A Perfect Ten

  As he carried it to the vendor to pay for it, reaching into his own pocket for his wallet, I stayed back and stared after him, amazed. Once the transaction was complete, he returned to me with my new movie and a proud grin on his face.

  “What if it ends up not working?” I said, suddenly leery as I bit my lip. “Or what if it does work, and it ends up being an awful movie? I was young, it’s been years since I’ve seen it.”

  He playfully batted my nose with the tip of his finger. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t gave a shit how the movie ends up. It’s making you smile now, and that’s all that matters.”

  My heart melted, metaphorically wrung itself out into a gooey pile of mush, and just liquefied at his feet. I let out a startled breath. “Damn, Oren. You have no idea how your little unexpected acts of kindness turn me on. I’m so wet right now I could probably sit on your face and come the second your tongue touched me.”

  He sucked in a groan and grabbed my hand, squeezing almost painfully. “I know just the place.”

  As he walked so fast that I nearly had to run to keep up with him, I giggled and pressed against his side. “Are we really going to find a place to be together...around here?”

  He sent me a hard, serious glance. “Fuck yes. You can’t say shit like that to me without paying the consequences, woman. I’m hard as a fucking boulder right now.”

  We hurried out of the little market of booths and across an open lawn where families were picnicking, where Noel had brought us to picnic in the past. When Oren veered off into an overgrown footpath, I clutched his arm. “Where the hell are you taking me?” A sign up ahead read, Trail Closed.

  “To a spot I never took Noel, so I’m sure he never took you.” He sounded a little smug as he gripped my waist and lifted me over the sign onto the other side and then leaped over it after me. “There’s a waterfall at the end of this trail.”

  “Really? Oh, cool.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty sweet, but they had to condemn it a couple years back because of severe soil erosion. Every once in a while the banks just...collapse.”

  My eyes flared wide. “And that’s where you’re taking me to mess around?”

  He grinned and flashed me a wink. “Trust me, baby doll, there’ll still be plenty of room to do what we have in mind.”

  I did trust him, and he proved me right. From that day forward, I’d never look at a waterfall the same way again.

  I sat on Oren’s bed with one leg tucked under me and the other swinging off the side as I watched him pull a suit jacket from his closet and then cough as he brushed dust bunnies off the shoulders.

  “Maybe you ought to consider getting it dry-cleaned before leaving for your interview,” I suggested, trying not to laugh...and failing.

  He sent me a dry scowl. “Gee, you think?”

  I shook my head, giggles still blurting from my closed lips. “When was the last time you wore that thing?”

  He eyed it with distaste. “High school graduation, I think. Wait, no. My grandpa’s brother died three years ago. I had to wear it to his funeral.”

  “And you really think it’ll still fit?” I lifted my eyebrows, not buying it.

  “Hey, are you calling me fat, woman?” He loomed over me with an indignant scowl that only made me smile.

  “Fat? God, no. But I imagine you grew a few new muscles throughout your college career of playing ball. Like this measly little six-pack here.”

  When I licked my lips and ran my fingers over his abdomen, he moved closer. “Why do I have a feeling this isn’t as much about you worrying over the fit of my suit as it is about you just wanting to see me naked?”

  “Oh, but I’m very, very worried about the fit of your suit,” I murmured, reaching out to unsnap the top button of his jeans and then slowly draw his zipper down. “Watching you strip to try it on is only an added benefit.”

  He groaned and clutched my hair when I leaned forward to kiss his six-pack through his T-shirt. “Damn, I love your dirty little mouth.”

  “I bet you’ll really love what dirty little thing I want to do with it right now.”

  “Fuck, yes.”

  I started to lift his shirt out of my way when Zoey appeared in the open door. “Hey, guys, the pizza’s here— Oh God.” When she realized what she was walking in on, she yelped and lifted her hand to cover her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I thought...” She didn’t bother to finish the sentiment as she started to back out of the room.

  “We’ll be out in a minute,” Oren told her. “Until then, shut the door for us, will you?”

  “Oren!” I gasped as Zoey reached out and blindly fumbled for the doorknob before yanking it closed.

