The smoke had just cleared from her loveless marriage. If all went well with this online dating thing that her friend put her up to, Dana would find a partner to help her sow some long-awaiting wild oats. She just wasn’t sure if she would find it at a place parked with Ferraris and Jaguars.
But the guy at the door waiting for her, looked just like his picture – and that was a good thing. Actually his picture didn’t do him justice, which was a first plus for Dana. He was better-looking in person. He was built like a baseball player, tall, lean with a boyish quality about him. And he had the longest lashes on a man she had ever seen.
He had been her very first online dating message. He wasn’t the only to respond but he was cute and he made her giggle over texts, something really hard to do.
“Dana?” he asked, bracing her softy.
“Yes,” she said.
“Jeff,” he replied, kissing her softly on the cheek.
He was so gracious and smooth. He wore a soft cologne that found its way to Dana’s nose and unwound her insides. The scent could drive her crazy. They were seated at a booth. She and Jeff studied each other over the tops of their menus.
“Been here before?” he asked.
“No,” she said.
Seeing that the menu was good ol’ American burgers and fries, with a salad thrown in, she was thinking maybe her skirt wasn’t all wrong after all. And maybe she did fit in. She relaxed a little.
“So did you check out the link I sent you in the email?” he asked.
Dana drew a blank.
“What link?” she blinked.
Jeff dropped his head, his silken hair fanned downward towards the table. A little fear flickered within her and she was uncomfortable. It was hard enough being insecure but making a mistake on top of it, she was back to being self-conscious.
“What did I miss?” she asked trying to suppress the sound of fear in her voice.
He smiled softly and spoke calmly. He put his large, strong hand on hers assuring her.
“It’s okay,” he said, a look of genuine embarrassment veiling his face. “I never know how to handle these things.”
“What?” she asked cynically. “Don’t tell me you’re married?”
“You figured it out,” he replied guiltily. “I was going to wait until I got lucky.”
“Got lucky?” she raised her voice.
Dana clutched her purse, ready to leave.
Jeff’s eyes widened as he let out a laugh.
“Sit down please,” he ordered. “No I am not married. Why would I send you a link about my being married?”
She steamed with a sudden burst of anger. She was not about to take being made fun of. She grabbed her purse.
“I think this isn’t going well,” she managed to say softly.
He pouted a little.
“What a shame,” he said humbly. “I was looking forward to this. You have no idea. You haven’t even given me the chance to tell you what knock out you are.”
Dana was still thinking about.
“Did my remark about getting lucky turn you off? You find that offensive?” he asked as he pretended the read the menu.
“A little,” she sulked.
“Why?” he asked looking her directly in the eye. “We are kind of here because of sex, agreed?”
“Yes,” she agreed.
“”We are?” he kidded.
Dana laughed.
It could have been a put on, but the sincerity in his voice got to her. She relaxed and put her purse down.
“Thanks,” he said in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper.
Then he changed the subject.
“You know what?” he straightened up. “It really is nothing. Let’s pretend I never mentioned it. How are you with loaded fries because this place has the best.”
“I’m good with fries,” she said.
While he was distracted with the menu, Dana pretended she was checking her messages and she checked her dating site email instead. She opened the message with the link to see what he was talking about.
Her eyes involuntarily grew to the size of saucers as she quickly absorbed the gist of the website. She exited out as quickly as she could and put the phone away. He looked up from the menu.
“I know what I want,” he said with a touch of wickedness.
She could not control the funny look on her face that she knew she had. He noticed it too.
“What?” he asked quizzically.
She said nothing but he figured it out. He flashed a smile.
“You looked, didn’t you?” he asked.
“I did,” she confessed sheepishly.
“I don’t know why I always feel like apologizing at this point,” he said. “It’s awkward. I thought it would help if you read something about me first. You know before you went to the trouble of showing up. That way, if you weren’t interested -- “ he said.
“I admit it’s weird,” she said. “And you are right to let people know ahead of time. Maybe you should work on your reveal a little. But I am okay with it.”
“You don’t know if you are,” he said uncomfortably. “You just think you are. You have to let it sink it.”
“So you’re rich? So what?” she shrugged.
“Wealthy,” he corrected.
“Na unh,” she grinned and corrected him back. “You’re rich.”
He shook his head like even he wasn’t used to hearing that.
“I am still a person,” he said. “I want what everyone else wants. I haven’t met anyone within my circle that I feel compatible with.”
“Your billionaire circle?” she teased.
“Okay now you’re making fun of me,” he said with a good sense of humor.
“Plenty of material,” she said.
“That’s good,” he said. “I like laughing. My fortune sometimes feels like baggage that’s all. It weirds people out. You know, like having an extra finger.”
Dana quickly glanced at his hands which he held up for her to inspect.
“No I am good in that department,” he ribbed.
“The difference is that people don’t use you for your extra finger,” she replied without thinking.
Jeff raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘they might.’
