Chapter 19
Deferred Payment
Sara
Drew withdraws his fingers and straightens my panties, but I can’t tear my eyes away from Wyatt. It could be seconds or minutes that we stay locked together as my release fades.
“How is everything?”
My cheeks burn as my gaze darts to the server. And the realization that I just came in a very public place that my mother’s cronies might tell her about. Fuck.
“Everything’s wonderful.” Drew takes my hand and squeezes it. “I think we’ll skip dessert tonight.”
The server nods and walks away.
“Excuse me. I need to use the restroom.” I blush, realizing how damp I am between my legs.
Drew stands and helps me to my feet. He leans in to my ear. “No spot on the back, princess. You’re safe.”
I breathe a thank you. I would have worried the whole walk across the dining area if he hadn’t said anything. The bathroom is blessedly empty and I clean up as best I can.
Fuck. What the hell am I thinking? I’m so wrapped up in Drew and the guys that I can’t see clearly or just use common sense. My mother’s friends are always having dinner here, or know someone who is.
Everything I do gets back to my mother.
This month was about exploring being on my own. Trying new things. Dating someone I actually like. Not coming in a restaurant filled with my peers while meeting Wyatt Hawkins’s eyes.
Is Drew right? Is that why Wyatt stopped touching me? He wants me as badly as I want him? This is fucking with my brain.
Wyatt
I tip my glass at the waiter as Sara disappears to the bathroom. There isn’t enough alcohol in the world to erase the image of Sara coming at the table across from me. I might not have known what that looked like if I hadn’t been a perv on the wall in her bedroom an hour ago.
“Wyatt, do you think the pink or the white is better?” Talia holds her phone out to me, showing me pictures of fingernails.
Fuck, what am I doing? I could try to get it up for Talia tonight, but the reality is, I’d close my eyes and see Sara. Her red hair spread out on the pillow. Her pink lips parted as she comes around my cock.
Finn is right. I can’t keep doing this. Even Talia deserves better.
The waiter brings me a fresh glass of scotch and I sip it. Drew gives me a nod as he lifts his glass and takes a drink. He casually brings his fingers to his nose to smell her.
Fuck, I shouldn’t be envious of that guy. Even though I’ve seen her come, I haven’t felt her pussy convulse on my fingers or tasted her on my tongue. I don’t know what her arousal smells like.
But Drew knows. Sara has to be serious with him. She wouldn’t do that with just any guy. She doesn’t use guys the way I use women to try to get over her.
This should be for the better. Sara’s moving on. She’s finding someone who’s free to love her the way she deserves.
I should be happy for her, but my insides roil like a stormy ocean. I toss back the rest of my drink.
“We’re leaving.” I can’t be here anymore. I can’t watch her be happy with another man.
“Someone’s anxious to get to dessert.” Talia smiles and grabs her clutch.
“You’re going home alone.” Standing, I pull her chair out.
“But, you said...” Her red lips press into a line. Her bright blue eyes narrow on me. Her disappointment clear.
I’m done playing with her. This should’ve never happened. I should’ve never asked her out again. I could tell her this is a me-not-you thing. The woman I’m obsessed with is moving on and I can’t handle it.
“I need to use the ladies’ first.” She strolls off to the bathroom before I can stop her.
I shouldn’t have responded to Talia’s text, but with Sara in the office, without Tom, is too much of a temptation. She works quietly and doesn’t beg for my attention, but I can feel her there. Just out of reach but so fucking close.
Lowering into my chair, I pull out my phone. Maybe I’ll call Talia a car. It would be easier than dealing with her octopus arms when I drop her off. When I get home, I’ll drink myself into a stupor so I don’t feel anything.
“Hey.” Drew gestures to a chair at my table, like we’re fucking friends. Not like he’s my worst nightmare.
I nod, because otherwise everyone will wonder why I’m snubbing Drew Young. Fucking gossipmongers.
“No hard feelings, right?” Drew leans back in the chair like he has every right to be with Sara. The thing that really pisses me off is, he does.
“About what?” My scotch glass is empty so I take a sip of my water, feigning nonchalance when I want to throttle this man for taking what’s mine.
“Making your girl come when you can’t touch her.” Drew glances toward the bathroom door. “She’s still not over you.”
