"Curious about what?" I pant, hating that my voice came out so sultry.
"You know my name, but I don't know yours."
"Oh." I blush. "It's Nicki."
"Is that Nicki with a 'Y' or an 'I'?" He grins broadly.
"You're teasing me, aren't you?"
"Little bit, yeah."
"Just plain old boring, dependable Nicole." I shrug.
"We really need to work on those adjectives. A few more appropriate ones come immediately to mind."
"Is that so? So how would you describe me then?" I counter before taking a sip of my drink.
"Mouthwatering."
I spit out my drink all over his jacket like an idiot.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," I blurt out, getting up from my seat.
I grab a napkin and start dabbing over the liquid I just spat on him.
"It's okay." James laughs, amused.
"No, it's not. God, I'm so embarrassed."
"It's fine."
"I'm so sorry. I'll pay for your dry-cleaning."
I freeze in place when he grabs my wrist, electricity shooting up my arm and down my body with just that one touch.
"I said it's fine, Nicole."
His thumb rubs against my inner wrist, my ass plopping down on the stool, unable to pull my arm away from him. He doesn't release my wrist as he keeps slowly caressing that one pressure point. My lungs burn for air, yet I'm almost sure they can't get any since I must have forgotten how to breathe.
"You're too tense," he says softly, running circles on the inside of my wrist until my breathing evens. "And I don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that it's all because of the impending holidays you'll be spending with your sister. Like I told you before, I understand perfectly. I had to leave my own home tonight so that I could get a few hours of peace and away from the son that hates my guts."
"Why does he hate you? You never said."
"It's complicated."
"Try me."
"Hmm. I think I just might."
The little smirk that crests his lips is enough to leave me in a puddle of lust-filled want. Without my approval, my thighs instantly rub together to give my throbbing clit some form of relief, only for James to catch me in the act. The heat of his stare skating up my body and stopping on my heavy breasts and pebbled nipples has my mouth drying up. He licks his lips, looking all too pleased with how my body is reacting to him.
"I mean…" I stutter, trying to pull his attention off my heaving chest. "I was talking about your son."
"I'm not in the mood to talk about him anymore,"
"What are you in the mood for?" I ask, breathless.
He places his other hand on my thigh, making my eyes bulge out of their sockets.
"If you don't know the answer to that, then I'm not doing this right."
I bite my lower lip as his hand proceeds to go up my skirt. Instinctively, my thighs open up to him as if offering up my drenched pussy to him on a silver platter.
"Well, what do you know? Maybe I am," he goads with that seductive laugh that has me quivering with need. "You have the most amazingly soft skin," he adds under his breath, his gaze fixed on his hand as it skates up my leg. "It has my mind wondering if you're smooth like this all over."
"Are you just curious, or is that a proposition?" I gain the courage to ask.
"I think we both know it's the latter."
My parched throat prevents me from saying anything else, especially since his fingers are so close to my center. All I'd have to do is give him a minor breach, widen my legs a little bit further, and he'd see for himself the effect he's having for me.
"I'm not the type of woman who picks up strangers at bars," I tell him truthfully.
"Then I guess it's a good thing we're no longer strangers." He smiles. "You know my name, and I know yours. I know your sister is a spoiled princess that pulls on your heartstrings to do whatever she wants, and you know that I'm old enough to have a son that's possibly your age. See? Not strangers."
"You're very persuasive."
"Only when I see something I want."
"And just exactly what do you want, James?" With bated breath I ask, loving the sound of his name passing through my lips.
"To fuck you all night long."
Jesus fucking Christ!
"You're very blunt."
"And you are by far the sexiest woman I have seen in years. Maybe even ever."
"Charmer, too."
"No, Nicole, I'm not. I'm just a man that tells it as he sees it. And right now, I can't take my eyes off of you."
"I like looking at you, too," I admit, mesmerized by the glimmer of desire in his eyes.
"Good." He smacks his lips. "Then tell me one more thing, Nicole. Are we going to waste the night talking about our miserable lives, or are you coming home with me tonight instead?"
A million and one reasons why I shouldn't leave with this man come to mind, yet for the life of me, I can't seem to pick one. Instead, I do the very opposite of the levelheaded woman everyone perceives me to be. I take his hand off my thigh and entwine it with mine.
"Lead the way. I'm all yours."
James' eyes turn half-mast before leaning in closer to me, my skin breaking out in delicious goosebumps with the feel of his hot breath against my ear.
"You have no idea how much I like the sound of that. But trust me, Nicole. Before the night is done, you will."
Chapter 2
Past
I twist and turn over in my bed for the hundredth time. Glancing at the clock, I see it’s 11:30 p.m. I groan.
By all accounts, I should be exhausted and dead asleep right now, especially after the emotionally and physically draining day I had.
Today I had to go back home to pack up the huge home that I grew up in, the house that brought me so much joy, peace and security but instead, all I could feel was the disturbing emptiness that was too much to bear.
It was no longer a home but a house.
A house that no longer had the two most important people to me. My parents.
I’m wide awake like a freaking owl and there’s this pain in my chest that I can quite describe.
Maybe that feeling is there because I’m so damn lonely and ansty.
I miss my parents and my little sister but most of all, I feel restless and my God, I’m… horny.
After moving all the boxes and packing away most of my parents’ old stuff and then driving to a storage facility in town--I’m not quite ready to let go of the only pieces of my parents I have left—I decided to wait for my boyfriend by tucking in to read a steamy romance novel and now, there’s a strange discomfort between my legs.
So I’m not just lonely and ansty, I’m also shifty and horny. Damn you, Saffron A. Kent!
I reach for my phone, wondering where Knox is. I haven’t heard back from him so I try calling him, but his phone just rings and rings with no answer. I frown, staring down at my phone.
It’s not like him to ignore my calls, but then again, he’s been a bit distant lately.