High Heels & Hard Drives

by Jenny Rarden

  Walking over to the bar, I smirked as the girls toasted something, but Bailey hadn’t seen me yet. Her drink was a martini, cloudy, with extra olives, which told me she took her drinks seriously.

  Narrowing my eyes on her glass, I bent to her ear. “A dirty martini, Bailey? Does that make you a dirty girl?” I wanted to laugh when she jumped, almost spilling said drink. “Easy, pretty girl. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  She laughed softly, shaking her head, but the entire bar faded into the background when she turned to face me once I’d taken the barstool next to her.

  “My drink choice has no bearing on my personality, Ryan,” she stated with a barely there smile, holding up her glass before taking a sip. Something in her eyes looked different, almost cold.

  The bartender poured my beer and then set it in front of me. I took a long gulp of it, needing it after my work day.

  Facing Bailey again, I narrowed my eyes teasingly. “Now…that didn’t quite answer my question, Bailey.”

  “Well, maybe that’s all the answer you’re going to get,” she replied softly, and then she turned toward the bar, which cut off my ability to see her pretty face and those fathomless eyes.

  Giving her shoulder a light touch, I tilted my head around to look her in the eye. “What’s wrong? What happened to the happy girl who hugged me today?”

  “Why are you here?” she asked, almost harshly.

  I opened my mouth to answer but snapped it back closed. She was pissed, and I tried like hell to figure out what I’d done. “Should I go?”

  “No, Ryan, you’re free to do…whatever you want,” she sighed, her shoulders sagging a bit. Her cheeks blushed a deep pink, and she shook her head again, changing the subject. “I didn’t think you’d be here. I didn’t get to talk to you…” Her voice trailed off, her tone slightly uncertain.

  “I tried to catch you, but you were walking down the sidewalk before I was able to,” I told her honestly.

  “You were sort of busy at the front desk when I left.”

  “Oh.” I grimaced but gave into the need to see her face fully. I gently spun her bar stool, making sure she was looking me in the eye. “What did you see, pretty girl?”

  She shook her head, her cheeks flaming up a little. “Just you…and Terri. I mean…I get it—”

  “No, you don’t, if you think I would…” I groaned, rubbing my face, and took a long gulp of beer. “Bailey, all day… All damn day, the only thing I thought about was getting to our spot on the sidewalk. I wanted to see you, not fix one more damn falsely broken printer. I’m really glad you’re here tonight. If I wanted to be somewhere else, I would be, but I wanted to see you, not Terri, and most certainly not that woman in payroll!”

  Bailey started to smile, shaking her head slowly. “How’d you know I’d be here?”

  “Chase invited me,” I told her, smiling when those stunning eyes flashed up to meet mine. “He cornered me when I went to clock out after fixing the printer issue in the library. Hope that’s okay. I didn’t know if…maybe I’d be intruding…”

  “Yeah, no…I’m always the fifth wheel,” she whispered with a small shrug of a shoulder, though her voice was drowned out by loud laughter from the back room and the music playing on the speakers. “I’m sorry I assumed, Ryan, but I… Never mind. I was just being stupid,” she whispered before sipping her martini.

  God, she really was gorgeous, but even more, she was smart and sweet and fun. There was an honesty to her that was refreshing. I was pretty sure Bailey didn’t play the games that some women did.

  “So…no one?” I asked, hoping she understood what I was asking, before I drowned my nerves in my beer mug. “It’s only fair I get to ask the same, Bailey.”

  “No. It’s been…a while,” she dragged out, wrinkling her nose adorably, which made me chuckle and reach up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear in order to see her clearly. “Um, you?”

  Shaking my head slowly, I smirked. “No. I was not exactly in the position to date while overseas, beautiful. I did, but nothing came of it.”

  “And now?”

  Dragging my tongue along my bottom lip, I studied her face. There was a hope that matched my own, along with heat in those expressive eyes, and holy shit, I wanted her. If I were being completely honest with myself, I’d wanted her the first day I’d met her.

  “Now…” I repeated, turning to face her as another beer was set down in front of me. “Now I’m glad I decided to move here, despite my parents’ wishes that I come home to Boston. Even more, I think…” I chuckled, shaking my head a little. “I think I owe Andi a thank-you for trying to cram a full ream of paper into that poor printer on the fourth floor.”