“What are you hoping to accomplish?” I lean my elbows on the table and glare at him. He’s like a used car salesman in a nicer suit. Sara deserves better than him and better than me.
“That you’ll recognize what an ass you are.” Drew’s devil-may-care smile slips and his eyes drill into me. “You didn’t see her when she realized you were here. With a date.”
“She wasn’t supposed to be here.” Not that it mattered that she was.
“It’s like all the happiness died inside her.” He ignores my statement. His eyes soften as he looks toward the bathroom again. “You did that. You took away the brightness from her pretty green eyes, so I gave it back to her.”
Fire blazes inside me, knowing he’s had his fingers on my girl—fuck—Sara. She’s not mine. But I’ve been taught not to react in public. So I narrow my eyes on him and wait until I have his full attention. “Sara is—”
I can’t fucking say it. I can’t say that Sara isn’t mine. She is and always will be, no matter who puts a ring on her finger and claims her as his own. She’ll always be mine.
“The best thing that’s happened to me, man.” Drew grins. “I want to give her everything she desires.”
My brows furrow because I’m not sure he just means sexually. “She deserves the best.”
Drew nods. “I couldn’t agree more. When you realize what she actually needs, call me.”
He tosses a black card on the table before me. A number is printed in gold.
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out sooner or later.” Drew nods. “Or you could just ask her. She’s an honest woman and doesn’t hide her feelings. I like that about her.”
I make a noncommittal noise as I tuck his card into my suit jacket. It might be useful to have.
Drew leans in close. His words only loud enough for me. “Stop fucking things up though. That Barbie doll you paraded in here can’t be what you want. But you know that hurts her, don’t you?”
“Sara wasn’t supposed to be here.” I glare at him.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if she wasn’t. It still would have hurt her.”
His sincerity shines through. If anything, this guy isn’t a bullshitter.
“I can’t tear my friends apart.” I rub the back of my neck.
Drew chuckles as he leans back. “Maybe you should check in with your friends on how they feel about Sara.”
My brow furrows. What the fuck does that mean?
He rises. “Don’t fuck this up, man. Pretty sure the only way this works out is as a package deal.”
Sara
I’m finishing touching up my lipstick when Wyatt’s blond walks into the bathroom.
My gaze follows her as she saunters to the counter next to me. Her eyes meet mine in the mirror.
“Oh, Siren Red, my favorite.” She points to my lipstick and smiles. “It goes really well with your complexion.”
I slide it back into my clutch. “Thank you.”
“I’ve seen you around.” She touches under her eye like her perfect makeup was trying to get out of line before she swings her bright blue eyes to me. She scrunches her lips and taps her finger over them. “There aren’t that many natural redheads around. Are you related to Tom Morris?”
“Yes, he’s my brother.”
Her eyes brighten more, if possible. She reaches out and grabs my arm. “Tom is Wyatt’s best friend. I’m surprised we haven’t met. I’m Wyatt’s official plus one, Talia.”
She releases my arm and holds her hand out to me. Her fingernails are long enough that she can’t do much work and there are sparkling gemstones in each of her rings.
I take her hand and shake it. “Sara.”
“Who are you here with tonight?” She leans in conspiratorially as if she’s digging for gossip.
“Drew Young.” I really don’t want to talk more with this woman, knowing she’ll be sharing Wyatt’s bed later.
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to call him. He’s quite the catch.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “Good on you, girl.”
“Wyatt is quite the catch.” I don’t choke on those words.
Talia laughs. “He’s fantastic if you can convince him to sleep with you. I was hoping tonight, but...” She gives me a fake pout that makes my heart feel lighter.
“You aren’t...” I don’t know how to finish that statement.
She shrugs and gives me a mischievous grin. “He asks me out from time to time and early on he’d fuck me, but lately, he doesn’t return my calls or come out with me.”
Fuck, I’m feeling better by the minute.
“He was game when he texted me the other morning, but now—”
“Which morning?” I need to know.
“Tuesday. I swear, I can’t get a read on that man. Hot and cold. He was definitely ready to fuck me when he texted.” She smiles at herself in the mirror. “Maybe he drank too much scotch and can’t get it up. No one wants to admit that. If you know what I mean.”
