Page 15 of Villainous Kingpin

“Well, I had hoped you were at least twenty-one,” he answered.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I will be in a few weeks,” I retorted. “Does that help?” His chuckle filled the car and I quite liked the sound. I had a feeling he didn’t laugh often. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-seven.”

“Hmmm.”

“I’ll be twenty-eight soon.”

“Hmmm.”

“And what does hmmm mean?” he challenged.

I looked at him playfully. “I’m trying to decide if you’re old.”

Another chuckle. “Maybe I’m just old enough.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Maybe.”

“I see I’m going to have to convince you,” he drawled.

I made ahmmnoise again while my breath was cut short at all the potential ways he could convince me. And let me tell you, the images in my mind were X-rated. For someone that had never had sex, I was a bit shocked at myself.

A strange thrill shot through my veins and heat rushed to my cheeks.

Another chuckle by Bas followed. “Something tells me your thoughts are not so pure right now,Wynter.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Oh, and yours are,Bas?”

“Touché.” Something amused and seductive played in his gaze as his eyes flicked to me. “Bas?” he asked in a smooth voice, his eyes burning.

My heart fluttered so fast, I thought it’d fly out of my chest. I was used to high-intensity interval training on the ice and treadmill to get my heart ready for the 200 beats per minute for my performances. Yet, none of that exercise could ever prepare me for this kind of heart racing.

“Isn’t that your name?” I breathed.

A quick flicker my way, his eyes on my lips, he returned his attention to the road.

“Nobody ever calls me Bas. Only Basilio.” His voice was deep and soft.

“Oh. Basilio is so stiff, you know.” He shrugged. “Do you know your name means ‘kingly’?” I blurted out, probably sounding like a fool. The fact that I knew what his name meant probably revealed how detailed my look up of him was.

“I did,” he mused.

“Well, I like your name, but I like Bas better.”

He chuckled amused, offering me a fleeting glance.

“I like it, but only you can call me Bas.”

My breaths turned shallow and something warm flickered in my chest. Something so simple and innocent, yet I felt like I’d done something right and earned his praise. It was stupid, I knew it. But I couldn’t shake the feeling off.

“Okay,Bas,” I accentuated his name. “Where are we eating? I’m starving.”

My skin was burning up. This reaction to opposite sex was a novelty. I read about it. Heard about it. But I’ve neverfeltit. Never experienced even a hint of a possibility of attraction to anyone. And here, with this man, the wave of attraction slammed into me and soaked into my every cell.

“I’m assuming you didn’t read my message?” he inquired and I remembered. He sent me a text earlier today, but I was in the midst of holding Ivy’s head above the toilet.

We spent last night in Uncle’s Hampton home. We had to get out of town, and once we devised the plan to rob my uncle’s safe in The Eastside, Ivy, Juliette, and Davina started drinking. Admittedly, I joined in, but I didn’t get hammered like those three.