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  PAY UP

  Kaily Hart

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  Pay Up

  Kaily Hart

  Neighbor. Friend. Lover.

  At least that’s what Carly Wagner wanted Rio Reyes to be. She’d settled for two out of three for almost a year and it just wasn’t enough. Not anymore. When Rio proposes a bet—of the sexual variety—she knows it’s out of character and he’s not really serious, yet she can’t resist. The payoff could mean finally getting her hands on the gorgeous firefighter she’s drooled over since she moved in next door.

  The timing had never seemed right for him and Carly, but that hadn’t stopped Rio from imagining wild and wicked things about her. It had been a joke—sort of—but Rio’s shocked when she takes him up on the dumbass bet. Now he’s in a world of hurt, because regardless of who wins, he might be crossing a line he never thought he would, and jeopardizing a friendship that means more to him than anything.

  Pay Up

  PAY UP Copyright © 2010 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 readers. My readers. Those who took a chance on a newbie and bought and read my books. You rocked my world!

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  So…now what?

  Excerpt from Play Me

  Chapter One

  “Yes, yes, Rio, yes…oh…God, yes…”

  Not again.

  Carly felt heat flare in her cheeks, not to mention the other parts of her body. It washed over and through her all at once, leaving her weak, her breathing unsteady, and just plain…hot.

  What the hell did Rio do to get them to moan and scream and gasp that way? She’d never called out like that in the throes of passion or anywhere else for that matter. She was also pretty sure it wouldn’t have been with that sense of utter abandon or lack of regard for who might hear her. And let’s face it, she just wasn’t that great an actress.

  One of the reasons she’d bought her condo in this building was for its construction, specificallythe interior concrete walls. It should have been impossible, but some freak design with the ventilation system meant…they had to be going at it up against the entry wall that backed directly to hers. Why hadn’t that occurred to her? They’d barely made it past his front door before…

  Whew.

  Carly inhaled quickly at the sharp pull low in her abdomen. She swore she could hear a faint rhythmic thumping and muffled groans too, but it could just as easily be her imagination taking over. It didn’t take much to have her picturing Rio’s big body and what he was doing with it to get that kind of response. God, he’d be hot and sweaty, his body gleaming with exertion, his dark hair damp and sticking up where urgent hands had been buried in it, maybe holding on to him, urging him on. He’d have his shirt off, but maybe he’d been impatient, unfastening his pants just enough, having thrust them down roughly so he could—

  She took a deep, shaky breath. She really, really needed to get a life. Unfortunately, she’d heard the whispers and giggles for a long time about how awesome Rio was in bed. About how built he was…down there, and about how he knew his way around a woman’s body like few guys did. Hearing the evidence of it for the second time in a week didn’t help.

  Carly could feel how damp her panties were against the hot, aching flesh between her legs. She couldn’t help the clench of her inner muscles when she heard a definite thud and more with the moaning.

  They were still going at it?

  She’d figured after that crescendo they’d be done. She sighed. Yeah, she’d heard about Rio’s stamina as well.

  How could she be hot and bothered and jealous as hell all at once? The hot and bothered she wasn’t so surprised about. She only had to picture Rio shirtless and she was there. Hell, she only had to imagine his big hands, the sharp line of his jaw, the flash of his smile or his startling blue eyes and that was enough. The shockingly intense jealousy had sneaked up on her over time. And now? It was like acid burning through her veins at the thought of him and what he was doing with another woman, toanother woman.

  So, who did he have over there?

  He hadn’t dated anyone regularly since the woman he’d been seeing when they’d first met. He never lacked feminine attention though. Being a tall, dark-haired, ripped firefighter didn’t hurt him in that department either, but he didn’t play the field like he could. Sometimes he went weeks without seeing anyone. Not that she was keeping track or anything. Aw, jeez, who was she kidding? She knew every woman he’d ever gone out with. It was the second time this week with the sound effects and it was getting on her nerves, not to mention her libido. So, all right…she didn’t have to stand in the kitchen, close to her front door where the sound seemed to be the loudest. She could have moved and spared herself, because she wasn’t sure her heart could stand much more either, but something kept her rooted to the spot.

  She closed her eyes and leaned back against the counter. Her body was on fire, her clothing rough against her overheated skin. Even the softness of her washed-to-death t- shirt seemed abrasive against her pebble-hard nipples. She gasped as the muscles between her legs and deep inside where she burned flexed involuntarily. Her panties were soaked.

  Dammit.

  It was inevitable. She knew, she just knew, before she went to sleep tonight she was going to be making good use of her vibrator, imagining it was Rio pleasuring her, his unforgiving tongue flickering over the swollen bud of her clitoris before his big body thrust in and out of her as he braced herup against the wall. She had to give in to it, there was no choice, because if she held out, the need and want and lust became unbearable. Been there, done that. Greg hadn’t been able to satisfy that in her either. Despite how pleasant their sex, he couldn’t satisfy the craving she had for Rio. He never had. She snorted. Yeah, thinking sex with him was “pleasant” should have given her more than a clue, a long time ago.

