He heard her breathing heavily across the room from him.
“Sorry, sport. You haven’t earned it.”
The woman in the next room keened.
“I’m leaving. Turn around. Face the wall.” She sounded so commanding, and to his surprise, he was still half-hard. Wanting more. Wanting her.
But she’d told him to turn around. So, his dick hanging out, he made no effort to tuck himself back in. “I’m facing the wall,” he rasped as he turned away and heard the door open and close. He leaned his forehead against the wall and sighed. After a few moments, he turned on the light, then used a set of wipes left on a nearby table. He cleaned up and, after making himself presentable again, left the room, still dazed on pleasure.
He returned to the bar and saw Brian sitting with Dylan and Harper. The entertainment on stage had ended, and couples and the occasional loner sat around the open lounge looking replete. “I missed a helluva show, eh?”
Brian glanced up with a grimace. “I didn’t. And I can’t go home for another hour. This is freakin’ killing me.”
Dylan grinned. “Relax, Brian. I’m sure Faith will be happy to help you with any…problems.”
Harper snickered. “Yeah. Like your sister helped us to—”
“Shut the hell up, Harper. God,” Brian groaned.
Rex laughed. “Sure am glad I don’t have any sisters. Nope. Just me.” Getting my rocks off with that sexy, buttoned-up urban planner who’s not so buttoned-up. He felt high, his endorphins making the world perfect. He looked around. “Anyone seen Nat?”
Harper narrowed his eyes. “No. As a matter of fact, she disappeared right before you did.”
“Coincidence.” Rex waved away the implication but noticed Brian’s smirk.
“Uh-huh.” Harper stared at Brian. “Anything you want to share, Bri?”
Brian didn’t even have to look at Rex for a cue. “Not a thing.”
Good man. Rex wanted to keep this thing with Natalie—whatever it might be—between them. Just him and Nat figuring out how to make this work. Of course, she had no idea there was a them yet. But Rex knew there had to be. He started mentally prepping for their date, wanting to make the best impression possible.
No time like the present.
“I’m out. Got a full day ahead of me tomorrow.” The others waved goodbye, and Brian walked out with him.
“So. You and the urban planner.”
“Yep.” His wide grin said what he hadn’t.
“Jesus. How do you do it? Didn’t you just meet her a few days ago?”
“Shh.” Rex glanced around the parking lot. “We didn’t do…everything. It was dark. She had no idea it was me.”
“That sounds familiar.” Brian chuckled, no doubt referring to the first time Rex had watched him and Faith, sitting in the shadows.
“Thanks for covering with Harper.”
“No sweat, man. Anything you need. Just ask.”
“Save me from the rich and ugly next week.” Where snobs like Darcy Stanfield would no doubt be in attendance. The bitchy woman had once tried to cut Brian’s girl down to size, but Faith didn’t take crap from anyone.
“Same back at you.” Brian shivered. “I need Faith to protect me. And speaking of my little woman, it’s time to get home. You missed the second part of the stage act. Jesus, I’m hard.”
Rex wanted to say something smart, but his mind stalled at thoughts of Natalie.
“Oh wow. She must have really gotten to you,” Brian taunted.
“You don’t know the half of it.”
Thursday night, Nat dressed with care for the gala. Work had gone as planned. She made her deadlines, barely, and Mike had been turning in his work on time, knowing he was one strike away from unemployment. Josh Jessup continued to be a fly in the ointment, especially with the sneering and leering he liked to do. But she’d been handling him for months. Another week of it hadn’t killed her.
Her anticipation for the evening concerned her. To her surprise, she actually looked forward to spending time with Rex Samson. Granted, he was a striking man. Handsome, charming, wealthy…and a friend of the mayor’s. Not a good thing, in her book.
Yet she continued to dwell on him at odd times, even going so far as to wonder how he and her mystery friend at Freddy’s club might have gotten along. The other man who refused to leave her thoughts. She hadn’t seen him, but he felt as real to her as Rex. She’d brought him to orgasm. Well, she’d guided him at least. And that fantasy made real had shown her just how much she’d been missing in her personal life.
But this date with Rex… Two sides dueled for dominance inside her. The working woman wanting a nice evening with a handsome man by her side warred with the passionate, sexual creature needing to take charge with her lover.
A lover she didn’t even have.
Ordering her anonymous friend to come had been fun, and it had teased at the dreams she still had of finding a man to satisfy that aspect of her. But she didn’t want to tell him what to do all the time. Finding the right balance was as difficult as finding a man interested in her particular brand of kink.
Disheartened at the thought of never discovering that special someone, she tucked her darker needs back under the superficial skin of pleasant efficiency she often donned, and finished applying her makeup.
She stared at herself in the full length mirror. With her hair upswept, exposing the vulnerable lines of her throat, and the artful mascara and eyeliner making her eyes appear a deeper green than brown, she thought she looked feminine enough. The simple black dress she wore showed off her lean lines. She’d never have ample cleavage, but she could wear a dress like a cover model. Her shoulders and hips allowed the dress to hang on her subtle curves while teasing at the shape beneath.
The dress ended just below her knees, and her favorite stilettos accented her calves and the delicate arches of her feet—her best feature, in her opinion.
“Sad that I think my feet are the most attractive part of me,” she murmured to herself.
The doorbell saved her from any more nonsensical thoughts. She grabbed her small clutch and wrap and went to answer.
Rex appeared on the other side of the door wearing a tux. Holy crap, he looks amazing.
He gave her a slow study, lingering on her hips, breasts and mouth. Nothing subtle about his scrutiny, or the pleased smile that darkened his eyes to an inky black.
“Well, well, sugar. You clean up nice.” He stared again at her chest, and she wondered what he really thought, because the shy show of skin didn’t scream do me any more than her small home yelled I’m rich.
“Okay. Can we go now?”
He chuckled and stepped closer to her, which had her taking a step back. Before she knew it, he’d closed the door behind him and was looking around.
“Nice place.” He nodded. “Cozy, neat, obsessively organized.”
So she liked to stack her books and magazines by height and color. So what? Nat liked order. She believed that everything had its place. Nothing haphazard about her.
“I don’t think I’d say obsessively.”
He stroked her cheek, shocking her with the intimate gesture. “You wouldn’t. I would.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, and she felt the heat of him through her thin dress and wrap. “You look gorgeous. Ready to go?”
She nodded, not sure how to respond to the compliment.
His satisfied grin annoyed her, and she decided to be overly effusive as well. “You’re pretty much a knockout yourself.”
“I know.”
She snorted, and he laughed, then crooked his elbow for her. “Shall we?”
“Why the hell not?” She put her hand on his arm and let him lead her from her home. After locking up, she followed him into his Beamer, not surprised to watch him drive with a quiet confidence that put her at ease.