Everything's Better With Kimberly Read online

  “Are you laughing at me?” he asked. He was laughing too.

  “Adam, just come back to the apartment.” I sighed in between chuckles.

  “Are you sure?” His laughter died away quickly.

  “Yeah,” I smiled. “I was a little caught off guard when you first offered, but now that I’ve spent some time in it, it’s freaking huge. Our rooms would be on opposite sides. It’s not like we’d be sleeping in the same bed.”

  “Good,” he said, before cutting into his rum cake. “You snore.”

  “I do not,” I whispered scandalized.

  “And you drool.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him while trying to suppress a smile. I was definitely a sleep drooler, but I was sure I didn’t snore, even though I didn’t have anyone I could ask.

  “Hey.” He held up his hands. “I have evidence. There’s a huge wet spot on the shoulder of my shirt.”

  I sucked my teeth. “Are you going to answer me or tease me all night?”

  “Is both an option?” He raised a mischievous eyebrow.

  “You know what? Forget it.” I threw my hands up. “Have fun sleeping in the land that time forgot.”

  “Kimberly.” He smiled and reached for my hand. Sparks traveled through my arm to every part of my body. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or obligated. Don’t get me wrong. I would love to stay in that apartment, but only if it’s what you really want.”

  “It is.”

  No, Kimberly. You cannot… You know what? Never mind. You’re on your own.

  Adam went to retrieve his things and out of curiosity, and maybe because I liked being near him, I tagged along. He was right. It was terrible.

  “What is that smell?” I said as he opened the door.

  “History,” he replied, as I followed him inside laughing, but still covering my nose and mouth. It smelled like mildew. Why the hell anyone would carpet a room in a humid climate with no air conditioning is beyond me. There was a giant, man-shaped sweat stain on the comforter. Adam’s face turned pink before he quickly whipped the cover back and I pretended not to have seen it. I helped him gather his things and we exited the historic suite, desperate to leave the past where it belonged.

  We got into the apartment just as it started to rain. I showed him to his room and he thanked me by bowing and calling me your majesty.

  “Does that make you the court jester?” I retorted.

  “Whatever you want, Princess.”

  “Goodnight, Adam,” I laughed.

  “Goodnight, Kimberly.”

  His eyes bore holes in my back as I walked the hallway to the other side of the apartment.

  Back in my room, I closed and locked the door. I wasn’t sure if I was locking Adam out or locking myself in. I moisturized my skin and slipped on a pair of pajama pants and a white t-shirt. I slid my tablet out of my tote bag intent on reviewing my notes for the meeting, but I couldn’t focus.

  Everything I heard about Adam was wrong. It had to be. In addition to being gorgeous, he was incredibly kind. He basically spent his whole day taking care of me, a complete stranger, and what had I done? I’d kept him at a distance and even been a little rude to him, all because of some rumors I’d heard.

  The storm outside intensified and I took a deep breath. The bedside lamp extinguished signaling that we’d lost power. I was prepared for this, but I still felt the anxiety creeping in. My muscles relaxed a little every time my brain ticked off an item on the list I made in anticipation of the storm.

  You’re prepared. You’ll be fine. You got this, Kimberly, I told myself.

  After a few more calming breaths, I was reaching for my tablet when I heard the knock on my door.

  Adam was standing on the other side. He was also wearing pajama pants and a white t-shirt. The fingers on one hand were tousling his golden blonde hair and he looked nervous. I put my fist on my hip and raised my eyebrows at him as if to say what are you doing here?

  “Well, the storm started getting intense and I wanted to see if you were okay. I thought maybe you might need someone to hold your hand?” He shrugged and gave me a sheepish half smile, but his expression registered a little surprise and confusion. He looked down at the flashlight I was holding.

