But damn, how her fantasies had evolved. In college they’d been filled with mushy romance and gentleness. Now, lying there eyeing the strong contours of his body next to her, all she could think about was him crawling over her, kneeing apart her thighs and pounding into her aching pu**y like he owned it. Whispering in her ear things that were feverish and forbidden in between groans and wet, devouring kisses.
The images were so vivid given his nearness that she could almost feel him inside her. Which led to her own fingers seeking out the damp longing between her legs and trying to soothe that emptiness, if only superficially. Only he would be able to eradicate it for her altogether. She almost wished he would catch her in the naughty act. Almost.
Oh, God. She wondered what he would do if she worked up the nerve to just walk out of the bathroom naked and jump him. Drag him to bed. Have her way with him.
Stop! This was Evan. Best man at her wedding, as her mother had so graciously pointed out. How wrong was that?
Sighing, she switched off her hairdryer and quickly dressed. She knew he would be waiting to shower, so she didn’t take any time to straighten her hair. The Hawaiian humidity would have its way with it anyway, tossing it into wild curls no matter what measures she took to prevent it.
She’d go easy on the drinks tonight for sure. One more drunken fantasy as vivid as the dream she’d had at his house that night and she’d be lost. Just thinking about it made the roots of her hair tingle, and in her dream he’d done nothing but touch her…and look at her like she was the most beautiful, precious sight on earth.
That, she thought, had been the sweetest thing of all.
“Truth or dare!” Kelsey laughed hysterically, drawing glances from other patrons in the bar off the opulent lobby. She knew her and Evan’s reminiscing was overriding the quiet, laid-back buzz of conversation around them, but she didn’t care.
Evan laughed with her and signaled the waitress to bring them more margaritas. One more, he’d laughingly warned her a few minutes ago, and they were done. “We were the terror of many a party, playing a stupid grade-school game.”
“That fight we staged,” she recalled out loud. “We had rumors flying all night. One of them was that you’d knocked me up.”
“I remember that! My girlfriend dumped me over it, and it was just a joke.”
Kelsey hadn’t liked that girl anyway, but she was able to bite down on the sentiment for the sake of not pissing him off. Most of his girlfriends she’d been able to tolerate, even if she was envious beyond belief of them. They’d been beautiful and smart and nice to her—most of them, anyway—so what was not to like? No airhead bimbos for him. She’d only wanted to be where they were.
She and Courtney had never really made it beyond the obligatory our-men-are-best-friends-so-we-have-to-like-each-other relationship. They’d gone shopping together once, but their tastes were so vastly different it had been a futile attempt. Todd wouldn’t tell Kelsey how long the affair had been going on, but it made her stomach hurt to think that it might have already been going strong that day.
Evan never talked about her.
“You wanna play?” he asked, a spark of mischief lighting his eyes. It broke through the somberness that was threatening to drag her down.
“Truth or dare? Are you serious?”
“Why not?” He reached over and lightly pinched her bare arm. She shivered.
“Aren’t we a little too old for that?”
“Weren’t we then? You’re only as old as you act. Come on. Truth or dare?”
She grinned. “Truth.” She wasn’t much of a dare person. He knew that, damn him.
“All right. You were on a pre-law track with me in college. But you didn’t go on to law school. You once told me you lost interest, yet you work for an attorney. So what’s the story?”
Well, that was quick enough that he’d been stewing over it for a while, she decided. For a moment, she chewed a fingernail, gaze cast downward to the tabletop. She could feel him watching her. His hands were in her field of vision, resting there on the table, and she momentarily got caught up in studying them, imagining all the naughty things they could do to her. Beautiful, beautiful hands, strong and long-fingered. She’d felt their touch many times, but never in the way she fantasized about the most.
He’s waiting, dummy! Did you ever have a thought that didn’t involve getting him naked?
She snapped back to attention, looking at him and schooling her expression. “I was…talked out of pursuing a law degree.” Given a flat-out no was more like it.
A line appeared between his black brows. “It’s never too late.”
