Point blank, p.1
Point Blank, page 1
POINT BLANK
Kaily Hart
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Point Blank
Kaily Hart
No more safe choices. No more watching life pass her by. No more regrets.
It’s Lanie Jameson’s new mantra, or it would be if she had the guts to pull it off. Lanie’s harbored a secret crush on bad boy Rex Harper for longer than she can remember. And there’s no time like the present, right?
When Rex sees Lanie again he knows nothing’s changed—he still wants her in his bed. Lanie’s got the same idea—to fulfill a fantasy long overdue—except Rex doesn’t want the fantasy to end. He wants it to be real. For good. He just has to convince Lanie to give him a chance beyond her point-blank proposition.
Point Blank
POINT BLANK Copyright © 2011 Kaily Hart
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage or retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Edited by Grace Bradley
Cover design by The Killion Group, Inc.
To anyone and everyone who ever had a secret crush. That’s all of you, right?
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
So…now what?
Excerpt from Play Me
Chapter One
Don’t worry about making a fool of yourself.
Lanie drew in a deep breath. Perhaps if she told herself that another gazillion times she just might buy into it.
You get an opportunity? Go for it.
Yeah, maybe she just might even be able to follow through.
Maybe.
She sighed. She’d told herself it would be fun to catch up and see what had happened to everyone, where they’d ended up, what they’d made of their lives. She’d flown in the night before to meet up with the four girls she’d been closest to through most of high school. Once upon a time they’d been inseparable, but it hadn’t taken long to realize they had zero in common these days and there really was a limit on the amount of time you could talk about “the good old days”.
Did it make her a bitch to admit she wasn’t really interested in anyone but him anyway? Yeah, it probably did. Especially after they’d told her he was now hot, loaded and still single. She didn’t much care about him being loaded, had always considered him hot, but knowing he was single? Bingo. It was like a sign or something.
Just thinking about seeing him again had her abdomen clenching, a combination of nerves and anticipation that had been there since she’d sent back her RSVP.
Lanie took a deep breath.
Had it been ten years? Already? The old auditorium was already packed and looked the same. Jeez, it even smelled the same. Everything just seemed smaller than she remembered and a hell of a lot older—like her, well except for the smaller part. She couldn’t really claim that.
In a way it seemed like yesterday she’d been up on that tired stage, accepting her diploma, but she’d gone so far from that happy, optimistic eighteen year old that it was almost as if it had been someone else’s life.
Nope. She wasn’t going to think about that, not tonight. It wasn’t as if all the things that made up her shitty life were going anywhere anytime soon. The entry-level job she should have started out with six years ago would still be waiting for her. As would the tiny, bland apartment with the latest plant she’d somehow managed to kill. Yeah, and let’s not forget the big bed—the big lonely bed—that had been that way for as long as she could remember and then some. Divorce was a bitch in more ways than one. While everyone here was getting on with their lives, well into building one, she felt as if she was just starting hers.
Deep breath.
She wasn’t going to worry about any of that, least of all making a fool of herself. She wasn’t going to worry about being embarrassed. She wasn’t going to worry about looking like an idiot. She was just going to go for it. Right?
She snorted to herself. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? He could say no. He could even say, “Hell no, not in a million years, are you kidding me?” That’s what. At least she wouldn’t be left wondering, fantasizing and finding every other guy she met sadly lacking in comparison.
Damn it.
She was just so tired of the safe choice, the boring choice, of not going after what she wanted, of settling, having regrets. A whole pile of them. It would be better to know, one way or the other, once and for all. Wouldn’t it?
She snuck a quick look into her purse. Again. Intellectually she knew no one could possibly know, couldn’t see what she carried, but she’d checked they were still there and that the clasp was closed about a hundred times already. What was wrong with a woman carrying her own protection anyway? Okay sure, five was probably overkill, but her logic had seemed sound at the time. They sometimes break, so she’d added a second. Maybe he’d be up for round two, so she’d dropped in a couple more. Then an extra one. For luck. Just in case.
Lanie closed her eyes briefly. She’d gone loony. Finally. She stepped out of the way of a woman carrying a tray of drinks and right into a solid wall at her back. A warm wall that grunted softly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, turning. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good. You?”
It was him. It was him and… Holy. Mother. Of. God.
Rex Harper. Oh my God. She’d said that already, right? Yeah, she’d said that. Well not “said” it. Hopefully she’d only thought it, but…wow. And he was looking at her, right at her with those intense light gray eyes of his and…
Breathe, Lanie, just breathe.
She cleared her throat. He’d changed and how, but she’d still have known him anywhere and if there was any doubt in her mind as to whether he still did it for her? Just blown out of the water.
“You ah…filled out.” A lot.
