Tough Love

No, she wouldn’t either. “Five minutes, tops.”

“I’ll help and we’ll make it two.”

* * *

EARLY NOVEMBER IN OHIO brought colder temps but, thankfully, no frost. A good thing, since Vanity’s dress, shoes and matching wrap weren’t designed to brave the elements.

As the car quickly warmed, Stack watched her relax. Her shivering subsided, and she allowed the wrap to loosen.

He liked her in that fluffy dress, how it showed off her tiny waist and cleavage, how feminine it looked. But he’d like her more out of it. So many times he’d imagined her naked, waiting on him, accepting him. Moving against him.

Coming with him.

It hadn’t taken much to work up the visual, given that the clothes she wore often left little to the imagination. Especially at the gym. Her fitted bike shorts and sports bras left every guy in the place stealing looks.

Stealing, because even if Vanity didn’t realize it, the others knew that Stack had laid claim, so they thought twice about outright ogling her.

Vanity liked to think she had all the control.

Didn’t bother Stack any. When it came to women, he was pretty easygoing. Some laughs, lots of sex, a friendly fare-thee-well, and everyone stayed happy. No reason for drama. Definitely no reason for getting all tensed up.

But even as he thought it, he flexed his shoulders to work out the stiffness in his muscles. Tense? Hell, yeah. Lust had him tied into about a hundred knots, all thanks to Vanity Baker.

The light of street lamps flashed into the car, giving him glimpses of her pale blond hair, her high breasts nearly spilling out of her dress, and those longer than long legs that had filled his dreams for too many nights.

He also saw the banked excitement in her eyes and the flush of anticipation in her cheeks.

“Hey.” Driving one-handed, he laid his other hand on the seat between them, palm up.

After a small smile, she put her hand in his—and he felt her trembling.

“Still cold?” Lust had him on fire, but he could adjust the heat for her.

“No.”

Other possibilities skated into his mind, filling him with protectiveness. Was she uneasy? Maybe a little worried?

It’d make sense. For a while after they’d first met, she’d been polite but not openly interested. By small degrees she’d warmed up, started paying more attention to him. Then out of the blue she’d propositioned him, and every day since, she’d been deliberately toying with him, hyping up the attraction until he could think of little other than hearing her scream with a climax.

All their friends knew he was ready to detonate. Vanity knew it, too.

Brushing his thumb over her knuckles, he asked gently, “Nervous, then?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“You’re shaking.”

Lifting his hand to her mouth, she lightly bit a knuckle, then kissed the spot. Gaze sincere, she whispered, “Because I’m eager.”

Well, hell. She’d just done it again, made him taut with her words. Needing to explain to her, just in case he jumped the gun, he said, “The first time...”

“Fast and hard,” she finished for him. “I know.” Her smile slipped into place even as her eyes darkened and her voice went all breathy. “It’ll be worth it if I get to watch you. I’ve been thinking about that forever.”

Jesus.

“After that,” she murmured, “then it can be my turn.”

Trying to give a little more room to his growing erection, Stack stretched out one leg. If she kept that up, he wouldn’t make it to her place. Hell, he was so close to losing it, the idea of pulling over for a quickie in the car appealed in a big way. It should have embarrassed him, how she stole his control. But knowing Vanity pushed him on purpose only made him more determined to blow her mind with sex.

Reaching for long-lost patience, he drew in a deep breath and put both hands back on the steering wheel. “You’re playing with fire. You know that, right?”

“I’m playing with you, Stack Hannigan, and it’s the most fun I’ve had in a very long time.”

He liked her like this, so open about what she wanted—namely, him. “Like I said before, you’ll pay for the play.”

“I’m hopeful.” She laughed, and even that turned him on.

Vanity was the one of the sexiest women he’d ever known, but she was also real. Bold. He didn’t have to wonder at her thoughts, because she spelled out what she wanted and how she wanted it.

She also made it clear that their time together had a short time frame, and after they’d settled the lust, she fully expected him to mosey on out of her life.