Authors: Lindsey Brookes
Her soft laughter drew his gaze. She appeared to be enjoying his discomfort. Brat.
Pressing a finger to her chin, she said, “Hmm… Now that you mention it, our having sex might not be such a bad idea after all.”
“Angel—” he warned.
Her soft laughter echoed off the kitchen walls around them. “Sorry, Trey. I was just playing with you. Oops!” She cupped a hand loosely over her mouth. “Bad choice of words.”
Trey shook his head as he stood grinning at her. “All right, Angel, let’s try and be serious here for a moment. You’re not looking for sex, just advice. Why not buy a few books on the subject? There are plenty of those out there.”
“Read them all,” she admitted, her frown returning. “And you see where that’s gotten me. I’m desperate, Trey. Will you help me, or not?”
He still wasn’t sure what it was she wanted from him, but he didn’t want her to do anything she’d regret because she was acting on emotion. “Angel, I’m not so sure you’re thinking very clearly right now.”
She shook her head, her dark hair spilling down over her slender shoulders. “You’re wrong about that, Trey. I’ve never thought more clearly in my life. I know what I have to do, and I can’t think of a better teacher than you.”
“Why me?”
“Because women flock to you.”
He laughed at that one. “I’d hardly call it flocking.”
“Face it, Trey, you’re every woman’s fantasy.”
Every woman? Her included?
“Tall, dark and handsome,” she continued, “with killer blue eyes.”
He was not the stud Angel made him out to be. Sure, he’d had more than a few relationships over the years, but nothing serious. Thirty was too young to
settle down. Besides, he was determined to see his medical imaging business take root and grow. He owed that to his mother. If the hospital she had gone to for her routine mammo hadn’t used antiquated equipment, she might still be alive today.
“Yeah, I’m every woman’s dream,” he replied with more than a hint of sarcasm.
Angel’s gaze dropped to his shoes and she smiled, displaying one solitary dimple. “It’s no wonder. Your feet are huge.”
What did his feet have to do with any of this? Then it hit him. She was talking about his...
“Leave my feet out of this!”
She looked duly chastised. “Sorry.”
“No big deal.” But it was. He was used to Angel’s openness, but they were treading new ground here. She was talking about his feet for cripes sake.
“Please say you’ll go with me.” She looked up at him with that sorrowful little pout she had perfected over the years. And damned if it didn’t work every time.
“Angel...”
“I want to show Rick he’s not the only fish in the sea and make the arrogant ass eat his heart out in the process.”
Trey set his beer on the counter then clasped his hands atop her shoulders. Her pout drew his gaze to full pink lips. Lips he’d never paid much attention to in the past. Until now.
“You don’t have to prove anything to that idiot. But you’re right. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. You don’t have to settle.”
“My problem is those fish you’re referring to always end up swimming the other way. It’s like I’m wearing this huge neon sign that says: ‘Twenty-six-year-old might-as-well-be-a-virgin coming. Swim for your life!’”
Trey couldn’t help but chuckle at her reference. Angel had a way with dramatics. “Stop exaggerating. Men don’t swim away just because a woman’s a little skittish in the bedroom.” Even as he said it the doubt settled in. He couldn’t ever recall ever taking a virgin or virgin reincarnate to bed. There was always that fear of doing so and having her respond with
‘I’ve given you my innocence, or close to, now give me the rest of your life’.
“Rick did.” Then again she had given him a red light in the sex department. What if he had tried harder, not given up on her so easily? What if he’d of kissed her the way Trey had in the bedroom? Pushing both the thought and Trey’s hands away, she rounded the breakfast bar and made her way into the living room.
“Come on, Angel. What do you expect from an idiot?” He followed her out of the kitchen. “Forget about him.”
She bent to fluff the throw pillows on the sofa. Nervous energy was not a good thing for her. “I have,” she said. “But that doesn’t stop me from wanting a relationship that lasts longer than a cold.”
His only response was a grin.
She wheeled a small floral suitcase out from behind the sofa. “I’m serious, Trey. With or without your help, I’m going to figure out how to make that happen.” She started toward her room, pulling the suitcase behind her.
“I’ll go.”
She stopped mid-step and spun around. “What?”
He smiled. “I said I’ll go with you.”
“You will?”
“Unlike Rick, I’m there when you need me.”
“I knew I could count on you!” Releasing her suitcase, Angel ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him square on the lips again. “You are the best friend a girl could ever have.”
Trey gave her his usual brotherly squeeze as the simple peck ended, ignoring the not-so-brotherly thoughts her being pressed against him was causing. “Just don’t let my sister hear you say that.”
Angel stepped away with a grin. “You know what I mean. Kathy’s my best female friend and you’re my best male friend.”
“Well, your best male friend is hungry. How about I take you out to dinner tonight?”
