Of course she was thinking about my daughter, worried about her.
I didn’t think she realized how goddamn sexy that was.
“Nell’s having a sleepover with her cousins,” I said. “That means I’m all yours, if you want it.”
I reached up and cupped her cheek, and she shivered all the way through her body, her eyes fluttering shut.
“So,” I went on, “you want it?”
Maggie inhaled…exhaled.
“Yes.”
THREE
maggie
The Nash Effect.
That’s what all the teachers called it…whispered about, said it like it was some kind of trick. I’d been fully convinced that I was, naturally, immune. I’d talked to him. Noticed he was attractive, hadn’t made it a thing. I was in love, I wassafe.
I guess I still felt safe in that moment…but I was absolutely falling under his spell.
He tilted his head, his breath warm against my lips. I thought he was going to kiss me, but he didn’t; he was taking his time, just…in my space, touching my face, his rough thumb gliding over my cheekbone.
He smelled like whiskey and aftershave.
I was drunk on it…and absolutelynotdrunk on those screwdrivers, which I was acutely aware were full of nothing but orange juice.
I was making this decision of sound mind, which almost made it worse.
“You can leave whenever you want,” he said, voice rough. “You change your mind…I stop. No hesitation. No guilt.”
The first place he kissed me was the hinge of my jaw. I let out this little sound. He didn’t seem even remotely surprised.
“But here’s what’s gonna happen next, and I want to be clear, because we’ve been hedging around it.”
Another kiss to my throat. I tilted my head to give him better access, closing my eyes.
“I’m going to undress you right here at the bar…and you’re going to sit all pretty and naked for me on this barstool while I kneel in front of you and lick your pussy. I’m going to lick you until you come. More than once, probably.”
Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god.
“I won’t take you upstairs until you know you want to stay,” he said. “But then, I’m gonna lay you down in my bed and I’m gonna lick you some more. I want to eat your pussy all night, Maggie Laine. Which means that when I get inside you, you’re gonna be nice and wet and open for me.”
It had never been more clear that this was not Bryce. Bryce would never.
“You good?” he asked, pulling back to look into my eyes.
I took a ragged breath. “So good.”
He pulled away just enough to reach for the hem of his shirt, then he pulled it over his head and tossed it on the floor. Okay…yes, he worked out. He was broad-shouldered, perfectly built, with a dusting of silver hair on his chest. His muscles twitched, and I followed the trail of them down to his belt buckle, where he had that—I’d never seen it in real life—that V of muscle like an arrow straight down to his?—
“You wanna take off your clothes for me, Maggie?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, so fast it surprised even me.
“Come on, then.”
