Delaney
Walking into the bar area of the restaurant, I was both excited and nervous. This wasn’t how I’d envisioned my date with Sebastian going. It seemed every time I was around him, he threw me off. I never knew what to expect. This had to be how people felt around me. Looking around, there were no tables available, so I decided to grab a seat at the bar.
“What can I get for you?” the bartender asked with a flirty smile, which seemed to be directed at me. A curvy blonde in a low-cut black t-shirt, she had the attention of nearly everyone at the bar.
“Can I get a Don Julio 1942, please?” I asked her, having spotted the bottle on the shelves behind the bar. I love good tequila, and there are a few brands I recognize immediately.
“Coming right up, sweetie,” she told me with a wink.
She set down my drink with a smile. “Just let me know if you need anything else. I can flag down a waitress if you want anything to eat.”
With that, she walked off to assist another customer as I took a sip of my tequila. This was one of my favorites. It was smooth with a hint of vanilla. Closing my eyes, I savored that first sip.
It seemed like hours before Sebastian approached me. I’d scanned the bar area a couple of times looking for him before he finally walked in. Turning back to the bar, I continued sipping my tequila.
“Mind if I join you?” Sebastian murmured from close to my ear.
I bit back a grin and tried to stay in character as I turned to regard him coldly. “I’m here with someone.”
“Really?” he asked. “It seemed like you were alone when I walked in.”
I lifted my glass. “I’m enjoying a quiet evening with my good friend Don Julio. Why don’t you run along, little boy? You can’t handle what I’ve got to offer.”
“Is that so?” he asked, his voice moving along my body like a lover’s caress.
I giggled. “Sorry. I’m trying to stay in character.”
“You’re doing great,” he assured me.
“Thanks,” I said with a smile before working my features into a haughty glare. “Poor little boy, looking to play with the grownups.”
“I’d be careful about pushing me,” he warned. “I’m not sure you’ll like the consequences. On second thought, keep pushing me.”
I snorted. “Your blustering means nothing to me.”
“Blustering?” he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“Don’t get out of character,” I admonished with a wave of my finger.
Leaning into me, Sebastian ran his fingers along my collarbone before trailing them up my neck to cup my cheek. His lips moved closer until they were nearly touching mine. “You don’t want to push me, Red, or I might be tempted to turn that pretty backside of yours as red as your hair.”
“I thought that was you!”
I blinked twice as I returned to reality, which happened to be in the form of a spitfire of a woman by the name of Wanda. She was easily in her seventies, and I’d run into her several times at my favorite Mexican restaurant. Her hair color changed frequently and was currently a vivid shade of teal. As was her norm, her nails matched her hair color.
“Hi,” I sputtered, not sure how I’d ended up with Wanda involved in my role-playing game with Sebastian. “Where’s your husband?”
“I left the old fart at home tonight so I could meet up with my girlfriends,” she explained. “I’m a little early.” Wanda’s attention shifted to Sebastian. “My apologies for interrupting your wooing of Red. She’s a fun girl, but she needs someone to knock the cobwebs out. It’s been far too long since this one had a good roll in the hay.”
“Oh, God,” I said on a groan. It took a lot to embarrass me, but Wanda seemed to have a knack for it.
“Cobwebs?” Sebastian asked, his lips twitching.
Wanda nodded. “Like I said, the girl hasn’t had a man in far too long. Good move with the spanking talk. This girl is obsessed with it. I never really understood the fascination, but it’s a good way to get her panties down. She’s talked about it so much, I think she’s ready to beg for a good paddling. I wouldn’t do it at the bar. Some folks will get the wrong idea and think you’re abusing her. You also can’t do it proper here. She needs her panties down around her knees.”
“This isn’t happening,” I muttered.
Sebastian grabbed my hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
“Thank you so much for your advice,” Sebastian told Wanda as he turned to fully face her.
