"No, it doesn't, Charlie." I poked him right between his pecs twice.
"Yeah. It. Does."
It suddenly made complete sense to me that he was the youngest child in his family. He must have never been told "no" in his life. At least not often enough. "I'm pretty sure you're in no place to tell me who I can and can't date." I looked him right in the eye. "Charlie." Pushing him was more than likely a terrible idea but I was too far gone to care.
He narrowed those brilliant eyes. "Why's that?"
"Because I'm not a kid." Then, the stupidity just popped right out from my mouth. "And you've probably slept with half a dozen people since I met you, so trust me. You're not in a position to try and give me advice on who I talk to."
His face changed as he leaned into me. "I know you're not a fuckin' kid. And Icantell you who you can and can't talk to." He took a nice long swallow, and I didn't realize until right then that his hands were fisted at his sides. His entire body was tense. "And you can't fuckin' talk to anybody that wants to put their hands down your goddamn pants."
"What?" Oh lord. Oh dear, heavenly lord. "Why are you being like this?”
“‘Cuz. I. Don’t. Fuckin’. Like. It.”
God, grant me strength. “Dex, I don’t mean to sound like a complete bitch but...I don’t care if you don’t like it.He was asking me out on a date, you stubborn idiot. That doesn't mean he's planning on—"
Nostrils flared. “Don’t finish that sentence, baby. I’m aboutthisfuckin’ close to losin’ it.” He reached up to rub his fingertips along the sides of his mouth, shaking his head with a gruff groan.
I curled my lips behind my teeth and lifted both shoulders. “I’m not trying to piss you off. Honestly, I just really don’t understand why you’re being like this with me. I thought you didn’t mind me working for you.”
Something changed in his expression that I couldn’t pinpoint in the seconds before he dropped his hand from his mouth. Dex’s blink was slow and thorough as his jaw ticked. “I thought I had more time...”
Hedidn't finishhisrant because he was suddenly in my face, breathing out of his nose hard, his bodytaut.
Two big hands cupped my jaw the instant before his mouth with its deep pink, full lips and day old scruff, descended on me in a hard kiss—all ownership and demand.
Ohmigod.
Once. Twice. His grip on my face was unrelenting even as he pulled his mouth back a square inch then kissed me even harder, pressing and molding possessive lips to me. His tongue shoved its velvet, hot length against mine with a need and intent I couldn't comprehend.
Never in my life, even if I happened to kiss a hundred other people after this, would anything feel like Dex’s long, strong fingers cradling my jaw, his teeth nipping my bottom lip.
I shouldn’t have just stood there. I also definitely shouldn’t have opened my mouth for him, or met him halfway with my own tongue but when someone who looks like Dex—tall, strong, not exactly always on the right side of moral issues, and talented with his mouth—kisses you, you don’t say no. I understood at that point why so many women had fallen prey to him but this was so carnal, it didn't feel natural.When someone like Dex makes a noise into your mouth when you slid your tongue against his in a friendly gesture while simultaneously shoving your breasts against his hard chest, you do it again.
Even if you don't really know what you're doing. You just go with it. You move your tongue in a way that only your body understands. You arch your back because that's what feels right in the moment.
You don’t question it. You take advantage of that one moment of insanity that you let yourself live for just a taste of something and someone like Dex The Dick Locke.
He kissed me ruthlessly. His right hand shifted from its spot on my cheek, down my neck before ending up on the opposite shoulder.
And I let him because his lips were firm, his tongue was good and his mouth tasted faintly like the chocolate milk he’d drank earlier and the smoke he had when we'd opened up the shop hours before. The rock solid chest smashed against mine might have also been a reason why I didn’t even think about shifting away.
It wasn’t until his other hand, the one left on my face, started its descent down my neck and grazed over my collarbone, over the side of my breast that I realized what the heck was going on.
Dex The Dick. Dex The Kind Grump was shoving his tongue down my throat. My boss. Dex. Charlie. The guy who signed my paychecks.
I pulled away from him so abruptly, I’m sure it was the only reason why he let me go. He hadn’t been expecting me to back away from him out of the blue like that. It was also because he wasn’t waiting for me to pull away that I had a chance to take in the flushed look on his face, the heavy set of his eyes. And the massivepipelining his jeans.
God.
I shouldhave just stayed where I was, but then I’d regret it for sure.
"Holycrap," I gasped out.
His mouth was just slightly parted, and he almost looked a little... dazed. "Shit." Dex thrust both hands through the mess of black hair that just barely swept over his forehead. "Shit, Ritz."
And, cue the awful feeling that crept into the pit of my stomach.
