by Ali Olson
As she followed the others out the door, she felt a small sense of foreboding. These shoes were even higher than the ones the night before, and with how low the scoop of the dress went—and the fact that she wasn’t able to wear a bra with it—she was very aware what a dangerous combination it could be. It might end very badly indeed, if she wasn’t careful.
Except for that little episode at the airport, she tended to be pretty steady on her feet, but the red heels she was wearing were something else entirely. She wished she could switch into a more reasonable pair, but the others insisted she looked amazing, and her mirror self agreed. So stilettos it would be.
On the outside, she looked like a woman from a club scene in a movie, the confident and attractive girl who would go home with a stranger if the mood took her. On the inside, she was still the unsure introvert who was on the defensive against anyone who might try to get too close. But she wanted to be that outside version, if even for just a weekend.
The group of women, dressed to the nines and ready to devastate the city’s men, went down to the lobby to meet Marilyn’s Jeremiah and whatever friend he was bringing along. Marilyn wrapped her arm through Cindy’s. “So, Cindy, there is a possibility that Jeremiah and I might break away and have our own little party, if you don’t mind. You can totally say no, though.”
Jessica knew Cindy well enough to see that she was less than thrilled about one of their party taking off with a stranger, but Jessica knew she’d never say anything to that effect. She just smiled at Marilyn and said, “Of course! Have fun. How often are you in Vegas?”
It wasn’t in Cindy to be anything but supportive of her friends’ decisions. It was one of the reasons Jessica had called Cindy first when she and Russ broke up, and why she was planning on telling her about the whole embarrassing Aaron fascination she’d been having and the entire strip-club story. When they were safely back home, of course, and it could just be a funny Vegas anecdote.
As they walked up the few steps toward the lobby, Jessica watched her feet carefully to avoid an embarrassing tumble. When she was at the top of the stairs and looked up, Marilyn was moving quickly toward a smiling man, and—
And Aaron. She couldn’t believe it. His eyes were taking in each girl, but when they landed on her, he stopped short, his eyebrows rising in surprise. They stared at each other in shock. Aaron was the friend Jeremiah was bringing to dinner; Jeremiah was the guy who’d been calling Aaron back to the group when he was drunkenly hitting on her. It all made ridiculous improbable sense.
The rest of the girls walked up to meet the men, but Jessica was frozen to the spot by his stare. Her cheeks flushed, her heart sped up so much she could feel it pressing against her chest.
You can do this. Just breathe and smile and walk forward, pretend this is normal.
Her silent pep talk did nothing to move her feet or stop her heart from slamming away. It didn’t erase the look of astonishment and slight panic she knew was plastered across her face.
She didn’t know if she wanted to run into his arms or back up to the hotel room, but neither of those involved casually walking up and shaking hands.
By this time, the other girls had met Jeremiah and were being introduced to Aaron, who had to be smacked on the arm by Jeremiah in order to pull his attention away from her. She felt oddly pleased about the stunned expression on his face, and the way his eyes stayed on her until he was forced to acknowledge the others. Even Miss New York couldn’t take away his focus from her.
Once Aaron’s eyes finally shifted away, Jessica felt free—for the moment at least—to think and walk, but she couldn’t stop her gaze from sliding down his well-cut suit jacket, to the fitted shirt underneath, to his dark blue jeans.
Everything looked as if it was made perfectly for his body, showing him off without looking intentional. Did he do that on purpose, or was that just how clothes looked on a body that magnificent?
She walked toward the men slowly and very carefully—she definitely didn’t want to trip over her own feet now—but stayed behind the rest of the women so she wouldn’t have to do something as mundane as shake his hand. There would be no way to keep from melting if she got too close to him.
Jessica tried to come up with a plan. She was usually great at having plans in difficult situations, but this time she was completely at sea with nothing to grab on to. She thought about her anger the night before, and about her thoughts when she’d seen him running. Oh, the running.
She was physically attracted to him, no doubt about that. More than she’d ever been to anyone. He clearly wasn’t looking for anything serious this weekend, so why should she? She was a single woman in Vegas for a few days for a bachelorette party—didn’t that give her the freedom to do anything without regret?
By the time they’d all started walking to dinner, she had begun telling herself that one night with the man of her dreams would be enough, that it was probably just a physical attraction she’d get over after acting upon it. She should go up and talk to him, at least. Smooth things out from when they’d last seen each other.
What she did, however, was stay as far away from him as possible and blush a fiery shade of scarlet that deepened every time he glanced her way, which he did every few seconds while they walked to the restaurant.
At dinner, she tried to place as many people between them as possible, but after she sat down, he slid into the chair next to her. Jessica cursed inwardly, feeling his stare as she looked everywhere possible but into his eyes. Sitting just a few inches from him, she could feel the heat coming off his body, and every inch of her skin felt as if it was being shot through with electrical currents. Her heart was beating so wildly, she was sure he could hear it, and the struggle to keep her breathing normal was pointless.
“Jessica,” he half whispered, trying to get her attention.
