Dopplebanger (Meet-Cute #5)

Chapter 24

TWENTY-FOUR

“You’re not serious,” Evan said.

“I’ve never been more serious.” A big sign with large red lettering read WARNING and the stuff underneath it had all that authorized personnel only, hard hats required mumbo jumbo, but clearly they were being overly cautious to avoid frivolous lawsuits and the like. And when it came down to it, I was interested in what was beyond the construction zone. “Come on. Surely you’re up for an adventure.”

“An adventure, sure. Aiding and abetting? Not so much.”

“We’re not going to get caught.”

“I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but you’re not exactly subtle. Or quiet. Or anything it takes to sneak into somewhere.”

“For years I’ve heard all about the amazing pool at the resort from tourists, and when Madison decided to have her wedding here, I thought, ‘finally, I’ll get to use the amazing pool and see if the mineral water lives up to the hype.’”

“Right, but they have all these signs that apologize for the inconvenience and state that until they fix the drainage pipe for this portion of the resort, it’s too dangerous.” Evan gestured to the largest of the signs, the mumbo-jumbo-one I’d decided was more of a loose suggestion. “See? Warning. In all caps, so you know it’s real.”

I frowned at him. “Sure. If I was a toddler who could fall into the pit they’ve dug and couldn’t get out, it’d be dangerous.”

“You’re drunk and wearing high heels, which is pretty much the same thing.”

Keeping my gaze on his, I defiantly kicked off my shoes. I was going to lose them anyway—climbing the fence that surrounded the pool in a dress would be enough of a challenge. “We toasted to an epic night, remember? Not only have I always wanted to swim in the pool, I’ve always wanted to skinny dip, which I’m planning on doing when I get to the other side of that fence. Your choice whether you join me or not.”

If he decided on not , well that would be a real bummer to my ego. But since I truly believed he’d follow, I backed up so I could give myself a running start. My adrenaline surged and then I was running toward the ditch with the exposed pipe.

Oh, holy shit. I jumped for all I was worth, my arms wildly swinging in the air.

The loose dirt of the embankment slipped under my feet, but I managed to catch my balance and right myself. Then I turned to Evan and arched an eyebrow.

With an oath of stringed-together swearwords, he backed up. His long legs ate up the distance and the moon lit up his dark figure as he launched himself over the exposed pipe.

He didn’t land in the loose dirt or even stumble, which seemed unfair since he was at least as drunk as I was. Not that I wanted him to fall in the pit or anything. A mere wobble to prove he was human would’ve been nice.

I glanced down at the crevice we’d just jumped. “Speaking of laying pipe right…” I turned to Evan and waggled my eyebrows.

He shook his head, but that smile that brought out his jawline and those sexy grooves in his cheeks broke free.

I swiped my hands together. “One barrier down, one to go.”

Evan dragged a hand over his face as I moved over to the fence and studied the grooves and notches. “Great. My first official case is going to be defending myself for breaking into a pool.”

“No it’s not, silly.” I flashed him my most syrupy-sweet smile. “It’ll be defending me for breaking in. I’m sure you’ll get one of those court-appointed attorneys. Maybe the judge will let him take you on as a type of community service, which will give you the experience you need to get through law school. Really, I’m doing this for you.”

“Really, you shouldn’t have,” he deadpanned. “You can still not do it, in fact.”

“Oh, we’re doing it,” I said before realizing what it sounded like. But I was hoping to do that, too, so no need to clarify. He could take it wherever he wanted to. Please be to a deliciously dirty place.

The fence quivered as I worked on my footing—these plastic fences were so damn slick, with no worn wooden grooves to find better purchase. Jeez, it was like they wanted to keep people out or something.

Finally, I managed to pull myself halfway up, but the fence wobbled more as Evan climbed up behind me. After a quick glance around, I swung myself up and over—going a bit too big and having to slow my fall by dragging my hands and body down the other side of the fence. I landed hard on my butt on the cement, my teeth jarring together, and while I’d probably feel it more tomorrow, the alcohol in my system acted as a nice numbing agent.

Naturally, Evan landed all gracefully and shit. He looked down at me, his expression equal parts amusement and concern. “You okay, Ocean’s One?”

“Don’t you mean Ocean’s Two? Don’t try to wash your hands of this.”

“I tried. I failed.” He reached down and pulled me to my feet.

I brushed off my backside, wincing and then twisting to try to see the damage. I tugged my skirt up a few inches. “Did I scrape up my butt?”

Evan didn’t answer, and when I glanced up at him, his slackened jaw and the raw hunger in his eyes sent a shock of awareness through me. Suddenly I was remembering why I’d risked fence-climbing and a scraped booty.

“You’re wearing a thong,” he said, and the heady beat of my heart pushed into the out-of-control range.

Playing up my seductive vixen side, I tugged my skirt a few inches higher and added a pinch of ditzy to my voice. “Am I?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down and, in a daze, he reached out and brushed his fingertips across the tiny triangle of fabric. Pure, physical need shivered up my core and moisture pooled between my thighs.

