Happily Enemy After (Hawthorne Brothers 2)

Did I?

“Maybe I can, but I don’t want to anymore,” I tell her.

Frankly, I suddenly feel tired.

She puts her other hand on her hip. The duvet falls to the floor.

“Sure?”

“Sure,” I answer without any hesitation even as I look at her naked body.

Carina sighs. “Fine.”

She starts to pick up her clothes, which are scattered all over the living room.

“My throat’s getting a little hoarse anyway, what with you constantly telling me to be louder.”

I say nothing. She puts on her underwear and her pants.

“Who was that banging on the door?”

I nearly grin as I remember the sight of Violet with that pan. She could have brought a rolling pin. Or a spatula. Or an umbrella. Instead, she brought a pan. Not that she needs a weapon, as she already proved last week. The memory of what she did with just her knee is still enough to make me wince.

“Just my neighbor,” I answer Carina’s question. “She thought I was wrestling with a burglar or something.”

Carina snorts before putting on her blouse. “Stupid. Didn’t she hear me moaning through the wall?”

I frown. It’s weird. I’ve said a lot of mean things to Violet without flinching, yet all Carina did was call her stupid and I feel like I’ve been hit in the balls once again.

I feel like throwing her out of my apartment, but I wait patiently by the door for her to finish getting fully clothed.

“Anyway, that was fun,” she says as she puts on her coat. “I had fun.”

No comment.

She slips her feet into her shoes. “So much fun that I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”

“You know I don’t do seconds,” I tell her. “I told you before we started.”

“Right.” She grabs her purse. “I usually don’t either, except this time, I—”

“No seconds, Carina,” I cut her off.

It doesn’t matter how good the sex is. When you sleep with a woman more than once, she starts to get ideas inside her head. The next thing you know, she’s threatening to kill you if you leave.

Carina nods slowly. “Fine.”

She walks towards the door but stops in front of me.

“It was a real pleasure spending time with you, Asher,” she whispers in my ear.

Then she puts her hand on my chest and plants a kiss on my cheek. She’s about to press her lips against mine, too, but I grab both her arms and push her away. Yes, I liked her enough to have sex with her, but now that the sex is over, I’m starting to find her annoying, especially since she’s obviously stalling her departure.

“Good night,” I tell her as I look into her eyes, trying to convey the message that I want her to leave so I don’t have to say it.

She smiles in understanding and walks out but stops just outside the door and turns around before I can close it.

“That woman, your neighbor,” Carina says. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

My eyebrows furrow. What?

“I’m not,” I assure her.

She grins. “Really?”

Now she’s just unbearable.

“Goodbye, Carina.”

I close the door before she can come up with any more nonsense. Then I head to the bathroom to take a shower. As the drops of water crash down on my skin, I think of what Carina said.

Me? In love with Violet? How ever did she come up with that idea?

I’m not. I just want to have sex with her. That’s all. I just want to know how it would feel to have her bare body trembling against mine, to look into her cobalt blue eyes as I bury myself deep inside her, to hear my name leave her lips in a gasp. I just want her to let go of all her fears and inhibitions and feel good.

Why? Because I don’t think she understands what pleasure means. She’s too serious. She expects too much of herself. She’s too careful, too defensive. For once, I want her to take a chance. Take a leap. Break through her own walls and be reckless, fearless. I know she can. If only she could open her heart, she’d see that as well, but she’s blinded by doubts and fears. I know that feeling, too.

Violet may not see it, but we have a lot in common. We’re both stubborn to a fault. We’ve both been hardened by the years. We both hate showing any sign of weakness. I have no doubt we’d both be amazing in bed.

That doesn’t mean I intend on having sex with her for more than one night. More than one round, sure. More than one night, no. I’m not going to start a relationship with her. Like I said, I’m just after the sex, and once that’s done, I’ll leave her alone just like all the women I’ve slept with for the past several years. I’m never going near her again, not even if she comes to my door like she did earlier and wears that face, that face desperately trying to keep tears at bay as she threatened me with a pan. Fuck, I wanted to pull her into my arms then.