“No joke.” With another grin, this one more wicked than the first, she added, “I’ve been thinking about this for two years.”
His hand trembled a little as he raked it through his hair. “You’ve been thinking about having sex with me for two years?”
She simply nodded. There was no need for words—the hot look in her blue eyes said it all. So did the way she licked her bottom lip.
“How come you, uh, never mentioned it before?”
“You didn’t seem interested.” She cocked her head curiously. “Are you interested?”
Hell yes, his dick shouted.
Don’t even think about it, his conscience ordered.
Shit.
He had no idea what to say to that and the battle raging in his head wasn’t helping the situation.
So instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. “I never thought you were the casual type. What suddenly made you decide you wanted a roll in the hay with a playboy like me?”
“So you admit you’re a playboy.”
“Sure.”
“I prefer male slut.”
His mouth lifted in a faint grin. “I’m thirty years old, single, and rich. I’m allowed to be a slut. You, on the other hand, are too good for me. My rough edges would scratch the hell out of you.”
“Sounds kinky.”
His cock twitched, a warning that this conversation was treading into very dangerous territory. She was obviously dead serious about this, and if he wanted to leave this bar with his honorable intentions intact, he really needed to nip this in the bud. Now. Before he did something stupid.
Like fuck her.
“Don’t pretend you don’t want to,” she said, reading his mind. “I can see it in your eyes, Riley. You’re interested.”
She didn’t even know the half of it. But what she also didn’t know what that she’d just propositioned the same man who was about to profit from her financial troubles. He’d been here the night she’d informed her staff she was selling the bar. He’d seen the anger and desperation in her eyes. He knew the Diamond was her entire life, that she’d inherited it from her parents after they’d died in a car accident five years ago. She’d single-handedly run this place for years now, and he felt like a total ass for taking it away from her.
But he couldn’t ignore the reality of the situation either. Sam was broke, the bar was struggling, and even if he hadn’t bought it, she would’ve lost it anyway.
The reality, however, didn’t ease his guilt. He knew he should have talked to her before he made the offer for the Diamond, tried to explain why he was doing it and gotten her blessing before he did. Yet he hadn’t wanted to upset her. No, he hadn’t wanted to lose her. Sam’s friendship was one of the highlights of his empty post-retirement life, and he’d selfishly wanted to hang on to her, something he hadn’t been sure would be possible if he told her the truth about buying the Diamond.
He’d fought not to sleep with her for the same reason, but apparently she wasn’t as worried that sex might ruin their friendship.
“Sam…” He mustered up some willpower and continued, “This isn’t a good idea.”
“I think it’s a great idea.” Something raw and fiery flashed in her gaze. “You’re not going to turn me down, Riley.”
He gulped. “I’m not?”
“Nope.”
She slid out of the booth and got to her feet. The sweet feminine scent of her wafted into his nostrils and he almost shuddered with arousal. Jeez, not now. He’d fought his attraction to her for two years. How was it possible that it only took two damn minutes for all that restraint to dissolve?
“I’m staying in the apartment upstairs,” she said with a sensual arch of an eyebrow.
He inhaled deeply, wondering if there was a way to let her down gently but at the same time wanting nothing more than to follow her upstairs and rip her clothes off.
She sensed his hesitation and frowned. “Don’t make me beg for it.”
And there it was. All it took was one tiny pout and the word “beg” and he officially reached his breaking point. The restraint inside him snapped like a bungee cord. Every remaining drop of blood in his body skyrocketed south, pooling in his groin until he was harder and hotter than ever.
How could he possibly deny this woman something he wanted just as badly? He could practically taste her on his lips. Her sexy scent made him dizzy with lust, her braless breasts taunted him from beneath her cotton tank top. He’d never wanted a woman this much, this fiercely, and the need squeezed at his balls and sucked the oxygen right out of his lungs.
He stumbled to his feet. Screw it. He wasn’t going to fight this anymore. Tomorrow he would tell her that he’d bought the Diamond.
Tonight he would live out the fantasy he’d denied himself for far too long.
Chapter Two
“You coming?” Sam asked, tossing a glance over her shoulder.