Hungry Heart: Part One (Hungry Heart #1)
Page 2
She blushes, gives me a little wave in return, and goes out the way I came in a mere ten minutes ago.
Nathan plops down on the couch next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders before pulling me in for a kiss with his minty fresh breath. He doesn’t linger, pulling back to say, “Babe, how was your day?”
“Oh, you know, amazing as always.” I lift my arms and put them around his neck with an impish grin. “Nothing like a riveting three-hour class on a bright, Saturday morning.”
My phone buzzes on the table and I ignore it as Nathan wraps his arms around my waist and nuzzles my neck, dropping small kisses from my jaw and on down. “Better you than me.”
“Mmm, I’m never doing it again.”
“You said that last semester,” he replies with a chuckle, pulling away from me with a final kiss as my phone buzzes again. “You gonna get that?”
“Sorry.” Leaning forward, I pick up the phone and read the texts.
The first says, “I know it’s you Caroline. I’m glad you decided to contact me, although I did say call me…” followed by, “When am I taking you out?”
“Who is it?”
I put the phone down without replying, giving Nathan my full attention, placing my hands over his as I lock our gazes. “I met someone earlier. I may go out with him.”
“Yeah?” He pushes a hand through his hair, which is dark brown and cropped short, his equally dark brown eyes twinkling at me as his smile grows wider. “Where’d you meet him? What’s his name?”
It’s moments like these when I really appreciate and adore him and our relationship. I love that he’s curious and interested and is happy for me, just like I was when he met Rissa.
“Benedict. And it was at the cafe where I was hanging with Ethan after class.”
“You inviting him out tonight?”
“As long as you’re good with it, yep.”
“Then answer the poor guy back,” he says, groaning as the phone buzzes again. “I’m gonna go hop in the shower, and then go run a few errands.”
“All right.” I give him a kiss before he stands up, then slap his ass through his shorts as he walks past me. “Love you.”
“Love ya too.”
Taking the phone in hand as Nathan leaves the room, I text Benedict back.
“We’re going out tonight for my birthday so I can have a drink at midnight. You in?”
His reply is almost instantaneous: “Sure am. Where are we meeting?”
“It may also include me trying to dance and embarrassing myself. Club Play. You know it?”
“Yeah. My girlfriend and I are there all the time. We’ll be there about 11.”
“K. See you about 11:30.”
“Can’t wait.”
I’m unable to keep the grin off my face as I stand up and walk toward the bathroom to surprise Nathan in the shower. This evening is going to be great and I can’t wait.
3
Being a Saturday night, the club’s packed when Nathan and I arrive. He has his arm around my waist, and I have a hand in his back pocket, both of us flashing the bouncer our IDs. Letting us pass with a nod, we step inside and are immediately consumed in the mob of people. Nathan pulls me close, forcing his way through the people until we reach the bar, where I take a seat on the empty stool while he stands behind me with his arms wrapped around my middle.
“He didn’t stamp your hand,” Nathan points out with a grin, and my eyes go wide as I realize he’s correct, and answers me before I can ask the obvious question. “I stopped by earlier today while I was out and told him it was your birthday at midnight. He said just don’t order before midnight. It’s not illegal to not stamp your hand.”
“That’s awful trustworthy of him,” I tease, and Nathan chuckles in my ear as he hugs me from behind.
“We’ve been coming here for two years now, babe. He knows us and trusts we won’t break the rules.” The bartender steps overs to us and raises an expectant brow. “I’ll have whatever’s on tap, and she’ll have a coke until she turns twenty-one at midnight.”
The guy looks down at my hand, then back up at us with a nod, and walks away to get our order as I say, “He’s so going to make me show him my ID, you know that right?”
“Yep. But hey, we’re following the law.”
Right then, my phone buzzes, and I open it to find a message from Benedict.
“Where are you? Are you here yet?”
