Should be easy for Jonah to tear through those.
Simple diamond stud earrings—anything dangly would just get in the way later. Finally I step into my silver strappy sandals. Done.
I stand in front of the mirror, trying to see myself as Jonah will see me when he walks into the bar. Everything about me says sex. This is the kind of outfit that jackass rape apologists say means a woman is “asking for it.”
Tonight, I actually am. I’m asking for it.
In the hotel bar, I feel conspicuous. Certainly I stand out among the various travelers, most of whom are wearing dark, comfortable stuff that packs well. As I slide onto my bar stool, I have to cross my legs to keep from flashing the entire room. The bartender gives me an up-and-down look before saying, “What can I do for you?” Probably he thinks I’m a hooker searching for clients.
“I’ll have a cosmopolitan, please.” Not my usual poison. It seems like the kind of thing a girl in a trashy pink dress would order.
The bartender gets it to me quickly, just like he does the second one I order. I haven’t yet eaten dinner, so that’s more than enough to make my head swim. “Want another?” the bartender says.
I start to shake my head no, but then a deep voice says, “She’ll have one more. On me.”
Jonah is here.
How did he get in without my seeing him? Then I realize I’ve been staring at the way I came in—the entrance for hotel guests—and he walked through the door from the street. He’s dressed more casually than I am, in black jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt, cuffs pushed up nearly to his elbow. Jonah doesn’t look like a guy who’s here to cruise for women. He looks ready for action. Ready for anything.
Am I ready? Now that he’s here next to me, I don’t know. Yet I stay where I am.
He’s going to try to pick me up. My job is to shoot him down.
“One more cosmo for the lady?” the bartender asks, obviously giving me a chance to turn Jonah down. I don’t say anything.
Jonah answers for me. “One more. And bring me a scotch and soda.”
Once the bartender’s busy making our drinks, I speak to Jonah for the first time. “Thanks.”
He slides onto the bar stool next to mine. “You’re visiting town?”
I didn’t plan out a story for being here, so I keep it simple. “Just passing through.”
“On your own?”
“Mmm-hmm.” I turn my head from Jonah to accept my third cosmo. I don’t dare drink much of it, but I lift the glass, clink it against his tumbler of scotch, and say, “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” Jonah’s gaze rakes up and down my body, like he’s already claiming me for his own.
The bartender hurries off to deal with other guests, which leaves us alone.
“Hard to believe, a beautiful woman like you alone on a Friday night,” Jonah murmurs.
I shrug. One of the straps of my dress slides nearer the edge of my shoulder. “Happens to everybody, once in a while.”
With two fingers, Jonah pushes the strap back into place. His touch is so hot it seems to burn. “You wouldn’t have to be alone any longer than you wanted.”
“Sometimes we all need to be alone.”
“I can think of something else you need.”
Arousal and fear both spike within me at once. My head reels. “I’m doing just fine.”
Jonah smirks. “You must get this a lot. Attention from men, guys trying to pick you up. I think you like it.”
“Why would you think that?”
“That dress doesn’t say ‘leave me alone.’” He looks down at my legs, exposed almost to my ass. “It gives a different message.”
“The only message is—good night.” With that, I take my one sip of that last cosmo, then hop off the bar stool. Although the floor is slightly unsteady beneath my feet, I’m able to walk out smoothly, as if I’m paying no attention to Jonah behind me.
But I can hear every footstep as he follows me out.
My heart is pounding so hard that you can see it—the front of my dress rising and falling with my pulse. My cunt is so tight and hot that it almost hurts. This is it. This is really it.
Then my brain suddenly wakes up and takes over, as if someone had thrown a glass of ice water in my face. Are you really doing this? This is dangerous. You hardly know this man. Do you realize how fast your fantasy could become a very ugly reality?
I push the elevator button as Jonah comes to stand next to me. He smiles slowly. “Headed up to your room too, huh?”
“Yeah.” Nervously I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. We’re the only ones who get on the elevator. After I push sixteen, I glance at Jonah again. “Your room is on the sixteenth floor too?”
“They’ve got lots of rooms on the sixteenth floor. Right?”
I don’t answer.