  “Oh,” I said, returning his smile. “Thank you, but I’m okay. The front desk attendant mentioned there was a storm coming so I made a checklist and called the concierge for supplies, just in case. I have flashlights, bottled water, batteries, candles, a first aid kit and some nonperishable snacks… I had maintenance come to secure the patio furniture and the glass doors. Also, I filled the bathtub with drinking water, just in case we run out of bottled water.”

  He still looked surprised but admiration replaced his confusion.

  “Impressive.” He nodded and whispered. “Well, I guess you’re fine, so I’ll be in my room if you need me.” He gave me a lingering smile that I could’ve sworn was tinged with disappointment, before turning to walk back to his room.

  “Hey,” I called to him. “Are you limping?” It was barely noticeable, but he was favoring his right foot.

  “Yeah,” he said. “It was dark and I stubbed my toe walking over here. It’s nothing.” I shined the flash light on his foot and saw that it was bleeding.

  “It doesn’t look like nothing. I have a first aid kit. You should let me take a look at it.” He rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed me into my room. I motioned for him to sit on my bed before putting on a pair of rubber gloves from the first aid kit, sitting next to him on the bed and swinging his foot into my lap.

  “I told you it’s really nothing, ow!” He winced as I cleaned the blood off his toe with an alcohol swab. It briefly reminded me of a bedtime story my mom used to tell me about the lion with a thorn in its paw. I kept wiping until I found the small cut. I pressed my thumb onto it and counted to thirty. He winced again but quickly recovered when I shot him a look that said really? When I removed my thumb, the bleeding had stopped. I rubbed some bacitracin on the cut, covered it with a Band-Aid and patted his foot, just like my mom used to, signaling that I was done.

  “Thank you, doctor.” He grinned at me and made his way to the door.

  “You’re welcome, Mr. Price.” I said, as I snapped off the gloves and tossed them in the trash with the alcohol swabs. He narrowed his eyes slightly, still grinning. “Wait.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I have an extra flashlight. You should take it, unless you want to cut your other toe.”

  “That depends on whether or not the doctor makes house calls.”

  I bit my lip to stifle a laugh and tried to ignore the full body flush Adam’s words caused. Instead, I concentrated on dumping out my tote bag and filling it with bottled water, snacks and a few Band-Aids. My hand shook slightly as I held it out to him.

  I looked up at him and smiled. He took a step forward before he reached out and ran his hand gently across my shoulder and my neck coming to rest on my cheek where he caressed me with his thumb.

  “Princess Kimberly,” he whispered. “I definitely shouldn’t kiss you right now.”

  “You definitely shouldn’t, but you’re going to, aren’t you?” I whispered in return, but I didn’t move. I didn’t know how badly I wanted this until he was close enough to touch and smell and —

  “Would you want me to?” He interrupted my thought. His face was serious. This wasn’t playful banter anymore. He was asking me for permission to cross the line we’d been dancing in front of all day.

  I swallowed nervously and said, “Maybe?”

  “Maybe isn’t yes, Princess,” he whispered, his golden brown eyes searching mine.

  “Yes.”

  He wrapped his other hand around my waist and pulled me into him. My eyes fluttered closed and I felt myself melt against his chiseled frame. He lowered his face to mine and stopped so close to my lips I could feel his warm breath. My arms reacted before I could think about it. Dropping the bag, I reached up, tangled my fingers in Adam’s gold
en locks and pulled our mouths together.

  Yes, Kimberly.

  five

  Adam

  Kissing Kimberly felt like heaven. It created a warmth that started in my heart, spread across my chest and radiated to every muscle and fiber in my body as I held her. I’d never felt this way from a kiss before. It must be from anticipation. I thought about those lips all day. That had to be why it felt so fucking good. Maybe it was because I hadn’t held a woman like this in a while. Whatever it was, I never wanted it to end.

  After the plane, I felt like I should always be holding her hand, and after this embrace, I knew I should always be kissing her. Her full, pouty lips caressed mine and she let out a little moan. My balls tightened and my hips jerked, responding to a primal need to be closer. Her body was warm and soft as she pressed into me. I ran my tongue across the seam of her lips and she slowly parted them for me, welcoming me into her mouth.

