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I look over at Stella, my arm around her. “Why don’t you tell them.” She gives me a look and I place my other hand gently on her thigh just beneath the table, out of anyone’s eyesight. I lean in, whispering just low enough for her to hear, “And make sure it’s good.”
“Um, well.” She grabs my hand that’s on her thigh and tries to remove it but fails. “Atlas was a regular at the coffee shop I work at.”
“Worked at,” I clarify.
“Right, so he came in all the time and we made small talk and flirted and next thing you know, he was asking me out.” I squeeze her thigh tighter. “I actually turned him down at first,” she says, making everyone laugh. “And I thought if a man is willing to beg for a date, then what else is he willing to do?” With her wit and charm, she has the entire table eating out of the palm of her hand and I love it.
To me and everyone at this table, Stella is a fresh breeze in a stale world of uptight trust fund babies and people so consumed with their image or making a connection. She’s just her, unapologetically. I slide my hand between her thighs, making her almost falter as she lifts her glass.
“But I think we all know well enough that I always get what I want.” I settle my gaze on her as she sips her water. “In all seriousness though, she is the most amazing and complex woman I’ve ever met.” I brush her hair over her shoulder, admiring her beauty. She stares back at me, unsure if I mean what I’m saying. “I knew the second I saw her, I had to have her. I had to make her mine.” I lean in, planting the softest kiss on her lips. “Forever.”
She’s completely lost in my eyes, her lips parted. She extends her hand for a brief second like she’s going to rest it against my chest, but then she snaps out of it. The icy coolness is back in her expression, her smile hollow as the table peppers us with questions.
I turn my attention to Frank, talking through a recent issue we’re dealing with at work, Stella still talking to Maureen. Soon, the entire table is engrossed in the appetizers that appear and cocktails that continue to flow.
“How are you doing?” I ask Stella, tilting her chin to look at me.
“Fine.”
“If you’ll excuse us for a moment.” I smile to the table, lifting Stella’s elbow so she stands with me. I usher her though the room toward the bar.
“Are you going to punish me all night?” I motion toward the bartender and order us both another drink.
“I’m not punishing you; I’m angry at you.”
“For?” I reach out for her, but she pushes my arm away. I reach for her again and pull her toward me. “I told you earlier, put on a happy fucking face tonight. These people don’t need to see you angry or pushing me away. So act like we’re head over goddamn heels,” I scold, reaching for the drinks from the bartender. I place them on the bar and face her.
“You know why. It’s like you go out of your way to make me feel less than or unwanted. Telling me I’m an inconvenience is a helluva way to start a marriage,” she hisses.
“I didn’t mean it to sound that way.” She rolls her eyes again and it pisses me off. “I’m about to drag you into that bathroom and give you a fucking reason for your eyes to be in the back of your head like that.” I reach out and grab her, pulling her toward me till our lips meet. The kiss is aggressive and heated but within a second it switches. My hands are on her waist, up her back, hers in my hair, both of us completely lost in each other’s touch. I break contact, remembering we’re in public. “Fuck.”
“Uh-oh.” She looks down to where my cock is pressing into her hip. “I hope you don’t think that’s an apology.”
I laugh, dragging my hand over my face. “You are something else,” I mutter. “Will you please just let us handle this thing between us when we get home tonight?”
“Fine, but you have to listen to me. I’m tired of you just throwing this contract in my face like I’m an idiot. There’s more to what I’m saying and you know that. I’m not asking for a relationship, but come on.”
I stare at her for a moment, unsure what to say because we’re entering territory that I wasn’t planning on entering. I didn’t think out how I would include this person in my life. Call me an idiot but I thought anyone would jump at the chance to be left alone and get paid millions to show up to a few dinners here and there.
“Deal.” I give her a warm smile, then reach behind her neck to pull her tightly against me. “But don’t think for one moment I won’t punish you if you push the boundaries again and try to defy me. If you choose to disobey me, Stella, I will make damn sure you learn a hard lesson. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.”
“Good, now when we sit back down”—I pull her even closer, leaning in to run my lips over hers—“you better act like you are so over the moon happy in love with me that all you want to do is have my babies.” I kiss her gently. “And suck my cock.”
She more than sells it. I’m more than half convinced that she is in love with me. The way she smiles when she talks to me or about me, her hand reaching up to cup my cheek, the sexy way she’s drawing little circles against my forearm. By the time we leave the restaurant, it feels like this was never an inconvenience. It’s starting to feel real.
“Thank you,” I say, reaching over to hold her hand on the way home. I twist my fingers around hers, wanting so bad to pull her into my lap. She closes her eyes, settling back against the seat the rest of the drive home.
“Good night.” The second we’re through the front door, she’s walking up the stairs toward her bedroom.
“I thought we were talking.”
“I don’t feel like it.” She continues up the stairs and turns the corner down the hallway. I take the stairs two at a time after her, lengthening my stride to catch her door just as she slams it shut.
“Go to my bedroom.”
She spins around. “No.” Her brow furrows. “I’m tired. I’m changing and going to bed.”
