TWO
Thorn
She messaged back.
Holy shit, she messaged back.
What the hell do I write now?
I groaned, running a hand through my hair, still damp from a workout. I’d pounded away my anxiety on the treadmill, not looking forward to showing up to another doctor’s Valentine’s Day Ball alone.
The damn thing was tomorrow night, and it never failed—the number of women who would throw themselves at me, advances getting thicker, petting getting heavier as the night wore on and the drinks flowed from the open bar.
I’d wanted to fucking skip this one altogether, but I knew it wasn’t a great idea if I wanted to be chief of the ER someday. I had to network as best I could with the chief of staff, and outside of the sporadic meetings—and these irritating staff parties—I rarely had that chance.
So skipping it wasn’t really on my list of things to do.
This wouldn’t be a normal online date—not that dating apps were ever normal—but when one of the guys at work had gone on and on about going to a bachelor party in LA a few weekends ago and hooking up with a few different girls around town, I’d begun to think it was worth some looking at.
Not for the hooking up.
Not for the dating at all, but for this.
For a proposition. I needed a date for this Valentine’s Day Ball. What would she get in return? Free drinks and food…a fancy dress as a gift from me? Maybe that part of the proposition was shaky, but I needed someone normal to snicker with at all of the overdressed, overpaid assholes I was forced to socialize with at those things.
I’d never done anything like this before. I was used to meeting women the old-fashioned way, at a bar or at work. But the deeper I’d gotten into my position at the hospital here, the less and less time I had for any social interaction at all. Finding a woman to put up with my crazy schedule was enough of a challenge as it was.
Even the women at the few conferences I attended throughout the year were snobby, intellectual, elitist gold diggers. Okay, maybe not all of them. But that’s the vibe they put off to me anyway. I wasn’t the typical doctor type. I was more comfortable in a pair of worn jeans than I was in chinos on the golf course. I couldn’t hobnob with these people as was expected, so finding someone to tag along and wallow in the torture with me sounded like as good a plan as any.
Where could we meet? I didn’t want to bring her to my place, did I? What if this all blew up in my face and I had a stalker on my hands? I couldn’t risk her knowing where to find me.
Coffee shop on 7th in an hour?
I hit send before I could second-guess myself.
To hell with playing by the rules. I’d done that my whole life, and the only thing it’d gotten me was a great job and a big house. Sometimes I wanted someone to share it with. Every now and then the feeling of loneliness set in, but it was always extremely short-lived. This girl, however, she piqued my interest.
An alert chimed, and I glanced at my phone. Her reply simply read:
OK.
I swiped a hand over my face, feeling a little astounded I’d done this at all, before heading into the bathroom to jump in the shower and clean up.
I had a date…sort of…in an hour.
I flipped on the water, waiting as warmth and steam filled the bathroom.
What in the hell had I just gotten myself into?
Forty-five minutes later, I was waiting patiently at the quiet coffee shop around the corner from the hospital, the one I visited every day for my quad-shot dark-roast coffee. Dumbass idea number one, because if she was a stalker, she could find me right here at half past six every morning.
I looked up just as the front door swung open, and the same girl who’d popped up on my phone earlier entered the coffeehouse. And though it seemed impossible, she was even more beautiful than in her picture. The way her eyes rounded wide, luscious locks of waves curling around one shoulder, the soft slope of her cheekbones. Everything about her was complete perfection.
This girl was it.
Complete fucking perfection.
I would have been content to sit there and stare from across the room, but then I thought that would make me the stalker. So instead, I shot to my feet and crossed to her.
“Lookin’ for someone?” I hovered over her shoulder.
She whirled around, eyes wide as they burned up and down my body then landed on my face. “No. Yes. Um…”
“I’ve got a feelin’ I’m him.”
Her eyes popped open, lips parting softly before her gaze averted and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. She was embarrassed. She was so fucking sweet. Christ, I wanted to ruin her already.
“As you can guess, I’m Thorn.” I placed a hand at the dip of her back. “Nice to meet you, Carly. Have a seat.”
“Ah, well…okay,” she stammered, allowing me to guide her to the table I’d been at. Jesus, I loved my hands on her. And what the hell was that feeling deep in my gut every time I looked at her? Like a punch to my stomach. Like someone lighting a match to my balls.
“Nice to meet you too, Thorn.”
I pulled the chair out for her, and she sat. I sat across from her, the table for two suddenly feeling impossibly smaller than it had just a minute ago. She was so close, her hand draped across the edge, dainty little fingertips and creamy skin…
“I feel like I should tell you,” she started, eyes holding mine for a beat, “I’ve never done this before.” She shifted in her seat. “This isn’t really normal for me.”
“So why did you do it, then?”
She opened her mouth, pausing as if at a loss for words. “Why does anyone do it?”
“There are a lot of reasons, I guess.”
“Well, I did it for the most obvious one.”
“Sex?” I prodded.
