by Reilly, Cora
Adrian finally tore his eyes from me and spared the concierge a glance. “Yes, I’m sure.” His voice was polite but firm. The concierge disappeared with a last confused glance in my direction. He probably thought we’d agreed on a threesome.
“I should go,” I said, slowly backing away from Adrian and that woman who was glaring daggers at me. I must have interrupted their fuck session.
God, I was a loser.
Adrian grabbed my hand, startling me, and Bruno who started growling. Adrian’s eyes darted to my pug, but he didn’t release my hand. Bruno wasn’t the most impressive guard dog after all. “It’s okay, Bruno,” I soothed him.
“You’re freezing,” Adrian said, his thumb sliding over my wrist, making me shiver. Was there worry in his tone?
“I’m fine,” I lied, then I pulled my hand out from Adrian’s hold. I wasn’t fine but it had nothing to do with the fact that I was drenched and cold. I hadn’t expected Adrian to move on so quickly, especially not after what he’d said at the party. Stupid of me, I suppose.
“You should come in and wait until your friend picks you up with your keys. It’s too dangerous for you to wait outside in the dark, and you’re soaked and cold.”
“What about her?” My eyes flickered toward the woman still watching us. It was obvious she was pissed off from the way she was pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes, and really who could blame her? I bet this wasn’t the evening she’d envisioned when she’d agreed to go to Adrian’s apartment. “I really don’t think she wants me to join the two of you.”
“I could probably convince her of a threesome,” Adrian said dryly.
I turned around. “Okay, thanks. I’ll just wait outside.”
He stepped in my way and I bumped into him, my palms splaying out against his warm, muscled chest. I jerked back as if I’d been burned, then flushed. Adrian smirked. “I was joking. Now come in, or I’ll carry you inside.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I said.
“Don’t tempt me.”
I wasn’t sure if he was joking. I moved past him into his apartment but stayed far away from the woman. Adrian closed the door.
“What’s going on?” the woman asked, not even trying to mask her annoyance. Her voice was deep and sultry, perfect for phone sex.
Adrian touched my elbow and led me toward another door. He opened it for me, revealing a huge living room with dining area and a modern open kitchen. “Can you wait here? I’ll be back soon.”
Before I could as much as protest, he stepped back into the hall. What was he going to do now? Finish his business with the woman? At least, he hadn’t suggested I should watch him. With two windows and lots of open air between us, I’d enjoyed being a Voyeur, but this was too personal, especially after our night together.
Before he closed the door, I could see the woman stalking in his direction, then I was alone in the living room. Everything in it was grey, white or black and the wall in front of me consisted mainly of windows, which provided a view onto the small park and the surrounding apartment buildings. It was an interior designer’s dream. Even Amy would probably die from joy of how stylish everything was. Sadly, I didn’t dare to sit on the light gray sofas with my wet clothes.
The woman’s voice rose and I moved closer to the door, feeling only slightly guilty for eavesdropping. Bruno didn’t move with me. Instead he plopped down on his butt and watched me with a reproachful expression.
Adrian’s voice was calm and collected while I could hear the emotions in every word the woman spoke. That was Adrian: detached, unemotional, cold.
“Fine!” the woman snarled, then a door was slammed shut. I froze. It was silent. If Adrian was still in the corridor, he wasn’t making a sound. A few minutes later, heels clacked loudly on the granite floor of the corridor, then the front door banged closed. The woman had left. Adrian had sent her away because of me. Maybe I should have felt at least a little guilty but I was almost giddy that he’d chosen me. It felt like a small victory. I wasn’t even sure what exactly I’d won. Adrian’s attention? Certainly not his heart, or he wouldn’t have been with the woman to begin with. Giddiness was washed away by annoyance and anger.
Steps rang out and I quickly rushed over to the kitchen area and perched on one of the black hardwood bar stools that lined the bar of the kitchen island. A trail of water droplets followed in my wake. The moment my butt hit the stool, the door swung open and Adrian entered, still gloriously underdressed. He was barefoot and his feet were narrow and elegant as he strode toward me. Was he even wearing anything under his pajama pants? At least, the bulge was gone. The argument with the woman had obviously killed his erection.
