More Than a Fling [Uniformed and Blazing Hot 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

Alyssa decided, if eyes could really shoot bullets, she would be lying dead at Nick’s feet right about now.

“Forgive me. I didn’t introduce the two of you.” The feigned innocence in Nick’s tone almost made Alyssa laugh. “Jessica, this is Alyssa. Alyssa, Jessica.”

Alyssa figured Tanner must have already clued Nick in on her name and their dinner plans. She gave the other woman her best friendly smile and extended a hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Funny,” the woman said sourly. “I haven’t heard a thing about you.”

Alyssa waved the hand Jessica didn’t shake between them. “Oh, you know how guys are. They’re not much for talking, but they’re all for getting down to business.” Twin guns reloaded in the woman’s eyes and Alyssa decided it was time to escape. “And the business I need to get to right now is cooking their dinner. It was very nice to meet you, Jessica.” She beamed a smile at Nick. “Honey, I’ll see you and Tanner at the house whenever the two of you are ready to come.”

She purposely made the statement an innuendo for Jessica’s benefit and swallowed a laugh at the inferno that flamed in Nick’s eyes. Turning, she patted her outer thigh with one hand and said, “Come on, Precious.”

To her utter shock, the dog obediently followed her home.

Chapter Three

Nick pulled a beer from the fridge, twisted the cap as he bumped the door shut with his elbow, and lifted the bottle to his lips for a deep swig. She had kissed him and,
Holy Christ
, the woman could kiss. Reaching for her, pulling her sultry body against his, and deepening that kiss had been more of an instinctive reaction than one of actual thought.

Of course it had been. The instant her silky mouth found his, he lost all ability to think.

So much for you can look, but you can’t touch.

He took another swig of his beer. Yeah. He hadn’t just looked at her outside in the front yard. He had touched. Damn if he didn’t want her even more now than he had before.

“Is Jessica gone?”

Nick snapped out of his reverie as Tanner moved into the kitchen. The man had been headed for the shower when Jessica pulled up. Because it was Nick’s turn to attempt to get rid of their stalker, he had sent Tanner to follow through with his plan before he went outside to tackle the unwanted redhead.

“Yeah.”

Tanner lifted a brow as his gaze landed on Nick’s beer. The man moved to the fridge, snagged two bottles, and passed Nick another one before opening his. “Dare I hope it’s for good this time?”

Nick polished off the first beer and started on the second. “After what just happened out there, if she doesn’t go away now, a restraining order is about our only other option.”

Tanner sent his bottle cap sailing across the kitchen to the trashcan and leaned against the counter behind him. “What happened?”

“She fucking kissed me.” Nick couldn’t hide the surprise in his tone and didn’t bother to try. Hell, his mind was still reeling from it. His stiff-as-a-board cock was in even worse shape.

Obviously puzzled, Tanner’s brows etched together. “She kissed you and yet you’re pretty sure she’s gone for good this time. What the hell did you do, slap her for it?”

Nick blinked. “What? No. Not Jessica. Alyssa.”

Tanner choked on the sip of beer he had just taken. “
Alyssa
kissed you?”

“Yeah.”

Tanner stared at him. “Alyssa kissed you. A woman you haven’t even met yet. A woman you said we needed to stay away from and all you can say is yeah?”

Nick moved to the trashcan, tossed the empty bottle inside, and sipped on the full one. “What do you want, lick by lick details?” He shot a glance at Tanner as he walked back to where he had been standing near the dishwasher and chuckled at the withering expression on his buddy’s face. “Look. I don’t know what the fuck happened out there. One minute, I’m standing there doing my damnedest to, once again, politely get it through Jessica’s head that we don’t want her and the next, Alyssa’s mouth is glued to mine. I saw her pull in next door. She got out of her car, walked over here, said hello to Precious, and then kissed me senseless.”

The corner of Tanner’s lips twitched. “It was that good, huh?”

