Page 26 of Lick
“You looked panicky, so I got you out of there.”
“You left your friends for me?” I watched him in amazement.
He did a one-shoulder shrug. As if it meant nil.
“What then?”
“We took off and had a drink in another bar.”
“I’m surprised you stuck with me.” Stunned was closer.
“Why wouldn’t I?” he asked. “You treated me like a normal person. We just talked about everyday stuff. You weren’t angling to get anything out of me. You didn’t act like I was a different fucking species. When you looked at me it felt…”
“What?”
He cleared his throat. “I dunno. Doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, you do. And it does.”
He groaned.
“Please?”
“Fuck’s sake,” he muttered, shifting around in the driver’s seat all uncomfortable-like. “It felt real, okay? It felt right. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
I sat in stunned silence for a moment. “That’s a good way to explain it.”
Suddenly, he got decidedly smirky. “Plus, I’d never been propositioned quite like that.”
“Yeeeah. Okay, stop now.” I covered my face with my hands, and he laughed.
“Relax,” he said. “You were very sweet.”
“Sweet?”
“Sweet is not a bad thing.”
He pulled the Jeep into a gas station, stopping in front of a pump. “Look at me.”
I lowered my fingers.
David stared back at me, beautiful face grinning. “You said that you thought I was a really nice guy. And that it would be great if we could go up to your room and have sex and just hang out for a while, if maybe that was something I’d be interested in doing.”
“Ha. I have all the moves.” I laughed. There might have been more embarrassing conversations in my life. Doubtful, though. Oh, good God, the thought of me trying out my smooth seduction routine on David. He who had groupies and glamour models throwing themselves at him on a daily basis. If there’d been enough room under the car seat, I’d have hid down there. “What did you say?”
“What do you think I said?” Without taking his gaze off me, he popped the glove box and pulled out a baseball cap. “Looks like the restrooms are around the side.”
“This is so mortifying. Why couldn’t you have forgotten too?”
He just looked at me. The smirk was long gone. For a long moment he held my gaze captive, unsmiling. The air in the car seemed to drop by about fifty degrees.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, fingers fumbling with the seat belt.
“Sure.”
I finally managed to unbuckle the stupid thing, heart galloping inside my chest. The conversation had gotten crazy heavy toward the end. It had caught me unawares. Knowing he’d stood up for me in Las Vegas, that he’d chosen me over his friends… it changed things. And it made me wonder what else I needed to know about that night.
“Wait.” He rifled among the collection of sunglasses, pulled out a pair of designer aviator shades, and handed them to me. “You’re famous now too, remember?”
