The OUT OF LINE Series Read online

  “Then I’ll drink them both.”

  “Okay…”

  Reaching out, he ripped the blue quilt off and came back to the couch. He spread it out over my legs and settled down next to me. After removing his shirt, he tucked himself in before he hit play. So he was cold…but he took off his shirt. That was a contradiction if I’d ever seen one. “There. All settled.”

  “Are you cold?”

  “Yeah. Sure. Freezing,” he mumbled, taking another swig of his beer.

  A thin sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead almost instantly after getting under the blanket. “You don’t look cold,” I said, unable to stop myself from commenting on his strange behavior.

  He sighed. “For once, stop questioning everything I do.”

  He lifted his beer to his lips, his brooding stare never leaving the screen. Though I would have rather spent the night watching him watch the movie, I forced myself to pay attention to the antics on screen. And within seconds, I was laughing hysterically.

  When I looked over at him about halfway through the movie, he was watching me with a smile. I froze mid-laugh, my heartbeat increasing when our gazes clashed. Maybe it was the way he was looking at me that sent a surge of heat through my veins. He watched me as if…

  As if he’d rather be watching me than the movie.

  The next morning, the first thing I noticed was the sun shining through the slats of the living room blinds. The second thing I became aware of was the warm body pressed against mine. My hand rested on the curve of her hip, and my hard cock was touching her soft ass. There was no question as to whose ass I spooned.

  Carrie.

  We must have fallen asleep during the last movie we’d been watching. What had it been? Something about a haunted house. Carrie had gotten scared, so I’d thrown my arm over her and cuddled her. Apparently, I had proceeded to cuddle her all fucking night long. She stirred in my arms, wiggling her ass. I gritted my teeth and pushed closer, unable to resist. She let out a soft moan and rubbed against me in her sleep. Fuck. If she kept that up, I’d forget all about the rules and stipulations.

  Hell, I might just forget them now and blame it on my foggy head. I dropped a kiss to the spot where her shoulder and neck met, then nibbled lightly. She tasted good. So good that I decided to move an inch to the left and taste her there too. Even better.

  She let out a soft moan and rubbed against my cock, making me moan. Fuck me. I shouldn’t have started this, but now I couldn’t stop. I bit down on her shoulder again and palmed her ass. I squeezed hard, acquainting myself with how perfectly she fit in my hand. She should be mine, no matter what her father would say.

  She was mine, even if she couldn’t be.

  Her head rolled toward me, and I held my breath. Had I woken her up? I studied her face for any signs of her being out of dreamland, but she didn’t move. She just crinkled her nose and let out a sigh. I gently removed my hand from her ass and ran it down her cheek, memorizing how peaceful she looked when she slept. It was the only time I’d get to see it, so I didn’t want to miss a fucking detail.

  When my hand slid down her throat, she arched her back and moaned something that sounded a hell of a lot like my name. I froze, my heart racing, and looked up at her again. Still asleep…but she kept squirming. As if…

  As if she wanted more, even in her sleep. I let my hand slide over the curve of her breasts, lightly tracing over her perky nipple. Seeing that she was turned on by what I did sent pure need slamming into my gut. I rolled her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, tugging just enough to pleasure her.

  While I played with her perfect breast, she drew in a ragged breath and moaned my name. This time I heard it. She was fucking dreaming about me as I touched her. That was too much for me to let go of. I knew I should stop. Knew I should get my hands off her, but she needed me as much as I needed her.

  Slowly, I slid my hand down her stomach. When I reached her waistband, I pressed my lips to hers, unable to resist a kiss. I kept it light. Almost nonexistent. But even so, she moaned and stirred in my arms. Damn it all to hell…she was waking up. I didn’t know whether to be happy or pissed about that.

  I pulled back and moved my hand to her flat stomach before she knew what I’d done. She may expect more out of me than I could give, and I couldn’t have that. Her eyes fluttered open, her lids heavy with sleep. “Finn?”

  “Sh.” I pressed a finger to her mouth, wishing she hadn’t woken up yet. Now I had to stop kissing her, even though I didn’t want to. “It’s all a dream.”

