“The lyrics are why I love the song so much, besides the obvious catchiness of the music and melody,” I explain. “I love that it’s about explosive, heart-palpitating physical chemistry, an attraction that takes Enrique’s breath away. He says he wants to be with her, live with her, dance with her, have sex with her... He’s just totally obsessed with her—completely under her spell. I dunno, the intensity of the lyrics just totally turns me on.”
Ryan’s eyes flicker with heat. “Ah, so a bit of obsession is a turn-on for you, huh, Argentina? Good to know.”
“A little bit,” I say, opening my index finger and thumb slightly to demonstrate, and we both laugh.
More laughing and talking ensues, and, eventually, the conversation flows to the backstories of each of Ryan’s many tattoos.
“And what about your piercings?” I ask, running my fingers over the bars slicing through his nipples. “When and how did you decide to get those?”
“I got all three of my piercings when I was twenty-one, all in the span of a crazy three months,” Ryan replies. “I went into this tattoo place in the University District with my buddies to get this one.” He points to the bottle of rum on his left ribcage. “And, on a dare, I wound up asking the tattoo-artist out on a date. She was ten years older than me and really, really into the whole body-mod culture—both tattoos and piercings—and, unexpectedly, that first date led to this crazy, whirlwind, three-month relationship.”
“She was ten years older than you?”
Ryan laughs. “Yeah. And a real wild child. We weren’t compatible at all in any meaningful way, but, still, I got a lot out of the relationship: she wound up teaching me more in three months about how to please a woman than I’d learned my whole life up to that point.” He smiles. “Within the first twenty minutes of our first date, I knew she wasn’t gonna be a good fit for me long-term; but for three months, I was quite happy to let her poke needles into her horny young plaything’s most sensitive flesh.”
I ask a few more questions and he answers them openly and with astonishing self-awareness, and soon the conversation flows naturally to Ryan’s lifelong dream of owning his own bar one day.
“Have you thought about what you’d call the place?” I ask.
“Captain’s.”
I roll my eyes at my own stupidity for not guessing that answer. “Of course. What would Captain’s be like?”
Ryan’s face lights up. “It’d be sophisticated and sleek, but people would feel at home there, too, like definitely not ‘too cool for school.’ I’d have foosball and pool tables but somehow still make the place feel like a high-end destination for people to hang out after work. Sophisticated but fun, that’d be my mission statement.”
“So the place would be you, in bar-form.”
He blushes. “Thank you.”
I touch his gorgeous, chiseled jawline. “I love the whole concept. The only thing I’m wondering is how the foosball and pool tables would work out from a cost standpoint. They’d take a lot of space, which would increase your square-footage, which might make your rent on the expensive side, since you’re gonna have to rent somewhere kind of trendy if you’re targeting a sophisticated demographic.”
“You’re spot-on, baby. Wow. You’re smart as a tack, you know that?”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t you worry, my pretty chickadee,” he says playfully. “I’ve got a business plan all drawn up and I’ve been scouting locations for the past year. I think I’ve got the perfect solution.”
“Oh, wow, I’d love to see your business plan, if you don’t mind. I don’t know anything about opening a bar, but I know a lot about logistics and vendor costs and stuff like that. Working for Josh for six years has given me a real education on some nuts-and-bolts things.”
“I’ll send it to you. I’d be thrilled to get your feedback.”
“When do you think you’ll be able to make Captain’s a reality?” I say, pressing my naked body against his.
“A couple years, probably, depending on what commissions I manage to earn between now and then.”
“You should ask Josh to put in a word with his friends about you being a commercial broker. Tons of Josh’s friends are multi-millionaires and lots of them have real estate holdings.”
“Sweet of you to think of that, but I don’t want Josh to think I’m using him for his contacts list.”
“No, no, Josh does favors for friends and family all the time. I’m sure he wouldn’t think twice about floating your name to his circle of friends. Some of them are really loaded, Ryan.”
Ryan shrugs. “I’m good. I wouldn’t want Josh to question my intentions.” He pulls me close to him and kisses me tenderly. “I wouldn’t wantanyoneI care about to question my intentions, ever.”
Warmth spreads throughout my body. I run my hand through his hair and nuzzle his nose. “I bet Kat will wind up saying something to Josh about you, regardless. If there’s one thing I’ve gathered about the fearless Kat Morgan, it’s that she looks out for the people she loves.”
“She sure does. We all do. It’s a Morgan thing.”
“I love that about your family.”
