Last Call (5 page)

Her hands moved beneath his. Tweaking first one nipple, then the other. Like a blind man, he learned her body through her touch. The pressure she liked, the pace she set, even the gyrations of her hips, grinding her ass into his pelvis, showed him the way. She turned her head, and their eyes met.

Eric didn’t think he’d ever seen anything so sexy as those wide blue eyes dilated with passion. He kissed her. Awkward angle though it was, she still met his tongue with a hunger that warmed his blood.

He released her hands. As she worked on one breast and her clit, his opposite hands went for the other and sank two fingers inside her pussy. He enjoyed her shocked squeak almost as much as the movement her ass made on his sopping cock. She rubbed furiously, and he pumped in tandem.

When she clenched her ass cheeks together, squeezing his member beneath, he knew she’d gone over. Then he felt each clamp of her release, like a sweet kiss to his fingers.

She stopped masturbating, so he followed suit and just held on tight, enjoying her afterglow. Their breathing and heartbeats slowed in sync, and Eric kissed her cheek chastely.

“Josie?”

“Hm?”

“How do you feel?”

She stretched, then ran her hands down his arms until her fingers linked with his. “I feel great.”

“Not hungover at all?” He brought their hands tighter around her, hugging her against his front.

“My throat hurts. I must have been talking too loud. A bit of a headache, but not too bad.”

“That’s good, because I want to take you out.”

She was quiet for so long, he started to wonder if he’d blown it. No matter, he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

“Out?”

“Yeah, you know. We could start with lunch…maybe some putt-putt golf.” He stroked the soft skin of her stomach. “I have three days off from work, and I know that you’re…you know…unobligated.”

“I don’t know.” She rolled onto the mattress beside him and propped herself on her elbows. “My mama warned me about boys. They just want one thing.”

“Did she warn you about firemen?” He kissed the tip of her nose.

She giggled. “I know they handle some powerful hoses.”

“You’re on your way to becoming a probie, then. You handle my uh…hose pretty well.”

“Probie?” She bobbed her eyebrows. “That sounds dirty.”

“I’ll do the probing around here.”

“Find ’em hot, leave ’em wet?”

“I like you wet. First, we should shower.”

Eric pulled her into the tiny bathroom, which was full of steam before they made their way into the bathtub to stand under the spray. He scrubbed her back; then she turned around to soap up his chest. By the time they rinsed off the last of the soap bubbles, he had her pressed up against the sliding glass door. “So you’ll slide down my pole?”

“I hear the hotter it is, the faster you guys come.”

“As long as you come too.”

He ducked his head and took her eager nipple into his mouth, tugging on it the way he knew she liked. He drank the water from her skin, now floral scented like her body wash. Damn. He’d left the condoms in the other room. He’d have to be content with touching her for now. When he used his teeth to gently worry her nipple, she squealed.

“Oh! Christ.” At first he thought he’d hurt her, but then he realized that the water had turned cold. Joanne scrambled out of the tub, leaving him to shut the faucet off and brace himself in the shower opening.

She stood dripping on the bath mat, a huge towel wrapped around her arms and covering her to mid-thigh.

“Wimp.”

She didn’t hesitate to nod her agreement. “I hate cold showers. The water heater went out last month, and it took the landlord two weeks to replace it.” She shuddered and looked around the tiny bathroom. “There are a lot of things I won’t miss about this place.”

“You’re really moving out? Not even going to try to find a new job first?”

She shook her head. “Most of my stuff is in storage already. My lease expires at the end of the month, and I’d already told my landlord that I was moving out. Of course, the plan was to move in with Andrew, not my brother.”

That explained the sparse furnishings. He took the towel she handed him, and rubbed himself dry, trying not to wonder about this Andrew guy. She towel-dried her hair, and he watched every move. Her tits jiggled, and a drop of water clung stubbornly between them. Eric stepped out of the tub licking his lips.

Pounding on the front door froze him in his tracks.

“Joanne? Are you in there?”

Joanne only smiled impishly. “He said he’d come by and help me move the rest of my things today.” Eric’s mind was still on her ex, but she opened the bathroom door to shout through, “Yeah, I’m home, Kevin. In the shower. Just a sec.” She grabbed her bathrobe from the hook behind the door and grinned. “I guess he came by early knowing I had a rough night. He probably thought I’d have a nice hangover and hoped to make me miserable. You know how he is. Hang on, I’ll bring you your clothes.” She left him standing buck naked in the middle of her bathroom.

