One Night On The Virgin's Terms - Melanie Milburne Page 0,4
splutter. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘Are you sure I’m the person you should be talking to about this?’
Her mouth was down-turned at the corners, her shoulders slumped. ‘I’m still a virgin and I’m almost thirty. I need to do something to fix myself otherwise I’ll never find a partner—especially today, when everyone’s so adventurous and open about sex. I’m a pariah. An uptight prude who can’t even get undressed unless the lights are out.’
To say he was shocked was an understatement. Almost thirty and still a virgin? He’d lost his in his teens. Didn’t most people? She wasn’t particularly religious, so deliberate abstinence could not be the issue. Had something happened to put her off doing the deed? His skin crawled at the thought of some pushy guy pressuring her or abusing her. Anger rose in his gut and climbed into his throat with acid-laced claws. Louis put down his glass of whisky and took a deep steadying breath.
‘Firstly, Ivy, you don’t have to fix anything. You should only do what you’re comfortable doing when, and only when, you’re comfortable doing it.’
‘But I might never be comfortable if I don’t do something sooner rather than later. I can’t go on like this. It’s beyond embarrassing going on a date with a new guy and then bolting out the door as soon as he touches me.’
Louis rapid blinked. Tried to ignore the little stab of unease in his gut about her hooking up with some guy she barely knew. ‘Let me get this straight... You want me to sleep with you?’
Her cheeks darkened but her eyes contained a single-minded light that was more than a little unsettling. ‘No one is never going to be interested in me unless I get over my inhibitions. There’s no point me trying to date anyone unless I feel more confident. And I don’t think I’d be comfortable with anyone but you. I know you. I’ve known you for years. Plus, you know what you’re doing with sex, and I think you’d be the best person to teach me.’
A trap door creaked open in his mind, a narrow gap revealing a host of erotic possibilities he had locked down there, out of sight. Getting naked with her, doing all the things he’d been trying not to think about for the last couple of years. Gliding his hands down her beautiful body, exploring her breasts, discovering all the sweet contours of her feminine frame. Kissing her, touching her, their limbs entwined...
Louis held up his hand like a stop sign. ‘Whoa there, Ivy. You’re talking like a crazy person. I’m an architect, not a sex therapist. And, besides, we’re friends. The friends-to-lovers thing never works.’
‘But in this case it would work, because I’m not after anything other than a one-night stand. That’s what everyone calls you, right? Mr Amazing One-Night Stand. I’m not asking you to marry me. I just want you to have sex with me one time so I can say I’m not a virgin any—’
‘I heard you the first time,’ Louis cut in quickly. ‘I’m not interested.’ If he heard her ask him to have sex with her one more time, he’d be a goner. There was only so much self-control he could muster at a given time.
She looked like a puppy that had been refused a pat. Her teeth sank back into her bottom lip and she bent down to pick up her bag from the floor, where it had fallen earlier, and then straightened and levelled him with a wounded look. ‘Is it because I’m not attractive enough? You find me a turn-off?’
Louis tried to keep his gaze away from her cleavage. Tried but failed. ‘You’re one of the most attractive women I’ve ever met but—’
‘Prove it.’ She put her bag on his desk and approached him. He had forgotten how tiny she was until she was toe-to-toe with him. She had to crane her neck to maintain eye contact. Her eyes were clear and her expression determined, and his self-control had a panic attack.
Louis cleared his suddenly tight throat. She was so close, if he moved half a step her breasts would brush his chest. He could see every pore of the creamy perfection of her skin, the only blemish a tiny white two-centimetre scar above her left eyebrow. Her blue eyes were an intricate mosaic of deep blue, purple and indigo with wide jet-black pupils as infinite as outer space. Her lower lip was twice