Bet Me Something (Something Series Book 3) (11 page)

“Oh, yeah?” he
smirked.

“Yep, the
bad-boy, rocker types who have brains under their tattoos.”

He arched a
brow. “Seriously?”

No, however
telling him
pretty boys with wicked dimples, and big hearts who make me
laugh
would make me totally obvious. “I have eclectic tastes. In fact, my
criteria is all over the map.”

“You have a
list?”

“Not exactly,
but every girl has an idea in their head of the things they look for in a man
or their deal breakers. I had a friend in high school who was so particular she
wouldn’t go out with a guy if he chewed gum.”

“That’s a little
high maintenance.”

“Agreed, and so
was she. My deal breakers are for the most part straightforward and not quite
as petty.”

“Tell me what
they are.”

Shaking my head,
I met his sexy green eyes. “Uh-uh. I’m not saying.”

“Come on, why’s
it a secret? Give me three of them.”

He was waiting
me out I realized a minute later when he paused the movie and stared at me.
Taking a deep breath, I figured why not. “Okay. First deal breaker is a
smoker.”

“Makes sense.
For me, too.”

I shook my head,
laughing. “You smoke when you drink.”

He waved me off.
“That’s different. It’s only cigars.”

Well, then,
lucky me to have gotten the opportunity to taste the ashtray which had been his
mouth last night after he’d smoked them with his brother. “Hm, anyhow, another
one is kind of general, but it’s being a douche bag.”

He chuckled.
“Good, but who gets to decide on that? Because guys are typically better at
determining that factor when it comes to other men.”

“Oh, I think I
have an accurate DB radar. I picture it in terms of would they be the type of
guy who’d survive hanging out with Brian, Mark, Josh, and you. If I’d be
embarrassed to bring them around, then the answer is they’re probably a
douche.”

“That’s a pretty
fair assumption.”

“And number three
is: he has to be a good kisser.”

He rolled his
eyes, clearly disagreeing. “Does the pretty boy from down under meet those
criteria?”

“And just like
that, you’ve crossed into douche bag territory.”

He whacked me on
the head with a couch pillow, causing us both to laugh.

After a few
minutes of silence, he started the movie again, then asked, “The kiss was that
bad?”

I sighed, ready
to put it to rest. “Will only kissed me on the cheek. It was sweet and
friendly.”

“I meant ours.”

Holy crap. “I
plead the fifth.”

“What exactly
was so terrible about it?”

My heart started
to beat faster, but I refused to make it easy on him after his excuse last
night. “Why do you care? You said multiple times it’s overrated. Plus, if you
truly felt like you were kissing your little sister, I’m guessing that could be
a large part of the problem.”

He grabbed the
remote, pausing the movie again. “That was a shit thing for me to say and not
exactly true. In all seriousness, is there one thing or were there a few?”

Not entirely true?
To hell with it, the least I could do was be honest. “Okay, but if I tell you,
you can’t take it personally. I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

He gave me an
incredulous look. “Hi, have we met? You’re not going to hurt my feelings.”

Right, because Colby
had perfected the art of pretending he didn’t have any. “First thing is you
tasted like an ashtray from the cigars I’m guessing you smoked with your
brother. The cigar was—”

“Awful,” he
supplied.

I nodded. “And
then there was the fact you shoved your tongue into my mouth. It made it
sloppy.”

He clenched his
jaw, studying my face as if he was waiting for me to say I was kidding. “What
else?”

“You didn’t use
your hands.”

He grinned. “If
I had, I doubt very much you would have been focused on the kiss, sweetheart.”

Blushing, I
thought about how skilled his hands probably were. “I didn’t mean to grope me.
I meant to touch my face, brush my hair aside, or cup my chin.”

He shook his
head. “I think it goes back to the whole emphasis you’re putting on it. Not that
I’m offering it up, but there are a lot better things beyond the kiss. Plenty a
woman can testify there are no complaints in that department.”

“Unless you’ve
asked someone you previously dated, I don’t think you can put such a statement
out there.” Clearly, he didn’t get it. “How about we agree to disagree?”

He wasn’t giving
up, though. “Name one good thing that comes of only a kiss.”

I’d always felt
comfortable sharing most things with Colby, however over the last couple of
days we’d crossed into new territory, blatantly sexual in our conversations.
Considering he’d left the door wide open with the topic of conversation, I
decided to be blunt.

“Okay, how’s
this: a great kiss should make my vision blur, my body tingle and, most
importantly, make me so unbelievably wet that I could almost climax with it
alone.” I witnessed his eyes dilate with desire and a breath leave him. Well,
that was promising.

He cleared his
voice. “Right. I, um, I don’t think that’s even possible.” He pressed play on
the movie and then a little while later got up, begging off to make a phone
call.

I was
contemplating turning in for the night when he came back out to the living
room. “Everything okay?” I asked, immediately noting his frown.

“I called a
woman I used to date.”

I instantly
wondered if it had ever been serious and hoped my voice sounded cool and breezy
when I asked, “Oh, who’s that?”

“She’s a news
anchor in LA and probably the closest thing to a girlfriend, although we only
dated for a few weeks.”

“Why didn’t it
work out?” This. This was the type of thing I never would’ve asked while in the
crush zone but now felt comfortable doing. I craved information, both good and
bad, about him.

He shrugged before
admitting, “She needed someone a little more refined. And I was constantly on
edge I’d say something inappropriate. I recognize I’m not the best boyfriend
material, but no one wants to be made to feel as though they’re someone’s
project.”

