Betting on You (Danvers #4.5)(19)
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Seth was in over his head and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. Had Ashley always been this aggressive and he just hadn’t noticed? Despite his obvious lack of encouragement, her tongue had been in his mouth once and her hands had wandered over his c**k at least three times. Fuck, now her foot was running up his leg from across the table. If he thought not sitting right beside her would deter her, he was sadly mistaken. And if he didn’t know better, he would swear she had at least four pairs of feet and hands. He had known he was in trouble when she announced that she was finished with acting and planning to move back east. It seemed obvious that she was now looking for more than friends with occasional benefits.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with her when he no longer had the semi-protection of the dinner table between them. They had been friends for a long time and he hated to hurt her feelings, but he wasn’t sure how else to handle it. He wouldn’t have been interested in a relationship with her even if Mia weren’t in the picture. Dating her in school had been enough to show him that they didn’t have much common ground outside of good sex. He had always enjoyed her company, but tonight, he didn’t even feel like he knew the Ashley who had shown up at his door. This one seemed to have an agenda and he had a bad feeling he was it. His brothers had dealt with their share of women wanting them for the Jackson family money, but that was something he had never come across. Ashley was from a well-off family, so surely this wasn’t prompted by that. Biological clock ticking? She was barking up the wrong tree either way.
When dinner was over, he made a show of yawning. He gave her a sheepish look saying, “Sorry, it’s been a long day and I’m wiped out.” When she settled down close beside him on the couch, he knew that the not-too-subtle hint had rolled right over her head. Her hand was once again back on his thigh. His c**k didn’t seem to be able to tell when his head was into it or not. Ashley had her hand close enough to feel the sudden interest of the traitor in his pants. The situation was becoming awkward in a hurry. He grabbed her wrist as it connected with his zipper, halting her at least temporarily. He used his other hand to pick up the television remote and the sounds of ESPN soon filled the room. He gave her a bright smile saying, “You don’t mind if I catch the scores, do you?”
Ashley puckered her lips into a pout. Before he knew what was happening, she had hooked a leg over his hips and was straddling his lap. In seconds, the short dress that she was wearing was over her head and lying in the floor. Holy shit! There was no bra in sight. Her perfectly erect ni**les were now even with his mouth, and his c**k was going crazy beneath her firm bottom. She rubbed seductively against him as she lowered her head to whisper in his ear, “Forget the scores, the bases are loaded. It’s your swing.”
Seth knew he lost control for a few seconds before he managed to get it together. As a guy, having the sensory overload of a naked female in your lap pushing every button that you have was something damn hard to regroup from. Her hands on his c**k finally jolted him enough to pull back and at what he saw when he did, ice ran straight through his veins. Mia stood in the entryway of the living room looking at him in horror. His mind was frantically buzzing, trying to piece together how she could be here to witness what was no doubt a damning scene. He pushed Ashley’s hands roughly away from him, sitting her none too gently on the couch beside him. Possibly that hadn’t been a great move since Mia couldn’t miss Ashley’s exposed br**sts now. She was still staring at him, but her feet were carrying her backward as if she couldn’t look away from the train wreck long enough to turn around and flee. He got to his feet, ignoring Ashley’s questions as he made his way toward Mia.
He was afraid she would run before he reached her, but she had stopped, waiting for him. The confident woman that he was used to looked more like a confused child, causing something inside of him to clench in remorse. “Mia, honey, what are you doing here?” Yeah, shit, that didn’t sound guilty at all.
“I . . . we finished early. I wanted to surprise you tonight. I . . . did, didn’t I?”
He took her arm, gently saying, “This isn’t what it looks like. She . . . um . . . caught me off guard. It wasn’t going any further.” Ashley’s roar of outrage rang off the walls of his apartment and seemed to snap Mia out of her trance.
She jerked her arm out of his and gave him a look of such contempt that he flinched. “Do me a favor and don’t lie to me. I’m sure you fully planned to sleep with her tonight and with me tomorrow night.” She laughed a laugh devoid of humor. “You know, I had actually started to believe the last few weeks that you were someone of substance. I pushed myself and the entire team to finish early because I thought there was something . . . more between us. Thanks for the wake-up call.”
Seth felt her words flaying him. Despite the anger now radiating off her in waves, he could see tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. “Mia . . .”
She held up her hand, stopping him. Her anger seemed to have fled as fast as it had erupted. She held his gaze for another moment before saying, “Just don’t, Seth, please. You don’t owe me anything . . . anything at all. I saw something that obviously wasn’t there, at least on your part.” With those parting words, she walked through the foyer and into the elevator. As the doors closed, he stood there stunned by what had just happened. He had the very real urge to pinch himself to see if this was some kind of a dream. He still couldn’t fathom her showing up out of nowhere at the exact moment that Ashley was sitting on him practically naked.