Page 66 of X's and O's

She shrugged. “I’m thirty years old and never even really had a proper kiss. I work a dead-end job. And I just spent a year writing to a man who claimed to love me, only to take one glimpse of me and run screaming in the opposite direction. If I had any self-esteem before that, that last one probably would have been the nail in the confidence coffin.”

“He’s a fool.”

She tried to smile, but it was more like a grimace. “I’m paying you to say that.”

“You haven’t paid me anything. I said it because Imeant it. If he spent a year getting to know you and fell in love with your heart, only to reject you based on something physical, then he never really loved you. He’s a dog. And you deserve better.”

She gave me a tiny half-smile. “Thank you.”

It looked good on her. I wanted to see her smile properly. To see that grin split the pretty face this other guy didn’t think good enough for him. I’d bet she was a stunner when she laughed. Not the awkward little laughs I was getting right now, but a full-blown belly laugh or a fit of giggles she couldn’t control.

The fact nobody had kissed this woman was criminal.

And she wanted me to take her virginity tonight.

Fucking hell.

I moved to my side of the car, one arm resting along the back of the seat and watched her fidget with her clothes, clearly trying to be discreet, but tugging and pulling at whatever it was she had on beneath her dress that was obviously uncomfortable.

“You got panties on beneath that skirt, sweetheart?”

That red blush came back in an instant. “I…um…yes,” she admitted.

“Take them off. We’re nearly there.”

She shook her head fast. “I can’t.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Worried I’ll make you so wet you’ll leave a puddle on your chair?”

She breathed out a shaky breath. “I’m more worried everyone will know.”

The car slowed, and the lit-upSinnerssign came into view outside my window. I jerked my head at it. “You can take them off, Violet. Or I can take them off for you.”

Her eyes went big. “Right here? There are people outside!”

There was a couple strolling down the sidewalk holding hands, and across the road a few others probably on their way to their own dinner reservations. It was far from a crowd, and the windows were a dark enough tint that nobody would have seen anyway.

“Right here.”

I wanted her walking in that restaurant with her head high, feeling sexy as fuck. Even if she had to fake it. But she wasn’t going to feel like that if she was wearing something that didn’t make her feel like a million bucks.

The car was large, with seats facing us and enough of a gap in between for me to slip down onto my knees on the floor, my gaze determined and set on crossing the car to take care of the task that needed to happen.

“I’ll do it!” she squawked in a rush.

I chuckled to myself and pushed back up onto the seat.

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, perhaps reassuring herself I wasn’t coming any closer, then raised the hem of her skirt above her knees.

I bit back the urge to groan, because I suddenly wanted that skirt so much higher. Like right up around her waist, flashing me everything between her thick thighs.

At forty-six, I knew what I liked in a woman. I wasn’t some dumbass jock who only wanted a size zero, five-foot-two woman on his arm so I seemed bigger. At this point in my life, I couldn’t give a shit what other people thought. I liked that Violet didn’t look like I would break her if I pushed her up against a wall. I liked that she wasonly a few inches shorter than me, so I wasn’t staring down at the top of her head and instead gazing into her pretty blue eyes. I didn’t need a tiny woman to throw around.

Given half the chance, I would have Violet up off her feet, her legs wrapped around my waist, carrying her to the nearest horizontal surface so I could do a whole lot more than escort her to dinner.

She paused with her fingers on her thighs. “Could you, uh…maybe turn around?”

My gaze met hers. “Sweetheart, you are the sexiest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Please don’t make me do that.”