He’d gone from tall, lanky and awkward looking to powerfully built. The dark dress pants and dark gray shirt did little to disguise the wide shoulders, flat stomach and lean hips and jeez, what that shirt did for those eyes. He looked cool and elegant, almost civilized, but the dark overlong hair and rough stubble on his cheeks told her he hadn’t completely abandoned his wild streak. Her stomach somersaulted as her gaze landed on his mouth, a mouth she’d been fixated on for most of high school. And beyond.
“Yeah, amazing what some decent food can do.”
There was nothing in his voice, none of the bitterness she might have expected. Everyone had known about his family—had known, but had never done anything about it. Including her.
“Rex—”
“It’s old history.” His gaze roved across her face, lingered briefly on her lips before locking onto hers. “You remember me.”
Remember him? How could she not?
“We didn’t exactly hang with the same crowd,” he added.
Lanie didn’t think he’d ever hung with anyone. He’d always been alone, keeping himself separate from everyone else, not that she could blame him. The kids had ridiculed him for his too-small, dirty clothes and unkempt appearance. That was until he’d gotten bigger and learned to fight back. And he’d always won. When the trouble with the police started, he’d been labeled a wild, out-of-control troublemaker and none of the parents had wanted their kids near him. Including hers.
“I remember,” she said, her voice husky.
His gaze raked her from head to foot in a searing glance she could almost feel. “You look great, Lanie, really great.”
The sound of her name in his rich, deep voice caused her body to hum and her heartbeat to kick into high gear. Her stomach was churning because it wasn’t just his words. His eyes told her he was thinking a lot more than “great”.
“You look…”
Incredible. Gorgeous. Lickable. Especially with the bad-boy vibe he still had going on. And she’d just bet he had to have a tattoo. She swallowed. Somewhere.
The left side of his mouth lifted in exactly the same way she remembered and it had the same effect it always did—funky, weird things to her insides. Except now her reaction wasn’t that of a teenage girl with an out-of-control, vivid imagination. No, it was that of a woman who could all too easily picture the things she wanted to do with that hard body, what she wanted him to do to her with it—in explicit, graphic detail. Oh God. And wet panties, seriously wet panties—or she would have if she’d actually been wearing any.
“Yeah. You like ink on guys?”
Crap. Shock that she’d actually said that out loud was quickly followed with the thought, where? Lanie took a deep breath. It was a futile attempt to steady herself. She’d never really gone for tattoos before but what she wouldn’t give to be able to find them on Rex for herself.
She was pretty sure she nodded, but she couldn’t be certain. She’d lost it, really lost it, because if she had to guess, she’d say he was looking at her as if he wanted to devour her whole and that just couldn’t be right. Could it?
He leaned down and she got a whiff of sexy, hot, clean male. And something fresh and woodsy. It was enough to make her lightheaded.
“So,” he drawled. “Is little Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes ready to let her hair down and
She shivered at the wash of his hot breath against the side of her neck, her ear. She tried to draw in more air but it did nothing to ease the jolt low in her abdomen or the stinging ache between her legs, the sudden dryness of her mouth.
Okay, Lanie this is it. You promised.
“I think,” she whispered, wetting her lips. “I think she’s ready to have some horizontal, naked, adult fun.”
He stiffened. “Ah…what?”
Here goes.
“With you,” she blurted before she chickened out, because that was a distinct possibility at this point. “If you want.”
He stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. The frown probably wasn’t a good sign.
She swallowed again but it didn’t help with the lump in her throat. This had all gone so much more smoothly in her head. He hadn’t just stood there looking at her as if she’d lost her mind, that’s for sure. And just look at him. What the hell was she thinking? He had to have his pick of whatever woman he wanted, probably had to beat them off. She was delusional, she must be, to think Rex—hot, gorgeous, grown-up Rex—after all that had happened, would actually want to—
Lanie gasped when he grabbed for her hand, folded his warm, rough fingers around hers, turned and began walking. His grip was careful but unrelenting and she couldn’t do anything but follow. She looked at the back of his dark head, the curl of his hair against his neck, the width of his powerful shoulders. Heat surged up and through her body centering in a pulsing throb between her legs at the simple skin-to-skin contact.
She tugged against his firm hold until he stopped and turned to look at her.
She licked lips suddenly bone dry, her heart beat slamming out of control at the heat in his gaze. “I-I guess I should explain. I—”
“No. I got the message, loud and clear.” He turned and began walking again.
“I was thinking,” she added as she tried to concentrate on not falling in the ridiculous heels she hadn’t had time to get used to. “We could…you know…a night, one night.”
His fingers clenched on hers. It was slight, but his pace picked up.
Lanie tried a steadying breath. She might not be very experienced at this sort of thing, but it seemed to be promising, right?
“Hey, man.”
Rex barely managed to contain the growl of frustration when he was stopped by a hard slap on his back. Ronnie Lewis, ex-captain of the football team and shithead extraordinaire.