She didn’t answer; only a blush crept up her chest and neck. A blush I wanted to follow with my tongue. My original intention hadn’t been sex at all—it’d only been for a friendly date to that stupid doctors’ ball. But now here I was, sitting across from the most stunning woman I’d ever seen, and she was telling me she was here for sex?
Holy fucking shit.
“Why are you here?” She found her voice, her chin up. So, she had a strong stubborn streak, even more interesting.
My cock throbbed in my pants, the slow ache in my balls turning into a flaming fucking inferno.
How long had it been since I’d gotten laid? I couldn’t even recall.
Too fucking long.
Way too fucking long.
I shifted in my seat, instantly regretting this line of conversation if the pressure building behind my zipper had anything to say about it.
“I’m here for a pretty ridiculous reason, actually.” I paused, leaning a little closer until my hand was hovering just at her fingertips. “I need a date.”
“Well, don’t we all,” she scoffed as her eyes scanned the room.
“Yeah, but I need a legit date. Tomorrow. To a Valentine’s Day Ball. All expenses paid for by me, of course. Plus, there’s free food and an open bar. All you’ve got to do is be charming with a bunch of boring doctors for a few hours. Pretend like we’re together.”
“Wait.” Her eyes shot up, hands retreating to her lap. “You don’t want to have sex with me?”
I glanced around, praying no one had heard her frank question. “Maybe we should chat somewhere else about this.”
“No, I’m not going anywhere with you until I know more. I thought people used this app for sex… I thought…well…” She frowned, twisting at a curl nervously. “I thought you wanted me.”
My eyes bulged in my head. If only she knew the filthy thoughts filtering through my brain right now. I did want her, I wanted her so fucking bad it pained me, literally, but I wanted the date, too. I wanted both. “Carly.” I reached across the table and grazed my fingertips across her knuckles. “I want all of you.”
“So…” she breathed, eyes riveted to mine. “What now?”
Jesus, I’d give anything to see those pretty eyes simpering up at me as she rested her knees on the floor. I adjusted under the table, painfully aware of the erection biting against my zipper and the gorgeous girl sitting across the table causing it. “Now, we get you a dress.”
“A dress?” Her eyebrows nearly shot into her hairline.
“This is semiformal. I’d take you dressed in a garbage bag, but they might stop us at the door.”
A soft blush crept up her cheeks and made my cock pound. How was someone so sweet, so very clearly na?ve about relationships, sitting across from me at this moment? I’d swiped left so many goddamn times on that app I’d felt the ache in my thumb for an hour. But then she’d popped up and, like lightning charging through my veins, I’d known she was the one.
“I don’t think there’s anything open right now.” A frown pulled at her lips.
“I know a place that’s open till nine.” I snagged her hand in mine, pulling her to her feet from the chair. “Ready to do some shopping?”
Her smile twitched up at the corners, and I realized I still held her hand. It felt so natural I’d forgotten to let it go. Well, I wasn’t about to break our connection now.
“Let’s go find a dress, I guess.”
“I can just hear the enthusiasm in your voice,” I said dryly.
“I’m just not used to taking gifts from men,” she said as I pushed open the door of the coffee shop.
“Well, get used to it, Carly. I like to give shit to my friends sometimes.” I steered us down the street.
“Friends?” Her steps faltered. I turned, shaking my head when I saw her, one hand to her chest. “We’re friends, now? This is all moving so fast.”
My laugh echoed on the cool breeze. “I make friends fast.”
“What if I’m not looking for a friend?” She stepped closer. My heart throttled up into my throat, my hands itching to fist into her lush hair and pull her lips against mine. I wanted them bruised and tender; I wanted the memory of me all over her.
“Just what is it you are looking for, Carly?” I snaked a palm behind her neck, closing the distance between us. She shuddered when I trailed my nose along the shell of her ear, hovering at her earlobe as her breathing grew labored. My other hand circled her curvy waist, dragging her another step closer until she was plastered against all the hard angles of my body. “What do you need?”
Her thighs shifted, the sweet scent of her arousal invading my senses, driving me fucking mad with need for her. I’d take her right here on the street if I thought she’d let me. And I had a feeling she would…in a dark alleyway, up against a brick wall… But that wasn't right. This girl deserved so much better than that. And I wanted to give her everything she deserved.
“I…” She sucked in a shallow breath. “I think I need a dress.”
I grinned, enjoying the way her body softened against mine. “That’s just the beginning.”
I locked our hands again as we turned and continued down the street. “Bloomingdale's is just around the corner. Think we can find something in there?”
“Bloomingdale's!” Carly stumbled to a stop again, but this time, I wouldn’t let her, forcing her along with me.
“We’ve only got till nine, sweetheart. Drag your feet like that again, and I’ll carry you.”
Her mouth rounded in a perfect little O. “Anyone ever tell you you can be a little bossy?”
I laughed, slipping the pad of my thumb across the soft angle of her cheekbone. So close. Close enough to kiss, just one taste… “You just wait.”