“Right. And how do you propose I support myself for three years while I go to school? It could be done, but it would involve sacrifices I’m not willing to make right now. Like moving back home to my parents and listening to them ask me every day when I’m going to forget this nonsense and go back to being ‘a good wife’ to Todd.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged off the gnawing regret that plagued her whenever she thought about it. “I wanted to do family law. Just from what I’ve seen working for Jack, I don’t think I could ever do criminal—too much grit and violence and pain. I really admire you for facing the dark side like that. I just want to fight for people who are in my situation and worse. People with kids. I know I could make it, if I had the chance.”
“I know you could, too. And you’re right, I think it would be perfect for you. What I do…yeah, sometimes it is hard to leave it all at the office when I go home at night. Still, there’s nothing like giving someone a chance to get on the stand and face down the person who hurt them.” He was twirling his empty margarita glass, his gaze fixed and intent on some distant point. “To see their strength shining through. It’s really incredible.”
“I only have to watch you do the job to know you feel that way. And I have no one to blame but myself for letting Todd hold me back.”
“I’m sure you made what you thought was the best decision at the time. You should really keep thinking about a way to do it, though, Kels. Yes, it’s three years of sacrifice, and you’ll start to think you must be a masochist for putting yourself through it. But it’ll go by before you know it. I know my dear friend Jack probably isn’t paying you near what you’re worth.”
“I can make it on what I earn,” she protested. “He’s good to me. He did my divorce pro bono. Todd and I didn’t have much to fight over, really. We sold the house, but we didn’t have much equity. I took my stuff and he took his.”
“At least Jack helped you out on that. He’d deserve a beat-down otherwise. Anyway, what you’re doing, it’s good experience. You could still do so much more, though.”
She was touched he seemed so passionate about her future, but his green eyes were burning too intently at her. “Okay, enough of that,” she declared. “Evan Ross, truth or dare?”
The wicked grin that spread across his face was maddening. “Dare.”
Oh, he would. She had him go up to a hot blonde who’d been eyeing him ever since their arrival and act like he could only speak Italian. It probably wasn’t a good idea to put him in proximity with a woman dripping diamonds and sex appeal, but it was all she could think of. What made it doubly hilarious was the slinky blonde’s obvious desperation to communicate with him.
The images were so vivid given his nearness that she could almost feel him inside her. Which led to her own fingers seeking out the damp longing between her legs and trying to soothe that emptiness, if only superficially. Only he would be able to eradicate it for her altogether. She almost wished he would catch her in the naughty act. Almost.
Oh, God. She wondered what he would do if she worked up the nerve to just walk out of the bathroom naked and jump him. Drag him to bed. Have her way with him.
Stop! This was Evan. Best man at her wedding, as her mother had so graciously pointed out. How wrong was that?
Sighing, she switched off her hairdryer and quickly dressed. She knew he would be waiting to shower, so she didn’t take any time to straighten her hair. The Hawaiian humidity would have its way with it anyway, tossing it into wild curls no matter what measures she took to prevent it.
She’d go easy on the drinks tonight for sure. One more drunken fantasy as vivid as the dream she’d had at his house that night and she’d be lost. Just thinking about it made the roots of her hair tingle, and in her dream he’d done nothing but touch her…and look at her like she was the most beautiful, precious sight on earth.
That, she thought, had been the sweetest thing of all.
“Truth or dare!” Kelsey laughed hysterically, drawing glances from other patrons in the bar off the opulent lobby. She knew her and Evan’s reminiscing was overriding the quiet, laid-back buzz of conversation around them, but she didn’t care.
Evan laughed with her and signaled the waitress to bring them more margaritas. One more, he’d laughingly warned her a few minutes ago, and they were done. “We were the terror of many a party, playing a stupid grade-school game.”
“That fight we staged,” she recalled out loud. “We had rumors flying all night. One of them was that you’d knocked me up.”
“I remember that! My girlfriend dumped me over it, and it was just a joke.”