  Bailey inhaled sharply, her eyes raking over my face, and I realized we were getting closer and closer as we sat side-by-side. The air seemed thick, heavy, too warm. My hands balled up into fists as I fought reaching out for her. More laughter cut through the bar, and Bailey jumped back when her name was called.

  “Bails! Get back here and play!”

  Miles was indeed a big bastard, but he reminded me of my roommate overseas. Happy, easygoing, and unaware of just what damage his large frame could inflict. Though, in all reality, he wouldn’t hurt a fly unless absolutely necessary.

  “Hey, Sully. You too. You play pool?” he asked, completely oblivious to Bailey’s and my heated faces.

  “Hmm? What? Um, yeah, I play.” I turned to Bailey, raising an eyebrow at her. “You game, beautiful?”

  She smirked, looking to Miles. “Girls versus guys again?”

  “Nah…not now! Since you’re both playing, we’ll do couples. C’mon.”

  Miles took off, and I slid down from my barstool, offering Bailey my hand. “You any good, Bailey? I can’t lose… I’m the new guy, remember?”

  She laughed. “I’ll do my best to keep your manly rep intact, Ryan. Promise.”

  As I watched her walk away, wearing a short skirt and sexy-as-hell heels, I decided that I honestly didn’t give a damn about winning or reputations or even my manhood. At this point, I’d fall at her feet just to touch her.

  The games were relentless, the trash talk at an all-time high, but Bailey and I held our own. It took all I had not to press her into the pool table when she’d bend over to take a shot. When it was my turn, I could practically feel her gaze on me. Being surrounded by our coworkers was not helping, simply because I could tell we were being scrutinized, like they were watching every move we made. I was pretty sure we were being set up, and that was just fine by me, but it was a little distracting when all I could think about were things not fit for an audience.

  We sat out the next game, letting Miles and Chase battle it out with Judy and Andi. I reached across the table for the pitcher of beer, catching Bailey’s gaze on my stomach.

  “What?” I asked, glancing down.

  She swallowed, shaking her head. “Nothing,” she murmured, her cheeks pink again as she licked her lips, but she glanced down the front of my shirt again, finally reaching over to push the sleeve of my T-shirt up a bit.

  I watched her expression closely. Not everyone appreciated ink, and sometimes being tattooed came with a cliché expectation. Most of the work had been done prior to my joining the Army, but one or two came after, though she couldn’t see those at the moment.

  Bailey’s eyes darkened at the treble clef splashed across my upper bicep in red and black, and she glanced up at me. “Music?”

  “Mmhmm,” I hummed, nodding slowly. “I’ve played guitar for a long time, though not many people know that.”

  “What else do you keep secret?” she asked, tilting her head up.

  “That my mother wanted me to learn piano instead and I pitched a fit,” I told her with a grin at her giggle.

  “What else?”

  Glaring at her mockingly, I tried to think of something. We chatted all the time, so Bailey knew more about me than she thought.

  “Let’s see… I got my ass slapped by a fifty-something-y
ear-old woman today.”

  Her laugh was glorious, but even better was her touch, her lean into me.

  “Wait, you stood me up this afternoon for that?” she asked with a laugh.

  I was seriously shaking my head no at that question. “It wasn’t on purpose, pretty girl, nor was it a choice. I’d have picked you any day.” I smiled, raising an eyebrow. “My turn, Bailey. Why do you call me Ryan when everyone else calls me Sully?”

  Her cheeks flushed a bit, but her smile was soft, sweet, almost shy. “I like the name Ryan. It suits you. It’s softer than Sully, which I assume came from being in the Army,” she surmised shrewdly, but she was teasing too.

  “It did,” I admitted, chuckling a little. “My parents call me Ryan. I don’t mind, pretty girl. I was just curious. I…I actually kind of like it coming from you.”

  Bailey nodded and then sipped her beer, her eyes on me. “Anything else I should know, Ryan?”

  My gaze drifted around the bar, noting that we were being ignored for the most part. When I gazed back down at her, I said, “Yeah, two things.” I held up two fingers before reaching up to trail them down the side of her face.