“Yeah,” I text back as Nathan releases his hold on my waist with a smile, leaning back against the counter next to me, eye on the crowd. “At the bar getting a soda and waiting on Ethan to show up. You?”
“Be there in a sec.”
I laugh and put my phone down as I touch my hand to Nathan’s, getting his attention. “He says he’s on his way over.”
“Cool.” The bartender sets down our drinks, Nathan handing him a card as he says, “Go ahead and open a tab.”
“Their drinks are on me this evening.” Benedict’s voice comes from out of nowhere, and I whirl on the stool to find him standing right behind me. He’s so close to me my knees almost touch his legs. “Don’t worry about it, Frank. Make sure you add yourself a nice tip at the end of the night, too.”
I don’t see what happens behind me, but in a second, Nathan stands up straighter, and steps closer to my side, placing his hand around my waist once more. And Benedict doesn’t even blink at this, which is a point in his favor, holding out his right hand to Nathan with a smile.
“I’m Benedict, and you must be Caroline’s boyfriend.”
“Yeah.” Nathan takes his hand to shake, and I look up into his face to see he’s totally relaxed and smiling as well. “I’m Nathan. And you didn’t have to get the drinks…”
Benedict releases Nathan’s hand and waves a dismissive hand as his eyes find mine. “I own this place. And it’s my pleasure.”
Oh, I bet it is. And seriously, the owner of Club Play? I caught the eye of the owner of the place my boyfriend and I frequented all the time? I can’t believe it, but next to me, Nathan whistles low, then laughs.
“Good luck with this one, babe. I’m gonna go find Rissa.” He leans in and pecks my lips, then nods at Benedict. “Have fun you two.”
Nathan grabs his beer and walks away, leaving me alone with Benedict, who stands where Nathan just vacated and stares down at me. “I’m glad you decided to come.”
Something — perhaps it’s the naughty glint in his eyes — tells me those words were absolutely meant as a promise for what he wanted to make me do, and therefore, his statement is a double entendre.
“Where’s your girlfriend?” I raise a brow as he smiles and leans on the bar with one elbow as he quirks a brow. “You knew I’d want confirmation of your claim to openness.”
He holds up a hand with three fingers without a word, then lowers them one by one in an exaggerated and slow fashion. When the final finger joins his fist, I don’t even get to blink as a body crashes into Benedict.
“Honey, there you are! You said by the bar, but did you have to lean on it so I couldn’t see you through the crowd? Geeze.” The woman with long and curly red hair throws her arms around his shoulders and kisses him on the cheek in a flamboyant fashion, then turns to me and grins. “You must be Caroline. Nice to meet you.”
It happens so fast I’m left with my mouth gaping open and Benedict laughs.
“Caroline, meet my girlfriend, Miranda.” He leans down and kisses his girlfriends lips, then looks at me as he states, “Here’s your proof you wanted to make sure she’s real and all that jazz. Satisfied?”
“Oh yes,” Miranda squeals, leaning forward and hugging me, and honestly, it’s a tad awkward. She pulls back, and steps away from both of us. “You two have fun! I’m going back to Len. Later!”
She runs off before I can even speak, and Benedict holds out his hand. “Come with me.”
“She—you—I—“ I look to where she went to, then down at his hand, and back up at his face. “What?”
“Uh, okay.” He looks at me and I can tell he’s confused by the request as he shrugs. “Tall. Name is Miranda. Curly red hair. Hyper in a way that sort of has me imagining how a chipmunk on crack would act—”
I bust out laughing, cutting him off with a wave of my hand, and stand up. “Okay, okay, I believe you. But I’m still waiting for Ethan to show up. He’s late.”
“Text him and tell him to text you when he arrives. We’ll come back and join in when he arrives. I’d like to go to my office where it’s quiet and talk.”
“Okay.” I do as he says, then slide the phone into my tiny purse and pick up my soda. “Ready when you are.”