Nick gave his friend a dramatic moan. “The first lick went between her lips. The second—”

Tanner barked a laugh and held up a hand. “Spare me the details.”

Nick grinned around the rim of his bottle.

“I know why she did it.” Tanner briefly bowed his head and shook it as he expelled an amused half laugh. “She gave me more than I bargained for with that one. Or rather, apparently, she gave it to you.”

“You want to fill me in, because I’m feeling a bit left out here.”

Both of Tanner’s brows winged up. “You’re feeling left out? You got the kiss!”

Nick dragged his tongue between his bottom lip and teeth as he studied his friend. “And we’re apparently having dinner with her tonight?”

“I told you I met her this morning. I was getting to the details about how and her dinner invitation for tonight when Jessica pulled up. I walked next door this morning after you dropped me off and headed back to town. Precious was barking his ass off as usual.” He glanced around and pinned Nick with a questioning look. “Where is Precious?”

Nick tipped his head in the direction of the house next door. “With Alyssa. He followed her back home.”

Tanner made a humph sound. “Anyway, Alyssa came outside, we started talking, Jessica called twice, Alyssa heard the ringtone, and our conversation turned to how we’ve been trying to get Jess off our backs. Dinner tonight was supposed to be an exchange of advice. Us telling her how to make Precious happy and her telling us how to get rid of Jessica.” He paused, his eyes dancing with amusement as he sipped his beer. “It sounds to me like she took action with her advice.”

Her tongue had been a warm strip of satin submitting to the lead of Nick’s as he explored her mouth and filled his senses with the dark taste of passion. That kiss might have started as a show for Jessica, but the acting hadn’t lasted more than a half second before real desires, both hers and damn it, his, had taken over.

“You know all she’s got to do is stop tying that dog up all the time and he’ll be happier than a pig in mud.”

Tanner’s grin turned mischievous. “I know, but apparently she hasn’t figured that out yet.”

Nick shook his head. “I told you starting something with our next-door neighbor isn’t a good idea, man.”

Tanner slowly nodded. “She kissed you out there and you’re telling me you don’t want a repeat?”

She hadn’t just kissed him. She had gotten past his defenses, short-circuited his senses, and left him wanting far more than a repeat.

Tanner chuckled when Nick didn’t answer. “That’s what I thought. Look, I made it clear this morning we’re not looking for anything serious. She’s got that in her head upfront.”

They usually did. Not that it had mattered so far. Nick didn’t bother to point that out as he polished off his second beer and moved to toss it in the trash. “She said we can come over whenever we’re ready.”

Tanner pushed off the counter. “Then let’s go.”

Nick stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, turned back to his friend, and pointed a finger at the man’s chest. “You started this. When it goes south, it’s on you to clean up the mess.”

“If it goes south,” Tanner corrected.

If. Yeah, right.

Nick wished he could be as optimistic as his friend that they weren’t about to walk into another stalking disaster. But maybe, just maybe, Alyssa would turn out to be that lady friend with benefits they had been looking for.

* * * *

“I’ve lost my mind.”

Bark.

Alyssa shot a glance at Precious, who had sprawled his big body in the middle of the kitchen floor. “See. Talking to you proves it.”

Bark.

She returned her attention to the stovetop where she had just mixed in the potato flakes with the boiling water, butter, and milk for instant mashed potatoes. “You’re not even supposed to be in the house.”

She had been so dazed by the kiss with Nick that she hadn’t even realized when she allowed Precious to follow her inside until it was too late. Once her rational mind started to return, she’d attempted to lure the dog back outside, but was met only with resistance and a string of barking that rattled the glasses in the kitchen. She had given the dog a short chase that resulted in an overturned end table, messed up sheets in the front bedroom, and two upended potted plants. Finally, she realized, if she kept it up, the house would end up in ruins. That was when she gave up. Tanner seemed to be better with the dog anyway.

“We’ll just wait until Tanner gets here and I’ll get him to take you back out in the yard.”

