by J. S. Cooper
“Ooh what are you drinking?” I asked, not wanting to order something weird. Now didn’t seem like the right moment to ask for a sex on the beach.
“I’m drinking an IPA right now, but they also have really great cocktails if that is more up your alley.” He took a seat next to me and I nearly melted as I felt his thigh pressing against mine. I gave him a side-look and a small smile and it was all I could do to not pull his face toward mine and give him a big kiss. I wanted to so badly and figured he might even be into it, but I’d only been here for one minute. I didn’t want him to think that I was a complete and utter ho. At least not this early into the date. I giggled as I wondered what he would think if I put my hand on his thigh.
“Oh, what’s so funny?” He gave me an adorable smile and I bit down on my lower lip. Get it together, Janie, I lectured myself internally. You’re acting like a complete and utter loser. Not to mention I was as giddy as a teenager.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “A cocktail would be nice. Do they have a menu?”
“Yes, here we go,” he said as he handed it to me. “I was thinking maybe we could share some of the appetizers as well. They make some really tasty food.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said as I looked down at the menu and tried not to flinch as I looked at the prices. Oh God, this place was expensive. If he expected me to go Dutch with him, I was going to be crying for days. Twenty dollars for one cocktail and appetizers that started at fifteen dollars each. Say what? I tried to not cringe as I mentally worked out how much my half of the bill would be if he accepted my offer to pay at the end. I knew I could always not offer, but that made me feel like less of a feminist. “What do you suggest?”
“Let’s get the lobster bites, and the petite filet mignon and some of their special Kennebec fries.” He looked back down at the menu. “Ooh, and maybe the stuffed mushrooms.”
“Oh, okay.” I nodded at him, happy that he seemed to enjoy good food, but worried because all the items looked way expensive. Did I really want to spend this much on a first date?
“Anything you see that you like?” He grinned. “I want this to be a special first date for you. I want to treat you right.”
“Oh, you don’t have to treat me,” I said, figuring that this was a way to figure out if he was expecting me to pay half.
“Of course I do. A pretty lady like you deserves to be treated with the finest that money can buy. I want to spoil you.” He reached out and touched the side of my face and I stared into his eyes breathlessly. This was the best first date ever. I felt like I was in a dream and I never wanted to wake up from it. No one had ever said they wanted to spoil me before. I ignored the warning bells that were going off in my head saying that this was all too good to be true.
“Wow, well thanks,” I said, not really knowing what to say. I’d never been in a situation like this, with a man like this and especially a man I didn’t even really know. My stomach thudded for a second as I realized how dumb I was possibly being. Maybe Anabel was right. Maybe I should have chatted with him a bit more before agreeing to meet up with him. I was supposed to be more mature now. I didn’t know anything about Dylan. Shit, I couldn’t even remember his age? I knew I was being impetuous, but was I also being stupid? In that moment, I wanted to speak to Nate. As bossy as he was and as father-like as he could be, I trusted him implicitly. I wished now that I had told him where I was.
“Would you like a pear martini?” he asked me as he sat back slightly, his eyes still not leaving mine.
“Sure, thanks.” I gave him my most winning smile and sat back. His gaze was a bit intense, but overall, he seemed like a nice guy. I decided to text Anabel and Nate my location when Dylan got up. Just in case. Nate would wonder what I was talking about, but I could tell him more later.
“Let me go up and order and then we can chat.” He beamed at me and I watched as he walked away. I sat there for a few seconds feeling excited and then a weird feeling of worry and apprehension hit me. What exactly was I doing here? Was this a totally weird situation? Why was Dylan so happy to see me? A part of me wanted to jump up and move away from him. What was I really doing here? I grabbed my phone and quickly sent a text to Anabel. On a date at Bond Bar. Come look for me if I don’t text by midnight. I quickly stuffed my phone back into my handbag and looked around the bar to make sure it didn’t look super seedy. I thought about texting Nate as well, but decided against it. He could be bossy and controlling at times and I didn’t need him grilling me about my date and how I’d met him. For all I knew he would show up at the bar and that would just be super embarrassing.
