Lori Wilde - It Happened in L.A.

They held each other until their hearts calmed. Until the kisses gentled.

PAUL COULDN’T TALK YET, although he was in a lot better shape than five minutes ago. Gwen had settled next to him, dragging a soft throw over their bodies. He had his arm around her and her head was in the hollow where his chest met his shoulder.

“Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do,” she said.

He chuckled, never having heard that as an aprés-sex comment before. “Appropriate, though,” he said, feeling that he knew a great deal more about her than before.

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” he said, lacking the verbal and mental skills to explain. “Don’t expect me to be coherent.”

“Fair enough.”

“I have to say, for a couch, this wasn’t so bad.”

“What do you mean?”

He let his hand smooth down her arm. “It didn’t scratch up my ass.”

He felt her lips curve into a smile.

“First thing I checked out in the department store.”

“Dropped trou, did you?”

“It was a major purchase.”

His head lifted as he grinned, but he couldn’t really see her face so he let it flop back again. “Popcorn and a treat. Best movies ever.”

“It’s not what I expected.”

“No?”

“We were supposed to be friends.”

He lifted his head once more. “Aren’t we?”

“We hadn’t exactly discussed the benefits package.”

He really needed to see her face. He lifted her chin, which upset the balance of things, but had to be done. “Are you sorry?”

The look she gave him was honest, if not quite as satisfying as a whimper and instant denial, but that was Gwen. “I don’t know. I don’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. God, I did. But—” she sat up, tugged the blanket a bit to cover her lap “—I’m not sure where it leaves us.”

“Does it have to leave us anywhere in particular?”

Her shrug said as much as her troubled gaze. “I’d like to say no, but that’s not how I operate. I’m not a casual sex kind of person.”

“Nothing about you is casual.”

She poked him lightly with her elbow. “If that was supposed to be a compliment, it sucked.”

“It was.” He ran a hand over his face, then sat up a bit straighter. “I admire it, though. I like that you have high standards.”

“I suppose—no, I don’t understand that, either.”

“Case in point,” he said. “But I’ll try to explain. You don’t settle, and you expect the best from me. Which makes me want to give you my best. I’ve never had that with a friend before, benefits notwithstanding. The truth is, somewhere during the past few weeks, I realized I wanted more.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

“I kissed you.”

She sighed in the nicest way. “Yes, you did.”

“And as I recall, you kissed me back.”

This time, he got a nod.

He stroked her face with the back of his fingers. “What do you want?”

She captured his hand and held it there for a moment. “I don’t know. I was just getting used to the friendship part.”

He thought about that. About what being friends with Gwen had started out as, and how different it was from anything he’d experienced before. It had never occurred to him that he was moving too fast. In his life before Gwen, these things tended to happen quickly, skipping over the friendship altogether. The only exception in recent memory had been Autumn, but she didn’t seem to count anymore. It felt as if meeting Gwen had forced a spotlight on Autumn’s game-playing, and in that glare, it had lost all its charm.

“Hello?” She looked him in the eyes, waiting.

He wanted the sex. It balanced things for him, but he skittered away from that thought. No, he’d wanted her. “I should have waited.”

“Please don’t feel bad. I was right there with you. I could have said no.”

“That’s fair. Tell you what. Let’s play it by ear. I’ll try to be more focused on the friend thing.”

“I like that. I’m still learning so much about you.”

“Huh. That’s a pretty shallow pool.”

“No, it’s not. I thought it would be, but you’ve turned out to be an interesting guy.”

“Don’t let that get out. It’ll ruin my reputation in this town.”

She grinned. “We’re in Pasadena. You’re still safe in Hollywood.”

After looking at a face that had changed so much in such a short time, he pulled her into a kiss. Nothing fancy. Just a hope, perhaps that while the whole nine yards might be off-limits, this might not be. Kissing her was something he didn’t want to give up.

Finally, she drew away. Pushed some hair back from his forehead with the tips of her delicate fingers. “It’s late.”

“One thing, and then I’ll go.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Friends with kissing, that could work, right?”

She looked at him with those green eyes of hers. He could practically see the debate inside her head. Finally, she smiled, and he knew her answer.

“Yes. Friends with kissing could work.”

“Yippee,” he said, mocking his own exuberant reaction so she wouldn’t get scared and change her mind. “I’ll wash up.” He stood, left her the blanket, gathered his pile of clothes and went into the bathroom. As he cleaned up, he tried to remember why he’d considered her so plain. Probably the contrast to Autumn. But now that he knew Gwen so well, the scales had shifted. There was little better than winning a smile from Gwen.

Naturally, when he got to the door he wanted to try the whole friends with kissing thing. Just to make sure they both understood the concept.

Wrapped in her blanket, he tugged her close and kissed her. Not a peck, either, but a long, hot kiss that made them both moan. When he broke away, it was with real regret, but also hope. Oh, yeah. Friends with kissing was a great start. He just prayed he could stand it while he waited for her to see the wisdom of a comprehensive benefit package.

IT WAS FOUR DAYS until he saw her again. Monday night trivia, and of course, he arrived only minutes before the game. She had saved him a seat, and there was a game player waiting, but what he mostly wanted was a beer.

He sat down, pleased to be in the hubbub and chatter of the now-familiar gang from her work. He knew everyone at the table tonight, which was cool.

First thing, he turned on his machine. Second, he leaned over and kissed Gwen a proper hello, although it wasn’t nearly the kiss he could have planted on her. Then he went to type in his nickname. When he looked up, no one at the table was talking. In fact, they were all staring at him. With a thunk, he realized that he’d just done a very stupid thing.

He cleared his throat and looked desperately for a waitress as he cast about for some way to fix this. She worked with these people. She clearly didn’t want them to know they were kissing friends, and here he’d been so pleased that he’d shown such restraint.

“It’s good to see you, too,” Gwen said, her voice pleasant, her glare not so much.

His whole face got hot, but when he dared look at her, there was no real anger in her eyes. Braver, he looked at his tablemates. They were obviously bewildered, but no one shot him furious glares or threw anything at him. The last test would be Holly.

She was all shock, but pissed off, too. Not at him, though. At Gwen. Holly leaned over his back, forcing his head down to the table.

He heard Gwen say, “Ouch,” and figured Holly had given her a shot in the arm.

“What was that for?” Gwen said.

Holly grunted, but in a feminine way. “You know perfectly well.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. We’ll talk later, I promise. But the game’s starting now, and I think you’re killing Paul.”