Holy shit! That was close. For a second there, while she tossed out insults like arrows, I thought I’d lost her. I thought she’d never calm down enough to let me explain.
The crap she says about herself makes me sick to my stomach. That a woman this beautiful could have such little respect for her body is astounding. I take her belittling herself as a personal insult. I almost grin at the challenge she’s set before me, to prove to her that she’s so much more than the “easy stripper.” Her body and the honor of pleasuring it should be a prize to be won, not a tool to be passed around as she claimed the other night. My competitive nature digs in, hell bent on proving her wrong.
I take purposeful steps back to my table, making sure to stay at her side rather than drag her behind me.
As we get closer, she stops. “Oh . . .”
Ta-da! Now she understands.
I encourage her to walk with me with a gentle tug on her arm and tuck her to my side as we step up to the table.
“You’re back.” Eve’s smiling between Trix and me, her hand interweaved with Cameron’s.
“We are.” I squeeze the tense girl at my side. “I’d like you guys to meet Trix. Trix, this is Cameron Kyle, my boss, and Eve, his girlfriend.”
I can almost feel the heat of her blush against my skin as she burrows deeper into me. “Hi, nice to meet you guys.”
Cameron’s glare moves between us, and his jaw gets soft. “You too.”
“Girl, I hate to be annoying, but seriously where did you get those shoes? They’re hot!” Eve hops off her stool and studies Trix’s shoes. “Cameron, do you see these things?”
Cam grins, and Trix pulls away from me enough so that she can lift her foot up for Eve to study it. They go back and forth, some shit about websites and mall stores that I mostly ignore. When I turn away from the convo, I find my boss staring at me.
“What?”
His shoulders bounce with silent laughter. “Nothing, man.”
“Shut up.” I fight my own smile, knowing exactly what the guy’s thinking.
I’ve moved on from Eve and am now chest deep into feeling for another woman, who’ll probably destroy me.
As I look down at Trix, all decked out and showing off her best assets, my blood roars. Either this girl has worked some kind of voodoo witchery on my ass, or she’s the most alluring woman on the face of the planet. On paper, I wouldn’t give a woman like Trix a second glance. Even as the thought moves through my thick fucking skull, shame weighs heavy in my gut. She’s a stripper, loose with her morals and her body, but that’s not who I see when I’m with her. It’s the woman inside, beneath the skin-tight clothes, colored hair, and makeup, and damn if even covered in all that she isn’t stunning.
“If you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna skip out.” I give Cam a chin lift and fist bump Eve. “Thanks for the movie.” They regard me in a knowing way that makes me want to flip them both off.
The girls say good-bye, and we find Angel to let her know I’m taking Trix home. They share a quick hug before I pull Trix from the room, eager to hear her apology.
I’m barely out of The Blackout parking lot when she huffs. I wait knowing that she’s most likely working up the strength it takes for a strong woman like Trix to swallow her pride.
“Mason . . .”
Here it comes. I pivot and lift one eyebrow.
She turns toward me, angling her sexy little body in that short skirt and off-the-shoulder top. “You’re such a dick!”
Laughter bursts from my lips, and if I weren’t driving, I’d double over with the force of it. “I’m a dick? What did I do?”
Her sweet lips are pulled wide in a playful grin that reminds me of that picture she showed me of when she was a teenager. “You let me believe you were on a date, for like, minutes.” She shakes her head slowly, eyes tight, but still smiling. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted to see me jealous.”
Jealous. Is that what she was? I never really thought past the fact that she was just pissed at seeing me with another girl, not because of her feelings for me, but because she felt betrayed in some way.
“Is that . . .?” I clear my throat. “You were jealous?”
I keep my eyes to the road, but catch her expression fall as she turns to face forward. “Well, yeah, I think I was.”
My heart slams in my chest, and I grip the steering wheel to keep from pulling her over to straddle my lap.
“That surprises you.”
Am I that obvious? “Um, yeah, a little. I didn’t realize you’d . . .” Had the same feelings for me as I had for you. How do I say what I want to say without freaking her out?
She doesn’t press for more, and dead air thickens between us before she angles toward me again. “Do you always play third wheel on other people’s dates? I gotta say it’s kinda sad.” Her teasing tone, having apparently moved on from the heavier conversation, catches me off guard.