6. Evan
6
EVAN
O ne thing was painfully obvious as I sat across from Valentina in the country club restaurant.
I needed to get laid.
And soon.
“What’s wrong?” She tipped her head to the side, then dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin after testing a slice of chateaubriand. “You look like you swallowed something bad.”
If only that were my problem.
If only I could take my eyes off her.
If my fucking dick would stop getting uncomfortably thick every time she put something in her mouth. “I’m good,” I croaked.” Why was my mouth so dry? “Distracted, I guess.”
“Please, don’t tell me you have bad news,” she warned in a flat voice. “I could not take bad news right now.”
“Don’t worry. Everything’s good.” Except for the extreme discomfort in my fucking boxer briefs. Goddammit. I had yet to get my shit together around her. All she had to do was open her mouth and slide the tines of a fork between her lips, and I was ready to start humping her like a rabid dog. Did rabid dogs fuck? Jesus Christ, how the fuck did I know?
I was miserable, not to mention increasingly pissed that I had to behave myself when it was the last thing I wanted to do. It would’ve been so natural, taking her by the hand and leading her up to my office where we would do things I could not risk thinking about right now. I was uncomfortable enough as it was, fighting a raging hard-on and glad she couldn’t see it, thanks to the table between us.
“You’ve got a hell of a kitchen here.” She speared another small bite of succulent beef on the end of her fork. I couldn’t breathe as I watched her raise the fork, parting her lips and sliding the meat onto her tongue. She was killing me.
None of this would’ve been such a problem if I could just get laid. This was the dry spell to end all dry spells, barring the time I broke my collarbone playing a game of basketball. Sex was the furthest thing from my mind then. But that was what it took, some of the worst pain I’d ever experienced to wipe the thought of fucking my brains out. Otherwise, it was never a problem finding a willing woman.
The women weren’t the problem. It was me this time. I couldn’t muster enough interest in anyone.
That wasn’t true, was it?
The problem only got worse when Valentina’s eyes closed, and a soft moan stirred in her throat. “God, that is so good,” she whispered, chuckling when her eyes opened. “I swear, I should buy a place out here for the excuse to eat every meal in this dining room.”
“Wait until you see what the pastry chef can do,” I told her, snagging the last bite of beef. “You think this is good? His key lime tarts will melt your panties clean off.”
It slipped out before I had a chance to reign in back in .
Goddammit, Evan. What the fuck?
“There you go, thinking about my panties,” she murmured, sighing as she made a note on her tablet. I couldn’t tell if she hated the idea or what. “Anyway, I think offering the beef or the salmon in dill sauce would be a good move for entrées. We’ll need a vegetarian option as well.”
“I thought of that.” Crooking my fingers, I signaled one of the servers, who brought us a platter of housemade gnocchi in a pear and gorgonzola sauce. “Give this a shot. We could change the sauce if you want, but the gnocchi are second to none.”
“I am going to need a week at the gym after all this food.” She didn’t exactly sound unhappy, though, as she picked up her fork. I had tasted the dish hundreds of times—one of my favorites on the menu. I was perfectly content to sit back and watch her, anticipating her reaction.
She did not disappoint. “Fuck,” she groaned out, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath while she chewed slowly. “I have died and gone to heaven. Holy shit.”
I couldn’t stop staring at the drop of creamy sauce clinging to the corner of her mouth. Hunger unfurled in me, much deeper than a need for food. I needed her here, now. We were two healthy, discreet adults. Why the fuck were we pretending we weren’t interested in each other?
Oh, right, because I had fucked up everything, and she was probably too wounded to entertain the idea. On top of that, we were working together. I couldn’t afford to forget that either. There were always complications once sex entered the picture.
Like the one I struggled with right now, digging my short nails into my thighs to fight off the impulse to clear the table with a sweep of my arm and make a meal out of her. Now, not only was my cock twitching in anticipation, but my mouth was salivating for a reason that had nothing to do with the food.
It was so damn good when we were together that nobody could blame me for wanting more of her.
“This is absolutely sinful.” She moaned before taking another bite of the pillowy ricotta dumplings. “Oh, I could drown in this sauce.”
Her eyes opened to find me blatantly staring, hanging onto her every breath, every move she made. At first, I prepared myself to get slapped across the face for staring like I was. At the very least, I figured I would get called out.
Neither of those things happened. Instead, her eyes twinkled wickedly as she slid the tip of her tongue from between her lips and caught the drop of sauce.
Fuck me to tears.
Was she playing with me?
