One Night Stand Part 1

One Night Stand.

J. S. Cooper.

Helen Cooper.

Acknowledgments.

Thank you to all of my readers for supporting my books in 2014. I write because of you. And I couldn't think of a better job to have.

Thanks to my editor Emma Mack for making time to edit my books, even when I am behind. Thanks to Louisa Maggio for the beautiful cover she made for the book. I love it so much.

Thanks to Tanya Kay Skaggs, Katrina Jaekley, Stacy Hahn, Cilicia White, Tianna Croy, Chanteal Justice, Kathy Shreve, Lisa Miller, Kelly Sloane for all your help reading this book and providing feedback chapter by chapter as I wrote Xander and Liv's story.

And last, but not least, thanks be to G.o.d for all of my blessings.

That Night.

Prologue.

"You can still call me Mr. Tongue if you want." He grinned at me and licked his lips deliberately, the tip of his tongue gliding back and forth, and reminding me of the night we'd spent together. The sinful night that I'd never forget. Only he wasn't supposed to be here. In my parents' house. Sitting on my couch. The couch I'd watched TV on for years. He wasn't supposed to be talking to my parents. He wasn't supposed to be looking so s.e.xy. I didn't even know his name.

One night stands are meant to be fun. They're meant to be exciting. They're meant to be adventurous experiments in lovemaking that don't follow you home. I don't consider myself a wh.o.r.e or cheap. I mean I have standards for the guys I want to date and hook up with. I even have a chart of things I look for in a guy. I don't just drop my panties for any guy with a cute smile, handsome face and a wallet full of cash. I've slept with men that had no cash, missing teeth and even one that was prematurely balding, but they were all boyfriends. Yes, I've had questionable taste in men, but that's a story for another day. One I'm not particularly proud of. In fact I still cringe when I remember the guy with the missing teeth going down on me. It made for an unusual experience.

I know you might not believe that I have standards now. Especially considering how quickly I dropped my panties for the mysterious stranger at my friends' wedding. The mysterious stranger that was now standing in front of me. You might want to believe that I drop my panties for any man that asks, but trust me I don't. Mr. Tongue was the exception to the rule. I dropped my panties without a second thought when I saw him. Well, actually that's a bit of a lie. I didn't exactly drop my panties. He took them off with his teeth. His cute, perfectly straight, sharp pearly-white teeth. Oh s.h.i.+t, my body can still remember his teeth grazing my skin as he pulled my white lace panties off. Honestly, in that moment I couldn't stop him or myself. It was one of those magical moments that you see in movies. The chemistry was perfect between us, our bodies were on fire and all I could think about was him and his mouth; even though we were just one room away from a packed church. I never thought anything like that would happen to me. I got caught up in the moment. I mean it's not every day you make eye contact with a green eyed stranger, and he leads you to a back room in a church (G.o.d, forgive me). It's not every day that you meet a man: a gorgeous, s.e.xy, virile stud of a man, and okay, yes he was slightly obnoxious, but I didn't care. It's not every day a hot stud has got you on the floor, with your dress riding up around your waist as he pulls your panties off with his teeth. And let's not forget his tongue. Oh my G.o.d, his tongue did things to me that I cannot repeat. Things, I didn't even know existed. Like multiple o.r.g.a.s.ms in minutes, yes, I said minutes. Like one right after the other. And all from his tongue: pink, long and extremely flexible. Who knew tongues could be so flexible? Not me. And of course, he knew he'd blown my world. The grin on his face and the glint in his eye told me that he knew he was the s.h.i.+t. Smug, c.o.c.ky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. As I stared at him in front of me, I knew that he could still remember that day as well. I could see it in the glint of his eye as I tried to keep my breathing under control. What had he done to me then, and why was he here now?

I'd only been slightly embarra.s.sed as I'd climaxed on his mouth. The way he'd eagerly licked up my juices from his lips had made me feel slightly dirty. I didn't care though. I was still too busy trying to catch my breath as I jumped up from the ground, and pulled my dress back down. I started panicking as I heard the organist playing "Here Comes the Bride". I had to get back to my pew in the church quickly and that also meant panty less as he didn't want to give them back (and yeah, I thought that was kind of hot). I know, I have no shame. I walked back into the church that day feeling like a harlot. I'd let some nameless, random smug man go down on me, right before a wedding. Who did that?

