“God, I hope so. Glad I don’t have to sleep with any of the accountants to get to the top.” He shivered. “There are some really nerdy people in my line of work.”
She pulled her hand free and took a drink of her wine. “You aren’t one,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Score one for the good guys. Two points in his favor if she didn’t think he was a dork yet.
“So, what’s his name?”
“Who? The partner at my firm?”
“Yes.” Rafe stared at her.
She opened her mouth but then shut it quickly. After a pause she spoke. “I’m not going to tell you. You’d probably go all he-man on me and show up at his door with fists flying.”
Rafe chuckled. “True. Might be better to keep that detail to yourself.”
The waitress arrived with their food and they both sat back to make room.
“Smells good,” she commented. She grabbed a fork and twisted pasta onto the tines. The rising steam indicated it would be very hot. She must have decided so also, because she blew on the first bite and touched it tentatively with her tongue before tasting the small morsel.
“Good?” he asked.
“Delicious.”
They settled into comfortable chit chat as they ate, commenting on the food and the ingenuity of a movie theater that served dinner.
“So, what movie do you want to see?” Rafe asked as they took their second drink with them and headed to get tickets. “Romance? Comedy? Action? Horror?”
She glanced at him for a moment and then back at the board. “You did say I could choose.”
“That I did.” He sipped his beer as he watched her decide.
“Let’s go with the comedy. Can I get the tickets since you paid for dinner?”
“Nope. But nice try.” He pulled out his wallet and stepped up to the next available employee.
Ten minutes later they were seated in the theater and the lights were dimming. Rafe clasped her small hand in his on the arm rest between them and proceeded to hold it during the entire film. Most of his concentration was on her—her reactions to the movie, the way she laughed with her entire body, the way her hair fell across her face and she continually tucked it behind her ear, though it mocked her, refusing to stay put.
God, he wanted this woman. Was there a chance in hell she could fit into his world? Not the business man by day or the MMA fighter by evening, but the Dom by night.
Every time he pictured her spread out beneath him, perhaps strapped to the corners of his bed, his cock grew stiffer. She had such passion. And man could she kiss. She could let loose and really enjoy herself. She worked hard and played hard.
He wanted nothing more than to make her come screaming, his mouth dragging out multiple orgasms from her pussy while she writhed beneath him. Her skin would be splotchy and pink from arousal. Would her mouth hang open as she tipped over the edge? God how he wanted to hear her scream with pleasure.
He closed his eyes several times, envisioning what it would be like the first time he pressed his cock into her.
He glanced down at her lap when she crossed her legs again. She’d switched them a dozen times. He prayed he made her crave his touch. One hurdle at a time. If he left her this evening wanting more, he would have done his job.
When the movie ended, he set his arm on her lower back as they exited the theater. She shivered in the cooler night air as she led him to her car, her arms crossed in front of her. “I should have worn a sweater.”
He was glad she hadn’t.
Katy leaned against the door to her car, facing him. “I had fun. Thank you.”
He touched her nose with one finger. “Enough fun to go out with me again?”
She nodded, smiling. “I think I could be persuaded.”
“Maybe I could have your number this time?”
“Perhaps.”
He opened his phone and started a new contact. Then he handed it to Katy to input her number. As he stuffed it back into his pocket he leaned into her. He wanted to kiss her like she had kissed him that morning. But he wouldn’t. He made it a personal policy not to get too close to a woman before she knew his entire agenda. At least that way, if she turned him down, she wouldn’t regret anything between them.
Hell, it was rare that he picked a vanilla woman from regular society to date in the first place. Most of the partners he met were members of the club he went to. It was easier that way. Any woman inside the building knew what she was getting into when she let him dominate her. What would Katy think of the place? Would she widen her eyes in horror or be as titillated as he suspected?
He kissed her temple, lingering several seconds as her hair ticked his nose. And then he stepped back, breaking contact. “I’ll call you.”