It wouldn’t be the first time but so much water had run under the bridge since then. She had never come close to flirting since I walked out on us.
Again.
“Are you going to join me, or would you rather watch me lick up every drop?” She dragged her fork through the sauce, then flicked her tongue over the tines while her gaze never wavered. She was watching me, daring me to react.
I wasn’t making it up. She was doing this on purpose, knowing damn well she was driving me wild and testing every ounce of self-control. Valentina hadn’t changed, not really. She was still the girl I fell for way back when.
I needed a sip of water to help my dry mouth once she licked the fork clean. “I’ve always liked watching a woman enjoy herself,” I replied, adding a smile, though my boxer briefs were starting to constrict at a painful level .
Her lips twitched like she was trying to suppress a smile. “You don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself too much.”
She was getting off on this, seeing how far she could go before I had to admit defeat. There was only so much a man could stand.
“It’s enough that you’re having fun.” You evil vixen. I wasn’t allowed to fuck around, flirt with her, acknowledge the tension between us. But she could practically have an orgasm over gnocchi, and it was fine.
“That’s nice of you.”
What was the game? Why the hell did she insist on keeping me on my toes like this? One minute, we were supposed to forget what happened. The next, she was doing everything short of flashing her tits to get me hard.
I couldn’t pretend the exhilaration wasn’t appealing, almost addictive. I didn’t like feeling I wasn’t in on the joke, was all. That was the problem. Having no clue what was going on in that gorgeous head of hers.
“Excuse me. I need to freshen up.” She pushed back from the table and stood, leaving me fighting for my life at the sight of the light, sexy sundress she wore. What was it about a sundress that was so damn irresistible? The way it skimmed her legs, the way it hinted at what was underneath. It looked innocent on the surface but could stir up all kinds of thoughts that were anything but.
I pointed her in the direction of the alcove where the restrooms were located, waiting until she disappeared around the corner to lean back in my chair and blow out a deep breath. She hadn’t changed her ways, still wild under that worldly veneer. I always assumed she had grown out of it, that she had matured beyond the thrill of getting a guy hard in public.
Like the night we were first together. Half a lifetime ago, during Colton’s high school graduation dinner. I had known her for years by then, the two of us being in the same class, but there had never been anything remotely sexual between us. She was gorgeous and fun to be around, but she might as well have been my sister. Colton was that protective of her and her twin.
Something was different. The air shifted somehow when we sat next to each other at the long table in the back room of an Italian restaurant reserved for this special night. Electricity crackled between us. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t figure out where it came from or how it started. All I knew was she looked hotter than I had ever seen her, and she kept brushing against me as she reached for the platters of food served family-style.
“Oh, sorry,” she murmured, leaning over and rubbing her tits against my arm. No way that was an accident. Still, even though I had nothing to do with it, I looked around, almost paralyzed by guilt. I wasn’t part of the family and was honored they would invite me out like this. I didn’t want to insult anybody.
“What are you so tense about?” She smelled like vanilla and sugar, sunshine and sunscreen after we had spent the day on the beach behind the Black family’s Hampton house. “Come on. Did you think I didn’t notice you today?”
“What do you mean?” Right away, my pulse tripled since I knew what she was talking about. I didn’t know I was so obvious. But that white bikini she wore barely covered her ass and had me holding my breath the whole day, waiting for the bounce that would send her tits spilling out from the skimpy top.
“You were staring at me the whole afternoon,” she whispered, her lips so close to my ear they tickled the lobe. “Don’t worry. I didn’t mind. It sort of got me wet.”
Holy fuck. I looked around again, caught between horror and an instant erection. “Did you sneak something out of the liquor cabinet back at the house?” I asked softly .
She shook her head slowly, a smile playing over her lips. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, not to mention wild, hot, and exciting. “Meet me in back of the restaurant,” she whispered. “Don’t keep me waiting.”
I would be the world’s biggest asshole if I turned down an offer like that, but how much was I risking by following orders? Everybody was having a great time, laughing, drinking, and eating. Nobody had been paying us any attention.
What did she have in mind? Was this all a joke?
I only knew one thing. I’d hate myself forever if I didn’t at least meet her outside. We didn’t have to do anything. I only wanted to know the game she was playing. The humid air hit me like a brick wall when I opened the door and ducked out, pretending I was going to the bathroom. It was dark, a single bulb over the door giving me barely enough light to see. There wasn’t much to admire besides a pair of dumpsters.
If this was all a prank to lock me out of the restaurant or some dumb shit like that…
“Over here.” Valentina leaned out from the other side of the dumpsters, beckoning me with a hand. “I won’t bite.”
