The Rebound Guy (24 page)

He had to figure out what his vulnerability meant for his long-term plans. What safeguard could he put in place so that he would never fall victim to this kind of pain again, this gut-wrenching pain that went so far beyond anything he’d experienced when Ebony had left?

If he was serious about making a career out of this rebound guy business—something Dex was stubbornly telling himself he still wanted—he would have to find a way to shield his heart. The mechanism he had had in place had failed in a spectacular fashion.

As the bride and groom led a game of “Who Knows Lizzie and Rodney Best
”
—something Dex was sure to lose at, even if he’d cared enough to play—he studied the people gathered here. He envied them. They were a part of Asia’s world; friends and co-workers who would go about their lives come Monday, never having to tackle the torment he faced—the knowledge that she would soon be out of his life.

His eyes connected with Cortland’s, who shook his head as he watched him from the other side of the fire pit. Dex had to stop himself from getting up and punching the grin from the smug bastard’s face.

After the game concluded, two inn workers appeared, carrying trays piled with marshmallows, graham crackers, and slivers of chocolate. Asia pushed up from their spot under the tree and went over to the fire pit. A few minutes later, she returned with a small plate stacked with S’mores.

She knelt beside him on the grass and held the plate out to him. “Do you want one?”

Dex’s stomach clenched at the sound of her voice. They were the first words she’d spoken to him since she’d walked out of their room today. He knew he shouldn’t read anything into her simple offer, but he wanted to indulge in the fantasy. He needed to pretend, just for a moment, that this was real.

He shook his head, declining the dessert. “I don’t want anything to eat. I just want you to come back here,” he said, opening his arms.

The glow from the fire pit haloed her from behind, revealing her perfect silhouette. She looked up from the dish she held, her eyes finally connecting with his. The mixture of desire and remorse staring back at him made Dex’s heart lurch.

“Dammit, Asia,” he whispered. “Why in the hell are we doing this to each other?”

“Don’t,” she said. “Please, not here. Not right now.”

Her chest heaved with the deep breath she inhaled. She turned and guided herself onto his lap, her back resting against his chest.

Cortland stood and walked over to the center of the clearing, just to the right of the fire pit. “May I have everyone’s attention?”

Dexter felt Asia stiffen against him. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, “You’re okay. This is why I’m here, remember?”

She nodded, the crown of her head rubbing against his jaw.

Cortland called for Nina, who stood and walked over to him, a nervous look on her face. Gasps, catcalls, and whistles rang out when Cortland dropped to one knee and took Nina’s hand.

As Cortland asked Nina to marry him, several guests turned curious eyes toward Dexter and Asia. Dexter cradled his jaw against her neck, feeling her pulse racing underneath her skin. He knew she was over Cortland, that his proposal wasn’t the thing upsetting her. It was the pitying glances from the people who knew that just a month ago, she was the woman wearing Cortland’s engagement ring. He could only imagine how hard it was for her to bear.

Dex tightened his hold against her, needing to shield her from the pain.

“I’m okay,” she said.

“You’re more than okay,” he whispered against her skin. “You are so much more than just okay, Asia.”

The night’s events came to a close soon after the proposal. The wedding coordinator reminded everyone about the separate guys’ and girls’ activities planned for the next day and stressed the importance of everyone being on time for the five o’clock start of the wedding ceremony.

Dexter stood and held a hand out for Asia. She accepted it with a quiet “thank you,” but when he tried to hold onto it, she pulled away. Wrapping the sweater she’d donned earlier more securely around her waist, she started for the lake house, never once looking back to see whether he followed.

***

Asia’s heart rate escalated with each step she took. She could feel Dexter trailing only a few yards behind her as they journeyed to the room they would be forced to share tonight.

Her skin still felt flushed with the heat that had raced through her when he’d held his hand out and invited her to come into his arms. It had felt so good being there, surrounded by his warmth and strength. She hadn’t wanted him to let her go.

But he would. In less than two days, he would do the very thing that would shatter her heart into a million pieces.

