Bodywork Read online

  Needing a boost, even if it was from caffeine, Shelby walked down to Pike street and grabbed an iced coffee from Tully’s. Sitting on one of the many benches near the market, she watched the crowd, alarmed by her behavior. Hadn’t she learned her lesson from the last handsome man in her life?

  She reminded herself to relax and took in the scenery. A rotund man carting a nagging wife and two screaming kids passed by two women holding hands and mooning at each other. Mooning. Something Shelby had done once, what seemed like forever ago.

  A young man wearing a backpack kept asking for change from passersby, a few cents to make his bus fare. She grimaced but had to give him credit for his novel approach to panhandling. Several couples, young and old, strolled by, laughing and talking and kissing. More reminders that she sat alone, unattached, on a perfectly wonderful Saturday afternoon.

  God, what was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she have what the lovers passing by had? Her ex had seemed so nice at first. Rick had been handsome, charming, and independent. He’d had a great sense of humor but could be serious too. He liked to make money as much as he liked having fun. Unfortunately for her, Rick’s love affair with fun had manifested in an actual affair with a woman named Candy.

  Such a cliché, except Candy didn’t strip and wasn’t a hooker, but his ditzy secretary. Apparently the office romance had been going on for almost as long as they’d been dating. Not wanting to play to type, she hadn’t reacted in a dramatic fashion. She’d called him a prick and left him. Period. And with nothing at his house to take that was hers, their relationship had ended in a flash. Over. Done. And so damn hurtful.

  Shelby had always taken pleasure in her lean body and pretty, if not stunning features. Catching Rick having sex with another woman sunk her self-esteem, big time. While the rational part of her knew he was a complete jerk, she couldn’t help wondering if she’d pushed him into it. What had been so lacking in Shelby that Rick had been forced to look elsewhere?

  Her thoughts grew steadily darker as she thought back to that period of her life. After several years struggling to make ends meet in her clinic, she’d found herself in the black. A profit, finally. Until that point, she hadn’t had much time for a social life, let alone the energy to pursue one. A chance encounter with Rick at a downtown festival had blossomed into romance. Now, when she looked back on it, she thought she’d loved him. But his bullying tendencies hadn’t allowed her to fall all the way.

  Thank God.

  Still, she missed him in bed, where she’d had no complaints.

  Rick was tall and lean, with dark hair and dark eyes. He’d been polite and charming to her mother and friends, though Ron hadn’t liked him from the start. She had spent less and less time with her family and friends and more with him and his. The jokes at her expense she’d tolerated. The subtle jibes about her mother she’d handled, because she’d often thought the same and they’d never seemed overly cruel, just funny. She tempered her feelings for her mother and Ron with love, but she could understand how they might rub Rick the wrong way.

  A few comments he’d made about Maggie had almost ended their relationship early on. No way did she want her boyfriend lusting after her best friend. Maggie hadn’t liked him for it either. But Rick had wised up, shut up, and managed to string her along for ten more months of what she’d assumed was a monogamous relationship.

  Shelby sighed and put her empty cup aside. Now she had no more intimacy, no more pleasant nights spent cuddling and relieving her of loneliness. No more feeling as if a man could desire her for herself. An entire year wasted on Rick Matinson.

  God. Had she ever been with someone she clicked with? Her entire bevy of lovers—all six of them—had been pleasant. Bleh. What a mediocre word. Nothing like the romance books, her sex life had been fun but nothing stellar, earth-shattering or heart-stopping.

  Honestly, she didn’t think she had it in her.

  The kiss with Shane had been a fluke. The more she thought about it, the more she believed it. A woman desperate for sex would feel tingly from attention from anyone. And like it or not, Shane Collins could only be described as handsome.

  Her cell phone rang, and she dug around in her purse to find it, glad to be taken from dark thoughts. “Hello?”

  “Where are you, Shelby?” her mother asked. “I tried you at your work number but you’d already closed. Have you eaten lunch yet?”

