She’s so... unconventional. Andhonest, which is a trait that is wildly attractive to me right now. She gets hotter every time she opens her mouth, and as much as I want to take her upstairs, I’m just as interested in hearing what’ll come out of her mouth next.“Please continue your story. We’ll head upstairs soon enough. We have all night, right?”
Lana furrows her brow as she seems to think on it a moment, then she nods. “You’re right. I haven’t reached the punchline of my evening yet. You’ll be in suspense. I wouldn’t want that to interfere with anything.”
I can’t say I’m following her logic, but I am enjoying the fuck out of this girl, and I sure as eggs don’t want to rush wherever this is going and have it end all too soon.
She takes a big breath. “Well, I didn’t want this acquaintance to fix me up with some lame asshole, so I told her that if she put some effort in and convinced someone awesome to go on a date with me, then I’d help her with her other assignment. She asked what would happen if nobody was interested, and I told her they would be because I was going to be an easy lay.”
I almost spray her with beer again. “Yousaidthat?” I ask between coughs. I’m going to have to stop drinking when she’s talking or she’ll think I have throat problems.
Lana shrugs and offers me the napkin from under the unused cutlery we’ve moved to the side. “For the right guy, it would have been true. I was playing the odds.”
“Right.”
I get to thinking about how she propositioned me. Does she thinkI’mthe right guy? Because I’m definitely not. I’m way too old and filthy for her. Aren’t I? She doesn’tseemthe type of woman who’d give it up to just any guy she meets… Or is she? Everything she does surprises me, so the more I think about what kind of woman she is, the more I’m sure I don’t know.
“Bates?”
“Mm?”
“You look concerned. If you’re wondering about the level of my promiscuity, I would like to state clearly and firmly that it is low.Verylow. I’m not usually in the habit going to hotel bars topick up guys and invite them back to my room or anything. I’m just here for the night and thought I’d try it. There’s a first time for everything, right?”
She slaps a hand to her forehead and drags it down over her eyes as she groans. “God, I am making it so painfully obvious that this is my first time picking up a guy in a bar. I should have waited for the tequila to hit before I went anywhere near you, but you just kind of blindsided me with your pretty eyes, and your pretty arms, and your pretty…”
Her fingers open enough for her to peek through, and she gives me another once-over before groaning again. “You just have entirely too much pretty going on, and it has me all hot and bothered,” she explains, fanning her flaming-crimson cheeks. “Makes a girl do crazy shit.”
I shift in my seat to give my dick more room.
If Lana ever had a filter, it broke. She’s so open and matter-of-fact, it has me reeling. Everything she says is what she’s actually thinking. She doesn’t play games, and she actually thinks I’m…pretty?Fuck.
The more she talks, the more I want her. And she’s beautiful. And she wants to go upstairs with me. Is there a catch? There’s got to be. Inside and out, I’m struggling to keep calm and remain still. My cock is straining against my thigh like a bronco poised to escape its pen at a rodeo, and the stitching of my jeans is going to be stamped on the fucking thing if she doesn’t stop saying things that make me want to fuck her mouth.Shit.
Think sweeter things, meathead.
She’s a good girl. I can tell. She deserves sweet.
I call on all my strength and wisdom and do my best to stay cool and collected.
“We’ll explore some crazy shit in good time,” I promise. “But before we do that, tell me about your date, Lana. You look beautiful, and you’re sweet as hell, so I can’t imagine youwere rejected. Did this acquaintance fail in her responsibilities again?” I ask before my heart starts pounding in a bad way. “Please don’t tell me she made you have dinner with an asshole. Was he mean to you?”
My blood pressure keeps rising as I think of all the things that could have driven Lana toward tequila shots andme. “Did you meet him in the hotel restaurant?” I push up my sleeves and look around. “Is he still here? Should I go kick his ass?”
Lana takes my hands and unfurls my fingers so she can press her palms back to mine and stroke my wrists with her fingertips.
“Sweet with a side of overprotective rage. Who knewthatwas a turn-on,” she whispers. “I havedefinitelybeen looking for men in the wrong places. Do you live around here? Just passing through? What’s the deal? I’m done with school and flying out tomorrow, and I didn’t think I’d ever be back, but ifyou’rehere…”
Her gaze lifts to my face, and her eyes get really wide, really fast. They’re probably matching mine. She rushes her fingers to her lips as she gasps.
“What did I say? Oh,God.Did I just sound like one of those women who meets a great guy and then five minutes later changes the entire course of her life to accommodate him?Ugh. No wonder you look so shocked. That’snotwhat I was doing, Bates. I have a plan for my life, and this night was meant to include getting laid, but that’s it. I was just asking for context. Like, how have I been here for three years and not known there was someone like you around here? That’s all. I swear.”
“I… doubt we hang out in the same circles,” I say in as soothing a tone as I can manage. “And I was just tying up some loose ends before I leave Colorado tomorrow. Forever.”
“That’s a long time,” she utters softly.
“The longest,” I agree.
“Why so permanent?”
An awful, ill feeling rises in my throat. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