  God. Rio Reyes. He’d been her sexy neighbor for just over a year, a good friend for almost the same amount of time and her secret crush since the day he’d helped her “de- wedge” her console table from the apartment elevator. An elevator she wasn’t supposed to be using for moving in her furniture. He’d laughed at her with his infectious smile and gorgeous dimples and she’d been gone.

  She sighed. Crush was such a lame word to describe the reaction she’d had to him at that first meeting and the yearning she’d felt ever since. She’d thought at first it’d been mutual. She would have sworn she hadn’t imagined that spark when he’d laughed at her futile attempts to move her table, when he’d helped her carry it up to her new place, when he’d shaken her hand and introduced himself when he realized she was his new neighbor. The feel of his rough hand wrapped around hers had almost caused her to swoon at his feet and Carly wasn’t the swooning type. The way he’d looked at her that day…it could still cause her to tremble. She’d learned later he was in a long-term relationship and although they’d eventually broken up, he’d never made a move on her, never shown the slightest interest in her that way.

  Rio was nice. Just…nice. It might not sound very exciting,
but along with being one of the hottest guys she’d ever seen, he was fun, easygoing, thoughtful and incredibly respectful, especially of women. He also watched his language around her and she’d always thought it was sweet. Add to all of that the fact he was one of San Diego’s finest, and the combination was unusual and pretty much irresistible.

  Damn, damn, damn.

  Carly shoved the ice-cream carton she still held in her hands back into the freezer and slammed the door, wincing when it opened slightly again before finally closing. No way. No way.She wouldn’t be a fucking stereotype, sitting home alone on a Friday night shoveling vanilla-bean ice cream down her throat and fantasizing about something that was completely out of her reach. So, she got dumped by her boyfriend today. Greg had actually dumped her. So what? It wasn’t even that she was hurt all that much, but the jerk hadn’t had the decency to give her an adequate reason. He hadn’t even had the decency to do it in person, and she didn’t need an audible reminder that she didn’t have anyone to have wild monkey sex with. That the guy she didwant to have sex with was giving it to someone else.

  So yeah, she was mad. Good and mad. Because she’d had doubts about Greg for weeks, maybe months, and she should have been the one to end things. Because she’d never actually had anysex that would qualify as “wild monkey sex”. Ever. Instead, she’d let things slide with Greg, thinking perhaps a less than perfect boyfriend was better than being alone. Because then what would she do? Drool and fantasize about Rio, that’s what. And what do you know? It’d been less than four hours and she knew she’d been right. It sucked.

  * * * * *

  “Come on, Carls.”

  Carly groaned into her pillow at the deep, rough voice. She’d barely been able to sleep after the show he’d put on last night and she was damn tired. In that moment, she regretted like hell the exchange of keys that meant he felt as if he could come in here anytime he chose. Okay, not really. She actually reveled in the sense of intimacy, no matter how false, that he was comfortable in her place. But did she really want to look into his satisfied face knowing what he’d been doing last night? Especially when she probably looked like crap?

  “Rio, it’s Saturday,” she mumbled.

  “So?”

  “So, I just know it’s some ungodly hour and I don’t have to work today. Just because you have a weird schedule that doesn’t take into account weekends, it doesn’t mean—”

  He muttered something too low to catch. “I don’t have any patience for this routine today, Carly. Get your butt out of bed.”

  Carly lifted her head up from her pillow but could barely see him through the hair covering most of her face. She’d never heard that tone from him before, at least not when he was talking to her. And he never called her Carly. She pushed the tangled mess out of the way. He was standing by her bed, hands planted firmly on his hips, glaring. She tried not to let her focus land on his crotch, but it was an effort. It was right there in her line of sight.

  “Jeez. You should be in a much better mood than this,” she grumbled.

  “Meaning?”

  She buried her head back into her pillow so she didn’t have to notice the way the fabric of his t-shirt stretched tautly across his broad chest, flat stomach and bunched around his hard, muscled biceps, but she’d caught his quick frown.

  “Why are you torturing me like this?”

  “Because you asked me to.”

  “I don’t feel like it this morning. I’ll run with you tomorrow. I promise. I had a lousy week at work and—”

  “Come on. I’m ready to go.”

  Carly groaned, trying to burrow farther under the covers. She was so not a morning person. “Rio, seriously, I worked—”

  He sighed. “No. You made me promise I wouldn’t listen to you, no matter what you said, how you begged or what you offered, I was to ignore it. Now… Get. Up.”

  He yanked the covers off her and her cocoon of warmth was gone, just like that.

  “Now, Carls.”

  Even spoken in a tone of complete exasperation, the shortened version of her name in his deep, rich tones brought shivers to her. It always did. No one called her that but him. She’d always been “Carly” to everyone and a few kids at school had made it “Carl” for a while, but his private name for her never failed to make her feel…special.

  She sat up slowly and yawned. “Okay, okay, but I need to shower first.”

  “You’re just going to get sweaty anyway,” he sighed. “Just throw something on and let’s go.”

