She couldn’t suppress her grin from spreading from ear to ear. She could tell she was blushing, but she couldn’t control it. She felt the heat spread out from her cheeks, down her neck and into her chest. Her breasts were swollen and heaving in front of her, pushed up by her plunge bra and her cleavage was exposed ever so slightly by the popped buttons on her shirt. She could tell that Carl was desperate to look down, but, so far, he had remained a gentleman, and only stared deep into her eyes.
“I guess you could say I am a handful,” she teased as she bit the end of her fingernail.
“So why here? Why the shitty day?” he changed the subject quickly before the heat between them intensified so much there would be no going back. Emily was disappointed for a second, but then she straightened up and brushed her long blonde hair back over her shoulder.
“I had a job interview,” she sighed. “But I left before I even went in…”
“What did you do that for?” he said as he motioned to Junk for another round of drinks.
“I don’t know… Lost my nerve probably…I was trying to convince myself it wasn’t the place for me…. But maybe it was self-sabotage.”
“A bit like this?” he winked.
Emily giggled at his joke. He was funny and smart. She couldn’t help but wonder why he had ended up in this kind of dive, not working in a proper job where his sharp mind would be put to good use.
“I wouldn’t class this as self-sabotage…” she said as she stared into his eyes. “In fact, maybe this is what I’ve needed all along.”
She had no idea where her confidence was coming from. But she wasn’t about to reign it in now. She felt on fire. As if she could take on anything. No one could stop her in the heat of this moment.
“I may have to agree with you on that one,” Carl smiled as he drained his full glass and then got to his feet.
Emily wanted to reach out and take hold of his arm to stop him from leaving, but she restrained herself.
“I like you,” he said as he leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear. “And I’d like to see you again.”
Emily’s grin crept back and she bit her bottom lip.
“Meet me tomorrow night,” he whispered. “For dinner?”
She looked up at him, into his beautiful eyes and strong, dominant features. He was so handsome and masculine, he was intimidating.
“I’d like that too,” she smiled.
“Tomorrow, eight p.m., I’ll pick you up on the corner of West Street.” He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Which end?” she asked, for a fleeting moment, confusion ran through her.
“By the park,” he said. “Eight on the dot.”
He wagged a finger at her jokingly and turned on his heel.
He sauntered off toward the table of men in the corner and Emily scooped up her purse and jacket before she slid down off the stool and turned to get the hell out of there.
She had no idea if she would go to meet him. But there was one thing that she couldn’t deny̶ she had chemistry with that man. It was immediate and exciting, and it powered her all of the way home with a beaming smile on her face.
5.
She woke the next day with a pounding headache and a dry mouth. The sun beamed in over her bed and when she opened her bleary eyes, she realized that she must have fallen straight to sleep without closing her blinds. The birds were cawing loudly out on the telephone line and somewhere downstairs, she could hear her mother humming a tune and pottering around.
She rolled over and looked at the clock on the night stand. It was almost ten a.m.
“Jeez,” she yawned as she rubbed her eyes and leaned up on her elbows.
Her clothes were strewn about the floor, her shoes in a heap and her bag open and spilling the contents all over. She noticed her lipstick and her cellphone and she got to her feet and stumbled across to pick it up.
No messages.
Great, she thought.
She slumped down on the floor and gathered her thoughts as the events of the previous day came careening back to her.
She had walked out of her interview…so she wouldn’t be offered a job today. She had made her way down town where she had stupidly gone into some kind of biker bar…and then she had caused a fight and met a guy…
A guy who, even through her drunken haze, was still making her smile.
Carl.
He had been like no one she had ever known before, and yet, he appealed to her in so many ways that she wondered why she hadn’t found someone like him attractive before now.
She crossed her legs underneath herself and thought of him some more. He had been strong and confident. The way he had overthrown those two creepy guys had done more than turned her on. It had sparked something inside of her that she had never known existed. Now she was hungry for him and the danger he could bring to her. The idea of having a man who could protect her so effortlessly was intoxicating.
She bit her lip with nerves and remembered his words…
By the park… Eight on the dot…
Could she really do this? Could she go along and meet this guy after just drunkenly chatting to him in a grimy biker bar?
She looked down at the screen of her cellphone again and at the blankness of it.
No messages.
No calls.
No notifications.
No love…
What did she really have to lose?
“Screw it!” she said as she jumped to her feet and pulled her robe down from the back of the door. “I’m going to go, and I’m going to have a good time!”
She slipped her arms into her nightgown and tied it tight around her little hourglass waist.
As she bounded down the stairs to the kitchen, she couldn’t suppress her smile. For the first time in a long time, she felt full of hope and excitement. This was going to be a day full of unpredictability and even though that was kind of nerve-racking, it was also exciting.
“Morning Mom,” she beamed as she walked into the kitchen.
“Morning Mil,” her mom smiled.