  She licked her lips, and her tongue ran along my finger, hot and moist. The sight of her pink tongue on my skin was almost enough for me to stop giving a damn. I wanted to press my mouth to hers again. Take her. Keep her.

  “No, it’s not,” she argued.

  “You always fight me.”

  Her lips quirked. “You always say stupid things.”

  I laughed and forced myself to stand up. To let go. “Get ready. We have a tide to catch. Get dressed out here. I’ll get ready in the bathroom.”

  I headed across the room, grabbing my bathing suit along the way. Thanks to my morning make out session, I now sported a hard-on that I wouldn’t be able to hide from her. I’d need a few minutes to myself before I was fit for polite company.

  An hour and a half later, I watched Carrie ride the wave I’d sent her out on. She stood on the surfboard, her arms stretched out precariously, grinning with pride as she rode the tiny wave I told her to take. I was probably wearing an even stupider, bigger grin than she was. Miraculously enough, she was starting to get the hang of surfing, and it had only taken a tiny bit of practice.

  She was a natural.

  Too bad I wasn’t a natural at this spy business. Every second spent in her company blurred the lines between friendship and assignment more and more. And every time we were together, it got harder and harder to remember all the reasons I shouldn’t when all the reasons I should were staring me back in the face. Like right now. She was everything I would have hoped for in a girlfriend, and then some.

  Kind. Giving. Adventurous. Never afraid to try something new.

  And I wasn’t allowed to have her.

  She tumbled into the water, and I hastily dove for her wrist. She could come up on her own, obviously, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t do anything while she struggled to get to the surface. Eh, who was I trying to kid? I didn’t find her because I had to, I found her because I had to make sure she was okay. For me—not the senator.

  Hauling her up to the surface, I said, “Got you.”

  She spluttered and swiped her red, drenched hair out of her face. “Did you see that? I had it!”

  “You did.” I couldn’t help it. I grinned with pride again. She was an excellent student, and I was having fun playing the part of teacher. “Soon you won’t need my help to catch a wave.”

  “I wanna go again,” she said, struggling to get back up on her board.

  Though I wanted to refuse, to drag her to the shore where she could rest up a bit, I couldn’t find the heart to make her leave. I could feel the excitement bouncing off her, and I couldn’t make her stop now. In fact, I reached out and hauled her onto the board by the back of her wetsuit, then helped her paddle back out to the open water.

  Once we reached the optimum surf point, I stopped dragging her, and instead dragged a hand through my damp hair. I hadn’t been surfing today. Just supervising. And yet, I didn’t give a damn. Normally, I’d be itching to catch a wave myself, but watching her have fun seemed to be enough for me.

  She squeezed her hair tight and lifted her face to the sky, letting out a contented sigh. “I never thought I’d have so much fun doing something like this.”

  “Me either,” I said before thinking it through. Then again, I hadn’t expected to have fun watching her surf. But I did. “I mean, surfing isn’t for everyone. I’m glad you like it so much.”

  “I really do,” she said, staring off toward the shore.
r />   I scanned the beach, watching all the tiny people walk around. One in particular caught my eye. She wore a green shirt I’d swear I saw Carrie wear last week. “Uh, Carrie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Did you leave a shirt out there?”

  She blinked at me. “No…why?”

  “I see a girl wearing your shirt. I recognize it. It’s the one you wore to the soup kitchen last week. I made fun of the color and you said—”

  “That green was the luckiest color in the world.” She put her hand above her forehead and squinted. “Yeah. That’s mine.”

  “Why is she wearing it?”

  Carrie dropped her hand and fidgeted with nothing at all. “Every once in a while, I put a box of clothes in the dorm. Anonymously.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I have too many.”

  I shook my head. “Every time I think I know everything there is to know about your giving nature, I discover something new.”

  Her cheeks went red. “It’s nothing.” She squinted at the shore. “Oh look. Cory’s out there.”

