AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Looks perfect.”
“Excellent. I’ll go find Allie and bring her up personally.”
“I’ll owe you one, Jimmy.”
“We’ll get even over a drink.”
“Deal.”
I slide out of my socks and shoes and lift off my shirt. I have time to dim the overhead lights, turn on the candles, and select a sexy scent from the aromatherapy mist dispenser before a key in the door alerts me that Jimmy has returned.
The door opens, and I watch as Jimmy stands aside and lets Allie walk into the room, and then discreetly closes the door behind him, while she stands staring at me with her mouth agape.
“I have a proposition.”
Chapter Fourteen
Allie
Nick stands justbeyond the door, his legs apart and all hard sinewy muscle, watching me with those icy blue eyes. He challenges my resolve, causing my pulse to race at an unprecedented rate. This cannot be happening. I was just with him and walked out the door and left him sitting in my apartment. But yet here he is, as though I didn’t try to push him away, standing in front of me bare-chested and hotter than sin. I don’t know if he’s asked me a question or given me a directive. At the moment my brain is way too busy taking in the chiseled muscles of his chest and stomach, and the masculine line of hair that trails from his impressive six-pack down to the top of his low riding jeans.
“We need to talk.”
That deep voice goes right to my center, causing me to meet his gaze immediately. The blue eyes have gone dark as they survey me. “Put your jacket and purse on the table, and come and sit by me. I’ll tell you what I have in mind and then you can ask any questions that you like.”
I could leave, turn around and walk right out that door. But those eyes and that commanding voice, here at this club are my undoing. My mouth is dry, making it hard to get one word out of my mouth, let alone a complete or comprehensible sentence.
“Allie, put your things down, love. I’m not accustomed to asking, nor of doing it twice.”
I swallow, because damn, he’s just like everything I dreamed about, but better. He’s here and so incredibly dominant and larger than life. And when he calls me love, everything south clenches with desire. The moment for leaving has passed, because no part of my traitorous body wants to leave before hearing what he has to say. I put my purse down and unzip my jacket, stretching to place it on the hook behind the door, and then slowly walk toward him.
Nick takes my hand, leads me to a small couch in the corner by the bar, and sits so close that I can feel the heat generating from his thighs right through the material of my jeans.
“The attraction we have is probably something we’ve both tried to deny for one reason or another, but it’s not going away, love. In fact, it just keeps getting stronger and stronger the longer we deny it.”
A multitude of responses are rumbling around in my mind, but every time one bubbles to the surface, I push down the complete and total lie. He came after me, and is being real and honest and deserves that in return. “That’s true.”
His eyes flicker, heating with my words. “Good. That’s probably the hardest part of our conversation, then. If we both agree that we’re attracted to each other, then that logically brings us to what’s next.”
Flight or fight kicks in because regardless of how well-intentioned Nick is, I simply can’t do this. There is no way, as charming and sexy as Nick Montgomery is that entering into a relationship with someone like him is a good idea. I start to stand up, but his riveting voice keeps me held in my seat.
“I want you to hear me out before you decide. We both deserve that much.”
His voice is calming, and regardless of what I think, my body wants to do exactly as he asks even if my mind is raging getting put this close to the fire. I swallow, looking away, because the intensity in those eyes of his tend to see through me as no one else has ever done, and it’s way too dangerous for my heart.
“Look at me, Allie.”
He’s watching me intently as I turn to face him. “Good girl, love.”
My heart is racing, and the butterflies aren’t fluttering; they’re rushing around in my stomach so fast that I have to swallow several times in order to keep the nausea at bay. Nothing good can come of this, and my heart and mind know it, but my traitorous body doesn’t move an inch, just waiting for him to speak.
“We’re attracted to each other, love, and both like the scene. The next logical step in a regular relationship would be to go out on a date and get to know each other a little bit more. He holds up one hand, silencing the argument that’s rattling around in my mind and trying to make its way to the surface. “Since for a variety of reasons, we’re not looking for a relationship; I suggest we not head down a path that wouldn’t satisfy either one of us.”
My chest tightens with a pang of intense relief and also disappointment. I should be happy with his reasoning, but somehow, I got the impression he wanted a relationship with me, not just a little sex. I swallow down the embarrassment of my assumption and try to rationalize with the compartment of my heart that feels let down and hurt.
“I’m suggesting the physical pleasures of a partner we’re extremely attracted to, in a safe environment, and without the constraints of a relationship label.”
My mouth is now dry for another reason, thinking of being with him in this room. “I’m listening.”
