Screwdriver
Authors: Mari Carr
Cocktales, Book Two
When Jordan Lance isn’t poring over spreadsheets for Books
and Brew, she’s fantasizing about the store’s landlord. Too bad she’s squarely
in Gabriel’s “just friends” column. Jordan’s prepared to pine forever—until she
meets Casey. The handyman is hot, handsome, charming…and Gabriel’s best friend.
Suddenly her wicked fantasies are porntastic times two.
Casey has suspected his friend’s interest in Jordan. If he
can push them together, he might get Gabriel off the bimbo train he’s been
riding. The plan? Jealousy. And it’s working. It’s not long before Gabriel’s
deeper feelings for Jordan emerge. Problem is…so do Casey’s. What happens when
two friends want the same woman? Red-hot ménage, baby.
Two gorgeous men exploring every inch of her body? Um, yes
please! Jordan doesn’t know if threesomes are considered acceptable, but she’s
sure of one thing—being this bad feels far too good.
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Screwdriver
ISBN 9781419935688
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Screwdriver Copyright © 2012 Mari Carr
Edited by Kelli Collins
Cover design by Syneca
Photography by Bart72/Shutterstock.com and Romancenovelcovers.com
Electronic book publication March 2012
The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of
Ellora’s Cave Publishing.
With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not
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permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home
Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons,
living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The
characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
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Mari Carr
Dedication
This story is dedicated to Mary D., a good friend who is
always willing to share her vodka…and a laugh.
Screwdriver
1½ oz. vodka
6 oz. pulp-free orange juice
Pour the orange juice into a glass with ice, then pour in
the shot of vodka.
Stir and serve.
GLaw: So it’s really that hot?
JLan: You have no idea. My sweat is sweating.
GLaw: Wouldn’t mind seeing that trick.
JLan: LOL. Help!
GLaw: I’ll make a couple calls. In the meantime, maybe
B&B could adopt a clothing-optional policy.
JLan: You’re only saying that because you want to see Sophie
topless.
GLaw: No comment.
JLan: What? So unlike you to plead the Fifth. How was your
date last night?
GLaw: Eternal.
JLan: Thought you liked this woman?
GLaw: I did. First couple of dates. Then we decided to stop
screwing and start talking. It went downhill fast.
JLan: Gross. You’re a pig. Remind me again. Why are we
friends?
GLaw: You find me irresistible.
JLan: No comment.
GLaw: Got a meeting in ten. Doing lunch again next week?
JLan: Of course. Every Monday.
GLaw: Keep cool, Jordy. And let me know if you take me up on
the topless idea.
JLan: Go to your meeting.
GLaw: LOL. Later.
Jordan Lance signed off IM then stared at her screen saver.
It was a picture of her and Gabriel taken at an impromptu picnic Stephanie had
thrown in May to celebrate spring and the return of warm weather. Jayne had
caught them unaware as they chatted, sitting in lawn chairs. Neither of them
faced the camera and they weren’t even smiling, but it was still Jordan’s
favorite picture. Not because it was a particularly good shot of her, but
because of the expression on Gabriel’s face.
For that brief moment in time, he was completely focused on
her. His gaze was intent, interested and maybe even attracted.
She scoffed.
Yeah, right. Attracted. In your dreams,
Jordan.
She clicked on an Excel spreadsheet and decided it was time
to focus on work and real life.
Unfortunately, her distraction was too strong.
In my dreams.
She gave in to the inevitable and closed her eyes.
“Do that again. Oh yeah. Right there. God, right there.”
She looked down at the top of his head, seeing only the
sea of chestnut hair. He was currently driving her to madness, doing all sorts
of beautiful things between her legs. She thrashed against her desk chair,
throwing her head back.
His tongue flicked against her clit once more and she
squealed with delight, more moisture flooding her already soaked pussy. A
trickle of sweat ran down the side of her face, but she didn’t bother to flick
it away. She could take the heat in stride when it felt this damn good.
