and gave him the address to The Underground. My beautiful car gave me a sad look from the driveway when I hopped into the cab but something told me I shouldn’t be out driving after this ‘meeting.’
There were a few people scattered around the restaurant, but nothing like the crowd last time I was there. The bartender stacked with muscles the size of Buicks, wiped down the counter. The guy was older than Corey, but couldn’t have been more than 40; he didn’t look bad and he knew it—which was quite honestly one of the biggest turn-offs in my mind. When we made eye contact he immediately flashed his most charming smile. Whether it was because he was hoping for a good tip or liked what he saw, was still to be determined. Either way, I returned the grin and approached the bar.
“What can I get you, gorgeous?” His eyes slid from mine, straight down to my cleavage.
“I’m actually here to meet with Corey.” My tone didn’t hide my irritation, as I was being ogled like a piece of meat.
“It’ll be one second, honey. Can I get you anything while you wait?” “Water will be fine.” When he turned away from me to get my drink, I swear I heard him cuss under his breath. This guy seemed used to females coming in asking for Corey—damn. He placed the water down in front of me and went back to what he was doing. It was clear that I was now “off limits” and this guy wasn’t about to waste one more minute of his time on me.
It wasn’t long before Corey came out of the back room. His face instantly brightened as I came into view; the smile on my face stretched from ear-to-ear without a chance to stop it. It was only a couple days since the last time we saw each other but for some inexplicable reason it felt much longer. I watched as he ignored something the beefcake bartender said, as he rounded the bar to close the distance between us. Corey’s arms reached out and enveloped me, my body instantly melted into his and for that too-short moment, I felt safe.
“You look great, Dani.” Corey’s eyes slid down my figure before meeting my eyes again; I immediately felt a twinge of desire awakening. I couldn’t help but smile, more so because I realized beefcake did the same thing moments before, but it had the opposite effect on me.
Oh right—Corey said something! “Thanks. It was nothing.”
“Sanders will be out in a second. I figured the three of us could sit at the far end of the bar since it’s a little more secluded.”
“Yeah that sounds fine to me.” Corey motioned with his head the direction he wanted me to walk to the other end of the L-shaped bar. His hand firmly rested on the small of my back as he guided me towards the end two bar stools.
My knees rested in between his legs and our faces were just inches apart, as we sat as close together as was possible—without me sitting on his lap. Being in this proximity to Corey created a fire deep in me. As he began talking he rested his hand on my knee, reminding me just how long it’d been since I last saw him. It wasn’t as if I was one of those women that needed sex a dozen times a day. In fact, with Vince we went a week before he would eventually pounce on me because I just didn’t need that type of exercise. With Corey though—cripes— you’d think I was an addict the way my body was seconds away from straddling him and killing the fire raging inside.
“So you’ve been busy this week at work?” The question seemed innocent enough but the twinkle in his eyes told me the reason behind it. He had missed our escapades just as much as I had.
“Oh yeah, and I’m assuming it’s only going to get busier.” Corey picked up my water and took a drink. Something about watching his lips touch the rim where mine have been was downright sexy. Okay, it was probably just him— but why? In past relationships—aside from Ollie—I’d never been as drawn to someone as I was to Corey. Was this really only a physical attraction?
With a slight shake of his head he responded, “That’d be a shame.”
“All work and no play,” I quoted the famous saying.
“That’d be a tragedy,” He responded, his eyes locked on