Beautiful Distraction (6 page)

“No way.” She laughs. “This is
him
? The guy who hit your car? The one you said—”

“Shut up.” I roll my eyes. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking
about. The rain must have messed with your brain.”

She laughs again. “Club 69. You were there. He’s the hot guy
who
propositioned
you, and I’m
quoting you there.” She points at Kellan like he isn’t sitting across from us,
listening intently. “It’s him. I can see it written across your face.”

Kellan’s eyebrows shoot up, and a glint of amusement appears
in his eyes. “Hot guy, huh?”

He throws back his head and laughs—a raucous, hearty
laughter that makes his perfect chest vibrate.

Suddenly, the generously spaced room is too small and I
can’t breathe. My vision blurs.

“Excuse me,” I say and jump to my feet, snubbing Mandy’s
quizzical look as I grab her arm and yank hard. “I need to talk to you.”

Somewhere, at the periphery of my perception, I hear Kellan
mumble something about staying the night, but I can’t be sure because all I can
think is that this trip was one big mistake I shouldn’t have made.

“What are you doing?” I ask as soon as we’re outside. My
voice is shaking. Not from anger, but from something indefinable. The
temperature has dropped considerably, and the dark clouds are a lighter shade of
gray, the wind softer.

The storm’s calming down already.

“No, what are
you
doing?” Mandy sounds annoyed as hell. “You didn’t fuck a Boyd?”

“Obviously, not everyone’s life goal is to hook up with
semi-famous guys,” I mutter. “Besides, is someone else occupying your brain?
The guy has a girlfriend.”

“Which you didn’t know when you first met him.” Mandy’s
expression changes from anger to suspicion. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew
him?”

“I didn’t recognize him,” I lie.

I don’t want to lie, but I need to.
Mandy needs to drop the whole thing before I
die from embarrassment.

“Let me guess. You forgot to mention he drove a
Lamborghini?” She throws up her hands in mock surrender. “Oh my god, Ava.”

Why’s everyone obsessed with a stupid car? Particularly one
that’s not even worth its price tag, if you ask me. I mean, most human beings
couldn’t possibly afford the insurance rate, let alone the payment plan. And
you can’t park the thing anywhere without people gawking and at least a few
thinking about stealing it.

It’s insane.

“Again, I had no idea,” I mutter.

“Yeah, right. Even someone like you must recognize it,”
Mandy says dryly. “There’s nothing forgettable about the car, or the guy
driving it, for that matter.”

She’s right.

There isn’t.

But I can’t admit that to her.

“You could have fucked him,” she mumbles. “You know, get
back in the game.”

“Oh, my god. Will you just shut up about him?” I shoot her a
venomous look and turn away.

“Fine. Whatever. I was just trying to help.”

“How so? By pointing out the one wrong decision I can’t
change? Or that my love life sucks?”

She scoffs but remains quiet.

Of course, I regretted not taking him up on his offer three
months ago. But what I regretted more was driving home and telling Mandy about
it that night because the moment I did, she started calling all her friends to
ask whether anyone might know him. Which they didn’t, obviously. Next came the
Internet searches. The Friday nightclub stakeouts. And eventually, the reproach
that I didn’t do what any woman with her panties in the right place would have
done.

“You know…” Mandy starts. Oh, I know where she’s heading,
and I’m not having it. “You could always—”

“Don’t say it,” I interrupt.

She holds up her hands. “Fine.” And then she walks back
inside, leaving me alone.

The early evening air’s crisp and cools my head. After
spending a few minutes on the porch, I decide that seeing Kellan again is of no
importance because tomorrow I’ll be gone and his memory will be soon erased
from my mind.

When I return to the living room, Mandy’s nowhere to be
seen. Kellan’s hard body is sprawled across the sofa, his long legs stretched
out, his arm draped across the cushions.

Fuck! I’m alone with him.

My heart speeds up. The entire situation feels way too
intimate. My tongue flicks over my dry lips as my gaze sweeps over the room in a
desperate search for Mandy.

Where the hell is she?

“She’s upstairs,” Kellan says coolly. “I offered to let you
both stay.”

“We agreed on three hours. We’re leaving tonight.” Gosh, why
does my voice sound so clipped and hoarse?

“She told me your car broke down.”

Damn my car.