That wasn't even the worst of it. I went home with him too. And when I say went home, I mean to his hotel suite. His very expensive, very impressive suite at the Marriott downtown (he was most probably paying my month's rent for a long weekend). We went to his hotel room and this time he used more than his tongue. And this time, I did more than lie back with my legs in the air and his face firmly planted down smack bang in the center. It was a night of fireworks. A night of explosive s.e.x that blew my world and everything that I thought I knew about s.e.x. I was ruined for the next boring man I dated. No longer would I be happy with quick foreplay and some push in and out missionary action. I'd never had s.e.x so hot and I suppose that's the beauty of one night stands. You hook up and do all the things you're too self-conscious to normally do. Neither one of us had expectations. We didn't even exchange names. And that's why I left early the next morning and hurried out of the room, head held as high as I could as I did the walk of shame through the hotel lobby, my smeared mascara and messy hair telling my tale to everyone that viewed me.

I didn't care though. I'd experienced the best s.e.x of my life and with the hottest man I'd ever met. That does something to your ego. I felt like a million dollars and I was pretty sure I'd rocked his world as well. He wouldn't forget me anytime soon; especially as he had the scratch and bite marks to remind him of our night for the next few days. It didn't even matter that he'd seemed like he could be an arrogant a.s.shole; the way he'd bossed me around the bed. I even kind of liked his take charge alphaness. It was good in the bedroom, though I knew in everyday life, he'd annoy me, but that didn't matter. He wasn't someone I ever had to deal with again.

I was wrong though. Because you know how life goes. When you're riding high and feeling like you're on top of everything, something always happens to bring you back down to earth. That's what happened to me this weekend when I came home to visit my parents. The weekend after the wedding when I hooked up with Mr. Tongue. Yes, my one night stand didn't seem so hot and innocent when I turned up at my parents' house and saw him sitting on my parents couch. Miracle Tongue or as he called himself Mr. Tongue had nearly given me a heart attack when I'd seen him sitting there in front of me my parents couch, sipping Earl Grey Tea. The moment he looked up at me, his green eyes laughing, was a moment I'll never forget. It was the moment that stopped my heart for what seemed like minutes. It was the moment that reminded me why I'd never had a one-night stand before. I stood there for a few seconds, before he stood up and walked over to me, a huge grin on his face.

"h.e.l.lo," he grinned at me as he reached his hand out to me. "Nice to meet you, my name is Xander."

"I'm Liv." I said softly, my face red as I shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you Liv." His eyes teased me as my parents stood there watching us.

"You too." I swallowed hard. What was he doing here?

"Oh, you have something on your ear." He leaned forward and brushed something off of my ear as he whispered quietly. "Now I have a name to put to the face when I think about our night together." He said and I felt the tip of his tongue on my earlobe. I pulled back in shock and glanced at him and then back at my parents.

"What are you doing here?" I asked softly, needing an answer. This was too much of a coincidence. Of course the answer wasn't the fairytale answer that I was secretly hoping for. He hadn't tracked me down because he couldn't forget me. He hadn't come to woo me. No, of course my journey into the land of one night stands couldn't be so perfect. Of course, my journey into one night stands ended up being one complicated mess. I should have known that for me it wouldn't be one night of fun. I should have known that one night stands never end at one night and they always turn into a whole bunch of trouble.

"What would you like me to be doing here?" He laughed and ran his hands through his jet black hair. Hair I knew was silky soft to the touch. Hair that I'd grabbed and pulled. I bit my lower lip as I stood there, in shock. If I'd known the reason why he was there, I would have run away. If I'd known who he was at the wedding I would have said no. But of course, I wasn't privy to that information. So of course my one night stand changed everything I thought I knew about my life and who I was. My one night stand had a name. And that was Xander James. And Xander James was about to make everything in my life a whole lot more complicated. Because Xander James was a lot more man than just being Mr. Tongue, Xander James was a man that took what he wanted when he wanted it, no questions asked. And now that he'd seen me again. I was at the top of his list of wants.

Chapter One.

One Week Earlier.

"Liv, I will give you one hundred dollars if you hook up with someone at the wedding reception tomorrow." Alice grinned at me and held up five twenties in her hand. "Five big ones, baby."

