“Look, I’m sorry, okay. I just thought—”
“What? That Darren was into me, so you’d punch his lights out? And so what if he was, huh?” She jabs at my chest. “What if he wanted me?”
“Then he’d get his lights punched out for sure.”
“Why is that? ’Cause, I’m your girl?” She lets out a humorless laugh. “I don’t know why I bother showing you I’m interested. And that kiss, what was that about?”
“God, what do you want me to say?” This conversation is going downhill fast. Why did I react the way I did? She isn’t mine, so why should I care?
“You can start by telling me why you didn’t text or call for two weeks?”
I run my hands through my hair. “I don’t know, okay? I don’t.”
She looks at me, her brows creasing together. “Then, don’t pretend like I mean something to you by beating up people who may show more interest than you do.”
She walks away, and I let her. I’m an asshole. I should go after her and tell her I like her. That she’s been on my mind since the night we met, and I’m afraid of it.
But I walk back to the bar and get in my truck instead of stepping back in there. I made a fool of myself, and I don’t even have the guts to tell a woman how I feel.
7
Ocea
I walk into the bar, and Darren has a guilty face. I lift an eyebrow. The one thing my friend does not have is the ability to hold a poker face. I take my usual seat, and I’m not sitting down a second before Aidan joins me, placing a beer on the bar in front of him. I sigh, casting him a sideways glance. He looks sinful in a black leather jacket and a white T-shirt, but I am still pissed at him.
“Can I buy the pretty lady a drink?”
“Seriously?” My brows knit together. He has to be shitting me.
“Well, yeah?” He places the beer glass to his lips, and I can’t help but stare at him. His lips look just as amazing as they feel. I have thought of him so much more than I care to admit.
“And what would be the point?”
“To apologize for being a jerk.”
I shake my head. “You seem to do a lot of that, huh? Be an ass, apologize, be an ass all over again.”
He looks annoyed now. “I should have called, all right? I’m not good at this.”
“What? Being hot and cold? You’ve got that down pretty good.”
He laughs. Darren comes over and places a beer in front of me, earning him the stink-eye.
“I’m going out for a bit. Hold the fort,” Darren tells me, and I shake my head. The traitor. I look around, and there are no customers.
“Women want shit I can’t give them.” Aidan drinks his beer, not meeting my gaze.
“How the hell do you know what I want?” I state.
“’Cause it’s always the same, and I am not that guy. I’m not boyfriend material. And that is what you want, right? That’s what you expect from me.”
I stare at him, stunned.
“You shouldn’t be so quick to judge,” I say through clenched teeth.
“So, you don’t want to play house?”
“Dammit, why go through all this trouble if you’re just going to piss me off?” I hiss.
“’Cause you’re cute when you’re mad. I like that a whole lot.”
“Fucking unbelievable.”
“That you are,” he smirks, standing and caging me in at the bar. I spin to face him, the smell of leather and beer a heady mixture. “Why don’t you tell me what you want from me?”
“To be left alone.” I’m lost in the storm of his eyes and the electricity that’s like a livewire between us.
“You say that Nightingale, but your body says something else.” He looks down at my chest, and I flush at the sight of my pebbled nipples. “I think you want me to kiss you again.”
“I don’t—” He grips my chin and forces me to look at him.
“Don’t lie to me.” His voice is dripping with lust and desire, and I squeeze my thighs shut, trying to push back the need coursing through me.
He touches his lips to mine, and I cave, granting him the access he needs. My hands feel his toned chest and arms, and I kiss him with all the frustration I have built up in me. His hand slides down my body, over my sensitive chest. He unbuttons and unzips my jeans with expertise.
“God, what if someone walks in?” I say.
“Then they’ll have a show, won’t they?” He slips his hand in my panties, and I cry out. Fuck, it has been so long since someone has touched me, desired me, turned me on to this level.
“I’m going to make you come on my fingers, then I’m taking you home,” he says, kissing a trail from my ear to my collarbone, his lips setting every nerve in my body on edge. He rubs my sex lightly, the sinful way he looks at me, making me squirm in my seat. Slipping his finger over my clit, he continues this torture over and over again. “Let go, baby, show me how good I make you feel,” he whispers, and I moan an orgasm, which he steals with a hungry kiss. When he breaks the kiss, I’m out of breath, shuddering. Kissing my lips softly, Aidan takes the finger that was just inside me and licks on it. I gasp.
“That is filthy,” I whisper.
“Oh, you have no idea.” He grins down at me. “We have to leave before I change my mind.”
“About this?” I feel a sinking disappointment.
“About whether I can wait till I get home to be inside you.” His words send shivers down my spine.
He buttons my pants when I’m standing, wrapping his hands around my waist, pulling me closer. He places a whisper-soft kiss on my forehead, and I melt. “You’re beautiful, Ocea.”
I lean into his chest, unable to meet his gaze. No one has said that the way he just did.
Darren clears his throat, and I turn slightly. My cheeks warm. “You kids played nice, then?”
“That we did.” Aidan chuckles, and I hit his chest lightly.
“We’re off, Dee,” I tell him, earning myself a wink.
His apartment is much like he is, a mystery. There are no photos on the wall of family. It’s sparsely decorated and is neat for a guy’s pad. There is a single gray couch, a mahogany coffee table, and a widescreen television in the open-plan living area. The kitchen is modern and separated from the living room by an island. Steel and wood dominate the space. The large floor-to-ceiling windows offer a view of the rainforest. Mist kisses the treetops, and I smile at how perfectly this apartment suits him.
“Some wine?”
“The big, bad firefighter drinks wine?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, sweet thing.”
“Let’s start with your taste in wine then.” I half turn and wink at him. He looks relaxed as he opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of Riesling. He brings it over with two glasses, placing it on the coffee table.
“This is quite the view you have here,” I tell him when we’re seated on the couch. Soft music plays in the background as a gas fireplace warms the room.
“It is. Thank you. Bought it two years ago when I got tired of the town. Needed a place that was just away from everything.”