I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me.

I keep doing this thing. It’s really bizarre. All day long, every time I think about Erin, which is a lot, I keep doing it. I’ve never done it before, never really felt this way before. But I just keep doing it like an idiot.

I keep smiling. I keep fucking grinning like a big dumb fool. I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me. By the end of the day, I’m seriously considering calling a doctor, and maybe I would if it weren’t for the fact that I have a date with Erin when I get home.

I can barely fucking contain myself, and it’s making me sick.

I never get this excited for a date. Hell, I barely even go on dates anymore. I haven’t really needed to take a woman out to get laid in a very long time, and I still don’t. I could call any number of women right now and have them come over and give me what I want right on the spot. There’s no doubt in my mind that there are literally hundreds of women I could have at a moment’s notice.

But none of them can give me what I really want, and that’s the problem. There’s only one woman that can possibly do it.

When I get home, the babysitter is already there. She’s an older woman who has watched Lacey for me in the past. Her name is Matilda, and although I like her, I wouldn’t want her around all the time. She’s a little… strict, which is good for a night, but not so good for a fulltime nanny.

When I let her in, she instantly goes into babysitter mode. Erin gives me a little quizzical look and I just grin at her.

“You’re off the clock,” I say.

She walks over to me, smiling. “I guess so.”

“Ready?”

She shakes her head. “Actually, I was hoping I could get changed before we went.”

“Perfect,” I admit. “I could probably use some fresh clothes too.”

She gives me a playful look. “That’s definitely true.”

I laugh then point her down the hall. “You can use the spare room. It has a bathroom attached.”

“Don’t be trying to peek,” she says as she grabs a bag and heads toward the room.

I just grin and watch her walk away. When she disappears into the room, I quickly head into my bathroom and freshen up.

It takes me ten minutes to clean up and get a new suit on before I’m back in the kitchen, sipping a little whisky and waiting for her. It takes her another fifteen before she finally emerges from the back.

“How do I look?” she asks.

I gape for a second then grin. “Perfect,” I say.

She’s wearing a tight black dress, her hair spilling down around her shoulders. Her heels make her look a bit taller, although I still tower over her. She smiles as I walk over to her and offer her my arm. “Let’s go,” I say.

We tell Matilda that we’re leaving and then we head out.

I decide to drive, and so we get into my high-end Tesla. “Tasteful,” Erin comments as we pull out.

“I thought you’d like it. Very eco-friendly.”

“Who says I care about that?” she responds. “I actually prefer cars that are eco-unfriendly. Like eco-hostile,”

“Damn,” I say, grinning. “I should have taken the Hummer then.”

“I love Hummers,” she says. “You should drive it everywhere. Heck, just keep it running at all times.”

“I can do that for you.”

She laughs, shaking her head. “I’m kidding. I hate those cars.”

“Me too.” I grin at her and shrug. “I always figured the bigger the truck, the bigger the douche who’s driving it.”

“You shouldn’t generalize,” she says.

“Maybe not. But my generalizations tend to be correct.”

She laughs and leans back in the car as I head downtown. “Where are you taking me, anyway?”

“Well, we have two options. How hungry are you?”

She looks a little embarrassed. “Honestly, I ate with Lacey. Sometimes chicken fingers look too delicious to pass up.”

I laugh and grin at her. “You took food from my baby’s mouth?”

“I made more,” she says.

“Perfect. Option number two it is then.”

“What’s option number two?”

“Just one of my side businesses,” I say.

“Side business? How many do you have?”

“More than you think.” I glance at her. “How do you like dancing?”

She tries to conceal her smile, but I catch it. “I’ve been known to dance from time to time.”

“Good. Because I own a club.”

“You own a nightclub?”

I shrug. “I’m rich. I like to use my money to have fun sometimes.”

“Says the lame single dad.”

“I’m not so lame.” I grin at her, feeling that excitement all over again. “You’ll see.”

We drive through the night and I end up parking in my usual spot behind the club. I don’t bother taking her the front way, since there’s already a line forming.

“What’s this place called?” she asks.

“High,” I answer.

“Like, snorting cocaine kind of high?”

I grin and shrug. “That’s one interpretation.”

We approach the back door and I pull it open. The kitchen staff glances in my direction and I nod to the manager who rushes over to shake my hand. He escorts us through the back and the hustle and bustle of the staff doesn’t even pause or slow down. This place is used to me coming through, and they’re successful for a reason.

We head up into the main part of the club. We have to wait a second as they clear out the VIP box for us, but after that, we get or own little booth in the corner plus a bottle of champagne. I uncork it, pour two glasses, and we toast.

“To having fun,” I say.

“And to getting high.” She grins at me.

I laugh as I sip my drink and look around. The place is pretty crowded already, though it’s not exactly late. The dance floor is almost filled up with bodies dancing and sweating to the deep booming beat. I own a few places like High throughout the city, places that I want to go when I feel like cutting loose. It’s just a side benefit that they happen to be profitable as well.

“Well,” I say. “How about we dance?”

She stands up instantly, and I’m impressed by that. “I thought you’d never ask.”

She leads the way out to the dance floor, which surprises me. I thought she was a little shy and standoffish at first, but maybe that wasn’t right. Maybe she was just being proper in the house of her employer, but here she can cut loose a little bit.

And she looks so fucking good in that dress. I watch her sweet ass move as we head out onto the dance floor. I don’t care who notices me staring, I really don’t. I’m sure I’m not the only one. She’s so fucking sexy it drives me insane. I know this club is filled with beautiful women and most of them would probably give me what I want, but I can’t look at anyone but Erin right now.

