And the butterflies are back. Flying high and on a mission to destroy me.
I attempt to deflect, sheltering myself from compliments. It’s different when I can portray confidence in my own way, but entirely useless when I least expect it. When it comes from someone I’m finding to be unlike anything I expected—in a good way. “You should see me in the mornings. Fresh off the pillow, looking like America’s Most Wanted. Pretty scary,” I overenunciate.
He taps my nose playfully. “How about I find out for myself?”
Well, that backfired.
“Back to this again?” I ask, unable to resist because, seriously, why is he so insistent on seeing me again?
“Never left, actually.” Just when I think he’ll walk away, he leans further into my space, providing me with a high I never knew I’d crave. “I only hoped I’d be lucky enough to see you again. Not sure almost knocking you out was what I anticipated, but here we are. I won’t question it.”
The touch of someone older. Wiser. Someone who I’d bet my entire Louis Vuitton collection knows how to find a clitoris with his eyes closed.
Chills overtake my body, and Stetson doesn’t miss it. The hand that’s been grazing my thigh for minutes now makes its way to my arm, running up the length of it in asoft, fluid stroke. “I never seek out anyone, Cove. But fuck, do I want you like nothing I ever have before.”
His touch stops at my upper arm, finger slipping under the sleeve of my uniform with each upward motion. “You know nothing about me,” I draw out, fighting to hide the effect his words have on me. “I could be a horrible person with demons bigger than Dolly Parton’s boobs.”
All hail Dolly.
“Partially why I’m going insane,” he huffs, body leaning further into my space. “Besides, I’ve always been a Dolly guy.”
Of course you are.
His mouth is just a breath away. Less than three inches, and our lips would touch. I can already feel the sensation his lips would bring.
Tenderness and passion.
Possessiveness.
“Is it because you work nine to five?” I joke, homing in on that steadfast deflection. He shakes his head in laughter, and I continue, “Besides, we’re in the airport lounge. Not exactly the ideal place to get to know me,” I tell him, quickly realizing I’m no longer declining his request.
One glance at Stetson tells me he notices, too.
“We could be in the middle of a bull arena right now, and I wouldn’t know it. You fascinate me.”
“Is that so?” My interest is piqued. “Not the first time I’ve heard that. Must be a rich guy thing.”
He hums, rerouting his lips to the cusp of my ear. “You’re danger and desire wrapped in one. A lot like what I’d imagine dancing on the edge of a cliff to feel like.”
Or maybe he doesn’t care what position I put him in. He fits himself where he wants.
At one point in my life, I’d like to think warning alarms would signal me to abort this mission. But today, at the ripeage of thirty, I can’t think of a single reason not to take Stetson Cole for a test drive.
I can’t buy him. Might not even take him out of the parking lot, but I can test him for accuracy right here, then return him after.
It’s not my usual tactic, but it could be something worth exploring.
Maybe for him this is strictly desire? Attraction? Pure want on both ends. He can’t hurt me if I don’t give him my heart, right?
My body should be enough then we can go on with our lives.
“Stetson,” I whimper and his lips shift to my neck, a featherlike touch driving me mad with want as he closes in. My core throbs. I’d be foolish to ignore it.
“Tell me I can touch you, Cove. Tell me I can press my lips to yours and taste the softness of your skin.”
“You can—” The words barely leave my mouth before the ringing of my phone echoes through the confines of the lounge. Stetson pulls it from his pocket, where he was likely storing it for me after my disaster of a fall.
But the ringtone isn’t the basic one I keep for most of my contacts. It’s specifically for my mom. “That’s my mom. I’ve been waiting to hear from her,” I panic.
