Page 10

CHAPTER 10

EMILY

I ’ve been staring out the passenger window with such determination, my neck is starting to cramp. But I can’t risk looking at him. Not here, so close, surrounded by his intoxicating scent in this very sexy car. Every so often, I allow my gaze to drift, but when I catch sight of his big hand lazily gripping the steering wheel, those long fingers wrapped around it, and the prominent veins moving beneath his skin, I’m forced to avert my eyes back out at the city lights as they whiz by in a technicolor blur. Okay, so apparently I have a hand kink… who knew?

“So…”

Ugh. Here we go.

My eyes roll of their own accord and I silently curse the traffic around Madison Square Garden, overzealous Knicks fans spilling out onto the surrounding streets.

“Why haven’t you been responding to my texts?”

I glare at the glowing red tail lights on the car in front of us. Gridlock. Fantastic. I briefly consider getting out and walking the rest of the way.

“You know I’m not gonna give up any time soon…”

At that, I turn my head, my glower incredulous because, seriously, what is this guy’s deal ?

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a professional hockey player that night?”

Dallas shrugs. “You didn’t ask.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s not usually a question I lead with.”

He chuckles. “Frankly, I was shocked you didn’t know… most women do. Even the ones who don’t follow hockey. In case you haven’t noticed… I’m kind of a big deal, if I say so myself.”

I shake my head, exasperated by his arrogance.

“Come on, Goldie…” Dallas coos. “Give a guy a chance.”

“I told you,” I say with a huff. “I could get fired.”

He looks at me too, meeting my eyes, that adorable dimpled grin highlighted by the lights from the dash illuminating his face. “And I told you , Andy isn’t going to find out.”

I shake my head. “You don’t get it.”

“No. I do,” he says matter-of-factly, looking straight ahead as the traffic starts to roll. “You’re considering it. You want to—” He pierces me with another look, this one almost penetrating as he says, “You’re just scared.”

I balk. “I am not scared .”

“Oh yeah?” He quirks a brow. “If I could guarantee your job would be safe, then what?”

“I’m Andy’s assistant,” I guffaw, hands thrown in the air because he’s actually impossible. “I spend more time with him than I do with anyone. He’d find out. Trust me.”

“You didn’t answer my question…”

“Oh my—” I shake my head. “What the hell do you even want with me anyway? You’re Dallas Shaw. According to the internet you have beautiful women throwing themselves at you everywhere you go!”

“I don’t want them,” he answers quickly, his gaze all encapsulating. “I want… more.”

I scoff. “You realize I’m, like, ten years older than you, right?”

“Nine,” he corrects easily, flashing me another knowing look. “You’re not the only one who did their research. And, besides, I’ve always liked my girls a little bit older. ”

I narrow my eyes, glaring at him. “It was one night. One night of drunken stupidity. One night only .”

Dallas shakes his head, still grinning to himself as he watches the traffic, his words low when he says, “Goldie, you are certifiable if you think what we did was a one-time thing.”

He glances at me then, arching a brow. And, as I think back to the night we spent together, as much as I hate myself for it, I can’t fight my own smile.

It was official. I had finally lost my damn mind.

Not only was I more tipsy than I’d ever been on a Tuesday night, but I was currently in the back of a cab while a guy I met less than two hours earlier was trailing his big hand between my thighs, skirting dangerously close to no man’s land, while simultaneously tracing my collarbone with his tongue. I considered calling 911 because I was on the verge of spontaneous combustion, and it was not going to be pretty.

As Dallas licked and sucked the sensitive skin at the base of my neck, I swallowed the moan that threatened to make an escape. When his thumb grazed me in a place that hadn’t been touched by a man in over three years, my thighs instinctively clamped together, earning a throaty chuckle that sounded like pure sex against my heated skin.

“You’re so fuckin’ sexy,” he whispered between each kiss he peppered up the column of my throat, stopping at my ear where he playfully dragged the lobe between his teeth.

My thighs eased apart, and I shuddered when his hand continued exploring me, firm yet tentative as he stroked me through my panties.

“You’re soaked, baby,” he murmured against the shell of my ear, voice gruff and a little pained, as if this was affecting him almost as much as it was affecting me. “I can’t wait to taste you.”

