AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course you’d say that. Because I just told you I don’t want you to be.”
“All the same, I’m not married. I swore I’d be honest.”
He did. But still.
I took a hearty suck of my cocktail. I was getting near the bottom and feeling a little buzz. I was also feeling bolder and took a moment to search for signs of a wedding band. He wasn’t wearing one and there didn’t appear to be any dent like he’d just taken one off. He wore only a signet ring on his pinky with some kind of engraved crest or monogram on it that I unfortunately couldn’t read.
I met his beautiful, wolfish eyes again. “I really don’t trust you.”
“You probably shouldn’t.” He took another sip of his drink, and this time he sucked a chip of ice into his mouth and crunched it between his teeth, giving me a dazzling smile. “You just met me in a bar.”
“Same here. Third question under the oath of honesty. Why did you pretend we were together so the snooty hostess would let me in?”
“Because I wanted the story on that outfit. Women don’t usually wear spa slippers around town.”
“Well, you could ask me. But you used up your three questions, so I guess you wanted to know those other things more.” I smiled tentatively. I couldn’t really pull off the level of sass that would probably be required to handle a man like him. He’d realize that soon and get bored, right?
He didn’t even blink, his eyes locked on mine when he said, “Yeah, well, once I came over here and saw you without all the makeup, I got distracted.”
I laughed a little. Was he for real?
“So. Tell me what you’re doing in here in those slippers,” he said.
Sneaky. He’d rephrased it so it wasn’t a question.
It was more of a command.
I gave in with a small sigh. “I’m just avoiding the storm. And by storm, I mean my mother, actually.”
“Then you should probably stay and have another drink with me. I imagine she’d love that.”
Oh, she’d love it all right. Sex talk with a stranger at a bar? If Mom could see me right now, she’d be appalled.
I looked him over, eying those strong arms propped on the bar, but trying not to be obvious about it. He had some bruises on his hands and I wasn’t even sure why that seemed… sexy. “So… what are you, really? If not an athlete or an unaffordable male prostitute?”
“I’m sorry, little dove. You used up all your questions.”
Ugh. Seriously? He was using my game against me?
“Okay, fine. I’ll figure it out. Drug dealer? Or maybe spy by day, secret porn star by night?”
“We prefer to film during the day. All that natural lighting does wonders for the skin. I do my spy stuff at night.”
I shook my head. This was getting perversely fun. Even if he was just messing with me. “There’s something clandestine about you. And mercurial. And definitely antiestablishment. No way you work for any government. Actually, I take back the porn star thing, too. You might’ve gotten your start on screen but now you definitely produce the porn.”
“It is nice to step up in your career.”
“Tell me which guess was the closest to the truth.”
“I’m gonna say drug dealer. Although I’m not a drug dealer.”
“So how close is close?”
“Well, technically I am a criminal.”
“I don’t even know if I believe you.” He was toying with me, for sure.
“So, what am I then?” He leaned in a little closer. We were gradually eliminating the space between us, inch by inch. “Have you figured it out?”
