Fourth Attempt

3. Wren

Chapter 3

Wren

My heart pounded in my ears and my knees weakened at Blake’s firm hand wrapped around mine. At the obvious l**t in his eyes, I put on my I’m not interested in being one of your bedpost notches look.

Cool and clinical. Unfazed and disinterested.

Or, so I hoped I appeared that way.

But oh, my insides—hell, everything inside me wanted to lean into him. Sniff. Snuggle. Worship. Lick. Maybe even nibble a bit if he enjoyed a little scraping of teeth over his skin. He smelled like man and sleepy warmth, soap and dryer sheets, and I wanted to curl up beneath the blanket of his god-like body.

Shutting down those thoughts, I pulled my hand from his and pointed toward the front of the store before he could make a fool of himself by asking me out. There was no point in his trying to weasel his way into my panties and attempt another conquest over the closest female.

He would fail. Period.

“Beth will ring you up, Mr. Harper,” I said. “I hope you’re feeling better soon and get some rest.” Without waiting for a reply, I hightailed it back behind the pharmacy counter as though the fire on my backside was really flames rather than his steady gaze.

Jenny, the third shift pharmacist, scrolled through her cell in the small room she mixed compounds in. I stepped into the nook and closed the door within an inch of latching, leaving just enough of a c***k for me to watch the sexy-as-hell playboy head to the storefront.

He’d been even more intimidating…luscious-looking…hotter all up in my personal space. Not one damn imperfection marred his face. Not. One.

“Criminal,” I murmured with a sigh, sagging against the doorframe to hold me steady, since he’d made me shiver and shake from hair to toenails. I couldn’t catch my damn breath, and I hadn’t even been exercising.

It was a wonder I hadn’t swooned at his big feet, putting my face right where I could easily find out what he hid inside those work pants. He would have let me too, I didn’t doubt.

I wasn’t well-schooled in the art of seduction, had only been on the receiving end of it twice in my life, but I recognized desire in his dark blues that tempted me to go all weak-kneed like most women probably did when he flashed his smile and that sexy-as-hell dimple.

Damn man.

But why me? I had no idea since I was pretty much a munchkin and had no curves to speak of—

“What are you up to?” Jenny asked, her voice startling me back to reality.

I’d forgotten where I stood…what I was supposed to be doing. My eyes and mind had been ensnared by the gravitational pull of the hottest guy I’d ever seen.

“Salivating over the most delicious man ever,” I muttered the absolute truth of Blake Harper. All sexy swagger and rumpled clothing…mussed hair and stubble lining his jawline.

Jenny leaned around me and pushed the door open a bit wider.

I crouched down enough she could see over my head. Easily done since she stood five-foot-ten to my less than five.

Up at the store’s front counter, Blake flustered Beth if her red face and gaping mouth gave any indication of his effect on her.

Did he shamelessly flirt? Or was it merely the sight of his perfection that made Beth look like she needed to fan her face?

God knew I felt the same over the man who appeared as though he’d just crawled out of bed after satisfying a woman.

A flash of jealousy curdled my stomach, pulling my eyebrows into a frown. I snorted. Get over yourself and enjoy the view.

My gaze roamed across his broad shoulders stretching out his tight T-shirt to his round backside hugged by those…construction-type pants.

“God, he’s got an a*s,” Jenny murmured above me.

I moaned my agreement.

Round and tight, perfect for wrapping my legs around. The thought sent flickers of heat kissing along my thighs, but hundreds of women had without a doubt done that very thing while sinking their fake nails into his back.

No thank you.

“I’d do him for free.” Jenny sighed as Blake glanced back our way before walking out the exit, the automatic door swishing shut behind him.

I sagged from the adrenaline crash. “Along with every other hot guy to waltz in here like he’s some god’s gift to women,” I reminded Jenny, pushing open the door we’d hidden behind.

“So many men, so little hours in a day.” Her snicker brought a smile to my face.

I’d heard that one from her mouth a hundred or so times in the two years we’d worked the night shift together.

“Doubling up on occasion would help me get through my to-do list,” she mused another thought she’d mentioned before.

