Page 31 of Screwed
He kissed her forehead. “No. I’m mad at myself. I shouldn’t have done that.” That was putting it mildly. What kind of motherfucking shit for brains was he, sleeping with his best friend’s ex-wife?
Jesus. There weren’t enough curse words in the world to express his feelings of anger and disgust at himself.
“We,” she corrected, lifting her pointy chin. “Wedid it. It’s not like you attacked me. I was the one who was, er, begging for it.” Her cheeks went scarlet despite her bold words. Clearly, this was not something Callie did often.
“Okay. I’ll give you that. It takes two to tangle, as they say.”
She smiled.
“But you were under the influence of hormones, and I should have been the one who was strong enough to say no.” Fuck. He’d been strong for so long. He almost couldn’t believe he’d finally given in to it. To her.
“I think there might have been some hormones affecting you, too.” She stroked a hand over his chest.
He stepped farther away and out of reach, every muscle in his body rigid. He hauled up his jeans and tucked himself back in, then tugged up the zipper.
Her eyes clouded, then her eyelashes lowered as she reached for the tank top on the counter. She pulled it over her head, ignoring the bra, which was cruel because even with those perfect breasts covered, they were still tempting, her sharp little nipples poking through the thin cotton.
Cash bent and picked up her shorts and handed them to her. She went to hop off the counter, but he clasped her waist and lifted her easily down.
“Thanks,” she murmured, separating a tiny pink thong from the shorts and stepping into it.
The sight of that scrap of pink silk lit his blood on fire. “I’m sorry, Callie.”
Her eyes flashed. “Oh my God, don’t apologize. That’s the worst thing you can ever say to a woman after sex.”
“It is?”
“Well, there might be some worse things. Like, ‘we have to hurry, my girlfriend’s on her way over.’ Or, ‘that was better than a root canal.’”
He rolled his bottom lip in against a laugh. “Jesus. I’m not saying it was bad. I’m just saying we shouldn’t have done that. Beau—”
“Oh, Christ.” She covered her eyes with her hand. “Beau.” She exhaled heavily. “I don’t care about him.”
“Maybeyoudon’t. But he’s still my friend. And business partner. And if he knew I’d just nailed you on your kitchen counter, he’d be…Fuck.” His gut torqued with guilt.
She gazed back at him, eyes full of remorse. “Oh, Cash.” She sank her teeth into her bottom lip. “He’ll never know about this.”
“Damn right he won’t.”
“It’s none of his business.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Yeah. I agree. But still…” That didn’t stop the shame from twisting his insides.
“Okay, okay, nowI’mthe one who’s sorry. It just happened… It won’t happen again. Unless I get another tattoo.”
His eyes flew wide open.
“Kidding!” She grimaced. “I mean, I might get another tattoo, but I’ll do it on my own.”
“How is your tattoo?” He picked up her bandaged hand.
“It’s fine. Barely even a throb.”
He held her hand for a moment, staring at it. A complex and confusing mix of regret, anger, longing, and satisfaction brewed inside him. He’d wanted Callie for so long. Fucking her on her kitchen counter hadn’t been one of his fantasies, but holy hell, it had been hot. Better than any of his fantasies. And a huge fucking mistake. Both horrified and…yes, overjoyed that this had happened, he drew air into his burning lungs. “I better go.”
“We didn’t even finish eating.”
This was true. He looked at the sushi spread out, his appetite completely gone. He couldn’t stay, knowing that now he’d been inside Callie, he was only going to want that again. And again. And that couldn’t happen. “You finish, darlin’.” He managed a smile. “Look after that tattoo. You remember the instructions, right?”
