Girl Next Door: The Complete Series Page 5

  My back arched and I grabbed his thighs beneath me. Just like that, I could feel the orgasm rushing up like prickles on my skin.

  “God, you feel so good. So hot and tight. I want to feel you come on my dick.”

  Naughty words in the bedroom normally made me want to giggle and roll my eyes, but, when Aidan talked dirty to me, it flipped my switch, big time.

  I moaned, head thrown back, eyes closed, as the orgasm literally burned through me, hot and intense.

  “Yes, that’s it.” Aidan whispered.

  I was still quivering from the aftershocks when Aidan’s thrusts became faster and harder and I knew he was close. His hands gripped tight on my ass. I wanted to watch him come, so I opened my eyes in time to see his head fall back. His eyes closed and he groaned, sliding in and out of me a few more times before he stilled.

  He leaned forward, bracing his weight on his forearms. I nuzzled his neck where it met his jaw and licked the moisture off his skin. Yum.

  Aidan carefully pulled out of me, took off the condom and tied it in a knot. Still boneless from my orgasm, I watched him stand up and snag the remaining condoms. Then, he bent down and swept me up in his arms and headed toward the back door.

  I jolted out of my hazy state. “Wait, I need to grab my towels and clothes and stuff. I don’t want to leave it out here all night.”

  “Later,” Aidan’s voice was raspy and super hot. “I’m not done with you yet.”

  Oh, boy. That sounded like a threat. It also sounded like fun. I was definitely in trouble.

  My alarm was blaring when I pried my eyes open the next morning. I slapped the snooze button and rolled onto my stomach. After last night, I was so exhausted, I considered calling in sick to work or taking a half day personal time. Then, I nixed the idea. I wanted to save my sick days and personal time for fun stuff, like going to a matinee with Cat or having a spa day.

  My alarm went off again, so I turned it off and stumbled downstairs, aches and tender spots making themselves known.

  Last night had been incredible. When I saw Aidan had five condoms left after our first bout, I teased about feeling ambitious and bet him ten bucks we wouldn’t use them all.

  I lost that bet.

  At one in the morning, Aidan let me out of bed long enough to grab my stuff from the back deck and snack on cheese, cracker, and fruit. Half the condoms were gone at this point.

  Then, he woke me up twice between one and six in the morning. We used two of the rubbers in one go, though. Even the batteries on my vibrator would have burned up if I used it that many times in an eight hour period. Aidan, however, had stamina, probably as much as a marathon runner.

  When he got up at six and dressed to go back next door to get ready for work, Aidan leaned over and yanked the covers off my naked body. This woke me up, sort of. I was sprawled on my stomach, hair covering my face. I burrowed deeper into the mattress.

  “No more. Go find Ms. Endless Legs. She can have you,” I mumbled.

  Aidan chuckled and his fingertips traced lightly up my spine to tangle in my hair. He gently tugged my head until I partially turned over to peer at him with one eye open. If he was going to touch me like that, I guess I have one more go in me. I mean death by orgasm sounded like a decent way to die.

  Aidan must have read my mind because he smirked at me. Brushing my hair out of my face, he leaned down and kissed me.

  “I’m going to go home and get ready for work, babe, but I want to see you tonight,” he said.

  I glanced at the clock.

  “Why do you have to get ready for work before dawn? I thought only farmers did that.”

  Aidan actually laughed and gave me a full smile.

  “Nat, I have to be on site by seven-fifteen. I gotta go soon if I wanna get all the way across town by then.”

  I yawned. “Ok. Sucks to be you. Goodnight.”

  With that, I grabbed the blankets and rolled up in them like a burrito.

  Aidan chuckled again. I personally didn’t see what could be funny at six in the morning, but to each his own.

  “Nat,” he said, “I want to see you tonight.”

  I waved a hand in his general direction.

  “Fine. I’ll be here at six-thirty. Come over any time after. Now, go away. Some guy with the libido of a sixteen year-old kept me up all night.”

  I was asleep before he closed the front door, but I’m pretty sure I heard him laugh the whole way downstairs.

