Lust and Other Drugs Read Free

face was bright red and she knew it had nothing to do with the
temperature outside. She was relieved when he finally put her down, but that
relief was short-lived because as soon as they got into the truck, he flipped
the a/c to arctic.
    Normally it would have been a welcome relief, but the blasts
of cold air caused her nipples to harden against the thin material of her
t-shirt. If Chase had been any other man, she would have used it to her
advantage, to display herself before hungry eyes and taunt the lust she knew
was there.
    Her changing body had been a big deal in middle school. None
of the boys could look at her face when they’d talked to her. No one but Chase.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed—he teased her every so often like he had
earlier. Making jokes about her “great rack”. But she’d never caught him
staring and his hugs had never been the kind to press her against him strictly
for the sake of copping a feel. He never elbowed her just to brush his arm
against them, or played the tickle game hoping for brief contact, and he’d never
been anything but brotherly.
    It would figure, the one man she finally wanted to try to
look down her shirt or cop a feel and he didn’t. He didn’t even so much as look
at her as they drove. Chase was lost in his own world, strumming his fingers
against the steering wheel to Cannibal Corpse.
    Anne stole another glance at him and faced forward before he
could catch her staring. It was a short ride to his place. Before she could
stop herself, she was staring again and wondering what he’d do if she just
reached out her hand and traced the lines of his perfection. This time, he
noticed.
    “What? I have something in my teeth?” He flashed his pearly
whites at her and then at the mirror.
    “I wasn’t looking at your teeth.”
    Had that really just flown out of her mouth like a suicidal
lemming? Shit . He was going to ask her what she’d been looking
at. It was the next logical question. If only she could learn to keep her mouth
shut.
    “Then what were you looking at?”
    Why did he have to ask? She didn’t want to answer. She
didn’t have anything plausible to say to explain away the reason she kept
eye-humping him. But she couldn’t look away. It was cruel and unusual
punishment to put a man next to her who looked like that and not expect her to
stare.
    “If I was sitting here with my shirt off, you’d be looking
too.” She could have clapped her hand over her mouth, but it would have been
like slamming the barn door shut after the livestock had already trampled an
acre of corn.
    “Well, fair is fair.” He looked at her pointedly.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “ Quid pro quo , my dear.” He made a motion with his
hand as if she should continue.
    Oh . Maybe he wasn’t as immune as Anne had thought. Or
was this simply more banter?
    “Well, then what? We’d both be topless with nowhere to go.”
She laughed it off. “Actually, I was just thinking about a piece I have to work
on tonight.”
    “And your inspiration is written across my abs?” Chase was
skeptical.
    “You could say that. My inspiration is your abs.”
    “Do I want to know?” He crinkled his nose.
    “I don’t know, do you?” she tossed back with a cocky grin.
    “Fine, tell me.” He gave a long-suffering sigh.
    She never had to twist his arm too hard. Chase had the soul
of an explorer. He was curious about everything. He wanted an answer to every
question and he wanted it definitively. All she had to do to pique his interest
was imply she had an answer to something that she wouldn’t share. It didn’t
matter if the question had never occurred to him, he wanted the answer anyway.
    “I’m working on a book cover for one of my clients. I
couldn’t get the lines right on his abs, but yours will do nicely.”
    It wasn’t exactly a lie. The last four covers she’d created,
he’d been the inspiration. At least until she’d realized it was him .
Anne knew better than to