Page 34 of The Cask

“I’m sorry. I was sitting here finishing off this bottle and I couldn’t stop thinking about you and…”

He’s been drinking, too, I noted as my body heated.I could use this to my advantage.

“And what?” I prodded.

He was quiet. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry about all of it.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve apologized enough. Apology accepted.”

“I just needed to call you and tell you again. I want you to know that I respect your time and my intention wasn’t to waste it. My intention was to spend every moment I could getting to know you better.”

His sincerity and earnestness tugged at me. “But something personal came up. Things happen, right?”

He let out a deep breath. “Yeah, things happen.”

“Do you want to talk about it? What happened tonight with the phone call?”

“Nah.”

Dammit!

I’d hoped because he had been drinking, he’d be more forthcoming.

We were in silence for few seconds before he spoke again. “I’d like another chance to take you out and do it right.”

“Dinner was done right. I had a good time,” I assured him.

“So did I. But that’s not how I planned for our night to end.”

“How did you want it to end?”

“I had another place for us to go before the date was over. But ultimately, I wanted to end the night with my lips on you.”

I put my hand on my stomach, underneath my camisole. There was a slight fluttering I wanted to get under control before I spoke. “What do you mean?”

“I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to walk you to your door. I wanted to kiss you goodnight. I wanted to…” His sentence faded into a light chuckle.

“What?” I asked.

“All the shit that happened today and I can’t even say it was a bad day because of what happened in your office.”

“I was hoping we would resume what was happening in my office, too.” I paused for a moment, moving my hand over my breast, resting it over my heart. I ignored how hard my nipple was just at the mere mention of our office exploits. “When you grabbed my arm before I got out of your car, I thought you were going to kiss me.”

“From the minute that call came through, I wasn’t thinking clearly. But believe me, there’s nothing I want more.”

I bit my lip as I stared at the ceiling of my darkened room. “I like that,” I whispered.

“You like what?”

“I like that you say what’s on your mind.”

“I don’t say everything that’s on my mind.” The short laugh rumbled teasingly. “But thank you.”

There was an uptick in my heart rate. “What aren’t you saying?” I wondered.

“Ebony…” He said my name as if it were a soft plea.

The dull ache between my thighs made itself known. I lightly cleared my throat. “Tell me.”

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