Page 18 of Dangerously Yours

“They’ll talk to Cade.”

“I hope they do. Fuck him!”

“They’ll also talk to my kids.”

No words came out after that for several seconds as I realized she was right. It was bad enough that others would talk to themabout the divorce, and seeing their mother with a man would only make those conversations more difficult. I had dealt with enough of them on my own when it came to my mother and father, and their various scandalous activities. I could remember what it felt like being that kid that others pointed at and talked about sometimes behind my back, but also out in the open, too. There was no way I would ever contribute to something like that for her children, or anyone else’s. I wanted to see her more, though. There had to be another way for me to get to know her better.

“The next night that the children are gone, let me cook dinner for you here.”

She looked incredulously at me, and when she saw the seriousness in my eyes, her sigh confirmed what her words did right after. “Okay.” From there, we did talk a little more, and once the first few crucial hours passed, I finally let her go to sleep, then I let myself out of her place. I would check on her tomorrow, then come up with a date for our dinner.

LULU

I was literally shaking in my Jimmy Choo pumps as I stared across the table at the plate he set down in front of me. Noah Capshaw was a star football player, but as I had come to see in recent weeks, he was so much more than that. My first impression of him and his type had been completely wrong. One thing I had been right about, however, was how fucking hot he was. Even in nothing more than a division championship T-shirt and a low-slung pair of faded jeans, he was still delicious. Maybe, even more so than the food he was preparing for us both.

Noah was dressed like you would expect any other guy in his twenties to be, yet he stood out in more ways than one. I had first hand evidence of what that thin material covered, and since seeing his bare chest before the Waters’ party, I had thought of little else outside of dragging my tongue over those abs and through those grooves, including the well defined vee that had disappeared into his gym shorts that day.

I gently rubbed my thighs together. Dinner with this man was a mistake I should’ve realized ahead of time, but I hadn’t, and now I would have to sit across from him and try to not embarrassmyself. It was funny that I felt this way now. The nervousness had been something I hadn’t experienced since I was much younger. The flustered anxiety and frayed nerves were things I hadn’t felt in quite a while. I had been married almost two decades, but there had been no butterflies the last decade or so for anyone, including the man who had betrayed me every chance he had gotten. I wasn’t young anymore, and Cade’s choice of women only confirmed that it was why we didn’t last.

Cade wanted to be what Noah was, but time had passed, and now he was the rich Titan with a dad bod who chased after younger women as if he was going through a mid-life crisis. Only, it wasn’t just now. I had uncovered evidence that my husband had cheated on me throughout the entire course of our marriage, even when my breasts still sat high upon my chest without requiring medical intervention, and my stomach wasn’t marked with stretch marks from the children of his that I had brought into this world.

“Is something wrong?” I looked up at Noah who was watching me with concern.

“No, I’m fine,” I tried to assure him, even forcing myself to smile. I could tell by his skeptical expression that it didn’t quite reach my eyes, though.

He smiled back though, and damn if it didn’t wet my panties. It wasn’t the polite type that others on the street or at the society parties gave me, but rather one that appeared to be laced with wicked intentions. Only, it couldn’t be.

What does someone like him want with someone like me?

From the time we had gotten closer, he had been completely chivalrous. For all I knew, I likely reminded him of his mother.That thought caused bile to rise in my throat, which I quickly swallowed down. I wasn’t that old, even if I felt it at times. There was about a thirteen year age difference between us, but I ignored that as my oldest child was fourteen.

“Are you sure because you look like you’re feeling ill.”

I continued to smile. “No, I was just thinking about something, but it has nothing to do with this meal. By the way, it looks delicious.”

“I’m glad to hear that...” he said, pausing to study me. “What were you thinking about?”

I paled visibly, especially because I couldn’t reveal I was thinking about him. Realizing the only thing I could realistically sell to him was Cade, I let my smile drop. “It’s been a while since I have had dinner with a man outside of?—”

“Outside of Cade. Damn. I hope this isn’t too much for you.”

“No, no,” I quickly responded in assurance, even reaching over the table to touch the top of his hand. “Things between us are over. We’re never getting back together.”

“I’m glad to hear that, too.”

I arched a brow at him. “You are?”

Noah grinned, and this time it was even more devilish than before. Damn, this man could have any woman in the world as his dinner companion, but somehow he wanted me. Well, to eat dinner with. Surely, it was nothing more. Still, his expression gave me pause, and it also aroused me more than it should have.

“Absolutely,” he finally said, cutting through the awkward silence. “For the last few weeks, I’ve wanted to wine and dine you, Lulu.”

“You have?”

I knew I sounded like some naïve fool, but this man made my head spin in the best of ways. When at functions in public, everything else was a distraction, but not now when it was just the two of us. Being alone with him had impure thoughts entering my mind, and I suspected that it had something similar running through his, especially as his brown eyes darkened nearly to the color of charcoal.

“Usually someone wines and dines someone if they’re hoping to?—”

“And I am,” he said, cutting off my words. I gasped. “There’s no need to beat around the bush. I’m attracted to you, and I suspect the feeling is mutual. Is it not?”

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