The Guy in the Window

by Cara Dee

  “Interesting choice,” I said.

  Adam smirked, then took a swig of his beer. “Okay, we gotta wake up.” He handed me a shot of Jäger.

  “I should tell you I never liked Jäger,” I admitted and sniffed the dark liquid.

  He laughed. “No one likes Jäger, Ev.” He nodded at me. “Bottoms up, silver fox.”

  Silver what? I lifted my brows in question and reluctantly threw back the shot. Oh fuck, that was vile. I made a face and covered my mouth with the back of my hand. “What,” I coughed, “what is a silver fox?”

  His eyes glinted with something. “A man like yourself. Older, handsome as fuck, distinguished, bit of silver in your hair. And here.” For a short moment, he ran the backs of two fingers over the stubble on my jaw, and it sent a slow, thick, sluggish shiver through me.

  Goodness. I drew a hand through my hair self-consciously and had no idea how to respond to that. The tips of my ears felt hot, and I cleared my throat. Me? Handsome as fuck? That was a new one.

  Wait. I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”

  “Nope.” He leaned back against the bar, elbows on the shiny surface, and looked out over the club. “Do you see anyone you might wanna make your rebound?”

  Well. No, not rebound. And no, not anyone out there.

  I was still recovering from his compliments.

  Adam thought I was a silver fox.

  I shivered again and drained half my beer.

  I had to switch to something stronger if I wanted to relax properly.

  Two old-fashioneds and one GT later, I felt better, and we had migrated to the second floor with new drinks.

  It was darker, much louder, wilder, and had fewer places to sit, but we found a leather couch facing the dance floor.

  Adam leaned in to say something but changed his mind, so I gave him a prodding look. He chuckled and leaned in again. “I was gonna tell you a funny story from work, but this ain’t the place.” He had to speak loudly to be heard over the heavy bass of the music.

  I inhaled instinctively and got a whiff of his cologne, and my mouth watered.

  Fuck.

  He was right. It was a horrible place for conversation. On the other hand, it was the perfect setting for getting close to him under the guise of speaking over the music.

  I took a sip of my GT and side-eyed his position. There was no mistaking him for anything other than all man. A perfect specimen of male beauty. That body, his being almost as tall as me, how he sat with his legs parted comfortably, the fine, dark hairs on his arms, his fucking scent….

  I wasn’t gay. And yet…

  I wet my bottom lip and took another sip. Then I undid another button on my shirt. It was getting hot in here.

  Men and women danced seductively on the dance floor to blood-pumping remixes of mainstream music. Men with men, men with women, women with women. Everyone was here.

  Some were watching Adam.

  He leaned in again. “Like I said, unc.” He nodded at my chest. “With this whole thing you’ve got going on—” I looked down at my chest where some of my chest hair peeked out, and he pinched the fabric of my shirt over my bicep. “You can pick and choose freely.” He gestured to the dance floor. “You have no reason to hold back. Go get yours.” He smirked, though there was something off with it. “Don’t you see the women eye-fuckin’ ya?”

  It hit me like a brick that he was waiting for me to go find someone so he could do the same. I felt awful, not to mention irritated. Of course he hadn’t brought me here to spend the whole night with me. Christ.

  “You should go,” I said, leaning close.

  “What?” He inched in farther.

  “Get out there.” My lips accidentally brushed the shell of his ear, and I caught him shuddering. My bad. I eased back a couple inches. “No need to babysit me. You’re the one with an audience, Adam, and no one can blame them. Besides, I’m not the best dancer.”

  By that, I meant I had once been decent, but I hadn’t danced in two decades, and that music wasn’t mainstream anymore.

  Adam cocked his head at me, pensive.

  I took a bigger swig of my drink and urged him on to get out of here. I wasn’t going to hold him back.

  He granted me one more whiff of his delicious scent, and he spoke in my ear. “If you’re still here in twenty minutes, I’m draggin’ you out there myself. I’mma see your moves before the night is over.”

  I swallowed thickly and cleared my head from the images trying to invade my brain.

