Читать книгу Wicked - Tori Carrington - Страница 9

RENAE LOVED WORKING at Women Only. The shop that sat on the Ohio-Michigan border was more than a job to her that provided a check at the end of the week. Ever since owner Ginger Wasserman had opened the place and hired her on the spot five years ago, she’d felt invested in the shop’s success. Responsible for making the clientele happy. Dedicated not only to coming up with new ideas for services and supplies women might be interested in, but to seeing them through.

That was why it seemed strange that the shop was the last thing on her mind when she arrived there fifteen minutes after her intimate encounter with Will Sexton next to the mailboxes.

“Boy, you must really be looking forward to this class.”

Renae blinked Lucky Clayborn’s pretty face into focus. More than her co-worker, she and Lucky shared similar pasts that had aided in their growing close over the past two months. And now that Lucky was opening up a satellite Women Only shop downtown, Renae saw more of her than ever. Which made coming to work doubly enjoyable.

“The costume,” Lucky said by way of an explanation.

Renae stared down at the belly-dancer outfit she wore, almost surprised to discover she still had it on.

It had been a long time since a guy had driven her to the point of distraction.

Longer still since one had made her forget what she was wearing.

Very interesting, indeed.

“Your class awaits,” Lucky said, motioning toward the curtained-off room to the right.

What had once begun as a traditional one-showroom retail shop had slowly expanded to take up four units in the strip mall that had once been Strip Joint Central. While a couple of men’s clubs remained, Women Only was quickly growing to crowd them out and the area was becoming better known for catering to the positive needs of women rather than the baser needs of men.

To the left of the showroom were the cushy massage rooms and a comfortable class area designed to look like a large, inviting sitting room where everything, from how to give a blow-his-mind blow job to educating women on their G-spot, was discussed. To the right was the open studio room lined with mirrors where Renae and others taught belly dancing and, yes, even the art of stripping. But rather than for dollars, they taught them the skills to perform in private for their mates.

“Renae?” Lucky moved her hand in front of her eyes. “Are you all right?”

She considered the way her blood still thrummed through her veins, and the dampness of her thighs, and smiled. Oh, yes. Everything was more than all right. It was great.

“Fine. I’m just fine. Have you seen Ginger?”

Lucky wrote something down on a pad she held, seeming more than a little distracted herself. Which was normal, Renae thought. If she had a guy like Colin McKenna waiting at home for her every day, she’d spend the rest of her life with her head in the clouds.

“She was in and out already. Said she might be back after lunch.” Lucky looked at her. “Did you want something in particular? You could always call her cell.”

Renae made a face as she adjusted the top of her costume. What she had to discuss with Ginger couldn’t be done over the phone. And she didn’t want to make an appointment, either. Because to do so would indicate something was on her mind.

No, she wanted to catch Ginger when she had a free moment.

“No. I just wanted to ask her about some new stock, that’s all,” Renae fudged.

“Hmm.” Lucky didn’t appear to believe her. Which was odd, because there was no real reason why her friend should think her motives were other than what she professed. Were they that tuned in to each other?

She heard music from the other room and looked in that direction.

“The natives are getting restless. I’d better get in there.”

She moved toward the curtained-off area, then paused at the door. “By the way, what do you know about Colin’s friend Will?”

Lucky’s pen stopped moving where she’d returned to writing something on her clipboard. “That he’s a doctor.”

“Very funny. I meant what specifically?”

Lucky squinted at her and smiled. “Like what is his favorite color?”

Renae gave her an eye roll. “As in is he seeing anybody?”

Lucky’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She put the clipboard down on the counter as the sound of Middle Eastern music grew louder in the other room. “I think he’s dating a resident at the hospital.”

Damn.

Of course, it was just her luck that the instant the dynamic between her and the sexy doc changed, he’d already be involved with somebody.

Then again, she wasn’t looking for involvement with him. She was looking for sex.

But she also didn’t relish the idea of being the other woman, no matter how briefly.

Well, first things first, she had to decide if she really wanted more of those fireworks that had shot off between them that morning.

She blinked to find Lucky still staring at her. “What happened?” she asked.

Renae merely grinned. “Nothing. And everything. Remind me to tell you later.”

She stepped into the room and drew the curtain closed behind her, ignoring Lucky’s, “You can bet I will!”

