Mae

He was drinking and trying to get into my pants. I was all right with that. More than all right. This offer though, it didn’t sound like part of that. It sounded almost legit. Maybe it was, but it was an offer made with a few sips of too much liquor and during an emotional time so there was zero chance I could accept.

Sober Mae might think differently in the morning, but for now, now I had to turn him down. It was the right thing to do. Besides, if I accepted and then it didn’t pan out, that would be worse, right?

“You are far too sweet, but I need more skills before I can even intern. You saw me making a mess of things, and that was simple stuff.” It was sadly true. My skills were growing in leaps and bounds, but they weren't even interned-ready yet. They would be though. I was no quitter.

“Everyone needs a second set of eyes sometimes.”

“That may be.” I would have eventually found my error, but the amount of time I spent on it was not acceptable in any workplace. It just wasn’t. “But still, a polite decline. I make my own way.” When I did this, which I would, it needed to be because of my skills. Not a leg up from someone who I wanted to jump.

“If you change your mind—”

I cut him off with my lips. Sure, I knew it was an effective method to shut a man up, but that wasn’t why I went in for the kill. I had wanted to kiss Matt from almost the first moment I saw him, and the need to do so increased exponentially with every moment that he sat beside me.

His lips immediately reacted to mine, effectively taking over the kiss, which I was more than willing to allow. There was something so innately hot about that moment. His lips danced with mine, his tongue seeking entrance. As I opened up for him, a needy sigh escaped me. When was the last time a man drew such a reaction from me? Had one ever?

He leisurely explored my mouth as I explored his, the intensity of the moment growing with each swipe of the tongue, each taste. His hand took the back of my neck in a raw and sensual grasp that had me ready to mount him right then and there. It was a good thing he was passing through because this man was trouble of both the very best and the very worst kind.

The crackle of the check holder being placed on the table pulled me from my focus. I snapped back, catching the smirk on Jackie’s face as she sauntered away. She was right, it was time to get a room before what crappy reputation I had in this town got worse. Not that it mattered because I would get out of here. It was only a question of when.

“Are you staying at the motel?” My breath was uneven and my body was still singing for him. Oh, tonight had the potential to be amazing. There was no need to ask which motel. There was one. It was crappy and rundown, but the next closest one was forty-five minutes away and our drinking made that option obsolete.

“I was planning to leave tonight, but I got distracted.” His hand cupped my cheek, which his thumb caressed as he said distracted.

“I’d invite you to my place, but I don’t really have one.”

“I’m sure the motel has beds for two.” He pulled his wallet out and threw down some bills. I went to argue, but he gave me an “I dare you” look and some things just weren’t worth it.

“That might not actually be accurate.” And even if they did, they were in no way up to the standards he was used too. Heck, they probably weren’t even up to mine and I slept on a hundred dollar futon for years. “It looks like they haven’t touched it in decades.” More accurately, it looked like it belonged in a horror movie, but I wasn’t going to go there.

“It does look eerily similar to when I was a kid.” He took his hand from my cheek and intertwined his fingers with mine before indicating the door with his head. “Shall we see if they have a room for us?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

I was doing this. Mae, the mapper, planner extraordinaire, was going to a sketchy motel with a stranger with the sole purpose of getting herself some. No part of me could think of anything wrong with the idea either. There was just something about Matt. It was more than his looks, his intelligence, his success. He came from nothing, and that was an aphrodisiac like no other. Maybe it was because I came from little, although more than him if he was a Ms. Gracie kid. I could think about that later. Now, I just wanted to get naked.

“In a hurry?” I teased as he scootched out of the table, taking me with him.

He stopped dead in his tracks, looked my now standing form up and down slowly, before bending to my ear and whispered, ”I wanted you the moment I walked in here, seeing you sitting here, all focused. Besides, I have an ulterior motive.”

“Ulterior motive, do tell.” The lilt of mischief in his voice had me so very intrigued, so much that I didn’t even mind that we were no closer to naked time than we were only moments earlier.

“If I get you into my bed, I can prove Jackass Bob wrong.” He tapped my nose for effect, and I couldn’t control the belly laugh that poured out of me. “Is that a yes?” He was already leading me through the diminished crowd and to the door.

“Matt, it was a yes the moment you showed me where to fix my code.”

I wasn’t even exaggerating. I wanted him like no one before him. Sure I’d had a man in my bed before, but it was always after dates and wooing. There had never been this instant connection filled with so much want and need. I couldn’t even say it was the alcohol because a quick glance back at the table told me we had only actually consumed two a piece over the course of a few hours. No, this drunken feeling wasn’t alcohol. It was Matt, all Matt. For the next few hours he was all mine and I planned to take full advantage of said time.