Chapter Three
LILLY
I needed to sit down. My knees shook, and my nervous stomach made me mildly nauseous. Standing beside the kitchen table, I was wobbly, sweaty, and discombobulated. How on earth had it come to this? Me propositioning Derek Jaworski. Never in a million years would I ever have believed this course of events could be possible.
“You want me to teach you to be a hellcat in bed?” he asked.
Ugh, Derek.
“Something like that.”
“Would this be theory or…” His eyes traveled up and down my body. The heat in them made me sure he had x-ray vision. “Or would this be hands-on learning?” His wolfish smile both annoyed and aroused me.
“I’ve thought about this. I’d hoped to keep it all theoretical, but I keep thinking about when our company adopted a new payroll software. All of us in HR had to learn it. However, since my assistant does most of the work within it, I didn’t use it much at all after the initial training. And now, I’m one of those hopeless directors constantly going to Chelsea for help with software I technically know how to use.”
Babbling was a problem for me when I was anxious. He really didn’t need such a long-winded analogy, though considering he was nearly salivating, I figured I’d kept his attention.
“I think I get it. You’re saying you need to synthesize the information. For example, if I tell you that blindfolding you will intensify your pleasure when I lick your pussy, you’ll remember it a lot more if—rather than just talking about it—you’re in complete darkness when my tongue flicks your clit. Is that right?”
I visibly shivered, and Derek’s hazel eyes darkened. His ability to turn me on was the curse of my entire acquaintance with him. Even when I wanted to punch him, he could make me wet in an instant.
“Um, yep. That’s the general idea,” I said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
“So, let’s say I say yes. We do all kinds of dirty business and then what?”
“Then I seduce Jared, knock his socks off, and he asks me to go through with the wedding.” As it came out of my mouth, the plan sounded even more ridiculous than when I’d dreamt it up. But I’d decided on this desperate measure, and I wasn’t going to back down.
“You do realize how bananas it is to try to get your guy back by having heaps of sex with a more handsome, sexier, all-around cooler guy than him, right?”
My eyes were beginning to cramp from rolling them at him so much. “Yes, it’s an unusual solution but it’s all I’ve got. It’s either that or admit that I got jilted for being too vanilla as he said. And I’m not ready to do that.”
“You know what vanilla means, right?”
“I figured it out in context.”
“Okay, so I’m supposed to teach you a bunch of hot, kinky stuff for six weeks—”
“Four. I’m not gonna spring it on him the night before the wedding. Jeez.”
“Oh, right. That would be too weird.” It was his turn to roll his eyes at me. “So what do I get out of this deal?”
The millions of come-ons Derek had thrown my way over the years played in a lightning-fast loop in my head. I’d known from day one he wasn’t actually interested and merely used his sterling charm to embarrass and tease me. It’s part of why I knew better than to respond to his advances regardless of my constant, painful desire to kiss him. But one thing I knew for sure was that Derek was a sexual creature. Certainly, he’d be up for no-strings-attached, mildly kinky sex even if it was with me.
“You’d get to have sex with me. I mean unless you’re not interested—”
“Wait, wait, wait! I never said that. It’s just, you know, I’m sharing a lot of firsthand knowledge here. This is valuable stuff from my lived experience. I could write an award-winning memoir out of this shit and I’m supposed to give it away for free?”
“Well, if I pay you, you really will be the man whore everyone says you are.”
The moment the words left my mouth I regretted them. Derek deflated, letting out a sigh. The light in his eyes dimmed considerably. I knew better than to needle him on that front. On the few rare occasions he’d let me see behind the curtain, he admitted to hating his promiscuous himbo reputation and the way people used it to keep from taking him seriously. I’d just delivered a stinger that hit at the core of everything that hurt him. Not a great approach when asking someone for a favor. The guilt weighed on my shoulders like two anvils. He might be pompous and annoying, but he deserved better.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Hey, it is what it is,” he said, rising from the table and crossing to the fridge.
My stomach wrenched with another wave of guilt. “Okay, so what kind of sweetener do you want for this deal?” I asked.
He snagged a can of flavored bubbly water from the fridge and cracked it open. After taking a long gulp, he eyed me for a moment. “Hmm…excellent question. I love when I get to set the terms on a deal. Okay, how’s this? If after the four weeks of fantastic fuckery the jerk still isn’t won over, or better yet, you are so mad for my dick that you can’t go back to mediocre Jared sex, then I have the option to renew.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means I can opt for a minimum of four additional weeks to practice what I’ve taught you if I so choose.” He set his drink down and leaned on his elbows, bent over on the counter. His t-shirt sleeves hiked up a bit and I got a glimpse of a tattoo peeking out on his muscular right bicep. That was new. I never knew he was tatted.
“Why would you want that? I’ll be a basket case if he turns me down. Not very fun to be around.”
“Ah yes, but let’s not forget, girls on the rebound have nothing to lose and therefore bang like champions. I want to be there to catch you when you need some real cheering up, if you know what I mean.” He smiled and winked.
“Fine. It’s a deal. If your masterful sex education doesn’t win Jared back, I will continue our arrangement for another month.”
“Deal,” he said, rounding the counter again and walking toward me holding his hand out to shake.
When my hand slipped into his, he stood mere inches apart from me and I couldn’t resist craning my neck to stare up at him. I cursed fate when he licked his lips. After spending years conditioning myself not to stare at his mouth, having my attention drawn there by his slick tongue was the cruelest torture. It didn’t help that he was well aware of my focus and those tempting lips began to curve upward in a satisfied grin.
I swallowed and did my best to pull myself together, stepping back and looking away from his mouth. Unfortunately, I locked onto his hazel eyes, now nearly black with want.
“S-so when do we begin?” I asked.
“No time like the present. Class is in session.” Offering me his hand again, he led me to somewhere we could get up to no good.
This is either the worst or best idea I’ve ever had.