We start to dance, blending in with the crowd, but they practically disappear for me. Sometimes I can be a little self-conscious at first, which is why I normally drink more, but any uncomfortable feelings are instantly gone as soon as I feel her hips up against mine.

She dances real fucking dirty. I’m almost a little taken aback at first. I thought she’d be a little prim and slow, but she instantly presses herself against me, and I can feel the heat between us. It’s like as soon as she hit the dance floor, all bets are off and she’s just throwing herself at me. She seems totally uninhibited and I absolutely love it.

I find it attractive. I mean, obviously I do, since I have a gorgeous girl grinding up against me. But her confidence is fucking sexy in itself. I thought maybe I’d have to coax this out of her, but she’s taking control and I fucking like it. Normally I’m the one in the lead, drawing the woman out, getting her to loosen up as she dances, but not with Erin. It’s like she was born for this, and she looks incredible.

I almost can’t keep up. Well, almost. I’m fucking good at what I do, even though she’s clearly great at dancing.

The song changes and she turns toward me, arms around my neck. I put my hands on her hips as she sways and grinds in front of me, making eye contact, not shy even a little bit. I run my hands along her curves and she touches my face, staring at me.

Instantly I’m fucking hard. I can’t help myself. I just keep picturing what this girl would feel like getting fucked. I bet she can work her hips on my cock and love it. I can just picture her face as I slide my thick cock deep between her legs for the first time, the pleasure and the pain and the surprise. I want to make her feel fucking good.

I want to kiss her. I suddenly need it. I didn’t really plan on it tonight. I figured tonight would just be a warmup, but she feels fucking warm already.

But before I can, the song changes, and she pulls away. “Come on,” she says, heading back toward the booth.

Reluctantly, I follow her. It’s a little quieter over in our seats, but I’d rather be out in the noise. I realize that we were dancing for nearly an hour and we’re both sweating. It passed in the blink of an eye. She pours both of us more champagne then she leans back in her seat, legs crossed toward me.

I put my hand on her knee. “That was fun,” I say.

“Yeah, it was.” She smiles and doesn’t move my hand. “A little unexpected.”

“Unexpected how?”

“You don’t look like you can dance.”

I laugh at her. “Of course I can. What, you think I’m full of shit?”

“A little bit, yeah.”

That just makes me laugh. I toss back my drink and get another one.

“Well, I guess you were wrong,” I say.

“I guess so.” She watches me for a second. “So, why have you been staying so late at work recently?”

The topic change is a little abrupt, but I don’t mind. “Big merger,” I say. “Lots of work to do. It’s been tough.”

“Stressful?” she asks.

“You could say that.” I shrug. “This guy, Rick Fisher. He’s not the nicest guy in the world. I think we have a fair deal on the table but he’s pushing for more and more. I’m not sure it’ll happen.”

Her face clouds up for a moment. “You think it’s going to fall through?”

I shrug. “It could. I don’t really know.”

“And you think it’s this Rick guy’s fault?”

“He’s pushy. He wants more than we can give him.” I laugh a little bit. “Frankly, the guy’s an asshole. But this isn’t interesting.”

“No, I’m curious,” she says, biting her lip.

“He keeps making threats,” I say, feeling good about talking about this with someone not on the inside for once. I shouldn’t discuss the merger with Erin or really anyone outside of the company, but I can’t help myself. This whole thing has been like a weight around my neck for months. “Some subtle and some not so subtle.”

“Threats?” she asks. “Seriously?”

“Sure. Once, after a meeting, he leaned in during our handshake and told me that he was going to rip off my balls if I don’t give in to one of his demands.” I laugh, shrugging a little bit. “Like I said, the guy’s an asshole. But his company is sound.”

She gets quiet after that. I don’t really know why, but I can tell something just shifted. Maybe it was the way I spoke about that guy, or maybe she’s just not feeling that well. But maybe ten more minutes of small talk and she asks to be taken home.

I know when to call it, and I’m not going to force her to stay. I don’t know why she suddenly pulled away like that, but I know that the best thing to do is give her time. I got a glimpse of the kind of woman she can be out on that dance floor, and it’s that side of Erin that I want. I need the wild and free Erin.

It’s going to happen sooner or later. We leave the club and I drop her off in front of an apartment building on the west side of town, a decent looking place. I don’t kiss her goodbye, but she does linger for a second longer than she needs to.

“I had fun,” she says.

“I know you did,” I say, smirking. “I had fun, too.”

She looks at me for a second, and then she leans toward me.

I don’t need to be told twice. I lean forward, take her hair in my fist, and kiss her the way I’ve been wanting to kiss her since the second I met her.

I love the way she tastes, the way her lips are soft. She throws herself into the kiss as deeply as I do. There’s no holding back in this moment from ether of us, and it feels so fucking good.

Slowly we break apart. She’s breathing deeply. “Good night,” she says suddenly and jumps out of my car.

Before I can say anything, she disappears into the building. I stare after her, totally fucking shocked.

What the hell just happened? One second she’s into me on the dance floor, and then she’s weird when I talk about the business, and then she’s kissing me, and then she’s running away. It’s like there are two versions of her and she keeps switching between them.

I can’t help but smile though. That kiss felt so fucking good, better than any kiss has felt in a long time. I don’t know what to think about that, but it’s the truth. When I put the car into gear and start heading home, I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. I’m practically tingling with desire and excitement.

I need to understand these two versions of Erin. That way I can isolate the one that seems to want me, and fix whatever is missing with the other. I’ll make her whole, and take what I want, sooner or later. It’s just a matter of time. She’ll be begging for more by the time I’m through with her.