years.” She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of white wine. “It was a good find. I was tired of living with roommates.”
“Where are you from?” I couldn’t tell from her accent. Nothing immediately jumped out and gave it away. Her vowels were a little flat, but not like a New Yorker.
“Cleveland.” She pointed a corkscrew at me. “No trashing my hometown. I can’t stand people who like to shit-talk Cleveland when they’ve never set foot in it. It’s stupid.”
Her passion made me raise an eyebrow. “I wasn’t going to shit-talk Cleveland. I’ve actually been there for work and I have zero complaints. Great food, enthusiastic football fans.” Fans who had stuck around longer than was reasonable. I wouldn’t turn down an offer to coach there because you could wind up a legend if you had a great season.
“Exactly.” She was struggling to open the wine. She kept turning the corkscrew and nothing was happening. “My dad and brothers have season tickets. What the hell is wrong with this thing?”
“Here, let me.” I reached out for the bottle, grateful for the distraction. I didn’t want to discuss football, and I regretted bringing up the subject. I didn’t want her to know I was a head coach, that I was charged with revitalizing a franchise that had been steadily declining, that I loved my job and worked an insane amount of hours. That I knew her ex, Dante.
Not yet, anyway. I just wanted to keep it simple.
I opened the bottle and poured us both a glass of wine. I would have preferred the vodka, but I also didn’t want to sit around drinking all night. I had better activities in mind. She picked up a glass and sipped it, eyeing me.
“This isn’t the best apartment for entertaining. I don’t even have a coffee table.”
“It’s better than trying to sneak you into my apartment.” The thought of being busted by my girls was chilling. Or frankly, the nanny. I’d had a hard enough time keeping a nanny because my daughters were on some quest to see how many nannies they could convince to quit in a six-month period. We were up to three already. “I don’t even know what I would say to my daughters if we got caught.” I took a swallow of the wine and set it back down. “Come here.” I reached for her.
She set her own glass down and shifted into my arms. Damn it, she fit perfectly there.
“We’ve had a drink in a quiet location,” she said, the corner of her mouth turning up. “Now what?”
My response was to kiss her. I couldn’t get enough of the taste of her, the feel of her in my arms. I really fucking wanted to see her naked and it was pretty much a guarantee that Dakota wasn’t a woman who would be shy about it. As a dancer who had performed for years, she was clearly comfortable in her own skin.
The sides of her tight red dress were absent, some kind of design choice, and it allowed me to rest my hands on her waist, on those tantalizing spots of bare flesh. Her skin was cool to the touch from being outside and I wanted nothing more than to warm her up. I kissed her, teasing her mouth open with my tongue. She gave a little moan of approval that made me instantly hard.
Dakota broke away, sighing in pleasure, tilting her head a little, eyes dark with desire. I brushed my lips over her neck, breathing in the scent of her. She was wearing a deep, earthy perfume. Something erotic, with a scent I couldn’t distinguish, but it wasn’t floral. Floral didn’t suit her. She was more confident, sexier, more free as opposed to delicate or fragile.
“You smell amazing,” I said, dipping my head down to run my tongue along the side of her breast. She had perfect full tits, boosted up for maximum display. I teased my thumb across her nipple as she gave a soft gasp.
“It’s an essential oil. It’s supposed to make me smell like a femme fatale.”
“It definitely works.” I pulled my head back and eased my fingers into her hair. Her lips were swollen from our kisses and parted. “You have me at your fucking mercy.”
Dakota placed her hands on my chest, running them over my shirt, as if she were exploring or testing my muscles. She undid the first button on my shirt. “I promise not to kill you. Beyond that,