Rush

Chapter 20

Case

I change the subject after the slip of my tongue because I know damn well that my tongue or any other part of my body can’t get near Drake’s younger sister.

I wish I never met him.

“Why does your granddad call you Rush?” She asks with a wink of her eye.

I’m becoming more convinced that’s a nervous twitch because I thought I saw her toss one in the direction of our server. The kid can’t be older than twenty-one. Maybe I’m wrong, and Emma’s interested in him, but I’ve noticed the way she’s been watching me all night.

“My middle name is Rushton,” I explain. “It was my grandmother’s maiden name.”

Her eyes widen. “That makes a lot more sense than what I thought.”

It sure as hell does. I may have rushed in the sack when I was younger, but I’ve never been that fast. Nothing is more satisfying than knowing that you’ve given a woman a night to remember.

I take as much pride in that as I do anything else in my life.

I never want a woman to walk away from an encounter with me, wishing it hadn’t happened.

“You said he’s the only one who calls you that?” She tugs on the end of a strand of her hair. “No one else is allowed?”

“It’s not that.” I glance at the table. “My brother called me Rush for a time. That was years ago.”

The server picks that moment to approach us to boast about the dessert menu. Emma scrunches her nose as she listens to him run on about the selection of gelato they offer as well as what sounds like cherry-topped cheesecake, although he gifts it with an Italian name.

“I had my fill of sugar today.” She looks at me. “What about you?”

I’m tempted to order one of everything to keep us in these chairs for the next two hours, but I need to check in on Maya.

“I’m good, Freckles.”

Her cheeks blush. “Okay, Rush.”

I like it. I don’t know why the hell I like hearing her call me that, but I could get used to it.

“Just the check, please.” She moves to grab her purse. “Let me get my credit card.”

“No damn way,” I interject, reaching for my wallet when the server takes off. “Dinner is on me.”

“That’s not happening.” She punctuates the words with a wave of her hand in the air. “This is partial payback for letting me crash at your apartment.”

I doubt like hell I can change her mind about paying for the meal based on the look of determination in her deep brown eyes.

“Partial payback?” I chuckle. “What does that mean?”

She pushes her hair back over her shoulders, giving me an unobstructed view of her sheer blouse and the bra beneath is. “You know what it means.”

I know I’m reading way too much into what’s happening in front of me. I also know that my cock needs to calm the hell down.

“I owe you for letting me stay with you.” She looks to where the server disappeared as she taps her credit card on the table. “If there’s any way I can repay you, I want to.”

Crawl into bed with me. Let me keep you there for days.

I swallow the words in favor of a decent response. “You don’t have to repay me, Emma.”

“I want to.” She leans back in her chair.

My gaze falls to the front of her blouse and the peaks of her hardened nipples beneath the thin fabric of her bra.

If I thought I was fucked before tonight, I was an oblivious fool. I haven’t had this much fun with a woman in a very long time. Now, I have to go back to my apartment and fall asleep knowing that she’s in the room next to me.

***

“Maya is here?” Emma stops just short of the open doors of the elevator. “Maybe I should go across the street for a drink. I can hang out at Durie’s until you two are done.”

“Done?” I question with a quirk of one brow. “Done doing what exactly?”

“She’s your girlfriend, right?” she asks nervously. “It’s a long-distance thing, isn’t it?”

I glance over to where Lester is standing. He’s got one ear turned in our direction. For an older guy, his hearing is next level. I’d bet money on the fact that the man could hear a pin drop a block away.

I ignore that because I’m enjoying watching Emma try and piece together what’s happening between Maya and me.

When I told her that Maya was waiting for me upstairs, the look on her face was one I won’t soon forget. It was confusion mixed with curiosity. Since she’s still sporting the same expression now, I gesture toward the elevator.

“I can’t keep the elevator here forever, Emma.” I nod my chin toward where my finger is pressed on the call button. “Get in, and let’s get upstairs.”