Her Perfect Man (6 page)

Of course it had to be now, the way her luck ran.

This day was setting up to be just as rotten as yesterday.

Why was he here, anyway? Hadn’t she been humiliated enough already?

Maybe he wanted another apology. A sober one this time. It was only fair. She’d been a total bitch last night. Sucking in a deep breath, she told herself to woman up and pay the piper.

She pulled open the door. “Look, I just want to…” Her voice trailed off and her mouth went dry as she got a good look at him.
This was Charlie?

Gone was the preppy polo shirt he’d had on last night. Today he wore a black T-shirt that stretched tightly over his chest. A warm, hard chest that she remembered touching last night. Kim’s heart thumped.

He’d changed last night’s Dockers for a pair of jeans that hugged his thighs. Heat flashed through her as she recalled sitting on his lap and how hard he’d been for her. Oh, God, she couldn’t help it. Her gaze went to his package, which filled the front of his jeans beautifully.

Her eyes flashed to his.

“You like?” he asked. The same words she said to him last night.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

He was the same man, but different. And not only had the clothing changed, so had his demeanor. This Charlie was not the geeky schoolteacher or the helpful downstairs neighbor. This Charlie was a really hot guy. And from the way his blue eyes lasered her, he thought she was hot, too.

“Are you sober now?” His voice was taut.

“Huh?” She blinked. “Yeah.”

“Good.” Before Kim had time to wonder at his question or feel insulted by it, he stepped inside, kicked the door shut and hauled her into his arms.

He didn’t so much as kiss her as devour her, as if he were taking up where they left off last night, before his conscience made him leave. Kim had no trouble catching up. The way he took charge made white-hot lust spear though her.

Their open mouths clung and their tongues battled each other for dominance. When Charlie grabbed her ass and lifted her, she obligingly wrapped her legs around his hips. He carried her to the armchair he sat on last night and fell onto it heavily. He pulled his mouth from hers to gasp for air. And to ask a question. “Kim. Do you still want this?”

She stared at him. She couldn’t blame alcohol for what was about to happen. Stone-cold sober, she knew exactly what she wanted. “Yes.”

“Thank God,” he groaned, cupping the back of her head and pulling her in for another kiss.

She sat on his lap facing him, her legs straddling the armrests of the chair. They were crotch to crotch, chest to chest, mouth to mouth, consuming each other voraciously.

Charlie cupped her breast, covered only by her thin cami. Her nipples were hard and tingly, rising to meet his palm. Kim’s hands went crazy, sliding all over his shoulders and chest, delighting in the feel of him. Oh God, he felt so good. And he was hard underneath her, just as he’d been last night. She rubbed against the bulge in his jeans and they both moaned. Red-hot sparkles flashed behind her eyes.

She tensed her thighs, lifting up a little to slip her hand between them and caress him. Closing his eyes, his head sank back and he sighed.

Kim’s thighs trembled and she withdrew her hand, settling fully on him again. She wore no panties and the seam of her yoga pants teased her every time she rubbed against his hard denim-covered cock.

Her eyes grew heavy-lidded, and her breath rasped as she undulated against him, back and forth, back and forth on the erection distending the front of his jeans. Electricity shimmered through her, concentrating in her pussy and breasts. Her lips tingled. Her skin prickled with goose bumps.

When she looked at Charlie, his face reflected his own desire. He was flushed, his mouth rosy and full. She couldn’t look away. His blue eyes held her spellbound. They ignited a flicker of heat that streaked straight to her core. She nearly doubled over. “Oh!”

His hands gripped her hips and ass, holding her as she rode him. “That’s right, sweetheart. Go on, make yourself feel good.”

She panted, struggling to reach that pinnacle.

Yes. She wanted to feel good. But it was selfish not to think of him. As she rocked against him, giving a little grind to her clit at the top of each move, she grabbed a handful of his shirt. “You, too. Come with me.” He gave a pained laugh as his fingers squeezed her hips and ass. Kim rocked harder, recklessly. Her clit was on fire, her pussy wet and hungry. Black spots danced in front of her eyes. As she bumped and swerved against him, Charlie lifted his hips to meet her. Kim gave one last hard bump against him and climaxed in an explosion of rockets. Seconds later, he stiffened and his eyes squeezed shut. His face contorted as he came, too.

