Page 6 of Indecent Demands

I was proud of the work I’d done, but war wasn’t sexy. It was bloody and terrifying and bitter, and not exactly something I wanted to talk about while flirting with someone over the entrees.

Not that we would necessarily be flirting. But I kind of hoped that we would.

“Well.” Ariana shoved her phone into her purse and dumped her coffee into the sink. “Shall we? I know a great Mexican place around the corner. Burritos the size of your head.”

My stomach growled as if on cue. “I’m in.”

I followed her through the office and down to the lobby, where she directed me toward the restaurant she’d been talking about. When we stepped outside and the sun hit her, it lit her up—her skin, her hair, her smile—and my stomach clenched with heat.

Jesus. My attraction to her was overwhelming and I needed to get a grip. It was a real pity I’d met her on a job instead of in a BDSM club. I hadn’t frequented one of those in forever. I just hadn’t had the time—and frankly after seeing my friends find a woman to share their life with, satisfying myself with just a night of sex and nothing else hadn’t quite felt like enough for me. I didn’t just want the kink, as great as that might be. I wanted something more intimate than that. I wanted someone to wake up to in the morning.

We arrived at the restaurant, were immediately seated, and ordered. Ariana opted for tacos then grinned when I asked for my burrito to be extra spicy.

“Are you sure you can handle that?” she asked, handing the waitress her menu.

I did the same. “If I start crying, you’re welcome to tease me about it.”

She shrugged, causing her breasts to shift beneath her blouse. “Your funeral.”

The server walked away from our table, which gave me the opportunity to flirt a bit. “Maybe I like a little pain, what about that?”

Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “Then I’d say there are easier and far more fun ways to go about that.” Her tone had dropped, turning husky and sensual.

Our eyes held longer than was wise. “Are you into pain?” I found myself asking.

Ariana didn’t look away. “Maybe.”

My cock twitched in my slacks. That was promising . . . except there would be no seducing this woman. Not so long as she was a work colleague as I continued my investigation.

Time to switch subjects to something less . . . arousing. “So, how’d you get into coding and computers?”

“I wasn’t super popular when I was growing up,” she said, picking up her napkin and spreading it on her lap. “I had a father who worked in tech, too, and he would bring home computers for his job, and I’d practice on them. It wasn’t like I had any friends to hang out with. We didn’t have a lot of money, either, and so when I heard what a lucrative field tech and computers were… it felt like a way to go to college with a good return on my investment and I could take care of my aging parents.”

“I think you picked a good field—we can definitely use more women in STEM in general but especially in coding and technology. The way men continue to behave in those areas is bullshit.”

Ariana blinked rapidly in surprise. “I… thank you. Most men don’t pay attention to that kind of thing.”

“To what, respecting women?”

“Sure, we could call it that.”

“I believe in calling a spade a spade,” I said with a shrug, then allowed a wicked smile to curve my lips. “And the only time I disrespect a woman is if she asks me to.”

Ariana laughed and I could see her faintly blushing again. She wasn’t someone who went beet red, but it was just enough that I could see the flush of pink sweep across her skin if I paid attention. I wondered if other people noticed. I found myself hoping I was the only one.

“Well, the only time I want to be disrespected is when I ask for it,” she replied cheekily. “So it looks like we’ll get along well.”

I discussed cryptocurrency and coding with her while we ate, and found she was as knowledgeable about both as she’d claimed to be. I wasn’t into crypto myself but I kept up on the news in case it became relevant to a job, as it had now. I also discovered she was passionate about medical and student loan debt and worked in a soup kitchen during the holidays, as well as helped the homeless and downtrodden when she could.

What a uniquely selfless woman. I found myself impressed and intrigued.

“Honestly, I didn’t mean to make working in a soup kitchen during the holidays a tradition,” Ariana said as she finished off her last taco. “But I lost both my parents recently and I didn’t know what else to do for the holidays so I decided… why not help others and give back? I thought it would distract me from my own pain to help others—I had a warm home and a steady job, after all—and maybe we could lesson our pain by sharing and supporting each other.”

“Community is important,” I agreed. “I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now without the support of my best friends. They’re like brothers to me.”

She smiled. “Tell me about them.”

I explained more about Vaughn and Bryce—our anti-social misanthrope, and our playboy charmer respectively. “He’s less of a playboy nowadays, though, now that he’s got Leigh. And Vaughn is less of a grump with Claire because she doesn’t put up with his bullshit.”

---