Chapter 10
EVER
Bobby doesn’t set me on my feet. He starts walking. My arms are around his neck, and my legs are wrapped around his waist. I can’t stop smiling.
The street noise fades into the distance, and his footfalls on the pavement are loud in the silence. Keeping my eyes closed since we left the back door of the club, I inhale. The scent of jasmine is gone. Soon, the noise from the club and the street is nothing but a memory.
Before I can ask where we’re going, a beeping noise cuts in, and I’m set down on my feet. Though it’s unladylike AF, I grunt my disappointment.
I want to stay in his arms for . . . I shake my head. Forever with him isn’t my reality. This is a fantasy. A fantasy. I breathe in and out. I can still live out this fantasy. We’re not done.
He moves his mouth over mine before he walks me backward until I’m against hard metal. A car door opens. Large hands grab my upper arms, and I’m spun around until I’m hunched over the seat and touching leather. The vehicle is too high to be a sedan. He either has an SUV or a truck.
“Is this a truck?” I’m guessing.
Standing behind me, he answers with a kiss on the top of my head.
A kiss on that spot is chaste and not meant to be romantic in any way.
Gage kisses me there. So do my brother, José, and some of the guys in the crew, when they don’t think my brother will knock them unconscious for daring to touch his little sis.
But from this man? My insides melt, and my core aches and throbs anew for more of Bobby’s tender, romantic kisses.
Eyes still closed, I glance over my shoulder and smile.
There’s soft laughter from behind me. I reach for him, but he doesn’t intend to start the action inside his truck.
The lower half of me is pulled back against his crotch, the pressure from his fingers on my hips pooling heat in the junction between my legs. I could orgasm again.
He chuckles softly. Did something funny happen? Then I realize I’ve slipped. “I spoke out loud, didn’t I?”
He grasps my jaw and turns my head to the side, followed by a kiss on my forehead. My insides quiver, and a sigh of contentment slips from me.
This man is too charming for his own good, and I am falling deeper than I thought I could ever fall again. And this is only the beginning. I promised him one day and one night. My heart is begging for more time. I shove the thought to the back of my mind and tell my heart to mind its own business.
This is my fantasy, and fantasies are about the physical and not the emotions.
His erection beneath his slacks is hot and thick, pressing along my butt. I cover one of his hands on my hips with mine and grind my backside against his heat and his thickness. “Inside your truck, now.”
He releases his hold on my hip and takes my other hand before bringing my fingers to his mouth. His breath is hot on my skin. My knees are weak. He steadies me with his hand slung across my belly. The hair on his arm against my bare skin sets me afire.
“We’re not in your truck. Get us inside, and we can finish what we started.”
He nips on the tip of my pinky. I sharply inhale at the mix of pain and pleasure from his teeth.
“Is that a no?”
He sucks on my pinky.
“Does that mean yes?”
More sucking. I moan and slump forward against the leather seat.
“Biting my pinky means no. Sucking on my pinky is a yes. Is that right?”
He sucks on my pinky.
Good God, how many other ways can this man use our bodies without saying a word? Unable to wait to find out, I hoist myself inside his truck. He follows, closes the door, and pulls me onto his lap. Sitting sideways on his lap isn’t enough. I want to feel how much he wants me.
I straddle him.
Long fingers caress my face, from my eyebrows to the jut of my chin and down my arms before he interlaces our fingers. He squeezes and I squeeze back, my heart racing and my sex throbbing as the outline of his erection presses against me.
“Open your eyes, Ever. I want you to see who you promised one day and one night to.”
I do as he asked. The back lot where he’s parked is dark. There are no streetlights like where I’m parked, but the lights inside his truck are on.
Straddling his thick thighs, I take in the sight of him. His hair sticks on end like he just woke up. His eyes are half-closed, like he just came and is ready for more. His mouth is parted, and he sucks his bottom lip into his mouth when he sees me staring.
Bobby stares back and tilts his head slightly. He’s asking for my okay, and my heart sings. The fantasy has ended, and this is reality. Consent is important. I give it, pressing my lips on his.
