Wicked Game (5 page)

Kara heard the door and quickly pasted on her best smile, ready for the beginning of the Friday night crowd, but faltered when she saw William. It was as if her mind had conjured him, and holy shit did he look amazing. Snug blue jeans, a white button-down shirt, and black cowboy boots. His hair looked like he’d just run his fingers through it, and his face was cleanly shaven. She couldn’t help but shiver as she imagined his smooth skin rubbing against her inner thighs. She felt her heartbeat pick up when he looked her up and down, and her skin burned under his gaze.

“Hey, Kara. Seems we have some business to discuss.”

WILLIAM DID HIS best to hide how much seeing Kara affected him, although trying to stop his eyes from taking her in would have been like attempting to outswim a great white. While she couldn’t be more than five-foot-five, her legs looked impossibly long in her tiny cutoff shorts and Converse sneakers. She wore a light yellow tank top, and her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail. Her tender neck beckoned him to run his lips along the smooth skin, to feel her heartbeat beneath his tongue. He casually pulled up a barstool and sat down, while hidden away in his pants his dick sprang to life.

“Everyone wants to talk business today,” she muttered as she went and stood behind the bar. “Do you want a drink or something?”

“I’ll have whatever you’re having.” William had to shift in his chair when she bent down and grabbed a glass, then filled it with some ice and water. “Thank you,” he said when she handed him the drink.

“So, what business could you and I possibly have to talk about?” Kara grabbed her glass of water and took a sip, eyeing him over the rim.

“You’d be surprised.” William offered her a smile, then began the speech he’d been preparing since that morning. “Not many people know about my family, but—”

“Good evening, gentlemen.” Kara shot him an apologetic look, then walked to the side of the bar to get drinks for the two men who just walked in.

“Kara! How’s it going, girl? Give us two lite beers.” Both men wore blue jumpsuits, probably right off work from one of the plants in the area. One of the men threw some cash on the bar. “I won this asshole’s money on the baseball game tonight,” he said as he pointed to his friend.

“Please,” the other man said, rubbing his large belly. “Hey, Kara, when you gonna run off and marry me, huh? You know I’ll treat you right and proper.”

“Tom, when you speak to me like that, I swear my heart actually skips a beat.” Kara smiled and tossed him a wink as she handed the men their beers.

William watched as the bar quickly began to fill with customers. Most of the clientele were older, around his father’s age, and looked to be just getting off work. Kara quickly grabbed drinks as they were ordered, smiling and chatting with the crowd as she worked. William couldn’t help but notice Kara seemed to be the only employee. Did she not have any help?

Every time she faced a customer, she wore an unwavering smile, but the second she turned he could see the stress plain as day. She was feeling the rush, and it looked as if she had to weather the storm on her own.

William stood and walked behind the bar, surprising Kara when he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, shit! You scared me. What are you doing?” she asked as she handed a man and a woman their drinks.

“I’m helping you,” William said simply. He could see her mind begin to race, so before she could protest he put a finger to her lips, earning some whistles from the patrons. “It’s not up for negotiation. I can sling a few drinks, no big deal. I still need to speak with you, and I’d rather have something to do while I wait. So really, you’d be doing me a favor.”

Kara considered him for a moment as a grin played at the corners of her lips. He loved when she made that expression…flirty and sweet. “Fine, but don’t expect me to take it easy on you. Go to the back and grab more beers.”

The next few hours flew by in a whirl. They stayed packed, and by the time Kara locked the doors for the night, she looked dead on her feet. She glanced around the bar and sighed heavily, then grabbed a large trash bag and handed it to William. “If you clear the tables, I’ll wipe them down.”

He went from table to table, picking up bottles and any other trash left behind. “This place was surprisingly busy.”

“Surprisingly?” Kara chuckled as she began to wipe down the tabletops. “Well, believe it or not, this place isn’t such a shithole that nobody comes in.”

William smirked. “Touché, Kara, touché. If business stays steady, why are you not making more of a profit?”

