by Ana Vela
“No need to rush away. Anastasia, wasn’t it? I feel like you’re avoiding me!” He chuckled. She dropped her eyes. It was hard to think when she looked into those dancing green eyes. Her heart tripped beneath her ribs. Bryce slid a finger beneath her chin, stroking the soft skin there, and lifted her face. “Did someone warn you to stay away from me?”
Anastasia bit her lip. “They said you... um...” She trailed off, unable to remember what anyone had said. Not the specifics anyway. Her brain was too focused on the feel of his body against hers. Bryce tsked.
“Vicious rumors, Ana. I swear. I’ve dated a few people at work, I won’t lie about that. And some people can be really vindictive when things end. It all gets blown out of proportion, you know? I bet if you got to know me, you’d find out that stuff everyone said wasn’t true.”
That single finger trailed up to caress her cheek. Anastasia inhaled slowly through her nose, blinking up into his smoldering green eyes. “Get to know you?” It sounded so innocent. She struggled to remember why she was supposed to say no.
“Yeah. Maybe have lunch with me some time. Won’t you give me a chance? I think we could be good friends.”
She licked her lips and watched his gaze fall to her mouth. “I... I don’t think so.”
He stepped back. “Just think about it, Ana. That’s all I ask.”
Anastasia curled her fingers into her palms as he winked and strode away. When she returned to the table, he was gone.
***
She was surprised when Bryce stuck his head into her tiny office the next day at work. His green eyes twinkled as he flashed a smile at her.
“Hey gorgeous. Some of us are going to lunch at The Bistro. You should come.”
Anastasia chewed her lip, frowning. “The Bistro? I don’t know where that is.”
He crossed swiftly to her desk and snatched her phone up, quickly programming in his number. “It’s at Cordell and West. I’ll text you directions. Meet us there at 12:15?” She should say no. Stay completely away from him. Being in his presence made not touching him incredibly difficult. But Anastasia found herself nodding. Bryce beamed.
When she arrived at The Bistro, there was no ‘us’. Only Bryce waited at a table. “Sammy had to stay behind. He was waiting on a delivery. And Jason and Shirley decided they wanted Japanese. You don’t mind it’s just us, do you, Ana?”
Anastasia slid into the chair opposite him, tugging at her sleeves nervously. She had to be strong, she wasn’t one of those naive types. He thought she was, but she wasn’t. “No. Of course not.” But her tone was breathy when she said the words. “What’s good here?”
He ordered for them both, and when the plates arrived he hopped to the chair next to her. “You have to try the ravioli. It’s amazing. I think it’s the truffle butter.” He raised a forkful of steaming, dripping ravioli to her mouth. Anastasia took a bite, licking the extra sauce from her lips. He wasn’t lying. The ravioli was amazing.
“Mmmm,” she moaned as she chewed. “You were right.” He grinned, pushing a plate of fettuccine in front of her.
“Try this.”
She wound a bite around her fork and put it in her mouth. The creamy Alfredo sauce was delicious. “Oh god. Even better!”
Bryce arched an eyebrow. “Is it? I haven’t tried that yet.” He took the fork from her hand and lifted a bite to his own mouth. Anastasia watched as he chewed and swallowed, the bob of his Adam’s apple pronounced. She blinked at the tingling the sight caused in her pussy.
“Well?”
He licked his sculpted lips. “I don’t know. I think I like the ravioli better.” He twirled another bite of fettuccine onto the fork and held it out to her. “Let’s not rush to any decisions.”
They ate the rest of the meal fairly quickly, alternating between bites of the fettuccine and ravioli. Bryce fed Anastasia almost the whole time. In the end, they decided it was a draw between the two dishes.
“I am so full,” Anastasia murmured, wiping her lips with a cloth napkin.
Bryce reached up and swiped a smear of Alfredo from the corner of her mouth, popping the finger into his own mouth and sucking it clean. “But what about dessert?”
She trembled beneath his heated gaze. “I don’t think I could.”
Bryce’s hand touched her knee. “We’ve still got a little time before we have to go back to work. And I’m having so much fun. Aren’t you, Ana?”
Anastasia nodded. She actually was. Bryce was being funny and charming. She could easily see why girls fell for him. “I am, Bryce. But... I should probably get back.” He was too damn tempting. But he was bad news. Everyone said so. And she didn’t want to get caught up in that.
“Just a little dessert. We can split it.” His hand slid up a little higher, fingers brushing against her thigh. Anastasia shivered. The touch was soft and tingled along her skin. She stared into his eyes. She should push his hand away.
“I really can’t.”
She saw the minute he accepted her refusal. The light in his sea green eyes shifted. He squeezed her thigh. “Maybe some other time then.”
Anastasia nodded. She kept her eyes downcast as she began fishing in her purse for her wallet, afraid he see the desire in hers. If he pressed her, she didn’t know if she could keep refusing. “How much do I owe?”
Bryce’s hand flexed again, fingers moving just a fraction higher on her thigh. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it this time.”
