Not For Me (9 page)

“How unfortunate.”

He kissed her mouth and let go of her wrists, and she continued with the buttons. “And later,” he whispered, “she told me that she was sure I was good in bed. But she wouldn’t give me a chance to prove it for another week.”

Kristy laughed. “You talk too much. Anyone ever tell you that?” She had his shirt unbuttoned now, and he sat up so she could pull it off. Then the T-shirt underneath.

“Ha,” he said. “No.”

She placed a hand in the middle of his bare chest, her mouth in the curve of his neck. He was so hot. “And you truly wanted to ask me out from the very beginning?”

“Yes. When I saw you, it was…I guess Brady would say it was an
experience
. And when I got to know you better, I wanted you even more.”

* * * *

When she fell asleep in his arms an hour later, Grant still wasn’t tired. He was too excited, like a kid trying to sleep on Christmas Eve.

Kristy.

It had actually happened.

He couldn’t wait to spend tomorrow with her. He’d make her breakfast and bring it to her in bed. In fact, they could spend all day in bed.

He wanted to run a hand through her hair now, but he wouldn’t because it might disturb her. She was tucked against him, sleeping in one of his T-shirts. And that was perfect.

He finally did sleep, but woke up at four in the morning. Kristy had rolled away from him. He padded to the kitchen, where he gathered her clothes. He placed two chocolates on a chair, then folded her clothes and put them on top of the chocolates.

She was still asleep when he set the chair down beside the bed. He crawled back under the covers, and she turned toward him but didn’t wake up.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

* * * *

He awoke to laughter. Kristy’s laughter. He smiled.

“My clothes. You didn’t.”

He moved closer to her warmth. “Don’t get dressed yet.” Underneath that large shirt of his, she was wearing nothing, and he’d make use of that soon.

Sun was spilling through the blinds, Kristy was with him, and all was good.

“I could have left the bedroom naked to fetch them,” she said. “You didn’t want me to do that?”

“If you like, I’ll throw them back on the kitchen floor.”

“Silly.” She turned toward him for a kiss before she picked up her clothing, one item at a time, apparently evaluating his folding skills. When she lifted up her jeans, she said, “Chocolate? It’s seven in the morning.”

He circled his arms around her waist and pulled her beneath him. “By the time I let you get dressed, it’ll be much later than that. But there’s nothing wrong with the occasional chocolate early in the morning.” He unwrapped one and fed it to her. Watching her sensual mouth as she chewed it—oh, she knew exactly what she was doing—almost killed him.

She fed him the other chocolate, then ran her thumb over his mustache.

“I grew it for Movember a few years ago and decided I liked it. But I can get rid of it, if you prefer.”

“I think your face would look naked without it,” she said.

“I like naked.” He sneaked a hand up the long shirt she was wearing and kissed her mouth.

“Grant…”

“What I meant,” he said, enjoying her reaction, “was that maybe you don’t like kissing me with a mustache.”

“I think you should keep it. It’s different. In a very good way.”

“Whatever you say.” He touched her a little higher.

“Just like that is perfect.
Oh
.”

“It sounds like you’re getting a massage.”

She giggled. “I guess it does.”

She dragged her hand down his body, circled his shaft, and stroked up and down. He caught his breath; she moved a little faster. “That’s so good, baby,” he murmured. Then he kissed her, and as his tongue tangled with hers, he decided he needed to be in her. Now.

She sat up, pushed him onto his back, and grabbed a condom from the bedside table—she needed the same thing. She rolled the condom on and lowered herself onto his cock. He groaned.

And then she started moving. Good God. He reached up and fondled her breasts—so lovely—and she brought her body down to his, closed her lips over his. He dug his fingers into her back.

He loved morning sex. All kinds of sex would be good with her. All kinds of everything would be good with her.

*

After they had sex, Grant rolled over and started snoring, but Kristy, who’d had a damn good sleep last night, wasn’t tired. She’d have to ask him about his mattress—she’d never slept on such a comfortable bed.

It was a Sunday. A free Sunday. She could spend it all with him.

It was a Sunday, exactly five weeks after she’d been dumped by a McDonald’s-hating—

Five weeks.

