Page 58 of Stanton Adore

“Why were you letting him touch you then?”

I swallow. This will sound childish, even to my ears. “I was mad with you, Josh. I had just seen you with that stripper.” I swallow the lump in my throat as the visual re-enters my brain.

He reaches over and squeezes my hand. “So, you were going to sleep with him to pay me back,” he murmurs.

“I was going to try,” I whisper.

“What does that mean?” he snaps.

“Josh, I have trouble being with…other men.” He frowns. “What do you mean?” he whispers.

I shake my head. “Can we talk about something else?”

“No. You told me no secrets, remember.”

This is going to make me sound like the world’s biggest loser. “Josh, other men don’t….” I shrug my shoulders. “Get me hot for it. I usually get the hell out of there before they even get to first base.”

He frowns. “Why?” he questions. “When you are with me, you’re gagging for it.”

I burst out laughing and choke on my wine. “Gagging for it,” I repeat. He smiles and nods. “Josh, you are a born romantic. You should write a romance novel and call it Gagging for It.”

His eyes twinkle as he smiles warmly. “It does have a ring to it, doesn’t it?” He smirks.

“It’s definitely a book I would buy.” I do wide eyes at him to accentuate my point.

“It would be a real page-turner, I suspect.”

Our meal arrives and we both eat in silence, lost deep in thought. And as we are waiting for the check, I peek up at the gorgeous man sitting opposite me.

“How are we going to do this, Josh?”

He blows out a breath and rubs his face. “I suppose we are going to want each other from afar and be mollified that the other isn’t with anyone else.”

“That sounds totally crap. So, I will know at night when I’m alone in my bed that you are alone in your bed and I can do nothing about it?”

He smiles and nods. “I suppose.”

“Josh, that’s torture. It’s like…it’s like….” I can’t think of the appropriate analogy. “Having a Lamborghini in the garage and not being allowed to drive it.”

He throws his head back and laughs. “Did you just call me a Lamborghini?” He raises an eyebrow in question.

“I guess I did.”

“That’s a hot car,” he whispers.

“Well, you’re a very hot man,” I whisper back.

He grabs my hand again, his blazing stare burning into me. “When did you become such a beautiful slut?”

I smile, my chest filling with an unnamed emotion. “When you came back for me and turned on the switch,” I breathe. Who knew I would love the endearment ‘beautiful slut’? Now I know for certain I’m tapped.

“So, I have you for tonight?” He rubs his finger over his lip, leaning back in his chair, his dominant sitting position makes me feel like a naughty schoolgirl.

“Yes,” I breathe as my eyes drop to his finger lingering over his lips, my heart rate rising. His searing stare bores into mine and our eyes lock. I couldn’t look away even if I wanted to. I see a familiar tic of the jaw and a much-anticipated crack of the neck.

“Do you have any idea how hard you are going to cop it when we get home?” He smirks as he raises his eyebrows and crosses his legs to readjust his length that I can now see straining in his pants. I swallow a golf ball in my throat and a familiar heat starts to run through me, a fire that has only one extinguisher, a certain gorgeous man in a navy blazer. I smile and lick my lips, and his eyes drop to my mouth.

“I hope it’s hard enough to last me a lifetime seeing as no one else can get the job done…Mr. Stanton.” He grabs my legs hard under the table, his thumbs nearly at bruising pressure, and leans in to whisper in my ear.

“Be careful what you wish for, precious, you are playing with fire. No one will save you when you scream for mercy.”