A Wild Ride (Thompson & Sons Book 4) (2 page)

“Hey, babe.”

“Troy. What are you—?”

For a big guy, Troy moved like a panther. He had crossed the threshold in an instant, closing the distance between them and enveloping her in his arms. A second later his mouth was over hers as he took her lips in a blistering, pussy-clenching kiss.

Hot, possessive. Intense and demanding, and her reaction was instant and unstoppable. She softened under him, responding to his demands and,
oh my God,
soaking in every bit of pleasure he offered.

Her back hit the wall, and for the next few seconds, she was overwhelmed with lust. He kissed like he was craving her, and the most natural thing in the world was to kiss him back. Tongues tangling, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his strong hips as she dug her fingers into his muscular shoulders.

Time blurred, and sensation faded to the pleasure whipping through her like a runaway train. Except…there was some reason they shouldn’t be doing this. Some—

Shit
. She was on a date with another guy. She should most definitely not be arching into the hand Troy had shoved under her shirt, squeezing her breast possessively as a hungry growl escaped him.

She shoved back, opening enough distance between them that she could speak, quiet but insistent. “Oh my God, Troy,
stop
.”

He adjusted his grip, catching hold of her hips and grinding them together, his thick cock rubbing her aching clit through two layers of jeans still setting off fireworks.

Desire flashed in his eyes. “Two choices. Here, against the wall, or on the kitchen table. Pick.”

“We’re not having sex,” she insisted, whispering the words.

Troy chuckled evilly. “Not yet, but give us thirty seconds and—”

“Nicole? Everything okay?”

Jason’s question broke through the sexual maelstrom in the kitchen, and
finally
Troy froze.

“Everything’s fine,” she called as she scrambled for an excuse to keep her date in the other room, because it would be impossible to explain why she was currently in a sexually suggestive position, pinned to the wall by a man the size of a gladiator. “My…friend stopped by. I’ll just be a second.”

Then her feet were back on the floor, Troy holding her steady until she found her balance. He tilted his head toward the front room. “Who the hell is that?” he demanded.

Nicole squared her shoulders. “My date.”

The confusion in his eyes was followed rapidly by anger. “What the fuck?”

Okay, that was too far. Annoyance replaced her temporary panic. What right did Troy have to be mad? She’d told him the fling was over. He was the one interrupting her evening. “A date? You’ve heard of those things?”

“Yeah, but you don’t date,” Troy said.

“I do now,” she said sharply, more irritated by the second as she wiggled to release herself from the cage of his arms. “Go away. I need to get back—”

“Who is he?” Troy took a step toward the living room.

Nicole grabbed him by the wrist and attempted to jerk him to a stop. “Don’t you dare go in there,” she whispered frantically. “Troy,
no
…”

Her weight didn’t slow him in the slightest as he dragged her after him down the short hallway. She recovered her footing and released him as they rounded the corner into the living room.

Jason turned toward them, surprise drifting over his features. “Oh. Hello.”

A second later she had to slam on the brakes to keep from smashing into Troy. He’d stopped right in her path, his massive shoulders and torso turning him into a dandy roadblock.

God, he was such a pain in the ass. Nicole planted both hands on his back and shoved as hard as she could, which meant the big lug shifted all of two inches to one side.

Barely enough space for her to squeeze past him and offer an apologetic smile to her date. “Sorry about that. This is Troy, my brother’s best friend. Troy, this is Jason.”

Her date frowned slightly as if confused, which he had every right to be, but he politely rose to his feet and held out a hand. “Jason Millette.”

Troy stood rocklike, eyeing Jason as if he were a lump of leftovers forgotten in the fridge for too long.

“Troy dropped off some stuff for the family. He’s not staying,” Nicole announced, stepping in to push Troy toward the back door, herding him like a lost bull who’d wandered into the daisy patch.

Troy stood his ground, accepting Jason’s hand. “Troy Thompson.”

Nicole cringed, hoping he wasn’t going to do something rude like crush Jason’s hand, Troy released the other man after a sturdy handshake, but then the jerk settled in the easy chair to the side of the couch as if he had every intention of staying awhile.

“New in town?” he asked, his smile broadening. Turning on the charm.