My mouth fell open on a gasp. Oh. My. God. I gripped his wrist as he continued rubbing me with fervor, holding him right where he was and shuffling my thighs as far apart as my dress would allow, granting him better access, which only made him snicker again .

“Needy girl,” he uttered, gently sliding the lace aside. When his fingers met my slick center, he buried his face into my neck with a low groan. “Fuuuuuck.”

Every one of my senses was overwhelmed the moment he dipped a finger inside me, the pad of his thumb finding that aching bundle of nerves. I reached for him, urging his mouth to mine because the poor cab driver was about to overhear a slew of profanities if Dallas didn’t seal our lips together and kiss me right at that moment.

I felt him smile against me as I moaned into his greedy mouth. He thrusted his tongue inside in a way that was so filthy and sexy as hell, swallowing my sounds with the kind of all-consuming kiss I’d always dreamed about yet had never been on the receiving end of. He wrapped his hand around the back of my head, grabbing onto the short lengths of my hair, and held me hostage against his lips, taking absolutely everything from me.

Right as he slipped another finger inside, hooking them and reaching that one spot I’d always doubted even existed, the car came to an abrupt stop, and a bright light illuminated the inside of the vehicle.

With a gasp, I pushed Dallas off me, wiping my lips with the back of one hand, while tugging my dress down with the other.

“That’ll be twenty-three even,” the oblivious cab driver said, glancing over his shoulder and doing an almost hilarious double take.

I know I’m a hot mess, Driver 16439, I thought, thanks for noticing . I couldn’t even look at the man, but thankfully Dallas had it covered as he handed over far more cash than necessary to cover the journey.

The driver guffawed. “Nice tip, Tex.”

“Thank you kindly, sir,” Dallas said, moving quickly to hop out of the car.

I scooted across the back seat, muttering a thank you to the driver as I took Dallas’s proffered hand, allowing him to pull me up onto my trembling legs.

“Tex?” I looked up at him, one brow dubiously quirked.

“I’m from Texas.” He shrugged, closing the cab door before wrapping an arm around me. “It’s a nickname. ”

“Are you on a nickname basis with all the Yellow Cab Co. drivers?” I teased.

He sniffed a laugh, looking down at the pavement while rubbing his chin. “Yeah, something like that…”

I’d been so preoccupied in the cab, that I hadn’t even realized where we were. As I looked up to see a converted warehouse building, the Manhattan Bridge right there in the background, I was more than a little disoriented. How we made it from SoHo and across the river to Brooklyn was beyond me, but there we were.

Dallas removed his arm from around me, taking my hand instead, fingers intertwining between mine in a move that seemed more than just casual. He kept me close as we continued to a big metal door and he swiped a keycard across the panel, the lock mechanism unlatching with a loud click that rang through the night. Grinning at me over his shoulder, he opened the door and as we stepped inside, I was thankful for a reprieve from the cold wind blowing off the East River.

We continued through a lobby that was all polished concrete, brick walls and exposed pipes, and onto a waiting freight elevator where Dallas pressed the button for the fifth floor. The top. When the elevator stopped, we stepped into a hallway similar to the lobby, with only the one door, and I followed him, waiting as he pressed a code into a keypad. A quiet alarm beeped as the lock released, and I was rendered frozen when I saw what was on the other side of the door: a converted loft with a long wall of arched windows that looked out over the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge to the left, the New York city skyline twinkling from the other side of the river.

“Wow,” I said under my breath, enamored with the view. I’d lived in New York my whole life—this was my home, where I grew up—but the view of the city at night was something I doubted I’d ever get tired of.

I startled from the feel of a firm hand on my hip, sliding around and splaying across my stomach, lips skating the delicate skin just below my ear.

“You want some water?” Dallas murmured with a featherlight kiss. “Coffee?” Kiss .

I shook my head, unable to form words because reality was starting to set in.

“Beer?” Kiss.

With a soft laugh, I shook my head again. “I don’t drink beer.”

“Um… protein shake?” Kiss.

I snorted a laugh, and then when I realized I’d just snorted, I slapped a hand over my mouth as I turned, looking up at him with wide eyes.

He ducked down, meeting my gaze with a knowing grin. “Did you just snort?”

