“Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you one day.” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it softly, then nodded toward the front door. “You’d better go. I’d stake my career on the fact that he’s pacing a hole in the floor right now, terrified that I told you the truth about him.”
“Stop.” I opened the door and waited for him to come around to start walking. “He’s a really good guy, Caff. He just has a shell that’s harder than most of ours. You guys just met under shit circumstances.”
He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’ve known him almost my entire life, Zeppelin. But I’ll shut up. I can read a room.”
It made the very last part of our date awkward, which sucked after the progress we’d made. “Thanks for walking me up. I’ll—”
The door swung open, cutting me off, and Sterling stepped out in nothing but grey sweats slung sinfully low. “Caffrey fucking Brannigan. Never thought I’d see you on my doorstep again.”
“Sterling.” He stepped back, offering me a clipped nod. “Relax, Dad. I got her home by curfew. Have a good night.”
“Goodnight, Caffrey.” I turned to face Sterling, unable to stop my eyes from sliding down his gorgeous abs. My tongue slid across my lips without realizing and I felt starved, like I hadn’t eaten a bite of anything at dinner and I’d die if I didn’t taste the man in front of me. “Were you waiting up, Silver?” I asked, stepping in closer so I could smell him.
His eyes followed Caffrey like I wasn’t even there until the car door slammed and I could hear that cherry red beauty pulling out. “Yes, I was waiting up. No goodnight kiss?”
I shook my head, stepping around him to enter the house and pet Carl. “No kiss of any kind, and there won’t be a second date.”
“Oh, what a shame,” he quipped. “Do you want to tell me all about it while I gloat silently?”
“Yeah, I’ll give you every detail if you want. But first I want you to tell me why you hate him.” I crossed my arms and closed the distance between us. “It’s story night.”
Sterling hesitated, eyes raking down my frame. “Fine, but you may want to get out of that dress first.”
“Okay.” I turned around and started reaching for my zipper as I ran up the stairs but I couldn’t fucking reach it again, so I went right back to him and spun around. “Please?”
Deft fingers wrapped around the zipper and slowly tugged down, but he didn’t stop once I’d be able to reach it like I thought he would. No, he kept going until his knuckles were brushing the top of my ass and his breathing hitched behind me. “Did you want it to be him doing this tonight, Zeppelin?”
I shook my head, glancing back over my shoulder to meet his eyes. “Not for one moment,” I whispered, then rushed to my room to change without a look back.