Dead Man's Bluff (18 page)

He caught her staring at him. Ogling him was a more
appropriate word. He seemed to be oblivious to her thoughts though, thankfully.
“What?” He shrugged a shoulder picking through his bowl. “I can either sit here
or lie down beside you, which will mean you’ll have to be willing to share your
blanket.”

She motioned at the two oversized chairs placed
creatively in the u-shape sitting area. “There are two other chairs. Why don’t
you sit in one of them?”

“Watching T.V from weird angles bothers my neck.”  He
cracked his neck for show. Bullshit. His neck didn’t bother him.

She rolled her eyes pushing herself up, drawing her
legs in so they’d no longer be anywhere near the sex appeal oozing off him.

He gave her a devilish grin. “You never answered…
what are we watching.”

“
I’M
watching, My Best Friend’s Wedding.”

Drew groaned, but was already focused on the movie.
Occasionally he’d laugh this deep rumble that clacked along her spine causing
weird sensations throughout her entire body, but mostly he made wise-cracks
about how cheesy some of the lines were. He was an all action kind of guy, and there
were a few moments when he acted bored out of his mind. It was during these
times he’d do something really annoying like yanking on her little toe to hear
the knuckle crack.

“Can you not go a second without touching me?” She
finally snapped whenever he squeezed one of her kneecaps causing her to flinch
and smile. Smiling was the last thing she wanted to do around Drew. She was too
busy pretending she hated him.

A corner of his mouth inched its way up
mischievously. Dammit. He knew how to work her. He deposited the empty bowl on
the floor and came back up still grinning. “You’re just so tempting whenever
you’re all adorable and pouty like that.” He made a movement towards her, a
slow crawl, his browns eyes intensifying. “It makes me want to snuggle with
you.”  

She planted a foot in the center of his chest
putting a halt to his progression. “You come any closer and I swear I’ll knee
you in the nuts.”

He arched a brow. “Such hostility… I guess that
means cuddling is out of the question?”

“Completely.”

He fell back into his original place with a sigh.
“Alright then, it’s your loss.”

Megan snorted. They continued to watch the movie
right up to the part where the character Julia Roberts was playing declared her
love for her best friend, Michael. It was awkward, the words being spoken on
the movie…

“Michael, I love you. I’ve loved you for
nine years. I’ve just been too arrogant and scared to realize it, and, well,
now, I’m scared, so –I-I-I realize this comes at a very inopportune time, but I
really have this gigantic favor to ask of you. Choose me. M-marry me. Let me
make you happy. Oh, that sounds like three favors, doesn’t it? B-but…”

He
cleared his throat, the carefree playful side gone, replaced by a scowl. “This
is so fucking lame… give me the remote.”

“I
think it’s sweet,” she challenged, her gaze narrowing on his face.

“Yeah,
you would. Give me the remote. I watched your movie, now it’s my turn.”

“No. 
You’re not turning my movie off! I was here first!”

He
held out a hand, wagging fingers in a gesture of ‘hand it over’. After a few
moments of nothing he glanced over at her with a bemused expression. The
blazing fire that was missing from her eyes had returned.  He added, “I’m
asking politely.”

The
remote disappeared behind her and her chin jutted out with the same ol’ defiance.
“No. I know you’re usually accustomed to getting what you want, but…”

His
brown eyes darkened, “Trust me, I don’t
always
get what I want. Now,
hand it over before this gets ugly.”

Her
belly flipped like a trout on a riverbank.  She didn’t have long to contemplate
what he’d meant because within seconds he lunged, propelling all his weight at
her as his arms snaked around her waist, hands groping for what she held behind
her. She was pinned, attempting to writhe out from under his weight, giggling,
“No, I’m watching the end my movie! It’s the best part!”

He
was looming over her when she felt him capture one of her wrist, their gazes
collided and held. He offered her his best cocky, self-assured grin, “Oh, I
have every intention of taking the remote by force. I’d go ahead and surrender
if I were you, baby.”

“Surrender?”
she scoffed. “That’s your problem, Drew Mackenzie, you give up too easily.” He grinned
knowing damn well she was referring to a whole lot more than what was going on at
the moment. She managed to squirm her free arm out from behind her, and chucked
the remote clear across the room. It hit the floor with a thud, skid across the
hardwood floor slamming into the baseboard.

“Did
you just fucking throw the remote?” His mouth fell open, and he shifted some of
his weight as he checked over his shoulder to make sure she did indeed throw it
to keep him from having it. She took every advantage of his stunned state by
working her way off the sofa: head first, shoulders next, then the rest of her
slinked to the floor. On her hands and knees she crawled within a foot of the
thing when a hand closed around her ankle and yanked, then a strong arm
encircled her waist. She squealed, reaching and inching closer to her goal, determined,
her fingertip grazing the hard plastic, but not close enough to actually grab
it. “Let go of me!”

Suddenly
she was flipped onto her back, her arms pinned above her head. He was
positioned between her bent legs, both of them breathing heavy from exertion,
or something more. She swallowed hard, “If you give me the remote and let me finish
watching my movie… I’ll sleep on the sofa and let you have the bed.”

He
flashed a wicked smile, his thick lashes lowered as he gaze swept over her, helpless
underneath him. “I don’t want the bed… unless you’re in it.” He secured both
her wrist with one hand, brought the other hand down, skimming the hem of her
sweater with a finger. His smile vanished. All of his focus on the patch of
skin showing above the waist of her shorts. “What I do want is to know why
you’re wearing a damn sweater when it’s hot as hell in here? Is it your fiancé?
Has he forbidden you to wear anything remotely sexy? Is he one of those guys?”
His fingers were hovering, teasing, giving her every indication that what he
really wanted was to get underneath her clothes.

