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“You wanted me, Vivian. Well, here I am,” he sneered.
“No. It’s part of you. It’s notyou.”
“Thisisme. It’s time you saw that for yourself so you can get the hell out now.”
“I’m not going to make it that easy for you.” I touched his cool face, eyes imploring his. He refused to budge an inch. “This is magical. We’re really not taking advantage.” I waggled my eyebrows, changing tactics. That didn’t work either.
I burrowed against him and wrapped my arm around his stomach, willing him to soften, even if only a little bit. Lightly, I brushed my lips against his, which only seemed to incense him further.
“You’ve made a good effort, but you’re not going to spoil my day,” I said against his ear. The ripple of a shiver betrayed his effort to appear completely emotionless. “Want to go check out the gondola after this?”
Well that got a response, but not quite what I expected.
“All this time we’ve spent together, you’ve been quick to point out your demands and expectations for thisrelationship, with which I have been compliant. Not once have you asked me what I want nor what I expect, so I think it’s time for me to lay some of it out for you.”
Finally. Now we’re getting somewhere.He’d said ‘relationship’ like it was a foul word that disgusted him, but I still took this as progress. “If you want your desires to be known, you have to voice them,” I told him, disentangling from him and straightening. This bullshit game he was trying to play wasn’t going to work. For a week he’d talked to me, and now he was hiding behind a wall. I saw it for exactly what it was, and the expression on my face told him as much.
“I’m sure the title you want is ‘girlfriend,’ and I’m willing to concede that. But I’m going to fuck other women whenever I so choose. I’m going to do it, and I’ll be honest with you about it.”
I laughed hard. In his face. He was too smart to believe I’d actually go for that.
“So you want to be like Hugh Hefner, and I’ll be Girlfriend Number One?” I asked.
“You’ll be the only girlfriend. The others, I’ll just fuck. You don’t have to watch…unless you want to.”
I unzipped my coat, this ridiculous conversation causing my temperature to rise. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing again and nodded as if to say I understood. “First of all, I neither want nor need a label—oh, excuse me. I meantitle. But if I were to have one, it would be ‘everything,’ not ‘girlfriend.’ I don’t play second fiddle. You can fuck all the women you want to, but when you come to tell me about it, I won’t be around to listen.”
“Second fiddle?” It was his turn to laugh, but it was cruel.What the fuck is he up to?“How about third or fourth? Would that suit you better?”
“I’m not just the fiddle. I’m the entire band.”
“Vivian, you’re going to have to learn to compromise if you want to be in a successful relationship,” he chided.
“I am perfectly willing to do that, but not at the risk of lowering my standards.”
“Then I guess we’re at an impasse.”
He thought he’d accomplished whatever goal he was striving for.
A cute guy—well, as much as I could see past his fur-lined hood—meandered near us, and I snagged him by the wrist. “Hey, handsome,” I said, looking up at him with big come-hither eyes. He looked startled and then smiled. I rubbed the pulse point on his wrist with my thumb in a hypnotic rhythm. I felt gutsy in that moment, ready to go for broke. “My boyfriend likes to watch other men fuck me.” He looked in Daniel’s direction. I applied pressure to his wrist to regain his attention. “He wants to see it. Right here. Right now.” I looked up at him from under heavy lids, patting the seat beside me.
He looked unsure, like he couldn’t believe his luck. “Right now?” he croaked in disbelief, but there was eagerness in his voice.
“Right. Now.” I confirmed, scooting closer to Daniel to make room.
I saw the moment he made his decision. He took a step toward the bench.
“If your ass hits that seat, you won’t live to regret it,” Daniel growled.
The boy jumped back, yanking free from my grasp, and scurried off like a rabbit who had just escaped a coyote. I turned to look at Daniel, my smile triumphant.I win.
He stood and threw a wad of money on the table. “Let’s go.”
Feeling like a popsicle,I rubbed both of my arms as we exited back out to the street in our summer clothes. Daniel grabbed my hand in a death grip and led me to the SUV. He was sexy as hell when he was mad about being outfoxed. What in God’s name had he been thinking anyway? Fuck whoever he wants, my ass.
Instead of going back to the condo, he pulled into the parking lot of the gondola ride. He paid for our tickets, and we were on a car by ourselves in no time, the crowd nonexistent this evening. He sat across from me, the muscle in his jaw ticking as he flexed his hands. I was grinning from ear to ear, and he looked like he wanted to kill someone.
“You’ve made your point,” he grated, and I knew it took a lot for him to admit that. If I’d been in his shoes, I doubted I would have.
