Chapter 12
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Riley, as it turned out, was very down to provide Rowan with exactly the distraction Bronwin had not so subtly hinted at. She sent a selfie a few hours before they were supposed to meet under the guise of being able to find her in the crowd, but Rowan saw it for what it was: a damn thirst trap.
Her dirty blonde hair was pulled up in a messy bun, which showcased her smooth, olive skin.
The guileless brown eyes that gazed out from Bronwin’s picture were gone, replaced with a wicked look and sharp eyeliner that made her look less than innocent.
Pair that with the deep cut of her dress, pursed red lips, and her leaning forward position that was essentially all tits, and Rowan knew exactly where she intended the night to go.
The new image floating through Rowan’s mind was almost enough to put Delilah’s memory in the back seat as she got ready for their date. Almost.
Thoughts of what Delilah would think of her outfit filtered through unbidden.
How Delilah would react to knowing she’d gone out with someone else.
Was it cheating? Rowan didn’t think so, but she had a feeling Delilah might.
A sick satisfaction twisted through her.
She wouldn’t tell Delilah about her date—of course she wouldn’t—but the thought of Delilah finding out anyway was unnervingly appealing.
Rowan shook her head and finished buttoning her forest green button up.
She forced her focus onto Riley instead, on the picture she’d seen.
There had been a few flirty messages exchanged too.
Rowan hadn’t realized how pent up she was, but the direction her thoughts had been taking all afternoon was making it painfully obvious.
It only took fifteen minutes for Rowan to walk to the bar, the sun not yet low enough in the sky that the streetlights had come on.
The warm summer breeze was a touch too humid for the black slacks she’d chosen to wear.
She left early, taking her time to walk slowly through the busy streets and letting her mind drift, pushing Delilah from her thoughts as she examined the mediocre architecture of the city around her.
When she finally meandered into the poorly lit bar—the interior of which had always made her think of a speakeasy—it took her less than a minute to spot Riley at the counter.
Her deep red dress stood out against the monochrome outfits surrounding her.
She shifted toward the entrance, the movement revealing a long slit in the dress going tauntingly high up her thigh.
A smile curved her blood red lips when she locked eyes with Rowan and raised her hand to beckon her over.
“You look stunning,” Rowan said in greeting, not letting her gaze linger on the cut drawing attention to Riley’s cleavage. She kept her once over respectful and brief.
“Thank you,” Riley purred, her voice deeper than Rowan had imagined, more sensual. Riley ran a hand up Rowan’s arm, lightly squeezing her bicep. “You look quite handsome yourself.”
Heat blossomed over Rowan’s cheeks at the compliment, and she cleared her throat, nodding to the bartender behind them.
“What’re you having tonight?” she asked, keeping her voice low and bringing her mouth close to Riley’s ear while she flagged down the bartender.
Riley smirked. “I’ll have a Screaming Orgasm,” she said, biting her lip. Fuck. Could they skip the small talk? Rowan didn’t need anymore toying around. They both clearly wanted this.
Rowan licked her lips, holding Riley’s gaze for just long enough, the tension crackling between them.
It was broken only by the bartender asking for their orders.
She relayed Riley’s request along with her own order of a simple whiskey, neat.
Then she carried both drinks for them while Riley led the way to a low table in a dark corner of the bar.
The spot was as private as it could be, away from the live piano player and the more outgoing crowd enjoying their music.
Setting the glasses quickly on the table, Rowan pulled Riley’s chair out for her. “So polite,” Riley hummed with a smirk that did things to Rowan.
Riley scooted her chair close enough to Rowan that their legs brushed under the table, and Rowan wondered if putting her hand on Riley’s thigh was too forward.
This was technically a date, after all, not a hook up.
But damn, she’d been a bit more wound up than usual and this woman was not making it easy on her.
“So, tell me about yourself. Eliza mentioned you’re a bit of a workaholic? Glad you were able to make time for me,” Rowan joked, recalling Bronwin’s incredibly sparse details.
“I’m glad too.” Riley looked her up and down before sighing and rolling her eyes. “But she’s not wrong. I’m a defense attorney with some fairly high profile clients—they always keep me busy.”
“High profile?” Rowan asked, impressed. “Anyone I’d know?”
A teasing smile played at the corner of Riley’s mouth. She brought her drink up to her lips before whispering, “Maybe.”
Rowan matched her smile but, again, that little feeling was burrowing into the depths of her mind, screaming that she’d seen Riley before. She just looked so familiar. The recollection felt close, like it was on the tip of her tongue. Warning bells rang through her skull.
“Have you represented anyone at Raven Wood?” she asked, and when Riley frowned, Rowan rushed to explain. “I just mean, you look familiar. Maybe I’ve seen you during a visit or something.”