Nowhere near two months.

Every time she’d slept with a guy shortly after a breakup, it had turned out to be a mistake. This was something she’d done a lot of back in school. An attempt to make herself feel desirable, an attempt to forget. But Allison had pointed out it wasn’t having the intended effect if she always regretted it the next day. So she hadn’t done it in years.

Until now.

This wasn’t the same, though. She looked at the chocolate wrappers on the chair and smiled. He was so sweet, Grant. He wasn’t a random guy she’d met at a bar and slept with mere hours after learning his name.

But not all of those guys had been random. A few had been friends. One she’d known for years, and sleeping with him had screwed up their friendship.

She didn’t regret it this time. Not yet, anyway. But maybe she would—she needed some time to be sure. She didn’t trust herself so soon after a breakup, wasn’t sure that what she felt for Grant was genuine. It might just be related to her tendency to latch onto the first guy who found her attractive when she was feeling low after a relationship ended.
Shit
.

She started getting dressed.

Grant was roused by a single kiss on the lips.

Kristy sat on the edge of the bed, her purse in her lap. “I’ve got to go.”

He sat up, blinked. This wasn’t part of the plan. “Are you upset about last night?”

“I think it might have been a mistake.” She looked down at the quilt.

“Because of your two-month rule?”

“It exists for a good reason. I used to—”

“You really think I’m a mistake?” He tried to put his arm around her waist, but she shifted away.

“I don’t know yet.”

“Brady would have been a mistake.”

“And you’re different?”

“Yes.” Of course he was different. “This isn’t a one-night thing to me. I want—”

“But I don’t know what
I
want.” She glanced up at him, her lips a thin line.

“I think you do.” He just knew, even if that wasn’t neat and logical, and he’d thought she did, too. He caught her around the waist, pulled her toward him, and kissed her. “How can you say that’s a mistake?”

“I can’t trust what I feel right now. Give me another month and we’ll see.”

“I need you to stay.”

“You don’t
need
me to stay.”

“Maybe not
need
, but everything’s ten times better if it’s with you. No one else can do that.” He’d waited so long to find someone like Kristy. And now she wanted to leave.

“I know what you mean,” she whispered. “I watched you make a fucking
shelf
and still had a good time.”

“Isn’t that enough? And didn’t you say that you had a good feeling about me?”

“But that was for someone else.” She stood up. “Good-bye, Grant.”

Once she was gone, he rolled to her side of the bed.

* * * *

Kristy didn’t feel like going home. Instead, she went to the Poisoned Apple and ordered a Poison Special, which turned out to be a hazelnut latte with a double shot of espresso. Brady was right; it was a cool place. An old building with stone walls, even a stained-glass window, and an almost medieval feel.

She dragged her feet up the stairs to the second floor, where she studied the framed drawings on the walls. They looked like illustrations from a book of fairy tales:
The Princess and the Pea, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty
.

She took a seat by the window. It was a gorgeous day. They could have gone for a walk; they could have sat on a patio and had margaritas. They would’ve had lots of fun together. She tried not to think about that.

When she turned away from the window, a middle-aged man at a nearby table raised his eyebrows over his drink.

Right. Her makeup was probably smeared, and she was wearing an outfit she’d never worn in daylight hours. Usually she felt more embarrassed when she was in this position—not that it had happened in a very long time. But today she just felt numb.

She called Maya.

“I’m at the Poisoned Apple, drinking a Poison Special,” Kristy said, knowing exactly what her friend’s reaction would be.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” As expected.

Kristy smiled for the first time since she’d left Grant’s. But she wouldn’t continue to mislead Maya.

“Please tell me nothing happened with Brady,” Maya said. “
Please
.”

“Nothing happened with Brady.”

“Thank God. I was afraid I’d have to send in the top-secret dwarf army. But why aren’t you with Grant?”

“I…ummm…well…I’m not quite sure, but I have reasons.”

Maya said she’d call Allison and come to “that poison place” as soon as she could.

After putting her phone away, Kristy closed her eyes and let the sunlight and caffeine—the drink was actually quite tasty—seep in.

