I force myself to nod, slow and thoughtful. “Yep. Your rules. I’ll provide STD test results and…” I look down at the hard-on already trying to rip its way outta my jeans. “The genetic material.”
“Right.” I watch her consider, eyes wide as they scan our surroundings, touch on me and then skitter away again. She’s probably asking herself if she wants an ex-con for her kid’s dad, maybe wondering just how high my IQ can possibly be if I turned to crime as a youth. On the flip side, I’m big and strong. That’s gotta count for something in whatever genetic calculations she’s running through that sharp brain of hers. “Frank says you’re a good man. Says there’s no one he’d trust more than you. But this restaurant is my life, Jake. It’s all I have.”
“I would never hurt you,” I grit out, a vow I’ll gladly scratch out in blood.
I’ve counted up to thirty in my head by the time she nods and shoves her slender hand at me. “Okay. Yes.”
My cock goes impossibly harder, heavier. It’s throbbing where it’s trapped between my leg and rough denim. It’s takes an effort to do nothing but reach out and slide my palm against hers, grip those delicate fingers, shake.
When she finally pulls away, she’s all business.
“Once you get your results…”
“I’ll get it done tomorrow.”
“Okay. We can do it at my place.”
“Probably a good idea.”
Her expression changes. “Why?”
“Would you rather do it here?”
“No.” Her exhale’s nervous or impatient or something. Not impatient the way I am, I figure. I’m thinking about that big, heart-shaped ass. About how she’ll smell in bed, how those eyes will look, how her pussy’s gonna feel wrapped tight around me. Fuck…going in bare… I swallow. It’ll be a first.
Can’t fucking wait.
“Things will be the same at work, Jake, got it?”
“Of course.”
“You and I aren’t…anything.”
“Just doing a job.”Ma’am.The last word’s silent, but it’s there.
Her laugh comes out, hoarse and high. “Jesus. That makes it sound…” She swallows and shifts in her seat. Some part of her likes this. I know it. I fucking feel it in the air between us. “Dirty,” she whispers.
“That bother you?”
When her little pink tongue comes out to lick that plush bottom lip, I realize I’m in for a world of pain until those test results come in. At least I know they’ll be negative.
I haven’t touched—or even thought about—another woman since I walked into Parlor and saw Kitty behind the bar. Kit.
No, Katarina.
“Doesn’t bother me,” she says.
“Me neither.”
“You’re into it.”
I nod. Even without the visible erection, there’d be no denying it. I’m into whatever happens here. Hell, she’s pretty much all I’ve thought about since I first saw her. To get the chance to fuck her raw? “Yep.”
“All right.” She opens her door, letting in a blast of much-needed air. “See you tomorrow.”
She swings out into the lot and pauses halfway through shutting the door again. “Nothing changes. Got that?”
“Of course, boss. Nothing changes.” This is a bald-faced lie.
