“Exactly.” He stands straight and winks at me as he lifts his hand to tap my nose with his finger. He laughs when I jerk my head back with a scowl.
I turn around and walk toward the kitchen, leaving him to follow me without a spoken invitation. When I turn to see him walking my way, holding the flowers he brought me, I pull a vase from under the sink and fill it halfway with water before dropping an Aspirin in it to keep the flowers fresh longer. I reach for the bouquet, refusing to react to the jolt I feel when our fingertips touch as he passes them to me.
“When do you want me to start at the club?” I ask without looking at him as I arrange the dahlias in the vase.
“We open tomorrow night, but I can take you over there today to get a feel for the layout,” he says as he watches me. When my eyes meet his, he clears his throat before speaking. “Listen, Sloan…”
“Uh oh,” I say, cutting him off. “You only use myactualname when I’m in trouble.”
“Wrong,” he says with a grin. “I use it when I’mseriousabout what I’m saying.”
CHAPTER SIX
Dean
Igive Sloan a minute to process my words until she nods at my unspoken admission. I never meant any of the cruel things I said to her. I never wanted to hurt her. I convinced myself that I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want to put her in danger, because even then, I could see how much she craved it.
“I won’t say I’m sorry,” I tell her.
“I wouldn’t believe you if you did.” She shrugs before reaching into the refrigerator, pulling out two bottles of water, and passing one to me. “Tell me more about this job. What do I need to do besides dance?”
“Watch and listen,” I tell her. “The primary focus right now is finding out who attacked Maxine Talbot. We know they will lead us to the heart of the problem plaguing the south side of town.”
“That’s what my sister said,” she says with a nod before her eyes snap to mine. “Wait. Does my sister know about this?” She waves her hand between us.
“No.” I shake my head. “She’ll probably try to castrate me when she finds out since she already told me you were off limits.”
“You’re on your own with that one.” Sloan laughs and for the first time, it’s not loaded with sarcasm.
I relish the sound, knowing that this camaraderie may not ever happen again when she finds out just how far I went to get us to this point. I’m tempted to come clean now, but it’s too soon. This truce is too new. I need to show her how good we can be before I let her know the whole truth.
“Thanks a lot,” I say with a grin before stepping around the kitchen island she’s purposely left between us. I’m relieved when she doesn’t flinch away from me as I reach for her hand. “I need you to know that the customers who will come into the club are dangerous…reallydangerous.”
“I know.” Her voice is shaky, but it’s not from fear. She’s feeling the same desire I am. “I trust you to keep me safe.”
I swore to myself that I would keep this platonic until she knew everything. I always meant to make her mine. I just didn’t want to take that step under false pretenses. But hearing her admit that she trusts me is my undoing. I lift my free hand to her chin and tip her head back to hold her gaze, making my intention clear as I bend my head until my breath fans across her mouth.
When her tongue peeks out to wet her lips, I close the distance and chase it with my own. She opens for me with a whimper that has my cock testing the strength of my zipper. I drop my hands to her waist and lift her to sit on the island, bringing us close to the same height so I can deepen the kiss. Her legs wrap around my waist, and she uses her feet to pull me into her as her hands dive into my hair.
My jeans and her thin leggings are no match for the heat coming from her center, making my dick weep into my underwear. When I thrust against her, she breaks the kiss with a loud moan. I should stop this, but now that I’ve heard that sound, I refuse to stop until I see her fall apart.
“Hold on to me,” I tell her as I pull her from the counter and walk into the living room. I sit on the couch with her straddling my lap before lifting my hand to collar her throat as I tell her, “Ride me. Use me to get yourself off.” I keep my hand there, feeling her pulse race as she obeys my command.
When her legs begin to tremble and her moans turn desperate, I draw my fingers together, restricting some of her blood flow without cutting off her air. I hold her gaze, making sure she knows exactly who’s making her fly as she shatters. I move my hand to the back of her neck and pull her into another kiss as my other hand drops to her perfect ass to hold her to me until her aftershocks end.
When she drops her head to my chest, I wrap my arms around her, holding her to me as she breathes through the aftermath of the storm I just caused. I know as soon as the endorphins wear off, she’ll be on her feet, spewing hate at me all over again. But I’m going to enjoy the feeling of her in my arms until she does.
I let out a chuckle when her head snaps up and she looks at me with a mixture of shock and renewed lust.
“I still hate you,” she says with my favorite sly grin.
“That’s okay,” I say with a shrug. “Remember that line between love and hate?” When she scoffs, I stand up, holding her under her thighs as I whisper against her mouth, “It’s even thinner betweenlustand hate.” Then, I drop her to her feet and turn her toward the stairs that lead to the bedrooms. “Now, go change your drenched panties so I can take you to the club and show you your new stage.” I draw my hand back and smack herass before laughing at the lust-filled glare she shoots at me over her shoulder.
“I love this car,”Sloan says an hour later as we drive the long way around town to get to the club.
“Oh, yeah?” I ask as I shift into sixth gear. “So you hate me, but you love my car?” I step on the gas, relishing the sound of her giggle as the exhaust purrs beneath us.
“Pretty much,” she says as we fly around the curves of the mountain.