"Five big ones would mean five hundred dollars, not one hundred dollars." I rolled my eyes. "Twenties aren't considered big ones."

"They are to me."

"Not to me."

"Liv." Alice sighed. "Stop trying to change the subject. You going to do it or what?" She paused. "I dare you."

My eyes narrowed as I stared at her. Alice knew that I wasn't one to back down from a dare. "What do I have to do?"

"Just make out with a guy." She grinned. "Any guy."

"Any guy?"

"Well a guy at the reception. It has to be a wedding hookup."

"Joanna will kill me." I shook my head and laughed.

"That's the point." She giggled and collapsed onto my bed.

"Oh Alice." I sighed and sat down next to her. Joanna was our roommate from college. The three of us had lived together for the last three years. And we'd been shocked when Joanna had informed us she was getting married, two months after we graduated. To Alice's ex-boyfriend.

"If you hook up with Luke, I'll give you five hundred."

"I'm not hooking up with your ex." I made a face and then slapped my mouth. "Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Alice shrugged. "You're a good friend."

"I can't believe she's marrying him and invited us to the wedding."

"She's a b.i.t.c.h." Alice nodded.

"We don't have to go." I said hopefully. I really didn't want to go to this wedding. I had a really bad feeling that something was going to go awfully wrong.

"We have to go." Alice licked her lips. "And we're going to be crazy."

"I don't know if I want to be crazy." I made a face and sighed. I didn't want to be crazy, but I knew for Alice's sake I'd be as crazy as I could be. Which would be hard, considering my background.

I'm the good girl in my family. The youngest in a family of five kids; I have three brothers and one sister. All of whom are crazy and out of control. You don't have a family of crazy siblings and end up crazy. You end up as a good kid. You end up as the kid that the parents are thankful for. You end up as a goody two shoes. I've been a goody two shoes all my life. Up until college. I went away to college determined to have some fun. And fun, I had. Though it wasn't the s.e.xing a different hot guy every week, sort of fun. It was the smoking a joint in a dark room with three of my friends and talking about hot guys sort of fun. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to be one of those confident girls that just goes out and gets laid with whomever she wanted. Only, I didn't have the sort of personality that permitted that.

Instead, I had two long-term relations.h.i.+ps, with two average safe guys, with some average and safe s.e.x. I graduated with a bachelor's degree as a single, twenty two year old feeling like I was just as boring as I'd been when I'd started school. I was determined for that to change, once and for all. Even if that meant making a spectacle of myself at Joanna's wedding.

"Don't forget, five big ones baby." Alice grinned at me as we walked into the church the next afternoon; both of us slightly tipsy from the free mimosas we'd had with our breakfast. "Just think of all the things you can do with the money."

"$100 isn't going to make me a millionaire." I rolled my eyes at her as I laughed. "I thought you'd forgotten about that stupid proposition."

"I had, but then I just saw Luke and Joanna and I wanted to gag." She made a face. "It would make me feel a lot better knowing that someone hooked up at her wedding." She grinned. "It would be like this dirty little joke that no one knew about, but me."

"Well, I'd know and the guy would know as well." We stood next to the pews awkwardly and continued talking. "Also, I don't think this is an appropriate conversation to have in front of G.o.d."

"G.o.d isn't happy with Joanna either." Alice made a face and then sighed. "Forgive me, Father for I have sinned." She quickly made the sign of a cross and screwed up her nose. "Fine, don't hook up with anyone and don't make me feel better."

"My hooking up with someone shouldn't make you feel better anyways, Alice." I laughed and then looked around. "Should we sit? I feel like we're kind of early."

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged. "Or we could just ditch and go and get some more mimosas? That sounds like an even better plan."

"We can't ditch." I laughed at the suggestion, though I wasn't altogether sold on having to sit through the wedding of two people I didn't really like.

"Please." Alice made a hopeful face at me and I laughed again as she made a drinking motion. This time my head fell back as I laughed and I could feel someone staring at me. I looked to the left and there I saw a tall, brooding man with dark hair and a frown on his face about two hundred yards away from us. I attempted to give him a smile, but instead of smiling back, he gave me a disdainful eyebrow raise and looked away.

