Dazzling

by Elizabeth Hayley

  He looked at her intently as he tucked some of her hair behind her shoulder. “I’ve already kept you from falling once. Trust me to do it again.”

  Staring into his amber-colored eyes, she felt goose bumps break out across her skin. His eyes lowered to her mouth, and she couldn’t resist darting her tongue out to moisten her lips. “Okay. I trust you.”

  His smile was dazzling as he leaned in and kissed her.

  It wasn’t a long kiss, just a quick taste. Then they both looked back at the rink for a few minutes without speaking. And it was a good quiet—full of contentment.

  Chapter 9

  After Rockefeller Center, they’d walked around New York, stopping and looking at things as they caught their fancy. Siobhan enjoyed taking in the city. But at seven, Derick called for the car to come pick them up and take them to dinner.

  “Is this where we’re eating?” she asked as the car stopped in front of Le Parker Meridien Hotel.

  “Yup,” Derick replied as he climbed out of the backseat. He stretched out his hand and helped her out of the car. “Ever been here?”

  “Nope.” They walked toward the entrance hand in hand. But as soon as they entered the foyer, Siobhan stopped dead. “We can’t eat here,” she said, panic coursing through her at the thought of dining in the elegant hotel. She would have never been in this situation if Derick had just been a normal guy and not someone she’d met at the Stone Room. He’d wanted to charter a private boat for part of their tour and now he was taking her here for dinner. Clearly he had money. Lots of it.

  Derick’s eyebrows pinched together. “We can’t?”

  Siobhan took in the marble floors, then her gaze climbed up the white columns, and finally landed on the frescoed ceiling. “No. We look like hobos.”

  Derick simply smiled and tugged on her hand, pulling her after him as he walked past the concierge desk and down a hall.

  “Derick, I’m serious.” She tried to pull free, but he wasn’t letting go.

  Despite the fact that she was allowing him to lead her through the hotel, she wasn’t happy about it. She was rigid behind him. But that didn’t stop Derick from leading her toward their destination. He stopped and waved his hand at the restaurant in front of him. “Welcome to the Burger Joint.”

  She looked at her surroundings and took a deep breath to try to calm herself. But then she realized that the restaurant wasn’t fancy at all. It was exactly what the name suggested.

  He led her to one of the brown leather booths against the wood-paneled wall that was covered in colored writing. They slid in across from each other. “Yeah. It looks like a hole in the wall,” Derick said, “but it has phenomenal burgers. I figured it’d be better to go somewhere casual since we’ve been walking around all day.”

  She looked at the line for ordering and let the sense of relief wash over her. “This place is awesome. I was craving a burger.”

  “Oh, good. They only have burgers and fries, so I was really hoping I didn’t go wrong.”

  “It’s perfect.”

  Derick smiled. “I’ll go up and order them while you save our seats. Want anything specific on your burger?”

  “I’ll eat anything, so just order two of whatever you’re having,” Siobhan replied.

  Derick got up to place their orders and returned quickly with a pitcher of Sam Adams. He poured them both a pint and then sat back.

  They stared at each other for a second. “I can’t believe a place like this is in here,” Siobhan finally said.

  “So I gathered from your strong resistance in the lobby.”

  “Yeah, I thought you were leading me to a five-star restaurant. There was no way I was sitting in a formal dining room wearing a tank top and sneakers.”

  Derick took a sip of his beer. “Nah, but we can go somewhere nice next time. This seemed to fit the day better.”

  “Definitely,” Siobhan agreed.

  Their order was called quickly so Derick went to retrieve it. When he came back they both dug in—all conversation on hold for the time being.

  Eventually, Siobhan put down her burger. “That’s it. I’m stuffed.”

  Derick laughed. They looked at each other for a second while Siobhan fiddled with her napkin. As perfect as the day had been, there was something she needed to say.

