Page 3 of Bad Boy Done Wrong
She’d nearly finished eating when it occurred to her she forgot to make conversation. The food was just so good and the silence hadn’t felt awkward at all. She lifted her eyes to his. He gave her a small smile and kept eating. He was the quiet sort with a steady reserved demeanor, almost like he preferred to sit back and observe. Like a shrink would. Was he psychoanalyzing her? What did he do for a living? All she knew through the grapevine was that he was back home after being in “no man’s land” for years. She quickly decided he couldn’t possibly be a shrink because Zach’s asking in his deep gruff panty-melting voice, “How does that make you feel?” would surely lead to more orgasms than confidence sharing. At least with women. She stifled a laugh.
Ooh! Maybe he was in a motorcycle club and cruised the back roads of outlaw country somewhere out west. Or maybe he led mountain expeditions in remote parts of the world and that was why he had the beard. To keep his face from freezing off. Or maybe he lived in the rugged Highlands, hiking through rocky terrain with only his beard and a kilt to keep him warm. She liked that he could be any fantasy. She was pretty sure this hookup qualified as a one-night stand, so he could be anything she wanted him to be. Unless…
She studied him for a moment, debating if she should share her wish list with him. She hadn’t shared it with a guy before, at least not on purpose, but she’d dearly love to experience the other six things on it. Her list had seven items whittled down from the original thirteen, after her friend Ally had pointed out there wasn’t much difference between some of the items. For example, “sixty-nine” had a blow job unnecessarily added to what she really wanted—a man to go down on her. She’d done the blow job thing; the other was new. No need to be redundant when she was living on the edge.
Zach leaned back in his chair, folded his hands behind his head, and studied her through his naturally hooded bedroom eyes. So hot. She hoped she looked ravished and stunning, not like her usual bleary morning self. She took another bite of pancake and realized she was full. She eyed the remaining piece of bacon. She really shouldn’t overindulge, but it had been so long since she’d had bacon. She wasn’t much of a cook.
“Go ahead and eat it,” he said. “It’ll just go to waste if you don’t.”
“You can have it.”
“I’m good.” He watched her, his eyes dancing with amusement.
“Something funny?”
He set his palms flat on the table. “I’m just surprised the woman who took exactly what she wanted last night is hesitating now over a piece of bacon.”
Her cheeks heated. He hadn’t leaned in, but he suddenly felt close, all up in her space, challenging her. And, dammit, this was the new empowered Carrie. New sexy dress, new contacts, new unapologetically sexy attitude.ThisCarrie took what she wanted, whether that was an alpha bad boy or a frigging extra piece of bacon.
She snatched the bacon and took a bite. Effing delicious.
He leaned back in his chair, seeming satisfied to watch her eat. Feeling self-conscious, she studied the living room behind him with stacks of boxes lined up against one wall.
“You just move in?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
He didn’t offer any more information.
Still, she had to know something about the man she hoped would continue to rock her world. That might’ve been presumptuous. On the other hand, she wasn’t sure how long it would take her to find another alpha bad boy that ticked so many of her boxes. He’d been downright spectacular last night, bringing her favorite sex fantasy to life—alpha wallbanger. She had to at least feel him out. Maybe he’d be willing to help her out a little longer. “Where’d you move from?”
“Colorado by way of Indonesia.”
Wow! It was both out west and exotic. This was definitely a man worthy of her wish list. Nerves ran through her as she debated pulling out her phone and showing him the list in her notes app or maintaining the cool façade of a woman who did the casual fling thing regularly. But if she didn’t show him the list, she’d have to tell him what she wanted and she wasn’t so sure she could do that. Okay, what was the worst thing that could happen? He’d laugh at her. Best thing? He’d perform every single thing on that list and make her dream come true.
Show him!
No, it’s too soon.
He already did number six.
But he doesn’t know he did it!
She rubbed her temple. It was one thing to tell your best girl friends about your pathetic love life, a whole different thing to tell a bad boy you just met that because of your pathetic love life, you now had some pretty intense and specific needs.
He took a sip of coffee, completely calm in the face of her turmoil.
This had all been much easier last night with two glasses of wine in her. “Thank you for breakfast,” she blurted, falling back on good manners in the face of potential awkwardness.
“Yup.” He took another sip of coffee and watched her over the rim.
She stood abruptly, cleared her dishes, and set them in the sink. She ran the water so the syrup wouldn’t stick and be difficult to clean later. Then she turned and let out a yelp because he wasright there. Directly behind her, holding his own dishes.
“Calm down,” he said, setting his dishes in the sink. “What’re you so jumpy about?”
“Nothing,” she squeaked. She took one step around him when he snagged her by the waist.
“Hold on now,” he said, turning her to face him. He held her by the hips and pulled her close enough to feel his heat. She was suddenly keenly aware he was only wearing a V-neck undershirt and boxers, which meant it would be so easy to get her hands on his hard body. Her fingers itched with the urge to touch and she was through denying herself. She slid her fingers under the front of his shirt over the ridges of his abs to his warm chest. He smelled like bacon and she suddenly desperately wanted to lick him all over.