I crinkled my
nose. “That sounds like spending time with my mother.”

He threw his head
back, laughing. “Kind of, but with the sex.”

 “Eww, thanks
for that image. Anyhow, why’d you call her?”

“I asked her
about the kissing.”

I was shocked.
Had I made Mr. Confident that self-doubting? “Uh. What did she say?”

He exhaled
heavily. “She said I preferred to get straight to the point, but when I did
kiss her, she remembers hoping I’d get straight to the point.”

Oh, boy. I’d
never seen Colby look insecure about anything. “On the bright side, she must’ve
enjoyed the straight-to-the-point stuff enough to want to skip to that. And you
said yourself that the kiss isn’t important.”

“Yeah, except
finding out you suck at it isn’t fun, either.”

I suddenly felt
bad. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a complex.”

“No, you didn’t.
If anything, I should thank you for being honest with me.”

I smiled until
his next words about knocked the air out of me.

“I want a
do-over.”

“Wh—what?”
Great, now he had me stuttering.

“You heard me. I
want another chance. You could, um, show me what you mean by a great kiss.”

“Now?” My voice
hitched.

He shrugged. “We
can wait until after the movie ends and dessert.”

Oh, boy. I would
need at least that amount of time to calm my nerves at the prospect of another
kiss and the fact he was asking me to show him how it was done.

***

Colby was his
normal self during the remainder of the movie, an attitude which was both
annoying and confusing. I might not have the same crush I did before, but that
didn’t mean I was any less nervous over what was to come.

After the movie
ended, he grabbed gelato out of the freezer and two spoons. We sat on the
couch, sharing the treat in silence. It was salted caramel, which didn’t call
for many words considering how good it was.

“You want any
more?” he inquired, getting up to put the container back in the freezer.

I shook my head,
swallowing hard. I wasn’t sure how to go about this do-over, but right now I
was getting an undeniable hum that had my palms sweating.

“Are you ready
to show me the proper way to kiss? I have to warn you that my expectations are
quite high since your version is supposed to rock my world.” He walked over to
where I was sitting on the couch.

I sighed, trying
not to erupt in nervous laughter. “Oh, sure, no pressure. Um, what about the
cameras you said your brother might have?”

“I asked him. He
said they’re only on the front door and foyer. Why? Are you stalling?”

Suddenly I
thought, what the hell. What did I have to lose? Obviously, I was the one with
more experience in this area, and he was the one asking for it. I stood up,
took his hand, and motioned towards the sofa. “Sit.”

He grinned,
which did nothing for my nerves.

“Okay, Colby
Singer, brace yourself.” I climbed onto his lap, watching his stunned
expression when I straddled him, a knee on either side of his thighs.

We were face to
face with our gazes locked on one another. I put my hands on either side of his
face, noticing his breath hitch and lips part with the contact. Leaning
forward, I touched my lips to his tentatively, realizing his eyes remained
open. I searched them and then touched his mouth once more, watching his
flutter shut. I tasted the caramel from the ice cream and was surprised by how
soft his lips were. I hadn’t noticed previously since his tongue had been
shoved down my throat. Our mouths, still cool from the frozen treat, offered up
quite a contrast to the growing heat of the kiss. While increasing pressure
with my lips, one of my hands threaded through his hair and the other one
rested on his cheek. My tongue timidly entered his mouth, and I felt him
shudder with the sensation. But when his came out to invade my mouth, I pulled
back.

“You keep your
tongue where it is, mister,” I admonished, witnessing his unconcealed
amusement.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I returned to
what I was doing with my tongue flicking against his lips. When I gently bit
down on his bottom one, the sound of his groan gave me all the confidence I
needed to proceed in deepening it. Sucking on his tongue and swallowing his
breath, I loved it when he practically growled into my mouth. When I pulled
back to tell him he could start to use his tongue a little more, he didn’t give
me a chance to speak, instead threading his hands into my hair, taking control
with strokes of his tongue against mine, mirroring my earlier pattern. He moved
tentatively at first, but then he completely took charge, gripping my ass and
pulling me further into his lap. Shivering with the change, I gasped when I
realized he was hard.

For me.

Because of our
kiss.

Desire pooled
between my legs, and I shifted my hips slightly, grinding against his thigh,
searching for relief. He moved his hands up, rubbing my breasts over my shirt.

This wasn’t what
I’d been expecting at all, but it was obvious this kiss had already surpassed
any do-over expectations. My hands ran over his chest, eager for skin contact,
and slipped under the material. Seeing him without a shirt the other morning
had been one thing. Touching was clearly a different sensation, something I
experienced when my exploring yielded hard muscles under my fingertips.

He shifted, nestling
his erection between my thighs while my hips shamelessly ground into him. Then
suddenly, in the distance, I heard a cell phone ringing.

Colby cursed,
pulling back. His expression was a mixture of both lust and confusion. “I think
my lesson is up,” he murmured huskily.

I tried to
extricate myself from his lap with what little grace I still possessed. It
wasn’t clear which of us had been rocked more by our kiss, and I wondered if,
absent the cell phone interruption, it would’ve progressed to more.

He answered the
call tersely, indicating with his tone that it was business related. Hanging it
up, he looked at me then down to his upper thigh, where I’d left a giant wet
spot.

“Oh, my God,” I
said out loud, wanting to absolutely die. Take myself under the dining room
table, put my hands over my head, and rock myself like a crazy person until the
moment passed by.

His eyes met
mine but in them sheer arousal was reflected. The front of his shorts showed he
was straining against them with his erection. “I take it that kiss was better?”