She reached out, ran her fingers through his thick, soft
hair and let her eyes drift shut. She was so close. So fucking close.
“Please,” she whispered.
He didn’t speak. He never did. He simply walked into her
office, dropped to his knees and gave her the hottest orgasms in history.
His mouth moved harder against her sensitive flesh, his
teeth nipping lightly, causing the most incredible sensation. She couldn’t
decide if it hurt or felt good, but she’d be damned if she’d tell him to stop.
“More,” she pleaded. His mouth wasn’t enough. It would
never be enough. She needed his cock, but he held back, never offering her that
last bit of paradise.
He responded to her request by slowly pushing two fingers
inside her pussy.
She tightened her hands in his hair. She must be hurting
him, but he never complained, never sought release. Then she realized he wasn’t
sweating. Apparently, she was the only one suffering from the increase in
temperature.
He was cool as a cucumber as he increased the speed, his
fingers fucking her faster, deeper.
She thrust her hips toward him, unable to control the
movements of her body. He had her thrashing around like a flag in a hurricane.
Powerless to resist him. Putty in his hands. She needed so much more than this.
“You.” She gripped his wrist, trying to pull his hand
away from her pussy. She wouldn’t be denied. Not again. While his mouth and
hands did glorious things to her, she was determined that this time—today—she’d
get it all. She had to. Perspiration dampened her shirt, the cotton clinging to
her breasts. She was on the verge of bursting into flames but she didn’t care.
She’d gladly stand on the pyre as long as he was here with her.
He remained silent, ignoring her pleas, her grip on his
arm. He continued to push his thick fingers inside her, adding another to the
dance. God dammit. She’d never make it. Never be able to hold on.
“I need you.” Her voice was hoarse from her cries but he
didn’t respond. When he sucked her clit into his mouth, she knew it was game
over.
She released his hair and her hand flew to the arm of the
chair, gripping it tightly as she bucked toward him, toward his tormenting
mouth, his gorgeous fingers.
“Ahhh…” She saw spots. Her body tingled from the tips of
her toes to the top of her head. She imagined even her hair felt the pulse of
her orgasm. Trembling, she let it consume her, take her to the peak and toss
her over.
Free-falling back to earth, she wondered if there could
be anything more wonderful than this.
As the sensations subsided, she kept her eyes shut,
unwilling to return to reality. The image of her lover faded, then disappeared.
No matter how hard she tried, Jordan couldn’t keep him with her.
“Please, Gabriel,” she whispered. “Don’t go.”
When she couldn’t ignore the truth any longer, she slowly
lifted her eyelids.
A quick glance confirmed it was her own fingers that had
driven her to madness.
Her fantasy was over and she was alone.
Again.
“Okay,” Jordan said as she hit the bottom step, walking into
the stifling humidity of Books and Brew. “I just IM’d Gabriel to tell him the
AC is on the fritz.”
Stephanie, one of Jordan’s BFFs, fanned herself with a drink
menu. “Good. I’m fucking dying in here.”
The bell over the front door jingled as a prospective
customer walked in. The older woman paused after only one step and then glanced
their way.
Jordan gave the woman an apologetic smile. “Sorry. We’re
having some problems with our air-conditioning.”
The woman nodded. “Yes. I can feel that.” Turning, she left
the store, obviously deciding the brutal heat wave pummeling Portland was
preferable to remaining in their ovenlike business.
“Hope the repair guy gets here fast. Otherwise we may as
well close up shop. That’s the third customer to walk in and right back out.
Sort of pointless to stay open.” Stephanie picked up a napkin and wiped the
perspiration from her forehead.
Jayne joined them at the bar and grabbed a bottle of water
from the cooler behind Stephanie. “I suspect the only reason people are out
shopping at all today is to find cool air in the stores. There’s no way anyone
would come in here to browse. It must be pushing eighty already.”