  I lost myself in the sea of people, in the music, and in the throbbing beat. I didn’t care about anyone around me. The quick, sharp flashes of light washed over the floor, making it look like we danced in slow motion. I closed my eyes as one remix morphed into another, and all I saw before me was that straight motherfucker.

  Ev wouldn’t get out of my head.

  The dance floor became my choice of limbo. Before, he was mine. Well, a moron could pretend. Now…now, he was somewhere else. And when I found him again, he would be someone else’s. I banked on it. I put my money on the women I’d seen watching him.

  More than twenty minutes passed.

  Come on, bitches. Claim your man.

  The alcohol and the music flowed through me, and I gave a shake of my head to whatever jagoff put his hands on my hips. Fuck off. Maybe I’d get desperate once Everett scored, but not a second before.

  The one thing I hadn’t expected when I eventually located Ev at the bar on the third floor?

  Him with another man.

  Seven

  Everett

  “And she did, over and over and over,” I laughed. “She forgot sometimes, and she’d tilt her head and think really hard, until it hit her that she hadn’t used the word in a while—”

  “So, she cranked it up and said it even more?” Mike guessed, chuckling.

  “Even when it didn’t make sense!” I grinned fondly and shook my head. “Fathom this, fathom that. Four days straight—and she’s been sick, so you wanna tread extra carefully.”

  “Oh hell, sounds like my boy when he’s sick. He’ll listen to a song until his ears are bleedin’. Problem is, my ears start bleeding way before his.”

  I chuckled, realizing my drink was gone, and alerted the bartender. Gin and tonic was giving me a wonderful feeling tonight, so I went with another. “One more for you too?” I asked Mike.

  “Yeah, but it’s my turn to—”

  “Nonsense.” I waved him off and signaled for another for him as well. The bartender nodded, and I turned to Mike again. “You saved me tonight. A few drinks on me is the least I can do.”

  I was thanking my lucky stars for having been found by seemingly the only other man in the club who didn’t fit in. A fellow divorcé and parent, Mike had intervened when a woman who’d been too drunk to form a coherent sentence had landed on the couch next to me downstairs and flirted quite aggressively. She would wake up with regrets and a headache tomorrow.

  Had it not been for her, I still would’ve been staring at Adam as he danced.

  Whenever the sea of dancers had parted and I’d spotted him, I’d grown uncomfortably hard in my pants. I couldn’t help it. He was just…so unbelievably sexy. I could barely believe I was admitting it to myself.

  Mike and I received our drinks, and I took a generous swallow after I’d paid.

  “I think they’re watering down the drinks now.” I frowned and peered down into my glass.

  Mike laughed. “Or you’re too wasted to taste the gin.”

  I grinned, admitting that might explain why I struggled to stand without swaying. The things this Mike guy taught me. He was a fucking genius.

  “Ev!”

  I turned around and squinted toward the stairs, and my stomach flipped. If Adam made my composure slip when I was sober, I didn’t want to know what he’d do when I was three sheets to the wind.

  “That your buddy?” Mike asked.

  I nodded curtly. It was possible I’
d referred to Adam as anything but my nephew.

  Adam joined us at the bar and stopped dangerously close to me. His body heat combined with his scent had me seeking out the bottom of my GT glass.

  “I met another divorcé whose ink hasn’t dried yet,” I said.

  “I’m sure you did.” Adam shook Mike’s hand with an unreadable look on his face. “Excuse us for a moment…?”

  “Mike,” Mike said.

  “Yeah. That.” Adam waited.

  I furrowed my brow, puzzled by the charge in the air.

  Mike tipped his drink at me and offered a wry smirk, then made his way to…elsewhere.

  Adam faced me with his whole body and gripped the edge of the bar top with both hands, effectively trapping me between his arms.

  “What happened to you finding some woman?” he asked tightly.

  I stood a little straighter and frowned. “Why did you chase away the guy, the, uh…the Mike?”

  “Because,” he replied slowly, leaning closer, “he looked like he wanted to fuck you.”