We’re stuck here. The realization makes me freeze in sudden
panic. The fact that he’s looking at me with a strange glint in his eyes
doesn’t ease the unnerving tension I feel in his presence.

“I’ll be happy to send for a mechanic, but he won’t be here
before tomorrow. You’re free to stay the night.”

“Why the change?” I can’t help asking.

Slowly, he lifts off the sofa, stretching up to his imposing
height. “What do you mean?” He steps closer. I want to run, but instead, I find
myself strangely enthralled by his green gaze, his stunning eyes keeping me
captured on the spot.

“You wanted us gone,” I say. “Why the sudden change?”

“I’m still torn about this.” He shrugs. “But I know
you’ll
change my mind.”

The abrupt shift in his tone doesn’t escape me. He’s gone
from broody and serious to mischievous in the blink of an eye. I can’t figure
him out. I can’t keep up with him.

“I won’t do anything to change your mind,” I say.

“Why’s that?” His fingers curl around mine and press them
against his chest, right where his heart is. His pulse thuds rhythmically
against my fingertips. “I’ve never disappointed.”

His tone is so hoarse and erotic, I feel the urge to jump a
step back.

The double meaning in his words is subtle, but there’s no
mistaking it.

A few seconds alone and we’re drifting back onto dangerous
territory. My heartbeat speeds up, and excitement courses through me.

I don’t know the guy, but he has this knack of getting under
my skin in a hundred possible ways, when all I want to be is the epitome of
Zen.

“So you say,” I mumble under my breath.

“Try me.”

I blink in succession. No one’s ever propositioned me like
this.

It’s so damn hot, I almost say yes.

But only almost.

A one-night stand is not my style. Not because I don’t enjoy
casual sex. I just like all the other things that come with a steady
relationship, like falling asleep in each other’s arms and waking up to a hot
session of morning sex.

For some reason, Mr. Sex On Legs doesn’t strike me as the
guy who’d sleep over, and most certainly not someone who’d let you fall asleep
cradled in his arms.

 
“I wouldn’t
try
you if you were the last man on
earth,” I hiss, but for some reason, my low voice doesn’t convey the disgust
for cheaters and arrogant jerks I’m trying to go for.

“You’re so ready for me, I could have you panting my name in
seconds. I bet you’re soaked down there.”

Who says things like that to a stranger?

I yank my hand from his fingers and push him away, without
much success. “I bet you think being obnoxious is part of your charm.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“There’s
nothing
charming
about you.”

“Obviously you haven’t seen me naked yet,” he says.

He’s so arrogant I can’t bear his ego anymore.

He inches just a little bit closer, until I can catch the
tantalizing scent of his aftershave. He smells so good I want to wrap my arms
around him, close my eyes and inhale his scent until it’s all that fills my
mind…and anything else that needs to be filled.

“Your bedroom’s upstairs. It’s the one with the animal print
bedspread.” He leans forward, and for a moment I fear he’ll kiss me. My gaze is
glued to his enticing mouth, and my lips part involuntarily, ready to grant him
all the access he might want. His lips brush my cheek as they trail their way
to my earlobe, his hot breath making my skin tingle. “It’s also conveniently
situated next to mine. Tonight, when you switch off the lights, I want you to
know that I’m going to be jerking off to your picture in my mind. It won’t be
the first time.”

F.U.C.K!

My air supply is cut off as I stare at him like an idiot.
He’s done it before? When? How?

I wish I had the confidence to ask him to let me watch.
Instead, I find myself muttering, “You’re such a creep.”

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t do it after our brief meeting
at Club 69.” He laughs at my horrified expression. “Come on, Ava. Stop the
double standards.”

My face catches fire. I can’t deny his statement. I’m too
bad of a liar, and he’s too full of himself to believe me.

Without waiting for a reply, Kellan turns and leaves,
calling over his shoulder from the door, “If you need someone to help with your
bags, you’ll find me upstairs. In my bedroom.”

The invitation’s there. Unspoken but obvious.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I mutter, and then I head outside
to grab my bags, my body hot against the chilly wind. At least, the rain has
stopped.

Don’t ever let your
guard down with a guy like him, unless you don’t mind him dirty-talking his way
into your panties.

I toss my pen on the bed, pondering if I should mention the
jerk in my diary.

Because that’s exactly what he’s been so far, and he’s
proved it on numerous occasions.

