She took another swig of beer and flicked her hair over her shoulder. He loved her dark, silky, straight hair.
Focus.
“How much do you know?” she asked, unable to hide the nervous shake of her hand as she swirled her beer around in her cup.
“Most of it’s fuzzy; I went into shock at the words flying out of sweet Ms. Hattie’s mouth, but courtesan in the bedroom has a certain ring to it. And—the part about blowjobs.”
Caelen gasped. “She never used the words blowjobs!”
Her surprised gasp made him as hard as a rock. Scratch that. Harder than he’d already been. “I might be using my own terminology. What else? Oh yeah, I heard some mention of private parties of an intimate nature and nipple clamps. Yup. That part is seared into my memory.” He hoped to God he was right. He hadn’t heard nearly as much as he’d wanted.
Caelen looked around the park and gritted her teeth. “Keep it down, please. I don’t want anybody coming out of their front porch and getting an earful of your descriptions of, well, you know.”
“We’re a football field away from any of the homes.”
“What about the people across the street at the bar?” Her frown was getting deeper. “Oh, and did I mention what a lowlife you are for eavesdropping? I mean you’re a friggin’ firefighter. Shouldn’t you be a pillar of the community, above reproach? I can’t believe you.”
He leaned in now, his face feeling heated. “I get results, sweetheart. By. Any. Means. Necessary. You might want to keep that in mind as you’re extending wicked proposals my way.”
She blushed, but didn’t contradict him.
Thank God. He hoped, prayed,
needed
her to imagine all the ways he would deliver results. “At this point does the ‘how’ of how I found out really matter? Stop stalling and get to it.”
“Where do I start?”
“Beginning. I want to know it all.”
She looked uncertain and grabbed one of her pigtails. She started examining the tip, picking at the end with her fingers, a habit from when they were kids.
He was just bringing his whiskey to his lips when he heard her say. “I need to borrow your dick for a few days.”
He swallowed fast, and the whole gulp went down the wrong pipe. He started coughing in great racking hacks, and when he was finally able to look up, she had a little smile sitting right on her ruby lips. He managed to wheeze out, “Come again?”
“I’m sorry, was my choice of words too indelicate? You said you wanted to know it all.”
All he could do was growl in frustration, still unable to speak clearly. The liquor had burned a path down his throat.
The growl got her attention, and she said, “Turns out Ms. Belle decided to run a sex education school along with the charm school. The money’s a lot better. She wants us to take over, but she made it clear in her will that she’d never mislead or cheat any of her clients, so if we want to take it over, we better know the ‘ins and outs,’ so to speak,” she cleared her throat, “of every technique we’re teaching.
“I can’t believe Ms. Belle included that in the will.” Only now able to talk.
“Yeah. You know what a stickler she could be. Right before she passed, all of us were in either committed relationships or married. And even though she didn’t approve of me, Brynn and Dacey shacking up, she was nothing if not practical. She wanted us to have the school,” she said on a sad, little sigh.
He wanted to explore that sadness, but he felt heat creeping up his chest, tightening his muscles. It was imperative she confirm that she wasn’t in a relationship. The need burned more than the whiskey down his throat. “You
were
all in relationships?”
“Hmm?” She still had that faraway, sad look, and she wasn’t answering his questions fast enough.
He fought for calm. “Are you in a relationship with anyone, Caelen?” His voice was deceptively soft, but he felt his shoulders start to bunch. The grapevine in Sierra Madre was a treasure trove of information. He’d heard her crying earlier, obviously hurt by some douchebag, but what if it wasn’t really over? What if she was just taking a break? He had no problem with being used by
her
. In fact, the idea made his cock jump in his pants; he just had to make sure she wasn’t using anyone else at the same time.
“What?” She finally looked at him – really looked – and frowned.
Say no, say no, say no.
“You. In a relationship? Yes or no.” He couldn’t make it any simpler than that.
“No, Tarzan. I’m not. Do you think I’d be having this conversation with you if I were?”
His muscles eased, and he was able to breathe again. “Good, because I don’t poach. Ever. You need to know that about me right off the bat.
Ever
. So I will only ask you one more time: Are you involved with anybody?”
