“Why, Paris?” He walks over to me and raises his eyebrow.
When I don’t say anything, he sits on the couch and pulls me into his lap. Before I can move, he begins to massage my shoulders.
“Are you from Nashville, Paris?” he whispers.
“Born and raised. You’re from D.C.?”
“Seattle.”
“You took a flight from Seattle to Atlanta and then to D.C.? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I didn’t create the flight plan.” His hands softly rub the back of my neck. “But I’ll be sure to share your concerns with the airline the next time I fly.”
“You should.” I bite my tongue, so I won’t murmur, so I won’t give him any idea about how good his hands feel. “You should definitely do that…Next time you fly.”
“Tell me why you’re disappointed.”
I say nothing, and he gently tilts my head back until I’m looking into his eyes.
“Tell me.”
“I don’t want to hate my ex-boyfriend anymore.”
“Then don’t.”
“Easier said than done.” I sigh as he caresses my shoulders again, as he blows soft and gentle kisses against my neck.
“Can I ask you something?”
“I am not wet. Does that answer it?”
“No, but that’s a lie.” He trails a finger down my spine. “That also isn’t what I was going to ask you.”
I cross my legs and he laughs.
“Why did you have to pay to put your boyfriend through law school in the first place?”
“Because us regular people don’t have rich parents that can afford to pay for school. It was a trade-off. Since he was going to have the more lucrative career, we agreed that he needed to finish school first.”
“I worked my way through law school. My parents didn’t pay for anything.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just thought that…” I pause. “I’m sorry for assuming.”
He runs his fingers through my hair. “Since you broke up, is he going to pay you back for his tuition?”
I burst into laughter, nearly falling out of his lap. “Pay me back? Is that a joke?”
“It only seems fair.”
Fair? Ha!
I wipe my eyes on my sleeve, still laughing. I can’t imagine Adrian paying me back for anything. As a matter of fact, if there was a way that he could sue me for not accepting his engagement ring, I was sure that he would try.
“My boyfriend—ex boyfriend, I mean, has always seen everything in black and white. I’m pretty sure he thinks that I voided our deal by leaving him, so he technically doesn’t owe me anything.”
“That’s unfortunate.” He stops touching me and hesitates. “Were you in love with him?”
“For the first two years, yes,” I say. “But after we moved in together, I slowly fell out of love. I just didn’t want to believe it was happening.”
I remember how I practically coerced Adrian into saying that he “still loved [me]” years ago, that he probably only said it so I would continue paying for his studies.
“What about you, Blake?” I quickly change the subject.
“What about me?”
“Since you claim you don’t currently have a girlfriend, I’m sure you have a long-lost-ex sob story.”
“I don’t.”
“Right.” I roll my eyes. “If the way that flight attendant reacted to you was any indication, I’m sure women fawn over you all the time.”
“They do.”
“So, you are a one-night stand type of guy? You sleep with every woman who flirts with you? Reel them in and dazzle them with your life’s supply of condoms?”
“If that were true, I’d be sleeping with you.” He kisses the back of my shoulder before standing up. “I sacrificed a social life for the firm’s startup. I didn’t need any distractions.” He tilts my chin up. “Though I must admit, if I had met you sooner, I might have made an exception.”
I uncross my legs, earning another low laugh from him.
“I’ll be right back,” he says, and I look away. I need to figure out a way to get to my room and stay there for the rest of this trip. If I don’t, I’m pretty sure he’ll be having his way with me all over the house.
“Are you a fan of shots?” Blake suddenly steps in front of me, holding a tray of red colored shot glasses.
“What type of shots?”
“Vodka, but these are drinking game shots.”
“We can’t just drink without playing some type of game?”
“We could.” He sits next to me and sets the tray on the coffee table. “But since you’ve said that we don’t know each other that well, I think this is a good way to start.” He reaches out, drags a finger against my lips. “Do you know how to play Never Have I Ever?”
No. “Yes.” I feel him caressing my cheek with his other hand.
He must sense that I have no idea what that game entails, because he begins to explain. “I’ll say something, something like ‘Never have I ever sat next to a beautiful stranger on a plane.’ Since that’s true, I’ll toss back a shot. You will, too.” He laughs. “Then it’ll be your turn to tell me something you have or haven’t done before.”
My cheeks are on fire.
This is a bad idea. A very, very bad idea.
“Umm.” I notice him moving closer to me. “I’m not sure if we should play a game like that. Can we just watch another movie?”
“No.”
“No?”
“No.” He hands me a shot. “You’re too much of a distraction for me to focus on a movie. It barely worked the first night.”
“You’re forcing me to play?”
“Yes. Are you ready?” He grabs a drink for himself. “We can start things off simple. I’ll go first: Never have I ever kissed a stranger.”
We both toss our drinks back and I quickly grab another.
“For me…” I search for something to say. “Never have I ever kissed someone in a car.”
He raises his eyebrow as he tosses a drink back. I consider tossing mine back, so I won’t seem lame, but I don’t want to take any unnecessary shots.
“You dated your boyfriend for six years and he never kissed you in his car?”
“He wasn’t into public displays of affection.” I shrug. “Neither was I, honestly. It wasn’t our thing.”
“Hmmm.” He picks up another shot. “Never have I ever slept naked.”
We both toss drinks back.
“Never have I ever—” I laugh. “Never have I ever sat on a couch with someone who I once thought was a murderer.”
“How creative.” He rolls his eyes and I down my drink.
“Your turn,” I say playfully. “Why don’t you say something like, never have I ever harassed a woman on a plane?”
“No, thank you.” He looks directly into my eyes. “Never have I ever wanted to sleep with a stranger. A beautiful stranger.”
“Sleep with? You mean like cuddle?”
“I mean like fuck.” He picks up a shot and slowly pours it into his mouth, seemingly waiting for me to do the same, but I don’t make a move.