  “What?”

  “I don’t want to play pool anymore,” I told her softly, slipping down from the stool to lead her to the dance floor.

  Having Bailey in my arms was intense and not close enough, but her fingers toyed with the hair at the back of my neck.

  “And the other thing?” she whispered with a nervous glance up at me, and as if she knew what my answer would be, she licked her lips slowly.

  “And…I really want to kiss you.”

  The sweet, soft moan she let loose shot straight to my dick. Her forehead fell gently to my jaw, and I could feel her breath on my skin, smell the sweet, flowery scent of her washing over me, and see her whole body shake.

  “Ryan,” she whimpered, taking my hand in hers.

  Dragging my lips across her cheek to her ear, I whispered, “If I’m being honest, I want more than just a damn kiss. Tell me I’m not alone in this, Bailey. Please.”

  She shook her head against my cheek. “No, but…”

  My chest constricted at the “but” tacked on to the end, but she didn’t finish. “But what, pretty girl?”

  “But I don’t want just…a one-time thing…with you.”

  Unable to resist, my hand slid up the side of her face and into her hair, gently pulling her gaze to mine as we swayed slowly to our own beat. Pressing my forehead to hers, I squeezed my eyes closed. “Jesus, Bailey…I can’t… A one-time thing? That’s not why I’m here. Please tell me you understand that, or I’ll back the fuck away now.”

  Bailey shivered in my arms, her hands cupping my face. “You want to go?”

  I let out a heavy breath. “Fuck, yes,” I grunted.

  A small, sexy smile curled up her lips. “Let me um…”

  She pointed to the hallway where the restrooms were, and I nodded, taking her hand to lead her there. I wasn’t fucking blind to the stares she was receiving, and years of going to bars, both here in the States and overseas, taught me that men could pull stupid shit when they thought no one was looking.

  “I’ll wait for you.”

  She smiled again, standing up a little to kiss my cheek. That simple, sweet gesture lit me on fire as I leaned against the wall to wait for her.

  I tried everything to control my impulses. I wanted to kiss her into oblivion, follow her like a damn dog into the restroom, and press her into the wall behind me. I tried to calm the fuck down, but by the time she stepped back out into the hallway, her gaze on me probably matched my own. Desperate, pleading, and slightly nervous.

  Two steps. That’s all it took to reach her. Two steps, and she was in my arms and up against the wall behind her.

  “God, Bailey…if I don’t…”

  She didn’t let me finish. Her fingers pulled me to her by my hair, and my mouth was on hers. Nothing prepared me for it—the claiming, the sweet flavor of beer and slightly tangy olives, the warmth of her body against mine, where I knew she could feel everything about me. We were frantic, with moans erupting from the two of us and gripping hands. I tried to slow us down, but she wasn’t having it.

  Finally, I broke the kiss, sweeping my lips over hers—top, then bottom. “Bailey, I don’t want to do this here. I want…” I opened my eyes to her hazel ones, so very warm in their heated gaze. “I want to take my time with you, pretty girl. I don’t want an audience—not that I give a shit what anyone thinks, but…”

  She cut me off with another kiss, nodding a little. “Where?”

  “My place… It’s only a few blocks from here.”

  Bailey’s eyes studied my face, and she finally nodded. “Okay.”

  Chapter Six

  Bailey

  I’D BARELY GOTTEN OUT my agreement to going to Ryan’s place when he took my hand and led me back to the main room of the bar.

  “Do you need to…?” He nodded once toward my friends in the back corner.

  As if she knew they were being talked about, Judy glanced up, saw us, and then leaned to whisper something to Andi. They both looked over at me and grinned.

  I felt like I should be embarrassed that I was leaving the bar to…do what I hoped to God we were going to do, but I wasn’t. I wanted Ryan more than I’d wanted any man in a very long time, and I knew my friends would understand. I flashed them a smile and tilted my head toward Ryan. They nodded, mouthed Have fun, and held up their drinks in a salute.

  “All set,” I said, squeezing Ryan’s hand.