  What the fuck? I eyed him sharply. “He’s straight, Adam.”

  Whatever had made Adam come on so strong faltered right then and there, and he managed a wobbly, uncertain smile before it died and his forehead landed on my shoulder.

  My heartbeat kicked up.

  “So are you,” he muttered. “I keep reminding myself…and I’m a fucking idiot.”

  “Hey.” I had a hand along his side before I knew it, because he’d made a move to ease off, and I wasn’t ready. He was so close to me. “Something’s wrong. What is it?”

  He shook his head and stared down between us. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I’m drunk.”

  “That makes two of us.” My fingers twitched where I was touching him, and I couldn’t for the life of me lower my hand. “I—” Someone bumped into us, and I could’ve fucking murdered him. I shot the guy a glare, not that he saw me. He had his back to us. Son of a bitch. “Let’s go someplace we can talk.”

  He grabbed my drink and finished it in two swallows, and then he smacked the glass down on the bar. “I hate talkin’.”

  So did I, but I wanted privacy. I wanted no interruptions. I wanted to touch him. Hell, I already was, and it still wasn’t enough. I couldn’t release his waist. His body heat seared my hand. Our chests were mere inches apart, and I became desperate to close the distance.

  “You promised to show me your moves,” he said.

  “I did no such thing.” I lowered my stare as he slid his hand up my stomach. Fucking hell. I was done for. How was I going to prevent myself from going too far?

  “I’m pretty sure you did.”

  I lifted my gaze, though only to his mouth. He scraped his teeth over his bottom lip, and I sucked in a breath. My pulse started racing. I met his eyes and saw the wariness mingling with hunger. The sight caused my abs to clench, and a ball of sheer lust dropped like lead into my gut.

  “We should get home,” I forced out. Because I was seconds away from kissing him.

  The problem was, I could tell Adam was drunk enough to go along with it, but then where would that leave us in the morning?

  Adam flushed and cleared his throat, and just like that, he was backing off. The heat was gone. Like a rubber band that stretched between us, I wanted to snap after him. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What had I done? I already regretted it.

  “You’re right,” he said. “We’ve had enough fun.”

  “Ad—” Fuck! I stalked after him as he headed toward the stairs at a quick pace.

  People crowded us on the stairs, and I only caught a few glimpses of him. The bright light from his phone didn’t belong; it told me he was getting us an Uber. I wasn’t ready, though. I needed the heat back. I had to touch him again. I was throwing in the goddamn towel.

  “Adam!” I called over the music.

  A new song took over, one I’d heard before, one I only remembered because Adam liked it. “Beautiful People” by that British wonder boy Sheeran with whom my daughter was infatuated. Adam and I had heard it at the gym, and he’d been…something else. Sweaty and breathing heavily, T-shirt clinging to his skin, high on endorphins, and with a grin on his face, he’d tried to coax me into acting like a clown with him, and he’d moved his hips to the beat, widened his arms, and mouthed the lyrics. I’d stood there immobile and unable to breathe.

  Who had ever made me feel this alive before?

  Sick of letting people slip through my fingers, instinct kicked in and I squeezed by the crowd in front of me. My pulse skyrocketed as I got closer. Someone told me to watch it. I didn’t stop. All I saw was the back of Adam’s head. He could forget about the fucking Uber.

  When I finally reached him, right before the next set of stairs, I grabbed his arm. He swung around and shot me a hostile look, and my heart clenched. But I didn’t falter—for once in my fucking life. Instead, I changed our course and forced him to come with me out to the dance floor. My throat went dry. The moving sea of people swallowed us whole.

  I was going to hell, and I was ready for the flames to consume me.

  My mind assaulted me with the images that had turned me into a madman with a sketchbook.

  I’m doing this.

  Somewhere in the middle of the crowd, I swallowed my nerves, sent a quick prayer for this to work, and drew Adam close as I turned to him. Not a second was spared for overanalyzing. Bright lights danced over us, and I caught the bewilderment and vulnerability muddling Adam’s blue eyes before I closed the distance and kissed him. My hands followed, shaping themselves to his jaw and the curve under his ears.

