Page 4 of Flexible Standards

I sputter a cough, but I assure her, “That won’t be happening, but thank you for your concern.”

“See you tomorrow. Love you!”

“Love you, too.” I hang up and snap an unflattering picture of Sam, sending it to her. She likes the photo and replies with a gif of Henry Cavill. There’s little to no resemblance, but I’ll take it that she finds him as attractive as I do.

“Are we doing this?” Sam asks. It’s sincere, and I honestly think he’s a bit of an introvert, feeling a bit out of place here like I do. “Sorry, but I’m far too excited about this. I’m in the middle of a novel that I’ve been wanting to get back to all night.”

“It beats sticking around here.” I glance down at my dress. “Only thing that’s missing is pajamas.”

“You can borrow mine,” he offers.

“All right, let’s do it.”

With a beaming smile, Sam offers his arm, and I nestle my hand in the crook of his elbow. He leads us off the casino floor, out onto the strip, and into the parking garage for employees.

“We shouldn’t be here, it’s for employees.”

“I work here.”

“You work here? What do you do?”

“I perform at one of the shows.”

“What?” I shriek, then quickly correct myself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. Which show?”

“Well, I’m not telling you now,” he laughs as we approach his car. I’m pleasantly surprised to see it’s a modest sedan. The three dates I’ve been on since I moved here two weeks ago were with men who drove cars that were likely compensation for their tiny dicks. Not that I would know, I haven’t had sex with anyone since my ex.

Fuck. What if we have sex? Does he want to have sex? What if I suck in bed? What if my pussy has shriveled up like Jodi suggested?

“Are you all right?” His question pulls me from my freak out.

“Yeah, sure,” I reply, though my voice is shaky.

He takes my hand. “I can drive you home if you’d like?”

“No, sorry. I was just in my head for a minute. Honestly, I’d love a night when I can take off these gorgeous but uncomfortable heels and just be away from the busyness of the strip.”

Sam opens the car door and gestures for me to get in. As I slide into the passenger seat, he turns me so my legs are out of the car. He drops to one knee and takes one of my ankles in his hand. “May I?” I nod, and he removes one heel and then the other, placing them on the floor of the car. He stands and braces himself with one hand above me and asks, “Better?”

“Yes,” I breathe, suddenly consumed with the idea of him leaning in and kissing me. There’s no way he’s into me. We’re basically going to his house for a fucking book club meeting.

But, maybe…?

He pivots me until my legs are back in the car and closes the door. Once he rounds the back, he slides into the driver’s seat and starts the ignition. “Want to stop anywhere first?”

I bite my lip and shake my head. Sam’s eyes darken, falling to my mouth, making me suck in a small breath. “No, I don’t need to stop anywhere.”

He blinks twice as if I broke some kind of spell between us. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“I don’t need to stop anywhere.”

Sam pauses for a moment and asks, “Are you fucking with me?” He huffs a laugh, shaking his head before his gaze returns to mine. “You really want to come and spend the evening with me, curled up on my sofa with a book?”

“With gin,” I add. “I was promised gin, but yes, I don’t like casinos, or clubs, or bars, or any other public place that requires me to wear this.” I gesture to my too-short dress.

His eyes drop to my bare thighs, but just as quickly snap back to my face. I bite my lip to keep from laughing at him checking me out, though I make no move to pull my skirt down. For a brief moment, my mind wanders, wondering what his hand would feel like clutching my leg. I squash the idea almost immediately. With my luck, we’ll just be two bookworms spending time together, nothing more.

“Shall we?” he asks, and pulls out of the parking spot.

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