Summer Kisses (162 page)

“Kelsie? You still there?”

“Mmm hmmm,” she mumbled.

“Get some sleep, doll. We’ll talk again later.”

“Night, Cole,” she whispered with a nod then curled up on her bed and drifted off to sleep.

~~~

Joe opened the door with a smile. “Hey there.”

“Hi,” Nanci replied, returning his smile.

“I was beginning to think you’d gotten lost. My directions that bad?”

“Not at all. Your directions were great.”

“Having second thoughts then?”

“No way,” she replied as he let her inside his apartment. “And your directions were great. I’m late because I was pulling best friend duty.”

He closed the door behind her. “Best friend duty?”

“Yeah, Kelsie had a few too many drinks tonight.”

He pulled her into his arms. “She okay?”

“I made sure she got home safe and sound, but I wouldn’t say she’s okay. I made her promise to call Cole tonight. That’s why she’s in the condition she’s in.”

He lowered his head to brush his lips along her neck. “I’ve never known Cole to drive a woman to drink, but I guess there’s always a first time.”

She tipped her head back, giving him better access to the flesh he was teasing. “It’s a first for her. She never gets drunk. If anything, I’ve been the one who’s had to be driven home a few times in the past.”

“A regular wild thing, huh?”

She smiled. “On occasion.”

“My kind of girl.” He pushed a strand of hair from her face. “So what’s up with Kelsie? Why’s she so stressed out about calling Cole?”

“She’s torn between her feelings for Cole and her fear of getting hurt again.” If she ever crossed paths with her best friend’s ex again she might very well have to kick the ass’s ass.

“I hope for Cole’s sake she gets past her fear and gives him a chance.”

“Me too.”

“Now,” he said, running his hands down over the curve of her jean-clad bottom, “getting back to our relationship...”

Their relationship?
“I didn’t realize we had one seeing as how you never called me back.”

“Never’s stretching it a bit. I did call.” He lowered his head again to kiss her.

“Took you long enough.”

“I was playing hard to get.”

She pushed him away.

He lifted his head with a grin. “Ah, come on. I thought you’d appreciate the challenge.”

He thought right, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it. “You know, Joe, two can play that game.”

“Babe, I can’t get much harder than I am already,” he replied, his voice husky with desire. He reached for her hand and placed it against the front of his jeans where his erection pressed against the faded denim.

Her body reacted like a summer flood to his need, making Nanci press her thighs together. “I should leave and make you suffer like I did while I was waiting to hear from you.”

He released his hold on her and hand and backed her up against the wall. “But you won’t,” he assured her as he slid his hands beneath her shirt, his long fingers skimming the flesh hidden beneath the whisper-thin cotton.

She closed her eyes, hating the control he had over her body and loving it at the same time. It wasn’t until the chill of the air-conditioned room caressed her heated flesh that she realized she was no longer wearing her shirt.

“Joe−”

“Shh,” he murmured against her lips before covering them with his own. His fingers deftly worked the clasp at the front of her bra, giving him access to what he sought. His hands cupped her breasts while his thumbs teased the rosy tips.

She tunneled her fingers through the thick blonde strands of his hair as liquid heat pooled between her thighs.

His mouth left hers, his lips venturing lower to capture one of the taut buds. He drew on it slowly, torturously. She squirmed restlessly, her hips lifting in a silent plea for more.

“Tasting you again is all I’ve thought about for days,” he murmured against her kiss-dampened flesh.

She moaned softly as he undid her shorts and slipped his hand inside.

“God you’re wet,” he groaned.

“Joe...,” she pleaded.

He withdrew his hand eliciting a whimper of protest from her. “I’m not taking you here in my hallway.”

“Why not?” He could take her in the closet and she’d be more than willing at that point.

“Because when I sink myself deep inside you, I want to see you looking up at me, see the hunger I’m feeling reflected in your eyes.” He scooped her up easily into his arms and started through the apartment.

“How about I look down at you?” she asked anxiously as he lowered her onto the thick comforter that covered his king-size bed. “I’m usually on top.”

“Not tonight.” He flashed a sexy grin as he slid her shorts down her long legs. “My place. My rules.”

Could she give up control? Just for one night?

He stepped away from the bed just long enough to remove his clothes.

Her gaze was drawn to the length of him. So maybe being dominated for one night wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Joe was as hard as he had been that night at her place, but this was different. Tonight he would be inside her.

She lifted her hips and began to shove her panties down.

“Don’t,” he said, stilling her hands.

She looked up at him questioningly.

“Leave them.” He moved between her legs, urging them open wider. “They’re sexy.”

His rules.

Nanci curled her fingers into the comforter as his head moved between her parted thighs. She could feel the warmth of his breath through her dampened panties. If that wasn’t enough to drive her mad, his tongue added to the torment, stroking her through the wet silk.

“Joe,” she begged breathlessly as the sensual torment continued.

“I want you to come for me, babe.”

“Joe, please.”

He tugged her panties aside, plunging his tongue inside her moist heat. She arched upward, crying out with pleasure.

“Sweet,” he murmured against her damp flesh. “So damn sweet.” He loved her thoroughly with his mouth.

Unable to bear any more of the sweet torture, Nanci let go, crying out as she went over the edge.

Joe dragged her panties over her hips and down her legs, tossing them onto the floor. Then he pulled a condom from the nightstand drawer and slipped it on while she lay watching, her desire peaking again.

She reached between them as he moved over her, curling her fingers around the sheathed length of him.

He groaned in response.

“My turn to pleasure you.”

“Not tonight,” he replied through clenched teeth as he eased her fingers free.

“Why not?”

“Because tonight’s all about
you
, babe.”

