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I continue getting ready for my night, more than pleased with the look on his face.
“The fuck did you just say?” Izaac demands, hovering in the bathroom doorway as I put a little blush on my cheeks.
“You heard me loud and clear, Izaac. I’m going out on a date. You know, it’s one of those things people do when they like each other. The guy asks the girl out and then she gets all flustered and says,Of course, I’ll go out with you, and then he takes her out for a night to remember, and it’s absolutely magical.”
He gives me a blank stare. “I know what a fucking date is, Aspen.”
“Oh. Could have fooled me,” I mutter, turning back to my mirror while searching out my favorite lip gloss. “I thought your idea of treating a woman well was fucking her like a whore in dark hallways and making her feel like a fucking idiot for wanting you so bad.”
Finished with my makeup, I stride out of the bathroom, forcing him out of my way before I hook around to my bedroom and search through my closet for something to wear. If I were just meeting Becs, I would usually wear jeans, boots, and some kind of top that showed off just a little bit of cleavage, but now that this asshole thinks I’m going out on a date, I have no choice but to dress the part.
Izaac goes to follow me into my bedroom, but I hold up my hand, stopping him by the door. “Careful,” I say as I turn back toward my closet. “There’s a bed in here. I wouldn’t want you to accidentally break your rules and fall into my bed.”
“Fucking hell,” he mutters. “Can we just talk about this?”
“Oh, sure. Let’s chat,” I say, pulling out two little black dresses, one much more revealing than the other. I hold them up toward Izaac. “Which one?”
His brows furrow. “What?”
“For my date tonight. Which dress should I wear?”
He groans and rolls his eyes before pointing to the more modest dress of the two. “That one,” he mutters, clearly not thrilled about having any part in helping me dress for another man. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Harrison and I do have a date planned, but it’s not until Friday night, so until then, I will take every pleasure in torturing Izaac with it.
“Good choice,” I say, tossing the modest dress over my shoulder and holding on to the skanky one. Becs would be so proud.
Izaac rolls his eyes and turns away before striding toward my coffee table and dropping his ass onto it as I strip down to my bra and thong. He watches me through the open doorway, and I do what I can to put a little extra effort into dressing, taking my time as I pull the soft fabric up my body. “You wanted to talk?” I question, raising my voice just a bit so he can still hear. “I have to leave in ten, so you’re gonna have to make it fast.”
He clenches his jaw. “This isn’t the kind of conversation you can just throw around in ten minutes,” he says, watching as I pull my bra off from beneath my unzipped dress. “I thought we could have a drink at Vixen and clear the air. I don’t like how things went down over the weekend.”
“Oh, yeah. Look, today just isn’t a great day,” I say, walking out of my room when I realize how much fun I could have with this. If he wants to deprive me of the love I know he has to give, then I’ll deprive him of what he wants—sex.
“I just—”
“Would you mind zipping me up?” I ask, walking right between his open knees and making a show of pulling my long hair over my bare shoulder before sitting down on his lap. I glance over my shoulder, meeting his heavy stare. “Please.”
He holds my gaze for a moment before finally letting out a breath and turning his attention to my back. He takes hold of the little zipper and slowly drags it all the way to the top before letting his fingers dance across my skin.
His touch sends a wave of goosebumps rising over my body, and I hastily stand before making my way back to my room. “Thanks.”
He clears his throat and tries to get back on track, but I still have no idea what it is he came here to say, and honestly, I don’t think he knows either. “What’s going on here, Aspen?” he questions as I find a pair of heels to go with my dress and make my way back out to the living room. “Are we going to keep doing this or are you out? I know what I said yesterday wasn’t what you wanted to hear, but I think if we can reestablish where the lines need to be drawn that we—”
I walk back into him, and without warning, I put my heeled foot right in the center of his chest. “Would you mind?” I murmur, indicating toward the long straps of my heels that need to be wound around my ankle and up my calf.
His words fall away as his gaze settles on my leg, and when he lifts his hands and brushes them across my skin, a shiver sails right down my spine. He takes the long laces and starts working them around my legs, strapping me in, but when he’s done and the perfect knot is tied at the back, he doesn’t let go. His hands work higher up my leg, right to my upper thigh before leaning in and dropping a kiss to my knee.
I pull back and switch legs, and as he wraps the lace around my leg, his dark gaze lifts to mine. “I know what you’re doing, Aspen.”
“Do you?”
He doesn’t respond, just keeps holding my gaze as he ties the little knot in the back, and it’s like a spell has been cast over me. The tension between us is sky-high, and if he were to brush those skilled fingers over my skin one more time, I’d surely break and ride him right there on my coffee table.
Pulling my leg away, it’s like a wave of cold water washes over me, and the spell breaks, then as I find my bag and stride to my door, Izaac stands. “We agreed that you wouldn’t be with anyone while we were doing this,” he says, his voice thick with concern.
I reach for the door, slowly opening it, and at this point, I don’t know if I’m walking out and leaving him here or if I’m trying to kick him out. “Well, lucky for you, you’re off the hook,” I tell him as he walks toward me, pain radiating through my chest. “I’m calling it quits. I’m not down with being a punching bag to you. I have real feelings, Izaac, and you’ve made it crystal clear that you’re never going to want any more than that, so what’s the point in going back for more? All you’re doing is hurting me and lying to yourself in the process, and I don’t want any part in that. I asked you to teach me the limits of my body and you’ve done that, so congratulations. You’ve got yourget out of jail freecard and now you can walk away with a clear conscience. We can pretend nothing ever happened.”
He shakes his head. “And if I’m not ready to walk away?”
I shrug my shoulders. “That’s not my problem,” I tell him. “I can’t keep sleeping with you knowing it’s only sex to you when it’s so much more to me. We set the ground rules for how this was going to work, and those rules don’t work for me anymore. So unless you’re ready to say what we both know you’re refusing to admit, then I’m out. I’m not interested in letting you hurt me over and over again. I deserve better. I deserve someone who’s going to love me the way I need. You said you can’t give that to me, so if you’ll excuse me, that’s exactly what I’m going to find.”
