Operation Foreplay (9 page)

“Roomies! Really. You’ll be gone in a week.”

“Then we’re going to have to make it fair.” He sipped on his beer. “You saw me naked. Now I get to see you.”

This wasn’t happening. Sarah’s brother was not hitting on me. I was not mentally undressing him. I did not have the female version of a throbber pounding in my panties. Sweat slipped between my breasts and I forced a laugh that came out sad and weak before I hurried to my room and slammed the door.

For the first time ever, a man had me tongue-tied and I didn’t like it. I dressed quickly and reapplied my lipstick before heading to the door. He was sitting at the counter finishing his beer, no sign of the earlier mess.

“Ready?”

“You think?” I knew I sounded bitchy but I didn’t know what else to do.

My tone didn’t seem to bother him. “Excellent. Let’s go.” He held the door open and motioned for me to walk through.

We didn’t speak much the few blocks to the bar and that was fine with me. I was preoccupied with the suggestive text messages Zac was sending anyway.

I giggled at one particularly naughty text and Jared said, “Still thinking about me naked?”

I dropped my phone and felt my ears heat up. “You wish.”

We both knelt down to grab the phone. I snatched my hand away when he touched me.

“It’s okay if you were, you know.” He winked.

“I wasn’t.”

“If you say so.” He handed me the phone and I stuffed it in my purse.

“I wasn’t.” I reiterated as he held the door to the bar open for me.

“I believe you.”

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes.

“We can make out if you want. Try to dissolve all this pent-up sexual tension between us.”

“There is no sexual tension!” I whispered fiercely and stalked to the back of the bar while Jared made a pit stop to grab a beer.

Berk was sitting at the table staring at his phone.

“Hey.” I plopped into the chair next to him and laid my head on his shoulder.

“Hey yourself. Drink this.” He handed me a shot glass. I noticed there were four more of the same sitting in front of him.

I tossed it back and licked my lips. “What was that?”

“A Cock-Sucking Cowboy. Good, right?”

“Yes, good. But a cock-sucking cowboy wouldn’t do much for me.” I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted.

“What’s the matter? Things didn’t go well with Zac?” He put his phone on the table and patted my head.

“Everything with Zac is fine. It’s going to be fine.”

“So you didn’t give back the necklace.” He fingered it out from under my shirt.

“No.” I blew a lock of hair out of my eye.

“You kept the necklace and had sex.”

“Yep.” I buried my face in his neck.

“Sex with Zac usually puts you in a good mood. What’s wrong, then?”

Jared walked up and stuck out his hand. “Hey. Berk, right?”

Berk raised his eyebrows and looked at him like he was lunch before giving me the side eye and letting out a slow whistle. “Yeah. Here.” He slid a drink across the table. “Have a shot.”

“Thanks.” He downed the shot and licked his lips. Berk was entirely too entranced but Jared didn’t seem to notice. “So where is everyone? My sister said everyone would be here tonight.” Jared pulled out a chair next to me and sat down. He smelled like my lavender shampoo. Guaranteed I’ll never smell it again without seeing him naked. With a semi.

Damn.

“They’ll be here soon.” Berk looked at me and tilted his head. “So, I didn’t get to talk to you much yet. You moved back here from Georgia?”

“Yeah. I have a job interview coming up on Monday. Thought I’d hang out a bit before then.”

“A job interview for what?”

“That was fast,” I added.

“Financial. I had a phone interview when I was in Georgia. They called me back this afternoon. Now I get to meet with the big man himself. Something Waterman.” He laughed. “I should probably look him up and remind myself of who he is before I show up looking like an ass, right?”

“
Zachary
Waterman?” My stomach dropped.

“Yeah, that’s it.” He snapped his fingers. “You heard of him?” Jared drained the rest of his beer.

“I have. He’s my boss.”

“Ain’t that something. Small fucking world, huh? Maybe we’ll be roomies and work buddies.”

“It sure is something.” I stared in shock and Berk leaned back to watch him walk away.

“Roomies? Spill.” Berk prodded me with his elbow.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me. First I see him naked—”

“Wait, what?”

“Long story.”

“What the hell, Melody? You bang the most fuckable man in finance
and
you are rooming with Jared? And a naked Jared, at that.”

“Why didn’t Sarah tell me?”

“Maybe she didn’t know.”

“She knew. How could she not know?”

“He said he just found out this afternoon. Whatever.” Berk sipped his glass of wine. “He is gorgeous. That hair, how it kind of looks like he just rolled out of bed. Why didn’t I know she had a hot brother?”

“No one’s seen him in eight years. And those eight years were really,
really
good to him.” I leaned back in my chair to get another peek at him across the room.

“How’s he look naked?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Why not?”

“It’s too good to describe.”

“I’ll tell you one thing, sweetheart, that right there”—he pointed to Jared leaning against the bar, his ass perfectly defined through his jeans—“is just the distraction you need to forget about Zac. And if the interview doesn’t work out, I can always find him something at my place.” Berk wiggled his eyebrows.

Son of a bitch.

Chapter Seven

I
nearly attacked Sarah when she arrived with Drew in tow. Grabbing her arm, I steered her toward the bathroom as Drew diverted and headed toward the bar. On the way, I pulled Caroline away from her kiss with Brian. Kissing could wait. If anyone was going to take my side, it was Caroline.

“Why didn’t you tell me your brother had an interview with Zac?”

“Jared has an interview with Zac?” Caroline asked.

“Zac who?” Sarah pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head.

“Zac who do you think?”

