Chapter Nine #4
The fact of the matter is, when I'd contacted Angelica, I hadn't really had any plans.
If sex had happened, I wouldn't have been upset, but it wasn't like that was something I'd been looking for.
For some reason, though, I don't want to tell Skye that.
I don't want to tell Skye that the only reason I invited Angelica out was to get Skye out of my mind.
But as soon as I saw her in her white dress and her slinky heels, all thoughts of Angelica had vanished.
"I don't know what you want me to say. Had you thought about hooking up with Camden tonight?"
"I never hook up on a first date," she says, shaking her head. "Never."
"Second date?" I ask curiously.
"Nope."
"Third date?" I ask in surprise.
"Nope."
"So, what are we talking here? Three months, four months?"
"Nope." She gives me a coy little smile. "And it's none of your business anyway."
"I'm curious though. Are you a—"
"I'm not a virgin," she says. "Why? Do I look like a virgin?"
"I don't know what a virgin looks like." I shrug. "I just didn't think you were old-fashioned."
"I like a man to woo me," she says. "I like to know that when I give myself to a man, it's because he respects me for my mind, my body, and my soul. I like to know that—"
"That sounds kind of unrealistic."
“Well, that’s kinda rude. Are you calling me unrealistic for wanting a man to respect and love me?”
I frown at the hostility in her tone. “No, sorry, that came out incorrectly. I just meant to say that most men aren’t thinking of your mind and soul when they want to bang.
I’m not saying that’s right.” I frown. “Maybe I’m just saying that many of us men are douches.
” I run my fingers through my hair as my head pounds.
Have I been one of those douches my whole life?
I suddenly feel extremely uncomfortable at the reality of my own thought processes when it comes to love and sex.
“I want you to find what you want. I’m just saying there are a lot of men who will not offer that. ”
“So, you’re saying that wanting the entire package is asking too much?”
"No, I'm just saying that sometimes you meet someone, and the chemistry is right, and the passion is there, and all you want to do is rip off their clothes. You’re not thinking about anything else. You know?"
"No," she says, shaking her head, but I see her staring at my lips.
"You want to go and grab that pizza now?" I ask her.
"Sure." She blinks. "So, have you had a lot of one-night stands?"
"One-night stands?" I asked her. "Where did that come from?"
"I mean, if you just follow your passion and want to rip people's clothes off right away and you don't really do relationships, I'm figuring you have a lot of one-night stands."
"I can't say that I've had a lot." I reach over and touch the side of her face. "But I can't say that I've had none. You're telling me you've never had a one-night stand?"
"Not because I couldn't if I wanted to," she says, blinking. "I just don't have any interest in that." She bites down on her lip. "So, you going to buy me some pizza now or what?"
"Sure. Pizza and shots?"
"You just want to get me drunk." She giggles.
"I just want to make you forget your horrible date with Camden."
"Well, then, you need to get me a lot of shots because it's going to be a long time before I forget that jackass."
"Yay," I say, raising my hands in the air.
"What are you doing?" she asks me suspiciously.
"I'm just happy to hear you call another man a jackass that isn't me."
"Oh." She wrinkles her cute little nose, and I can tell she thinks I’m funny because her eyes light up in that way that tells me she’s laughing inside. "You're stupid. You know that, right?"
"Is that any way to speak to your boss?” I wink at her. “You do know I got a perfect one-eighty on the LSAT.”
"Maybe not, but right now, I'm not thinking of you as my boss.” She sticks her tongue out at me. “And just because you have book smarts, it doesn’t mean you have street smarts.”
"What are you thinking of me as?” I lean forward and catch her eye. I want to stroke her face, but I don’t want to be creepy. I can’t tell her that my love language is touch. Not that it matters. Because we are most certainly not in love.
"I don't know." She shrugs. "My friend for the evening who's going to buy me pizza and copious amounts of alcohol."
"You know that could lead to trouble, right?" I ask her, a glint in my eyes.
"I think that I'll be okay. I can resist your advances."
"Really? Who said there were going to be any advances?"
"Well, it seems to me that you want me," she says.
"Oh, okay. It seems to me that you want me, but don't worry, I can resist your advances as well."
"Really? You can resist my advances? Not that I'm going to make any, but…"
"But what? You don't think I could?"
"I bet you if I told you I wanted you tonight, I could have you."
"Really? You think you could have me tonight if you really wanted?"
"Yeah, I do," she says, nodding. "I don't want you, so I'm not even going to try, but if I did want you, I could have you."
"I don't think so," I say, shaking my head. "Remember, you're my assistant."
"Yeah, and?"
"And I like to keep things professional. I've already told you that. If I'm being honest, I find you incredibly sexy and attractive, and if you weren't my assistant, I'd fuck the living daylights out of you, but I'm not going to cross that line with you, no matter how much you beg me."
"I'm not going to beg you. I wouldn't need to beg you."
"Well, it's a good thing you're not even going to try because I wouldn't want to upset you."
"How would you upset me?"
"By telling you no." I lick my lips.
"You wouldn't tell me no if I really wanted you," she says, her green eyes blazing a path into mine. "I feel like if I really wanted you, I could have you."
"I guess we'll never know," I say. "It's a good thing that you don't really want me."
She presses her lips together. "You really think you're something, don't you, Kingston Chase?"
"Come on. Let's go and get that pizza, and let me get to learn more about you, Skye. I have a feeling that we're going to become much better friends."