Alina
“SO FIRST THING’S first, Alina,” Max coaxed, “have you had sex with this guy yet?” His previously charming smile quickly turned into a wicked grin, proving he knew exactly what he was doing.
Rattling me.
Prying.
Being intrusive, yet again.
“Excuse me?” I was flabbergasted, my mouth hanging wide open in utter shock. I simply wasn’t used to anyone being so blunt, other than my father of course.
“It’s not a hard question,” he retorted, leaning closer so his shoulder brushed mine. “But while you’re thinking about your answer, you should close your mouth. All sorts of images are filtering in, and I’m sure if I made you privy to any of them, you’d slap me.” He winked before removing himself from my personal space.
I was completely at a loss for words. Even my internal reply was flustered. An air of arrogance wafted off him, and normally I’d find such a thing revolting, so why I didn’t just get up and walk away, I would never understand.
It took me countless seconds to decide how to finally respond, most likely amusing him even more with my ruffled demeanor. Trying not to appear as the type of woman he probably thought I was—proper and stuck-up—I gave him my reply, albeit laced with a ton of attitude. I simply couldn’t help myself.
“Not that it’s any of your business but, no, I haven’t slept with Chris yet.”
“Chris,” he repeated, nodding as if he was lost in his own inner conversation. “Can’t really gauge what type of man he is by his name.” Tapping his fingers against his mouth, he drew my attention to his lips again. Thankfully, he hadn’t noticed, or else he didn’t make mention of it before saying, “Go on.”
Swallowing a small sip of my drink, the liquor helping to free my tongue, I began to tell him about my proclivities concerning Chris. While I realized it was out of character for me to share personal details of my life with a stranger, I found it liberating to talk about the bullshit that was my current predicament.
“As I just said, we haven’t slept together. Yet. We’ve only been going together for a month.”
“Going together? Are you in grade school?” He laughed. “What does Chris have to say about you holding out on him?”
“He doesn’t have much of a choice now, does he?” I countered, annoyed a virtual stranger was able to rile me so.
“Well, if you were mine, I would’ve had you underneath me at the end of the first date. This Chris obviously has no game.”
“He has plenty of game, I assure you.” An unexpected need to defend Chris suddenly overcame me. “In fact, I was considering taking the next step in our relationship later tonight.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, it is.” My throat constricted in a nervous swallow.
“Will he be your first?”
“Excuse me? First what?” I had an idea where he was going with his latest question but wanted to clarify before I stuck my foot in my mouth.
“You know, first guy you’ve slept with?” A haughty expression painted his features, and I wanted nothing more than to slap it off him.
“What makes you think I’m a virgin?” Luckily, no one else was crowded around us; otherwise, I feared the contents of my conversation with Max would have been relayed back to my father, and undoubtedly Chris.
With furrowed brows and a look of utter concentration, Max said, “You look like the type of woman who shies away from a good time. A woman who believes spreading her legs is only for whores.”
Is he for real?
“You really are a smug bastard, aren’t you?”
His hearty laugh proved me right. “I’ve been called worse. Believe me.”
“I do.” Looking down at my drink, I saw it was almost empty. Half tempted to order yet another, I decided against it, concerned Max would have me either opening up about everything I deemed personal, or I’d be causing a scene by slapping him before storming off. And both of those scenarios were less than ideal.
“So?”
“No, I’m not a virgin. I just don’t jump into bed with someone right away. Something I’m sure you find odd.”
“As a matter of fact, I do. A month is a long time not to fuck.”
I gasped, heat radiating from my neck up to my cheeks. The surge of awareness rattled me, and I prayed he hadn’t noticed how I’d suddenly shifted in my seat, my thighs pressing together to assuage the unexpected ache.
His blunt response shocked me, although it shouldn’t have. I’d only been engaged in conversation with him for a short time, and already I knew he loved to push the envelope, garnering reactions from people surely his specialty.
“You’re unbelievable,” I admonished. “While I’m sure women drop their panties as soon as you look in their direction, I’m not like that.”
“You would be,” he said matter-of-factly. “If I wanted you in my bed, you’d cave.” Draining the rest of his drink, he tapped the bar top for another.
“Argh, you’re undeniably frustrating. You know that?”
“I do.” He smiled as if our back and forth was the highlight of his evening, although, for the briefest of moments, sadness flashed behind his eyes. Knowing I shouldn’t be staring so intently into those piercing pools of chocolate, I hesitantly looked away. But not quick enough to disengage any further discussion of my sex life, or lack thereof. “So are you really going to rock Chris’s world tonight or are you just saying that to appease me?” My eyes flew back to his, and it was in that moment I witnessed a flash of annoyance cross his face. Had I not been blatantly memorizing every facet of his gorgeousness, I would’ve missed the look. I wondered if he realized he had such expressive features.
My lips parted to say something in response when I saw Chris headed in our direction. Clamping my mouth shut before I said something I regretted, although I had no idea what words were likely to fly free, I swiveled my chair away from Max and toward Chris. He stopped briefly to chat with an affluent couple, all the while watching me with a curiosity I was becoming all too familiar with from him. Or maybe that was simply guilt on my part, engaging in all things too personal with a stranger.
I didn’t know my soon-to-be fiancé well enough yet to know if he had jealous tendencies. He’d always treated me with the utmost respect. Although, I wasn’t naïve. Most people were on their best behavior in the beginning of a relationship, if that’s what this even was between us.
You’re going to be calling it a marriage soon enough.
Frustrated with the dawn of impending announcements to come, I squared my shoulders and tried my best to ignore the quickened beat of my heart and the warmth spreading through me with the knowledge that Max was most likely staring at me from behind. Instinct, or intuition, or whatever word associated best with knowing his gaze was locked on me affected me more than I cared to acknowledge.
I was never so happy to see Chris since my unexpected pull toward Max was becoming more intense as the moments ticked by. I desperately needed the distraction.
“Hi, sweetheart,” he greeted, leaning in to kiss my cheek, his lips lingering longer than appropriate in such a formal setting. But who was I to judge what was appropriate at that point? It surely wasn’t appropriate to tell a stranger I hadn’t slept with the man I’d been dating. And it definitely wasn’t appropriate to engage said stranger in further conversation, allowing him to ruffle me with thoughts of squirming beneath him when he told me he would’ve had me spread beneath him on the first date.
No, any sense of appropriateness flew right out the window as soon as Max had butted into my business.
Finally turning his attention toward Max, Chris gave the man a fleeting smile. “I see you’ve met Maxton Colter.” The two men exchanged a friendly greeting while I was left to wonder how they knew each other.
“Briefly,” I answered, still rather flustered. “How do you two know each other?” While I waited for Chris to answer, my conversation with Max replayed over and over in my head. How rude I was to him, although justifiably so, when he interjected his thoughts on my drink order. Then all the words that were exchanged between us afterward.
“Are you okay, Alina?” Chris leaned closer, slinging his arm over my shoulder as a sign of concern. Or was that possession?
“Yeah, are you all right?” Max asked, the gravel in his voice sending shivers through me. When I dared to connect my gaze with his, he smirked, as if he was aware of all things untold.
I knew right away the man was going to be trouble.