I was wearing the dress.
And I was late.
And I was not particularly caring at all, because Ivan in a suit was the sexiest thing this side of the mother-fucking universe.
The deep-navy jacket was tailored to him and hugged him perfectly while his matching pants were perfectly pressed but still showed the curve of his tight ass. From shiny shoes to a perfectly knotted black tie, he looked fucking hot. Really sexy. Handsome. I didn’t even know.
“Are you done looking yet?”
“No.” I drunk him in with my eyes once more. “I think I might have to go commando. You and a suit together should come with some kind of panty-wetting warning.”
A smug smirk curled his lips. “Get in the car, Brenda.” He opened the door and it bumped me into his body. “And we’ll see if I can’t do something about those wet panties.” He practically shoved me into the back seat and pressed a button on a
He led us through the room and straight to the bar. Sparks were still shooting through my body from his words and his touch, and I thought I was accepting this as a natural, automatic feeling to him. I was pretty sure that, if the man looked at me just right, he’d make me cum on the spot.“You look flustered,” Dayton whispered in my ear, wrapping her arms around me. “Wine?”“Wine? Get me some fucking tequlla.” I released her and straightened, accepting Aaron’s brief hug. “Congratulations,” I said to him. “You’re quite the badass now.”He laughed. “Shh, Brenda. Don’t tarnish my previous reputation. I don’t want my employees to know I’m really a soft bastard.”I grinned. “Oh, damn. I forgot to tell the baker not to put that on the cake.”He laughed, and Ivan wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into him. For a second, I closed my ey
And I hated how right she was. That was why you should never have a best friend, for the record. They see the bullshit you don’t and they can tease you into believing with your words.The only problem was that, while staring at that handsome British man slowly trying to step away from the woman across from him, I wanted to. Believe him. I wanted to believe every word he whispered in my ear and mumbled against my lips. I just wish it weren’t so hard to give someone your everything when a part of you believed you’re their nothing.Mercifully, the song ended and Ivan finally disengaged himself from Brunette Bitch. He crossed the room forcefully, determinedly. When he reached me, his hands find my back and my neck. He drew me to him, his mouth hot against mine. Certain and determined. Knowing and seductive.I melted into him. There was nothing else I could do. My hands curled around the lape
Ivan slid me back with a gentle bite on my bottom lip. “Looks like you’re saving that one for later.”I was ready to slap him, to slam him back in the chair and demand he finish me off… But I couldn’t. Here, I had no control. I didn’t want any control. I wanted to be controlled.So I grabbed my purse and followed him from the car without a word. My body was trembling, begging for the finish, and my clit was aching so painfully that I was tempted to turn around and finish myself off.“Don’t even think about doing it yourself,” Ivan ordered like he could read my mind. “I want to know that, when you cum later—because you will, I promise you—you’ve been waiting for it. I want to know your orgasm has been building for as long as I’ve wanted it to. I want to know that, when you cum, Brenda, it’ll be the best fucking orgasm you’ve ever had.”My mouth dried, and
I cried out when I felt him hit the end of me. He stopped abruptly, grabbing the back of my hair and yanked my head up. I didn’t realize that it had dropped, that I wasn’t looking in the mirror anymore. “Look.” Short. Sharp. Demanding. My cheeks were flushed red, my eyes shining with building pleasure, my lips were swollen and parted. My chest was heaving, and I could even see the tremble of my knees. “Good girl.” He fucked me again, slower this time but just as deep. After releasing my hair, he brought one hand round my body. He squeezed one of my breasts then dropped his hand to my pussy. “Watch in the mirror. Watch as I play with your clit and bring you to a second orgasm you’ll be denied.” I gasped. His fingers brushed my clit, a movement I saw and felt. Every rub of my clit was in time with his dick stroking inside me. Every one was perfectly synced, meant to tease me and push me even further. Heat flooded my body. My musc
He was still there.I opened my eyes slowly, fighting the heaviness of the sleep that wanted to pull me back under. Light filtered in through my open curtains, illuminating Ivan’s face with the early morning sun. I let my eyes fall over his face, lingering on each one of his features.His dark eyes were closed and the deep-brown lashes that frame them were fanned across his cheeks. I’d never really paid attention to them before, but looking close up, I could see that they were long and curled at the ends. They were girls’ eyelashes—perfectly formed and totally worthy of eyelash-envy.His cheekbones were defined just so, sitting on either side of the perfect nose. Or almost perfect. From this angle, I could see a tiny bump on the bridge of his nose. Somehow, it made him more real. Especially when my gaze followed the strong, shapely line of his jaw and fell onto his mouth.Soft. Pink. Curved at the corners.“Morning.&rd
