“Do you love it?” He tilts his head back before his eyes search myface.
“I do. What do you do?” I need to deflect and move on before I change my mind andleave.
He smiles, revealing his perfectly white, straight teeth. “I’m apilot.”
I drag my eyes to his and realize he caught me staring at his mouth. It’s been ages since I’ve had sex. Trent was my last, and that was eons ago. Being this close to a man, a handsome one at that, with the vodka buzzing through my system has my mind wandering. His spicy cologne isn’t helping the matter either. “That sounds exciting.” Images of joining the mile-high club start to fill my brain—dirty bits of him and how he sounds when he moans—in his pilot’s uniform and aviatorsunglasses.
When the bartender sets the drinks down, Lou slides the martini in front of me, brushing against my arm and bringing me back to reality. “It can be,” hesays.
I’d been so busy earlier trying to avoid him, that I hadn’t fully appreciated how different he smells. The cologne he wears is expensive and not common. “I’m sorry if I was cold when you satdown.”
His smile reaches his large blue eyes. “I wouldn’t saythat.”
I finally let myself relax, wrapping my fingers around my glass. I move it in circles and watch the liquid slosh around. “I’ve had such a badday.”
“What can I do to make itbetter?”
I look over at him as he winks, and my cheeks instantly heat, the flush creeping up my neck to meet the redness in my face. “Just this.” I motion between us and try to steady mybreathing.
Being this close to a man has never affected me. But the dull ache between my thighs when he looks at me and the way he licks his lips has my body reeling. Maybe it’s the amount of stress I’m under today or quite possibly the drink I just had on an empty stomach. Either way, I crave histouch.
His tongue pokes out, sweeping across his bottom lip before he speaks. “You want to talk aboutit?”
I shake my head slowly and stare at his mouth, wondering how he tastes. “I just want to drink and think about somethingelse.”
“Personal life orwork?”
“Work.” I sigh, dragging my eyes away to stare down at mydrink.
“Ah. I understand that sometimes work can be stressful, but you shouldn’t let it ruin your night.” There’s a small crinkle in the corner of his eye, betraying his age or maybe that his life is just as stressful as mine, but it’s sexy. Men can pull it off, and Lou certainly does more thanthat.
I finger the stem of the glass and avoid eye contact. I feel like a scumbag lying to him about myself. “I wish it were thateasy.”
He moves his lips close to my ear and speaks in a deep, husky voice. “I can help make your nightbetter.”
Shivers run down my spine as he speaks. I turn, and my mouth is inches from his. “I’m not sleeping with you.” But I want to…more than anything, I want him. I want to drown myself in sin, lose my thoughts in his touch, and forget who I am for a night. I want the passion, the pleasure, and everything Lou has tooffer.
He places a hand on his chest and smirks. “Elizabeth, what kind of man do you think Iam?”
I smile and let my eyes travel the length of him before answering. “You look like the type of man who thinks if he buys a drink, a woman will throw herself at him.” Because from the looks of him, I’m sure he never has to ask for sex. A drop-dead gorgeous man with his sexy-chic hair and lush lips probably doesn’t have to do anything more than smile for panties to startdropping.
“The thought never crossed my mind.” He looks at me the same way I just looked at him. “You definitely don’t look like the type to sleep with a randomstranger.”
“I’m not,” I shoot back, but I feel my face flush. I’ve never been the type to do the walk of shame, but a man like Lou could tempt me under different circumstances. “As long as we’reclear.”
“Crystal.”
* * *
Ilied.
Two martinis later, making a total of three, and I’ve changed my mind. I want to sleep withLou.
Sleep? No.No.
I want to fuckLou.
He spent the last hour regaling me with his travels and the joy of being a pilot. The way he spoke about it made it seem like the most freeing job in the world. To soar above the clouds, the world silent below, soundsmagical.