The kiss starts slowly, almost shy on both our parts, though we’ve shared all types of kisses already. Urgent ones. Sweet, romantic ones. Ones I never want to end.
We kiss close-mouthed. Pecks on the lips.
One. Two. Until he runs the tip of his tongue along the seams and coaxes my mouth open.
Our tongues touch. Taste. He tastes so good.
Bitter beer mixed with a sweetness that is his own signature flavor.
I clutch his shirt and pull him closer. Our tongues tangle.
My hair is fisted in his hand. I’m grinding on the outline of his erection.
I want this kiss to last forever. I want to continue what started as a fantasy and bring it into reality with us tangled in bed.
But it’s not to be. Not tonight.
I have to haul ass out of here before Ty and Gage realize I’m nowhere near my rental. I break off the kiss, lingering longer than I should, given that I’m the one ending it. “I should go. It’s a long drive home, and my brother will worry.”
He clasps my face between his large palms. “My offer stands. Stay the night. I promise I won’t be at the house.”
I shake my head and tell him the truth. “Near or not, taking you up on your offer is not in my best interest.”
“Why’s that?”
I confess. “You’re my kryptonite. My drug. My aphrodisiac. You’re every cliché to me, Bobby.” And a way of forgetting Carlos. I’m not ready. I need closure. Closure is finding Carlos’s killer or killers.
“And that’s a bad thing?” He strums his thumb across the arch of my cheek.
“I’m not into casual, and you literally vibrate with the word.”
He stays quiet for a few heartbeats, then gives me his truth. One that leaves behind a pang of pain in my chest.
“You’re right. Work takes up my time. A relationship isn’t in the cards for me.”
I have to ask the question that’s bothered me since he offered the blindsiding, insane solution for Gwen’s overdue tuition. “Do you offer the women you pick up inside Crimson one day and one night with you?” Am I not as special as I thought I was?
“You’re the first, Ever.” He wraps his arms around me and says next to my ear, “Promise me you’ll drive safely?”
“I promise,” I mumble, staring at his truck’s lush black leather seat.
“You’re upset.”
“I’m disappointed.”
“Because I’m into casual?”
“Because you’ll never make the call. You’ll forget about me.”
“Without a doubt, I’ll be calling. You’re unforgettable, Ever Moretti.”
“Only a guy who tells a girl that will forget her the moment a beautiful woman catches his eye.”
He grasps my shoulders and puts me at arm’s length. “I should be the one worrying. I’m competing with half the student body.”
“There’s no comparison.”
He chuckles, and the corners of my mouth twitch.
“Where’d you park, sweetness?”
Sweetness. I like that. Smiling, I tell him where my car is. We must be within driving distance. He picks me up off his lap and buckles me in.
I’m not ready for this night to end. “Can we walk there? I can drive you back to the club.”
“No need to. I have a feeling I’ll be walking off—” He clears his throat. “Walking off what you do to me.”
I close-mouth smile. He could’ve used any crass word to describe his erection but didn’t. The college guys would’ve had a field day with it.
Telling me to wait, Bobby gets out and runs around to my door.
He opens the door and extends his hand to me.
I scoot closer to the edge, thinking he’ll help me step onto the sideboard of his lifted truck before I hop off and land on my feet.
Instead, he picks me up by my waist like I weigh nothing and sets me down.
I lift my gaze to tell him thank you but don’t get the chance. His mouth crashes over mine, and I’m lost to the skill of his tongue and the sweetness of his mouth.
I moan beneath the onslaught. My body slackens against his. I can get used to kisses with deep longing and unsatisfied need.
Thick fingers grip my hair. My head is angled, and Bobby deepens the kiss.
He sinks his tongue into my mouth and touches the walls.
Bitter beer. A sweetness I’ll remember as I touch myself.
I could come now from his kiss alone. I clutch his bicep, and the muscles flex beneath my touch.
I grip harder, begging him never to let me go.
I can’t let go. I must hang on to my memories of him. Of my first love.
Oh God, I’m forgetting Carlos. Bobby’s kiss is all-consuming, and his grip on my hair, then my nape, is possessive. I’m not ready for another man to replace my memories of Carlos.
