Chapter 3
THREE
Ridge
I was a gentleman, but I was also a fucking man. The entire time we’d been sitting at this table, I could sense what was brewing inside of Addy, and I wanted to put out those flames with my tongue. I knew how she was feeling based on the way her stare changed as she looked at me. The way her lips stayed parted and her tongue licked the inside of them, like she was thinking about lapping the edge of my dick. How my words—regardless of what I said—would cause her skin to redden or her body to turn fidgety or for her to go from spoon to chopsticks, spoon to chopsticks, and not take a bite.
She was feeling me.
So, when I told her she was having a hard time breathing because she wanted me to kiss her, I wasn’t kidding. Based on the desire in her eyes, I was only speaking the truth.
Desire I also saw in her cheeks.
In her lips.
In her body.
A body that needed to be satisfied by me.
“Come here,” I ordered.
She didn’t move. She just stared at me from the other side of the tiny table. The distance was so narrow that I could smell her vanilla-latte scent, almost feel the heat from her skin.
She took a breath, and when the air panted through her lips, she inhaled again. “Why?”
“Addy …” I shook my head, laughing. “I’m going to kiss you.”
“Here?” She glanced around the nearly vacant restaurant.
“Yes.”
Her brows slowly rose. “Now?”
“Unless you say no or give me a solid reason not to.”
She smiled, and it came with a small laugh. “We just met?”
“Are you asking me or telling me? Because it sounds like you’re asking, and my answer to that is, we’re both grown adults, and I don’t think a timeline of events is relevant.”
“But what’s relevant is where you met me …”
I let that response really hit and sink in. “That obviously really bothers you.” I didn’t wait for her to say anything else before I continued, “It shouldn’t. But I do realize money was exchanged tonight. For the record, I don’t look at it that way at all. It was part of the deal to get you alone, and I don’t regret it, and neither should you. Besides, you wouldn’t be here unless you wanted to be, nor would you have driven me here and taken the risk of being alone with me.” I studied her eyes. “There was a reason you agreed to come, and it wasn’t only because you were hungry. Something about me interests you.” I smiled. “Is it my lips?”
“They are sexy—I can’t lie.”
I fucking loved her honesty.
“Come here, Addy.”
“First, tell me this … why do you want to kiss me?”
There had only been one other time in my life when I looked at a woman and I could see tomorrow. I could see next week. I could see next year.
That was all it had taken—one look.
Since Jana, I hadn’t been looking.
But what Dad had said to me was in my head. It was in my heart. And, goddamn it, I hadn’t anticipated looking at the strip club since I hadn’t even expected to be there, but once I’d spotted her, I wasn’t going to lose the opportunity, even if there was a chance she’d turn me down.
“I have this feeling,” I said. “I want to see if I’m right.”
“And a kiss will confirm that?”
“You do know the power of a kiss, don’t you?” I waited and got nothing. “It’s not just lips on lips. It’s the most intimate, telling act two people can share. And it’s going to confirm if what I’m feeling is real.”
“Or if I’m just a beautiful redhead who danced on top of a stage and knew how to move my body.”
My tongue folded over my top lip for a second. “I wouldn’t have put it that way. But, yes, not everyone is meant to be.”
“And you think we are?”
She was smiling.
Which made me grin harder. “I have very little doubt … but you’re asking some heavy questions that come with a lot of pressure.”
She placed both arms on the table, confirming she was staying put for the moment. “Listen, mister, if you want my lips, you’re going to have to earn them.”
“With words.”
“Only with words,” she replied.
“What if my words are lies?”
“They’re not.” Her stare intensified.
“You still don’t believe I’m one of the good guys, so how do you know if I’m telling the truth?”
“That job that I spoke about—the one that pays me shit—it’s taught me a lot about people. Especially their eyes. And when someone speaks to me, of course I can’t see directly through them, but I get a good read and whether they’re just talking to hear their own voice or if there’s meaning behind what they’re saying.”
“What have you learned from me?”
Her head bobbed to the music that was playing. But it wasn’t a dance. It was a stall. “In theory, you’ve probably earned that kiss.”
I laughed. “But in reality?”
“Playing hard to get is so fun.”
More honesty.
I couldn’t get enough.
“Here’s the thing, Ridge.” She focused on the table instead of meeting my stare. “Regardless of how steamy things can get between us”—she finally glanced up—“I’m in a tough place, like I told you. There are so many things happening in my life. You need to know that—and I need to remind myself of that.”
The latter seemed the most important of the two.
And it was a reminder because I was sure she was feeling the same way as me.
All this banter only proved it.
“What I’m hearing is that you want me to give you as many orgasms as possible.”