This was worth any risk sneaking in might bring. It was just the two of us, standing on the verge of freefalling into a whole lot more.

His palm flattened against one of my cheeks. He hooked the hem of my skirt with his thumb and then slowly dragged up, up, up, until he fisted the wad of fabric at my waist. His warm breath hit my neck, followed closely by his soft lips, and when I melted against him, his arousal lined up perfectly with the seam of my ass.

“Need help taking that off me?” I asked, or more like breathed. “I can’t skinny dip with my dress on, you know.”

“I need…” His forehead dropped against the back of my head. “You.”

Every nerve ending fired at once, each cell in my body soaring up to celebrate this moment that’d been a long time coming. Now that it was here, I found myself slightly nervous and a lot turned on.

With shaky fingers, I reached up to the side of my dress, gripped the zipper, and tugged until the fabric folded down around my waist. Cool night air hit my skin, but with my internal temperature set to scorching, it hardly mattered.

One slow inch at a time, I pivoted to face Evan. His eyes dipped down, taking in my strapless pink bra, and the carnal gleam in his eye robbed me of what little oxygen I had left. I gripped the sides of the dress and shimmied it the rest of the way down, until it fell in a silky puddle at my feet.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a couple of seconds, I licked my lips. “Are you gonna say anything?”

“Words… they’re…” He swallowed, hard, as his eyes continued to roam over my body. “You’re the one with all the words.”

None that seemed adequate, and my heart was seriously going to beat its way out of its cage. “I don’t want to be greedy with them. I’ll let you have a few.”

The slightest hint of a smile ghosted across his lips and he took a step closer. “Damn. That pretty much encompasses what I’m thinking.”

I grinned, my nerves making it wobbly.

Evan reached out and dragged a knuckle down the center of my chest, between my breasts, over my bellybutton. Lower, lower, lower…

An involuntary whimper came out when he skirted it across the tiny waistband of my thong. The smug twist of his mouth told me he knew exactly how revved up I was.

Two could play at that game. I pushed his suit coat off his shoulders, binding his arms. My chest bumped his as I pressed an open-mouth kiss on his neck. He jerked, trying to reach for me, which only tightened the fabric restraints at his elbows.

A growl emanated from his throat as he tugged free, flinging his suit coat aside.

The predatory gleam in his eye sent bursts of heat through my veins. I took a step back and he took a step toward me. When he reached for me, I batted his hand away, denying the touch I desperately needed. “You have to catch up first,” I said, even as my body protested, the ache between my thighs going from dull throb to all-encompassing. “No touching until you’re at least shirtless.”

With laser focus, he watched me undo his tie and each button on his shirt. He gave a relieved yet tortured sigh as I parted the fabric and slipped my hands inside, eager to get my fingers on all those tempting muscles and tantalizing skin. I skimmed my hands up his taught abdomen to his firm pecs, taking my time to memorize the feel of them, of that line of his collarbone. Of the tick in his jaw that spoke to how hard he was struggling to hold himself back. Of him.

I pushed his shirt off his shoulders, and the instant it hit the ground, his mouth crashed down on mine, the kiss equal parts passion and punishment.

“I didn’t get a good enough look at you yet,” I said against his lips, but he didn’t relent, walking me backward until I hit the fence.

He wrapped both of my wrists in one of his hands and pinned them up over my head. I wiggled against him, disliking being unable to touch him almost as much as I loved being the manacled one.

With his free arm, he reached around and unhooked my bra.

Then he slowly, deliberately, raked his gaze over me, making it clear that he was the one in control now. “Holy shit, woman.” The pad of his thumb flicked across one of my hardened nipples. “You’re the definition of perfection.”

A whimper escaped, and his pupils dilated, overtaking the blue.

“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll take care of you.” He dipped his head and sucked one of my breasts into his mouth. A hundred euphoric sensations coursed through my body at once, all racing down to my center until I was sure I was going to spontaneously combust. He gave me about half a second to recover before moving to the other side and working me up all over again.

His lips skimmed across my collarbone and he placed a kiss on my neck before resting his forehead on my shoulder. “Fuck.” I could feel every tense line of his body, his muscles coiled so tightly I worried they’d snap.

“Gwen…” I knew that tone. It came right before the kissing and goodness came to a screeching halt. “I need to tell you something.”

I arched against him, doing my best to appease the pulsing bundle of nerves begging for release. “No you don’t. Not right now. Later you can tell me all the things, but I don’t think I can take one more time of you pulling away. All I need to know is one thing…” I gripped the hair at the nape of his neck, tugging his head back so he’d look me in the eye. “Do you want me?”

“I want you so bad I can hardly fucking stand it.”

“Then stop holding back,” I said, the same plea I’d given in the photo booth. Maybe I should’ve used more discretion inside of there, but now we were alone, a fence between us and the rest of the world. “I want this. I need this.”