“No.
He’s not one of those guys. Conner would never tell me what to wear,” she snarled.

“He
would if he’s smart. I remember that day in the rain, out by the barn… you were
sexy as hell all wet. I wouldn’t have wanted any other guy seeing you like
that. Only me.” The next pass of his fingers the tips skimmed her lower stomach
touching actual flesh. The action, the lightest of touches caused her to suck
in a breath and chills to rise all over her flesh and a throb between her legs.
His mouth hovered just over hers as if he was going to kiss her, but all he did
was grin, teasing her, all of it a game. “You were wearing a white tank and the
rain had practically made it see through.” Another sweep of his lips near hers,
and then he glanced down, his fingers attempting to work the hem of her shirt
up, little by little. Warm breath in her ear, “You could see your nipples
underneath. Hard. Begging me to taste them. It was a complete turn on. Bailey
was so jealous she couldn’t see straight.” He chuckled. “She bitched about what
a hoe you were all night. Accused me of being interested, which I was. ”

Fingertips/skin/chills.

Megan
whimpered and struggled in his hold, her green eyes pleading with him. “Drew,
don’t…
please
...”

He
finally released the hold he had on her wrist and moved lower down her body.
“Why not? It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.” His head dipped and
he placed warm, feather-light kisses across her lower stomach. “We just need to
get this shirt out of the way.” His tongue made a path to her belly button.

She
fought harder, kept her shirt held securely in place so he was unable to go any
higher with it. Mortified is what she would be if he saw her imperfection. She
squeezed her legs together trying to crush his shoulders, anything to get his
attention.  Her voice cracked, her fingers threading through his hair, threatening
to yank it out if he didn’t listen. “Dammit Drew, I’m serious! Stop it!” 

Then
she felt it, him laughing against her stomach. He blew on her skin, the loud
farting sound vibrating out over her belly, and then he let her go. He was
still laughing as his eyes lifted to see her crawling backwards across the
floor, as far away from him as the wall would allow her to get.

His
face went pale and his smile vanished immediately at the sight of the tears rolling
down her cheeks. He reached for her, “Filly, I’m sorry. I was just messing around…I
didn’t mean …”

She
propelled herself at him, her fists pounding the hard muscle in his chest.  She
screamed, “You’re an asshole! Don’t ever do that to me again! If I say not to
do something, be a decent human being for once and listen!”

He
managed to get control of one of her right wrist, but she still came at him
with the other. “Shh, calm down. Talk to me...what’s wrong?”

“I
don’t want to talk to you! Do you not get that? I don’t want to do anything
with you!” her voice lowered, through it still held the same fury, “I want you
to stop trying.” Slap! Her free hand came across the side of his cheek, before
he seized that hand too. He worked his jaw, his face already turning red from
where she’d slapped him.

Now
holding both of her hands he forced her to look at him, really look at him.
“Stop it, Megan, Dammit! Stop trying to injure me and listen. I’m sorry.” His
chest ached at the sight of her crying. The only other woman he’d ever seen cry
was his mother, and this made him feel as helpless as that had. He wanted to
fix her. Make it better somehow.

Her
voice cracked, “You did us both a favor two years ago… you and I are not good
for each other! We’re a disaster waiting to happen!”

He
tugged her up against him, his breath hot at her ear, his hands loosening a
little around her wrist. “Maybe so, but we’ll never be satisfied with anyone
else. It’s no different than before. You still want me, admit it!”

She
wrenched both her wrist free, pushed against his chest, and stood up.  The diamond
flashed on her finger. “Everything is different!  I am engaged. Engaged! I know
Mackenzie’s are notorious for chasing anything that has tits and breathes, but
just stop it okay? I. DO. NOT. WANT. YOU! I’m over it! It was over it a long
time ago!”

His
entire demeanor changed from hopeful to intimidating as hell, the muscles along
his jaw ticked under the skin as he stood up glaring down at her. “I. Am. Not. My.
Father! Quit comparing me to him!”

“Tell
that to all the women you’ve screwed and left.”

“Okay,
I’ll start with the first one. I am not my fucking father!”

Her
gaze narrowed, “I’m surprised you can remember back that far. It took you what?
Two weeks to end up in some other girl’s bed! Then your numbers exploded from
there. ”

“You
have a major issue with the girls, don’t you?”

She
laughed out a, “No. I don’t care who you’ve had sex with!”

“Liar.
You’re dying to ask me how many…Go ahead, let’s get it over with! ”

“You
are so arrogant! I’ve never seen anything like it! I don’t give a shit how many
girls you’ve screwed!”

“Okay,
well, I’m asking… how many guys have you been with since me? Is Conner the only
one? Or have your numbers ‘exploded’?”

“Are
you serious? This isn’t about sex! It’s about me coming here to help sell the
ranch and the whole time I’ve been here you’ve done nothing but try to lure me
back into your bed!”

A
corner of his mouth lifted, “How’s that not about sex?”

“Ugh!
You are hopeless!! Everything is one big joke to you!” She raised her hands in
surrender. “You know what, Conner was right… Paul needs to hire a realtor. I’ve
had one call from the ad I placed in the paper, and I can’t…I can’t deal with
you anymore!” Suddenly she was being dragged, a strong grip on her wrist.  “What
are you doing? Let go of me!” He towed her along behind him headed toward the…where
was he taking her? To the bedroom! With this realization came the explosion of
butterflies under her rib cage. “Have you finally lost your mind?” she squeaked
out. Her feet squealed over the floor as she tried to resists but didn’t even
manage to slow him down.