Asia’s steps slowed as she came to the room.

She was a big girl. She could do this.

She unlocked the door and held it open for Dexter.

“Thanks,” he said, following her into the room and locking the door behind him. The tension in the room skyrocketed the moment the lock clicked into place. Asia walked over to the dresser on the opposite side of the bed, needing to put some space between them.

“Stop running.”

She did an abrupt turn at Dexter’s softly whispered words. He remained just inside the door, the heat of his intense gaze singeing her from across the room.

“You can’t run from this any longer,” he said.

“What is
this
, Dexter!” Asia held her hands out, pleading for him to make some sense out of the chaotic mass of confusion and desire and regret pulsing around them. “What are we doing?”

“Do I really have to explain what’s going on here to you?”

“Yes,” she said. “You have to explain it, because I don’t know how to handle my emotions anymore.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach, folding in on herself. “Getting involved wasn’t supposed to happen, Dexter. I wasn’t supposed to feel this way about you.”

Asia heard his footsteps as he advanced, and seconds later, felt his arms wrap around her. She needed to pull away, but what she wanted was to stay right here, cocooned in his embrace.

She lifted her face to his, and the yearning she found staring back at her silenced every protest her mind could invoke. Asia brought one hand up to his neck, slipping it behind his head and urging him forward.

“We shouldn’t do this,” she whispered against his lips. “It will only complicate our situation further.”

“Being together this way is the one thing that isn’t complicated, Asia. It’s the one thing that we both want. Stop fighting it.”

She closed her eyes and gave in to the desire that had been building from the minute he’d appeared in the lobby of her building that morning. No, from the minute he’d walked into her office over three weeks ago.

She pulled him toward her and crushed her mouth to his. The instant their lips touched, everything outside of the moment—outside of the man in her arms—ceased to exist.

Asia drove her tongue inside his mouth, licking and biting and tasting, consuming his flavor, devouring his every breath. An aching moan escaped her throat as he rubbed his growing erection against her stomach.

“Dexter, please,” she begged, her voice hoarse with need.

He scooped his arms under the backs of her thighs and lifted, wrapping her legs around his waist. She locked her ankles at the small of his back, thrusting her pelvis against his rock-hard erection.

“Hold on to me,” he said, moving her hands to his shoulders. Asia held on tight as he tugged her top from the waistband of her pants and tossed it onto the floor. He reached behind her, unsnapping her bra and sending it to join the shirt.

A low growl rumbled in his throat as he drew her nipple into his mouth.

Asia’s eyelids slid closed, her head falling back as her entire being focused on the decadent pull and tug of Dexter’s lips. His fingers bit into her back, clutching her against him.

His mouth never leaving her breast, he carried her to the extra-high bed, letting her slide down the front of his body. Asia shivered as tremors of need quaked through her at the pleasurable sensation of the shirt he still wore abrading her sensitive nipples.

She reclined on her elbows and watched as he retrieved a condom from his wallet. Holding the foil package between his teeth, he stripped his shirt over his head and unbuckled his pants, shoving them to the floor.

His eyes stayed locked with hers as he tore the condom package open with his teeth and rolled the latex over his erection. Reaching forward, he caught her by the ankles and dragged her to the edge of the bed.

Asia sucked in a swift breath as, still standing, he wrapped her legs around his waist and entered her in one smooth motion. She cried out at the feel of his rock-hard body sinking into her, burrowing deep, drawing almost completely out, then slowly sliding back in.

He hooked his arms behind her knees and bent her legs back toward her chest. Tilting her hips up, he angled his body and plunged deeper, immersing every inch of solid, silky hardness inside her. Asia’s mouth fell open in silent ecstasy as he powered his hips back and forth, his forceful, even thrusts propelling her over the edge in record time.

Before she had a chance to catch her breath, Dexter pulled out, scooped his arm underneath her back, and twisted her around, turning her face down on the mattress.