"That guy is an a.s.shole." I whispered to Alice, the laughter gone from my voice.

"What guy?" She turned around and looked towards the entrance of the church, but the rude man had gone and a group of older women were walking towards us.

"There was a guy up there just now, who was looking at me as if I were some commoner on his estate or something." I could feel my face flus.h.i.+ng red with anger as I remembered his superior look. "I'm not sure who he thinks he is, but I don't think there's anything wrong with laughing in a church."

"Yeah, that's weird." Alice nodded. "Maybe he's related to Joanna or something, I think her entire family is full of sn.o.bs. No one is good enough for her."

"I don't get why he was glaring at me." I said again. "I wasn't doing anything wrong."

"Forget him, he most probably needs to get laid." Alice said loudly and I groaned as I saw a priest behind her.

"Good Afternoon Father." I said meekly, my face burning in shame now.

"Good Afternoon." His eyes burned into mine and I knew that he'd heard Alice and was thinking that both of us needed to go to some sort of confession; even though neither one of us was Catholic. He continued walking past us and I grabbed Alice's arm.

"Let's go outside and wait until it fills up a bit. I feel like we're just making a spectacle of ourselves."

"s.e.x with the group would be making a spectacle of myself, not just standing here." She rolled her eyes and I felt a wave of compa.s.sion towards her.

"Are you okay? This must be hard?"

"My ex-boyfriend is marrying my ex roommate and friend, what's to be upset about?" Alice sighed and then shook her head. "I don't really care. He had a small d.i.c.k. That's Joanna's problem now."

"Hahaha." I started laughing again and this time, tears were rolling down my face. I wasn't sure why I found it so funny, but I suspect that the mimosas had worked their magic and I was feeling more relaxed than usual. "You never told me that Luke wasn't good in bed."

"He was good with his tongue." She grinned. "That was good enough."

"Hmm," I scratched my head. "Let me think." I closed my eyes and tried to think about a guy going down on me versus a guy entering me. "c.o.c.k or tongue, what do I prefer?" I giggled and then opened my eyes. Alice's face looked stiff and I turned to the right of me and saw the brooding man from earlier, standing right next to Alice. His green eyes looked amused as he stared at me. He was gorgeous and I was having a hard time breathing as I realized what I'd just said, out loud. I wanted to groan, but kept my mouth shut as I stared at him. His lips looked pink and soft and he had a light, dark beard, that looked s.e.xy as h.e.l.l on him, and I wasn't even a girl that was into facial hair. I could feel my face burning up as I stared at him. All I could think about was his beard and I wondered if it would tickle me if he went down on me. I wanted to slap myself for my inappropriate thoughts. That was it, no more mimosas in the morning.

"Did you make up your mind?" The man said slowly, his voice a deep, husky growl that made me think of dark rooms and handcuffs.

"Make up my mind about what?" I squeaked out, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Your preference." He grinned and licked his lips slowly. My eyes followed his long tongue and I knew he was teasing me, but I didn't care.

"Yes." I said softly and flicked my long brown hair back.

"And?" He leaned forward, his eyes letting me know he was attracted to me. I looked at Alice and she was grinning at the two of us as she took a step back.

"And that's for me to know." I smiled at him sweetly, though my stomach was churning.

"What if I want to find out?" His eyes gazed into mine, searching and he touched my shoulder lightly.

"What if you do?" I shrugged and he stepped back with a smile and nodded.

"You'll find out."

"I'll find out what?" My heart was racing as I studied his chest. I could tell, even though he was wearing a suit, that he was well-built.

"You'll find out what happens when I want to know something."

"Okay..." My voice trailed off.

"Okay then." He grinned, a c.o.c.ky smile, and licked his lips again. "I'll see you later." And with that he walked away.

"What was that?" I whispered to Alice, my body trembling slightly from my encounter.

"I have no idea what just happened, but that guy was s.e.xy as h.e.l.l." Alice looked behind her. "I wouldn't mind his tongue or his-"

"Alice." I laughed as I cut her off. "I think we should change the subject."

"Why?" She sighed. "You can't tell me you didn't think he was hot."

"I can't tell you that, no." I laughed and thought about the guy's green eyes and dark hair. I repositioned my legs as I remembered his pink tongue. "He's the sort of guy, it would be hard to say no too."