“You’re welcome,” Wanda said before looking him up and down. Her eyes widened when they landed on the front of his jeans. “It seems you like the idea, as well. Glad to see you’re getting that under control. I’d hate to have the whole bar see how excited you are. That thing would be hard to hide with a full erection.” She leaned forward and spoke in a loud stage whisper. “He’ll definitely do a good job of knocking all the cobwebs out for you.”
Sebastian’s jaw dropped, and he looked utterly speechless.
“Oh! My friends are here,” Wanda told us. “You kids have fun and remember to use a condom. A woman at the senior center just had a nasty case of Chlamydia—not something you want to mess with.”
Not waiting for a response, Wanda hurried across the room to join her friends.
“What just happened?” Sebastian asked, sounding utterly confused. I didn’t blame him. Wanda had that effect on people, especially when they first met her.
“That’s Wanda,” I explained. “She frequents a bar I go to with my friends, and she likes to join in our conversations.”
“She is something else,” he remarked.
“I’m just glad she embarrassed you, too,” I admitted. “I’m not sure I could have handled it if she’d just mentioned the stuff about me and spanking.”
“Is it true?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s true,” I replied. “I would have been mortified if she’d only talked about me needing sex and wanting to be spanked.”
Sebastian chuckled. “You know what I meant. Do you like being spanked?”
“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “It’s never happened before.”
“Would you like it to happen?” There was no missing the arousal in his hoarse voice. Sebastian liked the idea of spanking me, and he was getting turned on thinking about it.
“I think so,” I admitted hesitantly. “I want to write books with spanking in them, but I have no idea what it’s really like.”
“Is that the only reason you want to try it?” he pushed.
“I thought it was at first,” I began. “At least, I told myself that was the reason. Honestly, I’ve just been fascinated with trying different things. I’ve wanted to be more adventurous in bed. The thing about being an erotica writer is I feel like I should try all this kinky stuff. I feel like a fraud.”
“How so?” he asked, sitting on the stool beside mine and tugging my hand gently until I sat down.
“I write about all these people having great sex, but Wanda is right about me having been alone for too long.”
“Why have you been alone so long?” he asked.
“I didn’t want to date again after my divorce,” I explained. “Part of that was fear of being hurt, but I was also busy building my writing career. The longer I went without dating, the harder it got to think about dating again.”
“It’s great that you can make a living on your writing,” he stated, and I was grateful to him for recognizing my need for a change of subject.
“That and teaching piano lessons,” I corrected him.
“Sorry for the long wait,” our bartender interrupted. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll have what she’s having,” he replied, gesturing to my tequila.
“I’ll be right back with that,” the bartender assured him.
“You had better have good tequila in that glass,” he warned playfully. “There will be no spankings in your future if you’re drinking cheap tequila.”
Any suggestion that I might drink crappy tequila was enough to get my hackles up. This was no joking matter. “I would never drink cheap tequila.”
Sebastian chuckled. “You get more than a little feisty when it comes to your tequila. What do you have in that glass?”
“Don Julio 1942,” I replied.
He nodded. “Not bad.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem impressed with my tequila.”
He shrugged. “It’s good tequila. Not the best, but better than average.”
“Is it possible you’re an even bigger tequila snob than I am?” I asked in mock horror.
“I’m not a snob so much as a connoisseur,” he argued.
I snorted at his answer. “That’s what a snob says to get out of admitting the truth.”
When the bartender set down his drink, Sebastian handed her some money before returning his attention to me. “Shall we head over to the main restaurant and get some dinner?”
“That sounds great,” I replied as I stood and grabbed my drink. “I haven’t eaten anything since this morning. Hopefully, we can get a table.”
“I made a reservation,” he explained. “We should be just in time for our table.”
“You are a smart man,” I praised, looping my arm through his.
“If you play your cards right, this can be all yours,” he said, gesturing to himself with one hand.
I laughed at his mock arrogance. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now, feed me before I get cranky.”