Chapter Nine
If Andie thought the time spent with Matthew that weekend would be one long sex-a-thon, she was mistaken.
Still, she found she enjoyed the time they spent together.
After their shower, Matthew kindly retrieved some clothing for Andie from her dad's house—although he assured her he'd be happy to keep loaning her T-shirts. Then the two of them spent an hour browsing through the Sunday paper and trading sections. Later they took all three dogs for a walk—
Andie walking Daisy and Matt with his two.
After a late lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese, dogs and humans both lounged in the living room while Matt watched a baseball game and Andie read. There was a bookshelf in a corner of the room and Andie raided it, delighted to discover he enjoyed mysteries. She recognized the names of some of her favorite authors—Crais, Coben, Mosley, and Pellecanos—as well as a few she was not familiar with.
She pulled one featuring a laconic southern California private eye—an oldie but goodie—from the shelf. "Oh, I haven't read this one in a long time."
He glanced at the cover. "Yeah, he's a good author."
They spent a while comparing notes on some of the authors they liked and found they both preferred the hard-boiled mysteries to the cozies. Matt seemed a little surprised.
"Why, because I'm a woman?" she teased.
He shrugged. "I don't know."
100
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
"But don't you know women write some of the toughest mysteries out there? Haven't you read any Patricia Cornwell or Sara Paretski?"
He rolled his eyes. "Eh, women always gotta add some romance to the story."
"Hey, that's sexist," Andie argued. "Men do too, you know."
After the game ended, they caught an airing of Cool Hand Luke, one of Matt's favorites. Matt made them popcorn, and though both had seen the film before, they enjoyed it again, chiming in on some of their favorite lines.
The time they spent together on the sofa, reading and watching TV, was like foreplay. They touched each other lightly, teasingly, kissing and caressing. There was no rush, no pressure to get to the bedroom and get busy. Andie was turned on, her body tingling with anticipation, but she wanted to let the excitement build and see where it took her. Where it took them both.
When the movie ended, Matthew clicked off the television.
He draped his arm around her, his fingers gliding up and down her side. "Can you wait a little longer for dinner?"
"Sure," she said, sinking against him. God. She could get addicted to this, sitting and snuggling—spending time together.
Hold on. That was dangerous thinking.
This is not a romance, Andie. It's sex. Say it with me: just sex.
101
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
She forced herself to slowly pull away, wrapping her arms around herself. "It's fine. The popcorn will hold me for a while."
If Matthew noticed how she drew away, he made no comment. He smiled, pushing a strand of hair away from her face. "'Cause I thought it would be fun to play a game,"
Matthew said, a glimmer in his eye.
"A game?" Andie repeated, not trusting that glimmer in the slightest.
"Like Monopoly, Parcheesi..." He looked at her hopefully.
"Oh. Sure." He wanted to play a game ? Andie knew something was up from the wicked little grin on his face.
"Wait a minute. Let me guess. Strip poker."
"Ah, I like how you think. Kind of like me. Isn't it lucky we both have dirty minds?"
"Excuse me," she answered, her mouth set primly. "I do not have a dirty mind. At least, I didn't before I met you."
"You're not giving yourself nearly enough credit, babe.
After all, who was the one reading Dr. D.?"
"Dr. Lisa DeMartino happens to be an internationally renowned sex therapist," she replied in a lofty tone.
"Uh-huh. And who sneaked over here in the middle of the night?"
He had her there. "It wasn't the middle of the night. It was ten forty-five." She could split hairs with the best of them. To distract him she asked, "So where are the cards ?"
"Actually, I had something else in mind." He stepped out of the room and came back with a long maroon box she recognized immediately as Scrabble.
102
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
"You want to play Scrabble?" Andie asked.
"Yep. But I want to play it dirty."
She was momentarily daunted, but bounced back quickly.
"Okay. Set 'em up."
They were soon seated across from each other at the kitchen table. The game board lay between them and all the little wooden squares lay face down in the box top. "Okay,"
he began. "The rules."
"There are rules in this game?"
He gave her a severe look. "Of course. In this game, only sexual terms and their variations are allowed."
The game was trickier than it looked. Andie scowled and stole a look at Matthew, who was trying to be good sport and not grin too broadly. He was far ahead of her in points.