“I’m sorry; I can’t believe I just did that,” I murmured from behind my palm.

He pulled me in closer, hands rubbing up and down my sides. “Nah, that was fucking adorable.”

As I stared up into his eyes that caught the shimmer of lights from the city, turning them almost iridescent through the darkness, I felt something. Something I couldn’t even begin to comprehend because I don’t remember a time that I’d ever felt it before. What was happening?

In an unexpected move so tender it caused me to gasp, Dallas gently trailed the back of his knuckles down my cheek, stopping at my mouth to drag his thumb over the plumpness of my bottom lip. When he looked at me in a way that I couldn’t recall a man ever looking at me before, it was as if the rubber band that had been holding my resolve together snapped, and I suddenly needed him more than I needed air.

Grabbing the front of his shirt and yanking with such force I heard the telltale tear of a thread giving, I urged him closer, claiming his lips and mouth with mine. His hands gripped my waist so tight, pulling me flush against him as he met my tongue with his own. But unlike every man in my past, Dallas didn’t battle me for dominance, didn’t need to be in charge; instead, he accepted everything I was willing to give him with a satisfied groan and the unspoken plea for more.

His hands moved around to my ass, grasping me painfully tight in the most delicious way and lifting me off my feet. My heels slipped and clattered to the hardwood floor, and I had no other option than to wrap my legs around him. But when I did, I felt exactly how much he wanted me, his hard length rubbing right up against where I was throbbing, and a whimper fell from me into our kiss as his tongue toyed with mine. And that’s when I realized that this was happening. This was actually happening. For the first time in over three years, I was about to have sex. Sex with a human man.

It's only when the car starts slowing to a roll that I realize we’re suddenly on my tree-lined street, pulling up to a stop outside my apartment building.

“A doorman building?” Dallas teases. “Fancy.”

“This is my sister and her wife’s place. I’m just living with them at the moment,” I say quietly, embarrassment causing my shoulders to shrink.

I see the doorman walking out under the awning, approaching the car, but Dallas is quicker, already out and opening the door for me.

Reluctantly I take his hand, stepping up onto the curb, forced to meet his eyes as they smile down at me.

He glances over his shoulder, jutting his chin at Mike, tonight’s doorman, saying, “I’ve got this, sir.”

Mike smiles politely, looking from Dallas to me, tipping his hat before turning and walking back inside.

“Thanks for the ride,” I whisper, trying to retract my hand and scurry inside. But Dallas’s grip doesn’t let up. And, instead, he takes my other hand in his too, holding me right where I am.

“I meant what I said, Goldie,” he murmurs, dipping his chin so he’s so close, almost forehead-to-forehead. “This was never a one-night thing. And deep down, I think you know that.”

Chewing on my bottom lip, I avert my gaze, because the look in his eyes is doing things to me that can only lead to trouble. It’s not just my job and the contract I signed. It’s not even my age and the obvious difference between us; I kind of wish it were just those things. But it’s more than that. So much more. And it always will be.

“Hey,” Dallas murmurs, releasing one hand to tuck his forefinger under my chin, forcing my eyes up.

I look at him— really look at him—and something passes between us.

“I’m not going anywhere.” He shakes his head slowly. “I can wait…”

My gaze dips to his lips, and I find myself rising up onto my tippy toes, inching closer and closer to his mouth like I’m no longer in control of my own body.

But before my mouth can make the contact it so desperately wants, we’re interrupted by a horn blaring loudly from the street, an Uber idling as the driver sticks his head out the window and yells, “You’re parked in a no standing zone, ya chump!”

Dallas chortles, looking from the irate Uber driver to me. And with a slow, lingering kiss pressed to my forehead, he jogs around to the driver’s side, saluting the man as he does, before jumping into his sleek, black Lamborghini, the engine roaring to life through the silence of the night.

For some reason, he won’t pull away from the curb, despite the Uber driver’s hands flailing madly. And although I can’t see Dallas through the dark tint of the windows, I can feel his gaze on me.

Turning, I smile at Mike as he holds the door open for me, and it isn’t until I’m safely inside the lobby that I look back out through the glass to see the Lambo finally pull away from the curb before tearing off down the street. And I don’t know why, but that simple act of waiting for me to get safely inside before driving away makes my heart swell.