“Kneel down,” he said, trailing his slightly roughened palm down her stomach and lifting her up toward him. He brought both hands around and braced them on her hips, then thrust forward, entering her from behind.

Her stomach grew taut with desire as her body stretched to accommodate him. He pushed his thick length so impossibly deep inside her, Asia felt it to the very depths of her soul. With every thrust he increased his tempo, the sounds of their flesh smacking together renting the air.

Asia caught her lip between her teeth to keep from crying out, her fingers clutching fistfuls of bedding as she sought to gain purchase against Dexter’s powerful thrusts. She tried to hold off from the climax quickly building, but the urge to give in was too much to fight. She was too close: right there, toeing the edge, on the verge of shattering.

Dexter pulled nearly all the way out and then slammed into her again, and her world exploded. Her arms gave out as wave upon wave of orgasm crashed through her bloodstream. Asia collapsed face first onto the bed, her limbs quivering with the currents of fiery pleasure coursing through her.

Dexter climbed onto the high mattress and stretched alongside her, spooning his front against her back, his semi-hard erection nestled against her hip. He drew the duvet over them and wrapped his arms around her waist. Murmuring unintelligible words against her skin, he trailed kisses along her back, across her shoulders, down her neck.

Gently nipping her skin, he whispered against her shoulder, “What are we going to do about us, Asia?

A weighty, sickening feeling sank into her stomach. Asia shut her eyes, trying to blot out his question. She needed to hold onto the pleasure he’d just treated her to a bit longer before diving into a conversation she would do anything to avoid. She had a dreadful feeling that she already knew how it would end.

“Asia?” he said again. “What are we going to do?”

Pulling in a deep breath, she said, “You tell me, Dexter.”

“I don’t know,” he said, his teeth grazing the spot where her neck and shoulder met. “But we have to figure something out. Our relationship can’t end once we leave here.”

“Unless you’re willing to give up your business, I don’t see any other option,” she whispered.

She felt his body stiffen against her. “That’s the only other option? How can you even suggest that?”

She twisted around to face him. Drawing the duvet up to her chest, she said, “How can I not? Do you understand what you are asking me to do?”

“Think of what you’re asking me to do. Am I supposed to just throw all my plans for the future out the window?”

“Am I supposed to just find some other way to occupy my time while you take care of your
clients
? Dexter, I just watched the man I was supposed to marry propose to another woman, and it nearly broke me, even though I couldn’t care less about him. How am I supposed to watch you wine and dine other women?”

“It’s not the same thing, Asia. I’ve already told you that when I’m with a client—”

“You’re with a client right now,” she screeched. She squeezed her eyes shut against him. “Face it, Dexter. You’re not relationship material. You set it up to be that way.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I cannot be with you while you remain in this profession, dating other women, sometimes sleeping with them as part of your job. Which means more, me or the job? This time, the decision is up to you.”

He blew out a breath, and Asia already knew what his answer would be

“You don’t understand. I’ve been working toward this for nearly two years. You’re asking me to give it up here on the spot?”

She turned away from him, pulling the covers up to her chin. “I’m not asking anymore,” she said. “I already have my answer.”

Chapter Sixteen

Asia reclined in the pedicurist’s chair and adjusted the cucumber slices resting over her eyes. The hot stone massage she’d received this morning should have had her muscles in a relaxed state of bliss. Instead, she was as tense as a convict awaiting sentencing.

Her life was the definition of chaos. It was an uncomfortable state for anyone, but for someone who prided herself on keeping it together, it was torture of the worst kind.

Having sex with Dexter last night had been a mistake of epic proportion. It may have been heaven on earth for her body, but it had been hell on her heart. Though what her heart had endured paled in comparison to the lashing her pride had sustained when she’d given Dexter her ultimatum.

What made her think he would be willing to throw away plans he had been working toward for years, all for a woman he had known for a few weeks?

But how could he believe she could ever stomach a relationship with him if he continued on his current career path? What would she do to keep from spending all her time wondering when he would meet the client who would lure him away from her?