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Laura flushed. He’d called her Freckles. No one had done that since she’d broken Billy Raines’ nose in kindergarten. And gotten the tar beat out of her by her stepfather for it. But no one had ever bothered her in school again either, so she thought it might have been an even trade.
For some reason, though, coming from him, it didn’t seem like a bad thing.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He gave her a crooked half smile. “You said that already,” he said with an easy southern drawl. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. How about we have a drink and talk first? Then if you’ve still changed your mind, I’ll go.”
Laura hesitated a second and then nodded, stepping back and going to the small table that held a pitcher of water and a bottle of wine. Her hand hovered over the water, then on impulse she grabbed the wine and poured two glasses.
Rafe was beside her, picking up the second before she realized it, but it didn’t startle her.
“Want to sit down?”
She nodded again, and they sat at opposite ends of a plush couch in front of a window that looked out over the Vegas strip.
“Have you done this before?” she blurted out.
Rafe just blinked.
“Not had sex. I’m sure you’ve done that. I mean, I hope—not that men always do. I just… shoot, just kill me now,” she finished, dropping her head and looking away so she wouldn’t see the derision on his face.
When he answered, his voice was kind, though. “I have had sex before. I’ve also taken someone's virginity before.”
She peeked sideways at him. He was smiling, but there was no mocking on his face. “You have?”
“Yup. Lisa Bronson. We were both fifteen.”
She sucked in a sharp breath, then let it out. That was good, right? That meant he had experience.
“Are you a member of this club?”
“Honestly, I haven’t lived anywhere long enough in the last seventeen years to be a club member, but I’ve been a guest at clubs like this all over the world.”
“So you prefer things…not vanilla?”
“Usually, but I understand your boundaries and I have no problem abiding by them.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t really have a good answer for that, other than it felt right to say yes to this offer.”
“Do you always trust your instincts?”
“I do. They’ve saved my life many times.”
For some reason, that reassured her. “Ok, then I guess we should get started,” she said, leaning forward and placing her still full glass of wine on the table.
She jolted when he placed his hand over hers.
“Slow down, little lady,” he said, his voice soft even as his thumb rubbed small circles on her hand.
Laura sucked in a sharp breath, fighting back tears. She looked away, blinking furiously. She had no idea why. This was all just overwhelming, and they hadn’t even done anything yet. He was just holding her hand in his much larger one. Laura breathed out. That felt nice.
“Laura?” he asked, and she shivered, hearing his deep voice like a caress of her name.
When she didn’t answer, he tugged her hand just a little, letting her know what he wanted, but still leaving it up to her. Finally, she turned and looked at him. His face was unreadable now.
“I need you to be honest with me. I’m going to ask you two questions, ok?”