  “Not yet. Why? Where are you?” Mimi was nothing if not a bright vision to dispel a bad mood.

  “I’m working with Ron on a project. Give us half an hour and meet us at the Pub.”

  Shelby could count on her mother to turn her world upside-down. Even an astrological reading would be welcome at this point.

  “Okay, Mom. See you guys there soon. No rush.” She disconnected the call and walked back toward her car. But as she walked past the building where Shane worked, she saw him standing there, staring at her in shock.

  “Shelby?”

  “Shane?”

  His smile widened into a grin big enough to split his face wide open. “Well, now. My weekend is complete.”

  She felt herself blushing and forced herself to frown. “You are so full of it.”

  “Of bad lines, yeah. Guilty.” He moved faster than she expected and latched onto her arm. He wore a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt and looked good enough to eat. Her heart raced uncontrollably.

  Oh man. I am such an idiot. Remember Rick.

  “Now before you accuse me of stalking again, I should tell you I work here.” He pointed behind him to the building. “Want to see?”

  “Yeah. Prove it.”

  He chuckled and walked her inside. They passed two security guards who nodded at Shane. Once in the elevator, he pulled her closer.

  She put a hand on his chest when he looked like he might kiss her—because she wanted him to. “Whoa. What’s that about?”

  “Just a kiss to say hello.” He grinned, and a dimple flashed in his cheek.

  “Hello.” She blew out a breath, quietly, but gasped when he kept her hand on his chest. “Let go.”

  “Feel my heart racing?” His eyes darkened. “I’m really glad to see you again.”

  What did a woman say to that? “Uh, okay.”

  The elevator door opened, saving her from looking like a total fool.

  “My floor. Come on.” He left the elevator with her in trace. “Harmon & Sons is designing the new sports complex for the Seahawks, you know. An extra training facility near the stadium.”

  “Nice.” Impressive, but she didn’t want to seem bowled over.

  As they walked down the quiet hallway, she noted the lack of people. “Where is everyone?”

  “Gone. We at Harmon & Sons appreciate our down time.” He winked at her. “I had some work to catch up on, so I came in to finish up. Here.” They entered a spacious room. “My office.”

  “Nice.”

  “You said that already. How about, ‘Gee Shane. This is so impressive. I’ll give you that kiss you wanted earlier.’”

  Shelby snorted. “Dream on. It’s not that great.”

  He sank into the couch facing his desk. A leather couch, facing a grand desk that sat across from a drafting table. He had a small refrigerator in the corner and what looked like another door, to maybe a bathroom or a closet. Wooden blinds shuttered the windows on either side of the door. It was more than a nice office. The place smelled like high class and money all rolled into one.

  Shane was so out of her league.

  The thought annoyed her.

  “What’s that look?” he asked, seeming fascinated.

  Enthralled by a plain Jane with a humble background? Well, why not? Why the hell wasn’t Shelby good enough for him, anyway? “Kiss me.”

  He blinked. “Ah, okay.”

  “Right here. In your designer office.”

  He didn’t refuse. But instead of coming right to her, he closed the door to his office. It snicked shut, and then he was right there in front of her.
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br />   “You’re quick,” she said, impressed despite herself.

  “You’re sexy.”

  Flattered but not convinced, she took back control of the situation. Rick the Prick had rejected her. This guy had run her down and appeared to like the look of her. Well, let him prove it. If nothing else, she’d be rid of this dry spell when it came to men.

  The excitement of what she considered doing made the circumstances feel unreal.

  “Shelby?” Shane asked, his voice hoarse. He stared down at her, his breathing fast, uneven. “I’m going to kiss you.”

  “You’re going to do more than that.” She dragged his head down and plastered their mouths together. A rough mating of lips and tongues and teeth that alerted every cell in her body to wake the hell up. Right now.

  He groaned and yanked her against him, grinding into her body with a massive hard-on. Then he pulled away. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I want to… Fuck.” He licked his lips, and she smiled.

  “Yeah, fuck. That’s what I want. You have a condom?”