Drink in hand, she studied the amber liquid swirling in a small eddy in her cup. “Look, Dare, life is complicated.” Her voice broke on the last word.
“I’m
complicated, but I can tell you I’m not with anyone.”
He was just about to heave out a sigh of relief when she continued.
“But that doesn’t mean my head—Let’s just say that relationships can cause damage, and I may be what you’d call the ‘walking wounded’ right now.”
He opened his mouth to ask one of about a thousand questions, when she held up a hand.
“I will
not
talk about it with you.
Nonnegotiable
. So I will only ask
you
one time, can you do this, with no questions and no strings attached for the next few days? Because that’s all I’m offering.”
His mind whirled, starting with a slow thrum that threatened to spin out of control. That happened to him sometimes. His mind worked too fast, and he couldn’t latch on to one idea. Everything became a blur. His brain was in overdrive. Usually, he went for a long jog or a flat-out sprint when it became too much, but he couldn’t afford to delay this conversation. She wanted answers now. Damn. He hated the idea that some guy had done a mind-job on her. “Okay. For now. But I need more details.”
“About me or the school?”
“School.” He took a deep breath and continued. “So each sister has to teach a special
technique?”
He gulped, trying to prepare himself for her next words. “So, uh, was I right when I heard you were teaching—?” She needed his dick. Her prior words ran in a loop in his mind.
It’s yours,
he wanted to shout. God! The anticipation.
She leaned forward and her voice sounded a little breathy. “Blowjobs.”
Thank you, God! Thank you, thank you.
He couldn’t respond. The reality of the situation hit him like a hard jab to the solar plexus. She wasn’t actually going to sit there and ask him to let her give him blowjobs. Was she?
He was struck dumb, but somehow, on the outside, he was holding it together.
She frowned. Why? From his lack of response?
Speak, dummy.
She continued, probably because his mouth and tongue refused to work. “There were a bunch of techniques but that was the first one scheduled, and since I want to run the school, I get to go first. Anyway, does that sound, uh—Could you, um… Can you do it or not?”
Thank God it was dark, though he swore his crotch had risen several inches after her simple, sexy as hell words. “You have to learn about every single one of those?”
“Well, yes, eventually, but as of right now I just have to worry about the blowjobs.” She said the last word on a whisper, glancing around to make sure no one had heard.
His dick just about exploded at the idea. Blowjobs. He wondered what the other categories were, and damn, why couldn’t she be in charge of
all
of them? He’d be her willing slave if she’d let him.
He stretched, took his time in answering. He even glanced down at his watch. Not because he was nonchalant, but because he still couldn’t believe his luck and was having trouble answering. But he’d keep his feelings close to the vest with this one. The primal urge to howl and launch at her was sitting just under his skin. “When is the first class?”
“Friday.”
“That gives you four days.”
She nodded, her expression intense but uncertain. Damn, he wanted her off balance, but he didn’t want her doubting the attraction between them.
He wished his voice sounded less gruff as he said. “Well, today is your lucky day Betty. I happen to, unexpectedly, have a few days off.” No need to go into the suspension with Caelen. The idea of it would piss him off all over again, and he wanted his full attention on her. “That gives us over ninety hours to do every single, dirty, lowdown, and depraved ‘job’ you can think of.”
“De-depraved? What?”
Time to get her as turned on as he was. “I’m open for it all. I can’t wait for the feel of your tight little mouth caressing my…”
Her booted foot kicked up a tuft of sand and sprayed him in the chest. “We. Are. In. Public. Well, sort of.” Caelen fanned herself, and took another gulp of beer. “You can’t just talk to me like that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s private. I—”
“Betty, you better get used to it. If we’re doing this, you’ll be hearing a lot of that. And more.”
Eyes dilated, she asked, “I will?”
“Oh yeah.” He leaned in. “I’m going to talk about how good you feel, how your touch makes me hot, how hard I’m going to come imagining you naked.”
She leaned forward and licked her lips. Her lids looked heavy and a faint blush stained her cheeks. “I suppose feedback is important in the process, right?”
