Page 15 of Slippery When Wet

I read it and blinked.

Abel Peña, the guy of my dreams, the man my mind believed wholeheartedly had saved me from my near-death experience, was texting me.

He’d given me my first kiss, too.

I was twenty-seven and seriously unexperienced. I thought by the time it actually happened, I would be embarrassed. But kissing Abel? It had been completely unexpected. There would have been no way I could have planned it out or seen it happening. The way his arms wrapped around me… His body heat permeating through my body and into my bones while we floated in the water had been more than worth the wait.

Me: Maybe I’m not home yet?

Then, because I couldn’t help myself—somehow, Abel had brought out a bratty side I didn’t know existed—I typed out another message.

Me: Maybe I decided to keep going with being a little wild and am at a biker bar?

Abel: Lying comes with punishments, baby girl. You wanna go to a biker bar, we can go. Together.

Attached to the message was a picture of my car in the driveway.

He’d been here. Or is he still here?

Without thinking about the multitude of possible consequences, I pulled up his information and called him. The phone rang, and he picked it up so quickly I didn’t have time to hang up when nerves hit.

“Hi-hey!” I stuttered out without him saying a word.

“Hey, pretty girl,” he murmured smoothly. His voice felt like a shot of expensive tequila. Leaving nothing but warmth behind. All from three words. I opened and shut my mouth then quickly started to freak out. I wasn’t sure what to say.

What did I say?

Should I ask if he was outside my house?

“Breathe,” he urged quietly, and I did as he asked. "That’s my good girl Abel," mumbled when I exhaled. “Miss me?”

“Yes,” I answered without a second thought. Great way to play hard to catch! Wait. Is that what I want to do? Hell no. “I mean, I was wondering if you're still here.”

“Do you want me to still be there?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hmm… having second thoughts, princess?”

“No. I just... I don’t know why I called. I mean, not that I don’t want to talk. I’m just not sure what to say.” Oh god! I groaned mostly to myself, “I’m terrible at this!”

“At what?” I winced, realizing I’d just said the last bit out loud.

“Flirting,” I blurted, “I mean…”

“We could add that to the lessons, if you want,” he offered. Whoosh! Nerves and something else swirled inside of me. Something like excitement and anticipation.

“Oh.”

“You’re so fucking cute.” I winced at his words.

I didn’t want to be cute.

I wanted to be hot and sexy.

Desired.

It was crazy. The whole thing was. He was older and so much more experienced than me. I was way out of my depth with him. The smart thing would be dropping it. Ghosting him. But I knew I wasn’t going to do that. If he was offering to teach me what he knew, I’d be the best teacher’s pet he’d ever had.

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