Excellent question.
Daphne just left.
Rue’s taking her car.
I give her a reassuring smile. “I’ll figure something out. Get going. I have to lock up.”
“You know.” Rue places a hand on her hip. “I’ve been thinking lately. About Zane.”
“That’s random.” I laugh.
“Ever since you’ve been around, he hasn’t been causing as much trouble with the HOA. There’ve been no hot tub threesomes. No relieving himself on lawns. No wild parties. No sex tape scandals.”
“Sex tape scandals?” I about choke on my words.
Rue’s lips flatten as she glances up at me. “You didn’t know?”
She glances at the dainty gold watch on her wrist. “Oh, sweetie, it’s a long story. Can I tell you when I get back in a few days?”
My jaw hangs.
No.
She can’t do that to me.
She can’t just drop a bomb like that and hop in her little red Lexus and speed off into the tangerine Florida sunset.
“I’m sure you can Google it.” Rue’s head tilts as she jangles her keys and wraps them in her palm. “Although at this point, you might want to go straight to the source. Might be better to hear about it from him.”
“We’re not really speaking right now.”
Rue’s left brow arches high. “Did he hurt you?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Well, damn.” Rue stares at the floor, her gaze unfixed as she thinks for a moment. “Tried to warn you, sweetheart. You wouldn’t listen.”
“It’s not like that,” I say. “He’s a good man. I think. It’s just complicated.”
“Life is way too short to waste time on complicated assholes. Believe me. I have an entire Rolodex of them. Anyway, I have to go.” She pulls out a pair of oversized sunglasses fit for a movie star from her purse and slides them over her nose. “You call if you need anything, all right?”
I hug Aunt Rue and step back as she backs out of her driveway and speeds away, and just as Daphne’s advice and Rue’s advice mix like oil and water in my head, my phone begins to buzz in my pocket.
Sliding it out, I glance at the screen, my heart stopping cold when I see a text message from Zane.
ZANE: FOR THE RECORD, I THINK IT’S REALLY FUCKING HOT THAT YOU HAVE A BRAIN AND YOU’RE NOT AFRAID TO USE IT. I’M SORRY I HURT YOUR FEELINGS. SHRINKS ARE COOL. FOOTBALL PLAYERS DROOL.
I laugh, my anger towards him evaporating into the thick Florida air.
ME: WHAT DO YOU WANT, ZANE?
ZANE: YOU. I WANT YOU. IN MY BED. RIGHT NOW.
Warmth burns my cheeks and spreads south to my core. The thought of Zane’s muscled body over mine, pinning me to his mattress, his hands parting my thighs and his mouth owning every square inch of me is almost enough to send me in a dead sprint to the house next door.
ME: YOU THINK I’M THAT EASY?
I shut the garage door and flip off the lights, heading in to do a once-over at the house and another at myself.
ZANE: I FEEL LIKE THAT’S A TRICK QUESTION AND I REALLY FUCKING HATE TEXTING. GET YOUR HOT LITTLE ASS OVER HERE AND WE’LL TALK FACE TO FACE.
Grabbing my bag by the front door, I check my reflection one last time, completely unable to wipe the annoying smile off my face, and head next door.
Daphne’s advice echoes in my ears.
Sorry, Aunt Rue.
Tonight, I’m embracing complicated.
Chapter 20
Zane
“Shit, gorgeous, if I knew all it’d take was a text message, I’d have texted you days ago.” I fasten my hand on her hip and pull her inside my front door.
“Days ago I might not have been this receptive,” she says.
Her lips are bitten and stung and slicked in some kind of cherry-pink lip balm that I’m sure tastes like raspberries or pomegranate. I can’t stand here and look at them and not want to crush them with mine. I’ve missed her taste on my tongue. I’ve missed her soft hair knotted in my hands and her smooth skin under my palms and her soaked pussy clenched and pulsing on my cock.
Hooking my hands under her ass, I lift her up and walk her to my room.
“Just like that?” she says.
“Were you expecting something more formal? Tea and crumpets before we begin?”
“No.” She smiles, her arms wrapped around my neck.
“I mean, you came here to get fucked, right?”
She hesitates before giving a slow nod.
“I fucking love it.” My mouth crashes into hers as I carry her down the hall. “Such a dirty girl.”
Her mouth smiles against mine and for the next hour, the rest of the world disappears. For the next hour, I lose myself in the girl next door. For the next hour, I forget everything.
And I remember how good it feels to be close to someone again. Even if it’s purely physical.
* * *
Delilah wakes with a start, sitting up in bed and feeling the space around her. My room is pitch dark now, and the glowing clock on the nightstand reads a quarter past eleven.
“Go back to sleep.” I drag her toward me. “You wore me out, woman.”
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I should get back.” She pulls against me, dipping one leg off the edge of the bed.
“Stop,” I say. “You’re already here. Naked. In my bed. You may as well stay the night.”
In the dark, I see the outline of her body as it angles toward me, and I feel the weight of her stare.