“Oh, but--”
He tilted her face up with his other hand, leaning close to her. “Next time it’ll be your turn.” The words were heavy with innuendo. Anastasia licked her lips, breath stuttering out of her lungs. She looked directly into his eyes. The lids drooped slightly with his obvious desire.
“Next time?” The idea of being this close to him again was enough to make her nipples pucker under her blouse. But she had to remain firm. There would be no next time.
His mouth quirked, the dimple in his cheek flashing. “Next time.”
Anastasia found she couldn’t think of the words to argue with him.
He didn’t accompany her back to the office. He had an after lunch meeting across town. It didn’t escape her notice that he was keeping their meetings as much out of the public eye as possible. She supposed that was his way of keeping the girls fooled. He was smooth.
Smooth enough to have a small arrangement of flowers delivered later that same day. Nothing fancy, just a small nosegay of daisies and lilies. The note read ‘Had a wonderful time today. Don’t forget - next time, dessert is on you.’ It wasn’t signed.
***
Anastasia was on the 23rd floor, doing some filing for one of the associate partners’ executive assistants, when Bryce slid quietly into the room. There were other people out in the hallway, she could hear them. He had slipped away from the group to come talk to her, she realized.
“There’s my little Ana. Did you get my gift?”
She flashed him a quick smile and then dropped her eyes. Looking directly at him only made her shake with desire. “Yes, thank you. They were lovely.”
He leaned back against the open door. “Say you’ll go out with me again. Dinner, maybe a movie after. What do you say?”
“I don’t think that would be such a good idea. We work together.” And he lied, and used people. She couldn’t forget that.
She closed the filing cabinet drawer she had open and bent to the one below it. Her skirt, perfectly professional length with she was standing, rode up considerably when she bent over. It stretched tight across her ass and bared her legs to the top of her thighs. She knew Bryce would be looking. She wanted him to.
His voice was rough when he answered. “Just as friends then. I really like you, Ana. And I think you like me too. Come on. Give me one chance.”
She straightened, turning back to him, and bit her lip. “Just as friends. You promise?” Anastasia knew she was playing with fire. But Bryce was so hot. And he didn’t seem to be giving up either. One dinne
r could hardly do any harm. She could hold out for one night. And then, surely, when he saw she was serious about not giving in, he’d leave her in peace. If he’d stop popping up everywhere she went, she could forget about his broad shoulders and muscled chest.
“Cross my heart.” He did, mouth curving up into a triumphant smile.
“Okay then. Pick me up at 8?”
***
Victoria was going to be out for the night. She’d met a painter, an older Indian woman, who was going to do a series of nude portraits of the voluptuous redhead. Given the sparkle in Victoria’s eye when she left, Anastasia suspected the woman was going to get more than just a painting out of the evening. Victoria had taken her overnight bag with her.
Which meant she needn’t tell Victoria about Bryce, or vice versa. She wasn’t hiding the date, she assured herself. And it wasn’t a date anyway. Just a friendly dinner. But Anastasia still shaved her legs and wore some of the new, sexy underwear Victoria had helped her pick out. The outfit she chose said ‘date’ more than ‘friendly dinner’ as well. Her blouse was silk, a deep eggplant shade, and tied behind her neck, leaving her back bare. Which meant she wore no bra.
The skirt was black and stopped at mid-thigh. It wasn’t indecently tight, but it did hug the curve of her hips and ass. The shoes were Victoria’s, five inch spiked heels with a peep toe. Her freshly painted toenails, purple to match the blouse, peeked out. The flare of lust in Bryce’s eyes when he saw her sent a rush of blood to her head. Her cheeks pinkened.
“Wow, Ana. You look incredible.” He gave a low whistle as she stepped to the curb. He touched her naked back briefly as he helped her into the cab. The feel of his fingers against her spine made Anastasia shiver.
“Thank you. A friend helped me pick it out.” It was true. She’d owned none of this clothing before moving in with Victoria. The older woman had given her a crash course in fashion.
Bryce trailed a finger up her arm, stroking her skin, as the cab pulled into traffic. “She’s a very good friend,” he said with a dimpled smile. Anastasia chuckled.
“She really is.”
He took her to a tapas place and they ate with their fingers. Bryce was charming and sweet and fawned all over her. Anastasia wished he’d stop talking and kiss her. She didn’t really care what he liked about Market Research or how pretty he thought her eyes were. The truth was that there was little to Bryce other than his carefully crafted persona and his amazingly sexy face and body.
Anastasia listened to him talk. She even joked with him. But her mind was almost always on his body. The width of his strong hands, the sensual curve of his lips, the long, muscular length of his thighs. She was sure if he’d tried his routine on her when she’d first came to the city, she would have fallen under his spell. She’d have thought they were in love and he would have fucked her, dumped her, and left her crying.
Yet another way Victoria had saved her. By broadening Anastasia’s sexual horizons, she’d helped make her less of a target for men like Bryce. She was glad. But oh, there was a small part of her that cursed Victoria for it. Because now she’d never know what that gorgeous body looked like naked. She flushed with heat at the thought.