The kettle was boiling on the stove and Emily reached up into a cupboard and pulled down a mug. She put a small teabag inside, poured the steaming water over it and waited for it to brew.
“Recovered?” her mother joked.
“Was I bad?” Emily cringed as she tried to remember the details of how she had returned home the previous evening. But her mother just chuckled and shook her head.
“You were fine,” she laughed. “Just a little merry.”
“Oh good,” Emily sighed as she fished out the teabag and topped up the cup with milk.
She sat down at the kitchen table as her mother hummed and buzzed around her, cleaning the counter sides, rearranging flowers in a vase, emptying the dishwasher.
Emily pulled a magazine to her and flicked it open. Inside was a double page fashion spread and she looked at all the pretty girls in all their pretty dresses.
“I think I need to go shopping,” she declared as she took a big gulp of tea and tried her hardest to wake herself up.
She had no intention of telling her mom of her impending date, but she, at least, had to look good when she met up with Carl later that evening.
She smiled to herself as she remembered how he had liked her sexy secretary look. Maybe she would be able to recreate that without being so conservative.
As she jumped to her feet and began to skip back toward the staircase, she, again, felt full of hope. She knew she would figure something out and she had the feeling this day was going to be one of the best of her life.
6.
It was approaching seven p.m. and the nerves were starting to take hold. Emily had spent the day shopping and had returned home to shower and preen herself in preparation for her big date.
She sat on the end of her bed as she smoothed blusher over her cheeks and plumped up her lips with a striking red lipstick. Outside, the sun was going down and was casting a pink glow around her roo
m. She had butterflies in her belly, but she was willing them to stay just small enough to not panic her too much.
She thought about the last time she had met up with a guy and gone on a date and realized that she couldn’t remember. It had been that long ago. It wasn’t that she was short of offers, simply that she didn’t have any interest. The men that asked her out were all so predictable and she had written them off long ago. She didn’t want to have another boring conversation with a trainee lawyer or a salesman. She wanted someone with an edge that would keep exciting her and never leave. She smiled with hope. It was possible that Carl could be that person. After all, he had beaten up two men in front of her when they had yet to exchange a word, and it was all in her honor.
She believed in fate. Maybe her bad day had led her on to the best experience of her life.
“Jeez, don’t get so ahead of yourself, Emily,” she laughed to herself as she got to her feet and slipped in her simple diamante earrings and pinned them closed at the back.
She had chosen a simple black dress. One that hugged her in all of the right places and emphasized her delicious curves. She had always been told what a stunning hourglass figure she had, and her waist was nipped in with a little belt to make sure Carl didn’t miss the undulating of her hips as she snaked her way toward him demurely and feline-like.
She giggled at the thought. She just hoped that she had the nerve to become this confident seductress when the time came.
She slipped her feet into the same court shoes she had worn the day before and pulled a cardigan over her shoulders. Next to a man like Carl, she was going to look like a nerdy librarian, but she didn’t mind. It had clearly appealed to him initially, so why should she change anything?
As she headed out of her front door, she told a little white lie to her parents that she was going to meet some friends, and then she slipped out into the night.
The sun was almost down, but the light was still grey and pink. She wrapped her arms around herself as she clipped down the street on her heels and her mind raced with thoughts of what could possibly lay ahead. As she got further into the city and made her way toward West Street, her nerves started to mount. So many thoughts were rushing around, leaving her head in a spin…
What if I don’t even recognize him?
What if he doesn’t show?
What if he takes one look at me and laughs in my face?
What if it is all a big joke?
Or even worse… What if he’s with those creepy guys and it was all a horrible plan to humiliate or hurt me?
She stopped on the corner and looked across at the park and realized that her hands were shaking. She had to be brave and put herself out there for once. She knew, deep down, that she was being silly doubting his intentions. Surely, he couldn’t fake that connection? And if it was anything to do with the other creepy men, then surely they would have just done their worst last night in the bar…
She shook out her shoulders and held her head high. This was her time to shine and she wasn’t going to talk herself out of it, just as she had done with the interview the previous day.
She looked left and right, and strolled boldly across the street toward the park. The lake in the center was glinting gold with the setting sun and it made the whole place feel magical. As she stopped and leaned against a bench, she suddenly had the sense that this was all supposed to happen. Even though she was nervous, she had the feeling that the second she saw Carl all of the anxiety would melt away. And if it didn’t, well, all she had to do was leave. She smiled. Everything was going to be fine.
Just as her nerves sunk away completely and she gazed out over the lake and at all of the couples walking around it arm in arm, she heard the roar of a motorcycle engine blaring down the street and getting louder with each passing second.
She smiled and took a deep breath. She knew, without turning around, that it was him. So when she did finally turn and swept a strand of hair out of her eyes, her heart pretty much melted as she saw Carl pulling up at the side of the park and pulling off his helmet. His hair shook out and down around his amazing eyes, and she noticed that his stubble had grown and made him look even sexier and more rugged.