  “A condom?” His voice rose. “You want to fuck here?”

  “Problem?”

  He opened and closed his mouth several times, like a fish gasping for water.

  The idea made her grin. “Scared?”

  “Oh hell. I’m an idiot for hesitating, aren’t I?”

  “I don’t know.” She pulled him down by his shirt. “I could be a stalker. Some psychotic woman who gets her kicks scalding men with hot coffee.”

  He groaned. “I am so sorry for that.”

  “So make it up to me.”

  He nodded fiercely, and his quick turnaround surprised her. “You bet.”

  Before she could rethink her impulse, question the condom issue again, or wonder about the incredible turn her life had taken—hello, sex with an almost stranger on a whim in his office—he kissed her again.

  This time, he took charge. Shelby forgot her own name. She could only moan into his mouth as he devoured her will to do anything but submit. She’d never in her life felt so hot and bothered by a man. She ached to feel him inside her. Though she knew it was crazy, she couldn’t help it.

  She wrapped a leg around his and tried to ride that hard ridge pressing between her legs.

  His lips left her mouth to trail over her cheek to her ear. “I’m gonna fuck you hard, Shelby. Right after I suck those pretty tits.”

  Not breasts. Tits.

  His dirty talk turned her into a heaping mass of lust, as if she wasn’t needy already.

  “Yeah.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. Her hands went to her shirt and his covered them.

  Together, they whipped her shirt over her head. In seconds, her bra followed. She took a breath, and then his lips were around her nipple, pulling and sucking loud, embarrassing groans of need from her.

  He grunted and continued to use those magical hands to ease her jeans open and push them down her legs. She hadn’t realized she’d lost her sandals until she felt her jeans over her ankles, followed by her panties.

  A large, blunt finger parted her legs and delved between her slick thighs, rubbing through her cream.

  He left her breasts and stared at her. “Christ. You’re wet for me.”

  Why had she thought his eyes were green? They appeared black, his pupils large and wide and focused on her. He didn’t give her time to answer before shoving the whole of his finger inside her while he kissed her again.

  The sensation of fulfillment made her gasp, and his tongue intruded. Taking and tasting and plunging in time with his finger inside her. She had a hard time believing any of this to be real. Excitement blazed through her, her orgasm rising like the shriek that built at the base of her throat.

  He left her mouth and murmured against her neck, “Come for me, baby. I want to feel you soak my fingers.”

  Finger? He only had one— He added another, stretching her wider. It burned and soothed that need for more. His mouth surrounded her nipple again, and he nipped her as he fucked her with his fingers.

  She came apart without warning. One moment reveling in his touch, the next going off like a rocket.

  “Yeah, clamp around me. That’s good.” His voice sounded gravelly, and as she grew aware of her surroundings once more, she realized she’d been lowered onto his desk. She lay flat against it, her ass hanging over the edge, perfectly positioned for him.

  He pulled back from her, and she saw a thick, hard cock jutting out at her.

  She couldn’t look away as he hurriedly removed a condom from his wallet. He ripped it open and rolled it down an impressive length.

  Then he looked down at her, his face draw, his eyes blazing with need. “Open your legs,” he growled and leaned over her.

  She did without question and cried out his name when he slammed inside her. He fucked her hard, ruthlessly, and kissed her while he hammered home. Though thick, he fit without problem, gliding through her slick walls in a race to the finish she hadn’t intended to join.

  He reared back, and each time, his pelvis grazed her sensitized clit. God, he felt so big inside her.

  “Yes, oh fuck. I’m coming. Fuck.” Shane gritted his teeth as he plowed her harder then stilled.

  The damage had been done. His jerky movements rushed another climax out of her, and she squeezed his orgasm while she experienced her own a second time.

  She loosed her grip on his forearms and stared up at a more than satisfied male.

  “You okay?” he asked and brushed her hair from her face.

  The tender action sparked something inside her, something gentle and warm and affectionate, putting waste to her idea to be spontaneous and physical without emotional entanglement.

