Page 14 of Drive Me Wild (Owl Creek #2)

A round lunchtime, I trudge up the stairs to the apartment to see if Zoe wants to order food, even though I know she always leaves for lunch. When I enter the room, I find her sitting at the table with her hands folded in her lap, facing the doorway.

“Everything okay?”

“Yup. Everything is great.”

“Then why do you have that weird look on your face?”

Her cheeks flush, and she pushes a hand through her hair before fixing her eyes on me.

“I need your help on something really important.”

“Okay…”

“Promise me you won’t say no.”

“I don’t even know what you want me to do. What if I can’t help you?”

“Trust me, I know you can. You are the perfect person for the job.”

It’s silly, but hearing her say that fills me with pride. I don’t even know what she wants me to do, but I like that she thinks I’m the man for the job. I like that she sees me. I like that she trusts me.

“Zoe, I’m glad you have confidence in me, but—”

“Just hear me out. And please don’t tell anyone I’m asking you to do this. Can you promise me that?”

I pull out the chair opposite her and sit down so we’re at eye level. She looks serious and excited at the same time, and all I think is that I want to give her whatever it is.

“Do you promise?”

I realize I’ve been looking at her in silence. “Yeah, I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“Okay. Great.”

She scoots her chair a little closer to mine and then rolls her lips. I watch as she wets the pink pillows with her tongue, and I think about biting her there again. I try to shove the thought from my mind, knowing that Cole and Renée will kill me if I go near her.

“So what is it? What do you want me to do for you?”

“Um, so this is embarrassing.” She drops her eyes down to her hands as she clenches and unclenches her fists. “I’m bad in bed, and um—”

“Hang on. What?” I hook a finger under her chin so her eyes meet mine, and I marvel at the pools of green looking back at me. “Did you just say you’re bad in bed?”

“Yeah. I did. I am. And I want you to help me with that.”

“Wait. Hang on.” I stand up and back away a couple of steps. I don’t know if I’m pissed, or turned on, or both.

“First of all, why do you think that? And why do you think I can help you?” The green pools are like saucers now peering up at me above pink cheeks flush with shame. Suddenly, she opens her mouth, and the words come tumbling out.

“My first boyfriend told me that I sucked in bed. That I didn’t turn him on.

And so he cheated on me. And I think he must be right because I don’t know what I’m doing.

I don’t know what to do. I read that text from that woman about your cock-sicle, and I thought that you have experience and you can show me what a man likes.

You can be my sex-pert and show me what to do so I can satisfy my husband. ”

“Your husband? Are you secretly married or something?”

“No. I mean my future husband. I’m afraid I won’t find someone or that he’ll cheat on me when he finds out how bad I am.”

“Zoe.” Her name comes out like a growl, and I notice how tense my body is. She’s looking up at me through long dark lashes, pleading in her eyes.

“Please. I haven’t dated anyone in two years because I’m paranoid that I suck at…well, sucking.”

I can’t help but laugh at her attempt at lightening the mood, but I still find my body rigid and fixed against the wall opposite her.

“I’m sorry. But I can’t. I made a promise.”

“A promise? To whom?”

“To myself.”

“And what was the promise?”

“That I wouldn’t touch another woman until…until I figure some things out.”

“When?”

“What?”

“When did you make that promise?”

My heart starts to pound in my chest. I know the answer. It was late spring, the last time I saw Zoe. The night she talked about wanting more.

Her words hit me like lightning, but it took weeks to shift from shock to comprehension.

It’s funny that a simple, off-handed comment can change the trajectory of someone’s life, but that’s what happened.

I realized I was wasting my life on meaningless weekend flings and helping my buddies trick out race cars.

I did what people said I was good at. Fucking and fixing cars.

“A few months ago. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. Maybe to see if you are sick of celibacy.”

I rub my chin and ignore the spasm I feel in my cock.

“Zoe, I can’t. Cole will kill me. You know that he’s already told me to stay away from you.”

That’s only an excuse because I’m really thinking about if she sees me as someone she could be with. Does her request mean she trusts me more than I think I deserve?

“Yeah, and Renée and Avery told me to stay away from you, too.”

She steps toward me with a gleam in her eye.

“We don’t have to tell them. Our secret.”

I’m pressed against the wall with my arms crossed, and I see her eyes graze across my chest and forearms.

“Zoe.”

Another growl.

“Please, Caleb. The only thing I’ve ever wanted was to meet the man of my dreams and settle down. But I won’t let myself get out there and date if I think I suck. Please.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Tell me things. Show me things. Be my sex-pert.”

“Show you—” I huff out a breath and step to the side into the kitchen to get a glass of water. The heat between us is making me thirsty.

“That woman texted you for sex, right?”

“Yeah,” I mumble over my shoulder.

“She’s not your girlfriend, right?”

“Not my girlfriend.”

“So that means that you’re good at it if she’s in Port Stratton, where there are plenty of bars to meet people, and she is asking to meet up with you. ”

I turn back around to face her.

“This means something to you, doesn’t it?

” The riot in my body makes it hard to think, but I feel like I can’t let her down.

I want her to believe in herself, just like she’s helping me believe in myself.

And I would be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that I have been craving her like I’ve never craved another woman.

“It means everything to me. I want my future husband to think he won the lottery. I want to be…a sex kitten in the sack.”

“Zoe, if he doesn’t think he won the lottery, no matter how good you are in bed, he doesn’t deserve you.”

I see her throat work as she swallows something back, and I realize I may have said more than I was ready to. More than I am ready to admit to myself or out loud.

“Will you do it? Will you help me?”

I stare at her for a long time in silence.

I have been craving her lips since I first saw her months ago at the bar, and it has only grown more intense.

The animal in me wants to press her against the wall and hear her scream my name while I fuck the insecurities right out of her body.

The guy I’m trying to be wants to help her.

To show her that she’s one of a kind and worthy of worship.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I decide I have to help her.

Even if it means she’ll take what she learns and use it with another guy.

“We’ve got to lay down some ground rules first.”