“Filled up.”
“That’s great, Sisk.”
“Lou’s a hard worker. Been great actually.”
“Happy to hear.” He takes the bottle back from me, his fingers lingering on mine too long before he drinks again. He lowers the bottle slowly, his tongue darting out to lick a drop of wine from his lower lip.
“You look good, Sisk,” he says, his voice lowering another octave, turning the simple words into something hungry and intimate. “How’s everything else?”
“Fine. You?”
“Fine.”
We both know neither of us means it.
“You seeing anyone?” he asks, the question a casual knife twist.
“Maybe.” I take a sip of wine, my eyes challenging him over the rim. “You?”
“Maybe.”
I study him, a slow smile playing on my lips. “She good in bed?”
He snorts. “Jealous, rabbit?”
I shrug, taking another sip. “I happen to notice the nicer the guys are…” I let that hang there. “…the more vanilla the sex is. It’s a scientific fact.”
He laughs quietly, a dark, rough sound that makes my head spin. “Yeah. That tracks.”
“Can’t have it all, I guess.”
He nods toward the floor. “Go on.”
“What?”
“Let me see what the stretching looks like.”
“It’s boring.”
“Come on. Entertain me. It’s the least you can do since I brought the wine.”
I look at him. “You still see in the dark?”
“Yeah. Why?”
I walk to the light switch.Click.The room goes black except for the moonlight through the tall windows. Then I hit the radio.
“It’ll help,” I say, moving back to the barre, my body already knowing the way. “If I can’t see you.”
He leans against the wall, a silhouette in the gloom. “Why? Do I still make you nervous?”
I lift my leg slowly onto the barre, the muscles in my thigh screaming in protest. “What if I say yes?”
I start stretching slowly.
Jax doesn’t move or say anything as he watches me.
I slide my foot along the wood, arching, turning, letting the movement roll through my hips, my back, my shoulders.