  That was the last thing I remembered before my alarm went off an hour later. After a huge cup of very strong coffee and a steaming hot shower, I felt three-quarters human. I dragged into work two minutes before nine and did my best to stay awake at my desk.

  Right before lunchtime, my cell phone rang. It was Jack. Great. Clearly, he wasn’t taking my threat to shoot him seriously. I declined the call so it would go straight to voicemail.

  Five minutes later, it rang again, then again, and again. Finally, as the phone rang for the fifth time, I’d had enough. I snatched up the phone, slid my thumb across the touchscreen, and let’er rip.

  “Jack, I can see you didn’t understand me last time we spoke. So let me repeat myself, and I’ll be sure to speak slowly and use small words. Do. Not. Call. Me. Again. Ever,” I waited a beat, “Do you understand?”

  Jack was silent for a moment.

  “Natalie, please, sweetie, can’t we just meet for a drink? I’m so sorry about what happened with Cat. It was a stupid mistake. I was still a little drunk from the night before, and I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Did he really think I was stupid enough or desperate enough to fall for that? His next words proved that he did.

  “Please, honey, I care about you so much. I was fallin’ for you hard, babe, and I totally fucked it up.”

  Had I not just shared a mind-blowing, and pretty fun, night with Aidan, I might have considered giving him a second chance for about ten seconds, or at least letting him buy me an insanely expensive alcoholic beverage and grovel. But I had shared a night with Aidan and he rocked my world far beyond what Jack was capable of, so it took me a nanosecond to reject Jack’s pleas for forgiveness.

  I may have agreed to a non-relationship with Aidan, but it was better than going back to a guy who would lie about my best friend, to my face, and then treat me like I was stupid and desperate. At least Aidan was honest with me up front, even if we had no future.

  “Jack, I don’t mean to hurt your feelings but I don’t really care. I appreciate the apology and I’m not mad at you anymore.”

  Okay, so I just lied about the mad thing, but I figured he’d drop the act a lot quicker if he didn’t think I was holding a grudge. No such luck.

  “Nat, c’mon. I just want to meet for a drink. I’ll swing by tonight and we can talk.”

  I rolled my eyes. “No, Jack. I have a date. Also, did you forget that I said I would shoot you if I ever saw you again?”

  Unfortunately, Jack only caught one word out of that, and it was “date”.

  “You have a DATE?”

  He sounded shocked. This pissed me off even more. Did he expect me to sit around and mope for six months after we broke up?

  “Yes, Jack, a date. I will not be meeting you for a drink tonight or any other night in the next millennia.” I was so done with this conversation. “Bye, Jack.”

  I disconnected the call. Every now and then, I really did miss old-fashioned phones with cords. If I had one, I would have had something to slam down and a way to release the tension Jack’s whining had created. I put my head in my hands and took a deep breath. Jack was such a douchebag. I was taking comfort in this thought when my phone rang again. I glanced at the screen, praying in wasn’t Jack. I perked up immediately. It was Michael, my favorite man ever. Too bad he was gay and madly in love with his partner.

  I accepted the call and put the phone to my ear.

  “Girl, I hear you broke the seal on your hot new neighbor.”

  I sighed.
Cat had such a big effing mouth. I’d called her on the way to work that morning and gave her the short version of last night. We were planning to meet for drinks tomorrow night for a more in-depth discussion.

  “Yes, Aidan spent the night last night.”

  Michael waited, then groaned. “Tell me,” he demanded.

  There was no way I was going to shake him until I gave him something juicy. Then again, maybe some time with my gay husband would be what I needed to dispel the nasty taste Jack’s call left on my tongue.

  “What are you doing for lunch?” I asked.

  Michael didn’t disappoint me. “Meeting my best girl so she can buy me some sushi and tell me about all the hot sex she is having with her incredibly sexy new neighbor.”

  I laughed. “All right. I’ll meet you at the Blue Fish in 30 minutes.”

  “Deal.” Michael disconnected.

  That afternoon, after lunch with Michael, I had trouble staying focused. Two restless nights were catching up with me, and I would probably have another almost sleepless night, since Aidan was coming over again tonight.

