The Fix (The Carolina Connections, #1)(47)
Her purse landed on the counter with a loud thwack, likely reducing its contents to dust. “I’m staying over tonight and I won’t take no for an answer! I’m going to eat all your ice cream and watch tragically stupid teenagers on reality TV while you, my friend, are going over to your hot man’s apartment and getting your muffin buttered.” She pointed a threatening red-tipped finger at me. “I do not want to see your face until at least noon tomorrow and it had better look well-fucked. At least one of us should have an orgasm tonight and it sure as hell won’t be me! Now tell Rocco his Aunt Fiona is inviting him to an ice cream party tonight and he can stay up as late as he wants.”
When I didn’t move she threw both hands out toward me. “Shoo!” I still didn’t move. This was “scary” Fiona—she didn’t come out to play very often.
“Uh, Fiona, you remember Nate, don’t you?” I motioned hesitantly to the pantry door where my “hot man” had been spraying WD-40 on the hinges but now stood stock still, the can suspended in his frozen hand.
Fiona didn’t even flinch. “Hey there, hot stuff. You get all that?”
Nate just nodded slowly while the rest of him remained still.
“Can you please excuse us for a moment, Nate?” I asked as I dragged Fiona down the hall to my bedroom and closed the door.
“First of all, you can’t come in here throwing out f-bombs while Rocco’s at home and you know it. Second, I can’t even believe you just said all of that in front of Nate. Just … oh God.” I covered my eyes with my hand.
She huffed in dismissal.
I took a deep breath and shook it off. “And third, what happened? I thought you were doing sexy time with Terrence.”
She scoffed. “Don’t even talk to me about Terrence.” And then she proceeded to talk about him anyway, as pretty much any girl would do. “What about ‘friends with benefits’ does he not understand? That man wants to, and I quote, ‘take things to the next level.’ What next level?! There is no next level! So I sent him to his hotel and told him that until he gets his head screwed on straight he needs to lose my number. I can’t go back to my place in case he decides to show up to plead his case again.” She did a full body shiver. Dramatic much?
“Wow,” was really all I could say, though. Treading carefully here was essential. Fiona did not do commitment. She didn’t do the girlfriend thing. She was kind of like a guy that way, but every other aspect of her was all girly-girl. I knew she had her reasons so I’d given up trying to convince her to give a guy a chance. But this was Terrence. They would be so good together. Ugh. I’d have to let it go for now, but hopefully she’d open the door a crack for him if he just gave her a little time. So, it looked like I’d have to give her a little time too. “I’m sorry, Fee.” I gave her a hug and she finally let go of her mad a bit and sagged into my arms with a sigh.
“I know. Me too. Can I still eat your ice cream?”
“Every bit,” I said, still holding her tight, my chin resting on the top of her head.
“You know, you really do have a great rack. It’s like the best goose-down pillows in here.” She tried to snuggle in.
I shoved her away. “You perv.”
So it looked like the sex fates did like me a little bit after all. I’d gotten my sitter, although I would have preferred not to have involved Fiona’s heart in the process. Nate, I could safely say, was even more thrilled than I was when I told him the news. And it seemed Fiona couldn’t get us out the door fast enough. I barely had time to say goodbye to Rocco and elicit a promise from Fiona that more than just ice cream would be served for dinner.
“I need to stop by my place and take a shower, but then do you want to go out to dinner?” We were in Nate’s truck and my nerves were jumping already.
“Sure, sounds good, but I’m not dressed for anything fancy.” I motioned down to my casual black shorts and blue t-shirt.
“You look perfect to me.”
“Aww.” I couldn’t help the smile I gave him.
The apartment building was just as neglected as I remembered and I didn’t blame Nate for wanting to move somewhere nicer. Although maybe he should keep the couch after all, and just re-cover it.
He took my hand once again and led me to the door, not even letting me go to unlock it. Once the door closed behind us, I found myself pinned to the wall beside it and Nate’s mouth was on mine. He tasted like the lemonade I’d fixed him earlier, but his mouth was warm and his tongue hot as it pushed past my lips to explore mine. My hands immediately found his thick hair and gripped the back of his neck. I melted into the kiss. Then my hands decided to do a little wandering as his lips left mine and traced a path down my jaw to my neck. On their journey, my hands found their way beneath his t-shirt and began exploring the planes of his abs and back. He smelled faintly of sweat and some kind of spicy shampoo or aftershave, and I was turned the hell on.
“Sorry,” he murmured into my neck as his hands rounded my ass. “I’d really intended to take you out and make this romantic but that’s gonna have to wait till next time. I need you to get naked right now.” Well okay, I guess this was really happening. Holy crap!
Patience was obviously not one of his virtues because he had my shirt pulled over my head in a heartbeat and his hands moved quickly to the button on my shorts. I was feeling both overheated and a bit self-conscious at the same time. Why was it so bright in here? Would he like what he saw once I lost all my clothes? Wait, why was I the only one getting naked? Again!