“Just joined the law firm,” Jason admitted. “Newest junior partner. You?”

“Family runs the local garage. You need a summer tune-up, let me know. We get pretty full with tourists breaking down and RV repairs, but I’ll sneak you in.”

“Hey, thanks for the offer. I might take you up on that. I usually do my own maintenance, or get the dealership to take care of it, but it’s been pretty busy getting settled in at the new job.”

“I bet.” Troy leaned back comfortably, glancing at the coffee table. “Are you kidding me? Monopoly? I haven’t played that in years. God, it used to kill my brothers. I’d make their lives hell every time they tried to clear that third corner. I owned Kentucky to Marvin Gardens.”

Jason chuckled. “Best strategy around. Ignore the cheap properties and Park Place/Broadway, and knock their knees out with middle-income rent and utilities.”

“Ha—you can have the utilities, I get the railroads.” Troy was leaning forward now, elbows on his knees, eyes sparkling as if this was the most scintillating conversation he’d had in years.

Nicole was going to freaking kill him. “Well, nice of you to drop by, but we’re about to—”

“You want to play?” Jason offered. “Three is always better than two.”

Only if they were talking about fooling around, which Nicole doubted. Troy had never been interested in having anyone else participate while they’d fucked before, and it wasn’t likely he would start by suggesting a ménage with the newest junior member of the local law firm.

She turned and faced her annoyance directly, offering the evilest eye she could. “Troy can’t stay,” she announced firmly.

“Troy would love to stay,” he contradicted her, dragging his chair across the floor until he was within arm’s reach of the game. “I’m the race car.”

“Dibs on the top hat,” Jason flashed back.

Troy leaned back and winked. “Got any Coke, Nic?”

She was stuck. Complaining would only make her look like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum. But his ass was grass. “Sure, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal.”

“In the can,” he ordered. He stared at her, challenging her to argue.

They knew each other too well. Yeah, she probably would have spat in his glass.

She mouthed the words.
You. Are. So. Dead.

The jerk just grinned before ignoring her and turning to discuss who should go first with Jason.

The game went on for nearly two hours, at which point Nicole was fighting to keep from straight-out yawning in their faces. She’d gone bankrupt a good forty-five minutes earlier.

The guys continued their cutthroat game, seemingly oblivious to her increasing ants in the pants.

“Ha!” Jason howled with delight. Troy’s final roll landed him on Jason’s most expensive lot. He thrust his fists in the air, roaring as if there were a crowd cheering in the distance before returning to position and offering a cocky grin. “And that, my friends, is how the game is played.”

Troy handed the last of his money across the board with a good-natured grin. “You got me. Well done.”

“And that was so much fun,” Nicole announced, perkiness dripping from every word.

Troy’s lips twitched, but Jason seemed to miss her sarcasm. “We’ll have to do it again sometime,” he suggested.

Right after my lobotomy
, Nicole thought as she gathered up empty snack bowls and glasses and carried them into the kitchen, shoving everything into the dishwasher as she fought to regain her sense of humour.

It took a while.

By the time she got back, the guys had the game put away and were standing by the door, deep in discussion. The Monopoly box was tucked under Jason’s arm, his coat draped over it.

“I don’t think they got the timing belt quite right,” Jason complained.

“Bring it by tomorrow,” Troy offered, looking thoughtful for a moment. “After lunch. I should have time to look at it.”

Jason smacked a hand on his shoulder before turning to Nicole. “Thanks for an awesome evening. It was great.”

She stepped closer, waiting for Troy to leave so she could at least finish the date somewhat normally. A goodbye kiss would be better than nothing at all.

Troy didn’t budge. Just stood there, smiling innocently as if he didn’t know damn well that she wanted his ass out of the house.

“Awesome night, as always,” he said to Nic before bumping her date with a closed fist. “Oh, hey, Jason. You mentioned you were thinking about learning to fish.” He tilted his head toward the street. “I got my new rod and reel in the truck. Wanna see?”

“Definitely.” Jason followed him to the door, glancing over his shoulder with a final smile for Nicole. “Thanks, again. Great evening. I guess I’ll see you at the office.”

