"Oh? Which part was that?" She took a bite of her dog, wrapping her lips around the end of it.
"Yes, exactly that part," he whispered.
"You�re the one that left something out. Of me."
"And they say it�s gold-plated, besides."
"Alas, I�ll never know."
He leaned in close, lips buzzing her ear. "I can fix that right now."
Charley shivered, a new hum settling into her core. Everything felt so much more intense without her underwear, and between her thighs was a pool of liquid heat, her body still aching for his final undelivered promise.
I�m going to fuck you now�
"Not at the dinner table." She shoved in another bite of hot dog to avoid saying something she shouldn�t. Something like, What was that you said about taking me home to your penthouse and tying me to the bed?
After dinner, she dropped a few bills into the singer�s guitar case, then they wandered further along the paved path, snaking deep into the park. A gentle breeze stirred the leaves overhead, the night air cool and refreshing on Charley�s bare shoulders. It was late September, when the sweltering city nights transitioned to damn near perfect, and the park was full of people�couples on dates, bike riders, street performers. At eight o�clock in New York, the evening was still young, and she was grateful to get a glimpse of it.
But as much as she�d enjoyed the spontaneous turn of events, it wasn�t long before Charley had exhausted the safe topics of conversation. She still wouldn�t reveal her name or allow him to reveal his. And she certainly wasn�t going to invent some intricate story about her family or the perfect, big-city childhood she�d never had.
In her experience, it was better to keep quiet then to lie.
Eventually, silence fell between them, and her someday life whispered in her ear, reminding her of everything she was missing out on. Charley closed her eyes, and images of what this moment could�ve been like flickered across her lids. Ridiculous as it was to project these feelings onto a total stranger, she couldn�t help them; suddenly, she wished she belonged to him. That they already knew each other�s stories, that their histories were intertwined long ago. That they always shared hot dogs and listened to musicians in the park on Sundays, and then they went home together, fed the dog, put on their favorite jazz playlist, and had deliciously naughty sex all night long.
No interruptions. No secrets. No lies.
But that fantasy was even crazier than the one that had started this thing.
There�s nowhere I�d rather be than right here, fucking a hot stranger in the study�
The breeze picked up, and Charley opened her eyes, rubbing a new chill from her arms.
She hadn�t seen him slipping out of his suit jacket, but suddenly he draped it over her shoulders, the soft wool wrapping her in a comforting hug, his delicious, masculine scent swirling around her head, setting the butterflies loose in her stomach again. He slid his hand beneath her hair, gently squeezing the back of her neck, and God what Charley wouldn�t have given to linger in this fantasy all night long.
But even with his tender touches, Charley felt the distance growing between them, the walls rising up around her heart. Her body still longed for his touch, and whenever she glanced his way, she found the same look in his eyes�dark and sensual, wondering if they might pick up where they left off in the closet. But she never should�ve let it go that far in the first place. It was a bad idea, and bad ideas usually lead to worse ones.
Deadly ones.
She hated cutting the evening short when it still had so much potential, but for now, with no foreseeable way out of the life she�d inherited, she didn�t have a choice. People could get hurt. Sasha could get hurt.
They�d wandered into a secluded area of the park, and now Charley stopped beside a massive red oak tree and turned to face him, sliding her hands over his broad shoulders. He looked at her curiously, a playful question lingering in his eyes.
Where do we go from here?
In that moment, a new weight settled on her heart.
Regret. JrNovels.com