“What, him? The one who wanted you to help him find the soap?” She smirks playfully, nudging me with her shoulder. “I think he likes what he sees,” she teases lightly, earning a disapproving look from me. “Giving me a wide on just looking at him.”
“A wide on?”
“As in, my pussy is opening wide enough to let in that huge dick of his.”
“You really are a classy lady, aren’t you?”
She winks at me. “That’s why I work at The Dolphin.”
“Can we just go? He’s giving me the creeps.” It’s a lie but I can’t tell her the truth, how just looking at him is making my nipples tingle.
“You sure? Only you look a lot to me like you want to jump on those bones of his.”
“What if I do? I’m a penniless, homeless, virgin. Not exactly top class wife material, am I?”
“Who cares about marriage? All I want is to sit on his face, not get his ring on my finger. Well, maybe have his finger in my ring.”
“Please, stop.”
She raises her hands in mock surrender, chuckling softly. “Alright, alright,” she concedes, her tone teasing. “It’s too hot in here anyway. God bless The Dolphin’s A/C. Bet Mr. Harris is shivering in it right now.”
I nod in agreement, eager to leave the suffocating atmosphere of the bar behind. We gather our things, preparing to make our exit.
“One moment,” she says. “Wait there.”
She walks straight up to the gorgeous guy, saying something to him. He replies but I can’t hear it, then Lily’s back by my side. “Let’s go,” she tells me.
We step onto the sidewalk, relief flooding through me as we leave the dive bar and the mysterious stranger behind. “What did you say to him?” I ask as we set off back toward the hotel.
“His name’s Alex Pierce and sadly he is not willing to give me his phone number.”
“You asked for his number?”
I feel a presence behind me. I look back and he’s there, towering over me, holding a business card my way. “Take it,” he says in a deep rumble.
“So she gets your number and I don’t?” Lily says. “What did I do wrong?”
He regards her with cool detachment, his eyes assessing and unreadable. “Nothing,” he says before turning his gaze back on me. “But you’re not her.”
She winces. “Ouch.”
He leans down toward me. “I was hoping you’d make a different decision earlier,” he remarks, his tone tinged with something I can’t quite decipher. “I was not surprised to find you chose not to join me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re a coward, Bella.”
“You have no right to say that to me.”
“Didn’t deny it though, did you?”
My cheeks flush with embarrassment at his bluntness, my pulse quickening with a mix of anger and apprehension. “I’ve got to get going,” I manage to say, my voice trembling with a mixture of defiance and uncertainty. “My boss is waiting for me.”
“Oh, yes. Sitting naked in his office waiting for the two of you, right? Well played by the way.”
I gasp. “You been listening to our private conversation?”
He turns to look at Lily. “Be careful who you try to manipulate. One day one of your victims might just turn around and bite you on the ass.”