Bruno curled up on the stone floor, thoroughly unimpressed by the situation. I tore my gaze from Adrian and checked my mobile – still no message from Amy.
Adrian leaned against the counter, only an arm length away. His pajama pants hung low on his hips, revealing the V where his torso narrowed. I quickly stashed my mobile back in my purse, then knitted my fingers together to stop myself from reaching out and trailing the skin over his hips.
“You should get out of your wet coat. We can hang it over my heated towel rack.”
Personally, I thought every layer of clothing I kept on was a barrier between myself and another major mistake, but I didn’t want Adrian to know that I was nervous about us being alone in his apartment. I hopped off the stool and peeled my coat off, then put it in Adrian’s outstretched hand. His eyes traveled the length of my legs up to my too short skirt, over my hips, then he froze. He reached out for my blouse, startling me. His expression darkened as he pointed at the safety pin holding my blouse together. “What happened?” Anger radiated off of him and I wasn’t sure where it had come from.
I fumbled with the two remaining buttons. “Angry customer.” As if that explained anything. Adrian seemed to think the same. “Explain it to me,” he said in a barely controlled voice.
“Why should I?” He acted as if he had any right to know what was going on in my life. We weren’t dating. Hell, we weren’t even casual lovers. That required more than one failed attempt at sex.
He swallowed. “Did he hurt you?”
“What?” Then it dawned on me what he must have thought: that someone had assaulted me. “God no. I’m working in a bar, remember? And a guy got angry when it was closing time. He wanted another drink. I ignored him and he grabbed my shirt to stop me from leaving. The buttons flew off. That’s all.”
He shook his head. “Maybe you should look for another job. You shouldn’t have to deal with bastards like him.”
“Oh. There are bastards everywhere,” I said pointedly. “Just ask the woman you just sent off without her happy ending.”
He straightened, every muscle in his arms and chest flexed. “I don’t give a shit about her, but I owe you a happy ending.” His voice was low and seductive. He took another step toward me, so close I could feel the heat coming off of him. I curled my fingers around my purse. Don’t kiss him, Nora. Do not kiss him.
He bent down, bringing his mouth closer. Fuck, why did his lips have to look so kissable. He was an asshole, but a sexy asshole, and he was right. I wanted my happy ending, even though I was pretty sure his happy ending didn’t extend over his bedroom walls, while mine was the forever kind of thing.
Our lips were almost touching, and my heart was trying to burst through my ribcage. I ignored the alarm bells ringing in my head as our mouths came together. Adrian’s scent surrounded me as he wrapped his fingers around my upper arms, keeping me steady. I could smell the faintest hint of sweat on him – and what I could only describe as sex. I jerked away, pressing my butt against the bar stool. “No,” I gasped out. Adrian raised his eyebrows. “I can’t believe I let you kiss me again.”
“You wanted to kiss me. You still do.”
I glared. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I’m not interested in your games. Hell, I can still smell her on you. Less than thirty minutes ago you were fucking that woman
and now you want to fuck me. Do you realize how messed up that is? First you apologize as if you’re really sorry that you acted like an asshole and now this? What was the whole ‘Let me make it up to you’ bullshit about anyway? Your ego was probably just bruised because you can’t bear a bad fuck in your collection. I know I can’t make my fucked up first time undone but I won’t let my second time be like that. I deserve better.” My voice actually caught on the last sentence. I couldn’t remember the last time I cursed so much. I grabbed my coat from where Adrian had flung it over the kitchen island when he’d kissed me and stomped toward the hall, dragging Bruno behind me. “This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come to you. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Adrian captured my hand. I let him stop me. I actually didn’t want to go back into the rain. “Nora, don’t leave. I meant what I said yesterday. Every word of it.”
