Page 6 of Slide
The arrogance made her shiver with uncertainty. “Travis?”
“Sleep with me.”
Bella wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. She wanted to think she had, but … “I’m sorry?”
“Sleep with me. You owe me over two thousand dollars. You can’t pay it, not by Friday, at least. You said you don’t have ready access to that kind of cash anymore, so …” He left the words hanging in the air between them.
“So … Sex in exchange for having my car fixed? Or sex in exchange for you holding my car for me until I can pay you?” she managed to say while blood rushed in her ears
Travis shrugged at her questions, unrattled.
In truth, she wasn’t as bothered by the suggestion as she supposed she should’ve been. “That’s extortion.”
“Is it?”
He wasn’t stupid. She knew that as sure as she knew her own name. Her gaze raked his body, from the top of his head to the toes of his work boots. There was a light sheen of sweat on his inked arms and a bulge in his jeans. He might want her to think he was nonchalant about it. He might want her to think he couldn’t care less, but she’d bet every last dime that he wanted her to say yes as bad as she wanted to say it. “It is.”
“Kind of ugly when you put it that way.”
“Then how should I put it?”
“As a proposition. As an offer of pleasure.” He swung his arms wide and grinned. Shivers of a different sort coasted through her. “Fantasy come true. Pick one, any one.”
Bella laughed and the sound wasn’t as strained as she thought it might be. “Whose fantasy? Whose pleasure?”
“Mine. Yours. Ours. Does it matter? You want me.” His voice was full of cocky confidence. He took several steps forward until he was standing eye level with her, his breath fanning her face. “And I sure as hell want you.”
She might have wondered if he’d been drinking before coming to pick her up at the flower shop, but she knew he hadn’t. He was serious. “How do you know? That I want you, I mean.”
“The way you’ve always looked at me. It wasn’t hard to get a clue.”
“Of course,” she said. “Like the secrets I thought I was keeping. I didn’t mean to be that transparent.” There was no reason for her to be embarrassed about her high school transgressions now. It was ancient history, and the one good time she’d never had was standing in front of her, offering himself.
Travis stroked her cheek and she trembled at his touch. Her nipples tingled and tightened. Her pussy drenched her panties. This was the first time he’d ever touched her, and she wanted nothing more than for him to keep on touching.
“Transparent is good,” he muttered against her lips. The kiss was quick, barely there at all before his hand dropped away and he pulled back. He betrayed nothing he was thinking or feeling. She chanced looking down, but he chuckled, drawing her gaze back to his. “Yeah, I’m hard.”
Bella flushed again, then whipped around and opened the porch door. She had to get herself under control. She had to put a small bit of space between them. If she didn’t, he’d be against the front wall of her house with her climbing his body like a ladder.
Years of pent-up want, months of stress and frustration, and she needed an outlet. Travis was offering to be exactly that.
The house was cool, thanks to the newly repaired air conditioner, but it did nothing to quell the heat flowing through her.
Travis followed her inside and the door closed with a soft snick. Her belly flipped and flopped and she thought if she set about doing normal things—hanging her purse up, toeing off her sensible loafers, then grabbing a couple bottles of water from the fridge, she might feel as though she wasn’t walking around in a haze of sexual need and confusion.
She set a bottle on the counter for Travis and walked toward the back of the big, bright open common area. It combined the living room, dining room, and kitchen. There were also two bedrooms and one bathroom that rounded out the house.
Despite the horrid shade of purple on the outside, the inside was soft sea green and pale blue with accents the color of sand and surf. Sliding glass doors on the back wall of the room let in natural light, and the home seemed at one with the outdoor surroundings. A deck connected to the house had a path off it which led down to the lake.
She loved the cavernous feel of the house, but Travis’ presence and unblinking stare made everything seem small and tight. “How long?”
“I’d say it’s negotiable.”
His footsteps echoed on the wood floor and her heartbeat kicked up a notch. His heat seeped through the back of her shirt as he came to stand behind her. She took an unsteady breath. Negotiable. Is forever too long? “Can I think about it?”
Travis laughed. The sound, followed by water sloshing in the bottle she’d left for him fixed an image in her mind of his Adam’s apple working in his throat as he swallowed the cold liquid, and of his tattoos moving with the motion.
“Seriously? You need to think about it? You need time to consider whether you want to fuck me or not?”
