Page 7 of Not Safe For Work

Neither of us spoke. I slid my foot off his, and he shifted as if he suddenly couldn’t get comfortable. When the waitress returned, she deposited our drinks and made a quick exit, and still, we were silent.

He took a few deep swallows of water. I left mine on the table but wrapped my hands around it, letting the cold bring me back to earth.

My body temperature slowly came down, though the same could not be said for my pulse, especially as I whispered, “Why me, Rick?”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

He tapped his fingers on the sides of his glass. “I did, but…I’m not sure I understand the question. Why not you?”

“Rick. You could have any man in this city.” I pushed my drink aside, folded my arms on the table, and leaned over them. “Why are you sitting in a bar with a middle-aged guy who builds models for a living?”

He studied me, and then slid his own drink to the side before mirroring me, leaning in so close our forearms nearly touched. “Because I’ve seen the way you carry yourself. I’ve seen the way no one intimidates you, no matter how hard they try.” A faint grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He ran his foot up the side of my ankle, and I sucked in a sharp breath, which brought that grin fully to life. He went on, “And once I saw you on Leathr, and I realized what you really are, I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to sit across from you in a meeting while I could still feel everything you’d done to me the night before.”

I blinked. Gulped. Reached for my water.

Rick sipped his own and, as he lowered the glass, asked, “That answer your question?”

“Yes, it does.” How was my mouth still dry? I took another sip. Then I looked him right in the eye. “It does leave me with one more, though.”

“Does it?”

“Mmhmm.” I nudged his foot down again and pinned it to the floor beneath my own. “What do you want me to do to you?”

“Only one real answer to that, isn’t there?” He pushed back a little, as if to make sure neither of us forgot what was going on beneath the table. “Whatever you want to do to me.”

I smiled, resisting the urge to reach across and squeeze his arm. “Humor me. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been fantasizing a bit since this afternoon.”

Rick went for his drink again and whispered, “Started before this afternoon.”

Jesus…

“Did it, now?”

He nodded and drained his glass.

“Tell me.” I reached for my water, but let it go—might as well save it in case I really needed it. “What have you been fantasizing about?”

“Everything.” Rick cleared his throat. “I couldn’t even sleep after the first time I read your profile and realized it was you.”

“Is that right?”

He nodded again, this time lowering his gaze. “I…might’ve scheduled a few extra meetings that we didn’t really need.”

I moistened my lips. “Seems like a lot of time and money, considering we weren’t even talking to each other.”

“It was worth it. Sometimes I thought I was being an idiot, but it did benefit the projects we were working on. And it…” He hesitated before looking me in the eye. “It gave me a lot to, um, think about.”

“Such as?”

His Adam’s apple jumped. “All the things I wanted a man like you to do to me. Like…like you tying me up until I can’t move. And then fucking me until I can’t move tomorrow.”

Oh. My God.

“Is that all?”

“Yeah, right.” He jumped, as if his smartass answer had come out before he could tell himself that was no way to talk to a man he wanted dominating him. He cleared his throat and quickly added, “To be honest, I’ve been attracted to you since the very first meeting they dragged you into.”