“You’re welcome and relax. I’m sleeping on the couch.” He answered coldly.
Chapter 6
MATT
She lay in the bed, the blankets pulled up around her as she stared right through me. I wanted to grab her, squeeze those soft, tempting curves, and suck on that delectable bottom lip. Plump and juicy just like I remembered. Probably more so. Getting her out of those frozen garments had been the right thing to do for her health but seeing that tight, sexy little body had been my demise. Carly Roberts had been the hottest girl at Maple Cove High, but she had grown into a staggeringly beautiful woman.
“Go take a shower.” I grunted, my irritation mixed with her lack of appreciation and my own frustration. “And you can wear this after.” I muttered, throwing a shirt in her direction before continuing to unpack.
“Yeah…okay. Thanks.” She caught the shirt in the air as I flung it towards her and made her way to the bathroom with the blanket still wrapped around her. I had to admit that embarrassed and flustered looked cute on her.
My lips curled up as I remembered our first night together. I wondered if she had thought of it too, since I picked her up. She’d been innocent back then and I’d been two years older and much more experienced. Yet still, I’d taken things slow with her. I’d let her take the lead and always stopped when she’d had enough. Until, of course, she told me she was ready to lose her V-card the night of my prom. But in true Carly style, she really had me fooled. She had walked out of her bathroom naked, the night before the big event, giggling that she wouldn’t be a prom night cliché. When she asked me to take her, I was so giddy with shock and excitement that hadn’t even hesitated. If only I had known that the following evening, I would leave town unannounced and leave Carly Roberts waiting for her date to the prom.
Guess I couldn’t blame her if she still harbored anger towards me. And in any case, we were strangers now. Strangers but for a small flicker of a past. Yet still, I felt like it was my job to keep her safe, at least in this moment anyway. She’d been through a lot in the past few hours. I made a mental note to tone down my attitude, though. I usually had better self-control but something about her made me lose my cool far too often.
And honestly, I couldn’t quite believe my good luck. I’d always thought about her and wondered what had happened to her. This was my chance to find out. And maybe…just maybe…if I played my cards right, I could make this all work in my favour. I wouldn’t deceive her though, just ask for a favour. But first I needed to gain her trust. And time was definitely not on my side.
While the room steamed up from Carly’s shower, I made a quick call to my mother and told her that the storm had held me up and I had stayed in the city. I’d arrive tomorrow instead. I could hear the disappointment in her voice. “You’ll still come though, right Matthew? I really want to meet your fiancée. What’s her name again?”
I sighed. She was definitely losing her mind. I’d never mentioned a name. “Yes mom, I’m still coming. I’ll introduce you tomorrow.”
I could hear the smile in her voice. “Okay honey. Sleep well and drive safe tomorrow.”
I finished the call and pulled up my email. I still had more discovery work to do for some witness statements related to my upcoming trial. That would be at least a few hours of research. Work would be a good distraction, providing I could actually get it done. The room was small and the air thick with emotion and things unsaid between us. Hopefully, I could work while she slept. If we were at a hotel in the city, I could have easily left Carly to rest and gone down to the bar, restaurant, or any other spot to work. But here at the lovely Maple Cove Inn, I was stuck. Stuck in a cramped, old-fashioned country room, in the middle of a storm, on the outskirts of town. Everything about this town was stifling to me, yet being here with her was both the best and the worst kind of claustrophobic.
Just then, the bathroom door opened and she walked out. An aura of lavender seeped through the room as the heat from the shower escaped the door. She stepped through the mist and stopped. With only a towel around her and wet strands of hair dripping down her caramel skin, she was a vision. I sucked in my breath and tried to subtly adjust my pants beneath the briefcase on my lap. Maybe she wouldn’t notice my obvious discomfort. Then again, with the speed at which blood was rushing into my cock, it made it pretty damn obvious to me. Nothing had changed, I still had it bad for Carly Roberts.
This was ridiculous. We hadn’t seen each other in over ten years and she was clearly no longer my type. She was a wild, reckless artist with no plan, who lived life by the seat of her pants. Her pants. She wasn’t wearing any right now…I found myself wondering about the pretty little pink pussy that I remembered so well. As my mind wondered about what I couldn’t see, my eyes took in what I could. Carly had certainly evolved. A full sleeve of intricate yet delicate foliage inked down from her right shoulder to the tips of her knuckles. Her left was sparse with bits of caramel skin poking through here and there. More ink dotted across an ankle and up one calf. But what really caught my eye was the one that peeked out from beneath her towel. It had been half hidden beneath her panties when I undressed her and now I found myself wondering how far up to that sexy little behind it might travel.
“What the fucking hell are you staring at?” I met her eyes, only to find them glaring at me.
And she still swore like a truck driver. Damn.
“Nothing.” I snapped. Down boy. “Are you done in the bathroom?” My answer a little softer this time. I cast aside my briefcase and turned my back to her.
“Yeah…” She shrugged. “You going in?” Her tone pulled back as mine inched forward.
The air between us seemed as frosty as the early fall storm. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea on my part. Not that there was much choice with rooms. I hadn’t made it up. The inn was actually full. And in this storm, there really wasn’t anywhere else to go.
I grabbed my things and made my way into the bathroom without another word. Maybe she’d be sleeping when I got out.
Slamming the door behind me, I stopped to lean over the sink and exhale. I took a long hard look at my face. I had to admit I looked like shit. Haggard from too many late nights and too much scotch. It seemed like the lines around my eyes were multiplying every day since my last birthday. Scruffy. This was not how I liked to present myself. Especially not when I was with a beautiful woman. But Carly wasn’t like the women I usually spent my time with.
I had always enjoyed the finer things in life and women were no exception. The thing was, I enjoyed women who were buttoned up and classy. Women who could simultaneously challenge me in the courtroom, but who would then let me dominate them in the bedroom. Strength in intelligence and submission was what I found most beautiful. I craved the shark in the boardroom who let down her hair and submitted wholly in the bedroom. The ones who no one would believe would crawl and beg at my feet after winning a Supreme Court case. Yeah, dichotomy was sexy as hell.