I watch Kat’s throat as she tips her head back, swallowing half a bottle of sake.

It’s her third.

She surprises me constantly. I thought I’d do the gentlemanly thing and take her out to my favorite sushi bar. I never thought she would share my passion for wasabi and sake.

The food’s top-notch as usual, and we’re right under the action at the bar with hot pieces of meat flying out to land miraculously on plates left right and center.

The theater, the food—they usually distract and amp me up. But tonight, I’m more fascinated by those gulps of Kat’s hungry lips and her thirsty tongue.

All the other quick fucks I’ve had just disappear the moment I walk out the door, but this time it’s like my skin’s remembering her touch.

I have to stop thinking this way; otherwise, I’m going to bulge right out of my pants.

Wouldn’t be the first time at this very bar, too.

Still, I need to play this cool. This woman’s a fucking shark.

She slams the bottle down on the counter and nips up a salmon roll with her sticks—fuck, can she use them—and flips it into her mouth. She gives me a side glance and a hint of a girly grin as she struggles to get her mouth around the meat.

Well, that’s it. My boner’s poking high out of my pants, and there’s no help for it.

I clear my throat and stab up a few morsels for myself, gulping some sake. I’m not good at this self-examination shit.

I like life to be simple.

Money, booze, pussy. Repeat, in a different order with slight variations.

Having emotional stirrings and personal uncertainty isn’t on my list of things to do. As much as I hate this feeling, I hate that I’m trying to think of something smart to say even more.

She’s starting to look at me—early conversation was easy, about the food and the bar—but now I’ve got to engage her.

I honestly don’t know how to do that without my cock.

“Look at them.”

Kat gestures across the room. There’s an elderly couple sharing a platter, gazing into each other’s eyes like newlyweds and feeding each other.

“Cute,” I say.

Maybe it is.

I don’t give a literal fuck. I’m rich. I’m not getting old.

“How is it, do you think? Have they struggled all this time? Have they settled and made their peace with it? I don’t get it. I seriously don’t. No matter how they got there, it would’ve been constant sacrifice. Compromise. I’m not into that. I can’t do it…that’s kind of why I gave up on love,” she admits, blushing just a touch.

It might just be the wasabi.

“That means you must’ve believed in it at some point then,” I pry.

I’m going to need something harder than sake, I think.

“Oh, you know.”

Kat tosses that dark stormy hair, her eyes glinting golden flecks in the light.

“All little girls play the game. The difference is, all those girls are still playing, and I’m not.”

She gives me a hard, steady stare.

Shit, she’s fucking sound after all that sake. It’s almost scary how intense she is.

“I’m not in love with you, Will. I don’t plan to be in love, ever.”

“Good thing we’re just having fun then?” I reply.

I grin as I sip some more sake, trying to ignore the throbbing of my cock. It had settled down, but it perks back up the second I mention “fun.”

“And you have a mail-order husband now, so you don’t need to worry about love. That’s what these deals are made for. Fucking on demand, a nice eye candy for a big event. Anything you please, whenever you want it.”

I want to touch her…to just casually stroke her knee and squeeze her arm.

I just want to touch her.

She laughs. “It does sound like a nice deal! I always have my sister for emotional support. It’s only the dick I have to order out for.”

I laugh easily.

“Yeah, well, my sister isn’t big on the emotional support part. None of my family is, really. But I wouldn’t be here at all with you if it wasn’t for Sarah. See, I had this bet with her…it was fucking impossible. I had this ditz of a caddie, you know, the cheap type who can’t manage her own tits, and I was getting drunk, so I wanted to try hitting the ball off her ass.”

Kat’s girlish giggles escape as a big cackle. She puts a hand over her mouth.

“Fuck no! You did not.”

“Yes, I fucking did. I was considering getting creative with the balls…but then I thought slapping her around the ass with an iron might be more fun.”

Kat was giggling upon giggling.

“So I’m all set up to shoot, and my sister comes along and starts chewing me out. Says I’m never going to meet a respectable woman. Well, fuck, who said I was even looking!”

Kat bursts out into a huge cackle, and I’m laughing my guts out, too. The sake loosened us up, but the laugh’s letting us go.

I’m feeling like I can be myself and not hide. It’s a nice feeling.

I’m not sure I’ve ever had it before.

“So,” I continue, taking another roll from the platter, “she says she’s going to hit a hole-in-one off the caddie’s ass. I say it’s impossible. I mean, I wasn’t even going to try for the green! Why wouldn’t I take the bet, seriously? I thought I couldn’t lose. She says I have to be a mail-order husband if I lose…I was pretty sure such a thing didn’t exist, anyway. Well, if it doesn’t blow my brain cells out like good whiskey when she makes the fucking shot. She’s got to be a witch or something.”

Kat’s rolling a chopstick against her bottom lip, licking up soy sauce. As her tongue creeps over the edge of her mouth, I completely lose my train of thought.

“But,” she says, “you ended up with me soon after. So I guess it wasn’t a loss after all.”

I grin at her, and I touch her leg and gently squeeze her thigh.

“Not a loss at all.”

Kat does a quick look around. I’ve seen her do this at work. Her eyes go to the surroundings, desk, then to the clock.

“I better get moving. It’s going to be a long one tomorrow. I suppose I should let you off husband duties for the night since you bought dinner.”

I reach out and grip her hand, waiting for her to turn to me.

We pull close together, sinking into each other’s gaze.

“No fucking way. I’ve got manly duties to perform. And if it’s going to be a long day, you need your husband to take all that stress out of you.”

She slips down from the stool, winking up at me as those sexy pink heels click to the floor.

“What’re we waiting for then?”