Rumor Has It (11 page)

“Why wouldn’t I want that?”

“I just didn’t know what to say. I’m trying not to press you on what this is, and I’m happy just going along with the flow, but I didn’t want to call this a date and be wrong or tell him we were together and him think anything.”

“You didn’t want him to think we’re out together?”

“I didn’t say that.” She looked at her hands, and he could tell she was attempting to word it correctly. “I’m trying to keep your image intact.”

“My image.”

“Yes. The one where you don’t date and you blow through women like a hurricane.”

“Were you trying to keep
my
image or
your
image intact? You wouldn’t want anyone to know you were one of those women or that you asked to be blown through like a hurricane.”

“Why are you angry? I honestly didn’t know what to say. I know Ethan acts interested when you’re around, but I think he’s just playing with you. Please don’t ask me why—I have no idea, but that’s the feeling I get when we are all together.”

Is she crazy? Who could be around her and not fall for her?
He searched her face to see if this was one of those things women just said to get the guy to say how great she was. It looked like she believed the horseshit she was spraying around, so he didn’t call her on that part.

“He’s not playing with me—or you either. You could have told him we were together. I’m always at your house anyway. What would have been different?”

“You come over in the evening after you’ve done with your friends or after work or after a date. I’m the afterthought. I don’t mind it—I love that you come over to unwind—but we don’t really go anywhere together unless I meet you at the bar. Which isn’t really going anywhere together… It’s pretty much I follow you around,” she muttered.

She always muttered when she was nervous.

He thought about that and what that could seem like to Raina. He wanted to explain that he didn’t really like to share with other people the time they spent together, and he was comfortable when they were together. She was like his holiday. Something he didn’t let himself have too often but needed for his well-being. While he was trying to give her some of that information, she touched his arm.

“It’s okay. I understand. I don’t have a problem with what we have together, but it would be hard to let people know we were going out and then not. I’d rather not have to deal with that when you move on.”

“When I move on?” He looked to see if she believed that. “Because that’s what I do?”

“Yes. You get the girl, she falls for you, and then you move on.”

“Maybe I hadn’t met the right girl yet.”

“Maybe you haven’t.” And with that, she turned on the radio and turned to look out the window. With his head reeling from so much information and so many emotions in such a short time, he didn’t get why she was upset until twenty-five minutes into the drive, and by then she was asleep.

He called Ethan and asked him to drive the materials to his house and leave them in the entryway, and good-natured Ethan agreed without a problem. Too bad, because Liam was frustrated and looking for a fight. That too was unlike him.

When he pulled into his driveway, he was happy to see Ethan had been there and gone.

* * * *

Raina woke up when he shut the door. “Where are we?” She had been knocked out on the ride home. Between the late nights, her body being played like an instrument, and the disappointment she knew she shouldn’t have felt by Liam telling her he hadn’t met the right girl to get him to settle down, she was exhausted.

“I thought we could get takeout and finish the trinkets here.”

He was so confusing. First acting jealous, then the zinger about the right girl—as if he thought she needed to find a way to get over him.

“Ethan’s bringing them to my house.”

“I called him and asked him to bring them to my house. I told him we’d finish them and take them to the calligrapher.”

All right…maybe she was still sleepy, she thought as she walked over to the door, because this wasn’t making any sense. “Wait! We’re doing this at your house?”

“Yes, why?” he said as he unlocked the door and ushered her in.

“Because I’ve never really been to your house.”

“Yes you have.”

“I’ve been in the kitchen to drop off things when we’ve run by, but I’ve never been in your house for a full-fledged visit.” Some of her anger was being displaced by sheer inquisitiveness.

He turned on the lights. “Is it everything you imagined?” he joked. It wasn’t fair that he was hot and sweet and a secret squirrel. He was everything she wanted. She’d have to stop thinking like that. She wanted to be married and have children by the time she was thirty, and she knew that wasn’t in his plans.