  She knew she looked horrified. She could still feel the slight tenderness between her legs and wrinkled her nose. She felt swollen, hot and damp, usedthere. She’d all but collapsed into sleep once she’d almost run the batteries out on her vibe last night. No way was she going anywhere without showering.

  As it was, she was going to have to run beside him, trying her damnedest not to check out his muscles and his… God, imagining just where his hands, his mouth and his…cock had been last night. The lance of pain was enough to quell the lust for a while, but it never lasted long.

  Neither did the satisfaction she’d given herself last night. Three times. One look at him, especially in this close proximity, with loose drawstring pants sitting low on his lean hips, looking sexy and male and vital and she was right there again…wanting him and not being able to do a damn thing about it.

  She dragged herself from the bed and walked toward her bathroom. She tried not to look at him. He was like the sun, compelling and hypnotic, and she knew it wasn’t good for her to stare at him, but it was almost impossible not to.

  “Give me five minutes.”

  She heard him sigh again before he said, “Hey, is that my shirt?”

  Busted.

  Carly stopped and turned around, trying to act casual. Yeah, right.As if she could pretend any such reaction around Rio, particularly in a room with a bed mere feet away, her toys tucked in her bedside table and her body still humming from a series of releases where he’d been front and center, fantasy-wise.

  She’d completely forgotten what she had on, what she’d thrown on because nothing else was clean. The shirt was a ragged gray t-shirt Rio had left at her place months ago. Okay, so she might have snagged it out of his sports bag when he wasn’t looking, but he had any number of t-shirts and this one wasn’t that far from the rag heap. She’d figured he’d never miss it.

  “Ah…it might be. Probably.”

  “Wondered where it had gotten to,” he murmured. “I want it back, Carls.”

  “Sure.”

  Carly turned to make a hasty retreat to the bathroom. He’d never see the shirt again. No way was she about to relinquish it. It was dumb and probably seriously pathetic but it made her feel close to him, especially when the night was long and lonely as it’d been last night. She recognized on some level it was probably far from healthy, but if that was all she could have of him when she wanted him so bad she ached, then she’d just have to deal with it.

  Right now.

  Rio wanted to utter the demand to her retreating back, to throw caution to the wind and just say it. He told himself it was to see what her reaction would be, nothing more, but he really just wanted to know what was under it. Bad.

  He felt as if he’d swallowed his tongue since he’d pulled those covers back. Her legs were killer. He already knew that, but seeing them like that, curled up against her, their tanned lengths looking like rich honey against the white sheets, the shirt bunched up around her hips and knowing she was probably naked beneath, or near enough to it… Well, he might just have a heart attack.

  Did she sleep in panties? Tiny little scraps of nothing? Or was she bare-assed naked under that shirt? He could tell from the jiggle of her breasts she didn’t wear a bra to bed. Seeing his shirt draped over her, its length skimming her bare thighs…man, it was just plain hot. He’d never seen a woman wear his stuff before. Sure as hell, if he’d slept all night with a woman like her, she wouldn’t have woken up with a stitch on.
r />   Carly looked like a golden beach babe with her sun-kissed skin, athletic build and her long, wavy hair. Even the light-brown color looked as if it were streaked with gold. No one looking at her would have guessed she was really a computer geek, a programmer with one of the banks in town. Guys always noticed her looks first and made dumbass assumptions about her. It pissed her off to no end, but who could blame them? She was gorgeous, sexy and…yeah, incredibly fuckable.

  Rio shook his head in disgust. When the hellhad he become obsessed with sex? Sure, he was a guy, he thought about sex a lot, but it was with a guy’s normal sex drive or so he’d always thought. Lately… He inhaled deeply. Christ, even the room smelled like sex to him. Sex and warm woman.

  He registered the sound of the shower running and groaned. Damn, that was all he needed. To imagine her naked body, all wet and slippery, her hands running over herself, across her breasts, between her legs, soapy rivers of suds running over the curves of her body.

  Fuck.

  He reached down and adjusted himself before she came back, gasping at the contact with his own flesh. It’s a wonder she hadn’t noticed the boner almost poking a hole in the front of his pants. How could she miss it? Even the snug boxers he’d taken to wearing didn’t seem to be able to contain it this morning. The action he’d gotten last night should have more than taken the edge off. Should have. It obviously hadn’t done shit. He flexed his hand. Jerking off didn’t help either. He’d tried that. Repeatedly. All it did was improve the muscle definition in his right arm and piss him off to no end.

  He should be shot. Carly was his friend, for fuck’s sake. She trusted him and here he was…ogling her body, imagining what he’d like to do with it and generally acting like a damn pervert. Jesus, she had a boyfriend. The guy was a prick, but still, Carly was with someone else. Someone who had the right to touch her, sleep with her, do whatever the hell he wanted to her, whenever the hell he wanted. And that someone wasn’t him. That was just reality and he needed to get with the program, because now he was fucking women because he was horny and they were available rather than being generally interested in them, and that made him feel like an asshole. He’d never been like that. He didn’t know what he was going to do about this fixation he’d developed, but he knew he had to do something. And fast.