Dirty Playboy - Alex Wolf Page 0,35

between us. It always does when we get out of our heads and just talk. I really think we’re finally settling into a sweet spot, learning the back and forth, each other’s paces and rhythms.

Don’t do it, Mary. Things are going great.

I do it.

Finally, I break down, because it’s just killing me, and I can’t help myself. “So, what was that all about the other night?” My eyes dip down to my glass of water as I say it.

“What?” Rick looks away as they drop salads in front of us.

“You know what. I brought up Covington, and the whole conversation shifted. You changed the date to tonight.”

He grips his own water glass a little tighter than he needs to.

Dang it. I want to smack myself.

He doesn’t look irritated, but it’s as if I can feel it in his veins. Finally, his face softens a little and he says, “Please, ask me about anything other than that.”

“Okay, I’ll make a deal with you.”

“Okay.” Now, he looks intrigued.

“I won’t ask about it again, if you’ll stop acting uptight and have a good time. I’m trying to enjoy this date like I did the last one.”

Rick blinks a couple times, like he just cleared his mind of everything racing through it, then finally smiles an actual Rick smile. “Deal.”

I take a sip of water. “Good.”

The meal is amazing, and everything changes after that moment. We laugh, we have serious moments. The conversation runs the full spectrum, learning about each other. Insignificant little things, but it adds up to a better understanding of each of us. It’s not lost on me that everything we talk about is him after the age of about twenty, but it’s good enough for now. He’s giving information instead of just taking, and that sets my mind at ease a little. Slowly, he’s opening up more.

Each second toward the end of the meal, my pulse speeds up and my limbs start to tingle. I think about our phone conversation and where it was headed when Mom texted. I’d never done anything like that with another man, ever. It was exhilarating. I don’t know if my pulse has ever sped up so fast. I’ve definitely never had a man talk to me the way Rick did, command me to do things the way he did, and it did something for me. It did a lot. I want more of that.

It’s not just him being so confident about sexual things, though. He makes me feel confident in myself when it comes to intimacy. I think that’s one of his strongest attributes. I’m realizing he’s amazing, outside of the sexual stuff, but let’s be honest—the sexual stuff is a big deal to me too. I’m not pretending to be anyone, and I haven’t been sized up and fit into a mold with him.

I can be whatever I want to be in the moment, and he just embraces it without judgment. That’s a rare quality to find in someone you like. It wasn’t what I expected at all, and it only draws me closer to him.

Rick finally pays the bill after our meal, and we walk outside. The sun is down and it’s a little chilly with the wind coming in off the lake. Rick drives us over and parks near the office, then gets out, opens my door for me, and takes my hand.

He notices me shiver a little when I step out into the windy evening. “Shit, it’s kind of cold, hang on.”

I have no idea what he’s doing, but he pulls a leather jacket out of his backseat and drapes it over my shoulders.

Of course, he has a leather jacket, and just, wow. It smells like him and his cologne. I want to wear it to bed as a blanket. If I was cold before, that’s no longer the case.

My whole life, I watched the bad boy in the movies pull this same move on girls, and I always wondered what the big deal was. It’s just a leather jacket for crying out loud. But now I get it. I so get it.

He takes my hand and we cross Michigan Avenue to Cloud Gate, then walk along the paths in the park.

I can count on one hand, the number of men I’ve dated in my life, and never has it been like this. Storybook perfect. The nice dates, the walking in the park, opening doors for me, draping a leather jacket over my shoulders, the staring up at his sharp