Her eyes bugged out when he stepped away. He didn’t let go of her gaze. He’d shocked her by not kissing her.
“Okay,” she muttered. Her face spoke volumes though. She didn’t believe him. In fact, her shoulders slumped.
His heart raced, but he tried not to let it show in his demeanor. She wanted him, or at least she wanted more from him. That was a good sign. If he let her ponder that for a few days, maybe the anticipation would build until she was more likely to give the real Rafe a chance.
He waited until she’d opened the door with shaky fingers and turned on the car before he backed away and headed for his truck. As soon as he turned around he gave a silent fist pump.
There was hope.
Chapter Four
Katy drove home in a stupor. She could hardly remember getting from point A to point B. The best date of her life had ended abruptly without a hint of proposition. Not that she slept with men on the first date, or rounded the bases, but usually it was her experience that the decision not to do so came from herself. Calmly fending off premature advances was in the silent woman’s handbook on dating.
She touched her mouth as she got ready for bed, staring into the mirror. He hadn’t kissed her again as she had him this morning, but she could still feel his lips as though they were there. She moaned. Why hadn’t he repeated the gesture?
She knew he liked her. He’d held her hand and stroked her palm with his finger throughout the entire movie. She’d been only marginally able to concentrate on the flick with him staring at her from the side as though he adored her. When he’d left her in the parking lot without so much as a peck on the lips, she’d been stunned speechless.
She’d craved his firm lips on hers since the moment she’d broken their first kiss in the morning. And the way he looked at her made her pussy clench. She’d never been so frustrated, and that had only been a first date…or second if you counted the coffee.
Never. That’s when she last fell for a man as fast as she was falling for Rafe the boxing accountant. She vowed to research this MMA stuff in the morning and find out what it was all about.
Geez, what was she thinking? Researching a sport she had no interest in for a man who may or may not call her again was ludicrous. But if he did, she would be ready.
Katy took off her dress and draped it across the vanity chair. She stepped back into the bedroom of her condo and opened her lingerie drawer to grab a soft tank. She held it up, but at the last second dropped it to the floor, squirmed out of her panties and padded over to the bedside table to retrieve her vibrator.
If Rafe Walker was going to leave her panting, she could at least bring herself to orgasm thinking about him. She lay down on the sheets, spread her legs wide, and flipped the switch on her vibrator to low. As pent-up as she was, she would come fast and hard, leaving herself needing more. Try as she might, she’d never managed to come twice, so she wanted to make it last.
She closed her eyes as she set the dildo next to her clit and moaned. Her nipples ached to be touched. She lifted the vibrator to her chest and teased the tips of each nipple back and forth until they stood out as sharp peaks. She pinched one, hard, loving the sting that traveled down her spine at the sharp flash of pain.
It still happened too fast for her taste. She knew in an instant she wouldn’t last when she set the pulsing rubber cock on her clit. She bucked into the sensation, picturing Rafe holding the vibrator. Would he do that sort of thing? He seemed like a man secure enough with himself to take charge in the bedroom. What she hated more than anything was a sexual partner who was afraid to think outside the box. Creativity won her favor.
She moaned as she came, her clit pulsing. Seconds later she had to remove the direct contact before her nub protested the sensitivity. Gasping for air, though it had lasted just minutes, she left her legs spread open and dropped her arms to her sides.
She breathed deeply for a while before rolling onto her side and setting the vibrator on the bedside table. She would wash it in the morning. She didn’t bother putting her panties and shirt on. Instead she enjoyed the sensitivity of her skin brushing against the high-thread-count sheets, pulling the blanket over her and falling asleep immediately.
•●•
It seemed like only minutes before a noise yanked her from her sleep.
She moaned as she rolled over and glanced at the clock. Nine? Was that possible? She hadn’t slept that late in years.
The noise jarred her again. Ah, the doorbell.
Shit. Jenna. They were supposed to run this morning. They usually met at the path at eight thirty.