~~~

“Talk about nearly burning out of control,” Joe said from where he stood in the doorway.

“It was a close one,” Cole agreed with a nod as he peeled off his soot covered uniform shirt. They’d just returned from a 3-alarm fire. One they’d thankfully managed to get under control before the factory suffered a total loss. “Speaking of things burning out of control, how was your date with Nanci last night?”

“That’s what I was referring to,” his friend said, a wide grin spreading across his soot-covered face.

Cole chuckled. He should have known. “That good, huh?”

“Better.” Joe leaned against the doorframe, towel slung over his shoulder, clean change of clothes in hand. “So did
anyone
call you last night?”

“Anyone?” Cole repeated with a grin. “You wouldn’t by any chance be referring to Kelsie, would you?”

His friend nodded. “Nanci said Kelsie was going to call you last night, but she wasn’t sure if she’d remember seeing as how she downed three of Friday’s Ultimate Coladas.”

“Three?” Cole said in surprise as he kicked off his shoes. “No wonder she was talking the way she was last night.”

“So she did call.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. You could say that.”

“Did you guys get things worked out?”

“Not exactly. She wasn’t coherent enough to have a rational discussion. However, I did learn that I’m hot in the sack, a nice guy, she thinks about me all the time and...” he said, his words trailing off.

“And what?”

Joe was going to eat this up since he’d suggested the same thing and Cole had shot the idea down. “Kelsie says she’s willing to have sex with me if I promise not to let myself get emotionally involved with her.”

“Damn. You’ve found the perfect woman.”

Kelsie was far from perfect and that’s what he loved about her, all those little idiosyncrasies that made her adorable and vulnerable and sexy all at the same time.

“Perfection has nothing to do with it. She was drunk. She didn’t know what she was saying. Oh, and did I mention that she thinks men should have to wear bras to really appreciate them?”

“Wanna run that by me again?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure where she was going with that one. Kelsie said a lot of crazy things last night.”

His friend chuckled. “Guess it’s safe to assume you didn’t take her up on her offer for emotionless sex.”

“No. Not that the sex part wasn’t tempting,” he added with a grin. “But I want more where Kelsie and I are concerned. A lot more.”

“You’re a better man than me,” Joe admitted with a shake of his head.

“So how was your date with Nanci last night? Besides being hot.”

His friend’s smile widened. “I plan on asking her out a lot more if that tells you anything.”

