Authors: Lindsey Brookes
“It won’t be our last,” Trey assured her as his hand eased down the smooth, wet flesh of her stomach.
Her reply was no more than a whimper as his fingers found their way to the center of her need. She was lost to Trey’s touch. Her legs parted to press against his muscular thighs and her hips lifted.
“Trey...” she gasped. The pulsing water of the whirlpool only served to heighten her body’s sensitivity to his every stroke.
“Don’t fight it, Angel,” he said hoarsely. “I want to take you over the edge.”
His words had her body trembling. She grasped the tops of his thighs, her nails digging into his flesh. There was no
edge
left for her to cling to. Trey had seen to that.
Another leisurely stroke and then he thrust his finger deep inside her. She cried out, shuddering wildly as her body gave in to the pleasure.
“Oh,” she said with a sigh as her bottom settled back into place. “Wow.”
He chuckled softly. “Must have been the bubbles.”
“Must have,” Angie replied with a grin as she regained her composure. Then she turned to straddle his lap, needing more. Needing Trey inside her.
“Can you reach my pants?” he asked, inclining his head toward the side of the tub where they lay.
“I think so.” She reached for them, dragging them up the side of the Jacuzzi. She knew what he wanted. Pulling the foil packet from the back pocket of his pants, protection they had finally seen to, she tossed them back onto the floor.
Even though timing-wise they should have been safe enough, they had decided that
it was better to be safe than sorry. Not that she’d ever be sorry if she found herself pregnant with Trey’s child.
She held the packet up for him to see. “I hope these things are bubble proof.”
He reached for the packet and eased up onto the back ledge of the tub. “Only one way to find out.”
“Need any help?”
“I think I’ve got it covered,” he replied with a wink, then slid back into the rippling water. Catching her by the waist, he turned her toward him.
Their eyes met as she moved to straddle him. Her heart skipped a beat as he looked up at her, because it wasn’t just heat and hunger she saw in his eyes. There was something more. Something deeper.
But there was no more time to decipher what it was she might have seen there as Trey clasped her hips and thrust into her, joining them with a drawn out groan.
She clutched at his broad shoulders as she moved against him, growing mindless with need.
“I love you, Angel.”
It took a moment for the words of that husky whisper to penetrate her passion dazed mind. He loved her. She’d heard those words before, exchanged between them as friends. This was different.
Or was it? Was she only wishful thinking? Was great sex and her growing feelings for Trey causing her to imagine emotions that weren’t really there for him? Another look in those incredible blue eyes and her doubts fled.
“I love you, too,” she said. More than she ever thought was possible to love another person. Now it was up to Trey to decide where ‘they’ fit into his future.
*
* *
Trey walked back to where she sat waiting for him at the gate. “Apparently it’s mechanical problems. It’s going to be at least an hour delay.”
“An hour,” Angie groaned and closed her eyes. She’d never make it. “I need a bed.”
He laughed. “Sorry, Angel, I can’t help you there. I can, however, offer you my shoulder or some coffee. Either of those work for you?”
She forced her tired eyes open. “Can I have both?”
Trey chuckled. “Give me that little pout you always make and I’ll give you anything you want.”
She wanted him. Did that count?
“I’m too tired to pout. I think I’d better go with the coffee.”
“Want me to carry you to the coffee shop?” he teased, giving her curls a playful tug.
How he was able to function at all was beyond her. They had barely slept a wink the night before. In fact, sleep was something neither of them had gotten a whole lot of since coming to Vegas. Not that she was complaining. Making love with Trey had been well worth the sacrifice.
She smiled up at him as she pushed out of the chair she’d been sitting in. “As tempting as your offer is, I think I’ll give my legs a try.”
He reached for her hand and walked with her out to the concourse. “I saw a little coffee shop on our way to the gate. We can grab a cup there.”
“How can you be so wide awake?” she asked as they stepped into the flow of the scurrying travelers.
“I’m like the Energizer Bunny, remember?” he replied with a quick wink.
Oh, he didn’t have to remind her of that. The man kept on going and going and going. Her cheeks warmed at the memory of Trey’s extensive lovemaking abilities. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d told him he that had ruined her for any other man.
The coffee shop appeared to be filled to capacity when they arrived. She looked around the crowded room. “See any empty tables?” It wasn’t Starbucks, but at this point she didn’t care. She needed caffeine.
Trey frowned as he scanned the sitting area. “Not a one.” He turned to Angie. “What do you say we get our coffee ‘to go’ and take it back to the gate waiting area with us? That way you can have both your wishes granted, coffee to drink and my shoulder to rest your head on.”
“An offer I can’t refuse.”
“I’ll go order,” Trey said. “What’ll you have?”
She glanced toward the menu that hung over the distant counter. “Anything with caffeine. Large preferably.”
“Gotcha.”
A few minutes later, Trey returned with their order, handing Angie hers. “One large coffee, leaded.”
“My hero.”
Coffee in hand, they made their way back to their gate where other passengers were milling about; several of them checking their watches impatiently as they awaited the announcement to begin boarding.
Angie settled into a chair, refusing to check her watch. She was nowhere near ready to leave Las Vegas and return to Pittsburgh.
Trey had no sooner taken the seat next to hers when his cell phone went off. He glanced down at it, then back to her with an apologetic smile. “I’ve got to take this. It’s the office.”