“You’re not what I expected, Ana.” Bryce’s low voice snapped her out of her current daydream about licking his muscled belly.
She bit her lip. Had she missed something? “I don’t know what you mean.”
Bryce poured her another glass of wine. It was a lovely Madeira, but she probably shouldn’t have any more. Still, she sipped it politely. Bryce smiled. “You’re what... twenty-two?”
“Twenty-one.”
His smile grew wider. “Twenty-one. You’ve got that fresh-faced, just off the farm look about you at work. You blush and stammer when I talk to you.” She felt another blush heat her cheeks. Bryce chuckled. “Like that. And yet, you’re wearing this outfit when I come to pick you up that’s all sophisticated city girl and sometimes when I’m talking you get this almost dangerous look in your eyes. Who are you, Ana?”
“Well, the outfit and stuff, that’s pretty new. But you say all that like you’re older than me. I thought we were around the same age?” She gulped her wine, trying not to glance down as he smoothed a hand along his thigh. Her head felt a bit light.
Bryce signaled the waiter for the check. “I am, a bit. I’ll be twenty-six this year.”
While he paid the bill, Anastasia contemplated what she was going to do if he tried to kiss her. He would, she was nearly certain. But she had to refuse. Bryce McCormick was bad news. Everyone said so. He would pretend he cared about her and then drop her like a bad habit. She wasn’t going to give in to her desires. She was not going to get played.
Anastasia was so focused on repeating that mantra in her head, she paid barely any attention as Bryce slid into the cab beside her and gave the driver her address. His warm body was pressed up against her side. He smelled of the wine and spices from the tapas place, and something else. His own scent. It was spicy too, but not the hot peppery smell of the restaurant. More like cinnamon, or clove.
Her breath was ragged in her chest and her nipples tightened to hard points, rubbing deliciously against the silk of her blouse. Bryce slung an arm along the back of the seat, cupping her bare shoulder. Anastasia’s pussy tingled at the feel of his smooth fingers stroking her skin.
The cab drew to a stop in front of her apartment building and Bryce got out to open the door for her. It was a practiced move, she knew, but all she really wanted was to beg him to come upstairs and fuck her. But she couldn’t, she reminded herself. Again.
But when he leaned into the cabbie’s window and muttered something that ended with, “Wait here,” she didn’t argue. And she didn’t argue when he pressed his hand to the small of her back and said he was going to walk her to her door.
Outside the apartment, Anastasia slid the key in the lock and turned it, but didn’t push open the door. She turned to Bryce and forced her lips to smile. “Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re welcome.” He stepped a little closer, his knee brushing hers. “We should do it again some time.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Bryce.” Her fingers were tight on her keys.
He reached up and touched her jaw lightly. “Why not?” Her nerve endings tingled at his touch.
Anastasia shook her head. She needed to make herself clear, once and for all. She’d played with fire, but if she didn’t step carefully away now, she was going to get burned. She took a half step backward, out of his reach. Her back pressed against the unopened door. She bit her lip, not quite able to meet his eyes when she spoke. “I’m not going to fall for it, Bryce. Your sensitive guy routine. I know I look naive, maybe I even am about some things... but I know your game.”
She saw a flare in his eyes. Anger or interest? She wasn’t sure. But his smile was sheepish. “Ana, I told you--”
“They’re not just rumors. You know it, and so do I. You like us shy types, but the only way to get a shy girl into bed is to pretend you care about her, right? So that’s what you do. But once you have, the thrill is over. Shy girls are pretty boring in bed, I’d guess. And that’s why you dump them. Am I right?” Her fingers curled around the door knob, ready to leap back into the apartment and slam it behind her if he got mad.
Two bright spots of color burned high on his sculpted cheekbones and his voice was low when he spoke. “If that’s what you think, then why did you agree to come out with me?”
“Because you’re hot,” she said frankly. The flash in his eyes was definitely interest now. He liked hearing that she thought he was hot. It turned him on. She could see it. And the thought turned her on. Her nipples tightened. Anastasia met his gaze. “Because, honestly, Bryce, I don’t care. I don’t care if you’re sleeping with a hundred other girls or if you think my eyes are pretty. I just want you to fuck me.”
She’d never said those words so blatantly to someone like that, except maybe in the heat of passion. They seeme
d to fall from her lips and slam into her belly, a fireball of heat. Bryce seemed equally as effected. He lurched toward her, the hard length of his body pressing her into the door. Her breasts were crushed to his chest. She could feel the hard length of his cock against her belly. He ground it into her.
“You don’t care about dinner dates or snuggling or getting jewelry? You don’t care about telling everyone about your new sweetie? Snapping pictures to send home to mom and dad?”
She slid her hands around his waist to cup his firm ass. “None of it. All I want from you is your cock. And your fingers. And your tongue.”
His eyelids fluttered at her words. “Fuck, hearing that coming out of her innocent looking little mouth is a hell of a turn on, Ana.” His hands came up, gripping her chin and angling her head back. Anastasia grinned. She leaned up and flicked her tongue against his lower lip.
