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  Blood rushed to my ears and I groaned, letting my hands slide down her sides to grip her hips, pinning her closer to me. She was so soft, and I was so fucking hard, it took everything I had not to grind against her to relieve some of the pressure.

  Slow.

  I stepped back, putting a few inches between us, and she whimpered in protest, but I shook my head.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not stopping. I just want to get into deeper water."

  She stared at me through glazed eyes and nodded, letting me lead her further into the pool.

  When the warm water lapped at my waist, I pulled her back into my arms again, lifting her until she gasped and instinctively wrapped her legs around me. The sensation of those toned thighs clutching my hips and her soft pussy pressed flush against my groin was enough to drag a string of curses from my mouth, and she chuckled softly.

  "You sound like you're in pain," she murmured, flexing against me, a teasing smile tugging at her lips.

  "You have no idea," I muttered before urging her backward until she was half-floating and her breasts were exposed to me. I dropped my mouth to one, tight peak and closed my teeth gently over it.

  "I think I might," she gasped, her fingers racing over my shoulders to clutch at my hair. "God, that feels good."

  The praise made my cock buck in response and she hummed her approval as it sprang free through the slit in my boxers.

  "Don't stop."

  I sucked her nipple into my mouth, reveling in the taste of her. The silkiness of her skin, the scent of her perfume, the sound of her breath.

  I had my mouth on her, but it was she who was consuming me. My whole body was tense, on high alert, ready, willing and able to spread those luscious thighs and fill her up. What I needed to do was take a second to calm the fuck down, but Lola wasn't having that.

  I'd just pulled away to set her feet back on solid ground again and give my aching cock a second to chill when she locked onto me like a boa constrictor. She reclined all the way, until she was floating on her back in the water, leaving her body from the top of her head to her knees in full view. I gripped her thighs tighter and looked down to the place where our bodies met.

  "Christ, Lo," I groaned, so entranced by the view, I couldn't help but touch, curling my hands inward, releasing her hips to dip my thumbs into the cradle of her thighs and spreading her wide to my gaze.

  The tiny triangle of black hair there served as the perfect foil for her creamy skin, and when I turned to face her into the moonlight, I could see the plump bundle of nerves that hid there.

  My mouth literally watered with the need to taste her. To close my lips over that swollen little bud and suck until she screamed my name. I let my thumbs slip up through her slick heat until they reached that spot and I rubbed it gently.

  "Reid," she moaned, back arching, sending a wave rolling across the surface of the water.

  I did it again, not at all satisfied with my mobility, but not willing to stop touching her altogether for even a second to try to figure out how to get more of her.

  My name became a chant on her lips and her hips rolled in a seductive dance as I worked her clit, slowly, gently at first, and then faster.

  She was straining toward me, her nipples spiked, two raspberry peaks so compelling, I couldn't decide where to look first.

  When she shifted her hips again and my cock took the opening to spring between us, it was no contest. My thumbs on her clit, my swollen cock riding the slick slit between her thighs and that narrow thatch of hair that I couldn't wait to burying my face in.

  I froze as a terrible thought crossed my mind.

  "I don't have a condom.” The words came out in a guttural bark that physically hurt when I spoke them. My body screamed in protest as every instinct drove me to take the next logical step. To pull back and slide in and out and in and out until the grip of her body made me come like a freight train.

  Her eyes snapped wide as reality dawned. She opened her mouth and closed it wordlessly, looking stricken.

  I gripped her thighs and held her in place as she tried to pull away. “I’m only telling you so you don't try to get me to put it inside you. I'm tested all the time due to fighting regulations, but I don't want to get you pregnant, Lo."

  She shook her head slowly and again struggled to stand, but I held firm.

  “Stay,” I said gently, holding her body to mine with one hand while the other teased her clit again. “It’s not important. I want to touch you. I want to see your face when you come.”