She looked around his living room and walked through the dining room and into the kitchen. “I thought there would be whips, chains, and sex swings.”

“Really? You thought I would need all that hardware to satisfy a partner?”

“No. I just know that you get bored very easily, and I thought… It doesn’t matter what I thought.”

He backed her up against the wall in the hallway. “I thought about the conversation we were having before you turned on the music and tuned me out.”

“I don’t want to talk about that. We both know this isn’t going to last, so let’s not do anything that will jeopardize our friendship.”

He looked hurt, but that couldn’t be right. She must be hungry or tired or something.

It was so quiet in the hallway with him looking at her like he was trying to figure out where to go from there and her trying not to look at him at all.

“It appears you don’t want to talk about that. I can accept that. How about I talk about something else I figured out about you?”

She wished things were different, but she’d started this, and she didn’t know if anyone would ever know how to play her body and make it sing like he did.

“You wear your smart little pantsuits with your beautiful hair pinned up tight. It gives the illusion that you are a bit pent up yourself. But with what I’ve seen and what you’ve said, you want more but don’t want to ask for it. You want someone to just give it to you. Maybe we can work on that.”

“Work on what?” She sounded like she’d just run a marathon.

“You asking for what you want. Since you know this isn’t going to last, you’re going to need to find a way to let the next guy give you what you need.”

He was saying the right things—they were things that he would say—but there was something wrong with the tone. It was so hard to think about it, though, because he was waving her favorite carrot in front of her face. She was going to get to be with him again. She would worry about the alarms going off in her head later.

“All right,” she responded, and if possible it seemed like his face got stormier. That shouldn’t make her hot, right? What in the world was going on? It was like he was speaking a different language that sounded like the one she knew but the subtext was off.

He was surrounding her. His hands were on either side of her head, and he was leaning in to kiss her. She pushed him against the opposite wall and was pleased to see him off balance for a minute. She sank to her knees and opened the button and zipper on his jeans.

“Raina…” Her name sounded like a plea and a warning. He was right; she had to start asking for what she wanted—or demanding it.

She pulled his jeans and boxer briefs down to reveal a hot, throbbing, picture-perfect specimen of manhood that belonged on the cover of Cock Weekly, if there was such a publication.

He hissed when she stroked the length from the bottom all the way to the plum-like helmet she’d ached to kiss. She licked off the sticky drop of pearl liquid that accumulated at the tip and looked up to see what the torment was doing to Liam.

He looked more aroused than she’d ever seen him. His brow was furrowed, and his mouth was opened slightly. She was getting stirred up watching him watch her.

“Do you like this, Raina?” His voice was deep and slightly unsteady, and she felt like a powerful woman.

She licked the head, and his eyes closed briefly. “Yes, I do. Tell me what you want.”

He grinned at her. “Trying to change the game, huh?”

“You know what they say. What’s good for the goose…” She continued to place small kisses and licks in the same general area.

“Put it in your mouth,” he groaned, and she opened her mouth wide. “Just the tip.” She closed down on the head and sucked, using her tongue to stimulate.

He put one hand on her jaw and the other on his cock and pulled it out of her mouth. It came out with a soft popping sound. He rubbed the tip on her lips and then put his hands on her arms and brought her to her feet.

“Tell me what you want.”

“I just want you, but that wasn’t really the question, so then I guess I want to be naked.”

He helped her out of her clothes in record speed. “Well, beautiful…you have me, and you’re naked. So, now what?”

“I want you to do me right here, in the hallway.”

He backed her up against the wall and lifted up her leg so he could make a space for himself between them. He quickly donned a condom and proceeded to rub against her, making sure the cap of his cock hit her clit with each stroke.

He bent over, sucked her nipple into his mouth, and entered her slick passage at the same time. She looked like a content kitten who’d gotten exactly what she wanted, and he could only hope that his body felt even a quarter as good to her as her body felt to him. He fisted her hair and could feel her orgasm rippling as her abs clenched and shuddered. The moaning and spasming just went on and on.