  The surge of adrenaline and desire nearly knocked me on my ass.

  Adam hauled in a breath and gripped my sides. When he pulled back, the question was written all over him.

  I answered by wetting my lips quickly and kissing him again, firmer this time, lingering, ready to plead with him. I couldn’t describe the pure bliss of feeling him underneath my fingertips. The rasp of his stubble, the softness of his lips, then the taste… I swallowed a groan when he parted his lips with an unsteady breath, and I took advantage. I couldn’t resist. I didn’t understand much of anything going on with me, but I couldn’t stay away.

  I was done letting the lack of understanding for my feelings cripple my actions.

  He finally kissed me back, and never had I anticipated such relief to smack me in the face. When our tongues met, I was ready to fall to my knees and worship the ground he walked on. Oh God, how perfect could a kiss be? Wanting to feel more of him, I let one hand fall from his jaw, and I slipped it around his waist. I pulled him flush to my body and exhaled shakily as my cock pressed against my zipper.

  I felt his moan more than heard it, and it caused a rush of heat to rise to the surface of my skin. The music changed to something with a seductive beat, fueling us, or maybe it was Adam. He was taking over. He kissed me hungrily and stole my ability to breathe.

  It was the single most intoxicating kiss I’d ever experienced, and I barely noticed when he started walking me backward.

  Someone yelled for us to get a room, but I was too overwhelmed by the lust I had for Adam to give a shit. There was no shame, only a desperate thirst and a need for this to continue.

  It wasn’t until we were back at the stairs that I checked my surroundings. Along with it, Adam’s wild expression. The hunger in his eyes pushed uncomfortably at my mind-set. Not necessarily in a bad way; it was just different. It made me drop my gaze and bury my face against his neck.

  My back hit a wall. Adam’s arms came around my shoulders, and he wove his fingers into the hair at the back of my head.

  “This totally new to you?” He sucked on my earlobe, eliciting a drawn-out shiver from me, and his words were almost lost in the pulsing beat of the music.

  I nodded in response and dropped an openmouthed kiss to his neck so I could taste him where he smelled incredible.

  He shuddered and pressed his lips to my temple. That sensation made me close my eyes an
d revel in something entirely foreign to me: taking the passenger’s seat. He pressed his body to mine, letting me feel the effect I’d had on him, and I groaned and sought out his mouth again.

  I kissed him tentatively and waited, waited for him to make the move, and I wasn’t disappointed. He took charge and seduced me completely with his tongue. I’d never experienced the desire to be at someone else’s mercy the way I did now.

  He kissed his way to my jaw next and spoke in my ear. “How confused are you?”

  “Thoroughly.” I had to be honest. “I’ve tried to deal with whatever this is for weeks, but I’m…” I swallowed dryly as he gave my hair a tug, forcing me to make eye contact. “Christ, I’m obsessed with you.”

  His eyes darkened. “I like that last part.” Leaning in, he brushed his lips to mine but wouldn’t let me deepen the kiss. “We’re going back to your place.”

  Thank God.

  Adam drove me to the brink of insanity in the Uber back to Logan Square. He sat in the middle, and we didn’t talk much, but he’d placed my hand over his crotch, and whenever I thought the driver was going to look back and see us, Adam stopped me from withdrawing.

  “Touch me, unc,” he whispered.

  I gave him a sharp look. Could he please leave out that term? His eyes flashed with the challenge.

  The air of dominance around him, though… I was powerless to stop tracing the ridge of his cock with my fingers.

  He was screwing with me on purpose.

  I inhaled deeply and let my fingers wander over his bulge. There was something carnally enticing about this. Whenever I thought of Adam, or watched him in the window, he never came across as someone who lacked power. It was his masculinity and quiet confidence I was drawn to. He could stand in a corner, perfectly at ease, without the need to assert himself, because he was up front about so much. He didn’t hide his vulnerability, and therefore, it wasn’t a weakness.