Page 24 of Hero Hair

“Does that make me special? Will I be granted access to keep up pretenses?”

I do my best to check my emotions. “Come on now, darling. Look at me. Are you special? You tell me. You’ll pretend you’ve seen inside, though.”

Her face falls. A scowl replaces her magnificent smile. “You don’t have to be so rude.”

Shit, that was rude. Tone down your asshole,I chide myself. “Come on. It’s a game. You have something no other woman has had from me before. My complete honesty. You want to go to Vegas, and I want in your pants.” That’s a truth. Right? I flex my fists, letting my fingertips trace the lines in my palm. “It’s a four bedroom. I can see a sliver of the ocean from my backyard. The sunset is pretty amazing. There’s dust everywhere and my bedroom is always neat. I drink a lot, but not too much. I handle stress by working out and fucking. Those are the only two releases in my life. If something in my life doesn’t serve either of those things, I usually cut it out. I have a lot of friends, but we all have our own things going on.”

Teala looks away. Her lips purse and her eyebrows draw in. “You’re kind of horrible and beautiful. This isn’t going to be easy, is it?” she asks.

“The only easy day was yesterday,” I quip. Most people know the stereotyped phrases about SEALs. Immediately, I know she’s heard this one before.

“Jerry fuckin’ Seinfeld has entered the building. Good one.” Teala rolls her eyes and leans back on the picnic bench seat. “Humor. Another thing to go into your positive column.”

I care more about the negative column. I peek over to her side of the bench and her eyes meet mine. “If your friends hadn’t shown up tonight,” I say, trying at distraction.

“We’d probably be having sex right now,” she says, finishing my thoughts. “Not that I’m opposed, but it is against the rules. You have this glamorizing effect and yet you’re a complete and total asshole. I get the draw. You’re like the bucket list man. The unicorn you have to land before you settle down withthe one. You know, the man with the steady job and the stable life? The nice guy.” She sighs. “Maybe you’re the guy.”

I quirk a brow. “Tell me how you really feel. What guy?”

“The guy right before the one.”

I pride myself on a lot of things. Never coming in second best is one of those things. In some twisted way she is referring to me as second best.

Standing, I round the table slowly, never taking my eyes off hers. “I’m not in the habit of letting people talk shit without punishing them.” I crack my knuckles with my thumbs. “You don’t want the one, remember?”

Tilting her head to the side, she urges me on using a look. I prowl, stalk forward until I can barely stand the snapping chemistry vibrating in the air between us. I straddle the bench so we’re face to face, nose to nose.

“I’m no one’s guy. You know what I am. There’s little to wonder. There’s no shady with a chance of drama.” I pause for effect.

She breathes in, her eyes blinking slowly.

“I don’t have any ex-girlfriends. I have a demanding work schedule.”

I peck her lips with my own, letting them linger a second longer than warranted. She’s too close. The scent of her perfume and skin is infiltrating my fortress—my reserve is faltering. A sigh escapes her lips.

“And the most mind-blowing sex you’ll ever have,” I growl. My breaths come faster now, the anticipation reaching a fever pitch.

“Somehow I don’t doubt that,” she whispers, her words exaggerated so her lips brush mine as she speaks.

My hands are gripping the sides of the wood so hard, I’m fearful I might get a splinter. I want to touch her, but then I won’t be able to stop touching her. What makes her so desirable? In the want lies something that doesn’t belong, something that typically isn’t coupled with desire. I don’t want to touch her because I know how it will end.

She’ll disappear from my life forever. I’ll never touch her again and I’ll want to touch her more than once. Merely looking into her eyes right now confirms that fact.

“Can I see your apartment?” I ask.

Teala’s hands are inching closer to mine on the bench in front of us. “Is that a good idea?”

“If you know one thing about me, you should know that all of my ideas are good ones. Remember that.” I pause. “I promise I won’t fuck you.” I waggle my eyebrows. “That’s what you’re worried about, right? No fucking. Even if thatisalways a good idea.”

“When you put it so eloquently, then of course. A night cap is probably in order anyways,” she says.

I edge back to gain some breathing space. She follows my lead.

“This has to be the strangest date I’ve ever been on. Wait, non-date. Maybe a couple night caps are in order.”

“It is a date,” I retort. I busy myself with gathering our things and walk slowly toward our cars. I can tell she’s skeptical because she’s dragging her feet, trying to formulate an excuse as to why I can’t come over. “It’s a date because I plan to kiss the ever-loving shit out of you tonight.”And then use all my willpower to not tear your panties off and fuck you against a wall.

That changes her mind. She tucks her hair behind her ears and bites her bottom lip. She gives me directions and the code to her parking garage in case we get separated in traffic downtown. I throw a clean shirt on from my passenger seat. It’s a quick drive and something akin to butterflies invades my stomach as I park next to her vehicle. My cell phone is blowing up in the center console, so I peek at it to see the notifications. There are a few text messages from Tahoe, so I reply to those and ignore the rest. I have matches. Women whom I could be fucking in an hour or less.

---