  “What?” he asked, turning back to me as he flung his suit jacket aside and crawled onto the bed with me. “When my girl’s promising to do dirty things to me with her dirty mouth, pizza can fucking wait.”

  I bit into my slice of pepperoni and moaned in delight. “Mmm. This tastes so good.”

  Oren grinned up at me from the floor, where he was sitting against my leg with one arm draped over my thigh, and quietly murmured, “Even better than spotted pecker?”

  I flushed, glancing toward Zwinn to make sure they hadn’t heard, but they were off in their own world on the couch. I shoved lightly at his shoulder and scolded, “Don’t be uncouth.”

  “Why?” He leaned down to playfully bite my thigh. “You love it when I’m uncouth.”

  I flashed him a little growl. “Only when it’s just the two of us.”

  He didn’t seem chastised. Hitching his head toward Zwinn, he said, “As if those two even realize we’re here right now. They’re too busy making babies with their eyes.”

  “We heard that,” Quinn said, scowling our way.

  Oren bit into his own pizza. “Good,” he muffled out around a mouthful. “Then listen to this, and promise me you’ll stay out of your love bubble long enough this weekend to keep Caroline company while I’m gone, will you?”

  An ache spread through my chest as he mentioned his trip to Lake Tahoe. The architectural firm had paid for air travel and lodging for him to fly out there and interview for the position. I knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime. Anyone willing to take on an inexperienced kid fresh from college and give him the kind of benefits and pay they were advertising was something no one could turn down.

  I was beyond excited for him, and yet I dreaded his trip even more. What if he got the job? What if he moved away and I never saw him again. What if—

  “Actually,” Zoey said, wincing. “We were kind of thinking of flying out to see my dad this weekend.”

  I looked up at her, surprised. “You decided to visit him, then?” Damn, I really needed to stay up to date with my best friend. Since I’d started my secret affair with Oren, Zoey’s and my friendship had kind of fallen by the wayside.

  She nodded and looked up at Quinn. He took her hand. “She wanted to see if she could learn a little bit of her heritage,” he explained.

  “But what about Caroline?” Oren demanded, scowling. His hand tightened around my leg.

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be fine.” We hadn’t discussed how much I’d miss him while he was gone, or how nervous I was that he’d actually get the job. But he must’ve sensed something if he was acting this way.

  That made me feel shitty. I didn’t want him to worry about me when he was being presented with the freaking opportunity of a lifetime.

  “My entire family is here, and I have my job plus next semester to get ready for.” Okay, so I wouldn’t have to worry about my next semester of college during this one little weekend while he was away, but I was thinking about when he left permanently, after he got the job.

  He eyed me for a moment, saying nothing, his gaze full of concern before he turned back to Zwinn and focused on Zoey. “You said your dad was staying in California this summer, right? How far away from Lake Tahoe is he?”

  “You know...” She tipped her face thoughtfully to the side. “I d
on’t think it’s actually too far. A couple hours, maybe.”

  Oren nodded and ran his top teeth across his bottom lip as he always did when he was hatching a crazy plan. “You booked a flight yet?” he asked.

  Zoey shook her head and looked up at Quinn. “We just decided this evening to even go.”

  “You should take Caroline with you,” he answered, glancing up me as his eyes lit with mischief. “She’s your best friend on earth. You’ll need her moral support during this difficult time.”

  “Oh, but I—”

  “And you should book a flight with the same airline I’m using, then see if you can get a room at the same hotel. Then after you see your dad and I have my interview, the four of us can party on the beach before we head back home the next morning.”

  My mouth fell open. “Oren, don’t be insane. I can’t come with you on your interview trip.”

  He looked up at me. “Why not?”

  “Because...” I shook my head and laughed. His entire idea was crazy, though it made me giddy to even consider it. “I can’t just hop on a plane and spend a few days with you all the way across the country. If I take that kind of money out of my savings for a ticket, Noel will wonder—”

  “Then I’ll pay for your ticket.”

  “Oren.” I was about to turn him down again when he grasped my hand.