Precious gave a soft whine at her statement.

“You’re not staying in here,” she told him as she stirred the potatoes until all the flakes dissolved. “You’re too big to be an inside dog.”

Precious barked his disagreement.

Shaking her head, she took a step back, pulled open the oven, and studied the meatloaf baking inside. It still had a few minutes to go.

“We’ll argue about this later,” she said as the doorbell chose that moment to ring.

Precious barked twice, got to his feet, and rushed to the door.

“You think I’m kidding? This conversation is not over,” Alyssa told the dog as she made her way out of the kitchen. Precious had already planted his large butt on the floor in front of the door.

Alyssa frowned at the dog, blew a breath up her face that made her bangs flutter, and turned the knob. She was proud to know she had a fairly high IQ, but one look at Tanner and Nick standing together on her front doorstep sent it plummeting to a single digit. Holy orgasms, both men were simply too hot for words and she was a reporter. Words were generally her specialty.

Precious nudged her outer thigh with his big head as he stuck it through the doorway to greet their guests with a happy bark.

Tanner’s lips spread in a wide grin. “You finally let him inside.”

“He let himself inside,” she corrected. “I wasn’t thinking when I came home.”

“I wonder why?”

The hint of ego mixed with the amusement in Nick’s drew her attention to him. She saw the clear memory of their kiss in his chocolate-brown eyes.

Attempting to play it off, Alyssa angled her head through the doorway and shot a glance at the driveway next door. “Her car is gone. I’m guessing our little show worked.”

“I’m thinking it might have, even if I did almost blow it.”

Alyssa met his gaze again. “You played along just fine.”

“You made it easy for me to.”

Holy moly, the man was intense. Alyssa had spent the better part of the day battling back erotic images of Tanner spawned by their few minutes together that morning. Then she had come home, kissed Nick, and turned those imagines into ones that made her want to walk on the wild and naughty side. Now, she was standing there with both of them in front of her about to enter her house and she knew she better find something to calm her racing hormones before she made another stupidly bold move. This time it would be something along the lines of jumping into their arms and begging them to fuck her right there in the open doorway.

“I’m glad I could help.” Spotting the bags they held in her peripheral vision, she found her escape from what was quickly turning out to be one very arousing, very forward conversation. “You didn’t have to bring anything, but since you obviously did, what’s in the bags?”

“You didn’t say this morning what you were cooking for dinner.” Tanner pulled two bottles of wine from the bag he held and handed them to her. “I didn’t know if you liked red or white, so I got both.”

Nick pushed the edge of the bag in his hand down so she could see the label on the bottle. “And we brought this.”

Amused, Alyssa giggled. “Red and white wine and vodka? The two of you were making sure you covered all the bases, weren’t you?”

“Actually, the wines are for you. The vodka is for Precious.”

Alyssa glanced at the dog before giving Nick a confused stare. “You expect me to give Precious vodka?”

“Sweetheart, if you’re planning on tying him up outside again and you don’t replace his water with vodka so he won’t bark all night, I will.”

Alyssa winced as she turned and led them to the kitchen. Precious’s paws clacked on the hardwood floor as he followed them.

“Hence the reason the two of you are here for dinner. I believe Tanner is supposed to share some of his expertise with me on how to make Precious cooperate better,” she said as she set the bottles of wine on the counter.

“Do you mind if I put these in the fridge?”

She glanced at Nick and saw he held an open twelve-pack box of bottled beer in his other hand. “Not much for wine, huh?”

He shook his head and passed her the bottle of vodka. “Or that either.”

She laughed. “I don’t mind. There should be plenty of room on one of the shelves.” She moved to the oven to check the meatloaf, found it ready, and covered her hand with an oven mitt before pulling it out to set it on the back burners of the stove top. “As long as the two of you don’t mind instant mashed potatoes and canned English peas. It’s about as close to cooking from scratch as I get.”