I don’t, but Tuesday morning was when we had that moment. Fuck, was he just particularly horny then and I caught the byproduct of it? My heart bursts into a shower of burning confetti, falling right back into my stomach.
“Have a great night.” I back away from the mirror, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but here.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a guy on backup if Wyatt doesn’t put out. Sometimes, us girls need a few guys just in case one doesn’t satisfy us.” She smirks. “But from what I’ve heard about Drew Young, you enjoy that ride while it lasts, girl.”
“You’ve been quiet. Did I push you too far in the restaurant?” Drew squeezes my fingers. We’re in the back of his car heading to my place. Earlier, I was excited about inviting him in tonight, but now, my head is a mess.
“Hmm.” I turn from blindly staring at the passing lights out the window. “I’m sorry. I’m distracted.”
He nods. “I’ve noticed.”
“It’s not you.” Facing him, I squeeze his hand back. “Just a lot on my mind.”
“If you don’t want me to do things to you in public, princess, just tell me. I can behave.” He lifts my knuckles and presses a kiss against them.
My heart flutters, but it still feels really battered and bruised. I sigh. “Would you be upset if I didn’t invite you inside tonight?”
“Not at all.” He holds my hand against his heart. Its beat is strong and steady. “I’m willing to wait as long as you need.”
“I just don’t understand anything anymore.”
He pulls me into his side and wraps his arm around my shoulder. “You’re in this tricky situation that could go sideways really fast or spin so out of control you wind up on your ass. But you know what?”
“What?” I glance up at his face in the dim interior of the car.
He smiles and kisses my temple. “I’m on this ride. You can try to shake me off, princess, but this time, I’m not going anywhere.”
I draw in a breath and lean into his side. “That helps.”
“Good.” He rubs my arm. “I’m just glad I got to give you a little pleasure tonight.”
My neck heats. “I’ve never done anything like that.”
“I’m not surprised.” He tips my chin up and I can just make out his features in the dim streetlights. “Was it okay? Because I can keep things more tame when we’re out and about.”
I slide my hand around the back of his neck and draw his lips down to right above mine, holding his hair to keep him from claiming them. I search his eyes as best I can.
“If you like it, I like it. Though I’m hoping my mom doesn’t hear about it.” I bring his mouth down to mine. We make out the rest of the way to my house until I’m a half second from inviting him in anyway.
He walks me to my door and stops a step lower than me, bringing us closer in height with my heels. “I had a lovely time tonight.”
I grab the collar of his suit jacket and pull him in to kiss him again. Every kiss lights me up and makes me feel better about this whole night. He slides his hands over my ass to draw me in against him.
“When can I see you again?” I look into his golden brown eyes, seeing how much he wants me.
“How about in an hour?” He captures my lips again and sucks on my lower lip.
When he draws back, he moves his hands to my hips.
“I’m pretty sure I could fall for you, princess.” He brushes my hair behind my ear and sighs. “If I didn’t have plans this weekend, I’d spend the entire time making you mine.”
I bite my lip as he steps down a step.
“What kind of plans?”
He lifts my hand to his lips and winks. “Secret plans.”
Pressing a kiss to my hand, he draws me down a step and kisses me senseless again.
“If you aren’t coming in, you’ll need to go soon or the neighbors will talk.” I half hope he offers to come in.
“Fine, but let them talk. My intentions are honorable, princess.” He brushes his lips over mine and turns me toward my door. “Now get inside before we make a spectacle of ourselves.”
He slaps my ass as I move. I cover my offended cheek and give him a glare.
He chuckles and winks. “We’ll play slap and tickle another time.”
I shake my head as I go to the door. After I unlock it, I turn toward him. “Wait, when will I see you again?”
He never answered my question.
“How about brunch on Sunday?” He goes down a few more steps with a boyish smile that makes my heart spin.
“What’s with you and brunch?” I push the door open behind me and hear the beeping of the alarm system.
“Brunch is the perfect meal, princess. Everyone can get exactly what they want. Now go inside so I can go home and imagine you in my bed.” He steps down to the sidewalk.
The temptation to ask him in is on the tip of my tongue, but my insides are all tangled up.
“Good night.” I step through the door.
“Good night, princess. Sweet dreams.”