He leads the way and as we enter the office, he shuts the door and therefore, shuts out all the sounds from the club, leaving us all alone.
4
His office is warm and inviting.
Everything in the office is in black or silver, and therefore so sleek looking I’m afraid to touch anything, but he doesn’t seem to have that problem.
Benedict walks over to the bar in the wall and pours himself a drink, then turns and motions for me to sit on the leather couch against the wall near him. I walk over and take a seat, sitting my purse down on the floor in front of the couch. A moment or two later, he’s sitting next to me; real close to me, with our legs touching. He rests his left hand right above my knee, and the other holds his drink as we sit there in companionable silence.
It doesn’t last long as he asks, “How long have you and Nathan been together?”
I’m glad he’s asked this question. Knowing all the details about each other is a good start, and I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what I expected this evening. However, it wasn’t that we’d be sitting in his office inside Club Play having a chat.
Not that I’m complaining. And even though he seems well-put together, and definitely wants me, he seems rather unsure, which is absolutely endearing.
“Three years, almost four now. We started dating when I was seventeen and he was twenty. What about you and Miranda?”
He clear his throat, his lips curving as he turns his body toward mine a little, and catches my gaze. “Eight years. We met as freshmen in college, but didn’t begin dating until after we graduated.”
“She seems…” I pause, looking for the right word, but finish with a lame, “nice.”
“Oh, she is bat-shit crazy, but she always has been.”
The statement is full of affection, but I’m not sure what to say in reply, so I take a sip of my soda, and let my curiosity take over as I examine the room. He doesn’t say anything more and when my eyes finally return to him, it’s to discover him staring at me with hungry eyes.
“I’ve never done this before,” he admits, setting his glass on the side table before turning toward me even more. “I’m not sure of the rules…”
Not what I expected him to say.
“Wow.” I copy his motions and set my glass on the table beside me, then place my hands in my lap. “Um…so whose idea was it to open up the relationship?”
“Hers. It took her a year to convince me.”
“And you guys didn’t set up any rules?”
“Oh.” He nods. “Yes, we did. Did you?”
“Yeah.” I elaborate when he lifts a brow, indicating his curiosity. “Use protection, introduce first, no disrespect or the person is gone, and a mandatory two nights together a week. Keeps the drama to a minimum and expectations clear.”
“And is there a timeline…?”
I assume he means to go from meeting to dating and being together while with another.
“No.” His gaze sharpens at my reply, his hands going to my lap with one on each bare knee, and I ask him the questions I need to know the answers to. “What do you want, Benedict? What are your expectations of this? And why approach me?”
“I cheated a little. I’ve seen you and your boyfriend here, many times, but I’ve also seen him with Rissa. So I asked about you. I knew all about your relationship before I approached you.” I suck in a breath of air as his hands slide up my legs and tease the edge of my miniskirt. “I knew you’d know where I’m coming from and getting involved with a person whose single seems a bit too risky to me. Plus, I find you extremely attractive.”
His explanation made his approach in the cafe make complete sense, even though his questions had obviously been nonsense since he knew who my boyfriend was and my age. I can only appreciate his confidence in declaring his interest in me in such a bold way. But…“I’m not interested in just having sex with someone else. So if that’s your interest…?”
“No.” He rises a little and leans over me, until I’m lying on my back and he’s above me, in between my legs with his hands coming to rest on each side of my head. “I’m not either. I’m not that type of man.”
Our lips are so close, and I admit it, I’m extremely turned on by our position. He smells amazing, he’s gorgeous, and he wants me. And I wish he’d lean in and kiss me, but I feel the hesitation to go forward in him, and ask him one final thing.
“Does she already have someone else? That Len person she mentioned…?”
“Yes. For a year now. They adore each other.” His eyes drop to my lips as I lick them, then back up to my eyes where the fire in them has relit. “I could’ve been seeing others this whole time, but I waited. I didn’t want just anyone. I wanted someone who could potentially mean the same thing to me as she does, because it’s only due to how much I love her that I was able to realize she needed more than I can give her. And also, how much I needed more than she could give me as well.”