  “So I had a great time today, and it was really nice of you to do all this for me. But I’m a pretty simple girl. We don’t have to go on these extravagant dates.”

  Derick looked confused. “But you said you had a great time.”

  “I did. But I can have fun without spending a lot of money. This must have cost so much. A tour of the city, a private driver. You even said you were going to charter a boat.”

  “It’s not a big deal.” He shrugged. “I like you, and I have the money.”

  Siobhan had been wondering when Derick’s financial status might come up. She knew if he frequented the Stone Room that he had money. She just wasn’t sure how much. She took another sip of her beer and tried to relax. “What is it you do for a living?”

  Derick clasped his hands on the table. “I’m a consultant for app developers.”

  “Oh, wow.” Siobhan was interested. It seemed like a unique career, and maybe he didn’t have as much money as she originally thought. There couldn’t be that much money in consulting. “How did you get into that?”

  “In college, a couple buddies and I were talking at a bar one night—we’d been drinking, which made the concept seem even better—and we came up with an idea for an app. One of my friends was getting a degree in computer programming so he built it, we all helped launch it, it took off, and we ended up selling it a few years ago. But we have stock and it’s still paying dividends.”

  Siobhan leaned forward as if prompting him to continue. When he didn’t elaborate, she asked, “What does it do?”

  “It’s stupid really. It’s called the Bar Tab. It allows you to check-in at a bar and rate different aspects of it: the cost of drinks, approximate guy-to-girl ratio, entertainment, attractiveness of the customers, that kind of stuff. It’s all pretty superficial, but people liked using it. When bars caught on that they could use it for promotions the whole thing really took off. The app eventually caught the attention of a social networking site who offered to buy the rights to it. We were tired of running it, fixing glitches, promoting, all that kind of stuff, so we were happy to sell. Now I consult with other app developers, which is nice because it’s something I know a lot about, and I can set my own hours.”

  Siobhan looked down at the table. “There’s usually crazy money in that stuff, isn’t there? Selling apps?”

  “There’s some. There were three of us, so we had to split it. We also had a lot of college debt, but I made enough to be comfortable.”

  Siobhan nodded. She felt herself go quiet but tried not to seem overly bothered by the revelation.

  They left soon after and Derick had the driver take them back through Times Square. Siobhan was in awe of the lights and activity, causing whatever unease that had been between them to evaporate. He stared at her as the lights splashed her face in color and reflected off the diamond stud earrings she often wore.

  He insisted on walking her to her door even though she said she’d be fine. Once they got to her apartment, Derick used his body to ease her back against the door. He seemed to watch her for any signs that she wanted him to stop, but she didn’t give him one. She wanted this. And as Derick wrapped a hand around her nape and kissed the hell out of her, she knew he wanted it just as much, too.

  His hands roved all over her body: moving from her nape down over the swell of her breasts, before rucking up her tank top so he could grip the soft skin on her hip.

  Her hands were equally greedy as they pulled up his shirt so her fingers could trace over his bare chest.

  On some level, Siobhan realized they were getting a little carried away as they stood in her hallway, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop. His tongue tangled with hers as he
ground his hard cock against her belly.

  She gasped, which allowed him to take the kiss deeper. She wanted him to consume her. His hands found the button on her shorts and undid it.

  Pushing gently against his chest, she felt herself become breathless. Then she eased back from him slightly, put her key in the door, and unlocked it. “You coming?”

  Hell yes.

  Once they were in the door and had closed it behind them, they were on each other, picking up where they had left off. Derick pressed his body against hers, causing her back to lean against the door.

  He pushed under her shirt again, but this time he kept lifting until he freed her body from it. As he licked and kissed a trail from her neck down to her collarbone, Siobhan felt herself losing control.

  Her hands went to his pants, unbuckling his belt and popping the button. She lowered the zipper and he helped push them down his hips until gravity took over the job.