I break off the kiss. He’s breathing heavily. I am too. My fingers swipe over my well-kissed lips. They are swollen. He glides his knuckle over them like he’s apologizing. I jerk my head away. I never want him to apologize for making me feel good.
“Don’t turn away from me when I’m offering comfort, Ever,” he says sternly.
Bobby’s request surprises me. It’s been a long time since someone wanted to comfort me. Gage lectures and Ty throws accusations my direction.
“You weren’t apologizing?”
“Not when our kisses bring you happiness. Happiness is important, and we should get it when and where we can.”
Just like my plushies bring me happiness, so do his kisses.
Bobby cups the side of my face, and I lean into his touch, kissing his palm. He’ll be the death of me with how easily he makes me happy and lights me up with desire.
“Ready for that walk?”
“Yes.”
“First off, let’s keep you warm.” He grabs the leather jacket draped over the space between the driver and passenger seats and holds it out for me.
I turn my back to him and stick my arms through the sleeves. The sleeves hang past my fingers. I’m swimming in his jacket. Bobby turns me to him with his large hands on my shoulders. He untucks my hair from inside the jacket, and taking hold of the edges, he tugs me to him.
My body molds to his, and we’re a perfect fit. I glance up at him. A thick finger swipes across my eyebrow. “You look fucking hot wearing my jacket. Keep it. Someday, I want you to wear it for me with nothing on underneath.”
I blush.
Someday. That word speaks of more than twenty-four hours together. I nod, too turned on to speak. His scent, musky and male, surrounds me. His jacket keeps me warm. Bobby’s thick fingers interlace with mine, making me feel wanted. I belong to someone, with someone, even if it’s for a short time.
We walk to my car. I’m alive with the street noises around us and the blinking lights from the businesses. Bobby leads the way and weaves us around the people out enjoying downtown Alexandria on a Friday night.
They must be on to my happiness. They smile at us. We pass by a bar with people seated outside, and an old couple raises their wine glasses at us. I duck my head and smile. It’s nice to walk around with a guy and have people thinking we’re a couple.
Carlos and I went out, but we didn’t show affection, even something as small as holding hands.
A group walks toward us. The sidewalk is narrow, and they’re taking up all the space on it. Bobby is on the street side. He releases my hand to let the crowd pass and reaches for me when they do. Smiling, I put my hand in his.
“Warm enough?” He looks down at me with a grin.
“Yes, thank you.” His hand is warm. His jacket is all him—musk mixed with leather and a lingering scent of citrus.
He must’ve taken us the long way around to the parking lot, because I don’t remember walking by a café, a small bookstore, a music store with old records and record players in the window, and a children’s consignment shop.
There are excited voices, infectious laughter, and loud conversations. I swing our arms and squeeze his hand.
Happy. I. Am. Happy. Laughter bubbles from deep within me, and I resist the urge to shout how happy I am to the world.
When we get to my car, he hands me back my key fob. Thanking him, I unlock my door and get in, leaving the driver’s side door open.
I’m not ready to say goodbye.
Bobby must feel the same. Under the parking lot lights, I see on his face what I’m feeling inside.
Loss. Despair. It’s like experiencing grief again after losing Carlos.
Or I’m projecting how I’m feeling onto Bobby.
I mean, he doesn’t even know me, so how can he feel a deep sense of loss knowing he won’t see me tomorrow or the next day?
When will we see each other again? Will he forget about me? I won’t forget him anytime soon.
He gets on his haunches so we’re at eye level. “Text me when you get home?” He swipes a finger over my bottom lip.
I nod and thank him for taking a chance on me. In my head, I thank him for being Gwen’s fairy godmother. I hope she never finds out what I did. Gwen has a lot of pride.
We kiss again, and I don’t want to end what we started, but we’ve only just begun, haven’t we? Five thousand dollars in exchange for one day and one night with him. He made the offer, and I accepted, fully understanding what I was getting myself into.
Did I really, though, understand the consequences of what I did when I recklessly lived out my fantasy with a stranger who somehow made me feel seen and less alone in a crowd?
I’ll find out soon enough.