Page 8

CHAPTER 8

CASSIE

W hat in the heck is happening? I ask myself as I try to keep up with Lewis while we walk briskly down the street. He’s still holding my hand, but his legs are a lot longer than mine are, so I have to double my steps in order to not be dragged along the road. Thank goodness we stop running so I can catch my breath but also collect my thoughts.

The kiss was a complete surprise, but my reaction to it was even more shocking. I’ve never been kissed that way in my entire life. Sure, I would get butterflies in my stomach when my ex kissed me, but nothing close to what Lewis just made me feel. His kiss was the earthquake that sparked a tsunami of desire inside of me and it dissipated before it had the chance to make landfall. He lit my panties on fire just from the mere touch of his tongue and I practically humped him right there in public. The whole time we were kissing, I felt like I couldn’t get close enough to him. Am I that hard up because it’s been so long since I’ve been physically touched by a guy or is he just that good?

I press my free hand to my swollen lips, which are still tingling from being devoured so harshly, so deliciously. Is that what a true kiss is supposed to feel like? Because if so, I’ve been completely missing out or maybe, I just haven’t been with the right person who knew what they were doing.

And apparently Lewis knows exactly what he’s doing.

I take this opportunity to finally get a good look at him. I saw how handsome he was earlier when he overheard my conversation with Grace, but I was skeptical of his intentions when he offered to help me. His award-winning performance at being my ex and wanting me back was so convincing that I got caught up in the moment of how good it felt to be wanted again.

“Crap, I don’t know where I’m going.” The frustration in his voice brings me back to reality. We stop walking and he drops my hand while he looks back to where we just came from. I immediately miss his warmth and the strong grip of his fingers against mine. I wonder what else those fingers could do.

“What do you mean?” I ask, needing a distraction from where my thoughts are heading.

“I just moved to Nashville, so I don’t know where else would be a good place for us to go.”

I look around and know this area of the town well. “There’s an Irish pub just a couple blocks up.”

“Perfect!” He grabs my hand again, causing me to bite my lip to suppress my smile of satisfaction. We walk in silence for a couple moments until we get to O’Toole’s Irish Pub. Lewis opens the door and we’re greeted by the host, who has to talk loudly over the raucous crowd. Lewis asks if we can be seated in the back, away from everyone. Fortunately, they still have some booths available, and we follow the host to the back of the restaurant where it’s quieter. We sit down next to each other and he hands us our menus.

“Your waitress will be right with you. Enjoy and welcome to Nashville,” he says to Lewis and walks away. Lewis quickly looks over at me and smiles when he sees my puzzled expression.

“Do you know him?” I ask because if he does, then it’s weird that he didn’t even acknowledge him.

“Never met him before,” he responds, deciding to browse the menu instead of looking at me.

“Then why would he welcome you to Nashville if he didn’t know you just moved here?”

Lewis lifts his gaze to meet mine and shrugs. “You know how sometimes you mean one thing, but say another? I think he meant to say, ‘Welcome to O’Toole’s’ but said Nashville instead.”

I think about it for a moment. “Ah, that makes sense. I do that sometimes.”

He chuckles. “Me too. I think it was just an oversight. Are you hungry?”

I’m ferociously hungry, but I’m not sure it’s really the food I want.

“Yeah, I can eat,” I tell him while I stare at his lips. Thank goodness he’s looking at the flyer with the specials on it.

Who are you right now, Cassie? I can feel my cheeks turning red, so I look down at my menu and try to focus on food. These naughty thoughts over a man I just met are so not like me. There’s no way I can be tipsy from the one shot I took hours ago. I feel like I’m drunk on lust, and I don’t like this unhinged chaos inside of me that he created with one damn kiss.

“Hey, listen,” he says, and I look up from the menu. “I’m sorry about kissing you without asking for permission.”

I’m not sorry, not one damn bit.

“It’s okay,” I respond quickly, not wanting him to feel bad but also hoping he will stop bringing it up because it keeps rewinding in my brain, making me want a repeat performance.

“No, we should’ve had a better game plan. I just saw Aaron watching us and I thought maybe him seeing me kiss you would deter him from following. I’m not really sure if he did, but we’re just probably going to have to stay out for a little bit longer to play it safe. Is that okay with you?”

“Fine by me,” I agree, not really wanting to go home anymore. This man has me intrigued and I would love to find out what his story is.

“I feel you’re being way cooler than you should be about this. I had no right to just grab you like that and invade your personal space.”

If he only knew how much more personal space I wanted him to invade.

I feel bad that he’s agonizing over this because he clearly looks bothered by his actions. “Lewis, it’s truly fine. I understand why you did it and if we’re being honest here, I actually kind of liked it.” Lies, you more than liked it.

“You did?” My eyes are immediately drawn to the devilish smirk he’s giving me, and I groan inwardly, appreciating how sexy he looks right now.

What. Is. Wrong. With. Me.

Focus, Cassie. I lock in on his vibrant green eyes and will myself to not look away. “I’m the one that is grateful to you for coming to my rescue. I’m sorry if I wasn’t very friendly to you at first.”