I don’t say anything in reply. There’s nothing I can say in response to that. It was sweet, and honest, and sincere, reminding me of something Nathan would say to anyone who questioned him about his feelings for me.
Instead, I place my hands on his shoulders, lifting my head off the couch until our lips press against one another as I make a decision for both of us. And it’s such a sweet, gentle, closed-mouth kiss; the kind where you both want it, and you’re not sure how far you can go, or how fast. His lips are soft yet firm, the taste of the scotch he drank on them, and with our mouths simply pressed together, I’m the first to give in. I open mine a little and he groans, his weight coming down on me more, pressing me into the sofa as his tongue invades my mouth with no sign of his earlier hesitation in sight.
He moves and readjusts as we continue kissing, and then his hand is on my thigh and moving up under my skirt. Already riding up due to our position, it’s not long until he’s cupping my ass in his hands and making appreciative sounds into my mouth as he gives the cheek a squeeze.
Sliding my hands up in his hair, I grab some as I rock my body up into his, which has him rocking into me in return. Our mouths alternate between tongues tangling and simple kissing, and his hand doesn’t move from my ass. We just lie here, kissing, and it’s the first time in a long while I’ve done nothing else but kiss.
I admit, after three years with Nathan, and only kissing and having sex with Nathan, this feels weird to me. But not bad weird; just unique in that it will be my first time right along with Benedict. Nathan was my first everything, and it looks like Benedict will be my second everything. But first…
“Benedict,” I whisper as I pull my lips away and meet his questioning gaze. “I feel like if we’re going to be kissing, your hand is going to be on my ass, and we’re going to be together…I should know your last name since I assume you already know mine.” My lips curve up into a smile as he laughs.
“Yes, I do.” He gives me a soft kiss on the lips and says, “Benedict Grant, at your service, Miss Caroline Lowther.”
“Nice to meet you, Mister Grant,” I tease him back, which makes him squeeze my ass in response, and lower his mouth back to mine.
&
nbsp; And then, my phone buzzes a few seconds later, making Benedict pull away and sit up.
He grins as he looks down at his watch while I return to my previous sitting position. “You should get that. It’s two minutes until midnight and almost time for your first legal drink!”
I reach down for my purse and pull out my phone to see a text message from Ethan.
“Birthday girl, birthday boy needs you. I heard the hot guy you met is the owner of this club and I know you’re probably kissing him right now, but get out here to the bar!”
I laugh and read the text off to Benedict, who then takes my hand with a grin and says, “Let’s go.”
And as we walk out the door and toward my friends, he doesn’t let go of my hand, which is as close to a declaration as you can get without saying a word that we’re together.
5
An hour later, Nathan is sitting in a booth with Rissa, I’m sitting on a stool at the bar with Benedict next to me at another, Miranda is dancing up close and personal with Len, and then there is Ethan.
Standing on the other side of me, Ethan’s back is against the bar and his arms crossed, and he’s majorly drunk.
I stopped at two drinks, as I’ve never been interested in getting drunk, but Ethan has no qualms about such things. And now, he’s been going on and on about being single for the last ten minutes, which Benedict apparently finds amusing because he has to keep hiding his smile.
While I adore Ethan, he’s single because he’s not so great at approaching females, and even though I tried to practice with him, it had just made us laugh silly because it’s hard to flirt with someone you consider your sibling. And I’m not sure how to help him, which makes the moment Benedict jumps in to save me from Ethan’s drunk ramblings all the more special.
“Ethan, I think I know someone you might like,” Benedict says as he stands, leaning over to kiss my cheek before straightening. “Follow me.”
He walks over before Ethan has a chance to digest what he said, and gives me a startled look. I shrug and nod my head in the direction he went, indicating Ethan should just follow him. Which he does, and I’m left all alone.