Only One Night (Only One 3)

“Here we go.” She hands me my drink with almost a leer and then hands Manning his scotch. “Is there anything else you need?” she asks him, and I want to shout at her to get off his dick. Besides, I’m standing right here. His dick is already taken care of. I mean, if he wants. Just thinking that way, I know I should not drink this. My mind is playing tug-of-war with my heart and my vagina.

“We’re good,” he says to her, and she walks away.

I hold my drink up. “To three.” I smile at him and wink. He holds up his scotch glass to mine, the glasses clinking, but with the noise of the music, you can’t hear it. It almost feels like the world is spinning around us, and the two of us are the only ones standing still.

“You,” he says, looking at me, “are trouble with a capital T.” He brings the glass of scotch to his lips. “It’s written all over you.” I laugh now, taking my own sip of my drink.

“Why do you say that?” I ask him, and he looks around. He does that a lot. I tilt my head to the side, and I have to wonder what the hell I am doing. I’m playing with fire. I’m so out of my comfort zone right now. I’m also way, way out of my league. This man can have any woman he wants. I know it, and he knows it. Fuck, the waitress even knows it, yet he’s standing here playing cat and mouse with me, and I just hope to fuck I can still stand at the end of it.

He takes another gulp of his scotch. “You.” He shakes his head. “You just make me think of things I shouldn’t be thinking about,” he says, looking down at me. He lifts one of his hands, and it looks like he’s going to touch my face, but he catches himself and puts his hand in his pocket. My body is now aching for his touch.

“And what things are you thinking about?” I ask, taking another sip of the cool crisp drink. My mouth is getting drier and drier each time I look at him. My knees shake just a bit, but I hold steady. “Who knows.” I lean into him and get as close to his ear as I can. “Maybe we’re thinking the same thing.”

His eyes gloss over when he takes another sip of his scotch. “How often do you do this?” he asks. Any other time, I would be offended, if not insulted. But let’s face it, I’m coming on strong, which is not anything I would do any other day.

“Define do this?” I ask. Someone walks behind me, and I have to step closer to him, and at this point, our chests touch. “If you’re asking about me flirting, it’s been a while.” I take a sip of the drink and look at him. “If you’re asking me about having a one-night stand.” I shake my head. “Never.” He swallows now, looking down at me. “What about you, Manning? How often do you do this?” I have never been this brazen or this cutthroat to get a man.

“Never,” he says, taking another drink, and I have to wonder if this is his liquid courage also. “Never had a need to. Never wanted to.”

I laugh now. “So full of himself,” I say, and someone else bumps into me now. His hand comes out of his pocket, and he places it at the base of my lower back. I can feel his hand through the silk of the shirt. The dance floor starts to get so cramped that you can’t even move. “So, tell me, Manning, why now?” He looks over at the crowd, scanning it. “Are you with the FBI?” I ask, and his eyebrows pull together.

“What?” he asks, laughing.

“You keep looking over at the room, so it tells me that you are either in the FBI, a police officer, or you’re in the witness protection program, and you shouldn’t be here.” He throws his head back and laughs. “Or linebacker for a football team.” I laugh now. “I almost went with wrestler but . . .” I wait for him to look at me and take the last sip of his drink. “So tell me, Manning, why now?”

He leans down now, and my breath hitches in my chest. “You make me want things I shouldn’t.” His breath comes out, and I shiver in his arms. “You make me want to do things I shouldn’t,” he continues. “It’s a lethal combination.” I turn my head just a touch, and my lips are so close to his, it would take nothing to kiss him.

“Is that so?” I say, licking my lips, and then the words are out of my mouth before I can even take them back. “Show me.”