It said a lot seeing as how his best friend liked to play the field. Very few repeaters when it came to his past dates. “That good, huh?”

“She’s something else. Says whatever’s on her mind. And, man, can that woman kiss.”

“First base. Way to go, Joe.”

“First base, hell. When ol’ Joe here is up to bat, I go for the home run.”

Tossing his soiled uniform into the wash pile, Cole grabbed a clean pair of briefs and a towel from his dresser drawer. “Spare me the details.”

“Who said I was going to give you any?”

“You usually do.” But this was the first time the thought of hearing the details of Joe’s date didn’t sit right with him. Nanci was Kelsie’s best friend. Somehow discussing his best friend having sex with her best friend just seemed like an inappropriate thing to do.

“A gentleman never tells.”

That summoned a raised brow from Cole. “I’m impressed.” Joe liked to brag about his sexual conquests.

“Hey, did I mention that Nanci said your little ‘Cupcake’ talks about you all the time?”

“Yeah? Well, I wish Kelsie would talk
to
me instead. And last night’s call doesn’t count. It did, however, let me know that I’m not grasping at straws where my feelings for her are concerned.”

Joe ran a hand back through his sweat-dampened hair. “So what are you going to do now? I mean since Kelsie refuses to go out with you again unless you do it on her terms.”

“I don’t know.” He sighed in frustration. “I haven’t quite figured that part out yet.”

“Why don’t you take the ‘cake lady’ up on her offer to help you out?”

“Who?” Then it dawned on him who Joe was referring to. “Kelsie’s mother?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “Why not? She gave you her card, didn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“And said for you to give her a call if she could help you in any way, right? Well...?”

He considered Joe’s suggestion for a moment then shook his head. “I don’t think even her mother’s blessing will help get me a date with Kelsie. She’s too damn stubborn. I just have to find a way around that stubborn streak of hers.”

“Then don’t ask her out.”

“What?” How could Joe even suggest he just give up on the first woman who really turned his head in...forever? Not to mention the first woman he’d ever dated who had no hang up whatsoever about his chosen profession.

“Kelsie’s mother is queen of the blind date fix-ups. So it’s simple. Have her mother fix the two of you up on one of those blind dates she’s so fond of setting up.”

Joe came up with some off the wall schemes at times, but this was actually a great idea. It was the perfect plan. “Joe, I could kiss you.”

His friend threw up a hand and took a step back into the hall. “Save it for your blind date. I don’t kiss men. Especially ugly ones like you.”

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t waste one on you anyhow,” Cole assured him, his laughter filling the room.

Joe blew out an exaggerated breath and returned to leaning against the doorframe. “Phew... Had me worried there for a moment.”

The more Joe’s suggestion sank in, the more excited Cole was to set the plan in motion. Kelsie would rather suffer through one of her mother’s blind date fix-ups, at least until she came up with another clever escape plan, than tell her mother no. And he would use that small kink in her relationship-avoidance armor in his favor.

“Seriously, Joe, your idea of enlisting Kelsie’s mother to help me out is a brilliant one. I just need to come up with the perfect blind date.”

“The station’s annual picnic is coming up. Maybe you could have your blind date meet you there. Nanci will be there with me.”

The station’s picnic was held every summer. All the men on their crew and their families were invited. This year Lieutenant Calhoun was hosting the get together at his place.

Cole thought that one over. It made sense. And he’d have a whole lot of backup on his side. “Nanci’s being there might help things once Kelsie finds out her mother and I tricked her into coming there.”

“You better hope so, because something tells me she’s not going to be too happy about being set up. Even if it is for her own good.”

“She can’t know that I have anything to do with this date until she shows up for it.” He looked to his friend. “Are you going to tell Nanci about it?”

“Not if you don’t want me to.”

Cole hesitated, mulling it over. “I suppose the more help I have in pulling this off, the better. Do you think Nanci will keep it under wraps?”

“Are you kidding me? She wants to see you and Kelsie together almost as much as the ‘cake lady’ does. She won’t say anything.”