Chapter 2 #2
I could discuss books with literally anyone, but I liked to gauge the other person first so I knew what I was getting into—and so I didn’t scar them for life.
Romance readers came in all different varieties, and what some called spicy was actually just the equivalent of drinking tepid water.
I wanted straight up tequila, or I wasn’t interested.
“Have you read this one?” I pressed my fingernail on the cover of the book I’d brought inside.
He dipped his chin in a nod. “I have.”
My mouth dropped open, and I leaned closer. “No shit?”
“No shit.”
My god, the filthiness he’d read in this book…
Just the thought of it was doing things to me that weren’t appropriate for public.
While the vast majority of what went on in this novel landed firmly on my side of fine for a book boyfriend but abso-fucking-lutely not in real life, it still let me know he was probably open-minded and sexually adventurous.
And that only led to more ideas, every single one of them featuring him and me and not a single stitch of clothing between us.
The crowd at the back roared with laughter, and that, paired with the music pumping through the speakers, made it hard to hear.
I leaned closer until our heads were only inches apart, inhaling the crisp, warm scent of him. “What did you think of it?”
He lifted a single broad shoulder, the move brushing his skin against mine and sending a shiver of awareness down my spine. “It was good for research.”
The proclamation seemed to surprise him, as if he hadn’t meant to say it, and my interest was officially piqued. But before I could say anything, the bartender dropped off my meal, made sure my real-life book boyfriend was good, then headed back to the corner to chat with the raucous group.
“You can’t just leave me hanging like that,” I said, tucking into my meal. “What kind of research? You planning to kidnap someone or…?”
He laughed, a low, rumbly sound that sank into my bones and settled deep. Christ on a cracker, what was this man doing to me? “It was for…work.”
“For work, huh?” I asked, brows up. “You’re either a detective or… Yeah, I got nothin’.”
His gaze flitted around again as if to catalog the space before landing back on me, hesitation written across his face.
“Oh, come on.” I leaned into him, bumping his shoulder with mine.
And then I had to force myself to pull away because I wanted to melt into his warmth.
I didn’t think I’d lost my northernness since I’d grown up here, but four years in Mississippi had made me soft, and I wasn’t yet used to Maine Octobers.
It was definitely that and not the fact that he was hot as fuck and it’d been a long-ass time since I’d had my world rocked.
“I won’t tell a soul.” I mimed zipping my lips and tossed the invisible key over my shoulder. “I’m not even from here—I’m just staying the night, so you don’t have to worry about me spilling your secrets around town.”
And yes, I was absolutely going to ignore the pang in my gut over the thought that I’d never see this man again. I didn’t even know him. Why the hell should I care about that?
He stared at his bottle of beer, his long, thick fingers wrapped around the base, thumb stroking up and down the label and gathering condensation in its wake.
Fuck. That shouldn’t have been so hot, and it certainly shouldn’t have made my clit throb, but I couldn’t stop picturing those hands on my body. Stroking gently… Reverently.
Finally, he tipped his head closer and said, “I’m an author.”
My mouth dropped open as I gaped at him. “Seriously? That’s so cool! What do you write?”
He lifted his gaze toward the back of the bar once again before meeting my eyes. “Fantasy, but my latest skewed heavily erotic. Hence the research.”
“Do a lot of research at strip clubs, do you?”
His brow furrowed as he stared at me. “What?”
I reached out and brushed a finger over his eyebrow and his cheekbone, swiping away the random gold sparkles. Then I spotted another fleck on his jaw and leaned close, softly blowing against his skin to displace it. His Adam’s apple bobbed as I pulled back, the tension between us crackling.
“It’s a long story,” he said, his voice rough. “And I’d rather talk books.”
I just blinked at him before shaking my head. “My God, you’re like the perfect man. I wish every guy would read romance novels to get an idea of what women want. There’d be a hell of a lot more satisfied women, that’s for sure.”
“You have trouble with that?”
It was a more intimate conversation than I usually had after knowing someone for all of twenty minutes, but for some reason, it didn’t feel strange or weird with this man. It felt…natural.
I lifted a single shoulder in a shrug. “I think every woman does.”
His eyes heated, gaze fixed on mine even while he didn’t say a word. But he didn’t need to. His stare spoke volumes, and everything screamed, You wouldn’t have any trouble with me.
I shifted in my seat, my body humming with awareness for him.
I wanted to be closer. Hell, I wanted to be in my room and naked with this man, but that wasn’t in the cards right now, so I turned toward him.
He mirrored my posture, adjusting so his legs were on either side of mine, and the position was so damn intimate.
Especially when the insides of his thighs brushed the outsides of mine, the heat even through his jeans and my leggings enough to burn me up.
“So.” I cleared my throat, attempting to impart some moisture into my too-dry mouth. “You read smutty books for research… You ever do any real-life research?”
I knew I was pushing the boundaries here, but I was well past the point of caring.
And I didn’t want there to be any confusion.
I was, without a doubt, interested in him, and I was absolutely down for a single night of fun with this man.
A book boyfriend come to life who researched smut for a living? Sign me the fuck up.
The air grew heated, an electric charge sizzling in the space between us, and I felt it from my head to my toes and every neglected inch in between.
“Not usually, and even then, it’s probably not how you’re thinking.
” He dropped his gaze, allowing it to roam over my body in a slow perusal I felt all the way to my toes.
Then he swiped his thumb across his lower lip and met my eyes again.
“But I’m definitely tempted to be a little reckless tonight. ”