  And, fuck, was that the truth. I didn't just want it. I needed it. It was like air to me, at this point. And she was so close. Even now, I could feel it in the tension of her thighs…

  "I want to watch you come too, Reid. Can you come like this?"

  She fluttered her hips against me again, sliding that sweet, hot slit over my distended cock in an intimate caress that sucked the breath from my lungs.

  "Fuck, yes."

  * * *

  Lola

  Maybe it had been the Boy Scout thing.

  Maybe it had been the sweet mile.

  Or maybe it was the fact that, the first time we'd met, he'd rescued me, but my view of Reid McDaniels had clearly been skewed.

  Up until right now, I’d pegged him as a boy next door, super deluxe sexy model. The kind of guy that walked old ladies across the street. The kind that always remembered Valentine's Day.

  The kind of guy I’d always been too stupid to go out with.

  Now, though, as I raced toward what felt like the mother of all orgasms, I was pretty sure I’d pegged him wrong. He was a good guy, no question. But he was also a bad boy.

  Even now, being as gentle as he was, there was no mistaking the grinding need all over his face. And more than anything in the world, I wanted to see him in his full glory. Not holding back. Letting me have it all.

  "Oh, god."

  The gasp was torn out of me, and I couldn't have held it back if I tried.

  What was he doing with those fingers? Thick, hot pressure built low in my belly and I wriggled against him again, relishing in his groan of response.

  I could've kicked myself for forgetting the condom. I was so afraid to think myself out of it again, I'd just made the walk to his house on auto-pilot, muttering under my breath the whole way. You can do this, Lo. You can do this.

  And apparently, I was right, because I was sooo doing this. But I ached for all of him. To feel that fullness as he slid deep. To ride him until I forgot New York, and The Velvet Room, and everything but the two of us.

  My shoulders scraped against something sandpapery and I opened my eyes. Reid's laser-like gaze drilled into mine.

  "Lean up," he muttered through gritted teeth. His expression sent shock waves through me that landed right between my thighs.

  Gone was the Boy Scout. In his place was a hyper-focused alpha male who was intent on taking.

  It should've scared me, maybe, but it didn't. In fact, it only sent the flames inside me burning higher.

  I leaned up as he'd asked and found myself half seated on the steps on the far end of the pool.

  How had I not even realized we'd moved so far? Before I could think on it any harder, he was using his newfound leverage to work his cock against me. Faster and faster he moved, like a man possessed now, sucking the breath from my lungs, sending wave after wave of pleasure skittering through me.

  I wanted to watch him. To keep my eyes open so I could remember his face, the flex of his jaw, the grit of his teeth as he thrust against me, but the sensations all came crowding in at once and then, it was too late.

  "Shit, Reid," I moaned, gripping his biceps tight, arching into his clever fingers as they stroked me toward heaven. And then I was there, heat and light and joy smashing together in an explosion of ecstasy.

  I jerked and twitched as my body clenched, closing in on itself. On where Reid should have been inside me. I had little time to lament, though, because not a second later, another orgasm sn
uck up on me, this one stronger than the last as he worked my clit against his straining cock now.

  "I'm going to come, Lo," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Fu-uck," he growled.

  His hips pistoned once, twice more, and then his rock hard abs clenched as he bucked against me. Hot liquid sprayed across my belly, spurring me higher. I groaned his name as I shuddered and shook.

  It took awhile before my senses returned. First, the sounds of the night. Cars in the distance. The chirp of crickets. The breath sawing in and out of Reid’s lungs.

  I opened my eyes, and I stared up at him.

  “That was…” I swallowed hard and trailed off, not sure how to finish my sentence.

  What could I say? That this tussle of teenage-like, non-dry humping was the sexiest experience of my life?

  He didn’t seem to notice, though. He smiled and patted my thigh gently. "Here, let me help you," he murmured, lifting me effortlessly to sit on the top step and then holding out a hand to help me stand. "Let's get you cleaned up.”

  He climbed the steps to stand next to me and then led me toward a rack of towels nestled in the corner near the house.

