Vibrations #2
But my second? I bet Dean would have a blast with her. Last thing I need, though, is Lainey hanging around my house. The more she and Dean hang out, the more he’s gonna want her around. And that…
It feels like trouble. The kind that leaves a mark.
I turn off the faucet and shake out my hands. “It’s getting late. We should—”
“Oh!” Mom raises a hand. “I forgot to tell you! The apartment is finally ready for Lainey. Since your place is so close, I thought she could follow y’all home.”
Draping my wrists on the lip of the sink, I hang my head. I can’t catch a fucking break for the life of me.
“Sure.” I lift my head and paste on a tight smile.
Lainey rises, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I’m sure I can find it myself—”
“Nope.” I thumb some chocolate off Dean’s face from the cookie he’s devouring. Mom made a dozen of them, and I think Dean’s eaten pretty much every single one so far. “Unless you want to find someone else to dig you out of a ditch when you get lost, because I’m not doing it.”
“Ain’t nobody got time for that,” Dean says with a smile.
Lainey laughs. “You’d rescue me, though, wouldn’t you, Dean?”
“Yes, Miss Lainey, I’d ride to your rescue fast as lightning.”
His obsession with her is weird, right? Because it feels super weird to me.
Or not weird at all for him to want to hang out with a kind, considerate, funny girl who likes building LEGO sets.
Probably why my chest feels all mushy and shit seeing him beam at her.
It’s the bourbon. Has to be. That’s why this funny warmth isn’t going away.
Indigestion. That’s what this is. I have been smoking more than usual this week. It’s nothing some Tums can’t fix.
“Great,” Lainey says. “Let me just go get my luggage.”
I’m crossing the kitchen to grab Dean’s jacket when Dad clears his throat. “Colt? Why don’t you help Lainey with her bags?”
“I got it!” Dean yelps.
Spearing a hand through my hair, I take a deep breath. It’s like my family is trying to put me in Lainey’s way.
Maybe they are. But like I said, they can do what they like. I’m a grown man, and I can do what I want too. And what I want is to not want Lainey.
Best to just rip this Band-Aid off.
“No, Dean, I got it.” I sigh. “You head out to the car, okay? Say goodbye to Mimi and Pawpaw first.”
I head down the carpeted hallway that leads to the bedrooms. I draw up short when I glimpse Lainey inside the room that was mine and Beck’s growing up. My parents turned it into a guest room after we moved into the bunkhouse when we graduated from high school.
Lainey is facing me, bending down to zip up her suitcase. I see that she’s slipped on a pair of cowboy boots and a jean jacket.
I can also see down the neckline of her dress. It gapes a little as she moves, revealing the soft swell of her breasts and a sliver of black lace.
My body seizes. That’s…fuck, one very sexy bra. Another image: this one of me sucking on her nipples through that lace. Would she push me away? Dig her hands into my hair and pull?
What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve interacted with this woman twice—twice!—and you’re already thinking about her like this?
Constantly? Inappropriately?
I just can’t figure her out. Is she for real? Or is she full of shit?
What if I gave her the benefit of the doubt? I could just try it. If I get burned, it ain’t gonna hurt all that much. Right?
As she straightens, her eyes land on my face. One side of her mouth kicks up, like she knows I’ve been checking her out while also having a small crisis of conscience.
“I don’t need help.” She hikes a tote bag over her shoulder. “It’s just these two suitcases, and I can wheel—”
“Nope.” I can’t look at her as I grab the suitcases. The room smells like that perfume. It’s also immaculate. She stripped the bed and neatly folded the dirty sheets, which lie in a stack on top of the comforter. Shutters are closed. Not so much as a speck of dust or forgotten sock in sight.
Always so fucking perfect. And respectful. And lovely smelling.
My hatred for her burns a hole right through me.
It’s not hatred, dipshit. It’s hunger.
“Is that the only word you know tonight?” She pins me with a glare.
“Nope.”
“You’re not as funny as you think you are.”
“I don’t think I’m funny at all. Let’s go.”
Her bags are heavy. Not a light packer, then. Which, great. High-maintenance girls are not my type.
I kiss Mom good night and tip my chin to Dad, thanking them for having us.
“Lainey, you let us know if you need anything, all right?” Mom waves to us from the front porch. “I drove over to the apartment earlier to make sure everything was in order. But obviously I’m here if I missed something.”
“Thank y’all for the amazing hospitality, Paige. Dinner was delicious.”
I see Dean’s little head moving in the back seat of my truck. Hopefully he’s buckling himself in. It’s a new skill he just mastered. My back will be forever grateful.
Lainey opens the trunk of the cute little Jetta parked beside Mom’s Expedition. The Jetta is the same fire engine red as Lainey’s lipstick.
In true Lainey fashion, the trunk is neat as a pin. Totally empty, the upholstery marked with lines from a recent vacuum. I can only imagine what she thought of the mess inside my truck.
I lift the heavier of the two suitcases into the trunk without a word.
“You talk to your dad yet?” she asks.
The question startles me. Putting a hand on the Jetta’s raised tailgate, I turn my head. “That’s no one’s business but mine.”
“You made it my business too when you took your butt-hurt feelings out on me. Y’all should talk. You need to ask him why he didn’t consult you about hiring me. Maybe then you’d hate me a little less.”
She’s right, of course. Which only makes my hate burn hotter.
“Aw, Dallas, I thought you were enjoying this little game we got goin’ on.”
She arches a brow. “If you think this is fun, you really need to get out—”
Buzz.
The sound fills the space between us. Speaking of that space, when did she get in my face like this? She’s close enough that I can make out the faint scar that bisects one of her eyebrows.
The buzzing continues. Louder now.
“What the hell is that?” I ask.
Lainey’s eyes flash with panic before they move to her suitcase. “Um. Nothing. It’s nothing. Here, I got that one—”
But I grab the suitcase before she can get to it. “Is that some kind of electronic…something?”
She turns a deep, deep shade of pink. When I meet her eyes, the naked embarrassment—shock—in them is clear as day.
Buzzzzzzzz.
Oh.
Oh.
I force a grin, even as a bolt of lust lands between my legs. “Talk about needing to get out more. Is that your vibrator, Dallas?”