“Shit.”

She thought he was one of her brother’s friends. He should have come clean before now. Rather than explaining himself to her, he’d have to do it in front of her brother as well.

I promise courage to face and conquer my fears.

She tossed his clothes onto the toilet tank.

“Wait.” He grabbed her wrist before she could leave. “I need to tell you…”

“Don’t worry. I think Kevin knows you’re here. I’m sure he recognized your truck outside.”

“But—”

She stopped him with a quick kiss. “Don’t worry.” And she closed the door between them.

He opened it again to go after her, but she was halfway to the door and talking to her brother through it.

He closed the bathroom door just as she opened the other, or Kevin’s first impression would have been a full frontal.

“Where’s your car?” Kevin’s voice rang clear through the tiny apartment.

As Joanne spoke, Eric tried to picture the guy. From her stature, he figured he wouldn’t be too tall, but he could be bulky. Eric didn’t have a sister, but if he did, if some guy impersonated a friend to take her home, he’d be pretty pissed. Hopefully Kevin was a fun-loving, easy-going teddy bear.

A scrawny teddy bear. With a long fuse. Eric locked the door and pulled his shirt over his head.

“The Ranger? Alone? What the hell, Joanne?”

Eric ran his fingers through his hair and double-checked his fly. Joanne’s voice didn’t carry through the bathroom door like her brother’s, so he could only imagine what she said.

“Eric? Eric who?” A pause. “I don’t have a friend named Eric.”

Eric took a deep breath. He couldn’t hide in the bathroom like a pussy. Time to face the music. Head held high, he stepped into the short hallway.
Hey, man. Funny thing happened
… No. Too familiar.
Eric Layton. Pleased to meet you
. Yeah, right.

As it was, he didn’t get a chance to say a word, let alone get a good look at Joanne’s big brother. All he saw were the whites of a pair of blue eyes. Just before the guy pulled back an arm and slugged him in the gut.

Unprepared, Eric bent over, clutching his stomach. Joanne screamed for her brother to stop. Eric couldn’t draw a breath to even moan, let alone explain himself. Another blow to his jaw, and Eric saw stars.

Not a great way to meet the family.

Chapter Four

Her brother’s threats of police involvement were meant to scare Eric, but all it really did was make Joanne sick to her stomach. Eric didn’t have a chance to say a word before he was shoved out the door. She watched from her window as Kevin pushed Eric toward his truck. The two men faced off on the sidewalk. They were evenly matched in size, but Joanne knew that Kevin’s temper would often taint his reasoning. She couldn’t hear the words exchanged, and she had no desire to.

Eric didn’t attempt to get back to her apartment. It looked as if he was expecting exactly this reaction. He just calmly turned his back on Kevin, opened his truck door and paused. He looked up into the window and right at her, and Joanne forgot to breathe.

She stared into his eyes, trying to read the message behind them. Disgrace? No. His chin was too high for shame. Pride. Apology? Eric glanced at Kevin, breaking the connection.

She spun away to lean against the wall, breathing hard. Conned. Duped. Seduced. How could she be so gullible? Did he cruise bars all night long, waiting to see a sign of a woman needing a ride home? Had he cleaned out her wallet while she worshiped the porcelain god last night?

She slid to the floor. Ironically, it was a good thing that she only had fifty-eight cents in her purse. She’d gone to the Ranger with a ten-dollar bill and accepted every offer of a drink. She had one credit card, and it was over the limit anyway. If he was after money, he sure didn’t choose his mark well.

She heard his truck start, then the sound of the engine fading away. She pulled her knees to her chest, covering her face in shame. She’d just spent the night with a complete stranger. While it hadn’t bothered her before, she realized how much stock she’d put into the fact he came preapproved by her brother. To find out that he lied to her about being Kevin’s friend was a shock. What a perfect end to the worst twenty-four hours of her life.

Her head pounded, the ache from earlier now intensified. She forced herself off the floor. She popped two painkillers and refilled her glass with water.
The best thing to do is rehydrate.