Jordan glanced at the clock. It was barely eleven a.m. What
would the store feel like by midafternoon? “Should we close? Call today a wash?
Even if the repair guy does show up, chances are good he won’t get the air
fixed immediately.”
Stephanie hooted. “Hell yeah! Let’s do it. I’m thinking
Grant Pool.”
Jordan shook her head. “Are you nuts? It’ll be packed bumper
to butt with bodies.”
Stephanie shrugged. “Who cares? I’m claiming a lounge chair
and soaking up some rays. Tired of looking like a vampire.”
Jordan looked at Stephanie’s lightly tanned complexion and
sun-streaked brunette hair and rolled her eyes. Her friend was gorgeous. A
quick glance at Jayne’s petite figure and blonde hair drove home the fact—once
again—that both of her friends were very attractive. Jordan didn’t even let her
mind drift to the fourth in their gang of friends. Sophie, the other joint
owner of Books and Brew, was breathtakingly beautiful and a social butterfly,
which left shy, average Jordan the odd guy out. As always.
She didn’t think she was unattractive, just plain. Brown
hair, brown eyes, medium height, medium build. There wasn’t a single feature on
her boring body that stood out, that stopped traffic or that made men glance in
her direction.
Stephanie reached beneath the bar for her purse. “I need to
run home and grab a swimsuit. You guys in?”
Jayne nodded. “Yeah. The pool sounds like fun. Want to take
one car and stop at my place on the way to yours?”
Stephanie pulled her car keys out of her handbag. “Sure.
I’ll drive. How about you, Jordan?”
Jordan crinkled her nose. City pools weren’t her thing. “No
thanks. I might hang out here for a bit in case Gabriel emails or calls.”
Stephanie gave her a wicked grin. “If he does call, why not
be bold for once and ask the guy out?”
Jayne stepped closer. “I agree with Steph. I mean, if you’re
destined to be all hot and sticky today, you might as well get there the fun
way. With Gabriel.”
Jordan tried to fight back the blush the mere mention of
Gabriel’s name inspired, recalling the red-hot fantasy she had played out in
her office this morning. It was a lost cause. Her friends loved to tease her
about her fruitless crush on their landlord. Gabriel Lawson was richer than
Midas, more handsome than Gerard Butler and the ultimate ladies’ man.
He’d also held her heart in his hand since the first day they
met. She’d long ago resigned herself to the idea she and Gabriel would never be
more than friends. Gabriel had come to count on her as the one woman who would
never hit on him. He was oblivious to her true desires. While being “just
friends” was an annoying position, she didn’t intend to give it up anytime
soon. Gabriel had a permanent revolving door when it came to girlfriends. The
masochistic part of her took some sick pride in the fact that she was the only
one still standing.
Besides, she’d seen the beauties on Gabriel’s arm over the
years and the old
Sesame Street
song drifted through her mind. She was
definitely the one thing unlike all the others. She didn’t stand a snowball’s
chance in hell at capturing his attention, so she maintained her Gabriel
worship in secret. Instead of upsetting the norm, she offered him friendly
conversation and advice, while casting him as the star in all her masturbation
daydreams.
Jordan feigned a yawn. “Oh thank God, you managed to get in
your Gabriel dig today. And it’s early. Not even noon. That may be a new record
for the two of you.”
Stephanie narrowed her eyes. “Nice dodge, but it doesn’t
change the fact that you’re shortchanging the both of you. The guy’s perfect
for you. You’re both number freaks. You listen to the same crap jazz music and
actually choose to go to art museums during your free time. Think of all the
pretty, nerdy babies you could bring into the world.”
“Gabriel is hardly a nerd.” Gabriel was male perfection
incarnate, with dark eyes, soft brown hair, a chiseled jaw and a toned body
that begged to be touched. In addition to that, he was alpha, intelligent,
handsome, suave. Jordan had a never-ending list of descriptions for him and
“nerd” was nowhere on it.