  Damn, her kisses were even shy and reserved and it was making me insane. Her tongue gently massaged mine, slowly at first, as if she were testing the waters, deciding whether or not it was safe. Then, she tightened her grasp on my neck, pulling me even closer, deepening our kiss. She relaxed into me and my hands explored her body. I reached down and scooped her under the thighs. She wrapped her legs around my waist and I let out an involuntary growl.

  I carried her into her room and lowered us onto her bed, not daring to break our kiss. Her hands were tangled in my hair and her legs around mine as I pressed my hardness between her thighs. I could feel the pebbles of her erect nipples as her chest rapidly rose and fell. My need for her was growing. Any more of this and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stop myself. I broke our kiss and looked down at her. Her eyes were heavy-lidded and she gazed up at me smiling.

  “What are you doing?” She reached up and caressed my cheek.

  “I’m trying to be a good guy, beautiful.”

  Her smile grew into a devastating grin.

  “Are you okay? Do you want to stop or…” Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

  “This is nice. I’d like to keep doing this,” she whispered. She pulled our faces together again. We explored each other’s mouths for a few more blissful moments before I pulled away again.

  “I’ll be right back, Princess,” I whispered and kissed her neck.

  “Wait, where are you going?” she whispered, pulling me back on top of her.

  “To get a condom.” I leaned down to kiss her again and she pulled away, her brow furrowed.

  “Adam,” she said, “you’re not going to need a condom.”

  I was having trouble reading her expression. What did she mean by you’re not going to need a condom? My dick was completely on board but my brain had a few questions that only one person could answer.

  “Kimberly.” I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat. “What did you mean when you said I wouldn’t need a condom?”

  She pushed me away and sat up.

  Shit.

  “I said you wouldn’t need a condom because we’re not going to have sex.” She was glaring at me with her arms crossed under her breasts pushing them up and making them look fuller. Jesus, Adam, focus!

  “Kimberly, wait a minute.” I knelt beside her on the bed with my hand on her thigh. “I think I misread this situation. I thought—”

  “You thought I was going to have sex with you after meeting you only…” she looked at her watch, “twelve hours ago?”

  “I thought when you said you wanted to keep going you meant—”

  “Sex?” she interrupted me again. “I meant kissing, Adam. I wanted to keep kissing.”

  Shit.

  I groaned and smacked my fist to my forehead. How could I have been so stupid? Of course, that’s what she meant.

  “This is nice. I’d like to keep doing this.”

  This was kissing.

  She was up and pacing back and forth in front of the bed. “Listen, it was a misunderstanding. Let’s not ruin—”

  “Oh my God,” she said, to me but possibly more to herself. “I am such an idiot. How could I have let this happen?”

  “Kimberly, just calm down.” If I caused her to have another panic attack, I’d never forgive myself. She rounded on me.

  “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down.” She didn’t raise her voice but she was seething. “Is this how quickly it usually happens?”

  There it was, the thing she didn’t say on the plane.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I didn’t know why I was getting defensive, but her words hurt me for some reason. She had a point, but I didn’t want her to know that. This was usually how fast it happened, sometimes faster, but nothing about this day or her was anything like the usual. The thought of her believing what she was implying pissed me off, but I couldn’t control what she’d heard about me, especially if it was the truth.

  “Let’s just cut the shit, Adam.” She glared at me. “I’ve heard about all of the women you’ve been with. I was warned to stay away from you and I should’ve listened.”

  That felt like a punch in the chest.

  “Really? Really?” I stood to face her. “You think I see you as just some random chick I want to screw? If I did, that would be a lot of hard work just to get laid and I don’t usually have to work that hard.”

  Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide with shock.

  I couldn’t believe what I’d just said. I didn’t know who handed me this shovel or why I couldn’t stop digging, but before I could stop myself I opened my mouth again.

