Sets Appeal. Virginia Taylor

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ rolled over to face the door. “No,” he shouted as he sat up and leaped out of the bed in two quick motions. “Shit.”

      “Don’t be pathetic,” Ilona yelled. “You bought it for me. I’ll bring in two glasses.”

      “No!” He pulled on his jeans. “I’ll come out there.” He sped out of the bedroom, in full grump mode, arriving in the kitchen in time to see Ilona slide a bottle of champagne onto the table. “Put that back.”

      She gave him a sideways, flirtatious smile and found two clean champagne glasses. “You dressed just for me?”

      “Give me a break.”

      “Normally you sleep naked.” With an uncaring expression on her face, she finger-combed her long blond hair, arranging the bulk over one shoulder and giving her seductive pout.

      “What do you want?”

      She wore panda eye makeup and her short tight skirt looked like a bandana, missing only the knot. “Something to eat. Were you saving that pizza for anyone?”

      “Couldn’t you simply raid the fridge and leave me to sleep?” He put the champagne back in the fridge but took out last night’s leftover pizza and placed it on the table for her.

      “Don’t be a grouch. Give me a cuddle.” She walked into his arms where she stayed, rubbing her face against his bare chest. “Mm-mm. I love you, Jay. You’ve got the tightest behind in the world.” She groped the aforesaid, which annoyed the hell out of him, but remaining patient, he put her hand behind her. She laughed softly.

      “Take the pizza and go.” He kissed her forehead, messed her hair, and moved out of her reach.

      “Where did you get the car? Did you rob a bank?” She picked up the slice of pizza and took a bite. Her expression looked too casual.

      He blinked, remembering Vix’s Mercedes outside. His shoulders stiffened. “It belongs to a friend.”

      “Who?” She glanced towards the bedroom.

      He suppressed the urge to guard the door. If these two women ever met, the last place should be in his bedroom. Knowing women, he would be the one attacked for a situation not of his making. “No one you know. What’s the time?”

      “About eight. I’m on my way home. Late night. I thought I’d stop by and tell you I won’t be going today. You don’t mind, do you?” She took another big bite of the pizza.

      “No. That’s okay.”

      Her focus again on the bedroom, she nodded. “See you later, then. Thanks for the breakfast.” She snatched up the remains of the pizza slice and, with her high heels clattering across the floorboards, she left by the back door for which she had a key.

      One day he would ask for his key back, but he couldn’t abandon her yet. She needed him, if only for champagne and pizza breakfasts, and while she was free to drop by whenever she chose, he knew she was okay.

      Now he had to make his explanations in the bedroom, which he approached cautiously, wondering why. He’d slept with Vix, yes, but that was all. The crisp underwear she’d arrived in had barely been disturbed, unfortunately. He found, despite his body having other ideas, that he couldn’t casually screw a woman who was afraid of sex. This said nothing for her ex-husband. Nor did her lack of confidence, which he’d spent his waking time last night trying not to erode further, and he also wondered why.

      “Keep looking,” he said, cheered by the way her big blue eyes skimmed over him as he walked through the doorway of the bedroom. “I don’t mind being admired.”

      “So who admires you?”

      “Too bad about that condom.”

      “Too bad about your mother.”

      “Who?”

      “No doubt that was your mother in the kitchen?” She gave him a faked smile.

      “Nope.” He moved towards her, knowing she’d been married to an unfaithful prick who clearly hadn’t treated her well in the bedroom. Jay was a sucker for a woman in distress. Vix also had body issues, which she hadn’t changed by making her figure into one of the shapeliest he had ever seen. Although her most noticeable attributes were physical, in all the subjects they had covered at the party while tentatively assessing each other as bedmates, not once had she talked about herself.

      He knew her opinion on the weather, musicals versus plays, comedies versus tragedies, the last musical to hit town, the university drama course, and the benefits of volunteering to get a job. And nothing about herself, other than hearsay from Ilona, in that she hadn’t deserved her rich, brilliant husband, Tim Nolan.

      As she had last night, she pulled the covers to her chin. Her hair looked messy but glossed with health, and her eyes shone with suspicion. “Are you going to tell me who she is?”

      He stared at her, contemplating a morning of exploratory sex now that they knew more about each other. A one-night stand with her would have been doomed to fail. She thought she wanted a hard dick and nothing more. Apparently, that was all she’d ever had. He could give her much more. He could give her pleasure. If he had taken her last night, she would have been shocked by his speed, and so would he. A quick screw wasn’t for him, nor for a woman who needed much more, though at this stage, he didn’t quite know what she needed. He only knew he didn’t perform to order, though of course he could have. The moment he had seen her, he had wanted her but he wanted her to relax and enjoy sex the way he did. He wanted her to enjoy him.

      “I’ll have the first shower,” he said, breathing through his teeth. He was the master of self-punishment. “She’s just a friend, no one you need worry about.”

      “Nothing worries me,” said the woman who was afraid of him looking at her naked body in the light. “I just wanted to be sure that I’m not the wrong part of a threesome.”

      He gave her a light kiss on the lips and went to his wardrobe, snatching out a few articles of clothing. She had been the wrong part of a threesome while she was married. Lonny, the other participant, had just walked out his door.

      During the next couple of months, if his attraction to this surprisingly appealing woman didn’t fade, his balancing act would be a tad shaky.

      * * * *

      With a smile on her face, Vix stepped into JD’s slippery bath to take a shower. JD was clearly attracted to her, which was pretty darned fantastic, but he and she weren’t meant to be. The condom had proved that. He’d made her feel sexy, but nothing had happened. She could leave this morning without any regrets and without feeling cheap. And never, ever, would she drink too much again.

      She wondered how his face had looked before the scar. Probably not quite as tough. He had regular features with a good strong nose and jaw. His skin was clear and tanned and his stubble held a glint of gold. The old white line of his scar was only a slight disfiguration. Before he’d asked, she hadn’t concentrated on his eye color, just the appealing gleam of interest, but after he had questioned her, she had noted the unusual khaki green.

      She washed her hair with his man-shampoo, knowing that with squeaky-clean hair she wouldn’t feel so bad about not putting on fresh underwear. Maybe she could send him a big box of chocolates to thank him for his СКАЧАТЬ