No Reservations by Lilly Cain Read Free Book Online

first few stairs, he looked at the framed photos on the stairwell wall.
    Alicia’s smiling face peered out from a few shots. Others were obviously family, and a few were scenes that looked exotic. He studied them all as he descended, smiling at some and wondering about others until he spied a small shot of Alicia with a group of people. Her arms were wrapped around a tall, cocky-looking man with a brush cut. Alicia looked happy. Peering closer at the photo, one thing stood out—a sparkling ring on her left hand.
    He’d done it again.
    * * *
    Alicia rolled over and opened her eyes. The bed was empty, the warmth from Travis’s body gone. The place was silent and, despite the open curtains, a little dark. Her dress lay on the arm of her comfy corner chair. If her body didn’t ache in unusual spots, she would have sworn last night had never happened.
    If Travis was gone she wouldn’t have to face him. That sounded good on a number of levels. One, she could feel her face flushing, just thinking about how she’d let him take her. She’d basically surrendered, given him leave to do anything he wanted to her body, even if she hadn’t said it in words. Worse, she knew she’d do it again. What he’d done felt so damn good she could only imagine what might happen the next time he was in control.
    Beyond that, there was the awkwardness of a one-night stand, because that was surely all they’d had together. They barely knew each other anymore. Although in truth, it was their second night… She shook her head. Then there was the fact that she’d promised him a flight and she wasn’t even sure that there was one available today. He’d think she was jerking him around for sure.
    That was something she didn’t want. She’d done the wrong thing in taking out her anger for her ex and what he represented on Travis. He wasn’t a bad guy. If circumstances were different and they’d met a year from now, when the wounds from her divorce were more healed, would she have jerked him around? She wasn’t really a bad girl. It wasn’t like she’d done something really horrible, just played a little trick. She’d make it up to him, but it left a slightly sour note to the beginning. She stopped, thought about it. The beginning of what?
    With a groan, she rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom. Travis’s clothes were gone, and she couldn’t hear anything from downstairs. A small trickle of loneliness wormed its way through her stomach. Pursing her lips, she turned on the shower as hot as she could stand it and jumped in. This was exactly why she didn’t need to get involved with anyone again, especially a guy who hopped in and out of beds. Never mind that she’d done the same herself. She wasn’t like Selene, changing men like she changed her handbags.
    Alicia stood in the hot water for minutes longer than a shower called for. Her breasts tingled and ached from Travis’s touch and her pussy throbbed. When she found herself absently stroking her clit, she rested her head against the cool marble tiles of the shower and flicked the water off.
    Steam bathed the room. She shook her head at herself and then roughly dried her hair and body. She grabbed a terrycloth robe and her toothbrush and headed for her office. Two minutes later, she was still chewing on the minty brush and staring at her computer screen when she heard the front door security alarm beep.
    “Hey, Travis. I hope you brought coffee,” she called out toward the front entrance. Despite her earlier self-admonition, pleasure flickered through her at his return. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he wasn’t a player.
    “Sorry, chick. It’s me.” Selene popped through the doorway to Alicia’s office with two take-out coffees in her hands. “Have you misplaced the stallion already? Need me to rope him up and tie him down for y’all?” She handed a coffee to Alicia and took a sip of her own.
    “No, and what’s with the cowboy vocabulary?” Alicia set her coffee aside