She glances up at me, and the lecture I was about to give myself takes a hike. Okay, maybe a little flirting, a little fun. Make Zac proud, he’s been on my case about dating. There’s no harm in flirting.
“Experiences. I promised myself new experiences,” she answers, way too honestly. Any guy in here will take advantage of that.
“Is that so?” I hear the suggestive tone in my voice. Ah, just damn, just all kinds of dammits. Get up and leave, Aiden! Now. No flirting. No fun. Just leave.
“Aiden, do share her with us,” Katia purrs behind Emma.
“I can’t help she likes good company,” I say, adding a smile to take the sting out of my words.
I know some of them have been frowning on the lack of women at my side. For some reason it’s important to them to show what effect they have with the female population of Chapel Hill. I don’t want to bring someone into this group. Not while I’m working. But then, I didn’t bring Emma in, Katia did.
I place my arm on the seat behind Emma. Whether it’s the protective streak in me that’s making me reach out to her, or the fact that she’s different from what I’m used to seeing around here, I couldn’t tell you at this point.
I need to get my mind back on track. “You should be happy, Katia.” I wait for her to take the bait, but instead, Colton does.
“Why’s that, bud?” He leans forward, his eyes moving slowly from Emma to me.
“I finally have a woman sittin’ at my side.” I lean closer to Emma and I’m surprised when she doesn’t make a run for the exit. She’s letting me come onto her, and it makes my blood pump that one beat faster through my body.
The drinks come and I pull back. Never mind Emma, I should make a run for it, just like I told her to do, but instead I reach for two shots. I hand her a shot of tequila and I see the question in her eyes. Whether it’s about the comments or the drink, I don’t know. She has the most expressive face I’ve ever seen. People will take advantage of that, too, and my mama taught me better.
“So, is everythin’ organized for tomorrow night, Katia?” I put on my poker face. I have to remember I’m working. I have to pretend to be a student right now. I have to act like one of them. It’s imperative to act like one of them.
“Yes, we have six new guys lined up. We’ll see if they’re stupid enough to show. Maybe we’ll find some new talent. We found you a few months back,” she says all possessively. Her eyes roam hungrily over Emma. I don’t like it one bit.
Emma takes hold of the drink and throws her head back, gulping the shot down. She grabs at her throat and gasps for air. Yeah, she’s clearly not used to drinking.
“Tequila,” I offer the name of the drink she just downed so desperately. “It comes with salt and lime.” I hand her a slice of lime so she can at least get rid of the after-taste.
Our fingers touch lightly as she takes the slice, and her eyes jump back to mine. I’m sure she felt the spark. Her eyes are huge as she looks from the slice to me, and my blood rushes another beat faster – she has no idea what to do. Just how innocent is this girl?
I lean in, placing my arm behind her again. “You need to suck it,” I say, and as soon as I’ve said the words, I realize just how bad they sound.
With flaming cheeks she nods. “Uh-huh.” She brings the slice to her mouth and I freeze. Pulling back is no longer an option as I watch her lips part and a perfect line of white teeth bite into the soft flesh of the lime. Breathe, I remind myself to breathe, because damn, that’s hot.
I zoom in on Katia’s finger as she reaches to wipe a lone tear from the corner of Emma’s eye. Emma flinches back slightly, and it puts her face inches from mine, her arm brushing against my chest. I have to force myself to sit still. I can’t make a move, yet. I have to wait for this thing to play out, as much as I hate it. If Emma makes a move I can do something, but I can’t interfere with Katia. I’ll blow my cover.
“Not used to drinking are you, princess.” Katia leans in to Emma, and I know for a fact as her eyes focus on Emma, she’s going to try something. Emma will either freak out and run, or play into Katia’s hands. For some reason I don’t want to see either of the two happen.
My heart starts to beat faster and I swear I’m going stop breathing any second. But then Emma surprises the hell out me as she turns right into me. Her hand clasps my thigh, her fingers digging into the muscle. The blood rushing through my body is about all the encouragement I need. She surprises me even more when she slides her other hand up my neck, sending streaks of lightning down south. I tell myself it’s an act of self-preservation.
Her breath is hot in my ear. “Aiden, dance with me, please,” she whispers, but the panic is there, and this is what I do. I help people because I’ve been raised to. It’s in every drop of my blue blood to save people.
I tell myself this as we slip out of the booth and Katia glares at us. I tell myself this as I take her hand and walk to the dance floor. I tell myself I’m going to dance with Emma out of duty, to keep her away from Katia. And I pray real hard I’m not flushing all our work down the drain.
The second I pull her body against mine and her fingers dig into my shoulder, the second her curves align with mine, I forget about praying, and tighten my hold on her. She feels so damn good. How can a foreigner feel this good in my arms? I’m a Southern boy. My whole family is from South Carolina. Emma sounds British. Her accent doesn’t come through as heavy as some of the ones I’ve heard before, but that doesn’t make her any less foreign.
Never in my life did I think I’d like a foreign girl. Maybe it’s because of that mystery of something new, something you have to have, and once you’ve had it, your world settles again.
The air tightens between us, and I feel every muscle in my body tense as her body keeps brushing against mine. And I do mean every muscle. I slide my hand up her neck and into her hair. Dammit, it’s as soft as it looks. She moves her hips with mine, and her breath warms my shirt. It’s not helping right now. It’s been two years since I’ve held a woman. Her hand starts to tremble lightly in mine and I bring it in, holding it against my chest.
“Aiden,” she says, and I lessen my hold on her so she can look up. The look slams hard into my gut and other places I shouldn’t be thinking with. She looks really anxious, vulnerable even, and again it makes my protective side flare to full capacity. “Sorry I grabbed hold of you back there.”
I smile. “Katia can be a bit overwhelmin’,” I say to put her at ease. I should stop right there, but for some reason my mouth is not properly wired to my brain anymore, “and I really don’t mind. I’d rather be dancing with you than sittin’ over there.”
Her eyes leave mine, jumping to my chest, another nervous action. And then it hits me - she’s not nervous about Katia, it’s me, and I haven’t been out of it that long to know that it’s a sign that the attraction is mutual. I struggle to keep from smiling, knowing she’s all flustered because of me.
“I want to ask you something,” she begins, “I don’t want you to ask me any questions and I won’t ask you any. I was wondering …” She swallows hard. “You look like a pretty decent fellow and I’d like to get rat-arsed without Medusa over there.” Medusa, good one. “Then … well, I was wondering if you would like to shag … as in a one night stand. No strings attached of course. Do you think you could do something like that?”
Fuck me!
I stop moving and people start to bump into us. It’s the last question I expected from her. Right now my mama would smack me upside the head. My brother would high-five me, and Zac would sigh with relief.
Without thinking, I grab her hand and drag her out of the bar. Once we’re outside and I’m sure we’re alone, I turn to face her. “Do you have a death wish, Emma?” I snap. The detective in me takes over, because shit, I care about what happens to people. I’ve seen too many women assaulted and murdered to just walk away and not care. “What if I’m some psycho?”