Page 31 of Manny

“It was,” she says. “Even though some of the guys in the club are gruff, they can be kinda sweet when it suits them.”

“Except Tag.” I smile down at her. “He’s a grump all the time.”

She clears her throat. “Hey, I didn’t want it to be weird after the other day… when I kissed you.” She emphasizes that last part like it’s a question, or as if I could forget.

I wave a hand. “Forget about it. I get that you couldn’t help yourself.” I circle a finger around my face. “This is my money maker, and you’re only human after all.”

She slaps my chest. “You’re hilarious,” she snorts. “But it was still inappropriate. I just, well, it felt right.”

My heart does a little flip. I try not to let her words affect me. It’s stupid. I also try not to think about Bandit this afternoon and how his fucking abs and chest rippled when he was lifting those boxes. The man is sex on a stick. He’s forbidden fruit and so not into guys. I shouldn’t be thinking about him like that, but I have seen him butt naked before at the strip club, and the man is a goddamn Adonis. I could do shots off his dick any day of the week.

My dick shifts and I make a mental note to not indulge in anymore fantasies about the two of them unless I’m alone.

“It’s honestly fine. You’re sweet,Chantilly.And any guy would be lucky to have your lips on them.”

“Things have heated up a little,” she whispers. “With the guy I’m seeing.”

She still won’t tell me his name. I did ask, but she says I don’t know him. I don’t know why it matters if I know his name, but I wouldn’t be a friend if I pushed the issue.

I try not to let the pang of jealousy hit me too hard. I’m good at masking my feelings. “How’s all of that going?”

She snuggles up further into the crook of my arm. My eyes almost roll into the back of my head. She can’t see me, but surely she can feel the tension in my body.

She yawns idly. “Good. We got to second base.”

Shit.

“Are you gonna go all the way with him?”

“I— I don’t know.”

“Why not? What’s got you hesitating?”

She told me he was ‘old school’ and wanted to take things slow, but sometimes that can be code for something else. Like he’s married. Not that I think Lace would deliberately date a married dude, but sometimes they’re not always honest about it.

“I don’t know. I’m just not used to attention like this.”

It kills me when I ask, “In what way?”

“In the attentive way. Most guys don’t know how to woo a woman. It’s all just wham, bam, thank you, ma’am, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I’m looking for something more than just a quick fuck.”

Her talking dirty like this makes my dick twitch. “So, does he know that?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“And he feels the same way?”

“He’s hard to read. He hasn’t had a relationship in a long time.”

“Well, it’s good to take things slow if you want more out of it than just sex.”Who the fuck am I? Doctor Phil?

“That’s true, but I don’t really know what he wants to be honest.”

“Have you asked him?”

She pauses. “He’s kinda closed off. He doesn’t talk much about feelings, and he can be moody.”

“Uh, oh. Red flags going up yet?”

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