Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
Cora
My plan tonight was not to drink much and to finish early because I have quite a few emails I need to catch up on. Everything has been going according to plan. I’m only on my third drink when Sebastian whistles low.
“Don’t turn around, but that hunk of a man is behind you again,” he says just above a whisper.
Fuck, of course, he is.
“I’m ignoring him,” I tell both of them as they stare over my shoulder.
“Ignoring me? Now, Cora, is that what you do to someone after they make you scream in pleasure?” I clutch the glass in front of me as my friends watch on with wide eyes, as if they can’t believe what’s happening.
Neither can I.
“Hi, Arlo. Good to see you again so soon,” Sebastian says, and I kick him under the table. “Ouch, what was that for?” He eyes me. I shoot him a death glare, and he realizes he has just spoken to the enemy.
“May I sit?” Arlo asks.
At the same time I say, “No,” Delaney and Sebastian both say, “Yes.” I huff in exasperation as he sits next to me in the curved booth. Delaney is in the middle, and Sebastian and I are on either end.
A part of me had hoped I wouldn’t see him again, but a deeper part of me was left wondering if I would. Arlo’s presence makes me nervous because I never know what to expect from him.
“You’ve been avoiding me, Cora.” I feel his stare on me, but I’m too afraid to face him, scared of what I may succumb to if I do.
“She’s been busy,” Delaney says in my defense. I eye her, saying nothing. She hides her smile as she picks up her phone. “Oh, look, James wants to meet us. Would that be okay?”
“James wants to come for drinks?” I ask.
“Yes, is that okay? He said he is close by.”
Sebastian and I both say, “Yes,” as Arlo’s hand lands on my knee.
Goosebumps ricochet all over my skin, and I have to remind myself that he is the enemy here.
We had one great night together, and we should leave it at that.
Besides, he was one of my clients, and now I’ve broken my own rule about not sleeping with a client.
And while technically our business relationship concluded before we fucked, it still makes me feel dirty in a way.
But at the same time, it was the best sex I’ve ever experienced, and every fucking night, I dream about it.
“My boyfriend is coming,” Delaney says to Arlo.
“Come home with me,” he says, ignoring her, as his hand slides up my thigh. I make no move to stop it.
I should.
It would be the smart thing to do.
“No,” I tell him, still not looking his way.
I am not falling prey to his seductive ways again.
“So, Arlo, how have you been since I last saw you?” Delaney, the ever-so-sweet one, asks him as I sit there and continue to ignore him.
“Good, though I could be better. I have been seeing someone who is currently denying her needs. For the simple fact that she can’t place me in a box that makes sense to her. Which she finds irritating.” His hand flexes on my leg.
“Oh? Sebastian says you’re a therapist.”
I can see Arlo nodding in my peripheral vision.
“Yes, that is correct.” He squeezes my leg again.
“So, what do you do when she doesn’t realize what she wants?” Delaney pushes.
I narrow my eyes at her, hoping she’ll stop talking to him. The more she talks, the longer he’ll stay.
I don’t want him here.
“James is here,” Delaney announces happily.
“Have you found a box to slide me into yet?” That question gets me to turn and face him. He’s already smirking, his dark gaze flicking to my lips and back to my eyes.
“Out of my box, preferably,” I grumble, just as we both hear Delaney say, “Oh, James knows Soren.”
Turning, I see Soren talking to James.
“You know him?” I ask Arlo.
“Yes,” he answers without hesitation. At the same time, Soren’s gaze finds Arlo’s.
“Looks like you’re being called. Goodbye.” My mouth is close to his ear, so when he turns back to look at me, his face is dangerously close.
“You’ll miss me way too much.”
I shake my head in denial. “You have flies living in your head if you think I would miss you.”
When he leans in closer to me, his mouth grazes just near my ear as he says, “I’ll be back.
And then you and I are leaving.” He slides out of the booth, then stands and walks straight over to Soren.
James greets Arlo before he looks across to our table.
His gaze finds mine before landing on Delaney, who is smiling at him.
He offers her a small wave before he turns back to Soren and Arlo.
“They all seem to know each other,” Sebastian says.