“Nothing to apologize for. I would’ve been on alert as well, especially since you already were feeling anxious about Aaron. You were smart to listen to your intuition. There’s something wrong with him.”

“It makes me feel better that you agree with me. I’m going to kill my friend Grace for setting this up. Oh shoot, speaking about Grace, do you mind if I text her back real quick to let her know I’m okay?”

“Of course. Do you know what you want to eat? I can order for us while you text her back.” He catches the eye of our waitress and waves her over to begin our order.

“Let’s just share some appetizers if that works for you. You pick.” I grab my phone out of my purse to find ten missed messages from Grace.

“Do you want anything to drink besides water?”

I look up from my phone and debate whether or not I want a cocktail. I’m not a big drinker due to my mother’s history, but I think one drink won’t hurt.

“I’ll take a vodka tonic with a lime, please,” I tell the waitress as she collects our menus, and I resume texting Grace back. I don’t bother reading her messages and instead, I tell her that I’m fine, having drinks with my gorgeous savior, and I’ll fill her in about everything later. I put my phone back in my purse and immediately feel it vibrate with back to back texts. I know leaving her that little easter egg without details is killing her right now.

Serves her right.

“The incident with Aaron will make things a bit awkward for Grace at work, but fortunately, she only sees him on the days he’s at her hospital.”

Lewis’s mouth drops open in shock. “Please don’t tell me that guy is a doctor or a world-renowned surgeon?”

My lips twitch. “No, he’s a pharmaceutical rep who supplies drugs to the pharmacy inside the hospital.”

“Oh, thank god.” We laugh because that would be pretty bad if he was some famous doctor.

“You said earlier you just moved to Nashville? How long have you been here?”

“I’ve only been here for a few weeks,” he chuckles. “It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind.”

“Where did you move from?”

“Austin, Texas. Ever been there?”

“I can’t say I have but that explains the adorable accent,” I smirk. “I figured you were southern, but I just didn’t know from which state.”

“I’m a true Texan, born and raised. My brother and I love Austin so much he named his first-born child after our birth city.” He laughs at his happy memories and the sound of it makes me smile. “My parents still live there and Nashville actually kind of reminds me of Austin in some ways. What about you?”

“I was born down the street at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Pretty rare to find a true Tennessean these days with so many transplants moving here.”

He raises an eyebrow as if he doesn’t believe me. “Where’s your twang then?”

I giggle at his stereotyping. “Both my parents are from Wisconsin. They moved here before I was born. If you love Austin so much, why did you leave?” I decide to switch subjects, not really wanting to discuss any further details about my mother.

“Work purposes.” Our waitress arrives with our drinks and when she leaves, he doesn’t elaborate any further.

“Are you liking it here so far?”

“Honestly, this is my first night out and so far, I’m really liking it.” With the way he’s staring at me, his innuendo that he is liking me is loud and clear. Warmth spreads throughout my belly and I give him what I hope to be a sexy smile.

“What a memorable first night out—saving some girl from a psycho.” I laugh. “You probably will never go out again after this…unless you do this often and have a hero complex.”

He grins and shakes his head. “No, this is my very first time saving a damsel in distress. I’m actually not very fond of the nightlife.” His smile turns sheepish as if he’s embarrassed and shrugs. “I rather be chilling at home, watching a movie with my daughter.”

It’s so refreshing to hear how much he loves his kid. “That’s right, you have a daughter…” my voice trails off and a horrific thought occurs to me.

“Oh my God, are you married?” I practically shriek loud enough for people to look over at us. I immediately look down at his ring finger, something I should’ve done the first time I met him.

He starts laughing, “Nope, not married. Remember I told you my ex-cheated on me?”

My shoulders sag in relief. “I didn’t realize you were referring to your ex-wife.”

“We were never married.”

That piques my interest. I wonder what prevented him from wanting to marry his baby mama.

He grabs my hand, his thumb starting to rub circles over the top of my skin. The gesture sends little shock waves down my spine. “Let’s not talk about our past tonight. I really prefer all my attention to be focused on you.”

Our gazes are locked, and it isn’t until we hear the waitress putting down our food that we break eye contact. Lordy, it’s getting hot in here, and I know it isn’t because O’Toole’s has the heater on. I take a big sip of my drink and almost choke on the overabundance of vodka I taste in it.

“Is there anything else you need, sir?” The waitress gives Lewis a once over, her eyes gleaming with appreciation. I quickly glance around and notice a lot of other women looking and whispering about him. Can’t say I blame them; it definitely boosts my ego knowing he’s choosing to be here with me.

“No, thanks.” He doesn’t even look her way as he hands me my silverware and plate. Lewis ordered boneless wings in sweet chili sauce, some fried pickles, and beer cheese dip with pretzels. I strategically grab a couple of fried pickles, spoon some beer cheese onto my plate with some pretzels and leave the wings for Lewis. I dip a pretzel into some cheese, take a bite and moan at the perfection assaulting my tastebuds. I grab another one, slather it in even more cheese and start going to town on it. I can feel the cheese all over my lips and I start to lick them, not wanting to waste good cheese on my napkin. I look over at Lewis and immediately stop. My eyes grow wide as he’s staring at me with raw hunger.

