Chapter Four
Ishook my head, staring through my windshield at the woman who seemed to have taken not only my ability to speak, but my balls.
Damn.I ran a hand over my jaw. She was something else. Which reminded me—I still didn’t know her name.
I shouldn’t have been lusting after her, considering the fact that she might be pregnant with another man’s child, but I couldn’t help it. She’d been so brazen, so bold. And I’d never met another woman like her.
It wasn’t just her looks that had attracted my attention—though, she was quite possibly the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. It was her personality, her entire demeanor. She was confident, in control, but beneath it all, I sensed a hidden vulnerability that made her even more beautiful.
And I’d met a lot of beautiful women in my life—slept with a decent number of them too. Usually, though, they were docile and almost too eager to please. That or they played games, thinking it would hold my interest longer. Tried to manipulate me so I’d put a rock on their finger and ask them to be Mrs. Hunter Pruitt.
News flash: I saw right through them.
But with this woman—there was no pretense. No games. And it was refreshing. She spoke her mind, and she was quick on her feet. She was a firebrand, and I liked it. No, I fucking loved it.
I kept wondering why the temptress thought I was in a relationship. I wasn’t sporting a wedding band.
It wasn’t until I’d reached the bottom of the basket and spotted the tampons that I’d realized why.Kate.The little cockblocker. Though, it was only fair, considering the number of times I’d scared guys away from her.
It was probably for the best, I thought as I pulled out of the parking lot. I’d been celibate for nearly a month, and I wasn’t going to fuck up now. Not when I was so close to winning.
* * *
“I can’t fucking believeyou went a month without sex,” Preston said the following evening, arms resting on the bar.
We’d just finished another round of shots, and he was nursing his beer. Several women had approached, despite the fact that we clearly weren’t interested. Preston because he was heartbroken, and me… Well, I told myself it was because I hadn’t come to pick up women. I’d come to help Preston forget and then move on. But I knew it was more complicated than that. I was gun-shy after the last woman had robbed me, but I also couldn’t stop thinking abouther.
The temptress at Target. The woman who had starred in my fantasies last night. The woman I shouldn’t want, but did.
“Well, I did.” I stared him in the eye, challenging him to deny it.
“Did your dick shrivel up and die?” he joked, taking another swig.
“It certainly feels like it, but no. You should know what it feels like. You went nearly a year without having sex.”
“Yeah, but it was worth it. I would wait ten years if it meant having sex with Alexis again.” He frowned, staring down at the label of the bottle as he peeled it.
Shit.I knew he was hurting over his breakup, and I hadn’t meant to throw it in his face. I sucked at this—feelings. Which was why getting him drunk had been my solution.
Still, his comment stuck with me, and I wondered if I’d been going about this all wrong. Maybe the reason sex had become routine, boring, lately wasn’t because I was bored with sex, but rather the women I was having it with.
When I thought about it, they were all pretty much the same. They might look different, feel different, but none of their personalities stood out. There was no spark, as Preston called it. There was nothing except sex, and even the sex lacked heat.
And on that depressing thought…
“Another round of shots,” I called, loud enough for the bartender to hear.
When they appeared moments later, I took one myself, holding it up for a toast. “To moving on.”
Preston didn’t lift his glass, a frown marring his face. “I don’t want to move on.”
Okay, maybe it was a little too soon. They had just broken up after all. But I was glad he’d put himself out there again. He may have gone a little overboard in the commitment department, but Preston actually wanted to get married, have a family. Me? Well, I was destined to be a perpetual bachelor.
I lowered my glass. “What’s so special about her?” I asked, genuinely curious. I’d never met a woman I wanted to spend more than a few nights with. So, to find someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with was…incomprehensible.
“One day,” Preston said, his speech slurred. He rarely drank, and he was such a lightweight, it was laughable. “One day, you’ll meet a woman so remarkable, so incredible, she’ll tilt your entire world on its axis.”
I scoffed, downing my shot—toast or not.