She sank against him, her face in the crook of his neck. He smelled like soap and sweat. “Mmm,”

she breathed, nuzzling him with her nose.

He laughed. “Tickles.”

She did it again, and he squeezed her ass hard.

They lay together as indolently as two cats lounging in the sun.
What am I doing?
Once again she’d jumped into something head first, without stopping to think. But she felt too good just now to worry about it.

Charlie finally shifted and groaned underneath her. “I’m heavy?” she asked, not moving.

“No, but I’m…sticky. Can I use your bathroom?”

Kim’s eyebrows flew up as she realized what he meant. “Oh sure, go ahead. Across from the bedroom.”

Now that her craving had been satisfied, she realized how awkward their position was. Just as she tried to squiggle off his lap, Charlie grabbed her by the hips again. “Hold on.”

He lifted himself out of the chair, still holding her. After taking a few steps, he gently deposited her on the futon. “Be right back.”

Kim lay back on the futon, limp. Any minute the doubts and self-accusations would begin, but for now, she just wanted to enjoy her bliss.

He called me sweetheart.

Stupid, to put any special meaning to that one word. But she’d allow herself that luxury. Just for a moment.

When Charlie returned a few minutes later, he smiled softly. Kim levered herself up, her heartbeat quickening. A sheen of sweat moistened her upper lip. Now came the awkward part. The part when the guy made some excuse to get the hell out after he got what he wanted.

Usually, she pretended to believe whatever lie a guy told. But this time Kim didn’t want the lie. She didn’t want to pretend, and that pissed her off. So she spoke first.

“I was just about to go out and get some lunch.”

Liar.
She’d been about to check if she had enough peanut butter to fix herself a sandwich. But never mind. He now had the perfect excuse to high tail it.

Oh, well, don’t let me keep you. I should go. I’ve got a few errands to do myself.

Whatever. See ya.

His eyebrows went up. “You haven’t had lunch yet? I’ll get us something.”

Kim gaped at him. Okay. She hadn’t expected that. Did he say
us
?

“What do you like?” he asked. “Burgers okay?”

“Yeah, uh, whatever. Anything.” She flashed back to yesterday. “Anything but subs.”

“Gotcha.” He gave her that thousand-watt smile and her heart thudded. Damn it. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“Okay,” she murmured, still dazed. What was happening?

He closed the door quietly when he left, and Kim heard him whistling as he descended the stairs. She wondered if he’d be back.

****

He came back. With cheeseburgers, fries and colas.

Charlie took the food from the paper bag and placed it on the glass coffee table, then seated himself on the futon. He gestured her into the armchair as though he were the host and she the invited guest. And for some reason, she felt like one, ill at ease and shy.

She planted her ass on the floor next to the coffee table. To cover her discomfort, she got bossy.

“I need ketchup with my fries.”

He wore a little smile—or was it a smirk?—when he pulled several ketchup packets from the bottom of the fast food bag, followed by napkins and a couple of straws.

Kim scowled and hogged all the packets for herself. “
Maybe
it’ll be enough.”

She unwrapped one of the burgers and chomped into it while her free hand crumpled the wrapper into a ball. She tossed it toward Groucho, who chased it into the kitchen.

As they chewed their burgers silently, Kim’s stomach twisted into knots. She purposely slurped her soda. If she couldn’t scare him off with snottiness, maybe she could gross him out.

But that didn’t work, either. Finally, she couldn’t stand it any longer. “All right. I don’t get it.”

He crunched a French fry without missing a beat. “What do you mean?”

Her face got hot with embarrassment. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“You don’t want me to be nice.”

Kim didn’t know what to make of him. Most guys would have left skid marks in their rush to leave after they got what they wanted. “I was a total asshole last night. And that was
before
I almost broke your nose and tried to rape you.”

Charlie tossed his crumpled wrapper in the bag.

“You didn’t break my nose. And the only reason I didn’t let you
rape
me last night was because you’d been drinking and I didn’t want you to do anything you’d be sorry for in the morning.”

Her mouth twisted. “Yeah. You were being noble
.”

“Not that noble, all right? Look, I’m a teacher. I have to watch myself. I can’t get mixed up in some he said/she said situation. The last thing I need is someone accusing me of taking advantage of her.”

