“How about I buy us a drink and we can get to know each other?”
“I’m not interested in getting to know anyone.” I hated to be a prick like this, but some women didn’t know how to take no for an answer so I’d learnt the best way was to piss them off.
She gave me a huge smile, and I knew this was going to be drawn out. This woman was the kind who never got the message. “Never met a man who I couldn’t make mine for the night, and I’m not starting tonight. I’ll get us a drink and you’ll see how good I can make it for you.”
I stood. “No need. I was just leaving,” I announced and made a move to leave.
“Really? You’re not even gonna give me a chance?”
“It’s not you, babe. I’ve got a woman who I can’t get off my mind, so I’m going to say no and let you find a man who is right for you. That man isn’t me.”
She smiled. “They don’t make men like you very often anymore. Go an
d tell that woman how you feel. And I’ll find me a man, don’t you worry.”
I had no doubt she would. Leaving her, I headed outside to hail a cab. Five minutes later, I was on my way to Sophia’s house. It was the last place I wanted to go, but, fuck, it was the one place I was beginning to think I needed to be.
* * *
Her wary eyes narrowed on me. “What are you doing here, Griff? It’s late and I thought we covered everything yesterday.”
“I thought we’d covered everything, too. Turns out I’m not done. It seems you’re the only thing I can think of at the moment, and at a time of year I usually reserve for other thoughts, it’s confused the fuck out of me that you can so easily steal their place.”
She didn’t say anything straight away, and I began to think she was going to turn me away. But then she said softly, “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Every now and then you bare a piece of your soul to me and it makes me want to know more about you. It makes me want to know everything.”
I sucked in a breath. Don’t say that. “Can I come in?” I placed one foot inside her house, willing her to say yes.
She made my fucking night when she took a step back and ushered me in. I didn’t give her a chance to change her mind, and strode in towards her kitchen. When I reached my destination, I turned to look at her. Jesus, she was something else. Dressed in a pair of those denim shorts that killed me every-fucking-time and a white almost see-through t-shirt, with her hair pulled up in a ponytail and her face free of makeup, she was easily the most beautiful woman I had ever met.
Moving past me into the kitchen, she grabbed a glass out of a cupboard and poured herself a drink of water. Resting her back against the kitchen counter and one foot on the other, she sipped her drink and said, “So, you came to talk or to screw me?”
Fuck.
Straight to the point.
I rubbed the back of my neck and frowned. “I don’t really know.”
She stared at me for a long minute before placing her drink on the counter and moving to where I stood. Taking my face in her hands, she brushed her lips across mine, and fuck if my dick didn’t react straight away. Her touch was like a lightning bolt through me, lighting every nerve ending on fire.
I groaned into her mouth. I knew I should stop her, but I couldn’t. This woman had crawled under my skin and I was helpless to stop my need for her. I slid one hand around her neck and gripped her there while my other hand moved to hold the back of her head. Deepening the kiss, my tongue found hers and I kissed her in a way I hadn’t kissed a woman in a long time.
Fuck knew how long we kissed for. It was both heaven and hell for me - a constant push and pull of needs. All I wanted to do was take her body and bend it to give me what I desired – what I needed – but I refused to break her, so I denied myself.
She ended the kiss, and stared into my eyes. “You wanna talk about the thoughts you usually reserve for this time of year?”
“No.”
“Well, there’s your answer, handsome. It seems you came here to screw me.”
I still had hold of her, and I moved one of my hands to grip her ponytail. Yanking it back, I bent my mouth to her neck and sucked her hard enough that I was almost biting her. The moan that escaped her lips only encouraged me, and while I was fighting my urges as hard as I could, I lost my battle for a moment. My teeth sunk into her skin and I marked her neck.
When I was finished, I lifted my face and loosened my grip on her hair slightly. “You don’t do one-night stands, sweetheart, so it seems we have a small problem there.”
Her eyes watched me for a beat, and next minute, she had her hands on my jeans and had undone the button and was sliding the zip down.