  “And don’t forget, you invited me to stay here. You opened that door. You kissed me. You said you wanted to keep going.”

  Her facial expression didn’t change but her eyes were brimming with unshed tears. Fuck.

  “Kimberly, Jesus Christ.” I raked my fingers over my face. “I shouldn’t have said that. I promise you, I’m not an asshole. I wasn’t doing all the shit I did today to try to sleep with you. I just…” I closed my mouth. I just what? What I’d stopped myself from saying didn’t make sense.

  I took a step toward her and reached out to place my hands on her shoulders. She backed away.

  “You’re right,” she whispered. She blinked. The tears fell from her eyes and she immediately wiped them away. She drew in a deep breath and when she exhaled, her sadness was replaced with a steely resolve. She spoke in a clear confident voice. “This wasn’t a misunderstanding. It was a mistake. We shouldn’t have done this.”

  That felt like a knife in the chest for some reason.

  “We just got carried away and we should be more careful for the rest of the week. We’ll just focus on work then go our separate ways. We’ll just pretend it never happened.” The knife twisted.

  “Can we just talk about this?” I took another step forward and she backed away again, shaking her head.

  “You should go.”

  “Okay.” I nodded. “I’ll pack my stuff and go back to the suite.”

  “No,” she sighed. “You don’t have to go back to the suite. No one should ever have to go back to that suite. You can stay here. We’re both adults. We can share the space.”

  I nodded gratefully, afraid to say anything else in case I put my foot in my mouth again.

  I wanted to wrap my arms around her, but instead I opened the door to her bedroom and walked through it.

  “Goodnight, Kimberly.”

  “Goodnight, Mr. Price.”

  I sank into the couch in the sitting room trying to figure out how everything went south so quickly.

  I was supposed to swoop in and rescue her from the big bad storm, but Kimberly Simmons wasn’t in need of rescuing. I was. I wiggled my bandaged toe.

  While stumbling through the apartment in the dark, her big brown eyes apparently made me forget that my phone had a flashlight. I accidentally kicked what I think was the corner of the kitchen island. I didn’t realize it was bleeding until later.

  And what the hell was that kiss? I’d n
ever felt anything like it before. It was like I was kissing her with all five senses. And what the hell was that shit afterwards? Had she never had a misunderstanding? What the hell did she think was happening?

  I leaned back on the couch, covered my eyes with my forearm and closed them. I half hoped that maybe Kimberly would come out of her room so we could talk. I sure as shit wasn’t going to knock on her door.

  I drifted off to sleep more confused but still feeling the ghost of Kimberly’s legs wrapped around my waist.

  six

  Kimberly

  Well, Kimberly. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.

  I closed the door on Adam’s retreating figure and exhaled a shaky breath feeling my tears returning. I’d known about the rumors but now they weren’t rumors anymore. Adam confirmed them and in the most unkind way.

  “I don’t usually have to work that hard.”

  Well, that solved the mystery of why he was going out of his way to be so nice to me today. He was working hard to get me into bed and shame on me for depriving him of the spoils of his labor after he’d invested a whole twelve hours.

  I was angry at Adam, but not as angry as I was at myself. He was right. I invited him to stay at the apartment. I had to stop pretending it was only because I felt bad for him having to sleep in that hot ass room. Although, letting him stay there after experiencing it for myself would be the equivalent of leaving a dog locked in a car on a hot day.

  The irony of that comparison wasn’t lost on me.

  Adam was my complete opposite, in more ways than the obvious. He was outgoing and spontaneous. I avoided people like the plague and felt most at ease when every moment of my day was planned. He said whatever popped into his mind. I couldn’t start a conversation without at least ten rehearsed talking points. I’d bet he’d barely done any preparation for his presentation. He was probably planning to wing it—a concept that made me cringe, but Adam would probably have everyone eating out of the palm of his hand. Isn’t that what he just did to me?