  I stiffened. She and Cory had been spending more and more time together during the week, and that was all well and fucking dandy. But the weekend was supposed to be my time. It wasn’t written down and signed in blood or anything, but it had become our thing, and I didn’t feel like fucking sharing. “Why’s he here?”

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  I looked at my watch. “Ten-thirty.”

  “Shit. I was supposed to meet up with him at ten. I totally forgot. It’s so easy to lose track of the time out here, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it is.” I cleared my throat. “I didn’t know you had any other plans today.”

  “It came up last night. Cory needs tutoring in anatomy, and I offered to help him today.” She dipped her fingers into the water. “I told him we’d meet up after surfing, but I guess when I didn’t show up, he came looking for me.”

  “Smart guy like that shouldn’t need help in anatomy,” I mumbled. “Then again, guys like him always do.”

  She shot me a look that suggested she wondered if she’d misheard. “Are you upset? I know we normally hang out after surfing, but we have a big test Monday, and I wanted—”

  “I’m not upset,” I said, shaking my head at her as if I was amused by the mere idea. But I was upset. This was my day, not Golden Boy’s. “Now get ready, Ginger. Here comes a good one.”

  She waved erratically, and Cory waved back. Looking over her shoulder, she started paddling in front of the wave. “See ya at the shore.”

  “I’ll be right behind you.”

  And I would. There was an even bigger wave coming behind hers, and I could ride it out and meet her at the beach. First real wave I would ride all day. As she took off with the baby wave I sent her on, I watched her safely ride it to shore. Once she made it without wiping out, I readied myself for my own ride. As I rode it, slicing in and out with expert precision, I tried not to watch Carrie as she made her way over to Cory on the beach. Once I hit the sand, I purposely took my time walking over to them, watching from a safe distance. She started taking off her wetsuit, and Cory practically convulsed right then and there on the beach.

  What a fucking newbie.

  He wouldn’t know what to do with Carrie if he got her. Carrie deserved someone more experienced. Someone who would know how to make her scream out in pleasure and wouldn’t completely miss her clit while going down on her. Someone like…me.

  I walked up behind Carrie and started stripping. “Hey,” I said, nodding at Cory. “What’s up?”

  Cory ripped his eyes from Carrie’s sleek body for all of two seconds to nod in my direction. “Hello. Nice surf out there, huh?”

  “Not too bad.” I threw my wetsuit on the sand and shook my hair in Cory’s direction, spraying both Cory and Carrie. Carrie laughed, but Cory gave me a death glare and brushed his hands over his dampened Oxford shirt. “Oops. Sorry.”

  “No worries,” Cory said, smiling, but his attention was still on Carrie’s body. Didn’t she see the way Cory ogled her? Did she know how much the boy wanted more from her than mere studying?

  Or, my inner voice whispered, maybe she knew it and liked it.

  “You should go surfing with us sometime,” Carrie said, her voice muffled from under her short blue sundress she was pulling over her head. “It’s so much fun.”

  I snorted. “I don’t think Cory is the surfing type.”

  “I beg your pardon.” Cory looked down his nose at me, and I stiffened. “I don’t expect someone like you to know what I do or do not like, thank you, so kindly refrain from voicing your opinions.”

  Oh, hell no. No one looked at me like I was gum stuck to the bottom of their shoe and walked away without getting well acquainted with my knuckles. Not since kindergarten. I tightened my fists and advanced on the little fucker. “Oh yeah? Want to know what I do know?”

  “No.” Carrie pressed a hand to my chest and I stopped. Just like that. The girl held way too much power over me. “I don’t think Cory meant that as an insult. Did you, Cory?”

  “Of course not.” Cory smiled again, just as falsely as the last time. I still wanted to punch him, just as strongly as the last time. “No harm meant, man.”

  “My name’s Finn. Not man.”

  I looked down at Carrie’s hand, which still rested on my chest. My heart sped up at the sight of it, and my vivid imagination ran wild. I pictured her with her hand on my chest, but it wasn’t innocent. No, it was while I drove her insane with need. My body buried deep inside hers as she cried out my name over and over again.

  That was more like it.

  I should kiss her right now, in front of this little jerk. Stake my claim.

