Yeah.
On we go, hand in hand down the big staircase. Dozens of tables fill the room. All glitz and class and money. But all I’m focused on is her. And her hand on my arm, the scent of her perfume, the way her left tit feels nestled up against my arm.
Christ.
The thing is, it isn’t just that she’s sexy as fuck. It isn’t just the way she moves, the way she laughs. It’s her. It’s her presence. Her kindness. Her warmth. Her mind and her heart.
I never imagined someone like her could exist in the world. And now I can’t fucking imagine spending my time with anybody else.
We’ve never even touched beyond what we are doing now—not yet, anyway—but the fact that I’m buying her time, paying for her attention…it means she’s got power over me. It makes me want to punish her for it. Makes me want to ruin her for ruining me. Makes me want to devour her fucking body the same way she devours my fucking thoughts.
I want to slam her up against the wall and fuck her until the only thing she remembers is my name and the way my cock feels banging up against her cervix.
And the bidding war at the agency? It went on for so long, the agency finally put a time limit on it. I got the last bid in with a second to spare, thank God.
Fuuuuuck. I was so fucking hard, making those bids, securing her for tonight, that I had to jack off in the shower once I won. Hand on the tiled wall, water running down over my face, stroking my dick hard, imagining how she feels, how she sounds…how she fucks. If I get the chance.
When, I get the chance. Assumptive thinking Hale. No backing down. No surrender. This is the most important deal of my life, and I won’t lose.
She’s the gold at the end of the rainbow. I’ll empty my bank account if necessary. She’s the drug and I’m hooked. But I know, friendship will never be enough. I have to figure out how to crumble the walls she’s put up, but I have to do it in the right way.
Together, we find our seats. I pull her chair back, watching the red velvet of her dress pucker and pull as she bends her legs. “You look so beautiful, Isabel.”
Fuck, even her name makes me nearly double over.
She looks up at me again, smoothing her napkin on her lap like a good little girl. “And you look so handsome. You clean up so nice, Hale. That suit is…” She lifts her shoulders a little and kisses the tips of her fingers. “Gorgeous.”
I give her a wink, and then lean in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
It’s the first taste of her and even that brush of lips on flesh sends me into a fury. I wait, wondering if I crossed a line and simultaneously not giving a shit. My head spins as I try to stand and fail, wanting more, wanting it all, waiting to see if she had any reaction to what just happened.
She offers a smile. That’s all. Like the world didn’t just quake under my feet.
Then she takes this little breath, reaches up and gently caresses my face with her sweet little fingers. And kisses me back, just above my jawbone, making white lights explode behind my eyelids as I soak my boxers with cum.
“Excuse me for a minute.” I grit my teeth; I need to breathe before I lose all control and spread her on this white tablecloth and get down to eating the only thing I really want. “I need to take a leak.”
“Okay,” she whispers into my ear, and it’s the sexiest fucking word in the English language right now.
I don’t even try to stifle my growl as I push to my feet and turn away. Because Christ almighty, I want her. More than anything else in the entire motherfucking world.
And there is no more waiting in me.
I’m so goddamned hard for her that I know it’s going to take me a minute to be able to piss. And while I’m waiting for my dick to cooperate, the bathroom door swings open. And there he is.
Flint Motherfucking Alford.
Quarterback of the Detroit Lions.
And my son.
“Dad, holy shit. I didn’t know you’d be here.” He takes a spot a few down from me.
I was so young when I had him that I didn’t know enough to pass on much. I screwed up. Knocked up the girl I took to the senior prom, and she proceeded to have the baby, then said she never wanted to see me or Flint again. Sucked for him so I did my best fathering and mothering. My parents were both killed in a car accident the summer before Flint was born so man, it was a trying fucking time but, in the end, being a father is probably what saved me. Gave me focus and purpose. I didn’t have much guidance or help. But what I did teach him, he learned well. Honesty. Loyalty. Hard work. And not crowding other guys at the urinal.