Lust and Other Drugs (2 page)

“Yeah. Your dresser was damn heavy.” He obviously knew
better than to get anywhere near that discussion.

“I don’t know if I want to be your best girl, what with all
this whining. Not very Alpha hero of you,” she taunted lightly and wrinkled her
nose.

“Calling me a pussy will get you nowhere,” he said,
unimpressed.

“You said it. I didn’t.” Anne loved to give him a healthy
ration of grief. Of course, he’d give it right back to her. And for a moment,
she felt guilty. He’d spent the whole day hauling her boxes and furniture
without one word of complaint. He’d get the back rub no matter what. That, and
it was another excuse to run her hands all over him again.

She imagined him spread out in front of her, all of that
beefcake just for her to touch wherever she wanted, massage oil hot and slick
under her hands… Dear God, she was going to break her clit if she kept this up.

“Oh yeah?” He hauled her up over his shoulder with ease and
was rewarded with a squeal. “You sound like an indignant piglet when you make
that sound.” Chase secured his grip on her upper thigh and his touch burned
through her skin to the bone.

“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” she shrieked. Unless
it involved throwing her down in a pile of hay, on a mattress, wherever, and
having his wicked way with her.

If he would just move his fingers a little higher…

“Keep squirming and it will be like
nothing
you had
in mind because I’ll drop you.”

“You’re just being ornery,” Anne chirped like an angry
sparrow. She struggled against him, trying to control her need and figure out
how to breathe. She had to stop this “breathless heaving”. Not only because she
was getting lightheaded, but because she didn’t want him to know. Not yet.
Maybe not ever.

“Yep,” he agreed in a genial tone.

“Seriously, you can put me down.” Her whole body was on
fire, her face was bright red and she knew it had nothing to do with the
temperature outside. She was relieved when he finally put her down, but that
relief was short-lived because as soon as they got into the truck, he flipped
the a/c to arctic.

Normally it would have been a welcome relief, but the blasts
of cold air caused her nipples to harden against the thin material of her
t-shirt. If Chase had been any other man, she would have used it to her
advantage, to display herself before hungry eyes and taunt the lust she knew
was there.

Her changing body had been a big deal in middle school. None
of the boys could look at her face when they’d talked to her. No one but Chase.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed—he teased her every so often like he had
earlier. Making jokes about her “great rack”. But she’d never caught him
staring and his hugs had never been the kind to press her against him strictly
for the sake of copping a feel. He never elbowed her just to brush his arm
against them, or played the tickle game hoping for brief contact, and he’d never
been anything but brotherly.

It would figure, the one man she finally wanted to try to
look down her shirt or cop a feel and he didn’t. He didn’t even so much as look
at her as they drove. Chase was lost in his own world, strumming his fingers
against the steering wheel to Cannibal Corpse.

Anne stole another glance at him and faced forward before he
could catch her staring. It was a short ride to his place. Before she could
stop herself, she was staring again and wondering what he’d do if she just
reached out her hand and traced the lines of his perfection. This time, he
noticed.

“What? I have something in my teeth?” He flashed his pearly
whites at her and then at the mirror.

“I wasn’t looking at your teeth.”

Had that really just flown out of her mouth like a suicidal
lemming?
Shit
.
He was going to ask her what she’d been looking
at. It was the next logical question. If only she could learn to keep her mouth
shut.

“Then what
were
you looking at?”

Why did he have to ask? She didn’t want to answer. She
didn’t have anything plausible to say to explain away the reason she kept
eye-humping him. But she couldn’t look away. It was cruel and unusual
punishment to put a man next to her who looked like that and not expect her to
stare.

“If I was sitting here with my shirt off, you’d be looking
too.” She could have clapped her hand over her mouth, but it would have been
like slamming the barn door shut after the livestock had already trampled an
acre of corn.

“Well, fair is fair.” He looked at her pointedly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
Quid pro quo
, my dear.” He made a motion with his
hand as if she should continue.

Oh
. Maybe he wasn’t as immune as Anne had thought. Or
was this simply more banter?

“Well, then what? We’d both be topless with nowhere to go.”
She laughed it off. “Actually, I was just thinking about a piece I have to work
on tonight.”

“And your inspiration is written across my abs?” Chase was
skeptical.

“You could say that. My inspiration
is
your abs.”

“Do I want to know?” He crinkled his nose.

“I don’t know, do you?” she tossed back with a cocky grin.

“Fine, tell me.” He gave a long-suffering sigh.

She never had to twist his arm too hard. Chase had the soul
of an explorer. He was curious about everything. He wanted an answer to every
question and he wanted it definitively. All she had to do to pique his interest
was imply she had an answer to something that she wouldn’t share. It didn’t
matter if the question had never occurred to him, he wanted the answer anyway.

“I’m working on a book cover for one of my clients. I
couldn’t get the lines right on his abs, but yours will do nicely.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie. The last four covers she’d created,
he’d been the inspiration. At least until she’d realized it was
him
.
Anne knew better than to ignore her muse or to try to dictate what could
function as inspiration and what could not. She’d tried to push all
inappropriate visions of Chase out of her head, but she quickly realized it
wouldn’t be that easy. Her muse had promptly bitch-slapped her and refused to
do any more work until she capitulated and imagined him in all the poses she
needed for the books.

“Business, eh? And here I thought you were looking for
pleasure,” he drawled.

Anne was sure her temperature spiked another hundred
degrees. She was definitely looking for pleasure. From his hands, his mouth,
his— “That’s the same washboard you had in high school. Nothing special about
it. It’s not like I couldn’t use Google Images and find a million more where
that came from.”

