Page 16 of Enemies in Earnest

He raised his eyebrows in the direction just past my shoulder. A signal the women were making their way back from the ladies room. He leaned back in his chair, folded his arms and pinned me with a look that told me he was about to say something I probably didn’t want to hear.

“What self-help podcast are you listening to now? The reason the two of you are trading barbs back and forth is because you don’t want to admit that you actuallylikeher. For some reason or another in this stupid war between you, you decided it was better to fight with her than say you’re fucking sorry like an adult and find out how to rectify it. And she’s just as stubborn and pigheaded as you are, apparently. Since instead of actually negotiating a truce, you’ve been sitting here for the better part of two hours spitting insults back and forth. Pay the bill and thank her for coming to dinner.”

He held up his hand before I could even point out that she invited me to dinner so she should thank me for coming. I’d still pay the bill—but that point should be noted.Shewanted a truce dinner. It washer ideato meet here and talk about getting over this animosity.

“I don’t care what the situation is that brought you into this establishment.” Klaus continued. “Just thank her and let her know you appreciate the olive branch. Then go home and really think about what she said.”

Shouldn’t she be thinking about why she got so upset over something that was nearly unpreventable on my side? I ran a booze cruise. I had drunk people on my ship. The tide just happened to be pulling back just as her ceremony commenced. Of course, I never intended for her to be embarrassed in front of Hemingway’s family, but that was out of my control. The drunk lady on my boat was nothing more than another customer in a long line of them.

I threw down enough money in cash to cover the bill and a very nice tip. Klaus and I met the ladies in the aisle. In heels, there were only a few inches that separated the two of us height wise. Though, despite the slight difference, she still cast her eyes up to look at me, surprise widening her eyes and making those sensuously full eyelashes of hers the perfect frame for her lovely blue lavender eyes.

“Thank you for the dinner invitation.”

Despite feeling as if my insides had been sent through a woodchipper, the smile that I felt spread across my lips was genuine. It took three full breaths before Acacia smiled in return. Though I was being generous calling it a smile. For all I knew, the Greek food gave her gas.

“Acacia, it was so much fun having a drink with you. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you better.”

Felicity yanked Acacia into a hug that, based on the pleading look that sprung across her face, was wholly unexpected and probably a bit unwelcomed.

“We’re going to take a walk around town.” Klaus pointed over his shoulder to the exit. “Acacia, it was nice to see you again. Thank you for letting us crash your dinner. Ed, I’ll see you back at your place.”

The pair shot out of the restaurant like they’d seen the ghost of Ed McMahon carrying an oversized check down the street with their name on it.

“Can I walk you to your car?” I asked Acacia.

Her distrust of my motives stung. She looked me up and down, a questioning look that had me wondering exactly what she thought I would do in the eleven steps it would take to reach her sensible little Honda.

“I’m just outside,” she told me, pointing toward where her car sat directly beneath a streetlamp.

“Me, too.” I extended my hand, silently praying she’d just take it without kicking up a fuss. “But rather than stand awkwardly in the reception area of the restaurant to say goodbye in front of a million eyeballs with loose jaws—I thought maybe I could say goodbye to you outside.”

“It’s fine.” She pulled her hand back as if even being within a close proximity to mine would cause some kind of fungus to grow on her fingers. “There’s no need. Thank you for coming to dinner. If you let me know how much I owe you, I can stop by tomorrow with my share.”

For someone in heels, she sure made it out the door and into the parking lot quickly. Not that I looked anything like the guy, but I began to feel like Prince Charming chasing after Cinderella with a damn glass shoe. Except my shoe was the apology and olive branch comment Klaus suggested I make. Clearly, the woman was dead set on getting any kind of closure.

“Acacia…”

“Really. I see your truck parked all the way over there.” She pointed to the seven cars between her car and mine. “You don’t need to walk me to my car. I’m good. I’ll see you around.”

She was so busy craning her neck that she didn’t see some idiot kid whipping around the corner of the parking lot in his parent’s golf cart.

“Acacia!” I yanked her arm, getting to her mere seconds before that asshole clipped her from behind.

“Jesus. That punk almost took you out!”

I had a string of things I wanted to say after that. But the soft press of her breasts against my chest, the feel of her hands on my shoulders—a shower of sensation stole every thought from my body. I was biology and nothing more. The subtle scent of her delicately floral perfume teased me into shifting even closer to her pulse point. That allowed me to hear an almost non-existent gasp when my hardness lined up with where she was soft and needy.

Her mouth was millimeters away from mine. Every single nerve ending in my body implored me not to fuck up. I didn’t want to fuck up. But after spending two hours in the spin cycle of sexual tension, I didn’t know which path to take in the forked metaphorical road. God, I wanted to taste her mouth again. After all that bickering, would she still taste sweet, feel soft and pliable in my arms, shiver if I pressed against her harder?

The back of Acacia’s dress draped low, exposing her shoulders clear past the points of her shoulder blades. A scandalous cut for Little Miss Sensible. It was purely by accident that my fingertips grazed that exposed skin. But that tiny point of contact elicited a full bodied shiver that pressed the rounded notch of her cleft directly against the head of my throbbing cock. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened just enough to see the tantalizing peek of her tongue, and my control snapped.

Once again, I found myself pressing my hips against hers. Her ass pressed against the door of her car. In the breadth of space between our bodies colliding and our mouths battling, I heard a rumble break up the back of her throat that sounded husky and full of unspent need. That sound alone was like the red flag being waved in front of a bull.

I wanted to feel that rumble against my tongue. Savor the feel of her throat as she whispered my name and threw her head back. Her fingernails pressed into my shoulders as she keened my name and pushed into my body with ardor.

“Oh god, Edwin.” She practically growled in my ear.

It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. But it felt like an eternity of bliss. The silken feel of her lips against mine. The warm welcome of her mouth embraced the sweep of my tongue. Feeling her open her legs inch by inch so as to get the head of my cock exactly where she needed it most.

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