Damn. He was good. That caring, nurturing personality seemed so freaking real. She pinched her eyes shut and sighed.

Why? If he wasn’t after money, why go through so much trouble to get in her bed? Heck, she’d dragged him in. Why would he lie about his identity? She finished the water and braced herself over the sink.

She barely heard the door close before she was engulfed in Kevin’s arms. “You okay, Joanne?”

“Just embarrassed mostly. I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

Glad that she hadn’t succumbed to tears, she stiffly turned to embrace her brother anyway. He tucked her head beneath his chin and held her like he had since she could remember. Kevin was always there for her. “He took advantage of you. I got his license number. I want you to call the police and press charges.”

“For what?”

“Are you kidding me? He scammed his way into your house. He made you…” Kevin made a gurgling sound, as if he couldn’t form the words. “Start with the kidnapping.”

“Kidnapping?” Joanne struggled out of his embrace and refilled her water glass. “The guy gave me a ride home from a bar. I went willingly. That’s not kidnapping.”

“You only went because you thought I sent him. He lied to you.”

He did lie. That was the kicker. Joanne rubbed her temples, trying to remember his exact words. A blatant flat-out bald-faced lie would be easier to hate him for, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember exactly what he’d said. Then something came to her.

“I swear he knew you. He said you’d tell Mom that I got drunk.”

“What?”

“Like we talked about on the phone. I told you not to tell Mom. Eric said…”

“The phone?” Kevin shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

“Last night. When I called you for a ride.”

Kevin’s eyes narrowed. “You never called me. If you had, I would have come.”

Of course he was right. Her brain whirled until it hurt. “Oh, shit.” Joanne’s vision blurred. She pushed past Kevin, and stomped across the room. She dumped the contents of her purse onto the floor, grabbed her phone and pushed redial. Damn, it was dead. When she crossed the room again to her charger, Kevin followed.

“You mean you called this guy? For a ride home? Do you know him?”

“No, I don’t—well, didn’t know him. He answered when I called you. Where’s your phone?”

Kevin pulled his phone from his jeans pocket and poked a few buttons while she waited for hers to power up.

“No call from you.” He showed her the screen as proof.

“Here it is. I misdialed. His number is one digit off from yours.”

Kevin threw his head back and glared at her ceiling. “You dialed wrong? What the hell, Joanne? Don’t you use speed dial like everyone else?”

“I wasn’t thinking straight, okay? Can we just forget it? It’s over, all right?” She threw her phone onto the bed.
It’s over.
Chalk it up to a bad mistake. A strange twist of bad luck that brought Eric Layton to the Ranger bar last night.

“He still took advantage of your drunken condition. If you don’t call the cops, I will.” Kevin sat down beside her, throwing one arm over her shoulders.

“No. Leave him alone. I just want to forget the whole thing.”

“He didn’t…uh…force you to…you know…?”

Joanne shook her head before he could even finish. If anything, she’d been the seductress. Her face burned with embarrassment. She’d acted like a common whore. Sexual therapy indeed. “No, he didn’t force me to do anything. He was very polite, actually.”

Kevin harrumphed. “Most con men are. They’re so good, they make you think you’re in complete control.”

Joanne shivered. Was Eric so good that he’d made her feel like she was the one in charge? Had she really begged the guy to spend the night?

Yes, she had. She’d even bullied him into sex with her. What kind of ridiculously immature person thinks sex will solve anything?

A half-lit flop. A failure. Sex with that stranger didn’t help anything. She didn’t feel better about herself at all. No, she actually felt worse. Now she was a
used
pathetic failure.

“You’re beautiful, Josie.”
She stared at her bare feet as she remembered his words.
“If there’s a man out there who can’t appreciate you for all that I can already see, then he’s a fool that you’re better off without.”

He might have been feeding her lines, but she had to admit they worked. Even remembering them now caused her blood to thicken like warm honey. A one-night stand with a stranger might not be the best way to rebuild a broken ego, but she could store those few hours in the deep recesses of her brain and only pull out the memory when she needed a shot in the arm.

With Eric, she did feel beautiful. He knew what to say, what to do to make her feel like a desirable woman. Was it wrong to take pleasure from false flattery?