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He'd be back for more, but there were far more important things to resolve first. Like how he was going to get Sam to speak to him again. Logan had said not to be half-assed. Was letting her go out with this guy instead of saying Hell no doing that? If he was being absolutely truthful, the only choice he wanted to give her was to belong to him and Chris.
Sitting in his car, he grimaced. He'd fucked up; he had to take his lumps. If she went through with the date, which she was probably going to do just to show how much he'd pissed her off, he wasn't going to stand in her way. He'd grin and bear it, let her go out with Mr. Asshole without making a peep about it. Even if every minute she was with the guy, Geoff would visualize burying him up to his neck in sand and dumping fire ants on his screaming face.
If she came home from the date and said she'd found the love of her life, he'd impale himself on a railroad spike. But if she didn't, he'd make his feelings clear then. Make things right.
It still felt fucked up. Christ, he wished Chris were home.
***
Sam put the finishing touches on her makeup. Why was she doing this? She should have canceled, no matter what Geoff had said. But he'd been so adamant. And such a horse's ass about it. "Go on the damn date." So fine, she'd go on the damn date. If Mark from Records ended up being the Dom of her hottest, wildest dreams, Geoff would have no one to blame but himself.
Yeah, she wasn't seeing that. Mark had some nice qualities and was handsome enough, but he didn't give her that Dom sense Geoff did. Was that a deal breaker for a relationship with her now? After one almost-there session with Geoff, was she that deep in her fantasies and desires that she couldn't adjust them back to mainstream relationship dynamics?
No, it was more than that. When she fantasized while using her vibrator, it was all about commands and restraints, spankings and more than spankings. It wasn't a sudden whim. Usually when a girl hadn't dated anyone in a long while, all she could think about when it came to sex was finding someone with whom she could have a halfway decent experience. One that would come with a good emotional connection that "might" lead to an in-love relationship.
In contrast, all she could think about was Geoff and Chris, and things that were far beyond that. She wanted sex that involved kneeling at their feet and exploring the deepest levels of surrendering her soul to another . . .
But Geoff wanted proof she hadn't let some weird thing happen during the Anthony disaster where she thought Geoff and Chris were her only options, the only men she could ever trust again. Which was bullshit. She knew what her feelings were and she should have said them straight out to Geoff. She'd been set back on her heels and reactionary, instead of saying what she should have said. Adamantly. It has nothing to do with Anthony, and everything in the world to do with the two of you.
"'Go on the damn date,'" she mimicked at the mirror. "He can be such an ass."
Because she was mad, she knew she might have overdone her outfit for a casual date. Rather than the jeans and pretty top she would have worn to hang out in a trendy bar with coworkers, she was wearing a short lavender dress with a fitted bodice that had a scoop neckline. The point of the bodice stopped at the abdomen and scalloped over her hips, framing them before it gave way to the skirt, a romantic fall of soft lavender gauze pleats with a flirty hem that stopped just above the knee. The back of the dress had faux lacings like a corset.
She'd put it with strappy heels and some simple silver jewelry. Because she'd needed a touch of whimsy, she'd added the sparkling Tinker Bell pendant Chris had given her after he and Esteban's crew had spent a couple of weeks down in the Orlando area. He hadn't gone to Disney World, but he'd seen the castle at a distance, and he'd been excited about all of them going sometime. Even though Geoff looked at him like he thought his roommate had lost his mind, she thought it would be tremendous fun to visit the park with them.
Stop it. Think of Mark. She turned in a circle. The dress was fine for a date. She looked pretty but not slutty, though any man's eyes would be drawn to the gentle swell of her breasts over the scoop top and the hint of her legs through the gauzy skirt. Because of her height and metabolism, she tended to be on the thin side, so the style
pumped up the breasts a bit, and the skirt gave her hips more of a flare. Geoff hadn't ever behaved like he thought she had a boyish figure, though. She'd been teased about being a scarecrow at school, so the first time Chris had looked at her and said she was like Liv Tyler's Tolkien elf, the beautiful Arwen, he'd won a million points in her mind.
Good grief. Mark, Mark, Mark. Tonight was about Mark. She was going out on a date with Mark, who had a nice smile, green eyes and thick dark hair. He went to the gym and did the CrossFit stuff, so all the bank ladies said he had a hot body. She might get up close and personal with it tonight. Who knew?
Pushing down any thoughts to the contrary, no matter that there were enough of them to overflow a mini-storage unit, she put her lipstick into her small evening bag, spritzed some fragrance in the air in front of her and walked through it as she left the bathroom.
Geoff was sitting on the couch, working on his laptop as usual, though he had the news on the TV. He kept his gaze moving between both screens. Fine.
"I'll see you later."
"Yeah, okay. Have a good time."
She'd put her lipstick in the bag without putting any on her lips, so she took it out, uncapped it. She took her time, applying it delicately to her mouth, using her compact mirror to make sure she didn't draw outside the lines. She coated it with gloss, spreading it with a finger, then cleaned her fingertip on a napkin. Pursing her lips, she wetted them further. When she glanced left and saw him looking, finally, she turned on her heel so she was halfway facing him. He looked back at his computer before she could meet his eyes, though.
Fine. Be an asshole.
She put her gloss into her purse. "I'll text if I'm going to be out later than expected. Or not back until morning."
"What?" That got his attention. She glanced at him, all casual-like.
"It's the twenty-first century, Geoff. Men and women on first dates sometimes hit it off and decide to have nostrings-attached sex. Kind of a trial run before the relationship goes any further."
"It would be that easy for you?" His eyes fired up. "Just screw him as a test drive?"
"No, it would not be that easy. No easier than it is for me to walk out this door when I know what you feel about me and I feel about you, but you said go on the damn date. So fine, I'm going on the damn date. And fuck you, by the way, for being a prick about it."
He tossed the laptop next to him on the couch and straightened, spreading his hands out in an angry gesture. "I was just trying to look out for your best interests."
"Oh, don't even." She shot him a stormy look. "You're worried about what you want from me, Geoff, and whether or not I can handle it. Whether or not it will destroy our friendship. Well, I think we're strong enough to take the risk, all three of us. So don't you put this on me. You're the holdup. Until you green-light, we can't. Yes, I get that that's more pressure on you, but, hell, you thrive on pressure. You're so revved when you work a case you practically glow like a lightbulb. I don't understand why this decision has you cowering."
He surged up from the couch, the look on his face making her take a step back, but he stopped there, fists clenching, hazel eyes narrowed.