“Hey, you look deep in thought. You okay?” I nearly jumped as Dylan made his way back to the table. His face looked slightly concerned and his eyes searched mine. “It’s normal to be overwhelmed, if that’s what you’re feeling right now.”
“Thanks, this is just all really new to me.” I gave him a smile, wondering if I was that transparent. “I’m not even really sure what to say.”
“We can talk about whatever you want to talk about. Or you can quiz me on topics that are important to you and I will try and figure out some answers.” He laughed. “Granted I don’t know that I’ll be able to answer too many of your brilliant questions.”
“I don’t know that I can think of any questions that can stump you.” I laughed. “But I can give it a try.”
“I love your laugh.” He leaned toward me and smiled widely. “You have such a pretty smile.”
“Thank you.” I batted my eyelashes at him. “Your smile isn’t so bad yourself.”
“Why thank you, beautiful.” He reached over and touched the side of my face and I froze as he leaned closer toward me. Was he going to kiss me? “There’s actually something I wanted to ask you,” he said softly and I took a deep breath as I waited for him to continue.
“Yes, what is it?” I asked him, after a few seconds of silence. My heart was racing and my skin felt hot. The drink was already starting to go to my head and I was starting to feel giddy. Was he going to ask me to hook up with him? And if he did, what would I say? I hadn’t had a hookup in years. In fact, not since that night with Nate and I hadn’t realized at the time that it was just going to be a hookup. I could feel my stomach stirring and I determined to take my mind off of Nate. I tried to not remember our past too often as it still made me angry and he was a much better friend to me now that we’d reconnected.
“So, Janie ...” Dylan’s voice was husky as he reached out and took my hand. His fingers grazed against mine lightly and my heart skipped a beat.
“Yes, Dylan?” I leaned toward him and swallowed hard and waited to hear what he was going to say next. I stared at his face and thought about how sexy he was. There’s something about a nicely groomed beard that will do it for me every time. I don’t know why. It’s not like it’s that sexy to have short pointy pieces of hair rubbing against my face when kissing, but there’s just something about it that turns me on. As I stared at Dylan waiting for him to continue with what he was about to say, I couldn’t help but think about how ticklish his beard would feel against my face when we kissed. I could feel my face growing red as I realized that I hadn’t been thinking if we kissed, but rather when we kissed. I didn’t even really know this guy, yet I was pretty sure I wanted to do dirty bad things to him. Or rather, I wanted him to do dirty bad things to me. I just met him, but here I was eagerly awaiting his next words.
Chapter Five
Dylan
The oysters arrived before I was able to ask Janie my question. She looked as disappointed as I felt as the waiter approached with the tray. Janie, I repeated her name in my mind as she mumbled on about something related to oysters. I couldn’t concentrate on the words as I stared at her pink lips. I wanted to lean forward. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted her to touch me, but she didn’t even seem to notice that I was inching closer and closer to her. She seemed oblivious to my charms and that annoyed me. I wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose or if she r
eally was that oblivious. But it was annoying me a lot more than I was willing to admit to myself. She’s not like most women. She’s different. That annoyed me as well. Not that she was different, but that the way that she affected me made me feel differently. I don’t want to feel differently toward any woman. I don’t want to get involved with a woman that is going to make me feel uncomfortable or uneasy. I don’t want a woman that is going to make me feel anything too much. I don’t like it when women push their way into my life. I don’t want a relationship that goes deeper than the surface. And even though I’d just met Janie, I could tell that she was the sort of girl that would twist things up in my life.
I’d managed to get this far in life without falling for any woman’s wiles or tricks. And I wanted to keep it that way. Women think they know who I am. They think they can read me. They think they can look into my deep blue eyes and see my troubled soul and that they can fix me. Suddenly it doesn’t matter to them that I’m an asshole or a douchebag or whatever other term they want to call me. Frankly, I liked bastard the best. It had a regal sound to it. Bastard. I didn’t mind the term. I didn’t find it derogatory. It didn’t stop me from getting pretty much any and every woman that I wanted. All I had to do was bat my eyelashes, frown and go quiet and then wait. Most women ate that shit up. It made them want me more. It made them pounce. What can I say, I know how to work the charm. I know how to make a woman drop to her knees and unzip me with just one look. It never failed. Well, it rarely ever failed.
