Читать книгу Tempted - Kimberly Van Meter - Страница 15
ОглавлениеHARPER WIPED THE sweat from her face and hurried to her room to shower.
Her pulse raced even as she closed her door and stripped.
The nerve of that guy, to insert himself into her workout.
As if all that sweaty muscle would impress her.
Like she’d never seen a well-built male.
Harper barked a short laugh as if that alone would bolster her argument with herself.
But she was still shaking.
Her fingers were trembling and her insides felt twisted into knots.
She had too much restless energy and no outlet.
Get in the shower, start the day, just as you would have if Teagan hadn’t shown up.
Sound advice.
Eventually, she’d settle down and everything would go back to normal.
Harper turned on the water and stepped into the spray, gasping when the cold water hit her skin.
Yesss! A cold shower was exactly what she needed to cool down.
Why was Teagan so... She didn’t have the word for what Teagan was.
A distraction, that’s what he was.
She closed her eyes and drifted into the spray, letting the water pelt some sense into her head.
But Teagan was right there in her thoughts, refusing to leave.
That smile, that dimple. What was a grown-ass adult doing with a dimple in his cheek, anyway?
Dimples were for boy bands and babies.
Except there was nothing boyish about Teagan.
She groaned. All that hard, firm flesh...her fingers itched to touch.
Stop it.
Just stop.
She was tangled in knots, her thoughts couldn’t travel a straight line. It was the backup of sexual energy that had nowhere to go.
Harper looked at the showerhead and a thought came to her.
It’d been a fleeting spark of a thought but once it caught, a fire followed.
Leaning against the wall, she placed her foot on the tiny ledge that masqueraded as a seat and brought down the showerhead from its cradle. The water pressure was strong enough but not too strong.
Dare she say, just right?
Only one way to find out.
Closing her eyes, Harper brought the showerhead to her aching sex, nestling the pulsating jets against the swollen and ready nub between her folds.
Immediate pleasure flushed through her body as awareness flooded her senses. Harper gasped as she adjusted position, allowing for a better pulse, and squeezed her eyes shut when the violent threat of an immediate orgasm nearly stole the strength from her legs.
She was so close. Tantalizing close.
But she didn’t want to come just yet.
Harper wanted to savor the sweetness a little bit more.
Teagan.
His name floated from her thoughts and escaped through her parted lips as the pleasure mounted.
She ground the pulsing jets against her harder, relishing the pressure as her body began to shake.
Her thoughts were unruly, going unerringly straight to Teagan. Imagining what it would feel like to be pressed against him, his tongue inside her mouth, demanding everything from her, pushing her ever closer to that beautiful shattering moment.
Oh, God. She gasped, her free hand gripping the side of the shower as her knees wobbled.
Teagan...yesss!
Harper came hard. So hard that her toes curled into tight buds as her muscles clenched so violently that she might never wear heels again.
But it was worth it.
Dropping the showerhead from nerveless fingers, she sank to the floor, breathing hard.
The spray swung wildly and smacked her in the face, sending a wash of water straight up her nose as she struggled to get it under control.
Coughing, she rose on unsteady feet and replaced the showerhead in its cradle.
She’d made herself stupid with that orgasm.
Just thinking about Teagan had made her come.
So what would happen if she actually found herself skin to skin with the gorgeous man?
She might just spontaneously combust.
Harper chuckled weakly at her own joke and exhaled a long breath.
Well, at least she was relaxed now.
She eyed the showerhead as if it were a conspirator and said, “This is between me and you. No one else needs to know. Got it?”
Of course, the showerhead said nothing.
But somehow Harper felt better just saying the words out loud if only to pound the sentiment home to her stubborn subconscious.
She didn’t want Teagan.
She wanted...what was his name? Oh, that’s right, Teagan...no!
Stuart.
Stuart Money Bucks.
Think of those lovely millions and all the lovely ways you are going to spend it, she reminded herself, lathering up the body wash. So what if Stuart was old enough to be her grandfather and Teagan looked like sex on a stick. Money was the great equalizer.
That’s all she needed to remember.
* * *
THE ITINERARY FOR today was relaxed. A full day at sea as the Nautica sliced through the waters toward Mexico. There were a number of activities on the schedule if you were so inclined but mostly it was about relaxation and fun.
There were casinos and restaurants, spas, shopping and more food.
So much food! If Teagan came back with love handles, despite punishing himself at the gym, J.T. would never let him live it down.
His cell rang and he saw—speak of the devil—J.T. was calling.
“Hey,” Teagan answered. “You know this is going to cost me an arm and a leg.”
“I told you to get the international plan but you didn’t want to spring for the temporary cost. That’s on you.”
“I didn’t think I was going to get a check-up call from my little brother,” he returned drily. “What’s up?”
“Just wondering how the trip is going. You know, seeing if my money was well spent.”
“Next time you want to blow money, just give me the cash.”
“That good, huh?”
“It’s not bad, just not really my scene.”
“Teagan, you’ve been out of the scene so long I doubt you’d remember what your scene looks like,” J.T. joked. Teagan had to admit his little brother was right, but he wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it out loud. “Look, you’re being a good sport about it, so have some fun. Be a tourist. Buy funny hats and drink too many margaritas. Make some memories you can regret later. Every old man needs some questionable life choices to reminisce about in the old folks home, so get to it.”
“I can always borrow a few of yours,” Teagan reminded his brother. “I think you made enough bad choices to last us both a lifetime.”
“Hey, not all bad choices turn out to be bad in the end. We’re getting a new plane and revitalizing our business from my last bad decision and I happen to sleep next to the most beautiful woman in the world because of it. So, in the end, my choice wasn’t bad at all.”
“You’re burning dollars with your philosophical bullshit,” Teagan said, rolling his eyes. “Was there anything else you needed to tell me? Any news on the plane delivery?”
“Yeah, been pushed back a few weeks. So really there’s nothing stopping you from letting your hair down and going crazy. I got things here.”
Teagan grunted an answer and said his goodbye. Then he turned his phone off. He didn’t want any more calls from his little brother.
Knowing J.T., the little shit was probably purposefully calling him just to jack up the phone bill. Brothers were funny that way.
Teagan knew he could trust J.T. to hold down the fort, but it wasn’t exactly in his nature to hand over the keys to the castle while he rode off into the sunset for a while.
That’d always been J.T.’s MO.
But maybe J.T. had a small point.
Hell, the money was spent already.
Maybe he ought to go buck wild and just whoop it up.
Maybe he ought to make it his mission to catch the lovely Harper Riley.
An instant smile threatened even as he thought of her.
Yeah, that could make the trip bearable.
Teagan spent his adult life making sure that J.T. stayed out of trouble. Maybe it was his turn to do something reckless.
Harper was playing it cool.
Guess it was time to turn up the heat.
Oh, Harper, you’re about to experience a little Carmichael charm.
He gave the mirror a cheesy grin and wagged his eyebrows.
Okay, so he was a little rusty.
Let’s start with the basics.
Teagan wrapped the towel around his midsection and flexed, popping out the muscles in his abs and pecs.
Respectable, he noted with pride.
Damn respectable.
He flexed a little more, some poses nonchalant, others obvious.
Then, because all men were essentially kids at heart, he whipped off his towel and swiveled his hips so that his cock started to sway.
Ding dong, baby.
He did that a few times until it started to become painful.
Okay, that’s enough, his inner adult chastised and he returned the towel to his hips.
He knew Harper was attracted to him physically, but she resisted him anyway. So it had to be a mental game.
He had to interest Harper on a different level if he wanted her guard to come down.
So it was time to figure out just what made Harper tick.
Time for a little recon.