“Zac, Zac. Melody’s Zac,” Caroline explained for me, since I was about to tear out my eyelashes.

“Oh. That Zac,” Sarah said slowly, either completely unaware of my issue or playing stupid.

“Yeah, that Zac. Why didn’t you tell me?” I felt like we were playing a game of who could say his name more.

“I didn’t know. His move back here was pretty sudden and we didn’t get into specifics other than he had some interviews lined up here. Is that a problem?”

“No, it’s not a problem. I just felt like I was a bit blindsided.”

“Why would it matter?” I thought Caroline was on my side.

I laughed, hoping to brush away any anxiety I felt about it. “It doesn’t matter. I just could have, well, you know. I could have helped him is all.”

“Well, if he’s meeting with your boss, it doesn’t look like he needs any help.” Caroline, God bless her, really was trying to be helpful.

“What’s going on?” Sarah leaned in and tried to read my face.

“Hey sis!” Jared interrupted us before she could read the weirdness that was, without a doubt, etched all over my face. “Roomie.” He nodded toward me as he draped his arm around her shoulders.

“Hey you! You all moved in?” She reached up to hug him, since he towered over her by at least a foot.

“Yep.” Jared winked at me and I lost the ability to speak. “Melody is very welcoming.”

“Is she now?” Sarah pointed the evil eye in my direction. Sweat dripped between my boobs.

“Of course. He’s more than welcome to sleep on the couch. And I better not find any rogue strands of red hair on my sofa cushions.”

“You got a problem with red?” he asked.

“Of course not, sweetie.” I gave him a fake smile.
What the fuck is wrong with me?

He stared at me a minute before saying, “Anyway, it’s a very comfortable couch.” Again with the wink. It certainly wasn’t helping, since Sarah continued to stare at me with a look that, I’m sure, was intended to melt my face off.

Caroline must’ve felt the tension and attempted to diffuse it. “That it is. Of course it will only be for a week, so don’t get too comfortable.”

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you much the other day. You haven’t changed a bit.” The traitor returned his hug.

“Come on, let’s go have a drink.” She grabbed Sarah’s arm and pulled her away toward the table. Sarah looked over her shoulder and whispered, “It’s my
brother
.”

I was left standing awkwardly with Jared. “So, it’s pretty obvious my sister thinks something went on between us.”

“Wonder why she thinks that, Winky?” I really needed to stop looking at him.

He laughed. “Winky?”

“Yeah, Winky. What the hell is up with that? You have something in your eye?”

“Actually, yeah. My contact lens is all folded up. Be right back.”

I felt the weight of his hand pat me on the back before he headed into the men’s room.

“Did you just pat me on the back like I’m one of your buddies?”

He stopped in his tracks and turned, smirking. “Yeah. Roommates are buddies right? And, of course, you ass is ten times better than the last buddy I roomed with. Although most of my buddies don’t picture me naked every time they close their eyes. ”

“I do not—” My protest was cut off by his laugh as he walked away. “Jerk,” I whispered to myself.

Caroline snuck up behind me. “Who’s a jerk?”

“No one. Come on, let’s get a drink.”

“Danny’s here.” She pointed.

“Oh yeah?” I turned around and smiled when I saw his easy brown eyes and stubbled face as he talked to Brian.

We sat at the bar since I really didn’t feel all that social.

“Hey babe! Long time no see!” Danny, a close friend of Brian and Berk, stood and pulled me into a hug before turning to Caroline. Danny and I had fooled around once or twice; it never went much further, but he’s fun and we have such similar personalities that it’s like we’ve known each other longer than six months.

“Haven’t seen you in forever,” I said as I climbed onto the stool next to him. Caroline excused herself to go to the bathroom.

“I know. Work has me traveling all over the place.” He took a sip of his beer. “So, what’s been going on?”

“Not much.”

“What’s wrong? Come on. Give it to me. ” Danny tucked a curl behind my ear and tipped my chin so he could look me in the eye. He was always really good about eye contact during conversations. Too bad neither of us wanted anything more than friendship from each other.

“Let’s see. My mom is on my ass about settling down. I had sex with Zac and am staying at his place this week, Sarah’s brother is staying at my house for the next week, and I saw him naked.”

“Wait, what?” He laughed easily.

“You heard me.”

“Okay. Let’s break this down. First, your mom. She is always giving you a hard time. Since when does that bother you?”

“I don’t know. It’s just been grating on my nerves lately.” I tore my drink napkin into pieces.

“I think that issue is a lengthier conversation than we have time for. How about dinner on Friday?”

“Can’t. Sleeping at Zac’s.”

“Which brings us to number two. I thought you gave up Zac. I’m not really a fan of how he treats you.”

“And how does he treat me?”

“Like a fucking sex toy.”

“I guess.” I signaled Brian to bring over two shots of whatever.

“Just think about it. He isn’t good for you. Now, number three. Sarah’s brother.”

I moaned and threw my head back as I drank the ounce of whiskey with lime. “Sarah’s apartment is full of roaches. Her brother moved back from Georgia. He needed a place to stay. She volunteered my place.”

“That doesn’t explain how you saw him naked.”

“Seems as though he likes to walk around naked after he showers.”

“Who doesn’t? Can’t really fault him for that.”

“Right? Anyway, I came home from work, saw his pyramid of beer cans on the counter—”

“No.”

“Yes. And he walked into the living room. Naked as a newborn.”

“I bet he was surprised.” Danny grabbed the bottle Brian left and refilled the shot glasses.

“Smug is more like it. And half hard. He smirked. And he keeps winking at me in front of Sarah.”

“Bet she loves that.”