A puff of laughter huffed from me as I went back to the delivery order I’d been filling when Blake’s “‘Scuse me” had woken me from daydreaming about him. I’d nearly swallowed my tongue when I looked up and found him peering at me with those dreamy blue eyes.

And those lips…

It was like my subconscious had called out to him through time and space, drawing him into the pharmacy just to knock my knees and steal my breath.

Hot damn.

I shook my head, enjoying yet hating how heat dampened my panties at the thought of his kisses, his large hands all over my body. Loving on me like no man had ever done. Like I was his sole focus, the reason his heart beat.

“Ever have a threesome?” Jenny asked, tearing my brain from its wandering.

“Nope. Have you?”

“Once, my sophomore year in college.” Jenny sighed again. “Then three guys at the same time my senior year. It was the best damn night of my life. Mouths, fingers, and d***s everywhere.”

“Seriously?” I glanced over my shoulder to find her eyes hazed and face flushed.

“All those men, their full attention plastered on me…oh, hell yeah.”

The thought of Blake Harper alone brought about fantasies that rocked my world, but throwing another man into the mix? My entire body heated as the memory of his foreman’s face flashed across my mind. Dark hair and eyes like sinful chocolate, he was the opposite of Blake yet just as gorgeous. Having all that attention and affection at once?

Couldn’t. Even. Imagine.

“Now a man like that,” Jenny said, “you can tell by how he walks he knows his way around the female body. I’ll bet he wouldn’t need help satisfying a woman’s needs.”

Jenny’s words flitted through my ears, bringing to attention the fact he’d probably done more women than all of Hollywood’s leading men combined.

Again with the no thank you.

“You can have him,” I stated firmly, grabbing a bottle of antidepressants off the shelf.

* * *

Later that morning, I climbed out of my car and rounded my downstairs neighbor’s SUV while stifling a yawn, proud of myself for not even glancing across the street.

Blake sat on the bottom step of my exterior stairs.

I stumbled to a stop, my heart skipping a beat at the grin on his face. He held two Dunks coffees in his large hands, elbows resting on his knees.

“Good morning,” he said, his eyes clearer and more alert than they’d been earlier at the pharmacy.

The breath punched from my lungs. My mouth’s drool factory went on high alert, alarms blaring and everything.

Still damn luscious-looking, Blake was even more panty-melting with the husky rasp in his tone no longer hidden by congestion. Goddamn him for being outwardly perfect in every way. It was seriously unfortunate his insides didn’t match what peered at me.

“How’s the cold?” I asked without returning his smile or the greeting. The only good thing about mornings was the fact I got off the clock for the rest of the day—but only so I could scurry to class, then rush home to pass out for a few hours before another shift at work.

“Better thanks to you.” He stood and handed me one of the coffees.

The height difference between us? Yeah. I loved that he towered over me, how easily he would be able to wrap me up and keep me safe...

Nope.

Reining my mind back in, I stared at the gift he offered me for a moment, knowing full well he wasn’t there simply to thank me for helping him pick out cold medication. His eyes had held interest even though I wasn’t his usual…cup of tea.

And oh, the temptation. The draw between us was cliché, like magnets, but no better simile existed.

I wanted to plaster myself against him, close my eyes, and sink clear through his skin until I didn’t have to think anymore.

Sighing at the fact I didn’t have time or trust for those things with anyone, I decided to at least not be rude and dismissive. Besides, who would turn down a free cup of Dunks?

Our fingers brushed as I took the cup, and same as at the store, a shot of something yummy swirled its way straight to my core and made me need to squeeze my thighs together.

“Thanks.” I took a sip, my attention on his smiling face as the right hint of sweetness hit my tongue. “Mmm.” I couldn’t help my body’s natural reaction to the warmth sliding down my throat.

“Two sugars, one cream,” he said with a cocky smirk.

“How’d you know?”

He shrugged with nonchalance even though his eyes glinted with arrogance that I didn’t find attractive. At all.

Okay, so maybe I did just a tiny bit.

“Just seemed right,” he murmured, his tone lowered as he stepped a bit closer.

