I choked on my wine. Once I could breathe again, I gasped in air. “Y-you were in jail?”
“Why are you surprised?” he asked dryly, stopping the whirlpool. “Look at my lifestyle. Of course I was in jail. Just got out, actually. Still want me in your bed?”
For once in my life, I was speechless.
I mean, I knew what he did for a living, and I knew he didn’t live on the right side of the law. But still . . . jail? I tried to picture him in one of those prison jumpsuits instead of jeans and a blue shirt, and failed. “Like I said, it’s just a platonic sharing of the same bed. I promise not to kick you in the middle of the night. Or slit your throat.”
His grip tightened ever so slightly on the glass, and he shook his head once. “It’s not smart to be around people when you’re at your weakest. I don’t open myself up to that shit. That’s a death wish in my world, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, well, not in mine.” I rested a hand on his hard biceps. “It’ll be fine. I’ll keep to my side of the bed, and you can keep to yours. We can even put pillows between us, if you want.”
“I don’t want anything between us,” he said, a hint of a smirk coming into play. “But you’re not ready for that yet.”
Oh, I would beg to differ. My body was perfectly ready for that. I just wasn’t going to give it what it wanted. It would be too risky. Crazy. Insane.
And oh so stupid.
“I’m not interested in that at all, and time won’t change my mind.” I leaned close and trailed my fingers over his jawline, much like he had done to my cheek earlier. His eyes narrowed, and I had the distinct impression that he was like a tiger, ready to pounce at the slightest provocation on my part. “Like I said a million times: Not. My. Type.”
He caught my wrist, his grip firm but gentle. “Give me one minute of your time, and I can show you just how not your type I am, sweetheart.”
When he said that with his Boston accent, the round sound catching on that ar syllable, it made my heart skip a beat or three. I tossed back the rest of my wine before I smiled up at him, batting my lashes. “Oh, honey, you’d need to do a lot more than that to impress a girl like me.”
“Oh, honey, I highly doubt that. Ask me to do it. Ask me to touch you.” He stepped closer, setting down his glass and taking mine out of my hand, too. “You won’t regret it.”
“Nope.” I shivered and pressed my legs together to try to assuage the ache between them. It didn’t help. “Not happening.”
“Squeezing those hot little thighs together won’t help you, sweetheart. Only I can make you feel better. Only I can take that ache away . . . and all you have to do is ask.” With his voice lowered, he dropped his head down so his mouth was pressed to my ear. “Ask me, darlin’. I dare you.”
Damn it, why had I told him I never backed down from a dare? Even now, I wanted to do it. Only because he’d dared me to, of course. Not because I wanted him—oh hell. Who was I kidding? I wanted him to. And that was why this whole thing was so scary. I knew he’d bring me nothing but trouble, and yet I still wanted him with every single breath I took. I pressed a hand to his chest. “I—oh my God.”
He nibbled on my ear, his hand dipping between my legs to brush against my core before pulling away teasingly. “No more till you say it, Heidi. Say the word I need to hear. Say yes.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say no. To protect what little bit of strength I had to keep him at arm’s length. To reject him. But after that half-assed kiss he’d given me in the bar, followed by the kiss he’d just barely tolerated later on, and now that soft caress between my thighs . . .
A part of me wanted to feel what a real kiss from him would be like. And I also wanted to know what it would feel like to be wanted by a man like Lucas, even if only for a minute. Even if only on a dare.
He cupped my hip, stepping even closer. “Go on. You know you want to. I’ll make it worth your while.”
“I don’t want you.”
“I know,” he said, lowering his mouth to my earlobe. He bit down on it, his hand creeping over my butt at the same time. “You said that already . . . repeatedly.”
“I don’t—” When his fingers brushed my core, I broke off. Everything inside of me tightened and screamed out with need. Need for him. “Screw it. You get one minute, and one minute only. After that, we’re—” Before I’d even finished my sentence, his mouth was on mine, and words were no longer possible.
CHAPTER 9
LUCAS
The instant she gave me the green light, I was on her. I wasn’t gonna waste a single second of the minute I’d been given to blow her socks off. While I had no intention of fucking her tonight, she needed to stop fooling herself into thinking she didn’t want this. Didn’t want me.