  “I want you there with me.” The look in his eyes told me he wasn’t kidding around. “I need you there.”

  My stomach roiled as I watched Oren stow our carry-on luggage in the cubby above our seats. I couldn’t believe we were really doing this. I almost expected Noel to come charging onto the plane any second and pack me away like a misbehaving child.

  I was beginning to feel as childish as I knew I was acting by hiding my relationship from him, but I was just so worried about what would happen after he found out. The two things I knew were that I didn’t want to lose Oren, and Noel didn’t want us together. And those two truths weren’t going to cohabit peacefully once they became aware of each other.

  But I pushed my worries aside to snicker at a middle-aged woman who couldn’t stop checking out Oren’s ass as his shirt rode up while his arms were over his head. I shook my head, not blaming her for her interest at all. Then I began to chew on my fingernails as all my fears resurfaced.

  Oren lowered his arms from the luggage bin and turned to me with a grin. “You want the window seat, babe?”

  Ogling Lady nudged my hip. “Ooh, you better take it, honey. Ain’t too often a man gives up the beloved window seat for his woman.”

  Oren turned his grin her way. “It’s her first time flying,” he said. “I thought she should have the full experience.”

  “Well, aren’t you the sweetest thing.” I could just see her insides melt as she gazed at him. The idiot had totally unleashed poor Ogling Lady’s inner cougar, and she was no doubt picturing him drizzled in her favorite wine so she could just...lick him clean.

  He ate it up, too, being extra chivalrous as he gently took my arm to help me get to my seat.

  “You better cut it out,” I whispered to him as he sat beside me. “You’re going to make her ovaries explode.”

  His lips twisted with sexy amusement. “But, honey, I haven’t detonated anyone’s ovaries all day.”

  I snorted and shook my head.

  In the two seats directly across the aisle from us, Zwinn were also getting situated. Bumping my elbow in Oren’s, I murmured, “Never mind. She just noticed how hot Quinn is and forgot all about you.”

  “What?” He zipped his attention to Ogling Lady. When he saw that she was indeed watching Quinn, he scowled but leaned close to me to murmur, “She’s probably just wondering why he doesn’t look nearly as good as I do.”

  Throwing my head back, I laughed. And that’s when I decided, no more worrying. I was going to have fun and just enjoy the trip.

  I watched Oren untangle his lap belt so he could click it into place. A drunken giddiness stole over me. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told the woman I’d never been on a plane before. This was indeed my virgin flight. I’d never even been this far from home before. I kind of wanted to bounce in my seat and squeal. What was better, I was doing it with Oren.

  He looked good with his hair sweeping across his forehead as he scowled and muttered at his seat belt, finally getting it untangled. His shoulders were so yummy as they shifted and flexed under his crisp gray button-up shirt. I wanted to pop all the buttons and run my hands up his chest, lick my way across his beard stubble and just…bite his throat.

  I leaned toward him and whispered into his ear. “Want to join the mile-high club?”

  His hands stilled on his seat belt. Then his face came up. “Fuck, yes.”

  Grinning, I really did bounce in my seat. “So do I!”

  He glanced around. Across the aisle, Zwinn had settled in and were holding hands, leaning against each other as they talked quietly amongst themselves. Turning back to me without actually looking me in the eye, Oren started talking quietly. “First we gotta wait until the plane is actually in the air, and then you go first. When I get there, I’ll knock twice. Only twice. Got it?”

  I nodded and grabbed his hand, squeezing.

  He squeezed right back. “This is going to kick ass.”

  Okay, so maybe the mile-high-club thing turned out to be an epic fail. But we can’t say we didn’t give it our best shot.

  Minutes after we were in the air, Caroline stood up, pretended to yawn and stretch, and shimmied past my legs to reach the aisle. There was a moment when her sweet ass was right in my face, and I was tempted to reach up and cup each blessedly taut cheek, but I told myself, patience. I’d have them both in my hands very, very soon as I thrust into her a freaking mile off the ground. Or thirty-thousand feet off the ground. Whatever. The point was, we were going to be so fucking naughty, and I couldn’t wait.

