Page 57 of The Naughty List

“Good, it’s a plan.”

He continues to stand there staring at me like there’s something else he wants to say, but he remains silent. He rubs the back of his head then runs his hand through his already rumpled hair, leaving it a sexy mess and making me want to tangle my own fingers in it. I want to pull him toward me and finish what we started a few minutes ago.

“Sorry, it’s hitting me that I just kissed the fuck out of you in front of a bunch of strangers and your friends, and now I’m not sure how to non-awkwardly say goodnight.” He laughs. I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen him nervous.

“Yeah, I’m never going to live this down.” I joke.

“Sorry.”

“Thought you weren’t?” I feel bold and sexy from the way he handled my body so effortlessly, the way the crowd cheered for us. I cock my head to one side, placing my hand on my hip with newfound confidence.

His eyes narrow as he looks at me, like he’s trying to read my reaction.

“You’re right, I’m not. In fact—” He wraps his arm around my waist again, pulling me against his hard chest as his other hand slides up my neck. His lips instantly find mine and he kisses me again, more softly and with less tongue than before, but with the same heat and passion.

“Now I can say goodnight.” He steps back and gives me a wink. His hand lingers on my waist for a moment before he turns to toss a few bills on the table and walks out.

I look over at my friends. Their arms are crossed over their chests, and they share a communal look that clearly communicates their thoughts. You have a lot of explaining to do.

“So he’s going to Christmas? With your family?” Ariel scrunches up her face.

“Yup.”

“Are you guys a couple, orwhat the fuck is going on?” Karlie cuts to the chase.

“No, we are not a couple. When we were in the elevator last night, after a few drinks, we started talking about our holiday plans, and when I asked him what his were, he said he was working.”

“Oh, that’s so sad.”

“Right?” I agree with Ariel. “He doesn’t have any family. He was an only child, and everyone is gone now. He said he always stays home and gets caught up on work. So under the influence of some very cheap spiced rum, I told him that he should come to mine.” I try to put on a brave face, but my friends see right through it.

“But now you’re second-guessing it?” Caleb asks, and I nod.

“Big time, but I can’t take back the offer. That would be so messed up.”

“What has you worried? I mean, apart from the fact that he’s your boss and you’re going to have to explain to your family who this hot as hell hunk is that you brought home, and then say well we aren’t dating, but I’ve seen his penis and we’ve made out like we were a couple of horndogs on a sinking ship.”

“Thank you, Karlie, for that beautiful and anxiety-inducing image.” I laugh and shake my head at the situation I’ve gotten myself in to. “I’m worried because—ugh I hate even saying this. But he’s so rich and his entire family was rich and high-class and all that, and he’s about to be thrown into a real Emmert Christmas celebration, complete with drunken karaoke and Jell-O molds they call ‘salad,’ and let us not forget the redneck Christmas caroling.”

Karlie waves away my concerns. “Yeah, but that’s your family, and you love the way they celebrate. That’s Tim in your head, not you.”

“Ugh, Tim. If I have to hear that jerk’s name one more time…” Caleb dramatically rolls his eyes.

“True,” I concede, taking a sip from my cocktail. Tim always made my family celebrations seem so embarrassing. At first, it was just little comments and refusing to participate but every year it seemed like it became more and more of an issue, until he just flat-out refused to go. I had to beg and plead to get him to come last year.

“I just want to say one thing about Tim. I am not some spineless woman who just goes running back to a guy who so easily tossed me aside to screw someone he barely knows. I’m not holding on. I know I don’t want to take him back, but I do feel like I deserve to have a sit-down with him. I deserve the chance to speak my mind and just explain to him how hurt I’ve been and what I wanted from him. I need that closure before I start attempting to move on, with or without someone new.”

Ariel eyes me suspiciously. “Just be careful, that’s how they suck you back into the dicksand. You sit down to talk about your feelings and do a postmortem on your relationship, and then you get pulled right back in because they make you think that this time it will be different, this time they’ll change.” She reaches over and grabs my hand. “But they never do, sis.”

* * *

To say my sleep was fitful is an understatement.

I kept replaying the kiss in my head over and over. One particular part. The look in his eyes when he lunged at me, grabbing my hands and sliding them up my body to pin them above my head.

While Tim is the only guy I’ve been with fully, I kissed guys in high school and college. Nobody ever kissed me like that. Nobody has ever looked at me the way Alexander Snow looks at me.

I slide my hand beneath the covers, straight into my panties. My eyes squeeze shut as I stroke myself, wetness pooling instantly as I imagine Alex’s fingers dancing across my clit instead of my own.

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