“Italian?”
“Whatever your heart desires. There’s just one catch.”
She looked at him. “What’s that?”
“This dinner date is on me.” He was referring to her ex always insisting they go Dutch whenever he and Angel went out, one of many reasons Trey had never liked the guy. He was a tight ass and Angel deserved the best.
“I can pay—”
Trey cut her off, pressing a finger to her lips. “I’m not Rick. I know how to treat a woman.”
She smiled behind his extended finger. “I know.” The warmth of her breath caressed the palm of his hand. “That’s why you’re going to make the perfect ‘lover’ in Vegas.”
“Lover?” His hand fell away. Hadn’t they just discussed this?
She nodded. “The red hot, can’t keep your hands off me, kind of lover.”
Trey’s cock stirred at her words, drawing a curse from his lips. “Hold up a minute. I thought us having sex wasn’t part of this plan of yours.”
“We aren’t really going to be lovers.”
“We aren’t?” he repeated. That was good, right? So why then did he feel an unexpected sense of disappointment?
“We’re going to make it look like we’re having a hot, steamy fling for Rick’s benefit.”
He frowned at that. “You’re trying to make Rick jealous?”
“No, but I intend to make him regret the way he treated me. Not because I want him back, but because I know he’s got a big mouth and word will get around that I’m not the ice princess they all think I am.”
Okay, now he was beginning to follow. At least, he hoped he was. “Okay, we have the no sex between us understood. But you’re still wanting me to give you lessons on how to seduce a man?”
“Absolutely. I need to know everything you can teach me about being a desirable woman so I can to become the new me.”
“The new you?” As far as he was concerned, there was nothing wrong with the way she was now. And now that she had him thinking about it, Angel was dead wrong about not being sexy. He’d just never given it much thought before.
“That’s right. No more Ice Princess. I want to be every man’s sexual fantasy.”
He wasn’t so sure he liked the thought of her being every man’s fantasy. “I’ll do what I can,” he muttered.
“I know it’s going to be a lot of work,” she replied.
She had no idea. How was he supposed to teach her how to be sexy and still maintain their friendship only relationship? Especially when he was suddenly thinking of her in more than a best friend kind of way.
“Don’t you need to pack?”
She nodded. Grabbing the handle of her suitcase, she wheeled it behind her down the narrow hallway and into her room.
Trey followed, but this time he found himself hesitating before going in. Something he had never done before. Angel’s quest for sexiness had somehow changed the whole scheme of things between them.
Or was it the kiss? Whatever it was, it had him thinking things he’d never allowed himself to contemplate before. And he wasn’t so sure that was a good thing.
“I’m so glad you have a sense of humor,” she said as she laid her suitcase on the bed and opened it. “You’re going to need it when you teach me to be sexy for a man.”
He tried damn hard to ignore the lacy undergarments she was tossing into the open suitcase. “All you’re lacking is a little self-confidence.” He walked over to where she stood. “I’m a man, Angel, and in my opinion you’ve got that sexiness a guy is drawn to. It’s just a matter of getting you to relax enough to let your wild side come out and accept it for what it is.”
She looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “I want to find that wild side.”
“You will.” Trey shoved his hands into the pockets of his suit pants to keep from pulling Angel into his arms the way he wanted to. He turned away and crossed the room to stand at the window.
“I really feel ready to let it happen,” she said behind him.
The rasping of the zipper on Angel’s suitcase behind him had Trey looking down to check his own. Despite the erection straining against it, his zipper was still intact.
CHAPTER
THREE
“I don’t know how I’ll ever pay you back for doing this for me,” Angie said as she slid her suitcase off the edge of the bed, the weight of it settling onto the wood floor with a thunk. “If this works, maybe one of these days I’ll even get to have sex with the lights on.”
Her one and only sexual experience had been during a classmate’s high school graduation party. There was no adult supervision and an overabundance of alcohol. Not a good combination for an eighteen-year-old virgin who was tired of being one of the few remaining
innocents
in her class.
“What’s with the light thing?” Trey asked, turning from the window.
“Do you remember Janie Metger’s graduation party where several virginal sacrifices were made, mine included?”
Trey nodded.
“Well, the back seat of a car is pretty dark at night.”
“I remember wanting to smash Bernie Park’s face in that night when Kathy came home from Janie’s and let it slip that you’d had sex with the weasel.”
Angie smiled. This was news to her. She knew that Trey had found out about that night from his sister, but he had never said anything to her about it. Thank God. She had already realized after the fact that she had made a big mistake.
“I could have strangled Kathy for telling you about that night.”
“Yeah, well eating several cupfuls of vodka soaked fruit would have a tendency to loosen one’s lips.”