When he said her name, his voice wrapped around her like a silky blanket, and she wanted, more than anything, for him to say it again. He didn’t seem to realize that all of her attention was on him at the moment, no matter where she forced her eyes. She finally looked at him, her breath catching in her throat.
“Jessica,” he whispered, and she felt that thrill again. “I’m so sorry about my behavior last night. I was drunk and I was excited to see you again. I can’t believe I did any of the things I did. I swear I’m not a drunken idiot. Most of the time.”
His eyes were pleading for a positive response from her, a crooked sheepdog smile playing on his lips. He looked almost innocent and like someone who was just trying to make amends, but she could tell by the lower pitch of his voice, the darkness of his eyes and the tense hold of his sculpted jaw that he wasn’t saying everything on his mind.
With mild astonishment, she understood what was happening. He was barely holding himself together, too. She had assumed that he thought she was attractive, but that he couldn’t possibly be feeling the same thrill of sensations. But really, he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
An amazingly handsome cowboy wanted her with an intensity that cut down her already shaky control even more. Even if he just wanted this makeup-covered, cleavage-showing Jessica 2.0, that intensity was a surprise she hadn’t expected.
She suddenly realized he was waiting for her to say something, but what could she say? She’d given herself permission to allow the physical attraction, but now that he was so close, so obviously wanting her, she wanted more than ever to run away and hide.
Jessica cleared her throat a little, giving her mind a chance to settle down. It didn’t work. “It’s fine. I’m sorry I got so upset at you over nothing, really. It was just a weird moment. Friends?” she asked.
No! her mind screamed at her. Friends! Are you kidding? Not friends! She wished she could drop under the table as soon as the words left her mouth. The last thing on earth she wanted at that moment was to just be friends. How could they be
friends when they were only going to see each other for this one weekend, and spending even a few seconds near him made her want to jump out of her clothes and curl herself around his body?
She could see from the flexing muscles in his jaw that it hadn’t been the word he’d wanted to hear, either, but he smiled at her, showing a row of perfect teeth she could almost imagine nibbling on her ear. “Okay. Friends. I’m Aaron.”
Berating herself internally, she smiled back. “Hi, Aaron.”
Although she’d memorized his name from the paper he’d given her, had looked at it so many times that she could picture the way he’d written every letter, that was the first time she’d said it out loud, and she felt a dropping sensation in her stomach as his eyes darkened a little more and his cheeks flushed, but not from embarrassment. She could feel the heat wafting off his body, could smell his intoxicating, indescribable manly scent and suddenly she felt far too close for comfort. She could hardly breathe.
It was too much for her to deal with at the moment. Shaky, she whispered quickly, “Would you excuse me?” and scooted herself away from the table.
In her hurry, her arm pressed against his, and the jolt of electricity made her move even faster. She rushed toward the bathroom, feeling his eyes still on her. The areas of her arm that had touched his sizzled with feeling, and some of the heat emanating off him seemed to have lodged itself firmly in her stomach.
She had loved Russ, but in a calm and comfortable way, like a good friend. Nothing she’d ever experienced had felt anything like this. This was something so new and terrifying that she didn’t know what to make of it.
In the restroom was a small sitting area with a bench. She flopped herself down on it and dropped her head to her knees, breathing in deeply, trying to get control of herself. How was she going to get through the evening around Aaron? All she wanted to do was rip off his shirt and press herself against his bare chest, but she just couldn’t do it. The only other alternative was to stay as far away from him as possible, but it didn’t seem that he’d let that happen, based on how he magically ended up sitting next to her for dinner.
She spent a few minutes sitting there until her heart had slowed, then looked in the mirror and steeled herself for the evening, reminding her reflection to behave like an adult, like the cool sexy woman she appeared to be, and not allow some guy to get her so flustered.
Then she walked briskly out the door, turning sharply toward the dining area.
And walked smack into Aaron.
Jessica bounced off his chest and would have fallen to the floor, except that his arms curled around her to catch her. She regained her balance, but his arms stayed wrapped around her body. Her stilettos made her so tall that they were eye-to-eye. Everything she’d done to gain control immediately fell apart as she felt his arms wrapped around her, saving her. She could see the shock on his face, but his eyes only showed longing. For her.
“Whoa! I was just waiting to make sure you were okay. You’d been gone awhile and—”
His husky voice and arms around her made the last of her logic and fear crumble. Without thinking about what she was doing, she leaned forward and sealed her mouth to his, cutting off the spill of words. There was a moment of stillness as he realized what was happening, and then his hands slid up her back into her hair, leaving trails of sensation in their wake.
His right hand moved forward, cupping her jaw as he deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping inside her mouth, exploring her. Her arm wrapped around his neck and she pressed herself against his body. The eagerness with which he responded, the swelling she felt against her hip, only drove her desire over the edge, clouding her mind. If he hadn’t been holding her so tightly, her legs would have given out beneath her.
Then the sound of a cell phone started, shrill and insistent, cutting through the moment.
