“You tried your best,” he said.
“So did you.”
Nathan closed the door and turned the car on, unrolling the window a few inches so he could talk to me longer.
“This is gonna sound weird, considering how not good last night was for either of us. But I know you’re the right guy for someone.”
“Just not you.” I smiled at him and stood, smoothing my wrinkled shirt over the waistband of my gray sweats.
“Definitely not.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped back farther, repeating my earlier message because I was so ready to be done, “Drive safe.”
Nathan waved and pulled into the street, and it was then that I realized the neighbor hadn’t moved. His garage was still open, his car still in the driveway, his stare still fixed on me.
“Hey, buddy!” I called out, giving him a courtesy wave that I was fairly certain he would hate just as much, if not more, than the endearment. “You doing okay after last night?”
“I said I’m not your buddy.”
Had his voice been so low and rumbling the night before? It was hard to tell with the fence between us. Though we’d never talked, I’d seen him plenty of times and I was pleased to confirm his voice matched his face. Which was something I couldn’t explain to anyone if I had to, but it was one of those things you justknew.
“Not sure what else to call you.” I tilted my head to the side. “Wanna give me a name?”
“Do you?” he countered, adjusting the strap of a messenger bag over his shoulder. He opened the driver’s side door on his car, but made no move to get in.
I worried what giving him my name would do to my mental health because the voice matched the body and I could already picture what the face would look like in the throes of an orgasm. Unbidden, Nathan’s face flickered into my mind, souring the fantasy.
“Miles,” I answered.
“Hendrix,” he said back.
“Hendrix,” I repeated his name. I liked the sound of it, but I preferred the way the nickname riled him up. “Well, good to meet you, buddy. I gotta get back inside and get some coffee.”
I didn’t bother waiting for him to reply, and I didn’t even give him a second look. I’d seen enough to know that I wanted him.
I’d seen enough to know I would have him.
Somehow.
CHAPTERTHREE
Hendrix
Miles was beyond annoying.
He was too arrogant, too condescending, and definitely too young.
He was also too smug, but I found that for as much as it infuriated me, it also piqued my interest. It would be unfair to try and pretend that I wasn’t attracted to a specific kind of man. And even more so to try and ignorejusthow much Miles had the potential to fit that mold. After Rome, I should have known better than to even think about being with another younger man, but I found myself staring out the window for half the day doing exactly that.
You all right, buddy?
Good to meet you, buddy?
Who did Miles think he was? I’d lived in the house for months. I’d seen him less than a handful of times and the first time he decided to engage me, he chose to do so like I was a child?
I was forty-two and I didn’t have the best track record when it came to men. My relationship with Rome had lasted far longer than it should have, but we’d gotten attached and comfortable, very nearly complacent. Then it was just easier to return to each other than find someone new.
I was barely forty when I met Rome, and I had strict ideas about the kind of life I wanted for myself. Of course, it was all built around the kind of life I’d led before him. Kink was something that came to me on accident. Back then, it had still been an underground thing…not socially acceptable. All of that had changed and no one batted an eye over handcuffs and blindfolds anymore. It made finding partners easier, but also scarier. Everyone thought they could be a Dom, and not many people understood what it meant. Being a Dom was so much more than just demanding someone kneel, and it was harder to find partners who knew that.