“So, Janie,” I said, interrupting her. “What’s the plan?” I was pretty sure that Janie was just like the rest. I could get her into bed and fuck her and then move on.
“The plan?” she asked, looking puzzled, her brown eyes gazing into mine. I felt a trickle of something unfamiliar as I gazed at her innocent expression. Did she really have no clue?
“For tonight ...” I let my voice trail off as I reached for her hand and started stroking the inside of her palm. She would certainly know now what I wanted. She looked slightly taken aback by my touch and I smiled. She wasn’t used to a man as forward as me. I could tell already. She liked it though. She hadn’t slapped my hand away or given me a weird look. This was going to be as easy as taking a piece of cake from a baby.
“Tonight?” she asked, her face flushing slightly pink.
“Yeah tonight. I would have said last night, but we hadn’t connected yet and I don’t have a time machine.” I grinned at her and she laughed slightly. I could see her studying me and I was pretty sure she was trying to figure me out. Trying to see if I was a nice guy or not. Girls always thought they could read guys minds and intentions just by studying our faces. I wanted to tell them that every guy knew that girls were trying to figure them out and if they cared enough they would try and fake their intentions, long enough to get what they wanted. Some of us didn’t even bother to fake it. We were either handsome enough, rich enough or had enough confidence to not even bother wasting our energy to try and pretend to be nice. Some of the hottest girls I’d gotten were the ones I’d been the nastiest to. And just had no care for at all. Girls hated being ignored. It made them want you even more.
“You’re a regular comedian, huh?” She winked at me as she spoke and I laughed in surprise. She wasn’t just a sweet innocent little thing then. Not if that wink meant anything.
“Well, I can be. It depends on how much you like comedians?” I winked back at her and leaned forward and stared into her eyes deeply as I grabbed her hand. “So, if you like them a lot, I can tell you jokes all night long until ...”
“Until?” she said and blushed as I took her pinky finger into my mouth and sucked.
“Until I have you coming and screaming. You won’t have time to laugh then.” I put all my cards on the table and waited for her reaction. This was a lot faster than I had planned on playing it, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
“Oh.” I saw her swallow hard and shift in her seat.
“I hope you don’t mind me being upfront with you. I find you extremely attractive,” I said honestly. “I would like to get to know you better. I would like to see how well we could get on.”
“Uhm, I don’t mind,” she said quickly. “Well, I mean this whole thing is really weird to me, but what can I say. I’ve never really online dated before and I certainly have never met anyone this quickly before.”
“Are you a little freaked out by my forwardness?” I asked her, wondering if I was pushing this too quickly. Maybe I was flirting a little bit too hard with her. I didn’t want to scare her off.
“I don’t know if I would say freaked out.” She shook her head. “Though I have to be honest, I’m not really used to guys that are this forward.” She offered me a weak smile. “I appreciate your honesty, but I’m a bit taken aback.”
“I like to have fun,” I told her honestly. “I want to have fun with you.”
“Oh, I gathered that.” She laughed slightly.
“How does that make you feel?” I asked her, surprised that the conversation was going so well. She was different than most of the girls I was used to. It made me confused. I wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
“I don’t know. Excited, a little bit. Maybe intrigued. Scared.” She shrugged. “I’m not really a hookup kind of girl.”
“I’m not looking for a hookup.” I shook my head. “I want more than a hookup.”
“But you’re not looking for a relationship, are you?”
“I don’t like labels. I don’t know what I want,” I said, though my chest felt tight. No, I didn’t want a relationship. Not at all. I had made that clear. I always made that clear. I wasn’t interested in dating. I wasn’t looking to use a woman though. I wasn’t looking to hurt anyone. I just wanted to enjoy my time with her. I just wanted to be free. However, for some reason I didn’t want to tell her that I wasn’t looking for anything serious at all. I didn’t want to verbalize it to her. Maybe a part of me was scared that she would run if I said the words out loud.
