but she'd gotten through it. She'd gone out instead of staying in. She'd gotten along with his friends. She'd even had
fun
.

And the best part of all was that it was going to be okay. It really was. He was from New York. He was sexy and smart and accomplished. His friends were beautiful and charismatic and confident. And Veronica had fit right in. She'd never had that in the past.

It felt like a miracle. And now she wanted another one.

She locked her door and walked toward her bedroom, smiling over her shoulder to be sure Gabe was following. “Tonight I want to touch you,” she said.

His gaze had focused on her ass, but he looked up at that. “Yes,” he said, the slight darkness in his voice making it sound more like an order than permission.

God, she liked that. She liked his confidence. She liked him teaching her, because she knew if she wasn't doing something right, he'd tell her. And if he didn't tell her, then she knew everything was just the way he liked it.

Veronica shucked her jeans before she even reached the bed. She hoped he liked the black panties she wore. They were boy shorts, not that revealing, but she liked the way they rode up to expose the bottom of her ass.

Gabe did, too, if the heat in his eyes was any indication when she turned around and caught him looking.

She stroked her hands up his chest. “Have I ever mentioned how hot you are?”

“Yes, but you should probably mention it again.”

“Mmm.” She let her hands follow the contours of his muscles, up and over his pecs, and then curving over his strong shoulders. “You're so sexy,” she whispered. She slid her hands back down, over his chest and belly. She began unbuttoning his shirt. “I want to touch you everywhere.”

He sucked in a breath and she wondered if her knuckles had tickled his stomach. She'd find out later. Right now he was shrugging his shirt off and he was entirely exposed to her from the waist up.

“God,” she murmured, brushing her mouth over his chest as she breathed in the scent of him. He tugged up on her tank top then, and she barely paid attention as she raised her arms. She just took the opportunity to nudge him toward the bed.

He backed up until his legs hit the mattress and when she nudged him again, he fell to his back. The sight of him bare chested and prone on her bed made her laugh with delight. “I love this,” she said, then felt a brief explosion of panic in her veins. “I love having you here,” she clarified so that he wouldn't get the wrong idea. “I love fucking.”

He grinned as she straddled his thighs, but his grin snapped to a hiss when she traced her fingernails down his belly. “Are you ticklish?” she asked.

“A little.” He sucked in his stomach when she did it again.

“I like that, too,” she responded, but she showed him mercy and pressed her palms against his warm stomach. He was so flat compared to her body, so different. Tightly muscled and lean and dusted with dark hair. She leaned down to lick the thin line of hair that ran from his waistband to his navel. He hissed again and the power of it swept over her as she pushed her hands up over his ribs and then the hard muscles of his chest.

“Come 'ere,” he murmured, his hands rising to cup her face and bring her toward his mouth. She braced her hands on his chest and leaned down to kiss him, only because she liked his hands guiding her. She gave him one long kiss, sweeping her tongue slowly over his before she pulled away. She wanted to taste him everywhere.

She let her cheek drag down his furry jaw, then sucked at the delicate skin just past his Adam's apple. His hands framed her waist and he sighed as if he'd found a comfortable spot.

Veronica was so turned on she felt almost light-headed. She wasn't sure why. He'd barely even touched her. But something about the smell of his skin and the feel of his body had everything inside her pulled so tight that it almost hurt. Her heart drummed hard and fast, adding to the dizziness. She loved it.

She tasted her way down his neck to his chest, swirling her tongue around one of his nipples just to watch it tighten for her. She grazed her nose over his chest hair and kissed her way along his ribs.

When she sat up and grinned down at him, he wasn't smiling anymore. He looked slightly pained.

She looked down to the very significant rise in his jeans. “What's the matter? Are you uncomfortable?”

“Yes.” When he reached out, she assumed he meant to unbutton his jeans, but instead his hands rose and he very slowly unfastened the front clasp of her bra and spread the straps down her arms. Goose bumps chased over her skin where he touched her, and then his calloused fingertips traced gently around her areolas. She shivered.

“Are you done touching me?” he asked, the words a low rasp.

“No,” she whispered.

“Then touch me.”

She shivered again. She couldn't help it. His words were as rough as the edges of his fingers where they teased her nipples.

Her hands felt clumsy now, but she did as he'd ordered. She spread her fingers along his ribs, then slid them down to his hips. She'd meant to tease him a little longer, but now she was the one who wanted his jeans off. They were in the way. She wanted all of him.

She unbuttoned his jeans and slid the zipper carefully down. Her mouth went dry at the sight of the erection outlined so clearly against his gray boxer briefs. It was difficult to believe that she had access to a cock like that after so many years of celibacy. Maybe it was her reward for waiting.

She wanted to touch him then, but she didn't. Instead she shifted aside and tugged his jeans down.