Wow, she thought, trying not to show how infatuated she already was.
He climbed off the bike and took slow strides toward her. With each step he took, the smile on his face cracked and grew wider. He was everything she remembered and more, and now they were there together, about to meet and speak for the second time, and all she could think of was how she wanted to pounce on him and rip off his clothes.
Try to wait, she thought with a smirk, even if it is only an hour…
7.
They walked hand in hand to a restaurant on the corner so they could sit outside at a table on the sidewalk and watch the world go by. Of all the things she had been expecting to happen on this date, being wined and dined had not been one of them.
Carl watched her with wide pupils as she sipped demurely from her glass of Sauvignon Blanc and he clamped a cigarette between his teeth and supped straight whisky. They looked such an unlikely pair, in such an unlikely setting, that Emily could feel dozens of eyes on them, watching their every move.
“I wasn’t sure you’d show,” Carl exhaled a plume of smoke into the air.
“Likewise,” Emily admitted.
“What do you mean?” he leaned forward and grinned. “I asked you out…”
“Yes, but…” she didn’t want to sound pathetic, “I don’t know, maybe I thought it was all some kind of joke.”
“Why would I joke about that?” His eyes were so intense and they were fixed so sternly on her it was making her nervous again.
“Because…” she stammered. “I guess because we’re pretty different.”
“And do you not think different would appeal to me?” His eyes glinted again.
Emily had to smile. Because that was exactly the reason she was sitting there with him. He was different, and it had more than appealed to her… It had drawn her in like a moth to a flame.
“I think I can understand why different would appeal, yes…” she smiled.
“Because I suppose you feel exactly the same?” he winked as he said it.
Emily was at ease once more. At least, he could make a joke of himself and not take himself too seriously.
“Well, I’ve certainly never dated a biker before,” she said. “So the difference does appeal…but then, I guess I don’t know what I’m letting myself into.”
Carl laughed and slapped his hand against his leg before he brought his ankle up and crossed one leg over at his other knee.
“Trust me,” he grinned. “You’ll have the wildest ride of your life.”
As he said the words, Emily felt her pussy clench with anticipation. He was so sexy and confident. He was intelligent and funny, and he knew exactly how to drive her wild. She believed what he said. She could tell that spending the night with him would be more than amazing. It would be a highlight of her life.
She skimmed the menu, closed it and slid it across the table.
“I’m not hungry,” she said cheekily. “For any of this, anyway.”
Carl’s eyes widened and she could sense the arousal building in him also. The two were too hot for each other to sit and have a polite dinner. She wanted to go somewhere private with him…and fast!
“I’ll get the check,” he offered as he got to his feet and disappeared inside to find the waiter.
Emily smirked. She couldn’t believe that she had been so forward. The couple at the table next to her looked at her disapprovingly and raised their eyebrows. She glared back at them smugly and took another big swig from her wine glass.
She was going to fuck this wild outlaw, and she didn’t care who knew it.
Carl reappeared and held out his hand. As Emily got to her feet and placed her hand in his, she felt a wave of electricity jolt through her. Even just touching the skin of his hand was incredible. So who only knew what he coul
d do to her between the sheets.
She felt a warm gush of desire in her panties and she had to bite her lip to distract herself. She was so horny and turned on she could have unraveled in a wave of ecstasy right there on the sidewalk.
“Where shall we go?” she asked him breathily as they walked quickly down the street.
“It depends what you have in mind…” Carl looked down at her with a grin.
“You know exactly what I have in mind,” she whispered.
Carl stopped and looked at her before he took hold of her and pushed her up against the brick wall of the store they were passing by. She knew that there were hundreds of people on the street that could see them, but she didn’t care. As he ran his hands through her hair and held her gaze, it was as if they were the only two people in the world.
Carl pushed her back further and pushed himself right up against her. She could feel the stiff poke of his desire in her belly and it made her moan as he traced his fingertips across her lips.
When he kissed her, it was as if she was opening up for the first time. As their tongues entwined, Emily was lightheaded and weak at the knees. He took her breath away and as he swept her up in his arms, she was all his.
She couldn’t imagine anything else other than this. He was all she wanted, and all that she had craved but never knew.
“Let’s go to a hotel,” she whispered as he kissed her once more and then on the cheek. “I have to have you.”
Carl took hold of her hand again and nodded.
“Come on,” he said as he began to walk with her quickly down the street. “I know the perfect place.”
8.
The hotel was not far from where they had met, and as they checked in and Carl paid for the four hundred dollar a night room with a roll of cash he had in his pocket, Emily felt the excitement course through her. It was as if she had stepped outside of herself and was slipping into another life.
She had woken up the day before as a nerdy girl on her way to a job interview. And now she was checking into a hotel with a sexy biker who she knew would break all the rules with her. But she wanted it more than anything and she wasn’t going to deny herself this experience.
STICK: MC ROMANCE NOVELLA (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 8) Page 93