Page 5 of The Last Affair
“Well. Well. Well. There goes my bar partner.” Rousing laughter accompanied with clapping had Des breaking the kiss.
“Kelli? Hey.” She stepped back from Maurice, touching her fingers to her lips before dropping her arms to her sides.
“Hey, girl.” The redhead came closer, her giddiness still apparent in the way she looked from Des to him. “Here, rub my hand so I can have the same luck as you.” Never taking her gaze off him, the woman reached out so Des could touch her hand.
Des—in a move that was way too similar to what he would’ve done—ignored her hand. “Yes. This is my meetup, so I won’t be joining you at the bar tonight.”
Kelli, who obviously didn’t mind Des not playing along with her, returned that hand to prop on one hip. Her gaze was hungry and assessing, and Maurice felt uncomfortable only because his dick was hard but not for her.
“I don’t blame you at all.” Kelli was very open with her appraisal of him, but it was nothing Maurice wasn’t used to.
“If you’ll excuse us, Kelli, we’re going to have dinner,” he said. What would happen after the meal was completely up to Des, but he was leaning toward them sharing one room instead of returning to their individual spaces for the evening.
Kelli’s smile was agreeable and knowing. “Sure. Dinner. Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you two around.”
Glancing over her shoulder she winked at Des before giving Maurice one last head-to-toe look of appreciation. “Have fun, y’all.”
“You sure made friends fast,” he told Des after Kelli was gone.
Still staring after the woman with an incredulous scan, Des shook her head. “She approached me, but I get the impression she’s harmless. This is her second Dear Lover meetup.”
“So she’s experienced.”
“That or she’s unlucky in the guys she’s choosing to socialize with.”
They fell into step again, this time without him touching her. Another public display like the one Kelli had just interrupted wasn’t a good idea, and while he didn’t make a habit of hiding from the media like his siblings—he couldn’t in his line of work—he wasn’t game for his private life being on display unnecessarily.
Stanley, the guy at the coat-check desk, was quick to accept their tickets and return. He also made no secret of how he hated the moment when Maurice helped ease Des’s long wool coat over her shoulders. Normally, Maurice didn’t feel any type of way when another guy looked at his date. He was drawn to beautiful and attractive women—that was no secret—and he subscribed to thelook but don’t touchmodel where other men were concerned. Stanley’s look toward Desta was nothing short of lustful, and Maurice felt a little twinge of annoyance at that.
They bundled up in coats and gloves, and Des even pulled on a fur-trimmed hat before they began walking down the road. “Why Dear Lover instead of a traditional dating app?” she asked.
While there was snow all around, the sidewalks were impeccably cleared, which worked out well since Des wasn’t wearing boots but instead had on a pair of the sexiest, strappiest black heels he’d ever seen.
“You already said I don’t need help finding a date.” Agreeing with her knowledge of his dating life had never bothered him before, but now—considering how his reputation might look in her eyes—there was a spark of regret. “Besides, the app promotes the socializing aspect much more than hard-core dating. Just like you pointed out before, there was no jargon about finding your perfect match or testimonials from couples who’d met up and married afterward.”
“True. That’s part of the reason I signed up. I’m not really into computers playing matchmakers for anything long-term.” She crossed her arms over her chest against the bitter chill in the air.
He considered moving closer, putting an arm around her shoulders to offer a little more warmth, but decided against it. Usually he could control himself under any circumstances. He was finding that a little more difficult now. The same woman whose description of giving perfect head had made a mess of his sheets a few short weeks ago had also sat across from him at a poker table just last weekend, wearing a tight sweater and smug smile as she claimed the winning hand.
“You’re not really looking for anything long-term, are you?” He didn’t think she was, or at least she’d never given that impression before.
The Des he knew was selective in the men she dated, private and a bit noncommittal in his estimation. As far as he knew, there hadn’t been anyone serious for her in the time she’d worked for the company.
“Been there, done that.” It was a dry statement, one he sensed held a lot more weight than the flippant way it’d rolled off her tongue.
“And you’re not willing to do it again.” Phrasing it as a statement instead of a question was his way of not prying.
“I’m not willing to be in the situation I was in before. And don’t ask what that was. It’s irrelevant to whatever this is that we’re doing.”
There was the Des he knew so well. The cut-you-off-at-the-knees-when-required woman who also managed to look damn hot while she did it. He chuckled. “Wasn’t gonna ask because I know the tactic well.” No lies or jokes there. Not wanting to repeat a mistake from the past was his mantra. Everything he’d done and said since his sophomore year in college had been based on an occurrence that both rocked his world and forever changed the trajectory of his personal life.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, Maurice opened one of two doors in the same wood that seemed to have been used on every building in this upscale ski village. The host was pleasant and quick to take their coats, then guide them to a cozy booth near a fireplace.
“Thank goodness. I was about to turn into a popsicle out there.” Des rubbed her arms and shivered as she stared happily at the roaring fire.
Easing out of the booth, he removed his sports coat and leaned closer to wrap it around her shoulders. “That dress is serving its purpose of enticing every man who’s lucky enough to see it, but I’m not surprised it isn’t keeping you warm.”
For a second, she looked startled by his action. Then she shrugged, pushed her arms into the much bigger sleeves of his sports coat and wrapped it tightly around her. “Good thing I packed plenty of warmer serviceable clothes than this little black dress.”