  Derick’s hands squeezed her breasts over her bra before moving south, undoing her shorts, and pushing his hand between her skin and the soft fabric of her underwear. He found her clit and massaged it gently yet urgently, as her smooth hand gripped the even smoother skin of his cock.

  She dragged her fist up and down his length, hoping that it was fast enough to get him close, but slow enough to edge him on the brink of climax without pushing him over.

  She panted and groaned with pleasure, knowing she was close to falling apart as she rode his fingers. He massaged her clit with his thumb as he pulled her shorts down with his free hand before thrusting his index finger inside her.

  As he continued fingering her, she became more frantic. Her hand gripped his cock tighter and moved quicker. Siobhan dug the nails of her other hand into his bicep as her climax drew closer.

  Finally she moaned loudly, her body shaking with her release. Her orgasm caused her hand to clamp even tighter around him, which brought on his orgasm.

  His cum shot all over her bare belly as his body tightened with pleasure. She felt his thighs shaking with the release, and as she looked down, she couldn’t help the primal satisfaction she felt because he’d marked her.

  The sight made her want him to do it again.

  He leaned in to kiss her, this time more gently as they both came down from the sexual high. Kissing his way up to her ear, he whispered, “Can I stay?”

  Chapter 10

  “So then what?” Cory asked.

  Siobhan shrugged. “Then nothing.”

  “So let me get this straight,” Cory said. “You let a smokin’ hot guy get you off against your door, but you didn’t let him stay the night?”

  “No.” Siobhan let out a deflated sigh, rested her elbows against the smooth bar, and propped her chin on her hands. She knew it sounded crazy that she didn’t let him stay, especially considering how far they had already taken things, but she still felt like she’d made the right decision.

  Siobhan noticed Blaine’s eyes widen in the mirror behind the bar as she finished reapplying her lip gloss. “So you don’t want to have sex with Derick Miller?” She turned around to face the girls again.

  “Of course I want to have sex with him. Have you seen him?” Not able to stay seated a moment longer, she stood and walked a few feet away, needing to release some of her nervous energy. “I know we’ve already taken it pretty far, but any further felt…too fast. I don’t want to seem like one of those chicks who falls into bed with a guy just because he’s wealthy.”

  “Why not? It worked for Tiffany.” Cory pointed over at the petite redhead who was typing on one of the restaurant’s iPads, and the girls laughed.

  Siobhan didn’t know whether Cory was kidding. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, I’m serious. You think those torpedoes are real? She looks like Raggedy Ann on growth hormones.”

  Siobhan knew Tiffany’s breasts were fake, but it had never occurred to her that she’d gotten them because of her job. She felt her jaw drop. “She had sex with a customer, and he paid for them?”

  Marnel shook her head. “Nope. She had sex with a customer, and he put them in. He was some famous plastic surgeon out in LA.”

  Siobhan lowered her voice and flung an arm in Tiffany’s direction. “See? That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’m not using Derick like that, and I don’t want anyone thinking I am. His money makes me uncomfortable. To be honest, I kind of wish he didn’t even have it. It just complicates things.”

  Cory looked confused. “How does money complicate things? It would make all of our lives easier.” She paused, probably waiting for someone to agree with her. “What if the situation were reversed? Your dream is to sell your paintings and make a living off your art eventually. If that happens, I’m sure you wouldn’t want some guy judging you just because you had money.”

  “I’m not judging him. Besides, that’s different.”

  “How?”

  “Because…” Siobhan trailed off.

  Blaine finished putting the last of the coasters on the bar and looked at her. “We’re not in first grade so ‘because’ isn’t a sufficient explanation. Try again.”

  Siobhan remained quiet, lost in her thoughts. She wasn’t sure how it was different. She just knew it was. Fidgeting with her silver bracelet, she tried to put her feelings into words. “Because I’ve been painting my whole life. I moved out here with no help from anyone, and I work my ass off so I can stay.” She could feel herself getting defensive, though she didn’t know why. “Derick created an app when he was in college and sold the idea for God knows how much. He made it sound so easy. And I don’t begrudge him that. I’m glad he’s successful. But if I’m ever lucky enough to support myself doing what I love, it’ll be because I sacrificed a lot of my time and energy making it happen. It won’t have come easy for me.”

