Page 2 of Somebody to Save
“Yeah, that would be—” She stopped and looked up at me, confusion marring her perfect features. “Bubbles?”
I motioned to her outfit as I led us toward the bar. “That’s who you’re dressed as, right?”
We both set our glasses on the bar top, and I motioned to the bartender for another round.
“Yes, but I guess I’m just surprised you recognized it.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Doesn’t seem like your type of TV show.”
“I guess it wasn’t really,” I admitted as the bartender handed us our fresh drinks. “It came out when I was a teenager, so I wasn’t going to be caught dead watching a TV show about three kindergarten girls with superpowers.”
Bubbles took her drink and lifted the straw to her lips, but I noticed her eyes narrow like she was thinking hard about the clues I’d just given her.
“I can see you doing the math in your head,” I laughed.
She shook her head and quickly mumbled, “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ll save you the trouble—I’m almost forty.”
The reaction I expected didn’t come. For a woman who I could already tell wore her thoughts on her face, she didn’t appear stunned or concerned by my omission. I hoped I could only do the same if she offered me her own age.
There was no doubt she was younger than me, but it was a matter of how much younger.
“Well, I was born five years too late to see the premiere ofPowerpuff Girls.”
That mental math was much easier, which meant she had to be about twenty-three, and she by far was the youngest woman I’d ever been interested in.
Like we both knew where we were going without discussing it, we walked back to an empty velvet couch in the corner where we were before.
“So, how did you score an invite? Or is it top secret?” she asked.
I motioned for her to take a seat first, then I sat with an acceptable amount of room between us. Well, almost. My thigh brushed hers, and she shivered.
“Not top secret,” I said, hiding my smile at her reaction behind a sip of my whiskey. “My best friend owns the place, and I’ve helped him a little along the way.”
I told her how Nathan decided one day that the city neededan exclusive, invite-only sex club where anyone could be themselves and explore their desires in a safe, inclusive way. So, he’d opened Abditory.
When I confirmed that it wasn’t my job as an attorney that had scored me an invite, she admitted that the event planning company she worked for was also invited. I loved the way she lit up when she talked about her work. I could have listened to her talk about it all night.
Two hours passed so quickly, I was surprised to hear the announcement that they were opening the upper floors. In the hours we’d been talking, we managed to migrate closer to one another. Her legs were curled up on the couch, and her knees brushed my thigh. I felt the warmth of her inadvertent touch radiate up my leg.
“How…how does someone go about getting one of those rooms upstairs?”
It was the last question I expected her to ask, and I straightened in response. For no other reason than I had to steel myself for where this was leading. Because being in a room with Bubbles was the only way I wanted this to end.
Sticking my hand inside my coat pocket, I fished out the key and held it out to her in my palm. “You need a key,” I said, but when she went to reach for it, I continued, “I just need to know one thing before we go up there, because fuck, Bubbles, I really want to go up there with you.”
She swallowed, and my teeth ground together as her finger brushed mine, tracing a circle around the key and slipping over my wrist.
“What’s your name?” I asked, my voice rough with need.
Her eyes abruptly bounced to mine, and her fingers froze. There was a long beat of silence, like she was contemplating how she’d respond.
When her fingers continued their pattern across my hand, she glanced down at the key. “This is just for tonight, right?”
No.My mind was yelling at me that it was wrong. That onenight wasn’t enough and would never be enough. But I couldn’t tell her that. I’d never felt a pull so strong or desire like a goddamn flame burning deep inside me.