  "I'm sorry,” I said, shivering as he gently wiped my stomach off, and then used another towel to wrap around me. “That was really dumb of me to forget the—” I broke off, suddenly embarrassed. “I wasn't thinking."

  “I have some inside the house,” he said, pausing in his ministrations to capture my gaze. “If you want to stay.”

  Stay.

  If there was one thing in the world I was bad at, it was staying. In fact, even after what had happened, and the way I felt about him, and the way he touched me, just the word had me ready to bolt.

  I wasn’t wrong when I said I’d misjudged him. He was a good guy with a dirty streak. But, deep down, in his heart, he was also the kind of guy who fell in love and fell hard.

  I could love him back, so easily.

  And then, you’re stuck.

  Just like her mother had been stuck in that shitty little Kansas town, in that shitty little house, without a hope or dream of her own…

  “I can’t.” I clutched the towel tighter around me and backed away slowly, picking up my clothes as I went.

  The expression on his face made my stomach pitch. I already felt terrible. Not just for hurting him. But also for hurting me. I wanted nothing more than to climb into his bed and let him convince me that this could somehow work out. But the panic was lapping at me, urging me to make a move.

  Any move, to get away from the emotions threatening to spill over.

  “I had fun, Reid. It was great. But nothing has changed. I just can’t…” I swallowed hard. “Friends, okay?”

  He nodded, the light in his eyes just a little dimmer, his smile a little less genuine.

  “Sure. Of course.”

  I turned away and yanked my clothes over my still-wet skin, and headed for the fence separating our yards.

  “Thanks for stopping by, buddy,” he called after me.

  I could still hear his voice ringing in my head an hour later when my head hit the pillow.

  Chapter Seven

  Lola

  “I need two scrambled with American cheese, sausage patties and a biscuit for table five,” I called back to the cook as I laid the ticket onto the line.

  “Heard,” he called back, sounding grouchy enough that I opted not to stick around.

  I breezed out of the kitchen, taking a second to swipe at the beads of sweat popping out over my lip.

  The place was air-conditioned according to the sign out front, but the system was definitely on the fritz because it was already hotter than Hades and it wasn’t even ten AM yet.

  “If you wring out my bra right now, there would be a puddle on the floor,” Dee said as she passed, giving me a roll of her expressive brown eyes.

  “Right?” I agreed, shuffling to my next table.

  At least if the A/C was working, we’d be busy and that would be something. But all morning people had been walking in, getting a load of the temperature, and then walking right back out. It was bad enough that I’d be stuck here all day without making any decent tips, but the lull also gave me far too much time to think about the other night.

  Reid.

  My already flaming cheeks went hotter. God, he was sexy. I’d been with my share of guys. A couple, I thought I loved like you do when you’re in your teens, and a couple I knew I didn’t. The sex had ranged from god-awful to pretty solid, but never. Never had it been like is was with Reid.

  And that wasn’t even the full monte, my dirty little subconscious whispered.

  Which was all the more reason to steer clear of him. He’d called twice and I’d managed to resist calling him back.

  Barely.

  But it got harder every day.

  Pushing him out of my head for the dozenth time in the last hour, I approached my next table and took a quick swipe at my forehead, cringing at the tendrils of damp hair clinging there.

  “Good morning,” I murmured absently, not looking up as I poised pen over pad. “What can I get you?”

  “How about a large ice water, a plate of iceberg lettuce and a bowl of ice cream.”

  My pen hand stilled, mid-order, as the voice registered and my gaze shot upward.

  Reid McDaniels sat there in a booth, all by his lonesome, looking freshly-showered and delicious.

  “Hey,” I mumbled, wishing to god I’d taken a second the last time I went to the bathroom to at least slap on some lip gloss. Nothing like your almost one-night stand walking in when you were sweat-slicked, frizzy and sporting a mustard yellow waitress uniform and a stupid, matching cap.