Great. He hoped like hell the prick kept walking. Lanie’s hand felt small in his and smooth, soft. He tucked their clasped hands behind his thigh out of sight. He didn’t want the questions about why he was holding on to her, but no way was he letting go.
“What kind of pussy drink is that, man?”
Rex looked down at the water he’d all but forgotten. Once upon a time that kind of comment would have immediately put him on the defensive. Hell, it would have pissed him off and had him ready to let his thoughts be known with his fists. No more. In fact, he couldn’t give a fuck what anyone thought these days. He did things his way and in his own time and to hell with everyone else. He wasn’t much of a drinker anyway, but he didn’t want to be impaired in any way. Not now. Not tonight. Not with Lanie in his sights.
“Lanie, you and me,” Shithead said as he pointed at her. “Later, okay? We can catch up on old times.”
Not if he had anything to do with it. Rex gritted his teeth as he winked at her and walked off. The guy was still arrogant, loud and thought way too much of himself. And he’d been trying to suck up to Rex all night. If that wasn’t irony, he didn’t know what was. The consolation was the guy had gone to fat but probably still thought it was all muscle. And if he wasn’t mistaken? His wife was probably boinking all of his friends. She’d already made him an offer he couldn’t refuse fast enough.
Before she could change her mind or over-think the offer that did have him reeling, Rex pulled Lanie along behind him, out onto an outside balcony and down the wide steps to the yard out back. He rounded the corner of the building and backed her up against the wall. He knew the spot was secluded, that no one could see them. He’d sat his ass in this exact spot more times than he could count. Sometimes to keep an eye on what was going on inside, sometimes because he didn’t have any place else to go. It had always been alone, until now.
“So how do you feel knowing you gave your cherry to that prick?”
Christ, he could have kicked himself when she stiffened and drew her hand from his. Yeah, comments like that were going to get him exactly nowhere. He was good with women, more than good. He was known for his ability to charm the pants off them when he set his mind to it—literally—so what was it about this woman that got him twisted in knots and nervous as hell? And likely to say dumbass things like that?
Lanie’s gaze swung up to his. He could probably count on one hand the times she’d looked him square in the eye like that. Even in the dim light the punch he got to his gut almost knocked him on his ass.
He’d told her she looked great. Man, what a fucking understatement. She’d filled out too and in all the right places. So much so his hands itched to be all over her. She still had the same long, thick, dark hair. Maybe that’s why she’d always been so popular at school. In a sea of tanned blondes, her dark hair and fair skin had made her stand out. It had always reminded him of rich chocolate and he’d always wanted to sink his face into it, to see if it was as silky as it looked, to know what it smelled like.
The black, frothy dress was low at the front and showed off the full curves of her breasts. To perfection. He wanted to bend down to her and lick up her cleavage so bad he could almost taste it. And her eyes. Yeah, he’d dreamed of those clear, blue eyes more times than he could count.
“I— I never slept with Ronnie.”
“No?” He wasn’t likely to forget it. The raw, explicit details had been burned onto his brain permanently. “He told everyone you did.”
Her chin lifted slightly. “Then he lied. I’ve never so much as kissed him.”
Well, shit. All this time… But he should have known. The guy had lied about a lot of things. If he’d used his brains he could have saved himself some serious angst.
“Did you bring anyone tonight?” His eyes remained steady on hers. Of course he already knew the answer, he just wanted to hear her say it.
“Bring anyone?”
“Husband, boyfriend, lover—toyboy.”
She smiled. “No, no actually I’m, ah…”
He held his breath.
She licked her lips. “I’m not with anyone, here or—anywhere.”
Yeah. He’d known that, he had, but as much as people gossip, he’d needed the words. He felt a release of tension across his shoulders and the sharp tang of anticipation settle in his gut.
He had her. Alone. Finally.
He stepped in closer to her. Even though the roaring in his head raged at him to crush her against the hard surface of the wall with his body, to imprint himself on her, he was careful not to touch her. Not yet. Even with the heels she was tiny. She barely reached his chin. He’d have to be careful, so very careful of her because he wanted her under him and soon. He was hard, had been since he’d seen her walk into the hall. That hadn’t changed at least. Things might have taken an unexpected turn, an amazing unexpected turn, but it wouldn’t help if he came on too strong, too fast.
She put her hands against his chest and everything in him went still at the contact. His heart slammed against his ribs and he felt as if he’d had the wind knocked out of him. He cupped her face with hands that shook, his fingertips sliding into the edge of her silky hair. His balls tightened in a rush when she opened her mouth a little, his cock a hot brand straining the front of his pants, aching, throbbing, wanting.
“Rex,” she said. “About what I said inside.”
He ran a thumb across her full, bottom lip. “Did you change your mind?”
“No.”
Oh yeah. She sounded so sure. Sure was good. He’d never kissed her before. Not even close, but as he leaned in, it felt familiar, she felt familiar and she still smelled incredible.