Suddenly she had an inspiration. "All right. I think I've got something now." She placed three pieces down on the board and sat back, beaming with pride.
He frowned at the board. "What's that?"
"Culo," she told him. "It's Italian. For ass."
"Ehhh." He imitated the sound of a game-show buzzer.
"What? It's a word, a naughty word."
"It's not English. The rules of the game specifically say no foreign words or phrases allowed." He pointed to the rules printed on the inside of the box lid. "Check for yourself."
Andie refused to accept his arbitrary judgment. "They also specifically say no profanity, and that's kind of the point of this game, isn't it?"
He shook his head. "Sorry. Doesn't count."
103
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
"That is totally unfair," she argued, getting hot, and not in a good way.
"Sorry. No points." He plucked the little squares off the board while Andie glared at him. "And you have to pay a forfeit."
"What?" she shrieked. "There are no forfeits in Scrabble!"
"There are in this version," he answered. His expression had changed from alert amusement to something sleepy-eyed and languorous. "Come here."
The look on his face made Andie's blood pump thickly through her veins. She felt heat rise through her belly, her breasts. Her nipples became taut. Her lips grew fuller. Still, she had to make her point. "You are manipulating the rules for your own benefit, and it is completely unfair."
"You got it," he growled. "Now come here."
Masking her arousal with a cool superior expression, she slowly obeyed. As she approached his side of the table, he reached out and yanked her onto his lap. She tried wriggling off, but he pulled her back and anchored her with an arm around her waist.
Matt arranged her in the middle of his lap, then he hooked one leg over his left knee, and one over his right and shifted, spreading her legs open wide. She was completely exposed to his roving hands. At any time he could reach down and...God, she was already throbbing in need just thinking about it.
"This is my forfeit?" Andie asked.
"Yep. You're going play the rest of the game sitting on my lap."
104
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
Andie thought it seemed more of a punishment for him than for her. "You'll be able to see my letters."
"So? You'll see mine, too. Who cares?"
She stretched her arm across the table and dragged her set of letters closer. "All right. It's your turn, I think."
"You go ahead."
She gave him a sidelong look, wondering why he was being so generous. When he whisked his fingers up the seam of her jeans, along her inner thigh, she got a clue.
Andie frowned at her combination of letters. "Blah. I've got nothing." Her concentration was off because she was distracted by the fingers flickering slowly up her thigh, then down again, then farther up.
"Sometimes nothing is a real cool hand," he murmured, quoting from Cool Hand Luke.
Matthew's hand wasn't cool. It was hot, his fingers burning through the denim of her jeans. "You're cheating," she told him in sing song.
He placed his warm lips in the juncture where her neck met her shoulder and sparks zipped through her. Moisture gathered at the apex of her thighs as she resisted the urge to squirm on his lap.
"You better come up with something," he warned her, his breath tickling her neck. "If you miss this turn, there'll be another forfeit."
Her pulse quickened at the threat, but her mouth puckered in disapproval. "You're making this up as you go along."
"Ehhh..." the buzzer sound again. She jolted as he nipped the tender skin behind her ear. "Sorry. Time's up."
105
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
"That's not fair. There are no time limits in Scrabble," she insisted, breathless as he unbuttoned her jeans and began to slowly pull the zipper down.
"Shhh..." His fingers slid beneath the elastic waistband of her panties, over her belly, and combed through the hair at her pubis. She hissed a quick intake of breath as he delved into the wet folds between her legs. Andie shifted, leaning back to give him better access, biting her lip as his middle finger brushed her clit then danced around it.
She groaned as his finger stopped moving, pressing on the tiny nub of flesh. He peered at the game board. "Hmm...looks like my turn now..."
"Oh God!" She closed her thighs tightly together to keep his hand where it was as he teasingly made to withdraw it to spell his next word.
"What?" He was all round-eyed innocence as he looked at her. "I need my hand if I'm going to play the game."
I need it more, Andie thought desperately. She tried to rub against his hand, but he held her tightly and she couldn't get the friction she needed. "Don't tease," she begged.
"But how are we going to finish the game?" His eyes were heavy lidded and slumberous, his voice low. The part of her that still noticed such things was glad he was not as unmoved as he pretended.
"Forget finishing the game," someone moaned. Oh God, was that really her voice? "Finish me. "
He shook his head, playing with her. "I can't stand to leave a game unfinished. How will we know who won?"
