He didn’t answer. He just groaned, because his hand had discovered the evidence of her arousal in the form of her very drenched panties.
“Jesus. You are hurting.” His gray eyes burned with passion. “My poor little bad girl.”
God, he was teasing her again. Blunt fingertips lightly stroked her clit, his touch featherlight and not nearly enough. Skyler’s head lolled to the side, but her eyes stayed open, fixed on the intensity sharpening his rugged features. Then something downright wicked flashed in his eyes and he slipped two fingers under the crotch of her panties.
After the endless torment of his verbal foreplay, her body was a lit fuse—and it exploded the second those long fingers drove deep. Skyler bit her lip as the orgasm shuddered through her. She bore down on Gage’s fingers and rocked into his hand, but the rush of pleasure faded fast. It hadn’t been enough, and he seemed to know it.
“That was just to take the edge off,” he said huskily.
Skyler rearranged her skirt with trembling hands. “It didn’t take the edge off at all,” she grumbled. “I’m hurting even worse now.”
“Aw, hell.” He looked genuinely concerned for a moment, then brightened up. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you off again in the cab on the way home.”
She choked back laughter as she followed him back to the street.
Chapter Eight
“Do you want to watch me fight tonight?”
That was the last thing Skyler expected to hear when she answered her phone. She didn’t normally take calls at work, but when her cell had buzzed in her apron and she’d spotted Gage’s number, she’d decided to make an exception. Although they’d seen and spoken to each other several times over the past week, it was still rare for him to be the one to reach out to her, so his taking the initiative to call brought a rush of happiness to her chest.
“I’m still working,” she told him, genuine regret washing over her. Not that she was a big fan of watching grown men beat the crap out of each other, but she really did want to see Gage. She couldn’t seem to get enough of the guy.
“What time are you done?” he asked.
“Well, we’re closing early tonight for a private party. I’m not working it, but I am helping with the setup, so I won’t be out of here until nine thirty-ish.”
“Fight’s not ’til ten.” He paused. “Is that too late for you? I know you woke up early this morning, so if you want to go home and sleep, I understand.”
His concern absolutely touched her. Honestly, she had no idea why he thought he sucked at relationships. He had an intense side, sure, but he also went out of his way to make sure her needs were met. Hell, he’d even cooked her dinner the other night. And he liked to snuggle. That already put him way ahead of her previous boyfriends.
“No, I want to see you fight,” she told him. “I’ll just chug some coffee at the end of my shift and I’ll be wide-awake.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“I’ll pick you up at nine thirty then.”
She was grinning like an idiot as she disconnected, same way she’d been grinning all week long. It was probably a good thing her roommates were always out, sparing her a ton of merciless teasing about how besotted she was.
She didn’t understand it herself. Gage was the furthest thing from her type. Big, burly, and tattooed. Strong and silent. Lots of baggage. He avoided talking about his background, but she knew it haunted him, whatever it was. Still, the fact that he kept so much of himself hidden only made her want to work harder to unlock him.
Skyler ducked out of the employee lounge and spent the next hour tending to her customers and trading wisecracks with the chefs over the pickup counter. Since they were closing early, there weren’t a lot of patrons left to serve—only two married couples, and a group of young men taking up residence in one of the rustic wooden booths against the back wall. The males flirted shamelessly with her as she dropped off their bill, but none of them sparked her interest. Nope, Gage was the only man capable of doing that.
She felt it the moment he walked into the steakhouse. Warmth flooded her body, the hairs on the back of her neck tingled, and sure enough, she turned to see him standing at the hostess stand, his hot gaze zeroing in on her like a missile. As her pulse sped up, Skyler smiled and gave a little wave, then gestured for him to wait at the bar.
He didn’t smile back, just swept those gray eyes over her body, a slow and deliberate up-and-down that heated her cheeks. Her uniform was by no means indecent—black pants and a fitted blue dress shirt—but the way he looked at her, she might as well have been naked with a big bow tied around her.
Skyler swallowed, scowling when she glimpsed the amused gleam in his eyes. He knew how easily he got to her. Knew what he did to her with one sultry look.