The jerks left.

She included both of them in that description because now Jason was in her bad books as well as Troy. She managed to wait until the door was closed and the guys were well away, standing by the tailgate of Troy’s truck. Then the words burst free.

“Son of a
bitch
.”

She wasn’t sure which of them she was yelling at.

A truly impressive jumble of frustration wrapped around her. Boredom mixed with the sexual tension Troy had flash-fire started and then let fizzle away, and…

What the freak had just happened?

Troy drove off right after Jason did, turning at the first corner and doubling back. He slipped into the parking spot behind Nicole’s place.

Time to find out what the hell was going on.

He stomped up the back stairs and yanked open the door. “Nic?”

No answer.

He glanced around the kitchen before pacing into the living room. Empty—she’d vanished.

“Nic,” he shouted louder as he headed toward the back of the house and her bedroom.

No wonder she hadn’t answered. A faint light escaped from the bathroom where the shower was blasting at full volume. He marched forward, pausing at the door.

The clear shower curtain allowed enough light to shine through that her body was nicely showcased from top to bottom. He folded his arms and watched in appreciation as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, bubbles slipping over her face and down her curves. Her hands danced over her skin, just the places he’d like to be touching, and Troy eased his position to relieve some of the pressure on his rising cock.

Cool as a cucumber, without even looking his direction, she gave him shit. “Are you going to stand there all night gawking, or you are going to tell me what the hell you were thinking, coming over here and messing up my date?”

Troy chuckled. “I like how you don’t even blink to find me in your bathroom.”

She stepped to the edge of the bath, jerking the shower curtain back a few inches so she could glare at him more easily, water dripping down her face, her bangs hanging in her eyes. “I knew you’d show up. Kind of expected you to wait till Jason drove off and then march right back so you could annoy me faster.
Jerk
.”

“I figured I should give at least the appearance of leaving.” Troy admired the view, his gaze lingering on her breasts. “What’re you so pissed off about? I had no idea some random guy was going to be here.”

“Bullshit.” Nic cut the water, shoving back the shower curtain with a strong sweep of her arm. She shoved her hand forward in a clear demand.

“No shit,” he insisted, grabbing the towel from beside his shoulder and shaking it out. Instead of stuffing it into her hand, he reached forward and draped it around her body, picking her up and placing her on the bathmat. “As far as I knew, we were on for the evening like usual.”

Nicole shrugged out of his grasp, escaping into her bedroom where she rubbed the towel vigorously over tempting, wet skin. “Good lord, Troy, don’t make me go through all this again. I sent you an email and explained everything. It’s been fun, but it’s time to move to the next thing, which means I need to date. So don’t stop by to hook up anymore,
yada yada yada
…”

Troy settled on her bed, confused as all get out. Watching her hadn’t made his aching cock any easier to ignore. And it didn’t help when, without a lick of embarrassment, she dropped the towel to the floor and reached into her dresser.

He dragged his gaze off her bare ass. “Well, that would have made a difference.
If
I’d gotten your email, but since I didn’t, I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She jerked a T-shirt over her head—one of his that she’d stolen at some point—then reached for her phone. “You’re so annoying. Fine. I’ll show you proof.”

She flipped through the screens then passed it over triumphantly.

He read through the message. “It’s been fun… Need to date… No more Netflix and chill…” Troy glanced up. “Number one, I’ve never seen this before in my life. You didn’t send it to me.”

“I know I did,” she insisted.

“Nope.” He shook his head. “I hope you didn’t send it to one of my brothers.”

Her eyes widened. “
Fuck
, I hope not.”

“Or my dad,” Troy deadpanned. “That would make things real awkward the next time—”

“Shut. Up.” She snatched the phone from him and checked frantically. “Oh my God, okay. It’s still in drafts. I guess I forgot to hit send.”

“Apology accepted.” Troy leaned back and blinked, offering his most innocent expression.

“Screw you.”

“And number two,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “I still don’t get it, this sudden urge to ‘date’. What does that even mean? You have some weird compulsion to be bored to tears? I mean, I can totally understand how hot you must have been for Jason. The dude was super-enticing, with that steamy move preempting Ventnor Avenue and all.”