“You’ve got cheese all over your mouth.”

My tongue automatically darts out and I start licking my lips. I continue lapping around trying to get every morsel, fascinated with watching his eyes grow dark with desire at my actions.

“Did I get it all?”

He shakes his head. “Let me help you.” He wraps his hand around my waist and pulls me to him, while his other hand rests against my jaw. He moves his thumb and swipes it against the corner of my mouth before sliding it across my bottom lip. My lips automatically part and my tongue flicks out lightly to touch his thumb.

“Fuck,” he growls before replacing his thumb with his mouth. Yes , my brain screams in victory at getting another taste of him. Our initial kiss was not a fluke—he’s masterfully moving his lips and tongue against mine sending electrical currents straight to my core that has me clenching my thighs together. I moan, sliding my hands into his hair so I can keep him as close to me as possible. How can someone kiss like this and be single? I think before my mind is taken over by the need and desperation erupting inside of me. If this is how Lewis makes me feel with his kisses, I think my heart would stop beating if we had sex.

He breaks the kiss and begins nibbling up my jawbone to my ear. “We can’t keep doing this here,” he whispers right before he starts kissing my neck. I squeeze his shoulder with one of my hands while he sucks over a sensitive spot. I don’t even care if I have a hickey tomorrow. My hand moves down his arm, past his waist to his hip. I can feel the indentation of his hip flexors through his clothes. My fingers slide over his upper thigh to his groin where I feel his desire pushing against his pants. He moans as I lightly rub against him, and he crashes his mouth back onto mine again. I don’t know what has come over me, nor can I explain my wanton behavior, but I can’t make myself stop.

I don’t want to stop.

“We need to make a decision.” He stops our kiss suddenly and pulls back to search my eyes. “We either end the night now and I walk you to your car or we take this somewhere private.”

I don’t want this night to end, but I’m also a little apprehensive of having sex with a complete stranger. My conversation with Grace earlier this week about casual sex comes to mind. I know there’s nothing wrong with it, but I think what’s holding me back is my lack of experience.

“I don’t want to go home,” I whisper. “But I’ve also never gone home with a stranger before.”

“We don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do, but we can’t keep kissing each other in public. People are starting to watch.” I glance around and I realize he’s right, people are staring. I pull back from him, completely embarrassed.

“It’s your call, Amber. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. Trust your intuition.” He laces his fingers through mine and gives my hand a squeeze.

I’m not sure I can trust my intuition at this moment because everything just feels so good, so right, and it’s a feeling that I’m not ready to give up yet.

“Let’s go somewhere private,” I tell him and squeeze his hand back.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to decide right away. We can sit here and eat our food, but we just can’t look at each other,” he jokes and I laugh, because we both know that’s going to be impossible to do.

“I’m sure,” I confirm.

He waves over the waitress and gives her his credit card without looking at the bill. “Here’s for the check.” She takes his credit card from him, but not before she gives me a nasty look. He presses his lips against mine and whispers, “Remember, you’re in control of everything we do tonight. I just want to spend time with you.”

Before I can respond, the waitress returns with his credit card and check to sign. He grabs his card, puts it back in his wallet, and scribbles illegibly on the receipt. “Let’s go,” he commands and helps me out of the booth. He grabs hold of my hand and leads us out of the restaurant.

“Where are we going?” I inquire because there’s no way I can take him back to my house. He looks around once we’re outside the restaurant and points behind me.

“We’re going there.” I follow his gaze and see The Omni Hotel. At first, I wonder why he’s not taking me to his place, but then I remember he just moved here and his house will be his daughter’s home, so I can understand not wanting to take a stranger there.

“Lewis, The Omni is really expensive, and I only know this because my former employer had friends come into town and we would help book the hotel for them,” I explain because I don’t want him to think I’ve done this before so I know how much hotel rates are. “There’s plenty of other affordable hotels around here.”

“I’m not taking you to some cheap ass hotel. Consider this a staycation for both of us. Besides, if you decide you want to leave and go home, then at least I know I will have a very comfortable bed to sleep in for tonight.”

When he puts it like that, how can I refuse? “Okay,” I agree as we briskly walk toward the hotel. The closer we get, the more anxious I feel with the anticipation of what might come.

We get to the hotel and Lewis walks to the front desk while I wait in the lobby. I watch him talk with the receptionist and within a couple of minutes, he receives a key to a room. He walks slowly toward me, my gaze appreciating how incredibly good-looking he is. His clothes can’t conceal his strong body, and my mouth starts salivating at the thought of exploring it.

He stops within inches of me and holds up the keycard to the room. “You still want to go upstairs to hangout?”

I grab the card and lace my fingers with his. “Let’s go,” I tell him, and I’m rewarded with a heart-stopping, panty-melting smile.

Whatever happens tonight is going to be life-changing. Our chemistry together is too off the charts for me to back away. This might be a one-time thing, but for tonight, I’m done letting life slip me by.