“Ridge—”
“Don’t worry, I’ll treat your pussy better than it’s ever felt.”
“Ridge!”
I chuckled. “I hear you. Your request has been noted.” I watched her struggle to breathe. “Admit it, you’ve never met anyone like me.”
“That’s easy to admit.”
“Had I been just a regular dude, this right here”—I pointed to her and then me—“would look a lot different.” I held out my hand. “Come here.”
She didn’t immediately set her palm in mine, but when she did, I waited until her feet were on the ground and led her to my chair, sliding back so she could stand between my legs. Once she was positioned in front of me, our eyes locked, my fingers fanned over her cheeks, and I tilted her head back. During those few seconds of silence, I searched her stare for the truth—a truth that was buried behind the beautiful light brown of her eyes and long lashes and dark makeup.
“Do you want to know something?” My voice was soft.
“Yes.”
“I’m getting a good read on you.”
“And?”
“You want this just as much as me.” I traced my thumb over her top lip before moving to the bottom, slowly inching my way across the plumpness.
Fuck, she felt good—to have her this close, to have my hands on her, to smell her in the air without having to search for her scent.
“And in your head right now, you’re thinking about what I’m going to feel like, what I’m going to taste like, if the sensation inside your body is going to dull or get stronger.” I leaned my face into her neck, taking a long, deep whiff of her perfume, and dragged the end of my nose up to her ear, where I placed my mouth right over the shell and whispered, “You’re already getting that answer, aren’t you?” I shifted to the front of her. “You’re surprised by how hard your heart is pounding—and I know it is, I can feel it. Mine is too. And that you’re still finding it so difficult to breathe, just like I am. And how the build-up is driving you absolutely fucking wild, like it’s doing to me.”
“Yes.”
“To what?”
“To all of it, Ridge?—”
I couldn’t wait. Not a second longer.
But instead of slamming us together, which I wanted to do, I drew her closer, letting her experience just how bold the wait and anticipation could be, and I met her somewhere in the middle. I halted when there was just the tiniest slice of distance between us. And from there, I let the pulse lengthen, making her pussy beat even fucking harder.
“Tell me you want this kiss,” I commanded.
Her eyes were already closed.
“Tell me, Addy.”
I didn’t need the confirmation—I already had it. I just wanted her simmering to the point where one touch would send her over the goddamn edge.
“I want it.” Her voice wasn’t tender; it was needy as hell.
Just the way I desired it to be.
I gave her lips one final stroke and aligned our mouths and melded us together.
My dick was already hard. It had been since I’d touched her. The feel of her alone had sent all the blood to my tip, and I was throbbing.
But now … shit . Now, I was aching to the point where it hurt.
Because what I’d learned in these last few seconds, what this intimate moment had really shown me, was that this wasn’t just a kiss.
This was a beginning.
And this gorgeous woman tasted as good as she smelled, fitting perfectly against me. Not just in the way we embraced, but in the way her body collapsed against mine, where there wasn’t even air separating us.
My hands stayed on her face, my tongue dipping in, circling, massaging.
There was no training needed. She knew just how to move her mouth, how to accept my tongue, how to work with me rather than against me.
When I’d called her over, I’d thought this would be enough.
The feel of her.
The taste.
But the longer my lips stayed on hers, all it did was goad me into wanting more.
My hands moved to her waist when I felt her weaken, taking the rest of her weight. I wasn’t gentle in the way I gripped her curves. I wanted her to feel me. I wanted her to know the strength I could bear. I wanted her to know there was zero possibility that I would let her fall.
What that earned me was her arms. They wrapped around my shoulders, her hands diving into the back of my hair. And as our kiss deepened, her back arched, and her fingers slid down my neck and onto my chest, the tiniest moan coming from her throat.
That sound told me it was time to ask an extremely important question.
As I pulled away, I watched her eyes gradually open and her breath come out in quick exhales.
But I didn’t let go.
If anything, I held her harder.
“Did that give you your answer?” I said.
She didn’t immediately reply. “That you’re one of the good guys?” She let out a single laugh. “Or that your mouth is the most addictive thing I’ve ever tasted?”
A response that couldn’t have been more perfect.
I chuckled. “That leaves only one more question, then, Addy.” My hand rose to her face, palming a cheek that was flaming red. “Do you really want this night to end?”
“What are you asking?”
I touched her lips again, reminding me of just how good that kiss had been. “You’re the one with the car. So, do you take me back to the club to meet up with my friends—if they’re even still there—or do you leave me here to order a rideshare”—my other hand lifted to her side, stopping in the middle of her navel—“or do you come home with me?”