He asked, “So now I know what I am doing on the dating website, what about you? You’re a doll.”
“Thank you,” she smiled.
“Wait - is doll too sexist?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Cause I’ll take it back,” he teased.
“You’re fine,” she said with a smile.
She was beginning to feel very at ease with him and it wasn’t because she liked the idea of his money or anything like that. She already knew he had the personality. She also found him genuinely attractive. He had a face she wouldn’t mind seeing looking down at her in bed. For her purposes, if they had the physical chemistry, he would do.
And, as new as Dana was at this dating stuff, she was clear very quickly that she didn’t like the anxious awkwardness of the introduction. She was ready to get to the point just to get past that.
“Well Jeff,” she said sensually. “Something very specific. As I said I am divorced. I just moved to this town. I left that life and bad feelings behind or at least that was the idea.”
She took a sip of her water and continued.
“My friend set me up on that website,” she explained.
“So you said in your email,” he replied intently.
“Well my friend has been looking for boyfriend. I am not,” she said candidly.
His eyes sparkled. He looked like she felt.
“So one of the reasons the marriage failed was that I was the only in it. He was never home and he left me alone. A lot,” she said. “But I never strayed.”
Dana tried very hard not to make her explanation a wordy story. She wanted to cut to the good part of the answer because she decided if he was game, she wanted him to help her with why she was there.<
br />
“So the long and the short of it, Jeff,” she said, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously, “is I have not had sex in several years. And I have not had an orgasm with a man in the entire time I have been married.”
Jeff’s handsome face was frozen with complete shock. She knew it was a pleasant one because there was a hint of amusement in his eye. He was cute. Except for the rapid blinking which was almost like batting his eyelashes, he did not move.
“So Jeffrey, what I am doing on this website is I want someone to take me around the world,” she said. “And by that I mean, I want a partner to act out every waking fantasy I have had for the last seven years. Now mind you, you are my first date and I didn’t expect to just lay it on the table the way I have --”
“No,” he interrupted her. “I am okay with that.”
He spoke as if he was doped. He circled the rim of his water glass, thinking.
“So I take it that because you did lay it out on the table for me that I have the job,” he said, his eyes smoky.
Dana’s insides warmed.
“I think you just might, Jeff,” she said.
His face gathered with predatory darkness.
“Dana I think your baggage is way better than mine.”
Chapter Two
After all that pretending to study a menu that Dana was sure he knew almost by heart -- she had the feeling this was a hang out for him -- Jeff ordered the loaded fries.
“And whatever you have on draft,” he said to the waitress with an intense look in his eyes. “Would you like a beer?”
“Yes,” said Dana, charmed by him.
She wasn’t much of a beer drinker but it did sound good. One thing she told herself, if she did happen to breakdown and get involved with someone, she would not just say yet to please him. She would be true to herself.
“Is that all?” asked the waitress.
“Yes,” said Jeff dismissively.
Once they were alone at the table, he said to Dana, “I suddenly have no interest in food now. All I can think about is what you just said.”
“We don’t have to eat,” she said apologetically. “Let’s get her back.”
Jeff grinned at her reaction.
“I take that back,” he said playfully. “I can’t wait to feed those fries to you.”
Dana warmed. She like that idea, so much so that he knocked her quick answer from her. She usually had something smart alecky at the ready but not this time. All she could do is smile, which he did in kind.
“Do you like that idea of me feeding you?” he asked sensually.
Jeff may have had that boyish look about him but his eyes could get dark, erotic in an instant. He had a great brain, she decided. She was so aroused she could hardly reply. He knew it too. There was very little fooling him, she suspected. He raised an eyebrow flirtatiously.
“I do,” she squirmed.
The waitress set the glasses of beer and fries between them. Jeff’s eyes glittered.
“Salt or no salt?” he asked.
“Salt please,” she lisped.
“Okay then,” he said sprinkling the fries. “This is already fun. Ketchup?”
“On the side,” she requested.
“Oh you didn’t say please,” he flirtatiously scolded.
“”Please and thank you,” she said.
“Well in that case,” he said and dipped a fry in ketchup.
Dana opened her mouth like a baby bird and received the fry.
“Oh I like that,” he said. “Let’s do that again.”
And he did. He fed her one more fry before taking a few for himself. Dana sipped her beer.
“That’s a good combination, the beer and fries,” she smiled. “By the way, you’re better than salt.”
“Wow, I think that might be my favorite compliment ever,” he said.
“So how does a billionaire score a day off with someone like me?” she said.
“I cleared my calendar,” he answered. “As I said, I am a person. I want a life too.”
“And what exactly do you does your company do?” she asked.
“Companies,” he said. “I am in Energy. Any kind and all kinds and everything related to it.”
“Hmm,” she said. “Sounds interesting.”
“Does it?” he asked sarcastically. “Wanna talk about it?”
It took her a moment to realize that he was putting her on. She blushed and found it hard to look at him directly in the eye.
