Rule of Three (6 page)

“That’s okay. Dag and I were having so much fun we didn’t even realize what time it was.”

Chris looked between them, no doubt taking in Kassidy’s flushed cheeks from several mojitos. “That’s good,” he said. “I could use a drink.”

Dag stood. “You two go ahead and order if you want, I gotta get back to the hotel. Oh shit.”

“What?” Kassidy gazed up at him.

“All your stuff is in the trunk of my car.”

“Oh yeah.”

“I’ll bring it over in a while,” Dag said. “We can all go to the club together.”

“Gotta take a taxi anyway,” Chris said. “You won’t be in shape to drive later.”

Trust Chris to be the responsible one. But despite his risk-taking behavior, Dag would never drink and drive. “We’ll see,” he said. “I’ll see you back at your place in…what…an hour?”

“Sounds good.”

As he turned away, Dag saw Chris lean over and kiss Kassidy again, this time a longer, lingering kiss, his fingertips resting on her jaw in a tender, intimate gesture, and something twisted inside him as he dragged his gaze away from the image and made his way out of the bar.

Chapter Five

Chris lifted a hand to attract the waitress’s attention, ordered his favorite beer from a local microbrewery. “Kass…?”

“No. I’m good.”

“Had enough?” He smiled at her. “What the hell were you and Dag doing, sitting drinking all afternoon?” She looked pretty, all sparkly eyed, flushed-cheeked.

“It wasn’t all afternoon. He came shopping with me.”

Chris sat back in his chair, hands on the armrests. “He went shopping with you? Why?”

“He had nothing else to do.”

“Uh…when he called me this morning, it sounded like he had something pretty urgent to talk to you about.”

“Oh yeah. He did.” She told him about their lunch conversation.

“Wow.” Chris made a face. “Sounds interesting.”

Kassidy grinned at him, the evening breeze blowing a strand of hair across her face. “You aren’t even a little bit interested in that, are you?”

“Well…it’s not my thing.”

“I know.”

He reached over and gently tucked the errant hair behind her ear. “I’m glad you two are getting along. I wanted you to like him.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s my friend. One of my best friends. And I want him to like you too.”

Kassidy looked down at her fingers on the table. “Well. I do like him.”

“And man, do I need this drink.” Chris lifted the beer the waitress set in front of him. Tension still hummed in his body from all the crap he’d had to deal with all day at the office.

“Bad day?” She rested her elbow on the table, set her chin in her hand and studied him with those big brown eyes, all soft and warm.

“Yeah. Crappy day. Looks like they’re going ahead with outsourcing all those jobs.”

“Oh no.” Her forehead creased. He knew how much she hated that plan, all the jobs that would be lost, the impact it was going to have on morale. “And then Wendy tells me she needs time off next month. Right when our project deadline is.”

“Isn’t she getting married next month?”

“Yeah. She wants to go on a honeymoon.”

Kassidy laughed. “Well, you have to let her go for that.”

He shook he head. “I can’t. We have rules. Nobody gets time off when it’s deadline time.”

“Chris.” She leaned forward. “You can’t be serious. It’s her honeymoon.”

He met her eyes. “Rules are rules. And we gotta make that deadline.”

“Oh, for…sometimes you have to bend the rules a little. I’d say that’s an exception.”

He made a face. “I can’t let her have the time off.”

“What do you think is going to happen if you say no? Even if she shows up—and chances are she’ll call in sick—she’s not going to be happy to be there. Is that the kind of atmosphere you want? You think she’s going to be working hard for you? No! She’s going to be pissed!”

He pursed his lips, thinking about it. “I don’t think…”

“Don’t be stubborn,” she said, leaning back. “You know I’m right. Just think about it.”

“Yeah. Fine.” He sighed. “We’re way over budget on the reliability solutions project. Someone screwed up on the projections and now the executive sponsors are having a shit fit.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.” Just talking to her about it made him feel better though. It was always that way with Kassidy. She knew just what to say—and just what not to say. She let him talk if he felt like it but didn’t push him if he didn’t.

“Tonight’s gonna be a blast,” he said, done talking about work. It was Friday night, time to set all that aside for a couple of days. “Everyone’s looking forward to seeing Dag again.” He listed off the names of all the friends who’d be there. “We’re all meeting there between nine and ten.”

“At Kiss.”