“Maybe they’ve worked together before,” I offer. I don’t really know, but it seems as though they all defer to Soren as if he’s in charge.
I see something pass over Arlo’s expression as he meets my gaze, but I look away first.
“Maybe. They’re coming back now, so we can find out,” Sebastian says.
When the two men are a few feet away, Sebastian stands to allow James to slide into the booth next to Delaney. James presses in close to her and then kisses her.
“Interesting company you keep,” Arlo says quietly.
I turn my head in his direction, not realizing he sat back down. “Are you two friends?” I ask him.
He cocks his head to the side as he studies me. “I wouldn’t say that. Acquaintances, perhaps.”
When James and Delaney break their kiss, she asks the same thing. James smiles and tells us that he’s known Arlo for quite some time. I turn to Arlo and raise an eyebrow. He clutches his beads in his hand.
“Delaney said you two have been getting a lot closer,” I say to James. “Is marriage something you’re after again?” Delaney’s eyes go wide, and Arlo coughs. I turn to look at him. “Do you need water?”
He shakes his head and says, “Can we leave now?”
“No. I’m not leaving with you.”
“Are you two a thing?” James asks us.
“No,” I say at the same time Arlo mutters, “Yes.”
“Interesting. Arlo chasing a woman. How long has it been since you’ve had to chase a woman, Arlo?”
“Never.”
I smile at that. He’s always come across as having a God complex, and now I understand why. He’s used to women falling at his feet, not them saying no to him.
“You ever want to get married?” I direct the question at Arlo.
“No,” he answers, and I try not to scoff because I always had him pegged that way.
“I couldn’t imagine you as the husband type anyway,” I state.
“What does that even mean?” he asks.
“You know”—I wave a hand at him—“being tied down to one woman.”
“No, I don’t know. Explain it to me.”
“Well, you’re a man who is used to getting his way. It’s in the way you command me. For instance, telling me to come home with you.” I purse my lips. “Or propositioning me for sex.”
“Are you telling me you didn’t enjoy it?”
“Oh, I said no such thing. But I also want to be someone’s wife one day: no kids, a wife. And you are not husband material. So, I think, like I did with my last situationship, we quit before it goes any further.”
“One last taste,” he says, leaning dangerously close so no one else can hear. “At my house.”
“No,” I insist, even though his hand tightens on my thigh, and my body is screaming at me to say yes. I hold strong.
“So, you two have been seeing each other for a bit, then?” James asks, watching us intently.
“Sorry, James, I missed your answer,” I say, trying to direct the focus off me and Arlo.
“Marriage? Well, I guess I never really thought about it since my wife died,” James hedges.
Arlo squeezes my thigh, and I ignore him and his tempting ways.
He will not win tonight.
I hope.
“You’ve never thought of marriage?” Arlo asks him.
“No, can’t say I have,” James grits out.
“I have,” Delaney chimes in, breaking her silence.
“This is something you want?” James asks her.
She answers with a decisive “Yes.” Delaney has always wanted the fairytale happy ending. Even through her sickness, she still wanted it.
Sebastian gives me a look that I read perfectly, and I turn toward Delaney.
“We’re going to head out. Are you good to get home with James, or do you want a lift?”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks for the catch-up. Both of you.” She smiles warmly at us.
I turn to Arlo, who is trapping me in. “Can you move?”
Sebastian is already standing, waiting for me.
“Manners,” he states with a tsk. “You know how to use them when I’m giving you pleasure with my tongue.”
Sebastian says something, but I don’t hear him as my face goes red.
“Get the fuck out of my way before I hurt your cock.”
He smirks at me. “As long as you kiss it after. A little pain never hurt anyone.”
“Oh my god, you are insufferable.”
“And you are stunning,” Arlo says before he slams his lips into mine. I’m so shocked at first that it doesn’t register until his tongue slides into my mouth, and I instantly taste coffee. I go to pull back, but he wraps his hand in my hair, holding me in place. I finally give in and kiss him back.
I’m just a girl, and he’s just a man who knows how to kiss.
So I’m guilty as charged.
Fuck, I’m fucked.