  When we stepped through the door onto the sidewalk, I realized it had started to drizzle. Ryan groaned and pulled me into the corner of the doorway as we let someone pass to enter the bar.

  “Stay here,” he ordered, looking down at me with a wry smile. “I’ll grab a cab.”

  I nodded, tilting my head up to accept his kiss.

  My stomach flipped as I watched him jog out to the curb to hail a cab. The drizzle was already turning into a harder sprinkle, making his hair and shirt wet. I wanted him so badly that I almost said fuck it and decided to make the sprint to his apartment in the rain. Instead, I clenched my hands into fists at my sides and tried to wait patiently as I watched the way his shirt rode up when he lifted his arm to flag down the taxi, the way his jeans molded to his ass as he leaned, and the smile he flashed my way when the first cab stopped.

  He motioned to the driver and then turned and sprinted back to me, holding out his hand. “We’ll have to run for it,” he said with a laugh, sweeping his wet hair back from his forehead.

  I laughed, nodding, and moved with him into the rain, which was now falling steadily.

  Ryan opened the back door of the car and ushered me in with a hand on my lower back before climbing in behind me. As he gave the driver his address, I chuckled, reaching up to sweep my hair back.

  When he turned back with a raised eyebrow, I said, “So much for looking good. I feel like a drowned rat.”

  “Oh, pretty girl,” he said, reaching up to cup my face, “you look perfect.”

  I started to scoff, but when he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, all thoughts of anything but that kiss flew from my mind. Grasping the front of his T-shirt, I moaned softly as he parted my lips with his tongue, sliding inside to taste me. The kiss was slow, deep, heated, as he moved his hand from my jaw to the back of my neck. He used the fingers in my hair to tilt my head, angling it so he could kiss me harder, setting me on fire.

  When my hands slid down his chest, he grunted, and I gasped into the kiss when my fingers trailed over something hard on both his pecs.

  Nipple rings.

  Unable to help myself, I rubbed over them again, capturing them between my thumbs and the base of my pointer fingers, tugging gently. Ryan grunted again, pulling back just enough to nip at my lower lip.

  “Christ, Bailey,” he groaned, dropping his forehead to my shoulder and turning his face to place a suckling kiss on my neck. He huffed aga
inst my skin when I tugged again. “Baby, wait…”

  “Don’t wanna,” I breathed, clenching my thighs together against the ache that was only growing the longer I was with him.

  He kissed his way up my throat to my chin, nipping at the skin there before capturing my lips again, his hand tightening in my hair as I scraped my nails across his nipples through his shirt.

  I was damn close to climbing onto his lap and demanding more, when the clearing of a throat stopped me cold, and I looked around, feeling my cheeks heat when I realized we were stopped in front of a brick brownstone.

  The cab driver rattled off an amount in a bored voice, as if he often saw people he picked up at bars make out in his cab…which he probably did.

  Ryan dug into his pocket and pulled out a bill, handing it to the driver before turning back to me. “Ready to make a dash for it?”

  At my nod, he took my hand, popped open the door, and stood, pulling me out gently behind him. Once he’d shut the door, we dashed up onto the sidewalk and up the few steps to his doorway, where he pushed me back gently against the door. One hand slid to the back of my head, cushioning it against the wood, while he used the other on my lower back to hold me to him. My eyes fluttered closed as he leaned in, brushing my lips softly with his once, twice, three times before deepening the kiss. I wound my arms around his neck, grasping his hair gently as I felt him slip a leg between mine, pressing right where I needed it.

  After a long moment, he pulled back as we each tried to catch our breath. “I can’t get enough of you,” he huffed, his hand loosening in my hair but not moving otherwise.

  I moved my hands up to cup his face, kissing him once more, softly. “Take me inside, Ryan,” I begged, almost shaking with the need I had for him.

  With an unsteady breath, he dug into his pockets for his keys as I moved my hands back to his chest, seeking out the rings of metal I knew were there. He cursed as the key slipped when he tried to insert it into the lock, and I chuckled low, loving how I was able to affect him. He finally got it to work, and then he was backing me inside, using his foot to close the door behind us as he leaned in to kiss me again. I heard the lock snick and keys hit what must have been an entry table, although I couldn’t see anything in the dark.