Dangerous Kiss (Dangerous Noise 1)

"Ten minutes."

"I like that math."

"Me too." I take her hand and lead her to the elevator.

"I guess there are perks to being a rock star." Violet throws herself onto the bed on her back and rolls to her side. Her eyes find mine. "This is huge."

I shrug, playing cool.

"What a load!" She pats the spot on the bed in front of her. "You look like a kid at Disneyland."

"I hate Disneyland."

"Because your parents always took you then went off on their own, leaving Mal in charge. And he liked to go to the island in the middle instead of on the rides." She pats the spot again. "I remember."

Violet spread out over the bed is inviting as hell, but I have other ideas. I lean down to scoop her into my arms.

She squeals, her grip around my shoulders tightening. "Ethan!"

I slide one hand under her ass and hold her body against mine as I carry her into the bathroom.

"Damn, this is just ridiculous." She drags her fingers over the ornate marble counter.

"Yeah. Let's be ridiculous." I sit on the edge of the big-enough-for-two bathtub and run the water.

She shifts her weight between her heels. "You want to take a bath together?"

I nod.

"Oh." She chews on her bottom lip. "Yeah, a bath. Oh and there are bubbles over there. It's all very romantic. Very sexy."

She's doing a terrible job convincing me she's excited. Her smile is even less convincing than her voice.

I stare into her green eyes, trying to figure her out. Something is wrong. But what?

"Really, it looks great." She smiles. "Here." She sits next to me, grabs the bubble bath, and squeezes half the bottle into the running water.

"Vi, you're—"

"Just surprised. It's very romantic. And we're not… you know, this is casual and I mean, you're important to me, and I do care about you, but we're both on the same page about this being no strings attached, so a bubble bath catches me a little off guard. You know, it's just romantic and I was more expecting you to peel off my panties and pin me to the wall."

That's tempting as fuck. I cock a brow. "More than happy to."

She smiles. "After. This… this is nice. Any normal person would think it's nice."

Her voice is dripping with apprehension. She smiles again. It's more convincing, this time.

Okay, I guess I'll take her at her word here.

I pull my t-shirt over my head. She traces the lines of my chest-pieces then drags her hands down my torso. She undoes my belt and unbuttons my jeans.

I take her hands as I stand. She pushes my jeans off my hips. I find the zipper on the side of her dress and pull it down. She looks up at me with a mix of trust and trepidation.

What is it she's afraid of and why is she trying to pretend like it's nothing?

Dammit, I know Violet pulls this shit with everyone else. I keep forgetting she pulls it with me too.

We're not together. She's not mine. She doesn't trust me.