“That’s not unusual for guys,” she said, but I couldn’t tell from her expression how she felt about it all.
“Don’t go lumping me in the all guys label.” I shook my head. “I promise I’m different.”
“Uh huh.” She laughed. “Sure you are.”
“I am.” I laughed as I stared at her bright brown eyes, unable to look away. I was drawn into staring into her eyes as often as I could. They were so vibrant and alive. She was a woman that lived for life. She took risks. I could tell. She had such a great energy. Such a positive vibe. Such a sexy look as well. There was something about her that was addicting. I could already tell that once I had her, I would want more of her. She was a body that I wouldn’t tire of. I wanted her for more than one night. It could get complicated. I didn’t like complicated. I didn’t want complicated. I had to decide carefully what I wanted to do next. “So, do you want to come over tonight then?” I asked before I could stop myself. “I have a rooftop hot tub. We could hang out there and then see where the night takes us.”
“I don’t have a bathing suit,” she said with a light smile.
“We don’t need swimsuits.” I shrugged. “If you’d be okay with that.”
“You mean like skinny dipping?”
“Yeah, like skinny dipping or something.” I grinned. “Whatever you call wearing no bikini in a hot tub.”
“I could always wear my underwear.”
“Exactly. You don’t have to be naked.” I winked at her. “Though if that’s your wish, who am I to stop you?”
“You’re so bad.” She shook her head. “This isn’t me, you know. This totally isn’t me.”
“This isn’t me either.” I gave her an innocent look. “I never hook up on a first date.”
“Yeah, I bet that has never happened to you before.” She rolled her eyes at me and I could tell that she thought the whole situation was humorous.
“You’d totally be my first.” I laughed. “On my rooftop, in the hot tub.”
“You’re awful. You know that?” She shook her head.
“Too much?” I asked, hoping I hadn’t pushed it too far. I liked to be playful, but I didn’t want Janie to think that this was all I was about. I frowned for a second as I realized that I wanted to get to know her better. I really wanted to get to know who she was. Know her likes and wants and figure out what made her tick. And not just in the bedroom.
“I don’t know.” She licked her lips nervously and then stood up abruptly. “Excuse me please, I’m just going to the ladies’ room.”
“Sure.” I stood up and gave her a quick smile. “Do you know where it is?”
“I can find it. Thanks!” She smiled gratefully and then walked away quickly. I watched her as she walked away and I pulled out my phone to see if I had any messages. I frowned as I saw a message from Nate. What did he want? I opened the text quickly to see what he had to say. How’s the night going? was the first text, but that had been followed thirty minutes later with, Update please. Remember this is my friend. Don’t be stupid. I rolled my eyes at his messages and responded quickly. Chill dude, it’s going well. Janie is banging. I’m surprised you haven’t hit that already. I sent the message quickly and put my phone away before Janie got back. I didn’t want her to think that my attention was on anyone, but her. I knew I was pushing my luck, hoping she would come back home with me. And I knew that that wasn’t part of the original plan, but she was sexier than I’d thought she would be and I wanted to have some fun. If she was down for it, then what would it hurt?
Chapter Six
Nate
I stared at Dylan’s text message and frowned. What the fuck was he thinking? I’m surprised you haven’t hit that already. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did he really think he was going to hook up with her? I could feel my skin getting hot. There was no way that Janie would hook up with him. She wasn’t the sort to have one-night stands and hook up, I knew that already. But I also hadn’t thought she would match and connect with Dylan this quickly and head out on a date with him. What was she thinking? Had she absolutely lost it? Why was she acting like a desperado? Was she completely out of her mind? Did she know how unsafe it was for her to meet up with some strange guy from the Internet that she didn’t even know. I couldn’t imagine that they had exchanged too many messages before they’d met either. What was she thinking? I knew I was also upset that she hadn’t confided in me about the meeting or the fact that she’d gone online. It hurt me that all of her dating related information was coming to me via Anabel. And I wasn’t sure why Anabel was even sharing the information with me; given my history with Janie. I was mad that I had to get involved at all, yet I knew that not being involved in Janie’s life was something that I couldn’t fathom and I didn’t even want to think about the reasons why.
