Page 42 of Wild Thing
Brax placed a hand on my leg, and slowly, slowly, slowly dragged a finger up my thigh, stopping just as he got to the hem of my very short dress.
Your makeup running down your face / The way you fuck, the way you taste
I swallowed. Hard.
My entire body responded in goosebumps and I sat there slack-jawed, almost flat-lining because I was not breathing.
I wanted him to pull the car over right fucking now.
I wanted this man right fucking now. I knew this is wrong—so wrong—but fuck it.
I didn’t care.
Because for the first time in a long, long time, I felt excited. Like everything was shiny and new again.
Eleven
We arrived at the most beautiful home precinct, where a dozen stores, ranging from lighting to tiles and furniture, lined the block.
Brax hopped out of the truck, giving me a couple of crucial seconds to scrape myself up off the floor. I had melted into it during the song which was the soundtrack to the movie that was now somehow my life.
He opened the door for me, becauseof course he fucking did.
“This block is elite. All of these stores stock a lot of exclusive shit, stuff you can’t just get anywhere. Quality is unmatched too. I’ve used materials from a few of these brands,” Brax explained as he walked towards the lighting store. “I noticed in your renderings the uplighting you’re wanting to achieve. These guys are the best.”
Adjusting my dress, I briskly walked to catch up with him.
“Brax, I don’t need to select the lighting right now.”
“I know,” he said, stopping to wait for me. He waited until I was in front of him before he continued. “But that’s not really why we’re here.”
“Why are we here then?”
Brax reached forward and lightly picked up my hand. He spun my rings around so they were all facing skyward. Still, he didn't answer me. Instead, he laid his stormy eyes on mine.
This was dangerous territory. Of course I knew why we were really there, but I wanted to hear him say it.
It was because we couldn’t stay away from each other.
It was a test in temptation. And I'd never been any good at tests.
I sighed and looked around.
I should make the most of it and seek inspiration in these stores. Spending time with Brax was a fortuitous bonus.
“Okay, show me around.”
***
“This tile has a beautiful texture,” I said to no one in particular, noting down the serial number and price in my phone.
We’d been browsing the homewares stores for nearly an hour and I was pleasantly surprised at how beneficial this unexpected trip had been.
“You should have a really solid list by now,” Brax replied. "I knew you'd like seeing these stores."
He’d been super helpful, brainstorming, sharing his ideas and knowledge with me. We were actually working brilliantly together. Sexual tension aside, we made a pretty good team. I let my mind wonder to what could have been if I’d returned to Grey’s Forest instead of White Point. It wasn't unusual for building companies to have interior designers on the team.
We might have been a dominant force, the two of us together.
