Page 81 of Gather the Storm

I disconnected the call and slipped my phone into my bag. Now that I’d had the idea, losing my virginity to Gray Cantwell seemed like the perfect idea. He probably wouldn’t guess I was a virgin — I was twenty, not sixteen — so I doubted he’d refuse on ethical grounds, and if the way he’d been looking at me all night was any indication, our office relationship wasn’t going to be a problem either.

Someone knocked on the door again. “Is anyone in there? Hurry up!”

I walked to the door and opened it. A girl with long silver hair was standing there, glaring at me.

“Sorry!” I said, moving past her into the hall.

“Fucking finally!” she said, pushing into the bathroom.

I was almost to the end of the long hallway leading from the bathroom, the music getting louder, when someone came around the corner.

Fast.

I stumbled as I hit a wall of yummy-smelling man chest and felt an arm slide around my waist to steady me.

“Where are you headed so fast?”

I looked up to follow the voice and found myself staring into Gray’s eyes.

Chapter 41

Daisy

Iwobbled a little on the stupidly high heels I’d been forced to wear to work (reason 298,437 why it had been fun to needle Jace).

“I was coming to check on you,” Gray said. “Are you okay?”

His hand was still on my waist. It didn’t send fireworks to my pussy the way Wolf’s touch did, the way Otis had when he’d kissed me by the Mustang.

And okay, even Jace got me going, and I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole.

But still. Gray was nice. He was handsome and he smelled good. Best of all, he didn’t make me feel like dirt on his shoes the way Jace did, and in his eyes I wasn’t Blake’s virginal little sister but an actual woman who might want to have sex.

“I’m good.” I was pretty sure I was still slurring my words, but I was beyond caring. “I was coming to check on you too!”

A slow smile crept onto his mouth. He moved closer, his fingers stroking my waist. “You were, huh? Why is that?”

I leaned into his touch. “I thought maybe you’d want to get out of here.” I looked up at him. “What do you say, Gray? Want to get out of here?”

His smile grew bigger. “Hell yes I want to get out of here. Let’s go.”

I stumbled as we headed through the crowd in the bar and he pulled me tight against him as we made our way to the door of the Mill.

Diana, Kyle, and Erica were gone and I didn’t see Natalie. In the back of my mind — where I knew I’d regret this at the office on Monday — I was glad they weren’t around to see me leave with the boss’ son, but that part of myself was so small and distant compared to the part that was ready to dispense with my virginity once and for all.

We hit the door and stepped onto the pavement. The night was warm, a summer breeze caressing my arms and legs as we started down the sidewalk.

“I’m parked in the lot by the office,” Gray said.

“Sounds good to me,” I said, except I was pretty sure it came out like, “Shounds good to me.”

Oopsie.

Now that we’d left the bar, my head was clearing a little. Did I really want to do this? Lose my virginity to a guy I hardly knew — the boss’ son, no less — just to have it out of the way?

The question was still ringing in my head when he pulled me into a small alley that intersected the sidewalk. Downtown was filled with them, tiny one-lane parking lots situated between the buildings that were dark but not usually dangerous unless you were on the south side of town.

Gray shoved me up against a wall that ran the length of the alley and pinned my body to the brick. “Not sure I can wait to get you home. I’ve been wanting to do this since I first saw you in the office.”

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