Kelsey hadn’t liked that girl anyway, but she was able to bite down on the sentiment for the sake of not pissing him off. Most of his girlfriends she’d been able to tolerate, even if she was envious beyond belief of them. They’d been beautiful and smart and nice to her—most of them, anyway—so what was not to like? No airhead bimbos for him. She’d only wanted to be where they were.
She and Courtney had never really made it beyond the obligatory our-men-are-best-friends-so-we-have-to-like-each-other relationship. They’d gone shopping together once, but their tastes were so vastly different it had been a futile attempt. Todd wouldn’t tell Kelsey how long the affair had been going on, but it made her stomach hurt to think that it might have already been going strong that day.
Evan never talked about her.
“You wanna play?” he asked, a spark of mischief lighting his eyes. It broke through the somberness that was threatening to drag her down.
“Truth or dare? Are you serious?”
“Why not?” He reached over and lightly pinched her bare arm. She shivered.
“Aren’t we a little too old for that?”
“Weren’t we then? You’re only as old as you act. Come on. Truth or dare?”
She grinned. “Truth.” She wasn’t much of a dare person. He knew that, damn him.
“All right. You were on a pre-law track with me in college. But you didn’t go on to law school. You once told me you lost interest, yet you work for an attorney. So what’s the story?”
Well, that was quick enough that he’d been stewing over it for a while, she decided. For a moment, she chewed a fingernail, gaze cast downward to the tabletop. She could feel him watching her. His hands were in her field of vision, resting there on the table, and she momentarily got caught up in studying them, imagining all the naughty things they could do to her. Beautiful, beautiful hands, strong and long-fingered. She’d felt their touch many times, but never in the way she fantasized about the most.
He’s waiting, dummy! Did you ever have a thought that didn’t involve getting him naked?
She snapped back to attention, looking at him and schooling her expression. “I was…talked out of pursuing a law degree.” Given a flat-out no was more like it.
A line appeared between his black brows. “It’s never too late.”
“Right. And how do you propose I support myself for three years while I go to school? It could be done, but it would involve sacrifices I’m not willing to make right now. Like moving back home to my parents and listening to them ask me every day when I’m going to forget this nonsense and go back to being ‘a good wife’ to Todd.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged off the gnawing regret that plagued her whenever she thought about it. “I wanted to do family law. Just from what I’ve seen working for Jack, I don’t think I could ever do criminal—too much grit and violence and pain. I really admire you for facing the dark side like that. I just want to fight for people who are in my situation and worse. People with kids. I know I could make it, if I had the chance.”
“I know you could, too. And you’re right, I think it would be perfect for you. What I do…yeah, sometimes it is hard to leave it all at the office when I go home at night. Still, there’s nothing like giving someone a chance to get on the stand and face down the person who hurt them.” He was twirling his empty margarita glass, his gaze fixed and intent on some distant point. “To see their strength shining through. It’s really incredible.”
“I only have to watch you do the job to know you feel that way. And I have no one to blame but myself for letting Todd hold me back.”
“I’m sure you made what you thought was the best decision at the time. You should really keep thinking about a way to do it, though, Kels. Yes, it’s three years of sacrifice, and you’ll start to think you must be a masochist for putting yourself through it. But it’ll go by before you know it. I know my dear friend Jack probably isn’t paying you near what you’re worth.”
“I can make it on what I earn,” she protested. “He’s good to me. He did my divorce pro bono. Todd and I didn’t have much to fight over, really. We sold the house, but we didn’t have much equity. I took my stuff and he took his.”
“At least Jack helped you out on that. He’d deserve a beat-down otherwise. Anyway, what you’re doing, it’s good experience. You could still do so much more, though.”
She was touched he seemed so passionate about her future, but his green eyes were burning too intently at her. “Okay, enough of that,” she declared. “Evan Ross, truth or dare?”
The wicked grin that spread across his face was maddening. “Dare.”
Oh, he would. She had him go up to a hot blonde who’d been eyeing him ever since their arrival and act like he could only speak Italian. It probably wasn’t a good idea to put him in proximity with a woman dripping diamonds and sex appeal, but it was all she could think of. What made it doubly hilarious was the slinky blonde’s obvious desperation to communicate with him.
