Chapter 7 Reed #2
“Your name, to start with. Your age. I definitely would have asked if you’re a music student.”
She shakes her head. “Journalism. I’m graduating next week.”
My dick cautiously jumps for joy. She’s not off-limits. “Congratulations. Are you a musician on the side, maybe? A singer?”
“Nope. Just a writer. My passion is investigative journalism.”
I’m losing my mind with relief. Euphoria. Lust. Even as the business side of my brain is slightly disappointed I won’t have the chance to make her a star. “How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I’m turning twenty-two next month.”
She just keeps getting better and better.
“I’m relieved to know you’re not a teenager,” I admit.
“The thought occurred to me at the panel, as I was flirting with you, that your age could very well end in the word ‘teen.’ Once I realized that, I was pretty disgusted with myself for continuing to flirt.”
“Not disgusted enough to stop, apparently.”
I chuckle. “True.”
“So if I’d turned out to be nineteen, you would have hung up with CeeCee tomorrow, and not tracked me down?”
I pause, unsure. Hearing her say that out loud, it doesn’t ring true to me, even though before today, I would have sworn I’d never be caught dead pursuing a teenager.
But, come on, I saw Georgina today and brazenly came on to her for a full hour, even though I knew there was a good chance she was eighteen or nineteen.
.. So can I honestly say I wouldn’t have pursued her if it had turned out she wasn’t old enough to order a beer?
But, still. There’s no reason to say any of that out loud, and come off as a dirty old man. And so, I say, “If CeeCee had told me you were a teenager, then I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have tracked you down.”
She laughs. “Liar. If I’d been nineteen, you’d have told yourself ‘Hey, she’s legal,’ and then done exactly what you’re doing right now. Whatever that is.”
“Whatever that is? Oh, God. I’ve got to step up my game, if you don’t know. Georgina, sweetheart, I’m hitting on you. With all my might.”
She bites her luscious lower lip. “Oh? Good to know.” She smiles. “I think it’s interesting you think nineteen is too young for you, but twenty-one isn’t. Explain that one to me.”
“Oh, twenty-one is too young for me, too.”
We both laugh.
“Actually, before this moment, I would have sworn I’d never hit on a twenty-one-year-old. Never say never, I guess.”
She adjusts her elbows on the bar. “To what do you attribute this astonishing reversal of yours, Mr. Rivers?”
I motion to her, like the answer is self-explanatory, and then add, “It’s easy for a man to draw imaginary lines in the sand before he knows Georgina Ricci exists in the world.”
She blushes. “Aw, well. Don’t beat yourself up too much about being a creeper. Age is just a number, anyway.”
“I think you have to get to your late twenties to be able to say that with a straight face. Before then, you come off as na?ve.”
“Oh, I’m not na?ve. Not in the slightest.”
My dick tingles at the possible subtext of that statement.
Does she mean that as code for something naughty?
Is she trying to tell me she’s a freak in the sheets?
“I didn’t mean to insult you. I just meant there’s a lot of highly formative life experience a person acquires between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. ”
“There’s a lot of highly formative life experience a person acquires between the ages of zero to a hundred.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Speaking for myself, I’ve acquired an ocean of ‘highly formative’ life experience between the ages of ten and twenty—too much of it, to be honest. But that’s life. If we’re doing it right, then we’re constantly learning and growing.”
“True, again.”
“Except when it comes to you, I guess. You’re so smart, so much smarter than the rest of us, you’re all done learning and growing, now that you’re the wise old age of thirty-five.”
Holy motherfuck. Just this fast, this sassy girl’s got me tied and trussed like a pig over a spit. And I’m loving it. I lean forward, smiling. “First off, I’m only thirty-four. Don’t rush me. And, believe me, just like everyone else, I’m still figuring plenty of stuff out.”
“Which proves my point. Age is just a number.” She lays her cheek in her palm. “You’ve honestly never dated someone my age?”
“Not since my early twenties. And, to be clear, I don’t plan to date you, Georgina. Just seduce you.”
Her eyebrows rise at my brazen comment, though she seems more amused by it than offended. “Points for honesty. Damn.”
“I’m a big fan of honesty.”
“When it suits you, apparently.” She smirks. “I’m pretty sure you’ve already lied to me at least a couple times.”
I shrug. “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”
“Ah, so you admit you’re a hustler?”
“I do. Proudly.”
She drags her teeth over her sensuous lower lip. “So, tell me, Mr. Wise Old Rivers, why don’t you date—or, sorry, seduce—much younger women? Is it some sort of firm rule for you, or has it just sort of happened that way?”
Good God, she’s relentless. And I fucking love it.
“I haven’t given it much thought. I don’t tend to be in situations where I meet women your age, other than in a business context, which means they’re not a good idea for me to pursue, no matter their age.
And, also, if I’m being honest, I’m a sucker for a confident woman—and genuine confidence, in my experience, as opposed to youthful cockiness, or play-acting confidence in mommy’s heels, usually takes a bit of time to develop. ”
Oh, I’ve pissed her off now. “‘Play-acting in mommy’s heels’? How condescending.”
I chuckle. “You asked me a question, and I answered it honestly. You don’t like honesty?”
“I like honesty. Just not assholery.”
I laugh heartily. I think she might very well be perfect.
“Just a tip?” she says, twirling a lock of dark hair around her finger.
“Don’t look down your nose at me and treat me like I’m a stupid child, which I’m not, if you want to have any shot at ‘seducing’ me.
I’ve got a bit of an allergy to assholes, I should warn you, and also a bit of a temper.
And I don’t tend to respond well in the face of condescension or assholery. ”
My breathing hitches at the blaze in her eyes. The flush in her cheeks. She’s the sexiest little creature I’ve ever beheld. “Duly noted. I apologize. Condescending to you wasn’t my intention.”
“Well, shit, I hope not. If it was, that would make you absolutely terrible at seduction.”
I can’t help laughing my ass off. She’s unleashing the kraken on me in a way that’s making me smile from ear to ear.
“You want to know a secret, Mr. Rivers?” she says conspiratorially. “I truthfully can’t wait to see you take your best shot at seducing me. Don’t get me wrong; I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to let you be successful. But I’m certainly up for watching you try.”
Okay, who’s the liar now? Georgina’s red-hot desire to get absolutely desecrated by me has been written all over her face from the minute she winked at me in the lecture hall.
I lean forward, matching her posture. “Aw, Georgina. Don’t bullshit a bullshitter.
I’m going to be wildly successful at seducing you, and we both know it.
In fact, when the time is right tonight, I’m going to invite you to come to my house.
And we both know what you’re going to say in reply when I do. ”
She flashes me a snarky look. “I have no idea what I’d say to an invitation like that. Maybe if I had more highly formative life experiences, it’d be a different story. But as it is, I’m too busy play-acting confidence in my mommy’s heels to know what I think or feel or want.”
She flashes me a spicy little look that says, Take that, you condescending prick, and I’m suddenly dizzy with my desire for her.
I bite my lip. “So, it’s gonna be like that, huh?”
“You bet your ass it’s gonna be like that.”
A palpable current of electricity passes between us.
Sexual desire that shoots straight into my cock.
“All right, beautiful. We’ll go around and around for a while before I extend my invitation.
We’ll play a pointless, but highly entertaining, game of cat and mouse, just for the fun of it.
But, I promise you, when the game ends, you’re gonna say yes to me. ”
She shrugs. “Who knows what I’ll say?” She winks. “But I can’t wait to find out.”
I return her wink. “Let the seduction begin.”