  “Yeah. Thanks.” She felt suddenly awkward and would have darted for the door if she hadn’t been stuffed full of his semi-hard cock.

  “Shelby…” He kissed her again and shocked her by moving. Small, short thrusts that he shouldn’t have been making. Rick had never been up for more than one go, and not after an explosive orgasm like Shane appeared to have felt.

  “Shane—”

  “Sorry, wait. Just let me…” He continued to push in and out of her, and the motion felt more than pleasant. Arousing and soothing, surprisingly enough. She wanted to come again but couldn’t yet. It was too soon after his rousing command of her body, but apparently not too soon for him. He jerked inside her as he threw his head back and moaned her name.

  She watched him, taken with his beauty, that agonized pleasure that he wore so well.

  After some time, he withdrew and discreetly disposed of the condom. They dressed in quiet, each gazing at one another, confused, wary, and on Shelby’s part at least, wanting to know when they could do this again.

  “It was just sex,” she blurted, alarmed at her need to be with Shane in the future. Again? Try never. A one-shot deal, she told herself. Or tried to tell herself.

  He finished pulling his shirt over his head, and she missed seeing his glorious chest, so smooth and tan. He nodded. “Right. Just sex. On my desk.”

  “In your office.”

  They slowly smiled at one another.

  “Pretty hot,” she said.

  “Damn hot. Scorching.” He licked his lips and focused on her mouth.

  “But tame.” She wished she’d been more creative with her one-time only deal. Maybe a handjob while she watched him, or a daring sixty-nine. But with a condom? Something sexier than…sex on his desk? Who was she kidding? Shelby had gone wild for the first time in her life, and she loved it.

  “Tame?” Shane seemed to consider her words. “Maybe next time we’ll get creative.”

  The silence built between them.

  “Next time. Hmm.” Shelby wanted a next time more than she wanted to breathe. But she’d been down that road before. Though Rick had played havoc with her self-esteem, today had helped a ton. But another time was a step closer to a relationship. Yet a shot at Shane’s killer body beckoned. Should she or shouldn’
t she?

  “Yeah, bad idea,” Shane said with a sigh before she could actually make a decision. “Another time would ruin the spontaneity, I guess. All that excitement about a wild romp in the office would fade if we did it again.”

  “True.” Sad but true.

  He walked her out of his office, and she noted all his papers scattered to the floor that she’d missed earlier.

  He followed her gaze. “I’ll clean that up. But hell, it was worth it.”

  She nodded, in total agreement. He said good-bye to her on the first floor and watched her walk out of the building. But he didn’t walk her outside. Instead he went back into the elevator, presumably back to his floor to clean up the mess they’d made.

  Shelby walked in a daze back to her car. She’d had sex. With a man. No planning, not a steady boyfriend, but an orgasmic experience during the day in his office. She felt like the star in an adult rated movie and broke into laughter.

  Holy shit. She’d had sex with Shane Collins, the hottie with a huge cock. The sexy architect hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her. “I did the architect,” she said aloud, just to hear it.

  Part of her wanted to rush to Maggie and share the juicy details, but Shelby wouldn’t. Today had been an important turning point for her. She could now have meaningless sex and not attach meaning to every look, wink, or kiss.

  So then, why did she feel something more for Shane? Why did she have an urge to see him smile again, or wish he hadn’t been so quick to agree with her only-once disclaimer?

  The buzz of her cell phone nearly gave her a heart attack. “H-hello?”

  “Shelby! Where are you? Ron and I have been waiting for ten minutes. Are you coming?”

  Oh God. Her mother. Shelby thought about cancelling, but that would attribute more importance to her lovemaking than it merited. Lovemaking. She scoffed at the term. It was a fuck, nothing more, nothing less.

  “I’ll be there soon. Sorry, got to window shopping and lost track of time.”

  Her mother huffed and hung up.

  Shelby tucked her phone into her purse and sought the nearest rest room, which happened to be in the marketplace. After doing her best to clean herself up and appear normal, she met her mother and Ron with a smile.