His eyes crossed with lust.
Her back stiffened under his hands.
“Easy, Piper,” he whispered along the shell of her ear. “We have an audience watching.”
“I think I hate you,” she rasped in his ear.
And damned if the sound didn’t go straight to other parts of him.
“Ahhh, but love and hate, they’re practically the same thing.”
“I definitely don’t love you.”
“Give me a couple days; I’ll sway you to the dark side.”
He curled his arm around her and rested his hand on her ass, giving it a squeeze followed by a playful slap. “Ladies, would you mind giving me and my girlfriend a few minutes? It was a long ride and she didn’t speak to me for most of it. I have some making up to do.”
“Absolutely, Mr. Myers,” the tall blonde therapist closest to the door replied. With a nod of her head, they both disappeared through the bedroom doorway, closing the door with a soft click.
Piper reached back and sunk her nails into the back of the hand cupping her ass.
“Ouch, shit. What was that for?” he said as he rubbed the crescent-shaped nail marks she had left in his skin.
“Look, I know what the deal is. I’m supposed to play the girlfriend. That’s fine, that’s what I signed on for. Since I’m doing that, you’re going to show your girlfriend respect.”
“Hey, wait.” He snagged her hand. “How did I disrespect you?”
“Women don’t usually like being grabbed.”
“I kissed your neck. That seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do.”
“It was. It’s the ass grab that I didn’t appreciate. Don’t treat me like any other lay, Trevor. I deserve better than that.” She glanced up at him, disappointment evident from the lines with the set of her mouth and her guarded gaze. “What happened to that guy I used to know, huh? Was it this job that turned you into this? If it was, I’m not so sure it’s worth the promotion.”
She was right. He knew she was right. For years, more years than he cared to count, this was how he had been with women. They’d been happy to have the attention lavished on them, both monetarily and physically. They used him for what they could get out of him, and he used them for a soft place to land. It had worked.
It was also as impersonal as an audit, despite the nakedness.
And it left him alone in the end. Always alone.
Leave it to Piper to call him on his shit.
“I’m sorry, Piper. Seriously, I didn’t mean to make you feel like that.”
She sighed and fiddled with the end of her braid. “You know, it’s probably me. Dancers get grabbed on a lot, and we’re expected to pretend it doesn’t happen. I’m probably sensitive to it. Still, if you want to sell your boss on the new and improved, monogamous you, you need to treat me like the girl next door.”
He nodded. “You’re right. No ass grabbing.”
She looked so determined to be stern with him, but her mouth tipped up in the corners anyway. The light in her eyes returned and they were on their way back to solid ground again. Interesting how the glow changed like that. Maybe it was just in hers. Either way, he never wanted to put that look in her eyes again.
“Maybe we need to practice. You know, so we look like a comfortable couple.”
“Trevor,” she warned.
“What? I’m being completely serious here. We’ve never even kissed and now we’re supposed to be this couple that’s been together for a year? I don’t think it’ll wash. Do you want our first kiss to be with an audience?”
“Well, no. That would be weird.”
“Okay, so we do it now.” He took a step toward her.
She put a hand to his chest to stop him. “Wait.”
“What?”
“I don’t know,” he said and chewed the corner of her lip, her brow furrowed in thought.
“Piper, it’s not like you’ve never kissed a man before. We’re just getting it out of the way. After all, we’re about to get naked in front of each other. Kissing should definitely come before nudity.”
“Okay, that’s logical. So, where do we start?”
“It’s just like any other kiss. Let’s just rip off the Band-Aid and get it done.”
“Band-Aid…right. Just a quick sting.”
He lined his body with hers, determined to take it slow. Tempering his insatiable urge to taste her mouth, he smoothed his hand over that braid, the silky fibers dancing along his skin. He didn’t know why that was his inclination, but he went with it.
Women liked their hair touched, right?
Jesus, it had been so fucking long since he touched a woman, wanting her pleasure, not just worrying about his own that he honestly had no damn clue.
He swirled his index finger along the curl at the end. Careful to not dip his fingers lower over the curve of her breast, he dragged it along the skin of her collarbone, enjoying the rise and fall of the ridges there.
She sucked in a deep breath. In that moment, he needed to not screw this up.
He cupped her jaw and tipped her head back. Her eyes drifted shut just a fraction of time before he captured her lips.
She hesitated under him, then seemed to remember herself and what they were supposed to do. In that moment, her lips parted just enough that her sweet taste climbed inside him and twisted his insides.
This had disaster written all over it.
And he didn’t care…he just wanted.
When she let out a soft moan and clutched his shirt, balling the fabric in her tight fist, he went for more. Titling his head to go deeper, so much deeper, he dragged out each slide of his lips, let-ting the heat they created set him on fire just to feel the torturous burn.
Yeah, he was a head case all right.
Her tentative tongue ducked into his mouth making him groan from its erotic exploration. Her hands slid around him until she held him, anchored herself to him really, and there was nothing do but follow her. He took everything she gave, always seeking, needing more, needing to go deeper.
Trevor heard a soft knock indicating their time was almost up. When the door opened, he paused, his lips on hers, his fingers curled into her braid where it lay at the nape of her neck. She pulled away, just enough to look him in the eye, and blinked several times.
“Looks like you two made up. Are you ready for your massages now?”
He feathered his thumb over her cheek, still needing to touch her, to reassure himself that their kiss was real. “I think we’re ready,” he said, never taking his eyes from hers.
“Ready for what?” Piper asked.
“For everything,” Trevor said, knowing that this had become so much more than a game where he competed for the ultimate in prizes.
He turned to the therapists. “If you could give us just a minute to get undressed.”
“We’ll be back in just a couple minutes…if that will be sufficient.”
“That would be fine.”
Again, they left with nothing but the sound of the soft click of the door. Only this time, everything had changed.
He stepped back and unbuttoned his shirt at a steady pace, his eyes on hers the entire time. He would not look below her neck. He absolutely would not.
She peeled her tank top over her head, eyes locked on his, whether or not she was just feeling the same intensity as he or just making sure he didn’t pull something, he didn’t know. Reaching behind her back, she unhooked her bra. Seconds later, the muffled thud of it hitting the floor was the only sound, other than their heavy breathing.