“Well done.” I offered a forced, fake-as-hell smile as my pulse skyrocketed into outer space.

His grin widened as though not getting my standoffish vibe, but at least he stuck his free hand in his pocket rather than attempting to touch me.

I refused to drop my gaze to check out the bulge his movement drew attention to.

Nope. Not looking. Not thinking about those hands on me either.

“So?” I raised a brow and waited for him to get to his point so I could turn him down flat and erase that upward curl lingering on his luscious looking lips.

“I’d love to take you out to dinner this weekend.”

My insides purred at being pursued by such a beautiful man.

“Thanks, but no.” I shifted my purse forward, hinting I wanted to get up the stairs and away from the temptation of him.

He blinked as though baffled. “Why not?”

I tilted my head to the side, loving how he seemed off kilter—and that of all people I had been the one to make him that way. “You’re not used to hearing the word no, are you?”

His grin returned. “Can’t say that I am.”

“Well, Mr. Harper, I’ll be honest—I know who you are and what you’re like.”

“And what’s that?” he asked, his tone teasing.

I took a sip of my coffee, enjoying our exchange entirely too damn much. “Unlike this perfect cup of coffee, you’re not my type.”

He laughed, and tingles simmered low in my belly. “What’s not your type?”

“A playboy who’s well aware of how hot he is and has a different woman every night of the week.”

His smirk dissolved as though I’d cut his knees out from beneath him. “That’s quite a conclusion for having just met me.”

“Please.” I rolled my eyes even though the tiniest bit of guilt slithered through my mind over his response. “Have you seen your social media? It screams cocky with a hint of arrogance liberally sprinkled with blonde bimbo bling. You’re wasting your time trying to get into my panties, Mr. Harper.”

He stepped closer, peering down at me as though attempting to talk me onto his d**k with those heated eyes and the slow smile of his lips. And that damn dimple. “So what you’re saying is you’ve been checking me out online.”

Ugh.

No point in trying to backtrack. I’d definitely set myself up for that one.

“I will not be the next notch on your bedpost,” I stated, my chin lifting as a ripple of l**t slid down my spine and pebbled my skin beneath his steady gaze.

He loomed over me, but I didn’t back down even though the muggy heat seemed to press us closer together. He seemed the type of man to chase after prey.

But in the good way—like slamming my back up against a wall and devouring me whole.

Yum.

Shivers slid down my spine, and I fought the need to visibly gulp and give away exactly how he made me feel.

“I think you need to loosen up, little birdie,” he finally said with a knowing smile and an assured tone.

I huffed a snort at his nickname. “No.”

His eyes twinkled like stars at midnight, the kind you wished upon while hoping they would make your dreams come true. “I’m not above begging.”

I swallowed hard, my heartbeat thumping at the image in my head of him dropping to his knees and pleading for a taste of the arousal between my thighs.

“You know you want to,” he said, his gaze roaming down to the pulse jumping in my neck and the furled points of my n*****s straining against my shirt.

Clutching my purse to my chest, I sidestepped to escape him before I caved to his charms. “I have to go,” I attempted to sound firm, hurrying up the stairs on shaking legs.

“See you tomorrow, little birdie,” I heard him call as I unlocked my apartment door and fought to force it open in the damp heat.

Damn, damn, damn.

Eyes closed, I shut myself in the cool air-conditioned apartment and leaned back against the door. A measure of relief relaxed my shoulders—I’d held strong in denying him—but part of me had hoped he would get on his knees and beg.

Or chase…

Little brown-haired, w*********h Wren going out to dinner with a man like Blake Harper?

I snorted and tossed my bag onto the table.

“No way in hell,” I spoke my mind, but my body argued, arousal slick inside my panties and leaving me breathless.

Shower time—and I had a date with my trusty vibrator who wouldn’t ever let me down. It could also be recharged whenever needed and wouldn’t ever walk away with my heart.

The perfect boyfriend if only the damn thing had arms to hold me. Caress me.

I might have imagined Blake touching me while edging myself to the point of earth-shattering bliss beneath the hot spray.

I definitely bit my tongue to keep from gasping his name as I came.