Off Base(52)

“W-what are you doing?” she stammered.

“Would it be okay if I kissed you?”

A swift “no” rose to her lips. She hardly knew him. Forgetting that fact, she didn’t want to kiss him. He might not be ugly, but he was the last man she wanted to kiss. The man she wanted to kiss sat inside that coffeehouse, watching her.

Watching her.

If Cullen saw another man kiss her, then he couldn’t possibly think she was hung up on him. She seized upon this idea. Somehow it made perfect sense to her.

“Yes,” she blurted before she fully considered the consequences.

Greg’s eyes lit up like he was presented with an unexpected toy. He worked his mouth as though getting ready for some heavy-duty lip action and closed the distance separating them. He flattened his mouth on hers.

It wasn’t a terrible kiss. No tongue action, thankfully, but he clung to her bottom lip for a long moment like he wanted to take it with him. Maybe he thought it was sexy, but it just felt … odd.

When they stepped apart, he smiled. “See you soon.”

She nodded, forcing herself not to look through the glass door for Cullen. She couldn’t. It would reveal that she perhaps had an ulterior motive in kissing Greg. Which she did, but she didn’t want Cullen to know that.

With a final goodbye for Greg, she hurried to her car. She felt a grim sense of satisfaction knowing she had given Cullen evidence that she wasn’t sitting at home pining for him—or working her vibrator raw lusting after him. She was a big girl, taking her own life by the horns. Still. Her chest ached in a way that felt far from okay.

She slid behind the wheel, started her engine and backed out of her spot without even yet buckling. Almost as though she expected him to give chase. Of course he wouldn’t. There would be no reason for that.

She glanced at herself in the rearview mirror, noting her flushed face and overly bright eyes. It had nothing to do with Greg and everything to do with Cullen.

Lowering her gaze, she wiped a hand over the back of her mouth, ridding herself the memory of Greg’s mouth there. It had been necessary, but she still longed for Cullen. His lips, his taste to erase and replace all others.

As she departed the parking lot, the pulse at her neck steadied, and a hollow feeling spread throughout her chest as she realized that she might not be able to forget her night with Cullen. Ever.

At the first red light she reached, she managed to buckle her seatbelt. Staring blindly ahead, she wondered where this put her. If she couldn’t stop wanting Cullen, craving him as more than a friend, where did that leave her?

How could they be friends at all?





Chapter Eight




Cullen managed to cool his heels at Java Joe’s for an entire five minutes after Huntley left. His hand opened and flexed at his side, the urge to hit something strong and crushing inside him. Huntley on a date was bad enough. Watching her kiss that asshat … that was worse.

“So. You’re totally just going to sit here like that whole thing didn’t bother you?”

He shot a glance at Sheridan as she prepared someone’s drink. “Why would I be bothered?”

She snorted. “Right. You spent the last few years hanging out with Huntley and now she shows up with a date. Not a big deal.”

“We’re just friends.”

“Is that what you call it these days?”

Shaking his head, he stood up from the barstool. “See you later.”

“Keep it real,” she called as he headed outside and made his way to his truck. He started for home, but his mind rebelled, wondering if Huntley was going to see that tool again.

He beat the steering wheel once with a curse. He couldn’t believe she had let that guy kiss her. Sure, she was single and free to give her lips to any man she wanted, but after last night was she really so eager to be with someone else? She was the only female he could think about. The only one he wanted.

Maybe you got her primed and she’s looking to seal the deal with someone else.

“Fuck,” he growled and turned his truck around in a hard U-turn that broke a dozen traffic violations. He didn’t care. He pushed his foot on the accelerator without even thinking, only one destination in mind.

*

She had just changed into one of her favorite softest T-shirts and yoga pants, scrubbed off her makeup, pulled her hair up into a ponytail and began the stare-down with her refrigerator, contemplating a snack of cheese cubes and yogurt, when the knock rapped at her front door.

A quick look through the peephole revealed Cullen standing there, one hand braced somewhere to the right of the door. She gasped. Sweet Jesus. He even looked hot through the peephole. She jerked away from the door, her hand flying to her mouth. She suddenly regretted taking off her makeup. Rolling her eyes, she mentally called herself ten shades of fool. Cullen had seen her without makeup before.

“Open the door, Huntley.” His deep, steady voice sent a bolt of heat down her spine. For a split second, she contemplated refusing and then shame flushed through her. This was Cullen. No matter what had transpired between them, whatever path she chose in life, she could trust him. He was a good guy. Even if he didn’t know it, he always did the right thing. And in this case, as far as he was concerned, the right thing was keeping his hands off her.

With a deep breath, she pulled open the door. “Cullen.” Was that breathy squeak actually her voice? She swallowed and tried again. “What are you doing here?”