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“Can I tell you a secret?” Her arms come around my neck and she presses her torso closer to mine.
“What?” I say in a rasp, allowing my fingertips to gently massage her nape.
“I’m really not all that tough…” Her quiet voice cracks. “Not as tough as I’d like you to think I am.”
I tickle the spot behind her ear to lighten the building tension. “Psht. Figured that out a long time ago.”
Karli laughs softly, the sound tinkling like a wind chime. She abruptly slithers out of my lap, flustered, her face growing red as she perches on the cushion beside me.
“God, I sound ridiculous. I can’t believe I just said that to you.” She leans over the side of the couch and picks up her wine bottle, inspecting the label. She frowns. “What’s the alcohol content of this thing?”
I gently grab her wrist and lower the bottle, forcing her attention back to me. “I mean it, woman. You are perfect just the way you are. It’s those rough edges of yours that make you perfect, Karli.”
When I say that, her gaze becomes hazy. She’s struggling to maintain eye contact. She lowers her chin and quickly swipes at the tear flowing down her cheek. “Are my brothers paying you to say nice things to me tonight?”
When a second tear springs free, I wipe it away with the pad of my thumb. “Well, Felix tried to bribe me with two dollars and a wad of gum on the playground at recess. But I wouldn’t take a penny from him.”
We both chuckle before growing serious.
“I don’t need a bribe to see how amazing you are. You are smart and beautiful and interesting. Complex. Captivating.”
My skin is on fire and my cock is absolutely aching. I stare into the depths of those blue eyes. It feels like the tide of the ocean is pulling me in.
Karli just sits there and stares at me for a moment.She’s totally flustered when she speaks again. “You have a way with words, Dr. Pretty Boy. I think you might have picked the wrong profession.” The tiny smile she gives me is unlike anything I’ve witnessed before.
“What profession should I be in?” I dare to ask.
She fans her cheeks and laughs softly. “You should be, like…like…a phone sex operator. Or a vibrator salesman,” she bursts out.
I throw my head back and roar a laugh up to the ceiling. “A vibrator salesman?”
She snickers. “Yeah, you’d call lonely women up on the phone at night, and you’d get them all hot and bothered, saying shit like”—her voice drops to a smooth baritone—“‘I know you’ve been feeling bad about yourself, sweetheart. I know you’ve been feeling like crap. But actually, for three low payments of $19.99—and a pack of AA batteries—this vibrating bunny will make you feel like the goddess you truly are’.”
I chuckle, then I lean forward, elbows on my knees as I search her eyes. Her pupils are dilated, her breathing is jagged, her lips are parted. She’s giving me the signs.“Are you saying you’re all ‘hot and bothered’ right now, Ms. Brighton?”
Her eyes travel to my mouth. Her pearly white teeth sink into her plush bottom lip. “You’re not allowed to ask me that, Dr. Westbrook.”
Something snaps in my brain. She’s right.
Felix.
The treaty.
The safety of my balls.
All of it.
I quickly get up from the couch and flop back into my armchair. I laugh and try to play it off. “Jeez—it was just a joke.” Yeah, right.
Karli keeps on sipping her wine, straight from the bottle. We continue to talk. We talk and talk all night, losing track of time. The pounding in my head eases to an almost unnoticeable pulse as we jump from topic to topic to topic. Eventually, my headache is completely gone without me even realizing it.
I know, I know. I should be keeping my distance. But when being around her is this easy, she makes it difficult to adhere to my rules.
It’s almost three in the morning when I’m rambling an answer to something Karli asked me. I look over and find that she’s fast asleep, curled up on the couch, empty wine bottle laying on the floor.
I pull myself to my feet and drape a quilt over her body. I know I should walk away. But I stand there and admire her for longer than I should despite feeling like a perv.
Then, I whisper ‘goodnight’ and head upstairs alone.