This would have been better with Grant.

* * * *

Maya and Allison sat across from Kristy, each holding a cup.

“We ordered regular coffee,” Maya said. “It’s the only thing on the menu that doesn’t have ‘poison’ in its name.”

“You didn’t go home last night,” Allison observed.

“Thanks, genius.”

“Was he terrible in bed?” Maya asked. “Is that the problem?”

“No.” That wasn’t the problem at all.

“She feels guilty because she broke her rule,” Allison said. “That’s got to be it. By the way, Kristy, you’re blushing.”

“Thanks,” Kristy muttered. “And the rule was your idea.”

“So he was amazing in bed. But you feel bad because of your rule, even though you’ve been crazy about Grant from the moment you met him.”

“Not true. I wanted him to date Maya.” Kristy gulped some more of her delicious drink. Her second, in fact—she’d downed the first while waiting for her friends.

“I didn’t buy that for a minute,” Allison said. “You couldn’t stop raving about him. How hot he was. How nice he was. How neat his place was. You even raved about his family after you talked to his brother on the phone
and
met his parents. And how could I forget”—she stifled a laugh—“how good he was at changing lightbulbs.”

Kristy glared at Maya. “You told her? I don’t need lightbulb jokes.”

Maya shrugged. “Couldn’t help it. By the way, this coffee is surprisingly good.”

“Haven’t tried it yet,” Allison said. “I still need to finish telling Kristy how she kept going on about how he was a great listener, a great cook, a great kisser—”

“I never said anything about that,” Kristy protested.

“Maya told me. She saw it.”

Yeah, everyone had seen
that
. “Thanks again, Maya.”

“My pleasure,” Maya said.

Allison snickered, then leaned toward Kristy. “You always liked him,” she said. “But he wasn’t your type, so you didn’t think you did. Finally you wised up, but now you’re not sure again. Seriously? You’re exhausting.”

“It’s only been five weeks. I don’t trust my feelings. I told him it might have been a mistake and that I’d see how I felt in another month. He was pissed—”

“I’m pissed at you, too,” Maya said. “I can’t believe I had to get dressed before noon to come to a place that serves poison. And I really can’t believe you’d consider throwing this away because of timing. But I’m sure you’ll get flowers today, and he’ll tell you he can wait.”

Kristy smiled. Yeah, that seemed like Grant. It had been so wonderful to wake up in his bed, in his T-shirt. Next to him. She could have been with him now, but she’d run out of his condo.
For good reason
.
One more month
. But she was beginning to doubt her decision; it was practically impossible to imagine she’d change her mind about him in the next month.

“You weren’t even bothered by that breakup with…what’s his face,” Allison said.

“Lev,” Maya supplied.

“Right. I think you were
happier
the next time I saw you. The two-month rule should not apply here because you didn’t have breakup blues. Plus you ought to make an exception for someone you rave about for three weeks straight anyway.”

“Thank you for your opinion, Doc—oh, wait, you
are
a doctor.”

“Of chemistry,” Maya added.

“That joke’s getting old.” Allison turned to Kristy. “So?”

“You’re right. I’m being silly.” Why wait some arbitrary length of time if she was sure now? And this time Kristy absolutely had a good—no,
amazing
—feeling about him. For herself. Like she’d never had before.

“You weren’t too hard to convince,” Allison said.

Kristy grinned. “I’m going home to have a shower, and then I’m going to see him. Sorry, Maya. I’ll find you someone yet. Don’t you worry.” She finished the dregs of her drink and stood up.

“Tell us how it turns out,” Allison said. “Or maybe you’ll be too busy to call.”

* * * *

Grant got out of bed to make a much-needed coffee. He was eating breakfast when Jon called.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Jon said. “Just wanted to know if I need to buy mussels.”

“Mussels?”

“For tonight’s dinner. I sure hope not. Not that I mind cooking but…
Am
I interrupting something?”

“You’re not. And I’m not sure if you should be cooking tonight.” It depended on what Jon had meant by “making this work.” Yes, she’d slept over, but if Grant had truly been able to make it work, she wouldn’t have left, and he wouldn’t have been available to answer the damn phone.