stand, I’ll cry into my pillow at the lost opportunity for a night or two. But I’ll live, and eventually find myself another hottie to screw. A hottie as sizzling as Reed? Not bloody likely. But, still. I’ll survive. But if I miss out on the chance to quite possibly make my stepsister’s lifelong dreams come true, simply because I didn’t want to rush some no-strings sex with Reed, I’d never forgive myself.
Out of nowhere, Reed lets out a tormented sigh. “Okay, look, Georgie. There’s no way in hell I can wait a full week to get you alone. I respect everything you’ve said about not wanting to rush things tonight. In fact, I couldn’t agree more. You’re not a woman I want to rush anything with, believe me. I want to be able to explore every nook and crevice of your body for hours and hours.”
I blush. Whoa.
“But I wasn’t kidding: waiting a week might physically kill me.” He looks at a clock on the wall, so I turn to look, too. It reads a few minutes until eleven. Reed says, “What if you could get off tonight in an hour—at midnight? That would give us over four hours together. Still, not enough, but certainly better than the alternative. What if I could arrange that, and promise you won’t piss anyone off by leaving early and won’t miss out on a single dollar of tips. Would you say yes to doing that tonight—to being my naughty Cinderella at the stroke of midnight?”
He’s rendered me speechless. Confused. Frozen. Turned on.
Smiling like a shark smelling blood, Reed leans forward. “If I could arrange all that at the stroke of midnight, my sexy Cinderella, would you say yes? Would you say yes to letting me take you to my house to do every filthy fucking thing imaginable to your gorgeous body for four non-stop hours?”
Hell yes. That’s what I’m thinking. Hell to the freaking yes, Reed Rivers. Do all the filthy things to me. Bring it. But that’s not what I say. No, somehow, I manage to keep a straight face and reply, “No, I don’t think I’d say yes to an offer like that.” Much to my delight, Reed’s face falls. Which is when I lean forward, lick my lips, and say, “You should already know me better than that by now. If given an offer like that, then I’d follow your explicit instructions from the lecture. I’d say exactly the thing you told me to say to you, whenever opportunity came knocking. I wouldn’t say yes to you, Mr. Rivers.” I wink. “I’d say, ‘Yes... yes... yes.’”
Chapter 10
Reed
As Georgina walks away to process my credit card, Josh’s unexpected voice at my shoulder jolts me. “What the hell happened to you?” he says. He elbows his way to an open spot at the bar next to me. “You were supposed to be getting us drinks, dumbass.”
“And I did exactly that.” I motion to the astonishing array of beverages before us on the bar. “Take your pick, my friend. They’re all ours.”
Josh laughs. “What the fuck?”
“Take a look at the bartender and all will become clear.”
Josh glances to where I’ve indicated and immediately rolls his eyes. “I should have known.”
“It was the only way I could get her to stand here talking to me for more than two minutes.”
Josh surveys the concoctions in front of us. “What’s what? It’s like a box of chocolates.”
“Yeah, you kind of have to taste them to figure it out.”
He picks up a martini glass. “This looks safe.”
“Since when are you ‘safe’?”
“Since I’ve been waiting for a drink for fifty fucking years and I’m thirsty. Is this gin or vodka?”
“No idea.”
He takes a sip. “Gin. And it’s good.” He takes several gulps. “You’ve seriously sat here flirting with her this whole time?”
“No, not this whole time. Before this stool opened up, I stood here flirting with her.”
He glances at Georgina again. “She looks exactly like T-Rod when she first started working for me. I’m assuming that’s a big part of her allure for you?”
T-Rod. It’s a reference to Theresa Rodriguez, Josh’s longtime personal assistant who’s now a part-owner with Josh and T-Rod’s husband on a chain of bars. A woman I’ve wanted to fuck since I first saw her ten years ago, when she was a twenty-one-year-old college grad and I was a twenty-four-year-old founder of a brand-new record label. And he’s absolutely right: Georgina looks strikingly like her, although I hadn’t made the connection until Josh