Watch the references, dumbass.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Chase began slowly, as if contemplating
his reply. “If you could do that, why didn’t you? In the spirit of inspiration,
of course.”

“You’ve always been too cocky for your own good.”

“That’s what
she
said.” He smirked.

Anne rolled her eyes and refused to be impressed. “Flesh is
always better in the real than in pixel. But if you don’t want me to use you, I
won’t.”

He raised a brow. “Use me?”

“You know what I mean,” Anne said tiredly. He was definitely
putting her through the paces. Not the paces she wanted to be put through, but
an ordeal nonetheless. She was heartily sorry for calling him a pussy.

“See what happens when you impugn my manhood? I start acting
like a frat boy.” He shrugged helplessly, as if it were completely out of his
hands.

“Oh no, you can’t blame your gutter mind on me.”

“Sure I can. You’re the one who gave me a dirty story to
read when we were twelve.”

“You were the one who’d already figured out how to get free
Skinemax instead of the Disney Channel in your room.”

He waited for a moment. “Yeah, I got nothing. You win.”

“I always win.”

“Only because we’re here.” He pulled into the driveway and
turned the truck off.

“Keep telling yourself that. Whatever helps you sleep,” Anne
said as she got out of the truck to see Gin Ettinger waiting on the porch.

Gin was her best girl friend—and had a raging bean-on for
Chase. She had since freshman year of college. Four years she’d been pining for
him to notice her, and nothing. Chase was nice to her, accepted her as part of
his group of friends, but that was it. He didn’t even banter with her like he
did with Anne. He flirted a bit, but that was just Chase. Although he did call
her Tank, for the Tanqueray brand of gin.

“Hey, Tank. What’s up?”

Gin smiled prettily for him and got to her feet.

Anne was sure if Gin didn’t register on Chase’s list as
fuckable, he couldn’t have any serious interest in Anne either. She sighed
aloud. Gin was gorgeous. She had blonde hair that was like spun gold, clear
blue eyes and full lips that drove most men nuts. Not to mention her petite
figure. Gin was dainty and feminine, something that Anne was not and didn’t
aspire to be.

Anne hadn’t mentioned her recent discovery to Gin, and she
felt horrible about it, but not horrible enough to remedy the situation.
Partially because Anne wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She had to get her
own head straight before she sent Gin for a whirl. Unless she’d already found
the site herself.

“I see you’ve been working hard. Anne’s just a slave driver,
isn’t she?” Gin grinned.

“She’s a battle-axe.” He nodded. “The harridan even made me
carry her down the stairs.”

“You won’t get any sympathy from a woman you call Tank.”
Anne laughed.

“Oh, I think he will,” Gin disagreed.

“See, that’s why you never get the upper hand. You show all
your cards,” Anne teased.

“I’m just honest. What’s wrong with that?”

What was wrong, indeed? She almost sighed again. “Nothing.
Except that he gets the drop on you every time.”

“It’s a competition?” Gin replied.

“Only if there’s Jell-O wrestling,” Chase said as he unlocked
the door and went inside.

“No, I’d lose. Nipples over here would put my eye out,” Gin
muttered.

“What?” Chase asked, sticking his head back out the door.

“Nothing. We’ll be inside in a sec.” Gin smiled. When he was
gone, she turned on Anne. “Christ, woman. I can’t compete with those things. No
mortal female could. I give it a week before you’re going at it like rabbits.”
She sighed unhappily.

Anne wanted to reassure her, but she didn’t want to lie
either. She made a helpless gesture with her hands. “Air conditioning. What do
you want from me?”

“One of your boobs? Then we’d be on an even playing field.”
Gin grinned. “It’s okay, you know. I can’t make him like me that way. As much
as I’d like to.”

“Not paying to cool the outside, ladies.” His voice echoed
from inside.

“Then shut the door,” Anne called back. “You were the last
one through it.”

“See what I get for trying to be a gentleman?” he yelled
back.

“I mean it, Anne,” Gin said, her tone hushed. “With all of
the banter and tension that’s between you all of the time, there’s no way that
this new living arrangement won’t end up in someone’s bed.”

“It’s not worth two friendships, Gin.”

“But what if it is? I love you too much to get between you
and destiny. What if he’s
the one
? You’ve never dated anyone seriously
and just now, you couldn’t deny that you want—” She cut herself off. “Ice
cream.”

Anne turned to see Chase’s dark head at the door again.
“Tank, are you coming out for beers later? We’re celebrating my rededication to
bachelorhood.”

“By having a woman move in with you?” Gin deadpanned.

“Shouldn’t you guys be curling hair and trying to decide
what you’re going to wear? We’ve only got six hours until we can hit The
Bottleneck.” He said this as if six hours were five minutes. It took Gin
forever to get ready to go anywhere and, in turn, she slowed Anne down too. But
it would only take them one hour, not six.

Gin’s eyes lit up dangerously.

In that single expression, Anne knew whatever her friend was
cooking in her mad scientist’s lab of an imagination, it wasn’t going to end
well.

“You’re so right. You better rest up now, because we’re
going to need your help.” Gin chortled.

“For what? Haven’t I helped enough? I did heavy lifting all
day and while you’re primping, I’ll still be bringing in the rest of Anne’s
stuff.”

“This only requires sitting. I think Anne needs to get laid.
It’s been what, six months since she’s even been on a date? You and I, Donovan,
we’re going to get her a man.”