Kara stopped cleaning and looked at him; her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “How do you know anything about how the bar is doing?”

Fuck
. William shrugged and went back to throwing away bottles, quickly trying to think of a reason he’d know such information. “I think Ben mentioned it once.” He winced at the half-truth, but what was he supposed to say?
My father dug into your business affairs, and now I’m here to buy the place so we can tear it down?
For some reason, one he definitely didn’t want to think about, the original plan formed a lump in his throat.

“Ben said that?” Kara asked as she went back to wiping down the last few tables. “The truth is, no, I’m not making much of a profit. My grandfather built this place, and since it’s so old, simple things like the utility bill are killing me. Any money I make, which isn’t much, goes to my living expenses. After that, whatever is left gets put into a savings account so one day I can hopefully make some much needed renovations.” Kara stood behind the bar, stretching her neck side to side as she sprayed some cleaner on the countertop.

William tied off the filled trash bag and set it by the back door, then walked up behind her and took the rag from her hand. “What kind of renovations do you want to make?” he asked as he took over the cleaning. Her exhaustion was evident in every stiff move she made as she pulled out a stool and sat down.

“The entire place could use a fresh coat of paint, I’d love to remodel the bathrooms, and the dance floor has lots of chipped planks…” Kara sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Honestly, everything needs redoing. I don’t know where I’d even start, and unless I win the lottery soon…”

“Have you ever considered selling the place?” William asked as he walked behind her, removing her petite hands from her neck and replacing them with his own.

Kara moaned in appreciation as his fingers massaged small circles into her tight muscles. “I could never sell it. Not without doing everything in my power to keep it. My grandfather raised me and left this place to me when he died. Selling it would be like shitting on everything he worked for. He deserves better than that.”

“Why did he raise you?” He felt her shoulders stiffen under his hands, and then she was gone.

“It’s not important. Anyway, what did you want to talk about?” She asked as she grabbed a broom from beside the register.

William didn’t know why, but he wanted to help her. He needed to help her. “I’m somewhat of a handyman. Let me help you with some things.” He saw the surprise on her face but continued before she could turn him down. “I can paint, for example. That’ll save you a lot of money. The job would take one person a while, but with two, we could knock it out pretty quickly.”

Kara stopped sweeping long enough to look him in the eye, her stare tugging on something deep inside him. “Why do you want to help me?”

William gave her a small smile and had no choice but to answer honestly. “Because I want to see you keep this place.”

Kara arrived at the bar the following Tuesday afternoon, excited to throw some fresh paint on the walls. She let herself in and immediately went to the jukebox. No way did she plan to spend hours painting with William in total quiet. Just the thought of him made her nervous, and she glanced down at her jean shorts and green tank, giving herself one last appraisal. She wouldn’t let herself admit she was trying to look good for him.

They’d gone to the hardware store to pick out the paint, a beautiful shade of blue she knew would create a sexy ambience, and truth be told, they’d actually had a great time. He’d underestimated himself when he’d said he was a bit of a handyman. He’d been full of information and beyond helpful. He’d been the one to talk her into the blue; she’d been prepared to go with an off-white. Neither one of them had referenced their night together or, more importantly, the next morning.

“What’s up, Priss Pot?” William asked as he walked in. She turned with a smart-ass remark on her tongue, but it quickly vanished when she caught sight of him in his torn jeans and black T-shirt. How in the hell was she going to concentrate with him walking around looking like sex on a fucking platter?

“I see you left Nice William at home and brought Jerk-off William instead.” She smiled sweetly as he handed her a plastic bag with brushes and other supplies. “Such a shame.”

William placed his hand on his heart and shot her a large smile. “You flatter me, truly.”

Kara laughed as she opened a can of paint and began to stir it. “If you start this wall, I’ll start that one on the opposite side. Then we can just work our way in. Does that sound okay?”

William nodded as he brought over two containers to be filled with paint.