Riley let out a huffed laugh and relaxed.
She placed her hand on Rowan’s forearm. “I can’t discuss my clients, darling,” she said flirtatiously.
“And I think I’d remember someone who looked like you.
” She winked, swirling her drink before taking another sip, licking the remnants off her lips in a way that had Rowan subconsciously mirroring the action.
“But,” Riley continued, drawing out the word. “You might recognize me from a relatively famous trial I was recently involved with.” Rowan raised an eyebrow, and Riley laughed. “That is all I am going to say about that now. I don’t want to talk about work tonight.”
“Of course,” Rowan muttered. “Sorry to pry.” She watched Riley’s expression, hoping that she hadn’t overstepped.
Riley waved away her concerns. “Don’t worry about it. I get questions like that all the time.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. All those cop shows coming out make people glorify the hell out of my job. Everyone thinks it’s like it is on TV, but in reality, it’s nowhere near that.
All paperwork and barely any of the fun.
” She winked. Rowan nodded, taking the not so subtle hint and shifting the subject away from work.
Their conversation flowed effortlessly—much better than Eliza’s last attempted setup—and the chemistry was sparking.
They were all flirtatious banter and charming smiles.
Rowan had hardly touched her drink, she’d been so entranced with Riley’s smile, her laugh, her wit.
After an hour, Riley excused herself to use the bathroom.
Rowan toyed with her glass on the table while she waited, tipping it and watching the liquid slosh before downing the last remaining dregs that had been sitting for entirely too long.
She was staring at the glass when she felt a hand slip into her pocket, lips brushing her ear before she could react.
“I’m ready to go when you are.” Riley’s voice was low, seductive, sending shivers down her spine with the implication. Rowan reached into her pocket, her fingers brushing against lace fabric.
She twisted to look at Riley still pressed up against her shoulder. Riley winked. “There’s just something so hot about my underwear in your pocket, isn’t there?”
The words flashed through Rowan’s mind like an alarm blaring. Delilah had told her that. Word for word. Rowan felt like her brain was short circuiting, like her body was frozen until Riley laughed and whispered, “I’m so wet for you.”
She moved in front of Rowan, taking Rowan’s hand.
She slowly inched it under the slit in her dress.
The flesh of her thigh was soft to the touch and made Rowan want to dig her nails in.
Rowan glanced over her shoulder. They were in a crowded room, in a dark corner, and her hand was inches away from Riley’s bare, unprotected center.
She swallowed, her body heating as the ice left from Delilah’s memory thawed into nothing.
Thoughts of Delilah were discarded from her mind as her hand inched up and Riley’s breathing hitched. Riley’s nails dug into Rowan’s wrist, her pupils blown. She bit her lip when Rowan reached her drenched core.
“Do you want to continue here, or go back to my place?” Rowan asked, barely holding herself back while she scanned Riley’s face.
She rubbed her thumb along Riley’s inner thigh and kept her hand pressed against her clit, unmoving.
Teasing them. Riley hadn’t let go over her wrist, her other hand digging into Rowan’s shoulder as she gripped tightly, her breathing shallow.
“What if I wanted both?”
Silently, while keeping eye contact, Rowan shifted to swipe a finger through her folds, gathering the arousal to rub softly over Riley’s clit.
The din of conversation floated around them, covering up the quiet gasp that Riley let slip from her barely parted lips.
Heat flooded through Rowan, her own boxers dampening as she pressed in, two fingers sliding effortlessly inside.
Her mouth watered, and her vision tunneled.
There was no longer a bar around them. She could see only Riley’s half-lidded desire.
No conversation could filter out the breathy gasps and stifled moans.
Those noises were solely for Rowan. She curled her fingers and drew out a low moan before Riley crashed their lips together, spreading her legs and practically riding Rowan’s thigh as her hips jerked with need.
Rowan repeated the movement, bringing her thumb to swipe over Riley’s clit while her fingers relentlessly stroked her inner walls. The subsequent moan was louder this time, vibrating against Rowan’s lips and ending in a whine.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Riley demanded breathlessly, barely breaking their kiss.
“Yes, ma’am,” Rowan muttered, pulling her soaked fingers out.
She tried to subtly wipe her hand on her pants but Riley stopped her. Grabbing her wrist, Riley brought Rowan’s fingers up to her parted lips and sucked them down.
Rowan was entranced, unable to look away as Riley’s tongue swirled around her fingers, licking every drop of her own arousal in plain sight, for anyone to see. Then she gently bit the tip of Rowan’s finger, smiling as Rowan drew away.
It was past time to get the hell out of there.