Katy leaped from the bed and grabbed her silk robe to have something to wrap around her as she dashed toward the front door. A quick glance in the peephole confirmed her friend’s arrival. She whipped the door open, out of breath. “I’m so sorry. I overslept.” She stepped back to allow Jenna entrance.
Jenna raised an eyebrow as she entered. “You? Overslept?” She dropped her keys on the table next to the door and turned toward Katy with her hands on her hips. “How was the date?” She glanced up and down Katy’s frame as she spoke and then gasped, her eyes going wide and her hand covering her mouth. “Oh, shit. Is he here?”
“No. Of course not.” Katy headed back to her bedroom with Jenna on her heels. “I don’t usually bring strange men home on the first date and sleep with them. When have you known me to do that?”
“Ha,” Jenna said from behind her. “When have I known you to sleep until nine and then answer the door with a just-fucked look? Are you wearing anything under that robe?” Jenna chuckled.
When Katy entered her room, she grabbed her running clothes from a drawer and headed to the bathroom to change. She didn’t comment on her nudity.
As she changed, she listened to Jenna’s continued teasing banter from the bedroom. “Was he as good as you’d hoped?” And then she interrupted herself. “Shit, Katy. You left your vibrator out. God. That good?”
Katy flushed to her toes. She dashed into the bedroom, grabbed the dildo from the table and headed back to the bathroom without glancing up. Lord, she was a mess.
Jenna laughed harder. “Holy shit. He must be a winner. I’m so jealous.”
“Yeah, well, don’t be,” Katy said as she returned. “He didn’t kiss me at the end of the date and he took my number but didn’t give me his.” She grabbed her cell phone from the table as she spoke and checked for missed calls or texts. Nothing.
Jenna clapped her hands. “When is the wedding?”
“Ha. I’ll be lucky if he asks me out again. Maybe my breath was bad or something yesterday morning. I mean who does that? A woman plasters herself to a guy against the wall and basically makes out with him before as much as a hello and then later he doesn’t give her a kiss good night? Ugh.” She glanced at the ceiling, threw her arms up, and then proceeded to find her shoes. “Let’s go for that run. I need to work off some nervous energy.”
“I’ll say. But how exciting. He’ll call. Don’t worry. Who wouldn’t call you? You’re every man’s wet dream.”
“Whatever.”
“No. I mean it.” Jenna followed her from the bedroom as she spoke. “You’re cute, sexy, skinny, sophisticated, funny, professional. Shall I go on?”
“No, please. Spare me. You’re not going to be able to keep me from stressing over this. Until he calls, I’m going to be a wreck.” Katy rolled her eyes as she opened the front door. “I’ll follow you?”
“Sounds good.”
As they drove to the park where Katy was supposed to have met Jenna in the first place, Katy obsessed over the fine ass she’d closely examined while walking behind Rafe. God, that man had muscles. Even his butt was rock hard. She would have liked to grasp it with both hands and tested it out, if he hadn’t been so damn chivalrous.
When she reached the park, she glanced in the rearview mirror. Someone was right on her tail. “Dude, slow down,” she muttered. “This isn’t a race.” As she pulled into the parking lot, the car riding her ass did indeed slow, almost to a stop, but then it sped on by. Katy twisted her neck to look back. Weird.
Now she was imagining things.
The run was just what she needed. Jenna bombarded her with questions, claiming to live vicariously through Katy, and Katy groaned over the way Jenna visualized how the date had gone.
When they parted ways, Jenna pointed at the park. “Next week then? Same time same place? Or will you be sleeping in then too? Perhaps not alone next time.” She giggled.
“Ha ha. I’ll be here.” It was their standing weekly date. They’d been friends for years, since they’d met in college as roommates. They were both so busy during the week that the only time they were guaranteed to get together was Sunday mornings for their long run. If Katy could manage to get out of bed, that was.
