Not About Love (This Love Book 2) (7 page)

“You’re lying. I know you liked that,” he said, walking closer to me, his jaw taut, his eyes dark and broody.

“I did not!”

“Uh-huh.” He locked eyes with me. I could tell his anger was evaporating and was being replaced by something else. I had seen that look in his eyes before.

Desire.

My breath hitched. He reached for me, placed a hand on my waist, and pressed his body against mine, walking me backward until I was pressed against the brick wall. His gaze traveled to my lips, and my hands instantly went around his neck, as if they had been commanded to do so. I wasn’t sure what my brain was thinking, but it was telling my body to go for it.

“What happened to your one-time rule, Boyd?” I asked, hoping I sounded as sexy as I intended.

He leaned down, his nose running against mine. He brushed his lips against mine and covered my cheek with soft kisses. His mouth reached my ear, and his beard tickled me in the most delicious way.

“Screw the rule,” he replied, and his breath on my skin sent a shiver through my body. He looked into my eyes for permission before placing a hungry kiss on my mouth. My lips parted, and his tongue wrapped around mine, tasting me, possessing me as his hand cupped my ass, pressing me into him even more.

“What was that guy saying to you in there?” he asked in a gruff tone, his voice full of disdain for the drunkard.

“He said I have a great ass,” I whispered.

“Well, that dumbass was sure right about that,” he said, getting a bigger handful.

I moaned as his erection pressed into me. He trailed kisses on my neck, down to my collarbone, to my chest. His hands left my ass and traveled up to my waist, under my loose blouse. He cupped my breasts and gave them a squeeze over the fabric of my bra. When he kissed me again on my neck, my breathing got even more labored, and he let out a low growl. He brought his mouth back to mine, and I nipped his bottom lip. This was bad. What were we doing? This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Not again.

I was thankful we were alone in the alley, because Boyd’s hands were all over my body. I decided I needed to return the favor and started rubbing his erection. He unbuttoned my blouse and kissed the top of my breast while pinching one of my nipples through the lacy bra I wore. His touch, his tongue, his kisses were driving me crazy.

I wanted him, all of him. I was going to take him home that night, fuck everything, but just as I was happily immersed in a lusty haze, I heard the notes of a familiar song.

Crap.

It was Ella’s song. She was on stage. If we didn’t get back in there, they’d get suspicious. Everyone would know about us.

“Boyd, we need to stop.” He didn’t listen though, and his mouth kept laying kisses on every inch of my skin that wasn’t covered with clothes.

“I’m only going to stop once I’ve taken you, multiple times, in bed. I want you, Bertie.”
Bertie?
What the crap? That sounded like a nickname for an old woman. Terrible, terrible nickname.

“Boyd…we need to get back inside…Ella is playing. Your brother will wonder where you are…”

“Give me one minute.” I laughed at that while his tongue teased my earlobe. It was a beautiful summer evening, and the sky was clear that night. From where we were standing, I could see a half moon. I heard people cheering and clapping inside the venue. Ella started another song…and then another. We needed to go back inside, but I couldn’t unglue myself from him, and we kept kissing and making out for the duration of another song. The music stopped and after the people clapped I had a feeling Ella’s set was over.

I had missed it. I felt like an idiot. It was such an important night for her.

“Boyd…we need to go back inside
now
. I’m sure you don’t want to have to explain yourself—I know I don’t.” My words made him snap out of his daze, and he untangled himself from me. I sighed, already missing his touch.
This is so bad.

“You’re right…I don’t want to have to explain myself. Give me a minute.”

I nodded and realized I was standing half naked with my blouse unbuttoned and my bra on full display. I buttoned it up and tried to fix my hair.

Boyd straightened himself up and adjusted his jeans. I bit my lip thinking how much I wanted to undress him, how much I couldn’t wait to do just that.

When I had first heard he would be visiting with Lou, I’d told myself I had to be casual around him, act as if nothing had happened between us. Going after someone you’d slept with once was the worst thing, especially when they were the no-commitment type like him. Nine out of ten times you’d end up getting rejected.

After our make-out session, however, I didn’t know how to handle things, but fuck me if I didn’t want it. I did—badly.
Don’t think. One more time. Just enjoy it. You know it’s going to be good.

We went back inside the club and barely had time to look around before we came face to face with the lovebirds.

“Where have you guys been?” Lou asked.

“Where were you? Did you miss my set?” Ella chimed in.

Shit.
I didn’t know what to say. What would be a good thing to say?
Sorry, we were making out outside.
I needed to say something, quick. I cleared my throat.

“I had to take this jackass outside. He almost got into a fight.” I pointed to the man next to me.
Sorry for throwing you under the bus, Boyd, but this will keep them off our asses.
I looked at him, hoping he’d go along with my story.

Unfortunately, he didn’t. Dumbass.

“Bullshit!” he rebuffed. “Why don’t you tell them the truth,
Red?
I was being a gentleman by defending your honor from that douchebag who put his hand on your ass!”

Geez, no need to be so butt hurt about it. Tone it down, will ya?

Well, now I had to roll with it. I blurted out the first thing I could think of.

“For your information,” I said, getting in his face. “I’m a big girl. I can very well take care of myself, thank you very much. I was going to put that asshole in his place by yelling some very colorful Dutch words at him. No fistfight was necessary, but I’m sure that’s hard for a Neanderthal like you to comprehend!” I realized I might have been a bit too harsh, but I wanted to sound believable.

