A Perfect Ten (Forbidden Men #5)(84)

“Why not?” I slurred, burrowing into her a little more and making her giggle again.

“You’re working, remember?”

I lifted my head from her shoulder to look around Pick’s office. “Fuck.” I’d completely forgotten where we were. And I’d never locked the door, either.

I jumped up off her, giving myself a head rush in my hurry. Then I tossed the condom and tucked myself back into my pants. As I was zipping up, I turned to Caroline in time to watch her fetch her panties off the floor. There was no way she’d be able to slip the shredded cloth back on, and I couldn’t help it; I grinned smugly.

She scowled at me and waved them in my face. “Thanks a lot, *. You ruined them. What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

I snatched them from her, glad to have the memento, and stuffed them into my pocket. “Looks like someone’s going commando for the rest of the night. Just make sure you don’t flirt with Hart again while you’re not wearing panties, or I’m really going to lose my shit and go all cave-man on you. I’ll probably toss you over my shoulder and drag you back to my lair, chain you to my bed and spank you daily.”

She grinned and cupped my face in her hands. “I love it when you get jealous.”

I snorted because I didn’t love it at all. I pretty much hated it. Jealousy was only hot when she wanted to cut a bitch for touching me, not the other way around. “You don’t know how douchebag Hart f*cked with me earlier tonight, so I have a good reason to be pissed at him.”

Her brow puckered in confusion. “Asher f*cked with you? How?”

Feeling like a petulant child who was tattling on a bully, I rested my face on her shoulder and slipped my hand around her waist, only to let my palm wander down until I had it under her skirt and smoothing across her bare bottom. “He figured us out when you enlisted him to help break into my phone. So to give me a hard time tonight, he tried to start a contest with me to see who could get the most chicks’ phone numbers by the end of the night, knowing I couldn’t say no in front of your brother.”

When she tensed against me, I caught her elbow to keep her from going anywhere. “Don’t worry. I didn’t get a single number. I didn’t even try. The f*cker just pissed me off for making the challenge in the first place.”

When I looked up, I saw relief on Caroline’s face. Beaming at me, she murmured, “My poor Oren. It’s tough being a reformed man-whore, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” I puckered out my bottom lip to make her laugh.

Actually, the reformed part wasn’t so tough at all; it was pretending to my best friend that I still was one that sucked ass.

“So you promise not to flirt with him ever again, right?” I pressed.

“Hmm?” She seemed too distracted with kissing her way across my jaw to answer. I scowled and snapped my fingers in front of her face.

“Focus, Caroline. Hart. The flirting. You’re done with that. Right?”

She blinked and looked up at me with raised eyebrows. “Wow. You’re really jealous of him.”

“I’m not jealous,” I muttered. But she seemed so happy about the idea that I let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “It’s just that you seem so...f*cking close to him.”

She shrugged. “Well...I am. I guess. I mean, we’re friends.”

“Friends,” I repeated in a dry tone as I lifted my eyebrows to stare right back at her.

The damn woman laughed at my irritation. “Well, you’re awfully close to Zoey,” she reminded me.

“And you know exactly why,” I bit out, loathing this conversation the more it played out.

With a nod, she smiled. “I do. You think of her as a sister. Well...the same holds true for me and Asher, I guess.”

I couldn’t stop a snort of disbelief from blurting out. “You think of him as a brother?” When she nodded, I cocked her a look, totally not buying it. “So you don’t find him attractive at all.”

“Oh God, yes. Asher’s freaking gorgeous.”

“Gorgeous?” I wasn’t expecting her to use quite that strong of a word. “That pencil-thin stick of a musician?”

Her fingers trailed up my jawline, distracting me. “Mmm. He has a very arresting face.”

I lowered my nose and rubbed it along hers. “But you like my face better.”

It was a question even though I worded it as a statement. Caroline’s grin spread. “What do you think? It was your room I snuck into so I could be with you, not his.”

Hearing her say that made me feel better. But I caught her hand to keep it from distracting me. “I think I’m f*cking confused. He’s the one with the gorgeous body, the arresting face, the perfect voice and awesome attitude. I’m an *. So, why was it my room you chose?”

Her hand broke free of my grip to slide into my hair, and the other followed until she’d caged my face in her palms. “Because you’re the one I want.”

I loved hearing that. God, how I loved hearing that. But as she leaned up to kiss me, I caught her again, stopping her.

“But why?” She could do so much better than a f*cked-up jackwad like me. “Why me?”

She paused when she realized I was serious. Her gaze softened and her lips tipped up into the most beautiful smile. “Do you remember the day we met?”