Jayne, the bookworm of the group, placed her hands on her
hips. “It’s a good thing we keep you trapped behind that bar slinging drinks,
Steph. You have no culture in your soul. Poor Jared.”
Stephanie was six months into the longest relationship of
her life, with the man Jordan truly hoped her friend would eventually marry.
Jared, a local police detective, had given Stephanie a ticket for
double-parking and, after a few tumultuous dates, the key to his house. “Jared
and I see eye to eye on what’s fun. Rock concerts. Check. A day at the beach.
Check. Walking around a museum looking at indecipherable paintings for hours on
end. No thanks.”
Jordan raised her hand, cutting off the familiar argument.
“This entire conversation is pointless. Gabriel doesn’t know I’m interested and
I’m not about to ask him out on a date. There’s no way I’d risk our friendship
just to be his flavor of the month.”
Stephanie crinkled her nose. “Let’s be serious. With Gabe,
it’s more like flavor of the week.”
Jordan tilted her head in annoyance. “Thanks for the
distinction.”
Stephanie’s face showed no remorse. “The difference is
you
wouldn’t be a short-term deal. You have the advantage.”
“What’s that?” Jordan asked.
“You’re pretty and smart, the two of you have tons in common
and you’re already friends, which I’ve heard is how you’re supposed to start a
relationship.”
Jayne laughed. “I think that may be an old wives’ tale. God
knows you and Jared skipped straight to the good part and you’re still going
strong.”
Stephanie nodded. “Good point, but I’d say it’s already too
late for Jordan to sleep with Gabriel the first night they meet.”
Jordan leaned on the bar. “God. I wish I had your nerve. I
miss sex.”
Stephanie lifted her hair off her neck and fanned in an
attempt to cool off. “This is exactly what I’m trying to say. Next time Gabe
comes around, I want you to flirt. Drop some hints that you wouldn’t be opposed
to getting horizontal with him. I mean, what’s the most horrible thing that
could happen?”
Sadly, Jordan had let herself imagine the worst along with
the sex fantasies. He could treat her like all the others, take her out for a
few dates, maybe have some sex and then the grand dumping scene or—the most
frightening idea of all—he could refuse her advances point-blank.
“I just can’t make myself go there. Not with Gabe.”
Jayne placed a comforting hand on Jordan’s shoulder. “I can
understand that. Honestly. His handsomeness is a bit intimidating. We’re just
worried about you. You haven’t had a date in a very long time.”
Two and a half years. She’d had a somewhat serious boyfriend
in college, but they’d split up after graduation when he’d taken a job on the
East Coast. He’d asked her to come with him, but Jordan had known almost from
the start their relationship wasn’t destined to last. She’d broken things off
and gone into the bookstore-slash-bar business with Steph, Jayne and Sophie
instead.
She’d met Gabriel when they were looking for a space to rent
and, since then, she’d avoided dating, opting instead for his friendship and
fantasizing from afar. It wasn’t a healthy mind-set, but she couldn’t seem to
conjure an attraction to anyone except Gabriel.
Besides, dating had never been very high on her list of fun
things to do. It was one of the reasons she’d stayed in the relationship with
Chris for so long. He was like a comfortable pair of shoes she’d managed to
break in. Sure, they weren’t sexy or even very pretty, but they didn’t hurt her
feet. So what if Chris hadn’t set her pulse racing or rocked her world in bed?
“I can’t even tell you how much I hate the dating scene. I’m
not good at making small talk like you, Jayne. And I’m not a natural flirt like
Sophie. And I don’t have your brash confidence, Steph. I’m just—”
“Jordan,” Stephanie finished for her. “And believe me,
that’s plenty. I’m not sure why you think you have to be like us. You have a
lot to offer any guy smart enough to ask you out, Gabriel included.”