Apparently, I did.

“Ally!” Ella scolded me then proceeded to tell Lou, “Great! Two of the people we love the most hate each other! What do we do now?”
Mission accomplished.
As long as she thought we couldn’t stand each other, our cover wouldn’t be blown.

“Shhh,” Lou replied, keeping his eyes on us. “I think you’re mistaken.” Lou wasn’t having it. I glared at Boyd and stuck my nose up in the air. We had to keep the charade up. I didn’t want to have to explain what we were doing. I wasn’t even sure myself.

“Boyd, is that lipstick on your face?” Lou asked.

Boyd’s hand immediately went up to his face, trying to get any traces of lipstick off his cheeks but coming up empty. The fool had fallen for it.
Dammit.

“Gotcha!” Lou said, and Boyd’s face fell. He quickly recovered and glared at his little brother, but the damage was done. We were busted. Embarrassment washed through me, and my cheeks flushed. I bit my lip.

“No. Fucking. Way.” Ella laughed. I was ready to wipe that smirk off her face.

“You missed a button of your blouse, Bertie,” Boyd pointed out, looking at my cleavage.
Jeez, Louise
.
Make it worse, why don’t you?
I rolled my eyes at him.

“No one calls me
Bertie
, idiotic metrosexual mountain man, especially not you!” What in the world was it with him and that nickname? I buttoned up my blouse, frustrated the truth was out.

“Were you guys seriously making out just now? Good grief, are you that hard up for each other? Get a freaking room!” Ella teased while Lou stood behind her, laughing unabashedly.

“Oh, fuck off! Have you seen this guy? The only way to shut him up is by kissing him. And don’t act so innocent, you! I saw the looks you two were giving each other when you were up on that stage! It looked like you two were ready to get undressed in a room full of people! At least we had the decency to go outside!” I was bluffing; I had missed the entire thing, but she didn’t know how long we had been outside. I knew how intense she and Lou got, saw the longing looks they often exchanged.

“You tell ’em, Bertie!” Boyd added, putting an arm around my shoulders.

“Stop it with this Bertie shit, Boyd! Do you want me to get even madder at you?”

“Only if that makes you as feisty as you were outside,” he added with a mischievous grin, shutting me up with a kiss. Oh well, our cover was blown. We had no excuse. It wouldn’t make sense to stop now since our secret was out. I might as well get my fill of him. I let him kiss me, and I wrapped my hands around his neck. His lips and his tongue devoured me; there was no other word for it. For once in my life, I wanted to let go of any restraints or rules and just go with the flow.

Ella’s voice brought me back to reality.

“Are you two coming?” she asked. I snapped out of my Boyd-induced daze and tried to collect myself. I nodded, and the two of us followed Ella and Lou out to the street.

“BOYD, ARE YOU COMING WITH
us or not?” my brother asked, distracting me from my daydream.

“Where?”

“To Germany. Are you coming with us on Ella’s tour?”

“Hell, no! Why in the world would I want to be a third wheel with you guys?”

“Come on, Boyd, we’re not that bad. I’m sure we could behave and make it bearable for you.”

“Thank you, brother, but no thank you. Besides, I’ve gotten in touch with an investor who’s interested in opening a Boyd-Building gym here in Amsterdam. I’m going to see if we can make it happen. I’d love to expand internationally.”

“Wow, really? I had no idea. Is that really something you want to do? Isn’t it enough taking care of business in New York?” My brother sounded surprised, as if he couldn’t believe I had so much ambition. I loved to delve into new opportunities. If opening a gym here in the Netherlands was a possibility, why should I say no to it?

It was hard for me to say no to opportunity. I had gotten bit by the entrepreneurial bug, and it was tremendously exciting to build something from the ground up. With CrossFit, I loved how it changed people’s lives, making them more confident about themselves. CrossFit had helped me work through my issues and insecurities and had helped plenty of people around me turn their lives around. The sense of community you felt in a CrossFit gym was like no other gym I had been to. Gyms are usually a place full of stuck-up pricks and bitches who think they are far better than you.

A CrossFit gym was a place where people encouraged and supported each other to achieve their goals.

I loved everything about opening and running a place like that. I wanted to inspire more people. I wanted to change more lives the same way mine had been changed. All that was true, but a small voice inside me told me business wasn’t the only reason. I wanted to jump on the opportunity to stay in Amsterdam for a bit so I could keep fucking Ally. It was true that I couldn’t get enough of her, and even though I did like her, the thing between us was just like the flings I had with other women. It was no-strings-attached sex, with the only difference that we had now been together one, two, three, four…well,
multiple
times.

I wondered if she was busy. It was a Saturday morning and if she wasn’t working, maybe I could go see her…for a little bit. I had been over at her place several times during the last few days. Somehow we managed to keep things quiet. As far as my brother and Ella knew, we had only made out that one night.

Are you busy?

“Who are you texting? One of your girls? Are you texting Ally? You can’t get enough of her, can you?” my brother asked in a mocking tone. “I know she can handle herself, but you should really leave her alone. She’s different, Boyd. She’s not like one of your girls. Plus, she’s my friend, and I don’t want my womanizer of a brother to mess with her.”

I glared at him and narrowed my eyes. I let out a breath and lied, stone-faced.