In a few minutes, they were both busy at work, painting the walls they had taped the night before and singing along to whatever played on the jukebox. Kara couldn’t believe what a fun time she was having. Conversation with William was easy, and while she hated to admit it, she realized she enjoyed his company. Clearly, hell had frozen over.

They worked well into the night and didn’t stop until they’d covered each wall with a second coat of paint.

“Here,” William said as he got on his knees by the empty buckets of paint. “Put your brush in this bag. We need to rinse it out, but I don’t want to chance the paint messing up your sink.”

Kara walked over and dropped her brush into a bag he held up, then stretched her arms above her head. The movement caused her shirt to ride up, and her skin heated instantly when she saw his eyes trail over her exposed flat stomach.

At that moment, the jukebox switched to Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” William broke out into a huge smile. “Hey, Priss Pot, it’s your song.”

It took Kara a second to get the reference, but soon understanding dawned, and she felt a blush spread across her face and chest. William noticed it too, and before she knew it, he stood and moved toward her, his body a few inches from her own. It was the first time they’d acknowledged the fact they’d slept together, and the intensity of the moment was not lost on her.

William gently wrapped his hand around hers and led her to the middle of the dance floor. The next thing she knew, she had her hand on his neck and swayed side to side, her waist encircled in one of his strong arms. His thumb trailed down her jawline and neck, and the movement caused her to shiver against his masculine body. She felt her sex heat and moisten with desire as his deep voice sang above her ear, “What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way. What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you.”

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Kara whispered as she let her hands fall from his neck to his chest, her fingers fanning out to rub the muscles pressed against his shirt.

“I can guarantee you it’s a terrible idea,” he murmured against her cheek.

“So you regret it, then? Us?”

“There’s only one thing I regret.”

Kara looked up. The lust in his eyes alarmed her—intense and all-encompassing, like an animal he usually kept hidden, and only she was able to coax it out.

“When we were together, it was so sudden and fast. It was great, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve thought about it so many times…” He skated his hands over the top of her shirt, and her nipples hardened almost painfully as his fingertips brushed across them. “If I could do it over, I would have fucked you slower, taken my time, studied every curve of your body, and locked it into my memory for later.”

Kara pushed her body against him and gasped when her tummy came into contact with his thick and pulsing erection. She slowly scrunched the hem of his shirt up, then allowed her fingers to brush over his stomach. His flesh was on fire, and it only intensified her arousal.

William ran his tongue along the outside of her ear, stopping momentarily to nibble on her earlobe before brushing his lips against hers. “And I would have kissed you.
Thoroughly
.” He looked into her eyes as if to ask permission.

Kara held his gaze, then slowly closed her eyes and parted her lips against his.

WILLIAM DIDN’T HESITATE to take advantage of the invitation. He delved into her mouth, her tongue hot and wet, and he could barely contain a groan as it slid against his. He placed his hand in her hair and tilted her head back, deepening the kiss. His other hand fell just below her belly button, and as his fingers flirted with the top of her shorts, he knew he’d die if he didn’t get his mouth on what lay beneath them. “Can I taste you?”

Kara quickly nodded and began to fidget with her button and zipper.

He smiled against her mouth, then licked the seam of her lips before pulling the bottom one between his teeth. He walked her backward until she stood against the bar. He moved her shaking hands and unzipped her shorts, but before he could tug them down, she reached down and stopped him.

“Wait, I forgot something. We can’t do this right now.” Her face was flushed and her breathing ragged, her heaving chest pushing her breasts against her shirt.

“Why the fuck not?” he asked.

“I…” Kara looked around, clearly embarrassed about something. What could be so terrible they’d have to stop was beyond him. “I didn’t shave.”

William couldn’t help but chuckle; like a little hair would stop him from feasting on that gorgeous pussy.
Her
gorgeous pussy. He leaned in and kissed her again, swallowing her moan as he reached inside her shorts and panties and plunged his finger deep inside her wet heat. “It feels perfect to me, baby. Do you usually shave it all?” Kara nodded as she rocked herself forward and backward against his hand. “Well…don’t. I like a little texture on my tongue.”