  Then again, maybe last night was an anomaly and he’d go home earlier tonight. Unable to decide whether this made me happy or disappointed, I noticed it was five. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the gym. Forty-five minutes on the stationary bike woke me up but I never saw the car that followed me out of the parking lot and the entire way home.

  I drove home and showered before throwing on a ratty tee and shorts. I was pouring myself a glass of wine when my cell rang. The screen read, “Aidan calling”. How in the hell did his number end up on my phone? He’d never given it to me and I’d never given him mine.

  I clicked answer. “Hello?”

  “Hey, babe. Have you eaten?”

  It was Aidan. How the hell did his number end up in my phone?

  “How’d your number get on my phone?”

  Aidan paused. “I put it in this morning before I woke you. Now, have you eaten?”

  Okay, that answered one of my questions. “How’d you get my number?”

  Aidan sighed. “Off your phone. Now, HAVE YOU EATEN?”

  Jeez, someone was cranky. “No, but I’m getting hungry.”

  “Pizza okay?” he asked.

  Yum. “Sure. What time will you be here?” Hopefully, he would say soon.

  “Give me twenty. See ya soon.” He disconnected the call.

  I took my wine into the living room, flipped on the TV and settled on the couch for some channel surfing. Twenty minutes later I was still looking for something to watch when my doorbell pealed. I walked to the door and yanked it open, expecting Aidan. It wasn’t.

  Jack stood on my front porch, hair messy, looking slightly haggard. I started to shut the door on him, but he wedged his foot, then his shoulder, into the door and shoved. I was no weakling but he outweighed me by almost fifty pounds, so he made it inside.

  Still, I didn’t back down. I planted my feet and put my hands on my hips.

  “What the hell, Jack?! I told you earlier that I didn’t want to see you tonight. Actually, I don’t want to see you any night for the next century or so. Soooo, why exactly are you here?”

  Jack stepped closer and looked down at me. “I just wanted to see you and talk.” He lifted a hand to touch my cheek and I jerked my head away.

  Okay, being tactful wasn’t working. It was time to try blunt, as in a bitchy sledgehammer.

  “Jack, there will be no talking. If you call me again, I won’t answer. If you come to my house again, I will call the cops. I never want to see you, as in for the rest of eternity. Now, you need to leave before my date gets here.”

  Jack laughed but there was no humor in it. Then he looked me over, top to toe. “Like you would ever dress like that to go out? Why did you lie to me earlier and tell me you had a date?”

  I let my smart mouth get the better of me. “Who says I’m going out? As a matter of fact, we’re gonna stay in and do movie night.”

  That changed Jack’s attitude immediately. First, he looked shocked, then, he looked pissed. So pissed that I took a step back before I could recognize that retreat would be bad.

  “It’s only been three weeks and you’re already fucking somebody else?” He sounded incredulous. “Who the hell is he?”

  Actually, it had been four weeks, but I wasn’t about to point that out. “No one you know. Now, you need to leave before I lose my temper and get my gun.”

  Jack rolled his eyes as if he didn’t believe me. I took a deliberate step toward the stairs.

  He sneered at me. “Enjoy it while it lasts, Natalie. Sooner or later, he’s gonna move on to greener pastures and you’ll come crawling back to me. You belong with me.”

  Again, my inner smartass got the better of me. “I’d rather die old and dried up with a hundred cats than ever lay eyes on you again. I belong alone until death more than I belong with you.”

  Jack stepped forward, his hands clenched into fists. Oh, crap, not good. Just when I thought things were going to get uglier, my cell phone rang. Jack’s head whipped around.

  “Is that him?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, Jack. I can’t see the phone. He’s probably calling to let me know he’s on his way with the pizza.” I noticed Jack’s aggressive posture and clenched fists. How could I have missed the batshit crazy vibes pouring off him before? Time for him to go. “You should leave now, Jack.”

  I could tell he really wanted to ignore me, but he thought better of it. With a glare, he headed out the door.

  “We’ll talk again, Nat. No matter what you think, this isn’t over.”

