He nods slowly and then gives my hand a squeeze. “Sounds like you could use a drink.”
“I could use about ten, but one’s a good place to start.” At least he isn’t kicking me out. That’s a good sign, right? I follow him to the kitchen and watch as he opens the liquor cabinet and picks through the bottles. “Vodka, right?”
“Yes.” Of course he’s remembers my drink. I bet, if pressed, he also remembers my birthday and a whole host of other details that slip past most people. But then, Shane isn’t most people.
Heat melts into my bones as he methodically puts together a drink for each of us. I don’t know what to do with my hands once I don’t need them for warmth, and the coziness of the temperature is a vivid reminder of just how little I’m wearing. My dress is barely long enough to cover the tops of my thigh-highs and while I’m wearing a garter belt, I have nothing else on beneath the thin fabric of the dress. I’m dressed slutty and downright scandalous and Shane has barely looked at me since I walked through the door.
That won’t do. That won’t do at all.
He finishes with the drinks and I gather what’s left of my courage and close the distance between us, sliding between him and the counter to reach for the glass. “Thank you,” I say over my shoulder.
Just like that, he’s pressed against my back, his hips against my ass. He inhales sharply, but doesn’t move back. “What are you doing, Lily?”
His lack of retreat gives me a little more strength. Just enough to sip the drink and then turn slowly to face him. I have to lean back over the counter to meet his gaze, and a thrill goes through me as he forces me to make the adjustments. He might as well be made from stone. I tip my chin up. “I have a question.”
“Ask it.”
“Last summer, you and Max were supposed to be working, so I was here at the pool.” I can barely catch my breath. “No one was around so I didn’t bother with a suit.”
“Mmm.” The barely banked heat in his gaze is back, flaring hotter by the second. He still hasn’t moved, either to press against me or to retreat. “That’s not a question.”
I lick my lips. “It felt wicked to be out there naked, knowing I was in your house even if you weren’t here. I…” This part’s harder, but his nearness gives me a boost of bravado. “I started touching myself. I felt like such a little slut, but that made it hotter.”
He’s breathing harder now, and he reaches around me to grasp the counter on either side of my hips. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because it’s not anything you don’t already know,” I whisper. “You were upstairs. I saw you watch me through the master window.” I reach behind me to the counter just inside his hands. The move arches my back and puts my breasts almost within touching distance of his chest. “I didn’t know you were there when I started, but once I knew you were watching me, I took my time and dragged it out. I wanted you to watch. I wanted you to do more than watch.” The last I’ve never admitted to myself, let alone out loud, but it’s the truth. “Do you remember that?”
He exhales harshly. “You don’t know what you saw.”
“Okay.” I’m shaking like a leaf. “My mistake.”
Shane still doesn’t move away. “Even I came home for lunch unexpectedly that day, you were dating my son.” He shifts forward the barest amount, closing in on me. “It would be fucked up if I stood in my master bedroom and watched you finger that pretty little pussy. I’d be a monster to have watched the entire thing and fucked my hand while I pretended it was you.”
“Shane,” I say his name like a secret, just between us. “I’m not dating your son right now.”
“What did he do?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
He shakes his head slowly. “You came here with a purpose, but you don’t get to throw yourself at me without sharing the truth. Out with it, Lily. What did Max do?”
I really, really don’t want to talk about it, but the sheer closeness of him makes my verbal brakes disappear. I find myself answering without having any intention of doing so. “He slept with his secretary. I think he wanted me to catch him. Either that, or he’s just really shitty as hiding it when he’s up to no good.”
He curses softly. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not.” It’s even the truth. I will cry and I will grieve for the future I thought would be mine, and I sure as hell will spitefully fuck Max’s dad, but I’m not sorry I avoided tying my life to someone who never should have been more than a friend.
I lift myself onto the counter, putting us at nearly the same height. The move has my skirt rising dangerously, flashing my thigh-highs and garters.
Shane looks down and goes still. We both hold our breath as he shifts one hand to bracket my thigh and traces the point where my garter connect with the stockings. “Lily.” This time, when he says my name, he sounds different. Almost angry. “If I push up your skirt, and I going to find your bare pussy?”
The words lash me and I can’t help shivering. I lick my lips again. “If you want to find out, I won’t stop you.”
“Dirty girl.” He snaps the garter, the sting making me jump. “You came here for revenge.”
There’s no point in denying it. “Yes.”
“I’d have to a selfish asshole to take advantage of you when you’re like this.” But he’s looking at me in the way I’ve always fantasized about, like he has a thousand things he wants to do to my body and hasn’t decided where he wants to start.
“It’s what we both want, isn’t