Angie laughed softly. “Back to reality.”
He nodded. “Guess it had to happen sooner or later. I’m going to take this call somewhere a little quieter. Be back in a few.”
She watched him go, her smile fading. Back to reality... What exactly would that bring for her? For them? Angie eased back in the seat and brought the steaming cup of coffee to her mouth, blowing on it lightly as she reached for a discarded newspaper on the seat next to her.
Current events had been the last thing on her and Trey’s minds that week. She had no idea what was going on out in the real world. Angie shook the paper open and skimmed the front page.
“Angie?”
She looked up, glancing over top the newspaper to find her ex watching her from the other side of the half-wall that separated the gate waiting area from the concourse.
“Rick?”
“Hey.” He flashed her that toothy smile she used to find irresistible.
Used to
being the key phrase here. That smile did nothing for her now.
Returning the paper to the empty seat beside her, she set her cup of coffee on the floor by her feet and stood.
“Don’t get up,” he said. “I’ll come around.”
The last thing she wanted was for Rick to come sit with her. She preferred to head him off at the pass. “It’s all right,” she assured him as she made her way around the dividing wall to talk to him. “I need to stretch my legs anyway. What are you doing here?”
“My flight’s scheduled to leave in about twenty-five minutes,” he explained. “I was just on my way to my gate when I saw this incredibly sexy woman sitting here all by her beautiful self.”
Could he lay it on any thicker? It was all she could do not to roll her eyes, but she had no intention of wasting the effort on him. Not when she was so tired.
He did a once over and let out a low whistle. “I like this new you. You look damn hot.”
Was he for real? Raise the hemline of her skirt a few inches and she suddenly went from Ice Princess to Goddess status.
“Trey will be back any moment,” she warned. “He had a business call to handle.”
“Of course, he did,” he replied as he glanced around. His gaze shifted back to her. “From what I’ve heard, Landers is married to that company of his. I’m surprised he even took the time away to come here.”
“He works hard.”
Unlike you.
Rick was good at pawning his job tasks off to others, using his status as owner’s nephew to get his co-workers to do things his way.
“Too hard to have much time left for ‘socializing’ in Pittsburgh. He’ll leave you high and dry in no time.”
“Nice try, Rick, but I think I know Trey a little better than you do.”
His gaze moved over her in a perusing manner, his smile widening. “I’ll just bet you do.”
His ogling made her feel like a slab of meat dangling in front of a ravenous dog. “I’d better let you get to your gate.” She started to turn away.
“I thought you’d be gone by now,” he said, intentionally hooking her back into the conversation. “your flight was scheduled to leave before mine.
Angie pivoted back around on her new four inch heels. “Our flight’s been delayed.”
It was hard to stand there with her ex, a man she once cared about, thought cared about her, and not compare him to Trey. Trey was taller. Better looking. More thoughtful. More everything. What had she ever seen in Rick?
He moved toward her with a smile that set off warning bells in her head. “I’m glad.”
Angie took a step back. “Where’s your
friend
?”
“Things didn’t work out,” he said, then muttered, “The bitch took off with some high roller.”
Served him right, the ass. What was that old saying?
What goes around comes around?
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she lied.
“Don’t be. She’s not the one I want. You are.”
“Rick, don’t.” Angie looked around, hoping Trey would come to her rescue, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Look, I know you’re pissed at me right now. I don’t blame you. I screwed up big time.”
“It’s in the past.” In other words, she didn’t care to go there with him.
But her ex had other plans; keeping it in the present being one of them. Rick stepped forward, closing the distance between them again. The next thing she knew his hands were skimming up and down her arms. “We really need to talk. About us.”
She stiffened, his touch no longer having the effect on her it once did. All she felt was revulsion. “There is no us. I’ve moved on.”
“With Landers?”
She raised her chin. “Yes.”
“I can offer you more than he’s willing to if you’ll just give me another chance. You wouldn’t be just another fling for me.”
His words had her head snapping back into place, her eyes meeting his. “What?”
“That’s all it is,” he replied. “Between you and Landers. He told me so.”
“He did what?” Angie refused to believe what she was hearing.
“I ran into him in the casino that first night. He played the usual tough guy and told me to back off where you were concerned. He said that thawing the Ice Princess was his goal this week.”
No. Trey wouldn’t have said that. He was supposed to make Rick jealous, but he’d never say something like that. A niggling of doubt crept into her mind. Trey had left that night and then returned to make love to her. That hadn’t been part of the plan. Even if he had said that to her ex, it was only to make him think...
Think what? That she and Trey were having a fling? They had. So what was it now? Despite saying that he loved her, Trey hadn’t mentioned anything about their ‘new’ relationship continuing once they got home. His declaration of love had come about in the heat of passion. Had he even meant it?
Her old insecurities returned with a vengeance and all the ‘what ifs’ raced through her sleep deprived mind.
Angie looked away, emotion in the form of hot tears stinging her tired eyes.
“He’s not the man for you,” Rick said, wrapping his arms around her. “I am.”
*
* *
Trey snapped his cell phone shut and shoved it back into the holder clipped to his belt. Despite having been away nearly a week, things were still running smoothly at Multi-Med. Not that he should be surprised. He had every confidence in his staff. But this was the first time since starting his company that he’d allowed himself to indulge in some time away from the office for pleasure and not business. He thought of Angel. There had definitely been pleasure.