106
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
"You win," she answered breathlessly. "I concede. You're the winner."
"Aw, that's not fair." He chewed his lip in a semblance of confusion. Andie tried moving her hips to rub against the wicked finger pressed against her, but she was held fast. "I know what. You play the pieces for me. See them here? I'll tell you what letters to play. That way I won't need my hands free."
"Okay. Yes. Please." She needed to come so badly. He was being cruel.
Matthew whispered to her each letter he wanted her to pick and told her where to place it on the board. Her unsteady hands were clumsy, and more than once he had to repeat his instructions. The letters on the Scrabble board all melted into a blur before Andie's hazy eyes.
He pressed her clit firmly, then began to tap it gently with his middle finger. At first he tapped it in regular intervals.
Then he stopped and started, as though tapping out Morse Code on the most intimate place on her body. Even as he played with her, she knew he was not unmoved. The hard ridge of his cock pressed against her butt cheek through his jeans. He was breathing as hard as she was. His hold loosened, and she began to roll her hips between his finger and his erection, thinking he needed a forfeit, too.
She laid her head back against his shoulder, letting her head roll toward his. He smelled good, like soap. She moved her head closer and kissed his throat.
He lowered his head to grasp her lips with his own and held them in a succulent kiss, their tongues tangling and 107
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
playing. Andie's hips curled to meet the finger that was no longer teasing. Matthew knew exactly the way to touch her, exactly what she needed to reach her peak. As the spasms rolled through her, her lips grew slack and her limbs stiffened.
Flashes of color sparkled behind her closed eyes.
As it passed, she slumped against him in relief, but hardly had time to gather her thoughts before he had her on her feet facing the table. None too gently, he pushed her jeans and panties down around her calves as he maneuvered her to bend over the table. Andie's brain was still muzzy, and it took a moment for her to realize his intent as the board was displaced and the little wooden chiclets scattered to the floor.
One of his hands pressed against her back. She glanced over her shoulder and scarcely recognized him. His skin was flushed and his features twisted as though he were in pain.
He hurried to get his jeans unzipped with one hand while he secured Andie with the other.
She turned away quickly, her heart bumping with fear and excitement. This was not a playful and easy-going Matthew, but one with an edge she hadn't seen before. Andie was left to wonder what it meant.
"Aw, fuck." She peeked over her shoulder again and saw he had shoved his own jeans down before getting the condom out of his pocket. "Shit." He lifted his hand from her back.
"Sorry, baby. Hold on there for a minute. These things are always more complicated in real life than they are in fantasy."
Andie breathed a laugh and set her forehead on the table.
"You've been fantasizing about this?"
108
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
"Oh, baby, you have no idea." She heard a crinkling and then a tearing sound. A moment later he was snugging up behind her, the head of his latex-covered cock tickling her entrance. "You want some of this? Huh?"
She laughed again. Was that really Matthew? Maybe that's the way he spoke in his fantasy. How should she respond?
"Ooh, give it to me, baby, yeah." She was laughing at how silly she sounded, yet all the same it turned her on.
He snorted, holding back his own laughter, and rubbed himself against her folds. "What was that?"
"Uh. Yeah. Ah." She hitched her hips back against him.
"Can I come in?"
"Ah. Yes." Did he expect her to beg? "Come on, Matthew, you know I want you."
He thrust inside her with a roll of his hips, bumping her against the table. She gripped the other side tightly and lay her cheek against the surface. It felt so good to be full of him.
But he teased her. He pulled out almost completely, then pushed in a little, drew back again, and pushed in partway.
She swiveled her hips, trying to reach him, encouraging him to push deeper, stay longer.
Andie couldn't take any more. When he pushed forward, she rammed her hips back hard and screamed "Stay!" He held himself deeply in her and reached around to touch her clit. One light flick was all she needed to send her toppling over the edge. As the sweet convulsions overcame her, he thrust a few more times and groaned as he pulsed inside her.
She felt his heat through the condom.
109
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
As she came back to reality, she felt little wooden game squares pressing into the skin of her forearms. Matthew pressed against her back, his hands reaching around to cradle her breasts. He rubbed his face against the back of her head, her hair. She felt his puff of laughter.
"Oh, honey, I think we both won that game."