I rubbed my forehead, exhaustion catching up with me. It was almost one o’clock. “Then why did you try to seduce me again?”
“Because I want you, Nora. I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you with your binoculars. I’ve never wanted anyone more than I want you.”
“You got me,” I said tiredly. “And you’ve already moved on to your next sex toy. It’s easy for you, but I’m not like that.”
“She was a distraction because I was desperate to get you out of my head.”
“You hoped banging another woman would cure you of me?” I almost laughed. Bruno plopped down on his butt with an audible sigh.
He smiled. “Sex is my cure for everything,” he said it playfully but I got the impression that he’d revealed more in that one sentence than he intended to. “But it didn’t work this time. The entire time I banged that woman you were on my mind.”
“That’s messed up.” But deep down it gave me a strange kick that Adrian couldn’t get me out of his head. It was only fair; after all, he’d become a constant presence in my brain too. “Do you even know that woman’s name?”
“Evelyn,” he said with a shrug. I had a feeling he wouldn’t remember her. “But I don’t want to talk about her. She’s a thing of the past.”
“And I’m not?”
“It’s strange,” he said softly, tracing a finger over my cheek, then down my neck. Goosebumps erupted all over my skin. How could a simple touch like that make me yearn for more? “I always hated the thought of being someone’s first. That’s why I reacted so badly, but even when I said those words to you, some primal part of me was turned on and excited by the thought that no man had ever touched you like I did. You were mine alone.”
I sucked in a breath. Was there a handbook for womanizers lying on his night table, or how did he always say the words that made my knees go weak?
“And the thought that there could ever be another man after me…” He shook his head, his eyes practically burning into me. “It drives me crazy. I don’t want anyone to touch you. I want you for myself.”
“But you don’t do relationships, Rachel made that clear when I talked to her,” I said. “So what do you expect me to do? Stay an almost virgin for the rest of my life so you feel better about yourself while you bang every woman that crosses your path. I really can’t see how that would benefit me.”
“Almost virgin,” he murmured with a strange smile. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“It’s close to the truth,” I said defensively. “Before you, I’d kissed exactly three guys, and you were pretty much the first to really touch my breasts because what Chris did that one time can only be called a medical exam and it lasted only for two seconds anyway because his groping actually hurt.” I snapped my mouth shut. He wore the strangest expression. “Say it,” I urged. “I’m pathetic, I know, but I actually wanted to wait for someone I loved. Of course that plan went out the window.” Adrian’s face had closed off when I mentioned love but my next words brought the smile back to his face.
“You crack me up. Now I get why Rachel misses you.” Then he raised one eyebrow. “Chris Cummings, really?”
“I have bad taste in men.”
“Indeed,” he said in a low voice. “You don’t have to remain an almost virgin, Nora.” I loved the way he said my name. “Actually, I don’t want you to remain an almost virgin because I want to fuck you again and again and again.”
Until you lose interest, I finished in my mind.
“Let me get this straight, you want me to be what? Your lover? So I sleep only with you, while you go around banging other women?”
“I like the sound of that.” Somehow we’d ended up so close again that our bodies were almost touching. He didn’t try to kiss me and I was grateful for that small mercy. Being this close to him was making straight thoughts difficult enough.
“I bet you do,” I said. “But that’s not going to work for me. If you want me to sleep with you, then you can’t have sex with anyone else.” What was I doing?
“As you said, I don’t do relationships.”
You also said you didn’t do virgins and here we are. The words didn’t pass my lips, instead I said, “Then this discussion is over.”
Adrian ran his hands through his already messy hair. “There might be a middle ground.”
“Said the lawyer.”
His lips twitched. “I won’t promise you a relationship. I had one in high school and it…didn’t work out.” I made a mental note to ask Rachel for details when we met for coffee. “But I can promise you this: I won’t sleep with other women as long as I’m sleeping with you.”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out if he meant it in the literal sense only. “So we’re committed sex partners without any emotional attachments?” Maybe it being the middle of the night was the reason why I was having this discussion and worse: contemplating Adrian’s insane suggestion.
