“What? Don’t be ridiculous. Come inside.”
His eyes dropped down to point to my breasts. I was fully covered, but my silky robe wasn’t doing a damn thing to hide my pert nipples. They were poking through the lace of my bra and thin cover up, looking as anxious and excited as I felt. I folded my arms across my chest. “That’s your fault.”
“My fault?”
“Yes. If you weren’t all...” I waved my hand up and down. “…all dark and sexy looking, they wouldn’t be saluting you. And you kissed me. What do you expect?”
He grinned. “Dark and sexy looking?”
I rolled my eyes. “Just come in and sit down.”
“Okay. But I can’t guarantee I won’t be all sexy looking.”
I disappeared into my bedroom and left Dex sitting in the kitchen. After another rummage through my closet, I finally settled on a red dress that I loved. It was one of those colors that turned heads, and the only time I’d ever worn it was when I went out to a bar with my friends from work. I’d attracted more attention than I’d ever had that night. So much so, that I never wore it again. But tonight I was feeling greedy and wanted Dex to be unable to keep his eyes off of me the same way I seemed to be unable to keep mine off of him.
The look on Dex’s face told me I’d made the right decision when I walked into the kitchen. He was looking at some pictures of my nieces that I had hanging on the refrigerator and turned when he saw me.
“You look…” he trailed off. Then made a face. “Maybe you should change?”
I frowned. “You don’t like my dress?”
“I fucking love the dress.”
“I don’t understand.”
Dex walked to me. “You look beautiful. Red is definitely your color. But that dress…I’m going to get myself into trouble tonight, and I know it.”
Dex had taken me to one of the most exclusive spots on the Upper West Side. The Chapel restaurant was an old church converted into a high-end eatery. Featuring original stained glass windows, it was popular not only for the ambience but for its eclectic fusion cuisine. It took weeks, if not months, to get into this place.
Unfolding my cloth napkin, I said, “I’d ask how you managed a reservation, but I assume you can pretty much get whatever you want in this city.”
“Well, if that isn’t the most ironic statement of the year. I most certainly cannot get whatever I want. If that were true, I’d be underneath this table right now with my head between your legs.”
I clenched my muscles. “You’re such a horny bastard.”
He played with his watch. “I’ve never tried to hide that fact from you. And your face is turning redder than that gorgeous dress. You know you love the thought of my head buried beneath your skirt, my mouth getting you off. Admit it.”
I did.
“It’s a pleasurable thought, yes.”
“You’ve learned through the course of our talks that I’m damn good at what I do for a living, but what you haven’t yet realized is how damn good I am with my tongue. That’s not something I could have described in an interview, of course. It’s just something I’ll have to show you when the time is right.”
Dex had an unbelievable ability to appear so composed when he was talking dirty in public places. I would bet anyone watching him from afar could have easily assumed we were just talking business. I, on the other hand, was squirming in my seat.
He wiggled his brows. “By the way, I brought you something.”
“Oh?” I grinned.
He took it out of his inside pocket. It appeared to be another little wooden animal. Unlike the last one that he’d given me—that Jay had given me—this one was far from perfectly carved.
“I made this for you,” he said proudly.
“What is it?”
“It’s a goat. You can’t tell?”
“Oh, I see,” I lied. I couldn’t tell what it was. “This is all your handiwork?”
“Yes. I’ve been taking lessons from a master whittler. By the time he’s through with me, I plan to whittle you the world, baby.”
“That’s really not necessary. Why do you feel the need to continue that part of your fa?ade?”
“It’s not about that…at all. I think I accidentally developed respect for an art I’d originally made a mockery of. And now, I truly enjoy trying my hand at it. I’m also in a very disturbing, one-sided competition with a ten-year-old YouTuber.” He cracked a smile. “Is that weird?”
“Yes.” I laughed. “But you’re a little eccentric and weird yourself… in a good way. So, it fits.” I looked down at the barely recognizable goat. “This is precious, though. I’ll cherish it even more than the first one, because it’s really yours.”
“Good.” He winked.
After we finished our meal, my attention turned to a couple who’d just arrived. They were sitting diagonally across from us. The woman was tall and gorgeous and much younger than the man. Her blonde hair was parted to the side and pulled back into a low bun. A thin strand of pearls lay atop her champagne-colored, satin, sleeveless top. A bright red Birkin bag that I knew must have cost in the tens of thousands sat on the ground next to her seat.
When the woman’s date got up from the table, her eyes locked with mine before she started to type something.
Dex’s phone suddenly vibrated, prompting him to look down and check it. He then turned around and looked straight at the blonde. She was now smiling directly at us.
What the hell?
“Fuck,” he whispered under his breath.
“That woman just texted you?”
He gritted his teeth. “That’s Caroline.”
Caroline.
My stomach sank. Suddenly, the woman who had seemed attractive seconds ago became ten times more gorgeous in my mind—more threatening. I realized the mouth that was curved up in a smile was the same one that had been habitually wrapped around his “beautiful cock.”
Riddled with jealousy, I asked, “What did she just text you?”
Dex knew he wouldn’t be able to get away with hiding it, so he simply handed me the phone.
Caroline: So, this is the reason you won’t fuck me anymore…
I gave it back to him.
Caroline noticed that he’d shown me the text and began typing again.
When his phone buzzed, I asked, “What does it say?”
He reluctantly turned the screen toward me.
Caroline: Make sure you tell her that you like anal play.
A rush of adrenaline hit me. “Oh, really?” I huffed. “Good to know.”
Dex looked like he was getting angry. “She’s fucking with you, Bianca, because she sees you checking my phone.”
When Caroline’s date returned to the table, the texting stopped, and her attention turned back toward the older man who was wining and dining her.
“I’m sorry,” Dex said.
“It’s fine. We can’t change anything that happened before we met.”
He could clearly see that I wasn’t really okay when he said, “Let’s get out of here.”