Page 23 of Business or Pleasure

Baylen flashed me that charming smile, his gaze heating. “What would you like?”

“A Bellini would be great.”

He nodded and flagged down the bartender, ordering my drink and one of his own, a whiskey brand I didn’t recognize called Shannon’s. It wasn’t surprising that I didn’t know about it. I’d never been much of a whiskey drinker. When it came to anything harder than a beer, I preferred either a straight shot of tequila or something fruity.

“I enjoyed your performance,” he said as we waited for our drinks. “You’re not part of the band though?”

I shook my head. “My friend, Jin, and I did the whole band thing for years. Now we mostly just play for us, but every so often we find other people who like to play.” I took a sip of my Bellini and nodded in appreciation. “Do you play anything?”

“I used to,” he said with a soft smile. “Piano. I haven’t played in a long time.”

In the pause that followed, I knew we were at a place where the night could go one of two ways. We could have a pleasant conversation while we finished our drinks and then go our separate ways, or I could find out if the electricity I felt when he touched me was mutual.

I knew which one I wanted.

“I’m going to make a suggestion,” I said as I leaned closer. Our knees touched and even that little bit of contact sent a thrill through me. “Tell me if I’m mis-reading the situation and it’s no harm, no foul.”

He didn’t move his leg away from mine. “All right.”

“I’m looking for a good time tonight. No strings. No past or future, just the present. So what do you think about us not talking about anything personal, getting a couple more drinks, and then maybe getting a hell of a lot more personal someplace private? Maybe a couple times if you think you can manage?”

How he responded would say a lot about whether or not the two of us would get along sexually. Some guys thought it was ‘uncouth’ for women to be that direct when it came to sex. That only the man was ever supposed to lead. While I was all for some alpha male in the bedroom, a man better be willing to take some direction because I didn’t waste my time with a guy who thought a couple pumps with his dick was enough to get a woman off.

If my words shocked him, his expression didn’t show it. Instead, his eyes darkened to the blue of a summer evening sky, the heat in them warming me in a way different than alcohol. This was the sort of heat that had me pressing my thighs together and needing something more substantial between them.

“I’ll accept that challenge,” he said finally. “Would you like to dance?”

I finished my drink and set my empty glass next to his on the bar. Taking the hand he offered, I couldn’t stop a shiver of anticipation. Sometimes, a quick fuck was exactly what I wanted, and even though I didn’t want this to be anything but a one-night stand, I didn’t want it to be something we did in a shadowed corner. I wanted to make a night out of it. Baylen, it seemed, was on the same wavelength since he didn’t immediately suggest we go back to his place.

Dancing was the perfect foreplay. We could learn how to move with each other here and use that later. Besides, there was something sexy about the press of two bodies, separated only by a few layers of clothes, knowing that there would be skin-to-skin contact later. Running my hands over his chest and wondering just how good that solid torso looked bare. The feel of his hands on my waist, fingers just touching the top of my ass, and knowing he’d be grabbing it soon.

It wasn’t going to take me long at all to get worked up, but that just meant the release would be all the sweeter.

This was going to be a great night.

Ten

Baylen

Walking back to the hotel with Harlee, my skin was buzzing. Her hand was clasped in mine and the feel of it was so natural, so right, that I had a hard time remembering that we met only a couple hours ago. If I was the sort of man who believed in things like past lives, I might have thought we lived before, maybe had a life together.

I laughed, the sound loud enough for her to look up at me. “I may have had a wee bit too much to drink.”

“Too much’ as in, I’d be taking advantage of you if I take you back to your hotel room, strip off your clothes, and have my wicked way with you?” Her eyes flashed with humor and heat, and her words sent my blood rushing south.

I was half-hard from the moment we started dancing and what she said only made it worse. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time a woman turned me on this much. Perhaps not even since I was a teenager, getting erections at the sight of a pretty girl.

Even Angie – no. I shook the thought of her aside. I was here to get away from memories of her.

“I’d be a sorry excuse for a Scot if I was that drunk,” I assured her. “The world’s not spinning.”

She laughed, a free, light sound that made me smile just from the sheer joy in it. Harlee was beautiful and sexy, but there was more to her than that. She was a hell of a woman.

The walk to my hotel was only a couple blocks, but by the time we reached it, I couldn’t keep my hands off her. First, it was an arm around her waist before we even entered the lobby, then a hand on her hip when we walked by the desk to the elevators.

The moment the doors closed, the last bit of restraint snapped. Not only mine, but hers as well, and she slammed into me, yanking my head down so she could claim my mouth.

She tasted like fruit and alcohol, delicious and something I could become addicted to far too easily. But I didn’t let myself dwell on that now. Instead, I cupped her face in my hands and turned us to put her back against the wall. I took control of the kiss, plundering her mouth, greedy for her. She fisted my shirt, yanking it from my pants, hands shoved beneath the fabric to find bare skin. I groaned, nipping at her bottom lip.

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