Page 53 of The Arrogant One

God, this man was jacked. I hadn’t forgotten the feeling from when I held his arm, when I felt it around me, when it hauled me up into the air.

When he finished, he poured it into a stemless martiniglass and walked it over to me. “Do you see where my fingers are holding this?”

I looked from his eyes to the positioning of his hand. “Yes.”

“Do me a favor? Don’t touch them.”

“You’re taking this seriously. I like it.” I laughed. “I’ll do my best.” I avoided his fingers and took a sip. “Extra dirty, and, man, is that good.”

He eyed my mouth. “That’s not the only time you’re going to say that tonight. I promise.”

ELEVEN

Hart

While Sadie gripped her dirty martini between both hands—hands I miraculously hadn’t touched since she’d come over because there was no way I was losing this bet—I returned to the bar and poured myself another scotch. With a tumbler that was several fingers full, I walked back over to her. I knew I was standing too close. My fingers normally had a mind of their own, and there was a chance, without me thinking and unable to stop them, that they’d reach across the short distance between us and graze a part of her.

But I just needed to be in her space. I needed to be close enough that I could smell her with every breath. I needed my lips on hers. Would the martini taste better on her mouth or in a glass? I was fucking desperate for that answer.

Goddamn it, this bet was bullshit.

But there was a prize—a hell of a good one too—and I was going to earn it.

I held my drink in front of hers. “To getting to do whatever I want tonight.”

She laughed. “You mean, to hoping that comes true. We’re not there yet.” She grinned. “Truthfully, we’re not even close to there. But I’ll still cheers to it.”

“You don’t have to remind me of the timeline. It’s going to be the most painful couple of hours of my life.” I swallowed a small amount of the liquor and nodded toward the kitchen. “Go. I need you away from these couches.”

“You’re telling me the counters are safer?”

Her smile was so beautiful; I wanted to eat it off her.

“No.” I dragged my hand through the top of my hair, disregarding the gel that was in there. I just needed to fucking pull something. “So, I’m going to hold this glass and stand on the other side of the island and pretend I’m not stripping that jacket off your body.”

“But you’re mentally stripping it off.”

I moved to the side farthest from her, set the drink on the stone, and flattened my hands on both sides of it. “Mentally, my tongue is on your clit, and there’re two fingers in your pussy, and the only thing I can hear is your screams.” I shook my head. “But we’re not going to talk about that. We’re going to talk about everything but that.”

“Fair.”

With her light-pink nails, I watched her lift the drink to her mouth, her lips surround the edge of the glass, and her throat bob as she swallowed. I didn’t know what it was, but there was something so familiar about it all. Like I’d seen her do the same move before. Which I had, when I had sat in the dining room and she was in the bar of the sushi restaurant.

But was that what I was remembering?

I didn’t know.

She returned the glass to the stone and chewed the cornerof her lip. “For the record, I want that mouth. I want that tongue. And I want those fingers.”

My head dropped, and I hissed out all the air I had been holding. “You’re fucking killing me.”

“I know.” She pulled out one of the stools and took a seat. “Let’s shift gears before your hard-on becomes so intolerable that you pounce over the island.” Her tongue tapped her top lip, taunting me. “Something that will kill your hard-on, like … your sister.” She winked. “Tell me about her. Are you guys close?”

“Perfect gear to shift into.” I laughed and adjusted my dick, already feeling my erection start to soften. “Eden’s her name, and, yes, we’re super close. But I’m just as close to my three brothers. Eden’s the youngest—my parents weren’t stopping until they got their girl.”

“Wait.” She leaned forward. “You have four siblings?”

“I do.”