“Oh, Liam…please don’t stop.”

He had let go of her breast and was pumping like a fast piston. She reached up, pinched his nipple, and then sucked the skin right beside his Adam’s apple. Hard. She had a few nice tricks up her sleeve as well. The lusty-mixed-with-coy look she was giving him was the last thing he noticed before he filled her with what felt like everything he had. “Oh fuck.”

He withdrew from her body and kissed her on the forehead. He took her hand and led her to his bathroom. He gave her towels, turned on the water, and gave her a long shirt and some sweatpants. After making sure she had everything she needed, he told her he’d be back.

Chapter Seven

What the hell had just happened? He’d had no idea it could be like that. The sex got better and better. Every. Damn. Time. He had no clue what was going on, but her speech in the car about them not ever going out had made him think about the way she saw his visits as opposed to how they really were for him. He wanted to find a way to get the trinkets done without putting it back on Raina since he’d already worked it out so she wouldn’t have to do it but then messed it up. He’d taken away her helper, he didn’t want to get on her bad side, and he wanted to take her out on the town. He took a couple of minutes to think, and he knew just the person to do it. Giving the person a quick call to make sure it was okay, he felt pretty good about how he’d worked all that out.

She came out smelling like his soap—that shouldn’t have been a turn-on. She was wearing his shirt and a pair of sweatpants that he should have thrown out long ago, as they were way too tight on him.

“I called Sue, and she said she has time to do the trinkets. She told Ethan she could do them, but he said you’d probably want to do them.”

“That’s good. I need to get home anyway.” That was what her mouth said, but her demeanor said “screw off, jerk.”

“Oh…I thought maybe we could go out and get something to eat.”

“No. That’s okay.”

There was something wrong, and although he had a feeling of what it was, he wasn’t sure he wanted to open that particular can of worms. She hadn’t wanted to listen to what he was trying to say in the car, and it didn’t seem like she wanted to talk now. “Let me load the stuff into the car, and I’ll drop you off.”

“You’re going to take it to Sue’s after you drop me off?” she asked, sounding like it was killing her to ask.

He looked at her face, at the flushed cheeks and pursed lips, and wondered if she was going to say what she wanted to say or keep it locked inside like usual.

“That’s the plan.”

“All righty, then…great. Let’s go.” She was giving him that smile she reserved for other people, the too-bright smile. He always wondered who thought that was a real smile.

He knew why she had it, and he knew what she thought, but he wasn’t going to discuss it. If she thought he was that disgusting, willing to leave her and be with another woman, so be it. She could always ask and he’d tell her, but he was disappointed in her faith in him. He could see why she didn’t have any, but for some reason, that didn’t make it hurt any less.

The ride back to her house was the quiet that had been a part of their world off and on for the last few days, and he hated it. It was dark, angry, and thick. He opened the window to get some air circulating. He wanted to say something to get her to talk to him. His charm was failing him; he couldn’t think of a single thing to say that wouldn’t sound like he was begging her to think highly of him. Let her think what she thought—he didn’t care what people thought of him. The little voice that was saying he did care what Raina thought was about due for an ass kicking if it didn’t shut up.

They pulled up at her house, and she jumped out before he could turn off the car.

“Thanks for taking me to the wine tasting. I had a great time. Enjoy your night.”

“Raina.”

“Look, it’s not a big deal. I know you like variety, and we’ve been hanging out for a few days nonstop. I knew it was bound to be over soon.”

“What?” He walked around the car as she took large steps backward to the door, almost tripping on the uneven pavement.

“No hard feelings, Liam, I promise. I’ll see you at the meeting this Sunday.” She turned to unlock her door. “Have a great night.”

The door closed, and Liam was furious. Not only had she written them off after their outrageous connection in his hallway, but she’d insulted him on so many other levels. He needed to think about a lot of things, and maybe she did too. Anything that came out of his mouth right now would be tinged with anger and could possibly cause more disruption than they seemed to have between them now.