“Tell me about it.” Unfortunately, it had loosened more than
her
lips that night. “So, about dinner tonight...” she said, hoping to change the subject. Her five minute de-virginization by Bernie was something she preferred to leave in the past.
He smiled. “Tell you what, I’ll head back to my apartment and change. I’ll make dinner reservations for seven. You go ahead and add me on your flight. It shouldn’t be a problem to clear my schedule for a couple of days.”
“A week.”
“What?”
“We’ll be in Vegas for six nights.”
“Oh.” Trey ran a hand through his hair.
“Is that going to be a problem for you?” She hoped not. She was already looking forward to having her best friend along with her so she wouldn’t have to face Rick alone. And even more excited that she was going to have his expert tutelage in the passion department.
He shook his head. “No. I said I’d help you out and I intend to. I’m a man of my word.”
“I know you are.” Angel followed Trey out of the bedroom where he grabbed his suit jacket from the back of the kitchen chair and headed for the door. “And with your help maybe I’ll finally get to experience the big ‘O’.”
He stopped mid-step and turned, looking at her like she was from another planet. Which, of course, she was, according to relationship expert Dr. John Gray.
Trey opened his mouth to reply then snapped it shut, shaking his head.
“A little too much information?”
“Just a little,” he replied with a chuckle.
“Sorry,” she said, grinning. “I just know if anyone can help me make it happen, it will be you.”
* * *
“Kathy Landers.”
“Finally.” Trey sighed in relief at the sound of his sister’s voice on the other end of the line. “I thought I’d never get a hold of you.”
“Trey?”
“Yeah. I’ve been trying to reach you for the past hour.”
“I saw you called, but I never got any messages.”
“That’s because I didn’t leave any. I wanted to talk to you, not some damn cellular answering service.”
She laughed, not the least bit phased by his ire. “Well, you’ve got me now, big brother. What’s up?”
He dropped onto his favorite recliner, but was too keyed up to sit back. Instead, he perched at the edge of the leather chair, clutching the cordless to his ear. “I need you to come home.”
“Now?”
“Yesterday would be better.”
“Why? What’s wrong? Has something happened?”
Trey released a sigh. “No, but it’s going to if you don’t come home and go to Vegas with Angel.”
There was a long pause. “Okay, let me get this straight. You want me to cut a very important business trip short to come back to Pittsburgh and go to Las Vegas with Angie?”
He smiled, feeling a tremendous sense of relief. “Yes. How soon can you be here?”
“Trey, have you been working long hours again?”
“What?”
“You actually think I’m going to drop everything to jet off to Vegas with Angie? Wait a minute. Why does she need someone else along anyway? Rachel will be with her.”
“Not this trip.”
“What are you talking about?”
Trey dragged a hand down his face. “Rachel had to have an emergency appendectomy and Rick-the-Dick’s going in her place.”
“Damn. I had no idea,” Kathy said, sounding about as happy as he was about the whole Rick thing. “I’ve been in meetings all day. I’ll make a call and see what I can do
to get someone else to go with her instead.”
“And give him more ammo against Angel? He’s already got people calling her the office Ice Princess behind her back. No, pulling him off this trip will only make matters worse.”
“I’ll be the first to admit he’s a real ass and I’d love nothing more than to fire him, but my hands are tied.”
Rick, being the nephew of Kathy’s boss, put her between a rock and a hard place in this situation. “If the asshole has to go, just come home and go with Angel so she won’t be alone with him.”
“I have meetings to attend here. I can’t just up and leave. How would I explain that to my boss?”
“Don’t. Just tell him you have a family emergency and come home.” Desperate times called for desperate measures. He couldn’t go with Angel to Vegas.
“I think he’d find out I was lying when he discovers I went to Vegas with Angie. And as uncomfortable as this is going to be for her, it doesn’t constitute a family emergency.”
Trey shot to his feet. “The hell it doesn’t.” How could she not see the urgency?
Kathy laughed on the other end of the line. “How do you figure?”
He paced the floor of his study in quick, agitated strides, phone planted to his ear. “Because, if you don’t go with Angel, then I’ll have to.”
“And that would fall under the category of a family emergency?”
“Yes.”
“Look, Trey, I don’t see what the problem is here. You’re just as much Angie’s friend as I am. If you’re so worried, go with her.”
“I can’t.”
“You really need to get more sleep. I’ve never heard you sound this stressed.”
Stressed was putting it mildly. He was about to become a sex tutor for Angel so some other guy could give her the big “O”.
How could he have agreed to that? What in the hell had he been thinking? Part of the blame went to Angel who could be incredibly persuasive when it came to getting him to agree to things. She’d always had that power over him. He’d allowed it. All she had to do was look up at him with those pleading brown eyes and perfect little pout and he turned to putty in her hands. And considering the direction his thoughts had gone since Angel’s earlier kiss, he could easily be more than putty in her hands.
