Chapter 10
TEN
Deacon
I know I’m a lucky bastard. I made my money early and big. I have an incredible daughter who is the light of my life, and when I came into the restaurant this evening and saw Aurora sitting there on her own, I prayed that her date would stand her up.
And my prayers were answered.
From the moment I stared down at her coffee-covered breasts and then looked up into her green eyes, I’ve wanted to know more about her. Why is she in New York? What makes her laugh? Does she scream when she comes?
I’ve learned more about her than I thought I would. And for some reason, I feel comfortable sharing things with her that I wouldn’t usually. I’m not sure why, but I feel like I can be more open with Aurora than people I’ve known for years.
I might know her a little better after dinner, but I’m just as intrigued by her.
“Let’s go,” I say, as I wave over the waitress to ask for our bill.
Aurora sits poised with her phone, like she thinks she’s going to be going Dutch or something. Is she insane? Maybe. Adorable? Absolutely.
I hand the waitress my card and Aurora says, “I have Apple Pay.”
“Put it on my card,” I say.
“I can—”
“I invited you to dinner. I don’t expect you to pay.”
She sighs in that way that I find delightful. It’s wistful, like some romantic heroine of Victorian times or something. “That’s very kind of you.”
“You don’t expect the men you have dinner with to pay?”
She shakes her head. “Why would I? Do the women you normally take to dinner expect you to pay?”
I chuckle. “Absolutely.”
“They assume?” she asks, her eyebrows pulling together. I want to cup her face in my hands and tell her not to worry about it. Not to worry about anything. She stands out like a sore thumb in New York, and I want to preserve her innocence a little. Protect her. Not too much, but enough.
“If I ask someone to dinner, I assume. Assuming isn’t a bad thing.”
“Do you assume you’re going to have sex with them if you buy dinner?”
I raise my eyebrows a little in surprise.
“What?” she says. “I’m just being blunt and to the point. Like you.”
I nod, slowly, taking her in. I don’t have a problem with her being blunt and to the point, but something in the way she talks, the way she tries to shrug off my surprise, makes me think that being that way isn’t usual for her.
“This isn’t the eighties. I don’t expect a blowjob in return for a cocktail.
Or sex in return for dinner. Women sleep with me if they want to.
They don’t if they don’t.” I pause. I’m not quite sure if I should say what’s on the tip of my tongue.
But I want to shock her. I like the way her cheeks flush and her eyes widen.
I imagine it’s a lot how she’ll look when she’s on her knees with my cock in her mouth.
“Do you want to sleep with me, Aurora?” I ask.
Her cheeks darken, but she takes a few seconds to gather her thoughts, and I like her better for not fumbling for an answer right away. “Not tonight,” she replies.
I appreciate her honest answer. “Not tonight. That’s good to know. Come on, I’ll see you home. Where do you live? Do we need a car?”
“You don’t need to do that,” she says, as we stand and head toward the exit.
“I might not need to, but that’s what’s going to happen.”
“Even if I don’t want you to?” she asks, as we step outside.
I turn to face her. “Aurora, I’m not planning to force myself on you. I want to make sure you get home safely.”
“I didn’t think that.” She fiddles with her hands.
“Okay, good. Then what’s the problem?”
She frowns a little. What’s going on inside her head? “I’m not some frightened wallflower. Okay, so I haven’t traveled much and I’ve never lived abroad before, but I can get myself home.”
“I have no doubt that’s true. I think you’re capable of most things you set your mind to.”
She scoffs, and I stop what I was going to say.
“You don’t think you’re capable of anything you set your mind to?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I just don’t think anyone has said something like that about me. It’s not really how someone would describe me.”
“Then maybe they don’t see you like I see you.
” I say the words without thinking, then realize that I’m probably right.
Just as I confessed things tonight that I’ve not spoken about for years with anyone but my family, I bet a lot of people put Aurora in a box and don’t really look at her.
She’s lived in the same village her entire life.
People see her the way they always have. And they’re not looking closely enough.
That delicious blush is back.
“You don’t know me.”
“No, not very well. But I know you are gracious and poised. You could have told me to stuff my apology up my arse, but you didn’t.
I know you work hard and are good at your job.
Avril and Poppy are no dummies. If they got you to come over from the UK, you must have really impressed them.