  I’d heard that before, and, now, I was beginning to believe Jack wouldn’t stop bugging me until he said what he had to say, maybe even worse. I watched Jack walk out the door, and ran over to throw the deadbolt and the other lock. I put my back to the door and slid down to the floor. My heart was pounding and I felt as though my entire body was about to shake apart. For the first time in my life, I was afraid of one of the men who’d been in it. I was also beginning to wonder if I’d ever really known Jack at all, or if I had only seen what Jack wanted me to see. It seemed the laid back, fun guy was only skin deep and everything under that was beyond ugly.

  By the time Aidan showed up with the pizza, I was back under control. The twenty minutes he’d planned had turned into almost forty-five because of quote-unquote, “fuckin’ traffic”.

  Aidan’s eyes were intense on me as I dug into the pizza. “You okay, Nat?” he asked.

  I grunted around a mouthful of pepperoni and mushroom. After I swallowed, I focused on my next slice, pulling it out of the box. My eyes were on the strings of melted cheese still clinging to my piece.

  “Yeah. I’m just tired. I haven’t slept much the past couple of days…don’t know who could have contributed to that problem.” Aidan grinned. “Also, Jack’s been calling again today. So I’m peeved.”

  I didn’t mention Jack’s earlier visit. Nor the ugliness that ensued. I omitted this for two very good reasons. One, Aidan was a friend-with-benefits, not my buddy or a boyfriend. He was something in between and, therefore, this was not his problem. His status in my life was short-term and, honestly, shallow. I didn’t want him involved in my problems because it would make it more difficult to cut ties later, and probably more painful. Two, a girl does not lay all her ex-boyfriend problems on a man she’s seeing, casual or otherwise. It’s one of the all-time top five rules of relationships. Right up there with telling a guy the real number of men you’ve slept with or how much he reminds you of your dad. Dropping ex problems on you new man is a guaranteed way to seeing his ass exit stage left pronto.

  So, I kept my answer short and sweet. Aidan shrugged. Then, he shocked me.

  “You want me to have words with your ex again?”

  I choked on my pizza and had to take a huge slug of wine. That went against everything I had just run through in my head.

  “What? Why?”

  Aidan frowned at me.
“Because the asshat is making a nuisance of himself. If he won’t listen to you when you tell him to fuck off, I’ll make sure he listens to me.”

  I was speechless. I’d never had a fuck buddy before, but I was pretty sure the purpose of fuck buddies was sex without the drama. This situation with Jack was the definition of drama. Also, none of my boyfriends had ever offered to handle a bad situation of any sort.

  “Um, thanks, Aidan, but I’ve got it under control.”

  He nodded, and drank his beer. “Let me know if that changes. Understand?”

  I nodded.

  We chit chatted while we demolished the pizza, then Aidan suggested a bath. Most of the men I dated considered hot bubble baths a girlie thing. I said as much to Aidan. He gave me his sexy half-smile and said there was nothing girlie about sex in the bathtub, even with the bubbles.

  After I took my bath with Aidan, I certainly had to agree. As a matter of fact, I didn’t think I’d be able to think about bubble baths without getting turned on, ever again.

  A week went by after the night of the best bubble bath ever, and Aidan slept at my place every night. After the first night, I figured Aidan would light my fire, set me off, and then leave after a reasonable amount of time. I was very wrong. He did the first two things daily, but he never left before the alarm went off in the morning.

  I wasn’t sure this was casual sex territory, but I enjoyed snuggling up to his warm, hard body, so I kept my mouth shut.

  Also, Aidan would spend time just hanging out with me. For example, when he saw my DVD collection, he was surprised.

  “Babe, you really like action movies don’t you?”

  I glanced at him, one eye on my laptop screen. I was bidding on a pair of Brian Atwood platform pumps online and, if my bid won, I was going to get them for a fantastic price.

  Distracted, I replied. “Yeah. I’m not a huge fan of chick flicks unless there’s a really hot guy running around shirtless for ninety percent of it. Otherwise, I like to see people kick ass and blow stuff up.”