Arousal shot through him.
Damn.
“Why can’t you go with her?” Kathy prodded. “You own your company. And from the sound of things I think you could use a vacation, too.”
“A vacation, yes. Sex stuff, no.”
“Who said anything about sex?”
“Angel.”
“You’re losing me here, Trey.”
Trey sighed. “She wants me to go with her to Vegas and make Rick think we’re lovers.”
“She wants him back?”
“Hell, no.” At least that’s what Angel had told him. “Angel’s got some crazy idea that his seeing her getting all hot and heavy with me will put an end to his seeing her as an ice princess.”
“Hmm... Smart girl.”
Whose side was his sister on anyway? Not that he’d made it known there were any sides, but still. “I think a little man to man between Rick and I would accomplish the same thing with less trouble.”
His sister laughed. “Since when is a trip to Vegas trouble? And I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with sex?”
“Since Angel asked me to come along and teach her how to seduce a man. And you and I both know that seduction leads to one thing - sex.” Just saying the words and thinking about making love to Angel had him uncomfortably hot and bothered.
Muffled laughter at the other end made Trey question his decision to bring his sister into this. But he needed help. “I’m serious, Kath,” he grumbled.
“I still don’t see what the problem is. You’re single. Angie’s single. You’re both adults. Do the deed, Trey. Maybe those lessons will lead to sex. If so, good for you both. Who knows, it might even end up being a real love affair.”
“Angel’s like my sister.”
“No blood there,” she countered.
Trey dropped down into his chair again and rolled his eyes. “You’re a hell of a lot of help.”
“Sorry, but I just can’t see why this is such a big deal. It’s not like Angie’s the ugliest woman God ever put on this earth.”
Far from it.
Angel turned heads. His included, though he’d never allowed himself to act on it. “She’s looking for the big ‘O’.”
Kathy laughed again. “What woman isn’t?”
“Look, forget I asked.”
Trey stood and walked over to his desk where he dug through the drawers for the phone book. He had dinner reservations to make.
“Come on, Trey, you know I would do almost anything for you,” she said, somewhat apologetically. “But I can’t help with this. In case it’s slipped your mind, I don’t exactly have the right equipment for the job.”
“There isn’t going to be any sex.” Who was he trying to convince? His sister or himself? “The lessons are going to be verbal and nothing more.”
“So you say.”
He ground his teeth, feeling both frustrated and irritated. “Angel and her hare-brained schemes. What’s with the sudden urgency to discover her sexual side anyway?”
“You’ve got to be kidding. Angie’s almost twenty-seven, and this isn’t the dark ages.”
“Your point is?”
“I’m getting to it. Geez, since when did you become so impatient?”
Since Angel had pushed him over the edge mentally. “Kathy...” he grumbled.
“Fine. My point is that women are allowed to be just as sexual as men. And looking for Mr. Right is like shopping for shoes. You have to try them out to make sure they’re going to be a comfortable fit.”
“For crying out loud,” Trey exclaimed, effectively cutting his sister off. “Don’t say another word. I prefer to be spared the details of my sister’s sex life if you don’t mind.”
“You weren’t going to get any. I was merely trying to point out that it’s not just men who are allowed to try out the merchandise before they buy it. You’ve certainly done your share of shopping.”
Even if he had
shopped,
he wasn’t about to discuss that with his sister. “Kath—”
“Ooh, will you look at the time. Gotta run. Have fun in Vegas and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Trey was about to tell her he didn’t plan on doing anything, but didn’t get the chance to before his sister was gone and the line went dead.
*
* *
He was really going to do it.
Angie’s pulse skittered at the thought. Trey had agreed to help her in the sex department and he was a man of his word. There was no doubt in her mind that she could count on him.
Angie plucked another chocolate kiss from the bag, needing the sugar fix it promised. Peeling away the foil wrapper, she popped it into her mouth and continued leafing through brochures she had picked up the last time she was in Vegas. That trip had been strictly business. This one would include both revenge - showing Rick what he gave up, and pleasure - having fun with her best friend while getting a much needed lesson in seduction.
Her gaze drifted down the brochure he held in her hand, pausing on an advertisement that read: LAS VEGAS IS FOR LOVERS. She and Trey weren’t lovers, they would just be pretending. But what if...
The very thought of it sent her stomach into a whirl of anxiety prompted flutters. Rules were made to be broken, right? And that would definitely mean breaking her rule number one, sleeping with her best friend.
But that wasn’t going to happen. Angie shook the thought from her head. She and Trey were friends. He had no interest in her that way. She wasn’t the type of woman he dated and had long ago given up on her fantasy of him thinking of her as anything other than a good friend. If that was all she could have, she’d take it. His was a friendship she wouldn’t trade for the world.