  “Sorry.” Cory held up his hands and backed away from me. The boy has a brain after all. “Finn.”

  “Okay, I’m ready to go.” Carrie gave me one last warning look, then bent to grab her board and suit. “You ready to head back to the dorms?”

  I clenched my jaw, knowing a dismissal when I saw one.

  “Sure. Here. Let me carry that for you. See ya later, Finn,” Cory said.

  He reached out and tentatively took her board from her, holding it out as far from his perfect pink shirt and plaid shorts as he could get. So she let Cory carry her board, but wouldn’t let me? What the fuck did that mean?

  “Later,” I said, my voice rock hard.

  Carrie looked at me over her shoulder, hesitating. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

  I wouldn’t be home. I’d probably be out getting blasted to try to forget how stupid she was making me act lately.

  Carrie waited for a reply, but when it became obvious I wouldn’t be giving one, she walked off with Cory. As I watched, Cory threw his arm over Carrie’s bare shoulders, hauling her close. Her musical laughter came back to me, making me grit my teeth. I’d never wanted to punch someone as much as I wanted to punch Cory right now—and he hadn’t even done anything wrong.

  In fact, he was the perfect match for someone like Carrie.

  While I was not.

  A few beers later, I leaned back on the bar and took a long pull of my beer. I’d spent the last three hours watching football and was slightly buzzed. For the first time in a long while, I felt free to relax. Free to chill. I knew Carrie was safe. She was with Golden Boy, and he wouldn’t harm her.

  Hell, he couldn’t even get enough balls to kiss her.

  Someone tapped my shoulder, and I turned around. A brunette with huge—and obviously fake—breasts sat beside me. She was gorgeous and totally my type. “Hey there.”

  I tipped my beer at her. “How’s it going?”

  “Good.” She sidled closer, running her fingers over the tattoo on my bicep. “Better now that I’ve met you.”

  I should be turned on right now. I should be wanting to bring her back to my place so I could fuck her brains out until I forgot all about Carrie. Until I forgot all about everything. But I felt…nothing. “I
s that so?”

  “It is.” She pressed her thigh against mine and caught my gaze. She had blue eyes, but compared to Carrie’s, they were dull and boring. “Wanna buy me a drink?”

  I took another sip, trying to decide how best to answer. I’d like to pretend I was attracted to her. Maybe even force myself to pretend she was Carrie, and fuck her in the dark. But it felt as if I was betraying Carrie somehow, even though we weren’t and never could be a couple.

  “Maybe another night.” I pulled out my wallet and tossed some cash on the bar. “I was just leaving.”

  “Your loss,” she called out, her tone seductive.

  I shook my head and walked out onto the crowded sidewalk. I had enough to drink that I should have been able to finally shake the hold Carrie had over me. But no. She still had her claws knuckle deep in me, whether or not she knew it. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to do with a woman. Didn’t know how best to solve this issue I had where she was concerned.

  A laugh came back to me, and I stiffened. Lifting my head, I scanned the crowd. I slowed my steps when I spotted her. She was, of course, with Golden Boy. Cory stopped walking and hugged her close. From my vantage point, she looked stiff. Cory leaned down and kissed her, and she didn’t move out of his arms. Didn’t squirm or squiggle or try to break free.

  Instead, she kissed Cory back.

  I clenched my fists and ducked behind a nearby building, waiting to see if she needed any help. When would she push Cory away? Tell him to fuck off? Apparently never. When she pulled back and smiled up at Cory, her hand over his heart like she’d done earlier with me, my own heart twisted and turned.

  Fuck that. And fuck this job. I quit.

  I turned on my heel and headed home, red coloring my peripheral vision as I shoved my way through the crowd. I knew I had no right to be angry with her. None at all. I’d been the one to insist we be friends, and only friends. I’d been the one who constantly pushed her away, refusing to admit I wanted her, no matter how hard it had been.

  Hell, I had practically given her to Cory on a silver platter. If I was in Cory’s place, I’d be doing the exact same thing, only I’d be doing it in private, where I wouldn’t have to stop. Fucking newbie.