I think you’re funny and good company over dinner. I think you’re beautiful and…”
I don’t know if it’s her long lashes or the unexpected brightness of the green of her eyes, but all I can think is that she’s sultry and complicated and someone I’d like to know better.
I trail my eyes down her curves, taking in every dip and hollow.
The outline of her breasts is almost too much.
Everything’s covered, but everything’s on display at the same time.
The way her waist flares out at her hips? It’s breathtaking.
“Fuck, I think you’re dangerous walking around with that body.” My gaze flits back up to her eyes.
Her blush deepens.
“Yeah, I think you could do anything you set your mind to. But all I want to do is walk you home.”
She looks up at me, a teasing smile pulling at her mouth. “Okay, well, when you put it like that, you can walk me home. I’m just around the corner.”
We walk in comfortable silence for a few steps, then she says, “I think it’s better that we don’t tell people about…this…this dinner. I’m not going to lie, but I’m not going to offer up the information either.”
“You don’t want housekeeping knowing that the guy in Room 325 thinks you have a killer body?”
She laughs. “Something like that.” She glances across at me. “But seriously, you’re a regular guest. I haven’t read any rule about…having dinner with guests out of hours, but I can’t imagine it’s encouraged.”
“It’s up to you what you say. No one’s going to ask me.”
“Right,” she says. “It’s up to me.” She says it almost like she’s talking to herself. Maybe she is. I wish I could hear all the things she didn’t say out loud.
“This is me,” she says, as she turns to me.
I can’t help but laugh. “That’s such a British turn of phrase. I haven’t heard it in a while.”
She cocks her head and grins back at me. “You have a pretty smile,” she says. “And also…a killer bod.”
It’s like someone’s struck a match and set me on fire. I step forward, so close that we’re almost touching. She takes a step back, and I step forward again, backing her up against the wall of her building. She looks up at me, her breaths coming heavy and fast.
“I’m not going to fuck you,” I say. “Not tonight. Tonight, I’m going to kiss you.”
I cup her face with my hands and my gaze flits between her eyes and her mouth. I don’t know if I can stand not to be looking at her the first time I kiss her. I graze her mouth with mine…then press my leg in between her thighs and devour her.
My tongue pushes into her mouth and finds hers.
She gasps and lets out a small whimper. I groan at her noises.
It’s like she’s found my personalized manual and knows exactly how to turn me on.
Our kiss deepens and her hands smooth down my chest and around to my back, like she wants to see if I feel as good as she thinks I look.
The thought sends all my blood rushing to my cock and my erection presses against my zip.
Fuck, I haven’t been this turned on by a kiss in the longest time. Her skin against my hands feels so soft, her jaw so delicate.
But she’s already told me she’s not that delicate.
Her hands pull me closer, like she wants more, and I snake one of mine around her waist and over her arse, moving her against me. I want her to feel how hard I am. How much I want her too.
She moans, and I swear I wish we were alone right now, rather than on a busy New York street. I wish I could peel this dress off her, kiss her until she begged me to sink into her body.
She’d be coming in seconds.
So would I.
Fuck. I’m not sure I’m ever going to get rid of this hard-on.
Her hands come to my neck, and she moves on my thigh, nudging against my erection, until suddenly she presses her hands on my shoulders and breaks our kiss.
“Oh god,” she says. “I…I…that was…I…”
I smile as she stutters, then I drop a chaste kiss on her lips to communicate to her that she doesn’t need to say anything.
That kiss said it all.
“You’re gorgeous,” I say. “But unless you want to get fucked in front of the entire city, I think you should go up to your apartment.”
She rolls her lips together, trying to suppress a smile.
“I’m going to go up to my apartment…but I’m not sure it’s the right decision. Getting fucked in front of the entire city seems like a good option right about now.”
I take a deep breath to steady myself.
I have to walk away.
She’s said she doesn’t want to sleep with me tonight.
There will be other nights.
Nights when I don’t pay for dinner and she doesn’t think there’s some kind of payback. Nights when I can take my time with her. Other perfect nights.
“Go inside, Aurora,” I say on a growl. I shove my hands in my pockets and watch as she heads into her building. The smooth, pale skin of her back is begging for my touch, and I only just resist.
For now.