Page 5

“Sorry?” Aric scoffed. “For what?”

“For getting to see more of you than he does.”

Three

JULIANA

There were good decisions and bad decisions, each with their own set of unique consequences. For the bigger ones, I did my due diligence. I agonized, I researched, I studied data until I was sure I was making the right moves, and not a potential mistake.

And then there were decisions like Wayne.

“A little more?”

He smiled as he held out the wine bottle, and I almost extended my glass. I’d had enough wine for tonight, though. Probably a little more than I should’ve, although I’d made the Wayne decision hours ago, even before I’d popped a cork.

Plucking the bottle from his outstretched hand, I sauntered over and set it on the bar. The music drifting down from my bluetooth speakers was nice. Nice enough that I was swaying my hips, dancing through the dimly-lit living room to where my ex-boyfriend sat happily on my new leather couch.

Mmmm. He looks good.

He did, really. Although I hadn’t seen him in nearly a year, Wayne had apparently been keeping in shape. He sported the same well-groomed beard and immaculate haircut as when we’d been dating, and his shoulders seemed broader than I remembered them.

“C’mere, gorgeous.”

He reached out for me, and I danced playfully away. Draining the last inch of wine still in my glass, I set that on the bar as well.

You sure you know what you’re doing?

The thought nagged at me a little more, but I pushed it away. Inviting Wayne over had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Even so, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision with ulterior motives.

“You ready for me?”

I breathed the words more than said them. Wayne simply nodded, sinking deeper into the cushions as he set his arms up on the back of the couch.

“You know what to do.”

He did, which was nice because I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him. I continued my sultry, sexy dance as Wayne unbuttoned his shirt, pulled off his socks, and unbuckled his belt. He dropped his expensive slacks around his ankles and kicked them off, just around the time I climbed into his lap.

Mmmmmm…

His body felt warm and inviting, but that could’ve just been the wine. Or the fact that it had been… well… quite a while.

“God, baby. I missed you…”

I shushed him instantly, shoving a finger against his lips. “Don’t ruin it.”

His eyebrows knitted together with a silent question.Ruin it?

Squirming into his lap, I set my cheek against his shoulder and began planting soft kisses up and down his neck. He smelled like a mixture of cologne and bourbon. Wayne responded in kind, his hands piercing the hem of my dress. Slowly, tentatively, they glided upward, until his palms rested high on my bare thighs.

I let him have that little victory for a few moments, fighting the urge to let my hands wander the warm expanse of his chest. I didn’t want to wander. I wasn’t here to catch feelings.

No, I was here for something alotmore specific.

I felt it before I saw it — Wayne’s growing bulge, just beneath me. I reached down to confirm, giving it a gentle squeeze before leaping up from the couch and spinning away.

“Juliana!” he chuckled in exasperation. “What the—”

His sentence died as I turned around, hiking my dress up over my hips. Sticking my ass out I began swaying it back and forth, in perfect rhythm with the music. When I was satisfied I’d hypnotized him with the slow, sultry movements, I began rolling my panties downward. They glided smoothly and easily over my well-rounded ass.