Later, they sat in Matt's truck in the fast food parking lot, with their drive-thru meal. Andie felt relaxed and mellow enough to be bad and forgo a healthy green salad in favor of a cheeseburger and fries. If she was going to allow her sexual appetite free rein this weekend, she didn't see why her other appetites should be restricted.
"Tell me, Andie." The paper wrapper on his burger crinkled as he opened it. "Why'd you come over that first night?"
She hesitated, a french fry dangling from her fingers.
Should she tell him the truth? He might not like it.
"I'd think it was pretty obvious," she hedged. "I saw you and I wanted you."
"That's it?" When she didn't answer, he went on. "It's all right. You can tell me."
"I'd found out my boyfriend"— get it right, Andie—"my ex-
boyfriend, was cheating on me."
"Shit. That sucks."
"Yeah." Just thinking about it brought back the scalding humiliation. Matthew must have seen it on her face.
His hand skimmed down her arm, then moved up to her face. He traced his thumb along her lower lip. "He's an asshole."
Exactly what she needed to hear. She smiled. "Thanks."
110
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
"So this is a rebound kind of thing for you." His voice was light but contained a steely note as well.
It sounded so cold, put out there like that. It made her sound as if she was using him. There was more to it than that. Much more. What makes you think it's more for him, Andie? There you go, getting yourself in trouble again. "I wouldn't put it that way."
He shrugged. "I don't know how else to put it." He was watching her closely as though expecting her to say more.
Andie's heart bumped her breastbone and she looked away, swallowing hard. What did he want from her?
"But that could apply to you, too, right?" she asked.
"Ah, the neighborhood gossip mill," he sighed. "Well, what have you heard?"
"That you were engaged to someone and the two of you were going to be moving in together...into your new house..."
"Mmm. Well, it's a relief to know the gossips didn't get it all wrong." He set the burger on his lap. "Actually, Chelsea and I weren't engaged. I was never quite able to pin her down."
What was her problem? Andie wondered as she gazed at Matthew's handsome profile.
"Chelsea said she wanted to get married," Matt explained.
"I think what she really wanted was the gown, the ring, and the fancy reception. You know, the whole white picket fence thing."
"Well, of course. That's the dream," Andie murmured.
That's what all the bride magazines sold—the dream of happily ever after. And every woman was a sucker for it. Not 111
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
men, apparently. There were no groom magazines, were there?
Matthew went on. "It really wasn't me she wanted. Any guy would have done. The marriage was more important than the man. She wasn't in love with me. She just wanted to feel safe."
Andie didn't really care what Chelsea wanted. She wanted to know Were you in love with her? She wished she had the nerve to ask, but she wasn't ready to hear the answer.
Instead she asked "What do you mean? Safe from what?"
Matt shook his head. Andie knew he was trying to explain it to himself as well as to her. "Chelsea always liked the guys with the rough edges. The bad boys. The ones with the tats and the piercings and the attitude. Thing was, though, they always treated her like crap."
"Were they violent?" Andie didn't want to feel sorry for this Chelsea, but the sympathy came nonetheless.
"Not physically, but they did a number on her emotionally.
I was doing a job for her uncle and I met her through him.
We started seeing each other. She'd been hurt by these assholes and I was..."
"You were different," Andie put in.
"Yeah. She wanted different. She wanted...safe. Boring."
"You're not boring." Andie's voice was sharp. She hated what Chelsea had done to him. Making a considerate, decent, hot-as-hell guy doubt himself. Safe? Not a chance. Not to Andie.
Matthew lifted his shoulders. "She wanted to love me, I guess. She tried." He glanced at her and then away. "Bottom 112
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
line, you can't make yourself love someone." The corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. "She hooked up with a biker named Sledge and took off for parts unknown."
Andie almost coughed up her burger. She bit her lip. It sounded so ridiculous, but she didn't want to laugh. After all, he was talking about how he'd been dumped. " Sledge?"
He slanted her a look, then started laughing himself. "I know."
"That's like something out of a cartoon or a comic book..."
"I know...Sledge..."
" Sludge," she muttered, and laughter overtook them both.
Andie's laugh subsided. She placed her hand on Matthew's wrist. "She made the biggest mistake of her life when she left you."
He took her hand and gazed at her, his eyes full of warmth. "Thanks."
She looked down at their clasped hands. "I feel terrible."
