"You forget the rest of the world calls it football?"
"That you used to play." She takes another sip. Sighs as she swallows. "Fuck, this is really good."
"Still your favorite?"
"Yes. But I'm still a… what do you call it?"
"Irresistible?"
Her cheeks flush. "Without a refined palate. Bourbon all tastes the same to me. Even the bottles that cost more than your suit."
"You know what you like. No shame in that."
"No." Her eyes flit to my tie. "No shame in that." Intent drips into her voice.
Neither one of us is talking about bourbon.
Both of us are imagining that tie around her wrists.
But she says nothing. Just takes another sip and sets her drink on the table.
"We should go to a game," I say. "The three of us."
"She'd like that. She'll love you. Not that it takes a lot."
"My ego." I press my palm into my side as if I'm mortally wounded.
She smiles. "Your ego is big enough."
"Is it?"
She nods. "You can pull off a lot, Ty. Man who doesn't know he's handsome isn't on the list. One look at you and Sienna would approve."
"I'm hot enough for your sister?"
She laughs. "That is what I said, isn't it?"
"It is."
Her expression stays easy. "It's true. She's eighteen."
"And obsessed with sex?"
"Very. She likes guys if they're attractive. And she already likes you. The idea of you."
"What does she know?"
"I had a fling with a rich guy from London. And now, I'm on a date with him. None of the other details." Her cheeks flush. She's teasing.
I need to tease her back. "Which would you tell her? If she wasn't your sister."
Her gaze flits to my tie. "I wouldn't. I want those details for myself."
Blood rushes south.
"I haven't… I've been with two other guys since you. Neither of them was important to me. Neither one of them took your place."
"My place?"
"Who I think about. When I touch myself." Her fingers brush my thigh. "Do you think of me?"
"Of course." I wrap my fingers around her wrist. Hold her hand where it is, against my thigh.
I can't have her touching me. Not yet.
I'll tell her when she's allowed to touch me.
I tighten my grip. Not hard enough to hurt. Only hard enough she knows I can overpower her. If she wants me to.
Not yet.
After I earn her trust.
The waitress interrupts with our next round. Clears her throat. "I'll come back if you're not ready."
Under the table, I release Indigo's wrist. "I'm ready. Are you?"
She nods yes, still in a daze. "I am starving."
I order the seared sea bass. Point to the item she'll like best. A spicy seafood pasta.
She repeats the words. Passes back the menu with a smile. Waits until the waitress is out of earshot.
"I do get jealous." She brings her drink to her lips. Takes a long sip. "Of the other women. Not just now. Before. And when you were with her." She sets her drink on the table.
There have been a lot of women. I was with Rory for a long time.
The women didn't matter, but Rory—
There's nothing I can say to soothe Indigo. Nothing true. I was in love with Rory. I wanted to spend my entire life with her.
I would have done anything to make that happen.
Then she broke my heart. Took it with her.
"You loved her. I know that." Her eyes find mine. "And you'll never love me. I know that too." She pauses. "But this…" Her fingers skim my tie. "You don't do it with your friends. With her?"
"I told you—"
"I asked. You didn't answer." She runs her fingers up my tie, over the knot, along my neck. "I told you the truth. That you were the only one. That's all I want from you. The truth."
"The truth?"
"Yes." She nods. "You knew what you were doing when we met. You knew what you wanted."
I did.
"So tell me. Was I the first? The last? Or just another in a long line?" She licks her lips. "Will it mean anything to you"—her fingers skim my thigh—"if I close my eyes and promise to obey? Or will I be another girl you tied to your bed?"
Chapter Thirteen
Ty
Fuck. She's winning and she's not even trying.
I sift through the details. There were women before her. And after.
Rory was the only one who mattered.
And I wanted her. I did. I wanted to possess her in every way I could.
She was a good girl from a nice family. Accommodating, sweet, willing to try.
But not interested in anything out of the ordinary.
"There were others before you," I say.
"How many?"
"Does that matter?"
Indie holds my gaze.
"A few. It always interested me, but it scared me too." It still does. The man I became with her. Rough. Brutal. Willing to do anything. "And it scared her."
"Rory?"
I nod. Push aside memories of the fear in her eyes. The tremble of her chest. The shakiness in her voice. "We found a middle ground."