Page 12 of Smoke

“I’m guilty,” he offered standing firmly to my side.

“Guilty?” I manage to splutter out with a rushed exhale.

“Procrastinating.” When he turns to face me, I get thefull view of the man that is rumored to be the King of the Death Valley Irish. “What are your choices?”

“Me? Erm. Pecan or mint chocolate,” I reply, still quite not believing that after all the stalking I’ve been doing, I’m here, at this instant, in a grocery store conversing with the man I have been tracking for two weeks with no avail.

“Now that surprises me, that does,” he smiles, his green eyes alight with flirtatiousness and devilment. “I would have had you down as a Cookies and Cream kinda girl. Although looking at you from this angle, you’re far from a girl. You’re every inch a woman and a beautiful one at that.”

Oh my fucking God. Is he chatting me up?

Damn, maybe his eyesight isn’t that good, or he’s not got laid in a while.

What the fuck was I to do? My gut instinct was to run, fast. My head told me that this could be my chance that would lead me to an in, with the YOMC.

But the man is the epitome of danger. However, when it comes to a story, I’ve never been one to walk away from a lead. Not even one like this that could go disastrously wrong in a nanosecond, with me ending up hurt or even dead, dumped on a roadside in the middle of fuck-knows-where-ville.

“Flatterer,” I giggled back, batting my eyelids. Thank God I’d taken time that day to put on make-up, styled my hair and wore clothing that showed my figure off better than the sweatpants and over-washed slogan t-shirts I’d been wearing the previous week.

“Not at all, I’m only speaking the truth,” he offeredback as his eyes roamed down my body, head to toe, blatantly undressing me with his eyes as he did so. “So, what will it be?”

“Wha… what?” I stammer; my skin flushed from his scrutiny. Damn it, I can’t resist, can I? I only go ahead and do the very same thing.

Full head of red hair with a matching beard that was well trimmed but still full. Lips that could no doubt have you melting to the touch and teeth white as snow peeking out as his lips move into a knowing smile.

His shoulders are broad, the round neck fitted t-shirt he’s wearing clearly outlines his firm upper body, the cuffs tight around his biceps. Lean hips, but thick, strong thighs and an unnerving and dominating posture.

“Which one are you going to choose?” he asks eventually after giving my overactive mind enough time to take all of him. Including time to calculate how many inches were involved when it came to the impressive bulge at the crotch of his faded blue jeans.

“Nuts,” I shake the image of a large ten-inch purple-veined penis with smooth walnut-sized balls out of my head. “Butter Pecan nut flavor.” I blush even though my slip-up was on purpose. Well, two can play the flirting game. “You?”

“Ah well, yah see,” he leans into the freezer and hands me a tub of the Pecan. “However much I deliberate, I always end up going for the same one.” He plucks out a tub of vanilla.

“I never would have had you down as a vanilla kinda of boy. Although looking at you from this angle you’re far from a boy,” I had thrown back a similar flirtatiouscompliment as he had to me. Before I can comment any further, he’s taken the few steps needed to bring him closer to me.

“I’ll let you into another secret.” He gets so close to me that I can feel the heat radiating from his body when he places his mouth close to my ear. He whispers, “When it comes to fucking, trust me I’m far from vanilla and I’m more than willing to prove it to you if you ask me nicely.”

Those words make my body rage with lust, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m on my period, I’d be tempted. I love it when sex gets a little messy, but period sex, eew! No thank you.

So, I politely decline using the excuse that I’m only on a break from work and have to get back for a meeting. Liar!

However, when he insists on putting his cell number into my contacts list on my phone, I hand it over to him without question.

Chapter

Nine

Tenley

Of course, when I retell how I’d come face to face with Paddy Dunne I miss out the personal bits, his flirtatiousness, and the effect he’d had on me. I definitely keep his offer of hooking up under wraps, because between you and me, if circumstances had been different, I might have actually taken him up on the promises of hot sex.

“Okay, so what happened next?” Smoke questions after I don’t offer anything further.

“What do you mean?” I reply, not sure what he’s getting at. “I finished my grocery shop and went home.”

“And when you met him after that?”

“It was only a few days ago,” I clarify. “I’ve not seen him since.”

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