"It's not your fault," he answered, his voice registering surprise.
"No, I mean...I really misjudged you. Before I got to know you, I assumed the break-up was your doing. That you were a player or something..."
"Huh? Why?"
"Oh, 'cause you're so damn attractive!" She looked at him and laughed with embarrassment, her face hot. She should have known better than to assume the worst about him based solely on his looks. Hadn't she been judged on her looks most of her life? He'd been hurt just as she had been. Andie lifted her shoulders. "I'm sorry."
113
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
His eyebrows rose. "Sorry for thinking I'm attractive?"
"No." She laughed again. "For jumping to conclusions."
"You're forgiven. So, how attractive am I? How do I compare to, say...Brad Pitt?"
"Oh, he can't hold a candle to you," Andie swore, keeping a straight face.
"Really?" Matt rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What about that DiCaprio guy?"
"Leonardo? Believe me, you put him completely in the shade."
"That's what I want to hear." He pulled her close and nuzzled her ear. "You're perfect. Cute as a button and crazy as hell."
Her snort was muffled against his shoulder. Matt pulled back. "What?"
She hesitated, then shook her head. "Nothing." She looked away, her face heating again.
"Andie," he said after a moment, his smile fading. "I can't be the first guy who's ever told you you were pretty."
A corner of her mouth lifted. "You mean aside from my dad?"
His forehead crinkled in consternation. "Come on."
Andie thought of Ricki and smiled. "No. You're not the only one." The smile dimmed as she remembered someone else.
"There was this guy in college..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced at Matthew. Maybe she shouldn't tell him.
"Go ahead," he urged her, his tone gentle. "I told you about Chelsea."
114
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
"This guy Logan. Like I said, it was college. I met him in the dining hall. He was next to me in line and we were getting dinner and he noticed all I had on my tray was a salad and diet soda. He started lecturing me on how I needed to eat nutritiously if I wanted to lose weight..." She glanced over at Matthew. "I was a lot heavier then." Forty pounds heavier.
Way to go, Andie. Let the guy picture you as a blimp, that'll make him real hot for you.
What difference did it make? This was a one-shot deal, right? One weekend. Then they'd go back to being people who occasionally waved hello to each other. And he wanted to know. Andie's resolve stiffened. Why should she hide who she was?
"Anyway, he told me I shouldn't be starving myself. I was completely mortified, being lectured like that in front of everybody."
Matt frowned. "He sounds like an ass."
"No, not really. Logan was very into health and exercise, nutrition, all that. He was in great shape. He sort of became my self-appointed weight-loss guru...and my boyfriend."
Matthew's face was smooth and expressionless. "Okay..."
"We'd exercise, go for walks, go to the gym. He helped me with my diet, cheered me on. Told me how much he cared about me, how beautiful I was." Andie rolled her eyes. "I guess guys will say anything to get laid."
"Andie—"
She stopped him before he said more. "Don't." The smell of the french fries, which had been so mouth-watering a few minutes ago, now turned her stomach. Andie pushed them 115
One Good Man
by Nona Raines
aside. She only wanted to finish the story now. "I believed him. I was so on board with him, I mean I really fell for it.
But then he stopped believing in me."
"Why? Because you didn't lose the weight?"
"Because I did lose the weight. I was in the best shape of my life. I went above and beyond everything he taught me, and I thought he'd be so pleased. I wanted to make him proud, you know? Give him the hot skinny girlfriend he deserved instead of the chubby chick. But that wasn't what he wanted. It wasn't a week after I reached my goal weight he told me things weren't working out. Later I saw him with another girl on campus—a big girl, bigger than I had been.
Come to find out I wasn't the first girl he'd done this with, nor the last."
"Shit."
"I guess he wanted to be the hero, you know? Save miserable, lonely, fat girls from themselves. Well, after he dumped me, it didn't take long before I started eating everything in sight. But then I realized I was only hurting myself. So..." She sighed dramatically and wiped an imaginary tear from her eye, playing up the melodrama to hide the fact her guts were in knots. "That's my sad, sad saga. Care for a tissue?"
"No. No tissue." He grabbed her ass and pulled her close.
"This is what I want." His mouth descended on hers, and she forgot about Logan, forgot about everything but Matthew and how much she wanted him.
116
One Good Man
by Nona Raines