Free Heaven Can't Wait by Pamela Clare Page A

shading of the flower petals when she heard Will striding down the hallway.
    “Hey, Lissy, have you seen my—?”
    She stepped out of the kitchen to find him standing just inside the living room, stark naked, a towel in hand, looking utterly astonished.
    Beyond him, Tessa sat on the couch, her face pink, her eyes wide, her gaze gliding down his body to rest on his groin. She cleared her throat delicately, lifted her chin. “Yes, I believe she has seen it. And now so have I.”
     
    Will knew he had it coming.
    Lissy was on him the moment he got back from walking Tessa to her car. She looked genuinely angry. “You did that on purpose!”
    “How could I when I had no idea Tessa was coming over?”
    She rolled her eyes at him, put a hand on her hip. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it! You came out here naked, not knowing she was here, hoping to turn me on.”
    He gave her his most charming grin. “Did it work?”
    She glared at him, but her cheeks turned pink. “No, it didn’t work! It’s not like I haven’t see it all before, you know.”
    He pulled her against him, nuzzled her cheek. “Then why are you blushing?”
    She pushed him away. “I’m not blushing! I’m furious! You’ve been doing this all week—trying to get me so turned on that I come begging. You even sabotaged my vibrator!”
    He grabbed her wrist, pressed it against his lips. “And what about you, sugar, teasing me with T and A? You’ve slathered so much cream on that delicious ass of yours I’m surprised there isn’t an oil slick on your chair at work!”
    Her head dropped and she sank against him. “Oh, Will, this isn’t how the bet was supposed to work. It was supposed to make things romantic, not pit us against one another.”
    He didn’t say what he thought the bet was really about because she was already upset and because he didn’t want to think about her mother. “We could just absolve one another and end the stupid bet.”
    She pulled back from him. “You think romance is stupid?”
    “That’s not what I said!”
    “Kind of sounded like it to me. Maybe it’s all just about sex for you.”
    Now he was feeling angry. “You know that’s not true.”
    “Good night, Will.” She brushed past him and disappeared into the bathroom.
    He stared after her, wondering how she had managed to twist his words so thoroughly.
    Women!
     
    They made up over breakfast—sort of.
    Will apologized for accidentally walking into the living room naked in front of Tessa when he didn’t have the slightest clue she was there and for wanting so much to make love to Lissy. Lissy said she was sorry for overreacting to his apparent lack of interest in romance, something that really any woman would find irritating. Then, pretending that everything was fine, they got to work.
    Lissy packed things they wouldn’t need until after their honeymoon—wedding gifts, financial records, winter clothes, camping gear, Will’s football memorabilia—cranking En Vogue on the stereo and singing along to “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It).”
    Will seemed not to notice her or her pointed choice of music, hoisting heavy boxes onto his shoulders, carrying them outside and through the Cone Zone to his pickup and driving them to the new house without a word. But the third time she played the same song, he put on his iPod.
    He was ignoring her.
    She set about ignoring him, too.
    They worked without speaking through the afternoon, taking a quick break over chicken curry and Thai iced teas, then showering alone, each getting ready for the night ahead. Holly was coming at seven to take Lissy to a private suite at the Adam’s Mark for her bridal shower/bachelorette party, while Devon was sending a limo to pick up Will and convey him and his groomsmen to certain unnamed establishments on East Colfax.
    It was only after Will had left, looking like pure sex in black jeans and a silky black T-shirt, that it hit her: She’d sent the man she loved off to