THE BALCONY DOORS and heavy white vertical blinds were drawn tightly against the late-morning sun, casting the room in shadow, nothing but the ticktock of the clock his mother had sent him from England last Christmas and the central air-conditioning unit breaking the silence. At this time on a Saturday the complex was quiet, and now was no exception. Will knew from experience that the usual weekly hubbub of grocery shopping and errand running had yet to begin, and those seeking the community pool had yet to rouse from sleep.

Still half asleep, he dragged his wrist across his damp brow wondering if he should turn down the temperature of the thermostat. But he was all too aware that the summer heat wasn’t to blame for his sweaty condition. Rather Renae Truesdale and the naughty dream he’d just had about her was responsible.

He rolled over then groaned when he nearly permanently injured himself. Holding up the top sheet, he stared at his erection, a hard-on that could rival Big Ben.

“At ease,” he muttered, letting the sheet settle back down.

This wasn’t going to do at all. Five months of waking to pulsing hard-ons. Dreams filled with pImages** of women he shouldn’t be lusting after. Hell, he was plowing through his supply of sheets because no matter what chilly temperature he kept the room at, he woke up soaked with sweat. For a short time, vigorous tennis matches with his mate Colin worked out much of the frustration. But lately not even that was working.

Especially since Colin had called the brutal matches to an end a couple of weeks ago claiming Will’s unrelieved frustration was making the games too intense. Worse, Colin had tried to hand him money to buy a little female company. Five minutes, Colin had told him. That’s all it would take.

But just as Will hadn’t masturbated since he was twelve, he’d never paid for it. And he wasn’t going to start now.

He stared at the face of his alarm clock, surprised to find that he’d managed a few hours rest and that the buzzer was about to go off to wake him for his lunch date with Colin. He switched off the alarm, tossed off the top sheet then headed for the shower, turning on the water full blast and as cold as he could stand it. He climbed inside and gritted his teeth, waiting for the punishing spray to weaken his erection. After a few long moments, he cracked his eyelids open to find that the water was having absolutely zero effect on Ben.

Well, Christ. What was he supposed to do? Walk around all day trying to hide a hard-on the size of a baseball bat?

Unable to take the cold water anymore, he adjusted the knobs until the spray warmed, then leaned his hands against the ceramic tile and took a deep breath. Damn Renae Truesdale and her wicked belly-dancer costume. He put his face into the spray, remembering the soft globes of her breasts, the sleek smoothness of her skin, the defined muscles of her abdomen. Then there was her kiss…

His erection twitched and he groaned. It wasn’t fair, being offered up a temptation of Renae’s caliber while he lay in wait for the woman who was supposed to end up the love of his life. Then again, he’d learned pretty early on that life was anything but fair. After all, what was the difference between him and Prince Charles but for the legs they’d popped out from between? While his mother had been trying to rub the ever-present mud from his face, Charles had been photographed on the finest of thoroughbred horses in his chaps, mud everywhere but on his elite person.

But when all was said and done, he and Charles weren’t really all that different, now, were they? After all, Chuck had ditched a perfectly good princess in order to shag a woman he hadn’t been able to exorcise from his system.

And Will was obsessed with the idea of banging the hell out of Renae Truesdale when the only woman he should be wanting was presently on the other side of the country.

He grabbed the soap and lathered up his hands, thinking even as he did so that no amount of soap would be able to cleanse the mud from his mind.

“Face it, you’re not going to get her out of your head until you sleep with her.”

That was another thing that life had taught him. That no matter how much you wanted a woman sexually, the instant you had her, it was a whole new ball game. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d woken up to find himself staring at a woman whom he’d wanted within an inch of his life the night before but whom he wanted nothing more than to run from the next morning. That’s why he’d decided five months ago that in the future he would conduct his relationships with his head rather than with his Johnson.

Or in this case his Ben.

He stared down at the traitorous body part that was just begging to be touched. The problem was, it didn’t want his attention. Rather it was more interested in seeing if the oral talent Renae had demonstrated with her kissing extended to oral sex. He ran his soapy hands over his stomach and arms, then lathered up again. He reached for his rock-hard arousal at the same time he imagined Renae’s decadent mouth closing over the tip…and he came with the power of a twelve-year-old experiencing his first orgasm.

Oh…oh…oh.

When the spasms finally subsided, Will instantly released his erection and stared down at it with all the disgust of a man at war. This was not happening. He had not just masturbated. He’d merely been washing himself and…well, Ben had taken over from there.