They broke apart, and Aaron grumbled deep in his throat as he pulled the phone out of his pocket, one arm still wrapped around her. “Jeremiah,” he muttered, and she couldn’t help smiling at the tone of his voice, as if he would kill his friend if he got the chance.
She noticed that he was still holding her tight to his chest, but she couldn’t find it in her to move away.
He answered, glaring daggers at the device, “Jeremiah? Yeah, do whatever you want. I’ll message you later if I want to meet up, but if you don’t hear from me, don’t call.”
She could hear Jeremiah laughing on the other end of the phone, and flushed, embarrassed, as she realized what Aaron had implied. Was she going to be another conquest by this rugged man who clearly had several notches in his belt?
Was that a bad thing? All she knew was that being so close to him, breathing him in, electrified her. Her mind was still fuzzy from the kiss.
He shoved the phone back into his pocket and looked at her, their faces just inches from each other. Neither had let go of the other. “Jeremiah and Marilyn are taking off. I don’t know what his excuse was, something about walking around the art collection or something. They’ll catch up with your friends later. Nobody’s ordered food yet, but they decided they weren’t hungry or something. What about you?”
The question hung between them, asking about so much more than food. She couldn’t eat now if her life depended on it, but she couldn’t just leave, could she? She was intoxicated with this man holding her so close, and there was nothing to hold her back if this was what she wanted. After a short pause, she decided to be impulsive for once.
“I’m not hungry. I’ll text Cindy and let her know I’m going up to my room. She won’t mind.”
She turned her attention to her handbag, grabbing her phone and quickly sending a garbled text to that effect. She could feel him staring at her the entire time, and hardly knew what she was writing, so long as it was quick and meant she could disappear with this man. When she had finished, she looked back into his eyes, her breath catching in her throat.
She wanted to taste his lips again but had gotten enough of her mind back to realize that making out in the restroom hallway of a busy restaurant was probably not the best idea. To punctuate that thought, a woman skirted uncomfortably around them, heading toward the bathroom.
Jessica finally pulled away from him, realizing as she did so that her top had gone askew during their embrace, leaving one of her breasts exposed. She flushed and fixed herself hurriedly, suddenly feeling her modesty and embarrassment return now that she wasn’t quite so close to him.
She looked up at his face. Aaron’s eyes were staring directly at her cleavage. He had definitely noticed the clothing mishap. She flushed an even deeper red and almost changed her mind about the whole thing, but then he spoke, his voice had an even deeper huskiness than before. “You’re staying at this hotel, right?”
It sent thrills through her, and she could only answer with a “Yes.”
She waited, unsure of herself. Kissing him had made her blood rise and the bottom drop out of her stomach. It was something she’d never felt before and longed to feel again, but she wasn’t sure how to recreate the moment.
He seemed to sense her uncertainty. “Should we—”
He paused, clearly waiting for her to fill in the gap, to make a decision. She looked at his eyes again and threw caution and inhibition out the window. “Let’s go,” she said softly, stepping in to brush her lips against his once more, to remind herself why she was making this decision, more than anything else.
Her mouth paused against his for just a moment as his tongue flicked lightly against hers, and then she grabbed his hand and, on shaky legs, began leading him away from the restaurant. If she didn’t get somewhere private quickly, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to control herself any longer. His fingers threaded with hers, and each point of contact felt alive with intensity. She wanted to feel that all over her body, and didn’t want to resist that urge for any longer than she needed to.
Even if it was just one night, she had to have him. Had to feel what it would be like to sleep with this man she barely knew, but who her body reached out for with such desperation, the way a person lost in the desert would reach for a glass of water. Her mind was still arguing against it, telling her that it wasn’t a logical choice, but the voice in her head had gotten so faint and overwhelmed by her firing nerves that it was barely heard, easily dismissed.
Somehow she made it to the elevator with him in tow without falling or wrapping herself around him in the middle of the casino floor. As soon as the doors slid shut and the elevator began its ascent to her floor, they flung themselves at each other again.
As she kissed him, deeply and hungrily, his hand found its way along her stomach, then slid around to the small of her back, the friction of his hand against the material of her dress increasing her body’s tension. Her skin was so sensitive that every movement caused tremors of excitement to flow through her. She could feel that his body was rock hard against her, and his pants were barely up to the challenge of holding him back.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, but as she began to pull away to exit, the arm wrapped around her waist tightened and held her against him, her feet hovering above the floor, his lips still on her. He had lifted her enough so he could kiss along her jawline and her neck, and stepped off the elevator with her in his arms, making her feel as though tiny explosions were going off in her brain.
“What room?” he growled into her neck, letting loose waves of electricity in the spots warmed by his breath.
A tingle went down her spine as she heard the complete abandon in his voice. He wasn’t in control of himself, and she had the feeling it wasn’t something that happened to him very often. She liked it.
She looked around wildly for a second, desperate to find her room. She finally realized which door it was and pointed. He let her feet hit the floor, and she pulled him along toward the door. As she turned toward the door, grabbing randomly through her bag for the key card, he stood behind her, pressing himself against her, his hand rubbing against her stomach as his perfect teeth nibbled on one ear.