  “No work today?” I asked, shifting from foot to foot, suddenly very aware of my skin in the strangest way.

  “My classes are all in the afternoon so I thought I’d stop in and say hi to a friend, maybe grab a sandwich. To go, now that I realize it’s sweltering in here.”

  He flashed his pearly whites in a slow grin and I started doodling on the pad I held, desperate for something to do with my hands that didn’t involve spearing them into his hair and planting a whopper of a kiss on those beautiful lips.

  “Hey, Lo. Who’s this?”

  Dee had sidled up next to me and was staring down at Reid like he was the last pat of butter on a pancake cruise.

  “Dee, this is my…friend, Reid. Reid, Dee.”

  She held out her hand and Reid shook it, gifting her with one of his warm, crooked smiles that lit his whole face up.

  “Hey, Dee. Nice to meet you.”

  I stood by patiently while the two of them made small talk, mostly about the temperature of the restaurant. A minute in, the bell over the door jingled and Dee stepped back with a lingering smile.

  “That table will be mine, so I gotta go.”

  She scurried off, and I resisted the urge to make a snide comment.

  Dee was super nice. And so was Reid. In fact, on paper, they made perfect sense. She was a hometown girl. Smart, putting herself through college to be a teacher. Didn’t get more stable than that. She was a much better option for him than I would ever be, and who could blame her for checking him out?

  I tugged my gaze away from his thickly muscled shoulders that tested the cotton seams of his t-shirt and met his gaze.

  “So were you serious about that order or?”

  “No. That was just me being cute. I’ll take a turkey BLT to go, and I’ll leave you to your sauna.”

  I jotted down his order, and hotfooted it back to the kitchen to put in the ticket, insides jiggling. What was he really doing here? Had he actually taken me at my word and now he was down to be friends?

  Something about the way he drawled the word and the wicked glint in his eyes, both the other night and today, made me think not, but when I’d looked harder, he’d seemed sincere.

  I kept one ear out for the bell as I lurked in the kitchen doorway, willing to suffer the additional heat from the ovens to avoid having to figure
out what else to say to him.

  A few minutes later, his sandwich was ready, and I wrapped it up with a pickle and some slaw to go.

  I blotted my forehead with a napkin and pasted on a casual smile as I ambled back over to his table, bag in hand.

  “Here you go,” I chirped, nearly wincing at the fake pleasantry of my own voice.

  “Great. What do I owe you?”

  “You paid for pizza the first night, and then for the buggies. I got this.”

  Old friend, old pal.

  “Even Steven, keeping it casual.” His lips twitched but he nodded. He shook the bag and turned for the door but then stopped. “Thanks for the food. And maybe I’ll see you later.”

  I stuffed my hands into the wide pockets on my apron and shrugged, my cheeks starting to hurt from the effort of my smile.

  “Maybe. I’ve gotta work tomorrow night at the club and then it’s basically doubles back to back the next few days after that.”

  Mostly true. My mini-vacation was over and I had to get back to dancing if I wanted to make any money. But if I could barely keep my hands off him in the middle of a coffee shop, I certainly didn’t need to be alone or in close quarters with him until this…whatever it was wore off.

  His brows caved into a frown but disappeared as quickly as it came. “Okay. We’ll talk soon.” He shot a glance over my shoulder and waved. “It was nice meeting you, Dee.”

  He gave me one last look before he walked out the door.

  “Oooh my god. Is that guy for real?”

  Dee didn’t bother to hide her interest as she watched him with a heated gaze as he walked down the sidewalk and out of sight.

  “Yep, he’s for real, I guess.”

  She trailed after me, and chuckled. “So wait, you’re telling me you don’t like him?”

  The issue was exactly the opposite. I liked him too much. And I couldn’t have him. He was all about family and had moved out here to Vegas for a reason. He had big dreams. Well, so did I, and they involved traveling and seeing the world and not letting myself get mired down. Not even with a guy like Reid.