Smiling, Cannon put his forehead to hers. Unable to stop himself, he ran his hands over her body, down the indent of her waist, over the rise of her hips, back up to cup her br**sts. He needed to touch her at least once to carry him over.
“Cannon,” she whispered, sounding scandalized. “I’m not going to do anything now, not with Armie out there!”
The smile turned into a grin. “I wouldn’t ask you to. After he’s gone, though...” He drew her up and took her mouth in a deep, tongue-stroking kiss. “Then you can pay up on all these promises you’re making.” He stepped them both away from the door. “Get dressed, okay?”
She swatted at him. “Now that I know we’re not alone, you can count on it!”
He kissed her once more, a firm, smacking kiss, and left her, closing the door behind him.
In the kitchen, Armie leaned against the sink, downing a cup of coffee. As soon as he saw Cannon he started grinning again. “My heart damn near stopped. My eyeballs are still singed.”
“Shut up.” Giving up on the idea of juice, Cannon poured his own cup of coffee. He’d need the caffeine to clear his head.
“You have my sympathies, dude.”
Lost to his meaning, Cannon shot him a look.
Smooth and sultry, Armie crooned, “She is fine.”
She was, but, damn it, he didn’t want to discuss her nude body with anyone. “I told you to shut up.”
“And here you are, stuck in the kitchen with me.” Only half hiding his amusement, Armie sipped the coffee. “You sure you don’t want me to haul ass out of here?”
“No, I don’t.” Indicating the table, he said, “Take a seat.”
Nonchalant, Armie straddled a chair. “Your priorities are dicked, man. I would sooo be on that.”
“You’re pushing your luck.”
“Yeah, I meant if you hadn’t already locked it up, ya know?” He set the mug aside. “Given she just tried to molest you in the kitchen, I’m guessing things are on track?”
To stop his needling, Cannon sat across from him and gave him a level stare. “So you weren’t with Mindi last night?”
Having some sense left in him, Armie let it go and dug his teeth into a new topic. “Fickle bitch was all about it, right up until she wasn’t there anymore. Left me without a word.”
New suspicions broke up old theories. “Where do you think Heath took off to last night?”
The switch didn’t faze him. “My bet is he went straight to a doctor. We both know what a dislocated shoulder feels like. How the miserable f**k drove away...” Armie shook his head. “Not that you or I couldn’t, but he’s not trained. Big, sure. Looked like he hit the gym often enough. But I doubt he’s ever broken anything or been hit like that before. He looked stunned stupid when you hurt him.”
Like the gathering of a storm, the tempest twisted through Cannon once more. He rolled his shoulders, fighting off the ugly grip of rage. “You don’t think he’d be up to causing more trouble?”
Snorting, Armie said, “Hell, no. If he found someone to put his shoulder back, well, that hurts, too. And if not, he was probably curled up somewhere crying. Why?”
Cannon tipped his head toward the kitchen window. “You’re not real observant today, are you?”
“I saw it,” he defended. “I just figured you boarded it up to be extra secure, her being so jumpy and all.”
Face hot and gaze on her bare feet, Yvette walked in. “I am not jumpy.”
She wore a white sundress that hugged her br**sts, then hung full from there down to her knees. The material swished around her legs as she came to the table. She looked soft and f**king virginal and he wanted her more than ever.
Smile settling into place, Armie relaxed more in his chair. “Hi, Yvette.”
Shoulders curled, her head down so that her hair half hid her, she said, “Be quiet, Armie.”
“But we’re...butt buddies now, right?”
She groaned.
“Want me to show you my ass, just to make it even?”
She peeked up. “Is that all you saw?”
“Nope.”
Groaning, she folded her arms on the tabletop and dropped her head. Face muffled, she asked Cannon, “Can you shut him up?”
“Sure, if that’s what you want.”
Leaning close to her, Armie said, “He can rip out my tongue, but the image is forever emblazoned on my brain.”
Cannon started to intercede, but Yvette beat him to it. She planted a palm in Armie’s face and shoved him back. “Brat.”
“Hottie.”
“Gawd, give it up, Armie.” She squared her shoulders in that now familiar way. “We’re both adults.”
“And we’ve seen plenty of naked people?”
She drooped again and in a small voice asked, “Did you really see everything?”
Laughing, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Honestly, honey, soon as I realized what I was seeing, I turned so fast I damn near ran into the wall.”
“Promise?”
“It’s all a blur.” Lifting his brows, he added, “A red-hot, sexy-as-hell blur, but still—”
She snatched her hand away. “New topic!” Then to Cannon, “So you think Heath was too hurt to be here breaking windows and scaring me senseless?”
“You weren’t senseless,” he said absently, distracted by what he’d just witnessed. “You kept a cool head and did exactly what you were supposed to.”