“You and me,” Will said to the faithless organ that even now seemed to be grinning at him in sated bliss. “We have to have a chat. A nice long one.”

And not once, he decided, would the name of Renae Truesdale come up.

“YOU LOOK LIKE HELL.”

Just what Will needed to be told in that moment.

He stared at Colin McKenna across the table from him even as he took a deep slug of a cold draught of beer. Harry’s Bar was their usual hangout of late. It was where, if he remembered correctly, he’d met Colin’s friend Lucky Clayborn for the first time. Well, right before she was fired as a waitress from the bar, became a patient of one of Colin’s colleagues, then became the love of Colin’s life.

“Right-o,” he commented dryly. “Thanks for that astute observation, friend.”

Colin chuckled and pushed aside the menu neither of them needed. “Dare I ask what’s behind this morning’s scowl? Or is it the same battle that’s been raging for the past five months?”

“Same old battle,” Will confirmed, downing half the ale and stretching his neck.

“Still not getting any from the new girlfriend?”

Will waved him away as he made room for the waitress to put down his fish-and-chips. Harry’s was the only restaurant that came close to offering up something akin to what he’d grown up on at home. Fast food British-style. “No, it’s not that.”

Colin raised his brows. “So you are getting some?”

Will scowled. “No, no. Unfortunately.”

“Then what is it if it’s not that?”

Will tried to pick up a piece of fish, found it too hot, and shook his fingers to cool them. “It’s just that…well, since my sex life is not quite up to par as of late, my fantasy life has geared up to take up the slack.”

“Ah. The lesbians upstairs.” Colin nodded.

“Actually, it’s not both of them, but just one, as luck would have it.” He chewed thoughtfully on a chip. “I had the most delicious encounter with Miss Renae Truesdale in the hall next to the mailboxes this morning.”

Colin hesitated where he had just picked up his own chicken burger. “Define ‘encounter.”’

“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary, mind you. Just some harmless flirting.” The fish was finally cool enough to eat and he bit into it. “Oh, and the most phenomenal kiss,” he said around a full mouth.

“You kissed her? Who initiated it?”

Will thought about it a minute. “I don’t know. It was more of a mutual thing, I guess.”

Colin’s grin was altogether too self-satisfying for Will. “I thought lesbians were considered lesbians because they weren’t interested in men.”

Will made a face and dragged his napkin across his chin. “Yes, well, maybe she’s one of those new-fangled lesbians. You know, bisexual instead of homosexual.”

He supposed he found the fact that Renae had kissed him a bit odd himself. While she’d played a starring role in his fantasy life, given her sexual status, he’d had no idea that she might be interested in him, no matter her playful flirting up until now.

“So what do you think I should do?” he asked.

“About what?”

The waitress supplied them with fresh draughts and made off with their empty glasses. “What do you mean ‘about what’? What should I do about the intriguing Miss Truesdale, of course?”

“Oh, no.” Colin put his burger down. “There’s no way I’m getting involved in this. Lucky works with Renae, you know.”

Will nodded, then shrugged. “Anyway, it’s quite possibly a nonissue already. The instant she walked away this morning she probably realized her mistake.”

“Mmm. Because it’s easy to mistake you for a woman, you mean.”

Will remembered the way she’d gripped his manhood. “No, I mean maybe she just…slipped or something.” He shrugged as he downed another half a draught. “At any rate, it should be relatively easy to avoid her.”

“If that’s what you want to do.”

“Are you saying it isn’t what I should want to do?”

“I didn’t say anything of the kind.” Colin opened the ketchup bottle and created a red puddle next to his perfectly good chips. “But I am getting a little tired of hearing about your empty bed.”

Will squinted at him. “So you think I should force the issue with Janet then?”

Colin took a deep breath then chuckled. “I think you should do whatever it is you need to do, Will.”

“A whole lot of help you are.”

Yes, he thought. He’d avoid Renae. Shouldn’t be too difficult. When he returned home from work in the mornings at the same time she normally left for work, he’d simply park in the far corner of the lot and wait until she left before going inside.

Yes. That should work out just fine.

And it wouldn’t have to be for long. After all, Janet would be home in a little over a week’s time.

“Now, how about we start up those tennis matches again?” he asked Colin, who was already shaking his head.