Got her! Too bad his dick was so damn hard he might come right in front of her. Shit, why weren’t they having this discussion in his apartment? Her hot, little hand would be down his pants right now, if they were. He knew it. “Baby, it’s going to be…”
“Hey, uh, Caelen? Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Caelen and Dare both jumped, not realizing how far in they’d leaned toward each other. Frank stood in front of them, kicking at the sand, a full on “Aw, shucks” thing going on. Dare had been so engrossed in Caelen, he hadn’t even heard the man coming.
Brynn was directly behind them, a shit-eating grin splitting her face. “We’re not interrupting anything, are we?”
“Of course not.” Caelen pushed back on the swing, covering her heated cheeks with her hands.
“Anyway, uh, I wanted to apologize to you, Caelen. I shouldn’t have—I just didn’t think. Brynn explained to me what an ass I was being. To tell the truth, I hadn’t really known what the nickname meant.”
Caelen’s face went cloudy at the reminder of the Punching Bag comment. Looked like she wasn’t buying Frank’s bullshit and neither was Dare. She just arched an eyebrow at him, not letting him off the hook, and the awkward silence hung between all of them.
“She doesn’t want to talk about it. Get lost.” Dare shot him a look no man would misunderstand. The ‘I’m about to take your head off and kick it down the street’ look that instantly had the idiot stuttering further.
“C-come on, man. I’m super sorry. I didn’t
really
know what the nickname meant, but I did know it embarrassed her. You guys were such a tight knit group. I could never break in but … It was mean. And stupid. I’m really sorry.”
Caelen blew out a breath and pasted the familiar and vacant smile on her face. The one she’d used when he’d first seen her at the school. Dare was growing to hate that smile; although, he couldn’t fault her for using it with Frank. “That’s funny. I don’t remember high school the same way you do. But whatever.”
If she needed to pretend the nickname hadn’t mattered, Dare would be right there to back her up. “You heard her. It’s a non-issue. But Frank,” his voice went deadly, soft. “I better not ever, for any reason, hear that name come from your lips again. We clear?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course. We cool? Caelen? Dare? We’re cool, right? ’Cuz if not, I’m gonna feel really bad.”
“Put the poor boy out of his misery.” Brynn sat next to Caelen on the swing, and she nudged her sister with her foot. “He’s going through a hard time right now.” Brynn turned down her lips in an exaggerated sad face.
“She left me!” Frank blurted out. “My girlfriend. She said I was a jerk, too. I don’t know what’s wrong with me!”
Caelen and Dare’s mouths dropped open. This was too much. The poor guy was an ass, but he seemed to be going through something. Damn, Frank was ruining all of his plans. Before he could react, Caelen was up and hugging the guy, soothing him with little pats on the back and murmuring soft words he couldn’t make out.
Was Frank
crying?
Dare just rolled his eyes, all plans for seduction on hold. Caelen motioned for him to say something. “Uh, that sucks, man.” He probably could’ve done better, but he was still frustrated. “Don’t worry. I got the best cure for a broken heart.”
“You do?” Frank sniffled.
Dare sighed, resigned to babysitting. For now. “Yup. Another round. Works every time.”
Chapter 12
‡
C
AELEN COULDN’T REMEMBER
what round they were on, but magically, the beer didn’t taste as harsh and acidy in her mouth anymore. In fact, it tasted really, really good. Unfortunately, Dare had been wrong about Frank. The last few rounds had helped at first, but now he was just a blubbering mess, who couldn’t stop talking about his girl.
Poor guy.
He was an ass, but he did seem genuinely distraught. They had safely deposited him in one cab and Brynn in another, to get them home safely. Somehow, Dare and Caelen were back in the bar, tucked in toward the back of the room, another pitcher deposited with a clunk on the table.
Her eyes narrowed, and she focused on the wicked man across the table. Who knew he could be so charming? The entire night his complete attention had been riveted on her. And he was always touching her. Not long enough where she could yell at him, but just enough to get her blood pumping.
At the moment, she was trying, and failing, to remind herself that she might need his body, but it didn’t change the fact that she couldn’t stand him. Right? So why did she want him so bad she was ready to crawl across the table and straddle him in front of the whole restaurant?