  The girls stared silently at her, but they looked empathetic. Marnel was the first to speak. “So…what? You’re just not going to see him anymore because he has money?”

  “No.” Siobhan sighed, bringing her hair around to rest in front of her shoulder. “I’m going to give it a shot. He seems sweet, and he’s funny, and he looks like a bearded god.” She felt a goofy grin spread across her face. “I just want to take things slowly. That’s all.”

  “You want to take things slowly?” Cory sounded unconvinced. “With the bearded god who felt you up in an art museum and finger-banged you against a door?”

  Siobhan shrugged. “Yeah. It’ll be fine.”

  Chapter 11

  Derick swept a hand across his brow to wipe the sweat away. It was at least ninety degrees, and the humidity made it feel even hotter. He was thankful for the shade that the tall trees provided. He and Siobhan had walked about a mile and a half to the little city dog park, picking up four small dogs on the way.

  He was already exhausted. It wasn’t that he was out of shape. He worked out five times a week. But that was when he wanted to sweat. This was something entirely different. They’d spent the past ten minutes trying to corral the two beagle puppies and get them leashed again while the white toy poodle and…whatever the long-haired yappy one was called waited on their leashes attached to a nearby pole.

  “Stay there,” Derick called to Siobhan, who was stationed near a tree. “I’m going to chase her, and when she runs by, grab her.” Siobhan nodded, and Derick lunged, forcing the dog to run right past the tree.

  When she did, Siobhan snatched her up. “Gotcha,” she said. Then she gave the dog a little kiss on her brown and white face.

  Derick assumed the brother of the recently captured dog must have just lost interest in the one-sided game because a few minutes later, he wandered over to the other three, finally ready to get back on his leash. “I can’t believe you do this on your own three times a week,” Derick said, taking a long swig from his water bottle and then holding it on the back of his neck.

  Siobhan shrugged. “Dog walking in New York is good money. And I only take them to the park every now and then. I’ve never let the puppies
off their leashes before. I didn’t know they’d be that crazy.”

  Derick laughed. “I never thought something with six-inch legs could outrun me.” After giving the dogs some water, he held the gate open for Siobhan to walk through with the beagles. Then he followed with the other two, thankful that their little chore would be coming to an end soon and they could have some time to themselves. Or so he hoped.

  Over the course of the few weeks that they’d been seeing each other, it always felt like their time together was getting cut short. Siobhan was always running off to get ready to go into the Stone Room for the night, or racing home so she could babysit for one of her neighbor’s kids.

  Derick felt bad that she was always so busy. Especially when he was always so not busy. “You want to grab some ice cream after we drop off the dogs?” he asked. He lifted the bottom of his T-shirt up and maneuvered it over his head, wiping the sweat off his face and neck before draping the shirt over his shoulder.

  He caught Siobhan’s gaze drift to his chest and then a little lower as she seemed to appraise him. “Sure. Ice cream sounds good,” she said. “I just have to get back home by two or so because I have a student coming over.”

  Derick smiled. “Is it one of my girlfriends from your art class?”

  Siobhan laughed and pulled back on the dogs’ leashes. “No, not an art student. I tutor a few kids in English. This one will be a high school sophomore in September. He lives down the hall from me.”

  Derick nodded. “Oh.”

  “His family moved here from Mali,” she continued. “French is his first language, but his parents want him to try to improve his English over the summer. They can’t pay me much, but every little bit helps. And he actually seems like he’s learning something, so I kind of like it.”

  They walked a little farther in silence as Derick decided what to say. He’d been hoping that since she was working at the Stone Room tonight, they could at least spend the day together.