“Hold on,” I said, stopping him before he got into his car. I plugged my headphones into my cell, started my running playlist on Spotify, and shoved the phone into my bra. Ivan watched with amusement as I adjusted it slightly. “Bras make good pockets,” I explained, hooking my headphones into place over my ears.“Ready?” he questioned, sliding into his Mercedes and started the engine with unnecessary force.“Ready to kick your hot, British ass? You bet I am.” I winked and started running a second before he pulled away.“We’ll see,” he called out the window as he drove past me.I took a right turn at the end of the street. My feet pounded against the pavement as I picked up speed, determined to win this race. Determined to have twenty-four hours of him completely at my mercy to stuff up my sleeve and whip out whenever I feel like it.And of course, that posed the question of whether it
I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “You said you didn’t like teaching, but you teach Dayton. Like, what—did you just wake up one morning and decide that you didn’t want to teach anymore? Then do it again, except the other way around?”“Day’s basically family. It’s different.” His tone was a little tight, and instinct told me that it was a sore subject.It was a shame that my desire to know everything was a lot stronger than my instinct.“Well, yeah, but no. I don’t particularly enjoy pulling pints for Donny in the bar, but I’ve worked there for a while now. I wouldn’t just stop and go and do something else randomly. Of course, I don’t have the means to, but—”“Can we drop this now?”“I don’t think you’re telling me the truth about why you stopped teaching.” The words blurted out of me before I could stop them
“Jack, have you ever wanted something you know is really bad for you?”He laughed, his whole body shaking, and lifted his pint. “Every day, darlin’!”I smiled, taking the five-dollar bill from his outstretched hand. “Not like that. I mean, something that could really change your life. Tip-it-upside-down kinda change.”“Getting philosophical?” Donny slid onto the stool next to him. “Be a doll and get me a beer, Brenda.”I shot him an annoyed look. “Aren’t you supposed to be working, boss?”“I’m taking a break.” He smiled at me charmingly. “And my beer?”Chewing the inside of my lip, I grabbed a bottle of Bud from the fridge, uncapped it, and placed it in front of him. “Two ninety please.”“Are you joking?”“No. You just put the prices up, and it’ll be my ass you chew out later when
My lips formed a wide grin. “Okay. I think my need for information is sated. For now.” “Good. And now I guess we have to get to my gritty stuff, right?” I nodded. “I fessed up. Now it’s your turn.” “Okay.” He grabbed his mug of tea and drunk half of it before setting it back on the table. He settled his arms around me again, linking his fingers on my back, and looked up. “Let’s see… When we were little, Mish and Aaron were constantly following our parents around. They wanted to know every last bit of the business. My dad tried for about a year to get me interested, but I just didn’t care. I didn’t have the right head for it. “Then we got older, and while they started internships and work experiences, I started sleeping with girls. Yeah. I was that knobhead.” He laughed. “I studied photography at A-level in college just to make up the number of courses I needed to take and fell in love with it. It was so calm and quiet compared to my rowdy, devil-may-c
He pulled on his pants and I grabbed some shorts and a T-shirt from my room. When I came back out, Ivan handed me a cup of coffee and grabbed his cup of tea. I smiled as we settled on the sofa, facing each other, my legs hooked over his. He tugged the coffee table closer so we could reach from this position. Then he wrapped his arms around me and linked his fingers behind my back.“Okay. Just…talk,” he said.“Um. Okay.” I settled my fingers against the top of his stomach. The lump in my throat was the only thing stopping bile coming up—I knew it. “Well, I went to my parents’ house yesterday. I needed to get out of the city to think. Of course, my batshit crazy nana was there, so I got more of an ass-kicking than I did thinking. But anyway, she made me realize that you have to face your fears if you’re ever going to get over them. So. Here I am. Fear-facing.”Ivan’s thumbs stroke my back gently, a
Tyler, sitting on the floor, his back against my door, throwing a tennis ball at the wall opposite him. One of his legs was bent up, the other stretched out. I watched him throw the ball, catching it one-handed every single time.I opened my mouth to talk to him, but he beat me to it.“I’ve been sitting here like a fucking idiot for about four hours. I have no idea why. At first, I thought you were in. Then I remembered you went out of town. Fuck knows where. No one will tell me where or why you went. So I sat down and started playing with this. Hit your neighbor’s door a few times. He invited me in, but I said I’d rather sit here. Got hungry and ordered pizza.” He knocked on the box next to him. “Sat here like a fucking teenage boy hung up on some girl he’s never gonna get.”My chest tightened when he looked at me. I’d never seen his eyes so empty, so dull.“That’s what I think. You know t