“What’s going on there?” he teased. “Let’s talk about what we were talking about before. Let’s talk about those unaddressed fantasies.”
Now Dana was on fire, her cheeks rosying as heat rose to the top of her head.
“That is a lovely shade of pink there, Dana,” he played. “I am enjoying this immensely. Since I see you’re in a state there, you just nod if I get warm about some of the things you’ve been thinking about. Would that be okay if we focused on you?”
Dana nodded. She sipped her water instead of her beer. She opened her mouth as Jeff offered her another fry. Focused on you. Those words were too good to be true. In her fantasies her man focused on her but never was that the case in real life in her vacant marriage. Jeff was probably smart enough to know he had just said the magic words.
“So hot sex,” he listed casually, ”that’s a given. In your fantasy, I take it the guy knows your body as well as you do. He gives you all the orgasms you never had in your actual life, right?”
Dana jolted in a very good way at his graphic language. She was swimming in an erotic state right in front of him and there was not much she could do about it except ride it out. He brought tears to her eyes. He reached out and dabbed them.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said huskily.
He slowed the pace of their conversation, taking a drink of his beer as his eyes never left her. She didn’t return his gaze; she could only watch through heavy lowered lids.
“So is this guy a little dominant? Draws you out of you?” he asked plainly.
Dana pressed her back against the booth. He nailed it and it was almost more than she could bear. He laughed. Through her lashes she saw him flash a broad, brilliant smile. It was the biggest smile she had seen so far and he was just plain gorgeous.
“I said to nod but I think we’re communicating,” he said.
She couldn’t even mask that she was worked up and yet he showed her no mercy. He asked more questions. He leaned across the table top and whispered a question for her ears only.
“So is spanking ever involved? Not talking S&M but more like a little playful discipline?” he asked.
Dana whimpered. If anyone looked on to their table, they would surely know something was up. And yet he kept at it.
“Have you ever been spanked?” he asked oh-so-softly.
She held up her hand, signaling him to take a break. She breathed until her body restored to a calmer state, until the richness of the moment subsided. She drank her ice water again. The beer was refreshing but she definitely needed proper hydration after that.
“Have you?” she flirted.
He shook his head.
“Ah no,” he said. “Definitely not my style.”
“So you’ve never spanked a woman?” she asked, a lot more confident than moments before.
“I didn’t say that,” he grinned. “You are not answering my question, missy.”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” she replied wickedly.
He raised his eyebrow at her comeback.
“You’re on,” he said coolly and then pressed again. “Never?”
“I don’t want to give away all the surprises and ruin it for you,” she flirted.
“Dana, the only way you could ruin this for me is if you change your mind,” he said.
All the tension and insecurity of the first date had vanished. Dana felt as though she was talking to as good a friend as her friend Cheryl. While there was so much to discover about each other, she felt in ma
ny ways like she already knew him.
For two people who met for lunch, they didn’t eat much. Afterwards, they parted in the parking lot, grinning, lightly bumping into each other as they strolled to their cars. They were clear. They were officially having an affair. It had begun.
Not once did Jeff ask her ‘so, how do we do this?’ He just seem to know, which might have been the best part of all when it came to what they were about to embark on. Dana was so out from under the marriage that was more like solitary confinement than a union. It felt amazing to have met someone who was actually going to be thinking about her and what she might like. Even if it was strictly for mutual gratification, she was finally going to be the center of someone’s attention.
Jeff held the car door for her. They gazed at each other, goofy looks on their faces. In a flash, he grabbed her and kissed her, fully enthralled in the parking lot of the Woodmont Grill. Their breath rushed through their nostrils like a couple of bulls as their lips furiously mushed.
Their mouths nipped each other at first, until he penetrated her with his tongue. Then they were tasting one another with the flourishing strokes, entwining together. They pressed into each, mouths and frames as though they were trying to fuse.
Jeff raked his fingers through Dana’s straight satin hair, getting lost in the kiss until he pulled back, touching his forehead to hers, trying to contain himself. They froze, buzzing from their off-the-hook physical chemistry, trying to not to be a further spectacle in the restaurant parking lot.
“This went much better than I expected,” he said softly.
“Much,” she murmured.
He leaned into the window before she could pull away. There was no hint of flirtation on his face. He was very serious.
“Hey,” he said. “The only thing I ask from you is that if you at any time, you change your mind, you say so. No just disappearing.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” she said.
He nodded his head.
“You’re new at this. I am not. It happens,” he said. “Be honest and communicate. Deal?”
“Deal,” she said.
Chapter Three
As Dana drove back to her house, she was a literally on a date high. For someone reluctant to meet people online at all, she was so happy with the way things went. But she had to focus on her driving; she was seriously worried she might get pulled over and have to explain herself. It would be a hell of a way to talk herself out of a ticket. She practically floated in through her front door from the car.
MC Romance: Gravel A Motorcycle Bad Boy Obsession (Untamed Rider Forbidden Temptation Book 1) Page 17
