let it clatter on the wood floor––forgotten. I would ease my palms down inside the waistband of her shorts and discover her hot, wet, and ready for me. One quick yank would relieve me of my sweatpants. I could back her against the wall and be buried to the hilt inside her within seconds.
My swallow must have been audible because she straightened and turned to beam a breathtaking smile at me.
Not wanting to stand there like a mute dope, I said, “Great fire.”
The blaze crackled in that moment as if it was verifying my statement.
Violet nodded her agreement before saying kindly, “You had a good start on it. It just needed a bit more kindling.”
I knew she was just trying to make me feel better. After making a scoffing sound in my throat, I said, “Right. We would freeze to death if we were dependent on my fire-building skills out in the elements.”
“I’m sure you have lots of other talents,” she said in an openly flirtatious tone.
Even though I was desperate to show her some of those talents––all night long, I couldn’t take advantage of this situation. I forced myself to turn away and change the subject. “Which side of the bed would you like?”
“Oh,” she seemed surprised by the abrupt turn in the conversation, but she quickly recovered. “I’d like the one closest to the fire, if you don’t mind. It gives the room such a warm, romantic glow. Don’t you think?”
Her coy flirting was making it extremely difficult for me to keep my hands off her. Forcing myself to ignore the inferno raging inside my chest, despite the fact that it was creating more heat than the one in the actual fireplace, I nodded in answer to her question before setting about the mundane nighttime tasks of plugging my phone into its charger, turning off my tabletop lamp, and climbing into my side of the bed.
I adjusted the covers, made sure I was all the way on the edge of my side of the large mattress, then said simply, “Night.”
A wide smile curved up my lips, making me glad I was facing away from her, when I heard her frustrated huff of air. My full attention went to the mattress as it depressed when she climbed into her side of the bed. With a quick snick of the light on her side, she snapped, “Goodnight,” and flopped down flat on her back.
I closed my eyes and tried––quite unsuccessfully––to keep from thinking about bridging the short distance between us to ravage the woman of my dreams.
15
Violet
When I heard his breathing even out, I was tempted to wallop him awake. How dare he go to sleep when I was right here, willing and raring to go?
I hadn’t been at all sure about sleeping with him. In fact, I hadn’t been sure about having sex with anyone, but Soraya had convinced me that a hot fling with Oliver might help alleviate some of my bitter loneliness––at least for a little while.
I had paced back and forth in the tiny bathroom, gathering my courage and convincing myself that I could do this. I’d even removed my granny panties and emerged with just my loose shorts covering my lower half. The cool fabric rubbed against my bare skin, making tingles zing along my spine with a surprising amount of pleasure each time I moved.
My guess had been that I wouldn’t make it clear across the room to the fireplace before Oliver would pounce. Afterall, he was a known womanizer, I was alone in a charming hotel room with him, and I know he heard me talking to Soraya about removing my underwear. I’d been surprised he wasn’t beating down the bathroom door while I was in there.
When I emerged, he was a frustratingly polite gentleman. It had dawned on me then that I had indicated to him that I didn’t want any ‘funny business.’ Since I wasn’t bold enough to come right out and suggest that we have sex, I thought a little bit of obvious flirting would do the trick, but he didn’t take the hint––even when I tried to conk him right on the head with it.
Was I so big of a turn-off that even when I was alone in a room, practically throwing myself at one of the biggest players in all of New York City, that he would say, “No, thanks,” roll over, and go to sleep?
His light snoring confirmed the answer to that question. Ugh!
My body was thrumming