I don’t even let her finish. I take her free hand, meeting her gaze. “I’d choose you.”
I can see the vulnerability in her eyes, near to overflowing, but she tries to play it off. “I’m not an option. This is a hypothetical choice between Amber and Bianca.”
“Then I’d choose neither of them. I’d come find you—and hypothetical Francesca better have a damn good reason for cutting me loose with these other random girls, because hypothetical Sal is confused and mad as hell about this situation.”
“Why would you do that?” she asks, rolling her eyes playfully. “Bianca and Amber are both lovely ladies.”
“Because, in case you haven’t noticed, I adore you.”
Her amusement quickly fades. She swallows hard, pulling her hand from mine and staring into her drink, pensive. “Do you think we might be making the biggest mistake in the world by doing this? I look forward to seeing you and I really do like you, but… I’m starting to wonder if I can survive this. It felt like it was going to kill me last time, and he didn’t even care about me. This… I know you hate when I say it, I know it makes you mad, but Sal… it’s going to break my heart into a million tiny pieces. I’m never gonna be able to put it back together.”
“Francesca, if you haven’t believed a word I’ve said to you since we met, believe these ones: I’m never going to let that happen. Don’t be afraid to give yourself to me. I swear to God, I’ll never make you regret it.”
Our eyes lock and I can see it in hers, that same inexplicable yearning. This is the last thing either of us should want, but I want it bad, and so does she. It takes everything in me not to lean in and taste those plump lips I haven’t stopped dreaming about since I met her. I won’t want to stop if I do. The private little cushioned nook is too tempting, and I don’t want to do anything to scare her off.
This woman is everything I want and everything I can’t have, all rolled into one tempting package.
We also really need to get going, so as much as I hate to, I let go of Francesca’s hand and ease back. I don’t even want the rest of my drink, so I push it back on the table, grabbing my phone and checking it one last time.
“And on that note, we really have to leave or we’re never going to make our flight.”
I go to stand, but Francesca grabs my hand. There’s nervousness in her gaze but not uncertainty as she looks up at me and asks, “What if we miss it?”
“Then we don’t get home tonight,” I say, raising my eyebrows. “So let’s get going.”
“No, I mean…” She stands, a little unsteady. Then she laughs at her drunken clumsiness, holding onto me to right herself. She’s so goddamn beautiful. Not just physically, but just… she’s everything. I don’t even know how to explain the victory I feel looking at her face, seeing joy, and knowing I put it there. Her hand comes up to caress my cheek, her eyes glistening with affection. Now she leans in to give me a soft kiss. Since she initiated, I wrap my arm around her waist and tug her close.
She sighs against my mouth, then pulls back to look into my eyes again. I don’t know what she’s searching for. I don’t know if she finds it. All I know is she nearly stops my heart with her next words.
“What if we didn’t go home tonight? What if we stayed at the hotel together instead?”
Chapter Nine
I tell myself she doesn’t mean it how I’m taking it. She doesn’t want to fuck me; she just doesn’t want to go home.
But then her daring little hand, given courage from all the alcohol coursing through her veins, moves down past my torso and caresses my cock. It didn’t need much encouragement, and that’s more than adequate. It springs to life in her hand and she smiles, caressing my length through the fabric of my pants.
“Fuck,” I murmur, tilting my head back.
For so many reasons. Partially just pleasure, just the sensation of Francesca stroking my cock. I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a big part of it. But also the bad interpretations of fuck—like, we shouldn’t stay the night in New York, because what if her brother notices her missing and I’m wrong about being able to reason with him? As far as I know, I haven’t been spotted here so far by anyone my family knows, but the longer we’re here, the greater the chance I might be. There are a lot of reasons to say no to this.
Only how do I say no to Francesca when she has her hand on my cock?