She laughs. It’s a happy sound, light and airy, but there’s a darkness underscoring it that resonates inside me like a lone note played on a melancholy violin.
My broken pieces make music with hers.
“Chelsea would not only approve, she’d probably pay for the room herself if I asked her to. Will you have many of these objections?”
“Why?”
“I’m wondering if I should leave now or order another drink to give you time to wrestle with your conscience.”
She looks at my mouth then. Looks at it and licks her lips, as if she’s imagining tasting me.
Then she has the fucking audacity to say, “Or are you worried you won’t be able to get an erection?”
I glower at her from under lowered brows. “Don’t test me, Shay.”
“Oh, you’re much too scary to test. I wouldn’t dare.”
She says it exactly like a fucking dare.
Okay. Game on.
I take her hand and place it on my lap, curling her fingers around my dick, stiff and throbbing under my zipper.
Her eyes widen. This time, her laugh is breathless. “Oh. That answers that.” Cheeks flushed, she glances around the bar. “Thank goodness for the tablecloth.”
“Look at me.”
When she sends me a wary, sideways glance, I lean closer and lower my voice.
“Yes, I want to fuck you. But you were right when you said I look like a lot of women’s biggest regret. You already have enough of those.”
Considering her cheeks are so red, it makes her composure even more impressive when she answers. “True enough. But the batteries in my vibrator died this morning, so the timing is actually quite good.”
I don’t know if I’m more pissed off or turned on.
What the fuck is she doing?
I growl, “You’re right. You are reckless. You’ll get yourself in trouble if you keep going around propositioning strangers.”
“You’re the first and last stranger I’ll ever proposition, so there’s nothing to worry about. May I please have my hand back now? Unless you’re about to undo your zipper, this is really awkward.”
“You can’t actually believe jerking me off under the tablecloth could be less awkward.”
“At least I’d be holding onto something other than my humiliation.”
Aroused, frustrated, and helplessly charmed, I can’t think of anything else to say but a gruff, “Fuck.”
“Is that a yes?”
She stares at me with those big eyes, her cheeks blazing red. She’s flustered and embarrassed but holding her head high, still not giving me an inch. She’s completely unapologetic.
Many months later, I’ll look back on this moment and realize I never had a chance.
I was a goner the second she sat down next to me and smiled.
Shay
This is so not my style, I might have unknowingly been taken over by one of those sex-obsessed aliens Angel was talking about.
Also, I know it’s perverse, but there’s a part of me that’s really enjoying how uncomfortable this conversation is making Cole.
That he’s used to being the one in control is obvious.
That he wants me is also obvious.
What’s not obvious is why he’s holding back. There’s got to be more to it than he’s trying to keep me from making a mistake.
No man is that unselfish. Not when nostrings sex is involved.
He says, “No, it wasn’t a yes. And stop looking at me like I’ve got a hidden motive. It’s very simple: I think you’d regret it.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“You’re emotionally vulnerable. You’ve had a few drinks. Those things never mix well.”
Okay, maybe he is unselfish. Better test him to be sure. “What I’m hearing is that you just don’t have the courage to tell me you’ve got an STD, and it’s flaring.”
He closes his eyes, grits his teeth, and draws a slow, aggravated breath.
Into his bristling silence, I say, “Cole. Please look at me. I want to say something, but I want you to be looking at me when I do.”
When he turns his gaze on me, the air ripples from the heat of it.
My pulse flutters. My mouth goes dry. I have to swallow before I can speak. “Will you please get us a room in this hotel? I would very much like to take this girthy beast under your zipper out for a ride.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, woman,” he mutters, glaring at me in outrage.
“You’re the one who put my hand on your dick. We’re way past the polite chitchat stage.”