  Clearing my throat, I watched her make her way up to the front, and I had to resituate myself because my boner was digging into my lap belt.

  I tapped my fingers against my knee for a good thirty seconds before I couldn’t wait any longer. Then freeing my seat belt, I lurched to my feet and accidentally made eye contact with Blondie as she glanced up at me, frowning suspiciously. After a flirty wiggle of my eyebrows, I headed to the restrooms. There were two doors, and both said occupied, so I wrapped twice on the first, only for a very male, very un-Caroline-like voice to bellow, “This’s one taken.”

  So I started to move to the next door, but it slid open before I could tap on it. A snickering Caroline peered out at me. When I started for her, her eyes went big and she shook her head. “Oren, I don’t think—mmph.”

  I backed her into the bathroom and then stopped short because there was nowhere left to move her. “Damn, these things are small.”

  “I know,” she hissed. “This is insane. There’s no way we can fit—”

  I picked her up by the waist and set her on the edge of the sink, which barely gave me enough room to enter the bathroom with her. Then I shut the door and almost couldn’t even turn back to face her.

  She slapped her hands over her face and began to giggle. “There’s no way,” she finally said. “There’s just...no way. We don’t even have enough room to take our clothes off.”

  “Speak for yourself, woman. All I gotta do is unzip.”

  “Well, my pants are staying on. I can’t possibly get them off.”

  I glanced down at the adorable black skinny pants she was wearing with a pair of boots and a long, swishy top thing. And yeah, there was no way anyone would be flexible enough to remove them in this kind of space.

  “Bet I could still make you come through all that cloth,” I decided. I set one hand on the wall beside her head and the other high on her thigh. “We can at least fool around, right?”

  Her smile told me she liked that idea, so I leaned in to give her a soft kiss, when someone pounded on the door.

  “Sir. Ma’am,” some guy called through
the thin door. “This is Jon, your flight attendant. Could you please step out of the bathroom?”

  “Oh my God,” Caroline gasped, looking up at me with wide eyes.

  I blinked right back before whispering, “Busted.”

  Her face flooded with color. “This is so freaking embarrassing.”

  Taking her hand, I helped her off the sink. “Don’t worry. I got this.”

  She crowded against my back, seeking protection, as I eased open the door and peered out at the scowling dude in the attendant’s uniform. “Sir,” he said so seriously that Caroline had to muffle a giggle against my vertebrae. “There’s a one-person only occupancy limit for each bathroom. You two will have to separate.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that,” I apologized. “She was...feeling sick. I was just checking on her.”

  Jon narrowed his eyes. “Is that why she can’t stop laughing right now?”

  “Well, you know.” I shrugged and flared out a hand. “Upset stomachs make her...hysterical.”

  “Oh my God,” Caroline groaned in absolute mortification.

  “Sir.” Jon was not amused by my lie. He folded his arms over his chest and glared up at me. “I wasn’t born yesterday. I know exactly what you two were doing. And those kinds of relations are not permitted on this commercial flight.”

  “So...you’re saying we should’ve gone with Southwest instead?”

  He huffed out an aggravated sound. “This is not the least bit amusing.”

  “Oh, come on, man.” I sniffed and lifted my hands. “What’re you really going to do? Throw us in airplane jail?”

  Jon puffed out his puny little attendant’s chest and gave me the look. “Sir, we are still close enough to turn this plane around and return you to O’Hare.”

  I had a feeling he was bullshitting me. I couldn’t see them turning around just for two horny misbehaving kids, but damn he had his poker face down flat. I gulped, sensing he might just be telling the truth. “Well, shit.”

  “Oh my God, no!” Caroline skipped around me and shook her head rapidly. “No, please, you can’t do that to him.” She clasped Jon’s arm desperately. “He’s on his way to an interview. The interview of a lifetime. Please.” She pressed her hand to her chest and drew in a deep breath. “It was my idea. This was all...my idea, and I’m so, so sorry. Just...please don’t do this to him. You can take me back to O’Hare instead. Just me. Not him. I’ll take all the punishment. He just...he has to get to Lake Tahoe.”