“Is he who you think about when you touch yourself?” The question comes out quiet, reluctant, like he’s forcing it out against better judgment.
My pulse skips so fast I can’t think over it.Did he see me?
He lowers to his haunches in front of me and tilts my head back so I have no choice but to meet his gaze. Whiskey swirls in a tumbler glass. Then his lips touch my ear, and a soft growl ghosts down my spine.
“You don’t even know how much you’re worth, do you?”
My eyes fall shut, knees shake. I know exactly how much I’m worth: twenty bucks in change on a good day. Our chests heave in tandem, up and down, up and down. The light stubble on his jaw tickles my cheek. His heat seeps through my skin, and I want to wrap it around me like a hot blanket. I want to drown in it and never come up for air.
My eyes open, and I let the urge take over. I run my fingers through his hair and down the nape of his neck.
He stiffens, and I watch his Adam’s apple bob up and down.
“Tell me,” I whisper. My chest squeezes at the intensity behind his gaze. “How much am I worth, Easton?”
His jaw twitches, eyes drop to my mouth.
“Enough to touch you?” The question escapes like a taunt, but it’s not. Those words are the most honest and vulnerable I’ve ever said. Heart racing, I drag a fingernail down the vein in his neck, and slowly, I lean closer. So close, my parted lips brush his. “Enough to kiss me?”
His stare holds mine, and he inhales my exhales. “Don’t.” It’s quiet. A warning. Aplea.
“Don’t what?” Maybe I’m manipulating him. Maybe that’s proof I really don’t deserve him. But right now, my heart is made of glass, and if he turns me away, it’ll shatter to pieces. My lips skim his, and this time, my tongue darts out to glide across his lower lip.
“Eva,” he groans like he’s in pain. His fingers loosen their hold on my hair, but then, he threads them through the strands and holds me tighter.
My palms slide down his chest and curl against his abs. He’s a furnace, but I can’t stop shivering. “Am I worthy enough for you to touch me back?”
He releases a low breath, abs tightening beneath my hands, and each clipped word is rough on the edges. “You’ve had a lot to drink. You don’t know what you’re saying.” Then, his voice darkens enough to force my gaze to his. “Besides, you have plenty of other guys to choose from, and you’ve made sure I know it.”
I frown. “Is that jealousy I detect in your voice, Easton Rutherford?”
His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t deny it.
I want to feel satisfaction, but I don’t. Other than the heat of his body, I don’t feel anything. If jealousy was enough, he would be touching me the way I want.
“You want to know a secret?” I ask.
A fist pounds on the door.
He ignores it.
“None of thoseother guyshave ever made me come.” A vein in his neck twitches, once, twice. “Thankfully, I can take care of myself.”
Another knock on the door. “Yo, there’s a line out here longer than the Great Wall of China! Hurry the fuck up!”
“Want to know another secret?”
He watches the words pass my lips, his chest rising and falling with rough breaths.
“I think about you while I’m doing it.”
His nostrils flare, his eyes darker than night.
Thump.“Five seconds, or I swear, I’m gonna piss in the hot tub.”
Rising to my feet, I walk away from him. Pretending it doesn’t hurt. Pretending it’seasy.
After shooting a dirty look at the guy on the other side of the door, I step through the crowded hall with a calmness I don’t feel. On the inside, I can’t stop shaking. Easton isn’t just someone I want. He’s the solid ground beneath my feet. I don’t know why I always beg to shake it up like a magnitude ten earthquake. And tonight, the tremors terrify me.
