I started to turn away when Robert reached out and put his hand on my arm. The physical contact was like an electric shock through my entire body. My skin reacted on a primal level to his. It was annoying.
“Please, I’d like you to be there.” His voice was calm and collected, just like he always was. It took a lot to get a show of emotion from Robert, but there was a note to his tone that I recognized as desperation. “I... I miss you.”
I blinked slowly, hardly able to believe his audacity.
“How can you miss someone that you barely know?” I asked nastily.
Robert’s expression shuttered as he dropped his hand from my arm. “We were friends—"
“Were we? Because friends talk about themselves. They open up. They don’t make their other friends feel like idiots for sharing deep, personal stuff, but refusing to do the same.” Okay, I shouldn’t be unleashing on him like that in the middle of the street. I wasn’t a “let’s argue in public” kind of person. I didn’t do public displays of any sort.
It was just another reason why Robert Jenkins was not the guy for me.
He didn’t say anything. Not that I expected him to. He was really good at clamming up.
“I don’t want you to not see your friends because I’ll be there,” Robert said. He didn’t address any of the things I just said to him. He didn’t acknowledge the hurt I had unleashed. He didn’t deny my words, nor did he agree with them. He left me hanging. Again.
“I can see my friends whenever I want. I don’t need your permission to do so,” I retorted.
“Now you’re twisting my words—”
“I’m not going to Meg and Adam’s for dinner. I have too much work to do anyway. It’s no big deal, Rob.”
I was being ridiculous. I was acting like an immature idiot and I knew that if I canceled on Adam and Meg, the two of them would never let it go. Meg would guess, quite rightly, that I didn’t want to be around Robert. She would start digging, wanting to know what my issue was. She knew I had liked Robert. She knew how close we became. And she would want to fix it.
And that was the last thing I needed.
Because Meg Galloway Decate wouldn’t stop if she thought one of her friends was hurting or upset and her actions, while well-meaning, weren’t always helpful.
No, I needed to grow up. I needed to let this man, and my nosy friends, know that he didn’t bother me. That I was a sensible adult with sensible feelings making sensible choices.
“Actually, I don’t want to miss out on the last bar-b-que of the year, so I’d better show up. Plus if I didn’t the two of them might send out the calvary,” I joked, though it was strained.
Robert’s half-smile turned into a full one. He didn’t grin often but when he did—damn.
“I’ll see you there. I’ve been looking for an excuse to buy some more of that tiramisu cake from the Dandelion Bakery.”
Oh man, he was pulling out the big guns. He knew how I craved The Dandelion Bakery’s tiramisu cake. I also remembered the last time he brought some to my house and how badly that night turned out.
Robert’s phone rang and he looked down at the screen. “I’d better take this. So, I’ll see you this weekend?” Why did he have to sound so freaking hopeful? What did he expect to happen? I had made my feelings toward him very clear.
“I guess so,” I shrugged. Robert’s phone rang again. “You should probably take that.”
“Yeah.” He hesitated. “It was really good seeing you, Sky.” He spoke in this soft, thoughtful way that really did make my insides quiver.
Get it together, Murphy.
I lifted my hand in an awkward wave and walked to my car, even though I wanted to run.
Chapter Four
Robert
“Mmm, touch yourself. I like that,” the voice urged through the speakers. Fuck, I had forgotten to push the mute button. I quickly rectified my mistake before I returned to my dance.
I was moving to the music, running my hands down my body, edging the hem of my underwear down my hips. This was the big finale. What the people on the other side of the camera paid the big bucks for.
“This is for you, Jill,” I said, looking at the camera as I slowly, sensually, pushed my underwear down my thighs before kicking them off to the floor. “Do you like what you see, Jill?” I started moving my body again, letting the woman watching me, get an eyeful of what she had paid $500 for. I didn’t know her. She was a stranger. But they paid more for the “personal” touch. Hell, Jill could be a dude for all I knew, though, from the sound of the voice I had just heard, Jill was most likely a middle-aged woman. A very excited middle-aged woman.
This was my last appointment. I had spent the last few hours dancing and taking my clothes off for strangers on the internet. And loving every minute of it.
The music built to a crescendo and I writhed and thrust my hips. I knew my body looked good. I worked hard to keep myself in peak condition. I was starting to lose steam. I had been dancing pretty much nonstop. I had six clients lined up for the afternoon, each paying 500 dollars for a half-hour dance that involved me slowly getting naked. And that’s where it would stop. I never did anything else. I didn’t jack off, though most of them asked me to. I always declined.
The room was hot, but I didn’t dare open a window. The sweat beading my skin only turned my customers on more. I moved closer to the camera, letting Jill