“Yeah.” He arched a brow. “That okay?” Hailey worked there and he knew Kassidy wasn’t fond of hanging out around her sister. But it was one of the hottest places in town.

She shrugged and pursed her lips. “It’s okay. I like it there.”

He reached for her hand and squeezed. “Hailey will be working.”

“I know.” She paused. “We should go. I need to change.”

“Yeah. Just let me finish this.” He drained the beer, pleasantly bitter on his tongue, and set down the bottle. “We need our check…”

When the waitress brought the bill, Chris did a double take. “Jesus! How long were you guys sitting here? And what the fuck is Dag doing stiffing me with his fucking bar tab?”

“Uh…Chris…”

He glanced at her, saw the smile tugging her lips. Couldn’t help his own smile. “That asshole,” he said mildly, temper settling, and reached for his wallet. “He’ll be buying the drinks tonight, that’s for damn sure. It’s not like he couldn’t afford to clear his fucking tab before he ran out of here.”

Kassidy shook her head, eyes dancing. “I think he might have done that on purpose. Just so we wouldn’t think he was showing off by throwing money around.”

“Fucking cheap bastard.” But Chris grinned too as he tossed some bills onto the table. “Let’s go.”

Back at their condo, Kassidy pouted as they walked in. “I should have come home with the things I bought instead of sitting in a bar. I could have had the curtains hung already.”

Chris kissed her forehead. “I’ll help you tomorrow. Mmm. You smell good. Like sunshine.”

She lifted her face to his so he could kiss her mouth. Then she wound her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. Nice. He slid his hands down her back and cupped her butt, bringing her up against his hardening cock, and deepened the kiss. Heat swept over him and when they broke apart they were both breathing heavily. “What was that for?”

“I love you.” Her eyes, a bit hazy, met his.

“Love you too, sweetheart.” And he kissed her again. “Mmm. Maybe we have time…”

“No, we don’t.”

“Sure we do. Come on…” And he pulled her over to the couch, fell onto it with her on top of him. She giggled and he slid his hands inside her shorts and found her bare ass. The thong she wore covered nothing back there. He squeezed firm, warm flesh, let his fingers dip into the crevice between. She gasped against his mouth.

“Chris.”

His fingers slid lower, found hot liquid. “Ah fuck, Kass, you’re wet…already…”

She moaned and wriggled atop him.

“We can’t let that go to waste.”

“Or this.” And she reached between them to find his hard-on. She rubbed him through his dress pants, rolled to the side so she could unfasten them.

“Or that,” he agreed, eyes falling closed at her touch. Soft hands delved into his pants and underwear, pulled him out. His cock filled and lengthened, throbbed with need. “Suck me, sweetheart.”

“Mmm.” She shifted down his body and bent her head. Heat and suction surrounded him and his hips lifted in ecstasy. He dragged his eyelids open to take in the visual. He always loved to watch her give him head. Seeing her pretty mouth stretched wide around him, her cheeks hollow as she sucked, was such a turn-on, and when she lifted her gaze to meet his, fire streaked through him. He surged into her, reached down to cup the back of her head. His balls tightened, the base of his spine tingled…so close…so…

And the doorbell rang.

Fuck!

Kassidy drew back, eyes wide, mouth wet and shiny, lips parted in sexy surprise. “What…”

“Christ. It’s Dag.”

And he rolled out from beneath her, to his feet, and hitched up his pants.

“Shit.” Kassidy fell back against the couch cushions, eyes closed, breasts rising and falling.

“No kidding, shit.” Heart hammering in his chest, balls throbbing, he thrust a hand through his hair then strode to the door and yanked it open.

“Hey.” Dag walked in, arms full of shopping bags and the big cartons containing the curtain rods. His gaze skidded over Chris, fell on Kassidy, her clothes rumpled, mouth swollen, then came back to Chris, dipped to his unfastened pants. “Uh…”

“Never mind.” Chris shut the door with a disgusted shake of his head, his cock still hard and aching.

“Sorry…I…”

Chris shook his head. “We’re not ready yet. Just got home. Help yourself to a beer while we change.” And he grabbed Kassidy’s hands, tugged her up off the couch and practically dragged her into their bedroom. He shut the door, turned her around and pressed her against it with his body.

