Stephanie
Think!
Open your mouth!
Say something!
I can only stare at my drink for so long before it starts to get really awkward.
I’ve known him for a couple days. Did he really just say he cares about me?
What does he mean?
I’m at a loss.
It’s one thing to give someone like me a sympathetic ear and say to them “Oh, I’m sorry for the stuff you’re going through, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help” in that kind of way that tells them you actually don’t want to lift a finger.
It’s another thing entirely to have someone tell you they’re ready to get into it, through the thick and thin.
And when it’s coming from a hot guy that obviously knows how to handle himself — that I more-than-kind-of wish would handle me — it’s enough to make me pause.
Do I want this?
“Thank you,” I say. “I really appreciate that. Honestly.”
Yes, I do.
“I mean it, bella: I’m yours.”
There’s so much heat in his voice that I rush to raise my glass in a toast, just so I take a drink and hide my face. I haven’t been on a date in so long I’ve forgotten how to flirt. But with Luca, I can’t tell what’s flirting and what’s just an honest expression of intent.
Does he even flirt? Or does he just say what he means and, because he’s this sculpted vision of a man with the attitude of a someone who gets what he wants, it just happens?
Whatever it is, I want him around.
We tap glasses and finish our drinks in a flash.
I feel a little stronger, a little safer, just hearing him say that he’s all in. With me.
It’d be easy as hell for someone to back away from my situation. And even though I can’t tell him everything — he can’t know how my dad got us in debt, or just who we owe money to because I know for sure he’d run away then — I’m already thinking of ways he can help me.
There’s one thing that stands out; ideas that I get as I look at him with blurry vision and hot cheeks and realize just how stacked he is.
It started as an idle fantasy, something that just teased the edges of my mind — the part that realizes it’s been months since I’ve even been on a damn date.
I want to be closer to him.
“Do you want to get out of here?” I say, suddenly.
He looks at me sideways for a second, then grins. “What do you think?”
He pulls out his wallet and throws a handful of bills on the table. There’s got to be more than twice the price of our bill.
“Our waitress was nice and those Singapore Slings were pretty good — don’t tell anyone I said that,” he says, winking.
I smile and stand up.
The room’s swimming a bit.
How many drinks did I have?
And does it even matter? That weight on my shoulders is a little bit lighter and I feel good and I know I’m going to feel even better later, when my bare skin is pressed up against his.
He takes my hand to steady me and I squeeze it hard.
“I’m glad I met you,” I whisper.
He squeezes me back, gently, but still enough to make the muscles in his forearms bulge and flex and emphasize just how built and powerful he is.
“Same, bella,” he says, his voice a husky growl. “You’re a rare kind of woman, you know that? No ones ever made me think about change before.”
I blush and wonder if he’s just playing nice because he knows I’m aching to jump into bed with him.
We exit the bar and step out into the cool Northern California night air.
There’s not a person in the parking lot. They all must be inside, drinking. Headlights pass by in the night and a couple taxis sit idle across the street, waiting for closing time.
“I’ll call us a cab, we’re not in any shape to drive,” Luca starts to say.
But he doesn’t halfway get his arm up to call a taxi before I make my move. I put my hand on his forearm, pulling it down. I turn, stepping in front of him, and reaching up with my other hand.
I’m surprisingly graceful for being drunk.
It must be his lessons, him teaching me how to move.
Whatever it is, I pull his face down. I press my lips to his.
I want this.
It’s been too long.
His arms encircle me, holding me tight. The heat of his body warms me, fighting off the chill night air. His heart thuds in his chest like a great big drum. I can feel it against me, echoing the heated rhythm of my own.
His lips explore mine and I feel something inside me wake up, something snap to life with white hot heat.
I pull back a second, looking in his eyes.
The way he’s looking back at me — hungry, fierce, confident, with lust that’s blatant and naked.
I feel like I should say something.
I hardly know him. We’re rushing things. Right?
Except, being with him, I feel stronger, more sure of myself.
“I want you, Luca.”
He grins in a way that says ‘I know’ and then moves in to nibble my ear.
I want something good in my life, even if it’s just for a night. I’m tired of being cautious, afraid, of looking over my shoulder all the time and jumping at shadows.
Before I can open my mouth to say anything more, he’s pulled me back in, crushing his lips to mine.
His chest rumbles with lust and hunger and I moan. There’s an ache inside me that’s been there for months and needs to be satisfied.
“Fuck waiting. You’re too fucking gorgeous.”
He picks me up and I throw my legs around him and he carries me away from the door.
Shit, we’ve been blocking the doorway this whole time.
My back touches the cold wall and I shiver, puling myself tighter against his heat.
His hands slide down my back until he’s cupping my ass, and I can feel the rock hardness of his cock grinding against me.
I’m breathless, wrapped in him, and ready.
I pulse my hips against his.
“I’m going to fuck you until your voice is hoarse from screaming my name,” he growls, ending his sentence with a firm kiss that drives his tongue into my mouth.
