“I thought it was a fantasy, but it wasn’t, was it? It was a memory.”
He looked away from her with his jaw clenched. “I want you again, but I can’t use the same condom,” he said.
He stroked into her one more tantalizing time before pulling out and setting her back down on her now very wobbly legs. When she teetered, he caught her up in his strong arms, bringing his lips so close to hers, before stopping himself. “No, if I start kissing you, we’ll be in dangerous territory again. Come over here.”
Without warning, he swept off half the contents on his desk. “Bend over,” he said, seemingly unconcerned about all of the expensive black and chrome objects he’d sent clattering to the floor.
Without thinking, Layla did exactly as he said, laying her face against the cool metal. Her nipples pebbled all over again when they made contact.
“Stay here,” she heard him say behind her. He traced a hand down her back and she could feel his gaze lingering on the place where the curve of her hip met her behind. But all he said was “I’ll be right back.”
There were footsteps and the sound of another door—most likely to an inner office bathroom she hadn’t noticed—closing.
Layla lay there with her eyes shut, spread out like a total hussy over Nathan Sinclair’s desk. She had the rather alarming thought that she hadn’t felt this happy, or this sexy and satisfied, in as long as she could remember.
But then she opened her eyes. As it turned out, Nathan hadn’t swept everything off his desk. The computer was still there, and so were all of his picture frames, including one that held a photo of Nathan and a pretty blond, who had to be at least four inches taller and four sizes smaller than her. But that wasn’t what made Layla suddenly snap out of her lust haze and stand up. What made her gather up all her clothes, hastily throwing them on as she ran out the door, was the fact that this picture of Nathan and the blond had obviously been taken at their wedding.
CHAPTER SEVEN
INSIDE his private office bathroom Nathan got rid of the condom and did his best to ignore his cock, which was painfully erect and practically screaming at him to go back out there to the delectable woman bent over his desk. He forced himself to splash some water on his face first. He had to calm down, he told himself, keep himself disengaged. He could have sex with Layla Matthews, but he couldn’t let her in like the last time.
This short trip to the bathroom, reminded him of the first and only double date he’d gone on with Andrew and Layla about three months after she and his brother officially started dating. Andrew had invited him to the Sinclair mansion’s game room for a round of pool and presented the double date as his idea, but it had only taken a few pointed questions on Nathan’s part to get to the real scheme.
“Layla thinks we should have a better relationship,” Andrew confessed. “She’s an only child and she doesn’t understand why we’re not closer.”
Nathan moved to the right side of the table to line up his shot. “And you do whatever Layla tells you to do, right?”
Andrew’s fingers tightened around his stick. “She’s had a hard life, and she doesn’t ask for much. I figured I could do this one thing for her.”
Nathan took his shot, but just missed sinking the green ball into a corner pocket. “And I’m sure the fact that you’re fucking her has nothing to do with all this altruism.”
Jealousy curdled in Nathan’s stomach at the thought of Andrew having access to something he wanted, something he wanted bad. His masturbation fantasies had been fully taken over by the few encounters he’d had with Layla, mostly glimpses and short conversations, before Andrew came down to collect her for their dates.
But when he looked to his brother for his response, he noticed Andrew just stood there, his demeanor stiff, which is how he acted when he was embarrassed.
Nathan stood up straight with the realization: “You haven’t had sex with her yet.”
Obviously agitated, Andrew set about lining up his own shot. “She’s not ready.”
“She’s a ripe college freshman. How much more ready can she be? I go through at least two of those a month.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but she’s a virgin. I don’t want our first time together to be painful or uncomfortable for her, so I’m letting her set the pace.” He took his shot, but it only sent the ball he was aiming for bouncing off two walls before it came to a meek stop just a few inches away from a corner pocket.
This left the table open for an easy shot from Nathan, and he took it without hesitation. “Man, you’re whipped,” he said to his brother. “If it were me, I already would have tapped that so hard.”
He lined up his next shot, trying to ignore the thrill of possessive joy that lit up in his heart. Just because Layla and Andrew hadn’t had sex yet, didn’t mean he was any closer to making his fantasies come true with her. His thoughts darkened again. A girl like Layla would definitely want to give her virginity to a guy like Andrew. He still didn’t stand a chance with her.
He sank the last ball into the right side pocket, effectively winning the game.
Andrew huffed and put his stick away as if he were glad this farce of brotherly bonding were over. “Like I said, Layla doesn’t ask me for much. Can you just play along and not be an asshole? For once.”
Nathan had agreed to the double date, but only because he didn’t like this longing for someone he couldn’t have. Maybe, he told himself, spending more than five minutes in her company would finally kill his crazy lust for her.
He showed up to the date slightly tipsy, forty-five minutes late, with not one, but two dates in tow, his girlfriend of the moment and one of her friends, a pretty co-ed who she’d assured him would be open to a threesome later that night.
“How’s it going,” he asked them as he and his two dates settled in the booth. He peered at their dishes over his sunglasses. “I see you ordered without us.”
Layla moved closer to Andrew, rubbing his back in a pre-emptive bid to get him to stay calm. Nathan noticed her affectionate gesture, and felt his jealousy spike once again, even though, unlike Andrew, he was sitting next to two women who were actually willing to have sex with him.
“You’re late,” Andrew said, between gritted teeth. “We assumed you weren’t coming. And could you take off the sunglasses? It’s dark outside.”
Nathan’s answer to this was to slide them further up his nose and say, “I’ve got to take a piss.”