•●•
It was Wednesday before Katy finally got a text from Rafe. By then she’d given up hope of ever hearing from him and had resorted to ice cream and chocolate as though she’d been through a horrific breakup.
Had a great time, Saturday. I’ll call you tonight?
Katy exhaled a long breath when she read the message, as though she’d been holding it for four days. She plopped down in her chair behind her desk and stared at her computer screen, not entirely sure what she was supposed to be doing for the afternoon. The man distracted her beyond reason at all hours of the day and night.
When her landline beeped, she jumped.
“Ms. Marks, your two o’clock is here.”
“Oh, right. Thanks. I’ll be right there.” Katy flipped into her calendar in hopes she could recover a brain cell and meet her client knowing his name and the name of his company. She wasn’t going to make partner in this century if she didn’t get her head in the game. Especially since sleeping her way to the top wasn’t on her short list.
She hadn’t seen Jonathan Stewart the entire week. If she was lucky, he’d gone out of town. Those were the best weeks. The firm was large, however, and she’d been too busy to stand around in the break room. He could be in the building for all she knew. Hopefully the eyeful she’d given him outside her uncle’s gym forced him to give up any aspirations he had of getting lucky with her.
The meeting with her client went smoothly and ate up the rest of the afternoon. She was relieved when she noticed it was almost six o’clock. She gathered her laptop, switched off her desktop, and headed for home.
“Lord, I really need to get laid,” she muttered as she fixed herself a frozen dinner. “I’m acting like I haven’t met a man in years.” Rafe Walker was under her skin big time. And she wanted him on her skin with a passion.
At eight, her phone finally rang. “Hello.” She recognized the number from earlier. She would save it in her contacts.
“Hey. It’s Rafe.”
She smiled. Who else would it be? Of course he didn’t know that, but she wasn’t in the habit of dating ten guys at once…or even one these days. She hadn’t been on a real date in months until Saturday. “Hi.” She bit her lower lip, trying to think what the proper protocol was for the first phone call after a date. Completely tongue-tied, she managed no other words.
“How’s your week going?”
“Pretty good. Yours?”
<
br /> “Not bad. Busy. Has that guy at work still been hounding you for a date?”
“Nope. I haven’t had the pleasure of his company this entire week.”
“Well, that’s good. Maybe your tactics worked.” He chuckled and she loved the sound of his voice.
Her legs grew wobbly and she sat on the couch to keep from losing her balance. Even talking to him on the phone made her horny. Something about the sultry way he seemed to be whispering in her ear. “You would think he would give up after the wanton display I performed.”
“Yeah, but guys can be dense. You never know. He may not care who you’re with as long as he’s on the list.”
“That’s disgusting.”
He chuckled. “Yes, but true.”
She held her breath during a short silence. He’d called. That was promising.
“So, I can’t talk long now. Mason is waiting on me to beat his ass in the ring.”
“Pardon?” What the hell was he talking about?
“My friend. The guy I was sparring with when you walked in Saturday. We’re at the gym about to work out. He thinks he can make my eyes match if another gorgeous woman with endless legs and sexy curls walks in. Been teasing me all week.”
Katy froze, her face turning red hot. Did he call me gorgeous and sexy?
“Anyway, I was wondering if you were free Friday night? I have a match, but after that we could go out… If you’re still interested.”
Still interested? She’d used her vibrator so many times this week, it was probably burned out.
“You still there?”
“Yes.” She sucked in a breath. “Sorry. Of course. You want me to meet you?”
“I’ll pick you up if you give me your address. Or you could meet me at the gym, if you don’t mind the ribbing you would get from the guys or possibly your uncle. I haven’t mentioned a word to him about last Saturday, by the way. Didn’t want to embarrass you if you’d rather he didn’t know.”
“Thank you. That was kind.”
“I’d invite you to come in and watch the match too, but not this time. You would distract the hell out of me with your cute dimples, and I would get pummeled.”
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