Too surprised by his response to be insulted, she asked, “You think I’d do that?”

“No point in taking stupid chances.”

So he’d been protecting himself as much as her.

Kim respected that.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I want to get to know you.”

Her heart sped up. “You might not like what you find out.”

He shrugged, unfazed. “I like what I know so far. You’re a pretty nice person when you’re not putting on an act to scare people off.”

“Who says it’s an act?” She challenged, raising an eyebrow.

“Tommy, for one.”

He’d discussed her with Tommy? “Oh please, you can’t trust him. He’s such a sweetheart, he gives everyone the benefit of the doubt.”

“And Mrs. Fogle, for another.”

“Well, you’re talking to the wrong people. Ask Lynnette if I’m not a bitch.”

His mouth flattened. “I don’t think so. She strikes me as pretty bitchy herself.”

Though she knew she ought to defend her friend, Kim felt a wave of relief that he wasn’t attracted to Lynnette.

“She’s not bad,” Kim told him, even as she remembered Lynnette’s parting shot on the phone that morning.

He murmured something unintelligible, then added, “Sounds like you’re trying to scare me off.

Just remember, I work in a middle school. I see a hundred kids a day, and they’re all thirteen going on thirty. I don’t scare easy.” He paused. “But maybe you do.”

She frowned as her palms grew damp. Shit. “I’m not scared.”

“Sweet. Then you’ll go out with me. Right?”

Thinking to put him off, she agreed too quickly.

“Yeah, okay. Sometime.”

“Tonight?”

“No, uh…I can’t.” She racked her brain to come up with an excuse that didn’t sound totally lame.

“I…” He didn’t buy her excuses. Those blue eyes saw right through her. “You’re scared.”

“I’m not scared. Tomorrow,” she said abruptly, then had to grit her teeth from groaning. Shit. But she couldn’t back out now. Then he’d know how scared she really was.

“All right. Tomorrow it is. Dinner?”

“Yeah. Whatever,” she muttered.

“Tomorrow, six-thirty. See, that wasn’t hard.”

“Yeah, because you tricked me.”

“No, I
challenged
you. Now I see how you rise to a challenge.”

Oh, really?
Kim’s pulse spiked, but not from fear. “Don’t
I
get to issue any challenges?”

His eyes widened. “Is that what you want?”

She’d surprised him.
Goodie.
“Well, fair’s fair, right? If you get to challenge me, then I…” She let the words trail off mysteriously.

Something in his eyes flared at the unspoken dare. “What did you have in mind?”

If he could read her mind, he’d run from the room screaming. Or maybe not. She hadn’t scared him off yet.

What she said next surprised the both of them.

“I want you to take off your shirt.”

She’d felt his chest last night and only an hour ago, but she still hadn’t seen it. She’d touched his soft warm skin and crinkly hair. Well, now she wanted the whole show, damn it.

“I took off mine…last night,” she reminded him.

The corner of his mouth hitched up. “You’re much prettier than I am.”

She rolled her eyes, but the compliment gave her a girlish thrill. “Come on,” she urged. “Show me what you got.”

His eyebrows lowered. “I’m hardly Mr. Six-Pack.”

“So what? I’m not Ms. Centerfold.” She plucked teasingly at his T-shirt. “Come on.”

He rolled his eyes upward, shook his head, and huffed a laugh. “It’s stupid, but…all right.”

He pulled the shirt over his head, and Kim grabbed it from his fingers, flinging it onto the futon.

“Hey.” He sliced her a look, then thrust his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans. “Happy?”

“Yeah.” He might not be a six-pack guy, but he looked damn good to her. The basketball he enjoyed kept him lean and in shape. Curly light brown hair dusted his chest. Kim’s fingers tingled. She wanted to play with that hair, skate her hands over the firm muscles underneath.

As she tried to do just that, he grabbed her hand. “Uh-uh. No.”

She pouted. “Aww, come on.”

“You told me to take off my shirt. I did. You never said anything about touching.”

“But—”

“I kept my part of the bargain.” He picked up his shirt and moved to the door. “Now you need to keep yours. Tomorrow night, Kim.
Ouzo
on Second Street.”