My legs were shaking, and my dick was ready to tear through my khaki pants, but I followed orders, meeting her in the darkness. “What the fuck is going on?” I whispered, slapping at a mosquito on my arm. This needed to be worth it.
She didn’t answer in words. The hand gripping the back of my neck and pulling me down for a deep kiss said everything.
The memory was enough to get out of my chair. We weren’t kids anymore, and I wasn’t going to wait around for her to decide game time was over. I marched across the dining room, quiet in the late morning before customers came in for lunch, and stepped into the alcove hidden from the rest of the room only a moment before she opened the bathroom door to find me waiting .
This time, I was the one pushing her against the wall, plunging my tongue into her mouth. The tangy taste of gorgonzola lingered, but it was her needy grunts that stole my focus. She reached up, fingers tugging at my hair, her tongue stroking mine until I was sure I would go insane from the need to be inside her.
She gasped at the touch of my hand against her thigh, sliding under her dress to cup her tight ass cheek. Lifting a leg and hooking it around my hip, she drew me closer, locking me in place. There was nowhere I’d rather be than here, tangled up in her, my heart pounding out of my chest and my dick threatening to break my zipper.
I hissed when she sucked my bottom lip, biting down almost hard enough to break the skin, but all the added sensation did was make me crave her more. My blood was on fire, my dick dripping and waiting to be put to use. I molded one of her tits in my hand, testing its weight, running my thumb over the nub jutting out from under her bra and dress. How could I have passed up the opportunity to have her like this all the time? So hot, writhing, and perfect.
“Evan…” she whispered when I broke the kiss to taste the skin of her throat while she clawed at my shoulders. “Oh, God…”
I would make her see God before this was over. Fuck acting like we could keep this professional. Now that we had opened that rusted old door between the past and the present, there was no shutting it again. No pretending. “You thought I’d let you get away with it?” I grunted, grinding against her, making her whimper. “Getting me hard like this? You need to be punished.”
“Punish me,” she begged, meeting my mouth again, our teeth clashing as we fought for control .
“Mr. Anderson?” A soft female voice floated our way from the dining room. For one wild moment, I considered ignoring it, pretending I hadn’t heard. I wasn’t going to let an employee end this when I finally had Valentina where I wanted her.
Unfortunately, she had sharp hearing too. “Shit.” The hands that just seconds ago were clawing my shoulders now pushed them away. “Dammit, this is all wrong. We can’t do this.”
It was more than an uncomfortable hard-on that made me grind my teeth. “What the fuck?” I growled, breathless, needy, and fucking annoyed at the way she immediately changed her mind. “What is it? One minute, you’re turning a taste test into a porno with all that moaning and shit, and the next minute you’re telling me it’s a mistake? Make up your fucking mind,” I spat.
“You’re right.” She fixed her dress, making sure her tits were covered, then smoothed a few strands of hair behind her ears. “That was my mistake. I was screwing around back there, teasing you. It won’t happen again.”
“Bullshit,” I fired back. “You’ve already said that, remember?”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Maybe I needed to be reminded why this is a bad idea. So thanks for the reminder.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I keep forgetting who you are because you’re good with your hands and your dick.” There was so much bitterness in the way she said it, dripping from every word, that I was stunned into silence.
I couldn’t come up with anything to say before she left, her sandals slapping the floor with every quick step. She wasn’t going back to the table. She was leaving the country club, which was for the best, considering how tempting it was to tell her to go fuck herself if she thought I was somebody she could play with. If she wanted to punish me for my childish choices, that was one thing. I would’ve respected her more if she would come out and say it instead of screwing with my head.
Instead, I did the only thing I could do to get through the rest of my day. “One minute,” I called out to the faceless employee who had interrupted us.
Ducking into the men’s room, I stepped into the first stall and closed the door before lowering my zipper and freeing my erect dick. I closed my eyes and leaned against the stall door, wrapping my fist around my shaft and working it quickly, desperately, already so close to the edge. I could still taste her, and I focused on that, the memory of her moans, the way her light, floral scent clung to my suit jacket. All of it worked on me, pushing me, making my heart pound and my balls lift.
I was barely able to grab a wad of toilet paper before I exploded, my ears ringing from the force of one spurt after another. “Valentina,” I whispered once it was over, tipping my head back against the wall and heaving a sigh.
There was no way I would make it through the next five weeks this way. Something had to change. The problem was, I had no idea what or how I’d change it when I was this weak for her.