In answer, I rose up on my knees, peeled out of my yoga pants and settled myself on his thigh. Leaning forward slightly, I circled my hips while keeping my eyes on his. He licked his lips and set his hands on my waist, not trying to control my movements but steadying me. I was grateful he didn’t do anything but watch; in fact, that got me hotter. I was already so turned on that the rubbing felt incredible; if his hard thigh was this good—oh, shit. Yeah. His hands moved to my ass, pressing me forward even more. This angle was even better. Rob tensed and relaxed his muscles in conjunction with the grinding, adding another layer, until I just couldn’t hold on. I came in my panties, just from riding his leg.
I was flushed and gasping when he rolled me into his arms. “There’s a problem with your strategy,” he said. “You should’ve gone first.”
“Why?” I asked dreamily.
“Because now I’m turned on again.”
CHAPTER TEN
By the time my mom got home, we were on our way out. She smiled when she saw Rob and hugged him. “How are you, hon?”
“Good. Work going okay?”
They seemed really comfortable with each other, which surprised me. My mom had been kind of a hermit after Dad left, and Rob had that whole Iron Man thing going with people he didn’t know well. Yet they seemed friendly. I was instantly suspicious.
“Yep. I might be in line for a promotion. Fingers crossed.”
“Hope you get it. Ready, Lauren?”
“Sure. Just let me get my coat.”
“I’ll go warm up the truck.” That was sweet of him and typical of Rob.
I’d counted on his consideration because I needed an excuse to linger to ask, “Okay, what was that all about?”
“What?”
“That.”
She gave in with a teasing smile. “After you went away to school, Rob came by to shovel the drive, fix anything that needed it. I thought his dad put him up to it, but when I mentioned it, Ned didn’t know anything about it.”
“Then I’ll have to thank Rob for helping you out.”
After studying my face for a few seconds, her eyes widened. “What about Avery?”
“They broke up.”
Her brows shot up. “When? His mom didn’t say anything to me about it.”
“Night before last,” I admitted with a pang of guilt.
Hey, nobody cheated. You just...moved in fast.
“In that case, be careful. Keep it PG-13.”
Smirking, I said, “Like that’ll happen. I’ll film it for you.”
“Get out. You’re not my daughter at all, are you?”
“Changeling,” I mumbled. “You said something about karaoke when Stuart was here. When did you want to go? And would you mind if I invited Krista and Rob?”
“You really think they’d want to?”
“We won’t know until we ask.”
“Of course they’re welcome. I’ll talk to Stuart and get back to you.” She seemed bemused that I’d want to hang out as a group, but this was part of giving her new man a fair shake, and it would help to have other people around, cutting some of the tension. Plus, I was dying to hear his awesome Frank Sinatra croon.
“Sounds good.” I got my coat out of the hall closet, shrugged into it and paused by the front door. “I don’t know for sure if I’ll be home tonight.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” At my look, she tried, “Be safe. Make good choices.”
Grinning, I swept out and down the drive. This time I caught Rob off guard and vaulted into the truck before he managed to open the door. “What’re you reading?”
“The Fallen Throne, obviously.” With a sly grin, he held up the binder he’d somehow smuggled out of my room.
“Are you kidding?” I smacked his arm.
But I didn’t try to take it away from him. As he backed out of the drive, he added, “This is riveting. I really feared for my/Robert’s life in the first few pages.”
“Because the story is punishment enough, I’m letting you keep that.”
“I’d fight you for it,” he said.
“Hey, don’t discount me. I’m scrappy.” Then it occurred to me to loop him in on the nascent plans. “So...my mom has a boyfriend, and he’s apparently the karaoke king. Would you be interested in going along? I plan on inviting Krista, too. Remember her?”
He thought for a few seconds, then shook his head. “Sorry. Unless they played sports, I didn’t know many underclassmen when I graduated, basically just you and Nadia.”
“Irrelevant. Karaoke, yes or no?”
“I don’t promise to sing, but I’ll go.”
It occurred to me that we’d spent a lot of time together, and he never mentioned hanging out with the guys. “What do you usually do for fun anyway?”
“Sports bar. Every few weeks I meet up with some old teammates who’re still in Sharon. My best friend, Russ, works a couple hours away, but we get together when he visits his parents.” Thoughtful, he added, “I have a few gym buddies, but we don’t do more than grunt and nod while we work out.”
“Deep and meaningful.”
“That’s not really what I’m known for,” he said. “Anyway, I had plenty of male bonding in football, basketball, baseball—”
“Okay, I get the idea. Now you’re a lone wolf who does lone things. Alone.”
He slanted me a look through his lashes, so I could only glimpse a sliver of blue. “It doesn’t have to be that way. There comes a point where a guy’s kind of tired of fucking around with other dudes, and he just wants one woman instead.”
“Is that right, Spartacus?”
He flushed when he realized how that sounded. “No. I mean—no. Not that there’s anything wrong with—if that’s what you’re into, but that guy wouldn’t ever want a woman, oh, unless he’s—”
“It’s okay, I know what you mean.” I resolved never to tease him like that again. His knuckles showed white from gripping the wheel too hard, likely frustrated at his words for coming out clumsy, making him sound dumb. “It’s fun to go out drinking but after a while, you get the urge to settle down.”
“Basically.” Quiet tone.
“I’m sorry, that was rude.”
“You’re funny, Lauren. I knew that. Very sharp and witty.” But his look said I’d made him feel bad by pouncing on the connotation rather than accepting his words as intended.