“Yes. They are beautiful, but why all the fussing and threatening for shoes?” The suede heels were nude in color with a white heel that was just the right height. The top of the shoes fastened into perfect bows.
“I want you to wear them for me on our date tonight.”
“Back to that, are we?”
I took a deep breath and released it. “One way or another you are going on this date with me, so tell me what I need to do to make it okay with you?”
Her annoyed expression transformed into interest as she seemed to mull it over. When a sly grin appeared, I felt the stirrings of dread. I always seemed to forget this wasn’t the same girl I tortured mercilessly in the hallways of our school.
“Is this my glass slipper?”
“If I say yes, will you go out with me?”
“You could ask me—”
“I did—”
“On your knees.”
The gleam in her eye told me she found it funny, but I knew she was serious. She wanted me to beg.
Like hell I would beg.
But I knew another way to make her agree.
I sunk to my knees without argument while holding her gaze. She wore a satisfied smirk that quickly disappeared when I gripped her around her hips and yanked her forward.
For once, she didn’t talk. Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she stared down at me. Desire mingled with nervousness in her eyes, and I could tell she wanted what was about to happen. It’s been way too fucking long.
“Keiran, wait—”
“No, baby. You wanted me to beg, right?” I pulled down her shorts. My hands were already ripping away her panties by the time they fell to her ankles. “Then let me beg.”
I nearly salivated at the sight of her bare *. I couldn’t wait another second and wasn’t about to. I gripped her left leg behind her knee and settled it on my shoulder while holding her gaze. She gripped my shoulders with her small hands, and I relaxed when I realized she wasn’t going to push me away.
My mouth descended early, and at the first swipe of my tongue, I felt her shiver and had to grip her tighter to keep her from falling. Her breathing was already heavy and deep, and as I continued to taste her, it became uneven. Her nails dug into my shoulders painfully, but it only spurred me to take more from her.
By the time she came, I was ready to skip the dinner reservations and eat her all night.
*
The drive was silent, and I had a hard time containing my drool. I managed to convince Lake to go to dinner after I made her come twice.
After I was done, she so very sweetly whispered over her labored breathing, “Happy Birthday” and then silently started to dress.
I found myself feeling happy it was my birthday for the first time ever. She was dressed in a pale pink and cream strapless dress that hugged her torso and flirted loosely around her legs.
The restaurant I took her to was one reluctantly recommended to me by Sheldon when I called her. It took a lot of convincing and bribing, but I managed to enlist her help setting up the night.
It might have been my birthday, but the night was for her. One way or another, I would win her over.
We arrived at the modern yet upscale restaurant, and then we were seated immediately. I could tell she had something on her mind and waited until after we placed our order to ask.
“What’s wrong?”
“If I said nothing, would you believe me?”
“There’s a slim to none chance.”
“I’m not sure I want to do this with you. We’ve attempted to be friends in the past and it only ended badly, particularly for me.”
“And that was our first mistake. We aren’t meant to be friends, Lake.”
“I don’t know if I can trust you enough to be more than enemies.”
“What do I have to do?”
“Talk.”
“Talk?” I repeated and then it dawned on me what she meant. Lake—”
“It’s what I want. Take it or leave it.”
I didn’t think this was a conversation to have over dinner, but I knew she wouldn’t back down. “What do you want to know?”
“I want to know what happened to you. Everything. You can start from the beginning if that helps.”