“That’s one way to put it,” Adrian said. He wrapped an arm around my back and pulled me against him. I dropped Bruno’s leash and he scuttled away. “So what do you say?”
“We shouldn’t even be having this discussion. It’s late and I’m exhausted, and possibly delirious all things considered,” I whispered. “I don’t want to sleep with you now. Not like this. Not now. Don’t make me do something I’ll regret later.” Again.
Maybe he saw how vulnerable I was in that instant. His grip loosened but he didn’t let go entirely. He raised a hand and brushed a few strands of hair from my face.
“Why don’t you sleep over it? I have a guest bedroom where you can spend the night. I doubt your friend will bring you your keys now.”
He was probably right, and tomorrow I’d hopefully be able to make a somewhat sane decision. I nodded. “Okay.”
His hand resting gently on my hip, he steered me toward a door at the end of the corridor, next to his bedroom – which I still hadn’t seen with my own eyes. The guestroom was held in the same colors as the rest of the apartment and a queen-sized bed occupied one wall, looking out toward my apartment building. Bruno trailed after us and stretched out on the white rug surrounding the bed.
Adrian turned me so I was facing him and I tilted my head back to look into his eyes. “Promise me one thing,” he murmured. “Before you leave, you’ll give me the chance to convince you of my proposal. I really want to make it up to you.” His lips came down on mine, hot and teasing and entirely too intoxicating. His fingers stroked my throat and cheeks, and his tongue slid across my lips, then he pulled back. “There are shirts in the drawers if you need something to sleep in.” I stayed frozen to the spot, even after he closed the door after him.
Chapter Twenty-One
The next morning I woke to the sound of a coffee maker grinding beans. I didn’t move from my spot tangled in the blankets, too stunned by what had happened. I’d spent the night in Adrian’s apartment – without having slept with him – and I’d agreed to consider his offer.
An offer of possible mind-blowing sex if what I’d witnessed through my binoculars was any indication, not my own subpar experiences. Well, everyth
ing except for the actual sex had been mind-blowing, and the rest wasn’t really Adrian’s fault.
Bruno was still snoring beside the bed.
I sat up, the blankets sliding off and revealing a white dress shirt I’d found in the drawer last night. It was new and didn’t smell like Adrian, and yet I was oddly turned on by the fact that I was wearing something of him. I could hear him rummaging in the kitchen and remembered the promise I’d given him. My stomach fluttered with nerves. Maybe I should sneak out and pretend yesterday’s conversation never happened.
I swung my legs out of bed and stood, my eyes darting between the door that would lead out into the hall and the one belonging to the adjoining bathroom. I headed for the latter. A shower would clear my head and prepare me for the confrontation with Adrian. I’d tell him I couldn’t accept his offer and that would be it. I didn’t want to be only his lover. I wanted more.
After the shower, I wrapped one of the fluffy oversized towels around me and returned to the bedroom. Yesterday’s clothes lay over a plush armchair. I sighed. I’d have to wear them again, even if they smelled like the bar. Bruno yawned, stretched, then trotted over to me. I patted his head before a knock made me jump.
“Nora?” Adrian’s morning voice was deeper – and sexier.
I didn’t move.
“I know you’re awake.” There was amusement in his tone. “Can I come in?”
“No, I mean, wait.” Slowly, cautiously, I approached the door and curled my hands around the handle before taking a deep breath and opening it a gap, hiding my half-naked body behind the door. Adrian was already dressed – black pants, crisp white dress shirt and a grey tie. Of course, he would be dressed. It was Monday and he had to work. “What time is it? Am I making you late? I’ll just get dressed and then you can head out.”
He leaned against the doorframe. “That’s not why I’m here.” He pressed his palm against the door and gently pushed, but not with enough force that I couldn’t have stopped him. I stepped back, clutching the towel against my chest. I’d secured it tightly earlier but better safe than sorry. The moment I was no longer hidden by the door, Adrian’s eyes roamed over my body.