Then she turned to go to her table where the residents in her group were busy chatting. My body was incredibly tense. She was out right threatening to tell Dave, my friend and an employee, that I was into BDSM. My heart pounded in my ears, and I had to take a big drink to calm myself.
When she was back with the group, Dave turned to me. “Damn, she is one hot woman. You don’t mind if I make a move? Try to distract her from you?”
“She’s a crazy bitch,” I said. “In fact, I’d stay as far away from her as I could get. Seriously.”
“If you say so but she looks damn hot and crazy-hot women are my weakness.”
“Dave,” I said and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me about the crazy part. Stay away.”
For the next half hour, Dave and I continued our discussion on foundation business while we drank our beer and watched the game on the television. Lisa and her group were boisterous and although I could feel her eyes on me, she didn’t come back again. I heaved a sigh of relief.
When my beer was finished, I stood and pulled on my jacket. “Time to go. Kate will be waiting.”
“Tell her I hope she’s feeling better soon.”
I nodded and we shook hands. “Thanks,” I said. “I will.”
We were on our way out and I thought I had escaped Lisa for the night, but no luck. When Dave went to his car, I went to mine which was parked a few cars down.
Of course, it was then that Lisa made her move. The real reason she came to the pub.
“Drake,” she said, running to catch me before I got in the driver’s side. “Wait. I wanted to talk to you.”
I had my key fob out and had unlocked the door when she reached my side. I turned to her, trying not to frown. I remembered Lara’s advice to humor her.
“What can I do for you? I really have to get home to Kate…”
“Can I catch a ride?” she said, breathless from running.
I sighed audibly. “Of course,” I said. I got in the car and unlocked the other doors. She climbed in beside me and fastened her belt.
“Thanks, Drake,” she said. “It’s going to rain. I’d rather not have to take the subway or take a taxi. I had a rental but parking was so hard, I decided to let it go and use the transit system, but it’s nasty at night.”
“No problem,” I said, deciding to play it really cool and be pleasant and calm.
We drove down the streets and I really didn’t want to make conversation with her, so I let the silence hang between us.
“Are you going to talk to me?” she said in a petulant voice. “Considering you had your dick down my throat at one time, and then up my ass, I’d think you might be a little friendlier…”
I gripped the steering wheel and fought to keep my eyes on the road. It took a moment for me to recover from her blatant statement.
I didn’t remember that part of our encounters. I tried hard, but it sounded like the me from those days. I liked to tie up my partners and fuck their mouths and then do anal. It seemed the least intimate way to get off.
“What would you like to talk about?”
She moved around, her arm going on the back of my seat. “We haven’t had lunch yet. I’d like to go to Misha some day, for the borscht. You love Russian food, right? How about tomorrow?”
“Can’t,” I said, my mind working on what I could use as an excuse. “Going over to the Foundation to do some work.”
“What day will you take me?”
I stopped at a traffic light, my heart pounding, my hands gripping the wheel far too hard.
“Lisa, we are not going to do this.”
She smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Yes, we are. In case you forgot, you’re supposed to be nice to me.”
“I am nice to you. I’m giving you a ride home. It’s out of my way. That’s a nice thing to do.”