“I nearly lost my life!” I almost shouted. “How is that nothing? What if, next time, it’s worse? What if, next time, I do lose?”Nana’s face softened, but her eyes hardened. She leaned forward in her chair and pointed a wrinkly finger at me. “You listen to me, my girl, and you listen to me well. You’re not afraid of committing. You’re not afraid of hurting anyone. The thing you fear is weakness. It’s commendable, really, but also complete crap. The only person you’re hurting is yourself—and this boy. You’re stringing you both along because of your naivety. That’s what it is. What you are. Naïve. You think love pops up for every Tom, Dick, and Harry?”Her words stung.“It doesn’t. It isn’t something you can throw around. If you can sit there and tell me it wouldn’t kill you to walk away from him, then that’s exactly what you should do.&rdqu
“You look like you have a face slapped with a wet fish,” Nana said. “Have you been salmon fishing?”“It’s not salmon season, Nana,” I replied. “And I don’t fish.”“Not salmon season? It flamin’ well is! A bit cold for July though. Hey, Steve. Put the heat on. I’m turning into a snowman.”I raised an eyebrow at Mom. “July? Nana, it’s March.”“No, it’s July. I specifically remember arranging my next visit here for July.”“Mother,” Mom said softly. “You did. We talked about it yesterday. You said you’d come back in July.”Nana blinked at her. “Oh. Did we?”Mom noded. “Yes. You said you wanted to come up in salmon season because you wanted fresh salmon.”Nana tilted her head to the side. “Oh. Oh, all right. That would explain the temperature. Still, get t
“I don’t know his past and he doesn’t know mine.”“Because you’re refusing to talk about it. Yeah, we talk. Just because we’re guys doesn’t mean we don’t talk about this shit. I called him a hundred times with Dayton—he’s more like my brother than anything. I know how he feels about you, Brenda. He’s told me. And let me tell you if you’d asked me six months ago if I ever thought he’d be this serious about a woman, I would have laughed at you.” His lips twitch. “I did laugh when he told me. I thought he was kidding, but he isn’t.”“It’s not just a snap decision. I can’t clap my hands together and know. I’m not holding off to protect myself. I’m doing it to protect him.”“Ivan’s a big boy. He can protect himself. I’ve seen him do it several times.”I put my face in my hands then ran my finger
I stifled a yawn as I followed Aaron around the new bar. They landed back in Seattle minutes after Ivan and I did, and Day took one look at me and told Aaron to bring me there.She’d taken Ivan to get coffee, and I sworn, if she was pulling her matchmaking shit, I would kill her.“What do you think?” Aaron asked.I looked around the building. Then, it was carnage in there. Builders were everywhere. There was dust and wooden planks and whatever in every single possible place. But looking at the plans in my hand—Aaron’s vision—I saw it.“I think it’s gonna be the best damn cocktail bar in the city,” I said honestly.“Good answer.” He grinned. “It should be ready to go in two weeks. When do you have to tell Donny you’re leaving?”“I’ll go by when I leave here and tell him. I’ll give him a week’s notice then take a week off.”
“I’m not afraid of relationships. I have an addiction to sex, not a phobia of commitment.” His words stung. They did. Right from my head to my toes. “But yes. That’s the main reason I never pursued a relationship in London. Everyone there knew who I was and what I was worth. Here in Seattle, well. I guess I just never found someone worth having a relationship for.” His gaze burning into me. “Until now,” he finished. “I wish I could be that girl.” My words were so quiet that they were practically a whisper. It was true. I wished I weren’t afraid. I wished I could tackle him with the impulsiveness I tackled Aaron’s new bar with. I wished I could throw every piece of bullshit away and gave him the thing he wanted because He deserved it. He deserved happiness. He deserved smiles and security and certainty. Something I couldn’t offer. Ivan reached across the table and linked his fingers through mine. He lifted our ha
I said nothing, letting the moment linger. Letting his words hover between us, embracing them, holding on to them…getting addicted to them. To the underlying current of power in every syllable. To the smooth way he strung them all together and the way he never stopped to take a breath. To the inflection in the word ‘yours.’ Addicted to the way he didn’t have to think for a second about saying them. Addicted to the way they were making me feel. Safe. Warm. Cherished. Protected. Owned. I took a deep breath that shuddered through my body. The combination of his breath mingling with mine and the tingle of his palm against my neck was heady and intoxicating. The dizzy from his words and the response they’d elicited inside me, I wanted to give in. I wanted to tell him yes. I wanted to tell him we could do that. That, despite our addictions, two opposite poles, we could make it work. But I didn’t. I couldn’t—because I