Again, I barely pull back and manage to speak.
“Promise?”
He chuckles and kisses down my neck, between my tits.
“You can count on it, bella.”
I toss my head back, relishing the feeling of his lips on my chest. The door opens and shuts several times as we lose ourselves in each other and I am all but oblivious to the people passing by, staring.
Fuck them, they’re probably just jealous.
“How about that cab?” I manage to gasp out.
“What about right here?” he says, half-joking, but I can see in his eyes that there’s part of him that’d be ok with a quickie in the alley.
Honestly, with as hot as he is and how wound-up he’s got me, there’s a big part of me that feels the same way.
But there’s a bigger part that wants to take my time with him. If I’m going to have sex with him tonight — which I damn well am — then I want to enjoy every second of it; I want to stretch it out; I want to languidly explore him; I want to give my everything to him.
“Yeah, right. I have some standards,” I say. “Even when I’m picking up rookie hardware salesmen.”
Luca winks at me. “Where to?”
“Your place,” I say. “I live with my dad, so, yeah.”
Just saying that last part makes me feel like I’m in high school all over again. The way my heart is thudding makes me feel like that, too. It’s like I’m sixteen again, about to be with a boy for the first time.
Except Jacob Riley has nothing on Luca.
I take a breath.
Calm down. It’s not like you haven’t done this before. It’s just been a while, is all.
A long, long while.
Are we there yet?
Luca flags a cab down and I practically fly like Supergirl into the back seat, a drunken grin on my face and I’m giggling like a teenager I’m so damn happy. He gives the cabbie his address and we peel away from the bar and wind up across Arroyo Falls in some gentrified-looking area, maybe a block from the waterfront, parking in front of some warehouse-looking building.
There’s a deli next door, along with a tailor’s, a bakery, and a crowded-looking brewpub.
Luca hops out first, walks around the car and gives me his hand as I get out.
I look up at the building. It’s definitely not what I expected.
“This is your place? Do you live in a factory?”
“No. I admit, it doesn’t look great on the outside, but it’s better inside. The city wouldn’t let the owners change the exterior, said it’s a historic building. They did woodworking or shipbuilding or something here a hundred years ago,” he says, taking me to the heavy front door. That looks like it’s made out of one huge slab of wood.
There’s a callbox with six buttons on it mounted into the wall just next to the door. Luca punches a combo into a keypad on the door and, with an electronic click and a whirr, it opens for us.
It’s huge inside, with a big lobby with a small chandelier giving a dim light and a wide hallway with just three doors set off it and a staircase leading up to the second floor. Everything looks hand-carved and custom made.
It’s gorgeous.
He leads me up the stairs, still holding my hand.
Dimly, I’m aware that he’s talking about the building and his neighbors or something, but all I can really hear is my heart thundering in my chest. It’s pounding away at at least twice my resting heart rate and who knows how much my blood pressure is spiking right now.
I haven’t done this in a long time, but I’m doing my best not to show it because I know, the life Luca leads, the way he looks, he’s got to be way more active than I am.
Hell, someone in a coma’s got to be more sexually active than I’ve been.
He opens the door to his apartment. It is huge. Like, there’s enough square footage for a small house in here.
It’s one big open-plan room and, even though it’s dark, I can see the faint shimmer of light on stainless steel appliances in his kitchen, the reflection of shiny black leather in his living area.
The entire far wall is made up of vaulted windows looking out over the ocean.
“The gym business must pay well,” I say.
I can’t take my eyes off the view. Black ocean, light by stars and the moon. Not far off, there’s a few twinkling lights that must be fishermen, out for squid or shrimp, working to haul in their catch in time to sell them on the docks in the first hours of dawn.
He shrugs. “I do well enough. And I’ve got more than enough stashed away from before. But I talked the owner into a good deal.”
“So you box, you sell appliances to little old ladies, and you’re a good negotiator? What other hidden talents do you have?” I tease.
He leans in and gives me a long, heated kiss, before putting his lips close to my ear. “Just wait and I’ll show you. I’m about to hit you up for a raise. And I’m not just a good negotiator. I’m a great negotiator. I’ll have you begging to pay me more in no time.”
“Is that so?”
Another kiss and then he nips my neck lightly and I jolt, pressing myself tighter against him.
“It is. Just wait to see how I convince you.”
His lips meet mine, his tongue parts my lips and I gasp in surprise as he picks me up like I’m nothing. He carries me backward and tosses me down in a pile of sheets and blankets.
He climbs on the bed, on top of me, his powerful arms planted one on each side of me.
Heat pulses through my body in waves, between my legs, while goosebumps surface across my chest and my skin tingles as his kisses light up my lips and neck.
I rise up and he seizes my shirt by the hem, lifting it up and off me.
“I’ll have you begging and screaming in no time,” he whispers as his lips explore my bare chest.
I wrap my legs around him, locking my ankles tight. Our eyes meet and we’re both wearing smiles on our faces.
“Go ahead. Convince me.”