“I’ll pick you up at eight.”
All the blood rushes to my ears and a wave of dizziness floods me. It’s him. After all the times I’d lain in bed dreaming of his voice saying all matter of filthy things to me, I’d recognize it anywhere.
Wait… Did he say…he’d pick me up at eight? I attempt to collect my thoughts. Yes, yes, he did.
Oh. My. God. It worked.
Okay, get it together. Be cool. Sophisticated. Like I hadn’t sent him the most embarrassing email of my life and this is no big deal. I open and close my mouth, but no words come out. I’m in shock.
“Still there?” His deep voice travels over the phone line, sounding mildly amused.
My whole body breaks out in goose bumps and I manage to squeak, “Yes.”
He chuckles, all lazy like. “If you want to back out, this is your last chance, because once I ring the doorbell, you’re mine.”
This is happening. This isn’t a dream.
“No.” Another syllable manages to escape my lips. My cheeks feel as though they are on fire and my blood pressure is skyrocketing. I frown. See, this is my problem. Lukas Marlow agreed to go out with me and I’m thinking about blood pressure.
I need to get it together. I can do this. He’s only a man.
“No, you want to back out, or no you don’t?” The cocky assuredness of his tone tells me he already knows my answer.
I clear my throat. “W-where are we going?” Progress. I got out a whole, complete sentence.
“That’s my job to worry about. I have other jobs in mind for you…” He lets the sentence trail off.
A million ideas run through my mind like a runaway freight train. I might have an abysmal track record, but I’m quite filthy minded and—a thought stops me cold. What if he only wants to take me out to give me a stern talking to? Despite what he said last night, he treats me like an older brother. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself and instead of sex I need to prepare myself for a lecture. What if his jobs include researching why you don’t approach men for no-strings-attached affairs? Or how to put a condom on a banana?
Before I get my hopes up I’d best find out. I don’t want to be humiliated any further. I lick my lips. “Like what?”
“Hmmm…let me think.” His voice is a hypnotic low rumble that makes me shiver. “Are you paying attention, Abby?”
How could I not be? Fine beads of perspiration break out at my temples. This is the moment of truth. His answer here will either make my day, or break it.
I have no idea what to expect.
Where this is going.
I want to hope but…
“Abby,” he says my name with a bit of an edge.
It jerks me from my frantic thoughts and I focus on the conversation, trying not to hyperventilate over my fate. “Yes, I’m paying attention.”
“Good girl.”
Those two little words make my thighs clench. That doesn’t sound friendly. I’d read some stuff; I know what those words mean. Hopeful anticipation has me flushing and all the sudden I become aware of my surroundings.
I glance frantically around the sea of cubicles as though my conversation with Lukas has been telegraphed over the intercom. Of course that’s ridiculous. My neighboring coworkers don’t know what I’m talking about. Even if I sound breathless, they probably think someone has gotten me a phone sex card for my birthday.
“So where was I…oh yeah, your jobs.” His chuckle sends a little shiver across my skin. “I want you to wear your hair down like last night. It looked wild, and I think your hair needs to match that dirty mind of yours.”
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!
This is going to be a date. I didn’t misinterpret his call. I put a hand over my chest to calm my heart from pounding out of my rib cage. “Okay.”
He responds with a low, wicked laugh. “I’m not done yet.”