against her lips.
When the door banged loudly against the wall, her head jerked back to stare at me with wide eyes that narrowed irritably when she saw it was yours truly. I clapped my hands like summoning a garcon at a fine Parisian restaurant and clicked my heels together.
“Strip!” I declared, whipping the measuring tape from my neck like a Spanish matador with a crimson flag.
Delaney rolled halfway over and the outline of her hips down to her narrow waist was a rollercoaster I wanted to ride again and again.
“What did you just say?” she said, her low tone meant to be intimidating.
I gestured vaguely at her pyjamas.
“Clothes,” I said, thumbing over my shoulder. “¡Vámonos!”
Delaney pushed herself up to sitting.
“Why the hell would I get naked for you?” she asked, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest.
I wiggled the measuring tape at her. “This is your second lesson,” I said. “A perfect fitting garment is the key to class!”
Delaney remained silent and I snapped my fingers impatiently. “Let’s see some tittays, love.”
Delaney snorted, her dark eyes fixed on mine. “You really never intended to help me, did you?” she said, suddenly quiet.
My easy, carefree smile almost wavered as her gaze seemed to penetrate my defences. It was I who suddenly felt naked in front of her. But thankfully being an even bigger asshole cures anyone of that strange affliction of wanting to see anything resembling the real me.
“Alright, alright. I was intending all along on getting you naked,” I said with a bored, disinterested shrug. “But I’ll still take your measurements if it makes you feel better about the whole thing.”
Delaney slapped shut the laptop and pushed herself off the bed. She jabbed an angry finger at my chest.
“You can take your measurements and shove them up your tight, rich ass.”
She gathered up her waitress uniform from last night into her arms, stacked the laptop on top, and snatched up the single remaining full bloody Mary. She shouldered past me and stormed out of the room. I followed, twirling the end of the measuring stick in lazy circles.
“This is what I get for believing a single word out of a rich person’s mouth,” Delaney mumbled as she stomped down the stairs. “You’re all blood suckers.”
“Your posture is absolutely atrocious,” I commented, sliding down the banister behind her. “Do you know how bad it is? You look like a hunchback. Or a manatee.”
“You think the whole world revolves around you,” Delaney continued angrily. “As if gravity itself could be fucking bought!”
I jumped down the last two stairs and then jump roped with the measuring tape at the base of the stairs.
“Other way,” I called after Delaney, who was heading in the wrong direction.
She twisted around and came back toward me.
“A ‘thank you’ is typically considered polite in fine company,” I said as she stalked past me without a glance, making me grin in amusement.
“You haven’t done anything to deserve what you have but does that stop you from acting like you did?” she shouted. “No! Hell no! Fuck no!”
Our footsteps echoed together down the long marble hallway, Delaney’s loud and frustrated, mine light and meandering.
“Do poor people know what a brush is?” I asked behind her as I eyed her messy bed head. “It’s this long-ish tool with bristles and a handle.”
“How fucking far away is the goddamn front door?” Delaney growled, struggling to keep everything in her arms.
“You run it through your hair so it doesn’t look like a horse’s tail.”
Delaney hurried down the grand staircase in the foyer and I remained at the top, leaning against the railing to watch her leave. I wasn’t going to stop her. I didn’t chase her. It just wasn’t who I was.
After I bored of my lady friends and their wandering fingers in the pool, I’d needed something else to amuse me. Delaney just happened to provide amusement in abundance.
I liked her. I really liked her even. I liked her spunk, I liked her fire, I liked her mouth—the shape of it, the sound of it, the bite of it. Her dark eyes performed voodoo magic on the beating of my heart, and the swing of her hips worked better than any hypnotist’s pendant. She intrigued me and aroused me and amused me. But I still wasn’t going to go after her.
I would let her disappear out of my life just like everything else that required work, effort, desire. And I wasn’t just talking about women, though there were certainly plenty of those.