“Chris!” His name was a whisper. “Stop! We can’t…”

“Gotta finish, sweets,” he muttered, kissing her jaw, her neck. Urgent need pulsed in him and he fumbled his pants open again.

“God, Chris, Dag’s right outside! He’ll hear us…”

“Don’t give a shit.” He mumbled the words against her flesh, trying to get her shorts undone and off. The zipper rasped down and he skimmed them down her legs, let them fall to the floor. With one foot he dragged them away then lifted her thigh. “Come on, Kass. Unh…” He took hold of his cock and pushed into her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, head thunking back against the door. “Oh god…”

Harder and harder he thrust up into her, vaguely aware of the way the door rattled with each stroke, her wet heat taking him. He held her by her ass, pinned her to the door, fucked her hard, right there, with Dag only a few feet away. For some reason that thought spiraled his excitement higher and the orgasm he’d been so close to earlier edged closer.

“Come for me,” he groaned beside her ear. “Come, Kass.”

She slid a hand between them to find her clit, taking care of herself. Yeah. Oh yeah. The low sounds coming from her throat were loud in his ear, but that was because she was right there, her mouth right beside his head, and he swallowed his own cries of pleasure as he poured himself into her.

“Jesus,” he gasped moments later. “Jesus.”

Kassidy’s hands gripped his back, holding herself up, and he released her and let her slide down till her feet touched the floor. He leaned his forehead on the door above her head, panting, her fingers digging into his flesh.

“Okay, now we can get ready,” he finally rasped, and she gave a choked laugh.

“God, Chris. I can’t believe we just did that.”

“Sssh.” He kissed her mouth. “I needed that.” Nothing better than fast, hard sex to relieve a little stress.

“Oh, me too. Me too.”

They moved apart, a little sweaty, semen leaking onto Kassidy’s thighs.

“Now I need a shower,” she complained, shoving her hair back. “And there’s no time.”

“Don’t shower,” he murmured. “You look good. And I want to smell you like this all night.”

Her eyes closed briefly. “God, Chris. You’re insatiable.”

“Hell yeah.”

“I can’t go out like this. I’ll have to wash up.” And she disappeared into the bathroom.

He followed her, because he needed to wash up too, and because—now that they lived together—he could. They both stripped off their clothes in the spacious bathroom, their naked bodies reflected back in the mirror lining the wall above the double sinks. Like a porn movie almost, Kassidy’s nude body a soft, curvy contrast to his darker-skinned, much bigger shape. He watched with interest as she ran water over a face cloth, poured some scented body soap onto it and washed herself. He did the same, cleaning his cock and balls, between his thighs, Kassidy’s eyes on him too.

“You are so fucking hot,” he said.

She smiled. “So are you.”

He started to get hard again and quickly rinsed with cold water. “I’ll get dressed.”

He heard her moving around in the bathroom as he found the narrow black pants he wanted to wear, shrugged into a white button-down shirt that he left loose, with the cuffs rolled back on his forearms.

“I’ll go wait with Dag,” he called to her from the bedroom door.

“Okay.”

He sauntered into the living room, a pretty good post-orgasmic buzz still flowing through his veins, to find Dag seated on the couch, a beer in his hands, staring out the window. Dag lifted his gaze to his and Chris blinked at the raw emotion blazing there before Dag schooled his features.

“Sorry, bud,” Chris said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Kassidy will be ready in a few minutes.”

“Sure.” Dag pressed his lips together and gave a jerky nod, looking away from Chris.

Christ. His chest ached, his dick was a fucking steel rod, his mind a jumble of mixed-up thoughts. He’d heard everything, every goddamn moan and pant and thrust. They might have thought they were being quiet, but you couldn’t fuck up against a door without making noise.

Dag rubbed the back of his neck and drained his beer. So much for his plan not to drink much tonight so he could drive.

“So what all did she buy today?” Chris asked, moving across the room to look at all the shopping bags.

Who fucking cared? But Dag made himself smile and look up. “All kinds of shit,” he said. “She dragged me to Bed and Bath.”

Chris lifted a brow. “She dragged you? She said you had nothing better to do.”

Heat crawled up Dag’s cheeks. He tried to look casual. “Whatever.”

“I hate that store,” Chris said, apparently not even noticing Dag’s discomfort. He peeked into a bag. “Huh. Towels. We’ve got a million towels. We both had towels.”

Dag shrugged. “I guess you needed more.”