My nipples, already hardened from the kiss we’d just shared, pebbled even more at the sound of my name on his lips.
“We should get going. Do you need to lock up?” he questioned.
I nodded. “Yeah, but first I should go retouch my lip—”
“Do that in the car.” He stopped me, taking me by the hand, preventing me from excusing myself. The pleading I heard in his voice and saw in his eyes, pulled at something in me. He didn’t seem to want me out of his presence. I nodded, agreeing—because I, too, didn’t want to be out of his presence either.
I stepped over the threshold and out into the hallway expecting Tyler to take a few steps backward to give me some room. I should’ve known better. He gave me virtually no wiggle room and even pressed himself closer as I turned to lock my door with the key. Once I placed my keys in my black clutch, his strong hand covered mine as we strolled toward the elevator.
“A town car?” I questioned when we exited my building’s front door and Tyler waved off the driver to hold the door of the car open for me.
“I would’ve driven myself but I didn’t want anything to distract from giving you my complete attention,” he answered smoothly.
I stepped closer. “You are good, Mr. Townsend.” I giggled as I entered the car and heard his growl at my using his last name.
He slid into the backseat and moved close so that our thighs brushed one another’s.
“You like testing me, Destiny. It’s a trait I admire, but trust me when I tell you that tests will be met with consequences.”
I frowned, dipping my brows. “What type of consequences?”
“Whichever type the situation demands.”
“So what kind of consequences would me calling you by your last name demand?”
A twinge of nervousness moved up my spine at the grin that accosted his face. “The kind in which I might have to use my flogger and handcuffs to remind you exactly how I like hearing my name spill from your lips.”
Oh. My. God.
My eyes floated closed at the damn flash flood that sprang in my panties.
Not again. Not again.
“What’re you thinking?” he demanded with his hand on my knee.
“That I’m doing it again.” My eyes popped open at the truth I’d just revealed.
“Doing what again?”
I swallowed and attempted to look out the car’s window, in the opposite direction of Tyler, but my chin was caught by his hand.
“Doingwhatagain?”
“Falling for another bad boy,” I sighed and let out. They were always my kryptonite. In middle school and high school, I’d tried to put a lid on my attraction to them to appease my father who’d warned me off those types. The guys who skipped school, stole their parents’ cars, always threw the best parties, and more. They were the boys I always seemed to gravitate toward and they to me. But my father was a strong influence, until I went away to college. Then, for the first time in my life, my parents weren’t around to tell me who to stay away from. That’s when I met Darryl, the ultimate bad boy. I knew it the first time I laid eyes on him. I promised myself I’d stay away but his pursuit was harder than my resistance. By the end of my first semester, freshman year, I was in deep. Two and half years later, we were married, the summer before my senior year, and the year he was drafted into the NBA. Eight years later it all fell apart because I’d gone ahead and listened to my heart and not my head.
“You think I’m abad boy?” he asked as if it were the most ludicrous thought in the world.
Chuckling, I shook my head. “I don’t think, Tyler, I know.” I knew it like I knew my own damn name.
“Fine. So what’s so wrong with that?”
My eyes ballooned, but just as I went to open my mouth he held up a finger, pausing me.
“Hold that thought.” He glanced toward the door to his right, opening it. We had arrived. He got out of the car and then bent low, holding out his hand to assist me.
“Hope you like sushi,” he stated just as I stood and looked up at the red and white marquee that readSogo Sushi.
“This is one of my favorite restaurants in the city,” I blurted out.