As I heaved my suitcase up the stairs, Kellan just stood
there, watching me from the door with a smug grin. Even though he kept quiet
for a change, I knew he was checking me out, his eyes as dark and hooded as the
night we first met. I walked past holding my head high, making sure not to
touch him, even though I could feel him with every inch of my body.

My skin is still prickling from his gaze.

God, I can’t get his name out of my head: Kellan, Kellan,
Kellan—

He’s in every thought. He’s officially occupied my entire
brain space, and I don’t even know him.

A knock sounds at my door. I sit up straight and push the
diary under my pillow just before the door opens and Mandy’s head pops in.

“Can I come in?” she asks.

“Yeah.” I tuck my legs under me as I watch her close the
door and then settle on my bed.

The quizzical look from before is still etched on her face.
“You okay?”

“I’m tired,” I say, fighting the urge to ask where Kellan’s
gone. This is the right time to talk about him, but for some reason, I can’t
bring myself to. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in the light of day he won’t look so
damn hot and this stupid attraction will be gone.

“We should get some rest. It’s been a long day. Kellan’s
invited us to stay the night,” Mandy says, wriggling her brows meaningfully.

I doubt ‘invited’ is the right word. He probably felt he
couldn’t possibly throw us out, in case we wouldn’t make it through the night
and he’d have to live with his conscience forever. Or maybe his big ego can’t
take rejection and he’s still harboring the strange notion that I
will
bed him if he’s being obnoxious
about it hard enough. But instead of sharing my thoughts with her, I just nod.
“Where are you sleeping?” I ask, ready to change the subject.

Mandy motions for me to follow her and leads us down the
hall to a closed door. “The bathroom’s in here,” she says, as though she’s the
host and I’m her visitor. “I’m next door.” She points to the adjacent door and
opens it. Inside, I can see that her suitcase is already waiting to be
unpacked.

He must have shown her to her room and helped her with the
luggage.

The thought stings even though there’s no surprise there.
She’s hot; she’s confident and a hell of a lot of fun. The word ‘rejection’
doesn’t feature in Mandy’s dictionary, and I doubt Kellan’s going to be the
exception to the rule. He’ll see that he’s been going for the wrong friend in
no time.

Which makes my blatant physical attraction to him all the
more annoying.

“He’s making us dinner,” Mandy says casually as she unzips
her bag.

“Swell,” I mutter. “Can he also make us wine?” Preferably a
whole keg so I can drink myself to sleep and don’t have to think about him anymore.

“I don’t think grapes grow in Montana. The weather’s not
ideal.”

I shoot Mandy a sideways glance.

“Oh,” she says. “You weren’t serious.” She nudges me with
her elbow. “Come on, the hot guy’s obviously into you. What’s up with the angry
face?”

“The hot guy also has a girlfriend,” I retort and turn to
take in Mandy’s room.

Just like mine, the décor is rustic yet simple with a low-roofed
ceiling, fitted only with a rugged bed, night table, and a large, solid wooden
cupboard. A few scarce pictures of birds adorn the otherwise empty walls.

“Honestly, I don’t know why we’re staying here,” I say. “We
could just ask him to drive us to a hotel.”

“Because.” Mandy waves her hand.

“Because what?”

She shrugs. “It’s cozy here.”

And free, which she doesn’t add, and neither do I. We left
home early and would arrive at the luxury hotel early, meaning we’d have to pay
for the extra days.

“It is,” I agree as my gaze sweeps over the room one more
time. Simple and cozy—such a strong contrast to the red Lamborghini and
the expensive clothes. I sigh and turn around to regard her. “But we’re
imposing. Give me another reason why we shouldn’t leave.”

“Because he’s a Boyd,” Mandy says. “I still can’t believe
you kept that fact from me for more than three months.”

Oh, here we go again.

“I didn’t know. Besides, what does it matter who he is when
he’s obnoxious as fuck?” I groan and head for the door. “You know what? I’ll
see you later. And if I hear his stupid name one more time, I’m leaving with or
without you.”

“Well, you can’t. We’re stuck, remember? The car’s broken
down, and we’re not heading back home before we’ve seen Mile High. You might
want to start to loosen up a bit and have some fun.”

How could I forget the stupid tickets? They’re the reason
why we’re here and I can’t escape the one guy I want to escape.

“Whatever.”

Mandy’s laughter rings as I close the door behind me.