Jordan shrugged. She appreciated Stephanie’s kind words, but
she still preferred her own company, or that of her small group of close-knit
friends, to throwing herself to the wolves in the dating pool. It was one of
the reasons why her roles as bookkeeper and office manager in their business
venture suited her so much. She wasn’t fond of big crowds or blind dates with
strangers, or trying to sell stuff to the customers in the store. Give her a
nice, quiet accounting ledger any day.
“I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with me, Steph. I’m
just not exactly in Gabriel’s league. You’ve seen the women he dates. They’re
freaking supermodels or high-powered business types. I can’t compete with
that.”
Jayne reached for Jordan’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze.
“Personally, I think Gabriel has the hots for you too. I’ve seen the way he
looks at you.”
Stephanie sighed. “You’re throwing away the possibility of
something awesome.”
If there was one thing Stephanie had zero patience with, it
was Jordan’s ability to settle for second place. Stephanie was a
grab-the-bull-by-the-horns kind of girl who didn’t quit until she was on top.
That drive had made her the perfect business partner. Jordan had known even
before they opened Books and Brew, Stephanie wouldn’t rest until the store was
a success.
Jordan appreciated her concern. “It’s not going to happen
between Gabriel and me, Steph, and I’m okay with that. Really.”
Stephanie took a hairband out of the pocket of her jeans and
pulled her hair up in a ponytail. “Fucking heat. Okay, fine. So if you can’t
have Gabriel, you’re not going to date at all?”
Jordan wanted to refute that comment, but it would be a lie.
She had let herself believe the fantasies of Gabriel were enough. “I guess I
have been hiding out a bit too much lately.”
“Try
all
the time,” Jayne said quietly.
Usually Stephanie was the one who offered up the hard
truths. Hearing Jayne say it told Jordan she’d let things go too far. She’d retreated
further and further into herself and her ridiculous sex fantasies. Maybe it was
time to stop burying her head in the sand and live a little. “Tell you what.
How about if I agree to give up on the Gabriel dream and make an effort to
reenter the dating game?”
Jayne perked up, her shoulders straightening. “I totally
think you should get back out there. You haven’t seriously dated in months. Who
knows? Maybe you’ll meet a guy to make you forget all about Gabriel.”
Jordan suspected there wasn’t a man on earth who could
accomplish such a feat, but she didn’t say as much to her friends. “Maybe I
will.”
“So, where are you going to find this Prince Charming? It’s
not like you get out much.”
Leave it to Stephanie to play hardball. Now that Jordan had
made a vow to start dating, her friend would nag relentlessly until she
followed through.
“I’ll flirt with the next available man who walks into this
bar. I’ll be witty and make fascinating conversation until he’s falling over
himself to take me out to dinner. Promise.”
“Nice try, but it’s not like this place is crawling with
single guys.”
Damn. Busted. Stephanie was too clever.
“I’d rather try to find a guy on my own first. I know you,
Steph. I can see the wheels turning in your brain already. I hate blind dates.”
Stephanie leaned closer. “Jared’s got a couple friends on
the force who are totally gorgeous and—”
Jordan cut her off before Stephanie got too worked up. “Give
me a month. One month to try to find someone on my own. If that fails, then
I’ll succumb to your setup hell. Deal?”
Stephanie pursed her lips, considering Jordan’s offer. She
nodded slowly. “One month. You can try to find love at Books and Brew and, when
that fails, you’re all mine.” Jordan and Jayne laughed when Stephanie rubbed
her hands together like some old-fashioned movie villain.
“Now get your stuff and come to the pool with us. You can
practice flirting with the lifeguards,” Stephanie said.
Jordan shook her head. “Ew. The lifeguards are all still in
high school. I’ll pass.”
“Come on, Jordan,” Jayne urged. “Play hooky from work with
us.”
“Nope. Not interested. If by some miracle Gabriel finds a
repair guy today, one of us should be here to let him in.”
Stephanie looked as if she wanted to argue but Jordan
quickly said, “You know how much I hate public pools. Too crowded, too
chlorinated, too noisy. Besides, I always feel like I’m swimming neck-deep in
pee-pee.”