Page 77 of Renegade Rift

“Now what?” she whispers, looking up at me like I’ve got all the answers.

“Give me your hands.”

She raises a curious brow but doesn’t question me, placing them in mine. Her hands are so small as I hold them between us.

“First, let me reassure you that you don’t need to ask to hold me. And as for what’s okay, that’s up to you.” I maneuver her hands inside my open suit jacket, placing them on my back just past my hips so there is still a small buffer of space between us. “Of course, consent is key, but I can assure you, any man who holds you between his legs like this would love your hands on him.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.”

“I like this,” she whispers.

“Me too,” I say, giving her hands a gentle squeeze. “And if you’re feeling brave, or particularly smitten, you can bring your hands to my lower back and close that distance.”

Juliet looks down at the space and hesitates for a beat before shocking the hell out of me and stepping forward. Her hips cradle against my thickening cock, and she laces her fingers at the base of my spine leaving me breathless.

As if it’s the most natural thing in the world, I lower my hands to mirror hers, careful not to dip too low on her back.

The bar melts away, and it’s only the two of us, breaths heaving in time. Neither of us move as if doing so would break the bubble we’ve found ourselves in—a paradox in which we are both together and a million miles apart.

Or maybe that’s just how it feels to me.Juliet only sees this as a means to an end.

Her tongue darts out and wets her lips, and it takes everything in me not to close the distance and find out if they’re as soft as I imagine—if they taste like the strawberry lip gloss I watched her put on during the cab ride over.

My throat bobs, and I need a distraction. Anything to stop me from taking this further than what she’s comfortable with.

“Tell me about what Soph wants you to think about.”

“What?” Her voice is breathy and borderline seductive, and fuck if it’s not making it more difficult to keep my wits about me.

“Sophia asked you to think about something. What was it?”

A smile splits Juliet’s pillowy lips, and I have to force myself to drag my gaze back up to her dark brown eyes. “If I tell you, will you tell me how you, Sophia, and Mercer know each other?”

I tip my head back and laugh. “Soph didn’t mention it? She usually loves telling that story.”

Juliet shakes her head. “No, she was too busy telling me the story of how you booked an AirBnb for a trip for all of you, and it was at a nudist colony and that’s why you aren’t allowed to book trips anymore.”

“In my defense, it had a really cool pool.”

That was a fun trip. It was the last time Mercer, Sophia, Sydney, and I saw each other before the girls moved to New York and Mercer was arrested.

“But back to how we met. We all lived in the same building in Chicago. Somehow we all thought Leisure Towers meant the building would be low key and luxurious. Really it was a known place for wealthy retirees that wanted to become swingers. There were many times we almost moved out, but after a while they grew on ya, and you stopped caring that you might walk in on an impromptu orgy in the sauna.”

“I—” Juliet shakes her head, a huge smile on her face as she searches for words. “How is it possible for one man to end up in so many situations that involve others in little to no clothing?”

“It’s a gift really,” I say with a shrug and a disarming smile. “Now it’s your turn.”

“She offered me a job.”

My jaw drops, and I don my best surprised face. “That’s absolutely amazing.”

But there’s no foolingJuliet. Her shoulders deflate. “You knew about it already, didn’t you?”

Shit.

“I mean, I knew she waslookingfor help for an upcoming project,” I draw out my words trying to make them as playful as possible. “I may or may not have thrown your name out there as a possibility.”

---