Page 15 of The Heartbreaker

She was feeling me.

So, when I told her she was having a hard time breathing because she wanted me to kiss her, I wasn’t kidding. Based on the desire in her eyes, I was only speaking the truth.

Desire I also saw in her cheeks.

In her lips.

In her body.

A body that needed to be satisfied by me.

“Come here,” I ordered.

She didn’t move. She just stared at me from the other side of the tiny table. The distance was so narrow that I could smell her vanilla-latte scent, almost feel the heat from her skin.

She took a breath, and when the air panted through her lips, she inhaled again. “Why?”

“Addy …” I shook my head, laughing. “I’m going to kiss you.”

“Here?” She glanced around the nearly vacant restaurant.

“Yes.”

Her brows slowly rose. “Now?”

“Unless you say no or give me a solid reason not to.”

She smiled, and it came with a small laugh. “We just met?”

“Are you asking me or telling me? Because it sounds like you’re asking, and my answer to that is, we’re both grown adults, and I don’t think a timeline of events is relevant.”

“But what’s relevant is where you met me …”

I let that response really hit and sink in. “That obviously really bothers you.” I didn’t wait for her to say anything else before I continued, “It shouldn’t. But I do realize money was exchanged tonight. For the record, I don’t look at it that way at all. It was part of the deal to get you alone, and I don’t regret it, and neither should you. Besides, you wouldn’t be here unless you wanted to be, nor would you have driven me here and taken the risk of being alone with me.” I studied her eyes. “There was a reason you agreed to come, and it wasn’t only because you were hungry. Something about me interests you.” I smiled. “Is it my lips?”

“They are sexy—I can’t lie.”

I fucking loved her honesty.

“Come here, Addy.”

“First, tell me this … why do you want to kiss me?”

There had only been one other time in my life when I looked at a woman and I could see tomorrow. I could see next week. I could see next year.

That was all it had taken—one look.

Since Jana, I hadn’t been looking.

But what Dad had said to me was in my head. It was in my heart. And, goddamn it, I hadn’t anticipated looking at the strip club since I hadn’t even expected to be there, but once I’d spotted her, I wasn’t going to lose the opportunity, even if there was a chance she’d turn me down.

“I have this feeling,” I said. “I want to see if I’m right.”

“And a kiss will confirm that?”

“You do know the power of a kiss, don’t you?” I waited and got nothing. “It’s not just lips on lips. It’s the most intimate, telling act two people can share. And it’s going to confirm if what I’m feeling is real.”

“Or if I’m just a beautiful redhead who danced on top of a stage and knew how to move my body.”