“Oh, so you didn’t intend to kiss me or is it that you don’t actually find me that attractive?” she asked. There was an edge of anger in her voice and I knew I had only seconds to stop it from rising to a level that would result in her answer being no.
“No, it’s not that at all,” I said backpedaling. “I think you’re gorgeous and I definitely enjoy kissing you, but…”
“Jesus, Connor, spit it out!” she said.
“Look, I like you,” I began. Throwing caution to the wind, I said, “But I don’t know you very well, and I just don’t want to rush into anything before either one of us is ready.”
“What the,” she said obviously caught off guard. “This is insane. What the hell are you doing?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Look, there’s something about you that I really like, and I want to get to know you better before we move to the next level and get intimate.”
“You want to do what?” she repeated. Her blue eyes were wide with surprise and I wasn’t entirely sure she’d even blinked since I’d started talking. “What planet are you from?”
“I want to date you,” I said spelling it out clearly. “There, I said it. I don’t want to have sex with you until I know if we actually like each other.”
Payton stared at me for a moment and then her knees buckled and she sunk onto the edge of the bed.
“Aw shit,” I muttered as I sat down next to her and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” she said. “You just said you don’t want to screw me before you know me, and you’re asking me if I’m okay?”
“Well, yeah,” I said, wondering what she was thinking. I didn’t know her well enough to be able to discern those small signs that Pop used to tell me Gram gave him in order to let him know how she felt. He’d tell me to look out for the little things; the furrowed brow, the corners of her mouth pulling down a bit, or the worst, the raised eyebrow. I’d learned a lot from Papa, but he’d also warned me that every woman had different signs and not to try and assign one set of signs to every woman. The older I’d gotten, the more sense this had made.
“Holy shit,” Payton said as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. “Are you for real, Connor?”
“Pretty sure, I am,” I said looking around the room. “Look, I didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just that I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it, or if you’d think I was weirdly old-fashioned. And, well, I wanted it to go a little more smoothly than this, but what do you think?”
“I think you’re full of shit,” she said as she stared at me.
“What the hell?” I said surprised by her bluntness. “I try to be a gentleman and you tell me I’m full of shit?”
“Because you are,” she said as she stood up and walked across the room. She spun on her heel and gave me a pointed look as she continued, “Look, I’m not a rocket scientist, but I sure as hell know that a guy like you isn’t a choir
boy and doesn’t turn down sex on a regular basis.”
“That’s pretty presumptuous of you,” I said defensively, gripping the duvet cover as my brain quickly spun to find an explanation. “You have no idea what my sex life is like.”
“Oh please, don’t try and play Pollyanna with me, Connor,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest and rolling her eyes. “You’re a South Side guy, you play fast and loose, and you play to win. I know your type, unfortunately.”
“Oh, do you, now?” I shot back angrily. It was one thing to call me a man whore, but it was an entirely different fight she was picking by stereotyping me this way. I opened my mouth to say something nasty about Uptown girls, but in the back of my brain, I heard Finn’s voice reminding me that we had a goal. If I insulted Payton and drove her off, I’d screw everything up, so I backpedaled. “Look, I’m not a Casanova, if that’s what you think. I’m a guy who wants to actually date you, not just screw and run. Is that so hard to believe?”
“Yeah, actually it is,” she nodded. “I’m just trying absorb this. I’ve never met a guy who put the brakes on things because he wanted to get to know me better. It’s usually me stopping things.”
“Oh, really?” I replied, feigning surprise as I reached out and took her hand. Inside, I felt a small spark of satisfaction. I was turning the tables on this beautiful woman. She was beautiful, smart, rich, and obviously used to getting her way. Being with her wouldn’t be painful, but I had to keep in mind that she was a means to an end, not the end itself.
“You know, sex would have been a hell of a lot easier,” she said with a wry grin as she walked back toward me, eyeing me suspiciously. “That was pretty much a sure thing,”
I nodded and tried to match her grin as I hoped she didn’t notice the distinct bulge in my jeans that would give me away. I wanted her. I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her as I ran my hands up under that bright-blue dress, but I wanted to win my bet with Finn and more than that, I craved the new challenge of creating something out of nothing. Lusting after her was fine, but falling for her was not on the agenda.
“You want a drink?” I asked, standing up and moving toward the hall.
“Yeah, that would probably be a good thing, wouldn’t it?” she smiled as she smoothed the front of her dress. She followed me back to the living room where she dropped back down into the corner of the couch and watched me as I headed back to the bar.
“Let’s toast to possibilities,” I said, pouring us each a tumbler full of whiskey. I walked across the room and handed her one before sitting down on the opposite end of the couch.
“To flipping the script,” she said, clinking her glass against mine before taking a drink and then leaning over to set her glass down on the low, wood coffee table. She swore softly, “Oh shit, what’s my family going to say about this?”
“Yeah, I wondered about that,” I nodded. “But I figured it would go one of two ways: either they’d be happy for you were dating someone worthy or they’d be pissed and see it as a betrayal. I just wasn’t sure which way it would go.”