Page 38 of Hard
‘I’m not sure what you’re suggesting. Maybe a line up? Tape measures at the ready?’
She giggles again, a light, carefree sound. ‘I just meant, you know, you have nothing to be shy about.’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment,’ I return, smiling into the rain-washed street. A car passes by with a hiss of wet tires, kicking up moisture into the air.
‘You totally should,’ she answers, her voice a touch lower now.
‘Is it strange that I can still feel you in my hands?’ I should regret the admission because I shouldn’t be leading her on. But all thoughts of impropriety, guilt, or remorse disappear with her next words.
‘I sort of still feel like I’m in your hands.’
‘How so?’
‘I feel them. Feel your mark all over me.’
My responding chuckle is low, an image from last night reverberating in my head. Paisley, naked and beneath me. Skin sliding against skin. My hands on her. My tongue inside her. My cock...
‘Are you still there?’ she asks softly.
‘Yeah. I’m just... Can I see you?’ The words come from nowhere, but out in the air, I have no wish to take them back.
‘If you mean in a text message—’ Humour colours her tone, but I cut her off anyway.
‘That wasn’t me. It was my arsehole mate. Can’t leave your phone anywhere, it seems.’
‘So definesee me.’
I rub my lips together to stop the images in my head from turning to spilled words. My wants. My desires. The things I’d like to do to her but didn’t get the chance. Sordid things. Fun things. More than fucking in the dark.
‘Dinner. Coffee. A walk in the fucking park,’ I say instead. ‘Whatever tickles your fancy.’
Her laughter warms me from the inside out.
‘Oh, I think you’ve already discovered how my fancy likes to be tickled.’
‘Are you suggesting I know how you like to be fucked?’
Her breath hitches as the door to the pub opens, and an old man in a grey cap steps out into the rain. He heard me—heard the uncharacteristic thing I said to Paisley—I know he did. The look that passes between us isn’t hard to define.Life is short. Make hay while the sun shines. Have sex with the lovely girl.
‘Do you want to skip the niceties and go straight to a hotel room?’
Was that an invitation or a trap?I mentally berate myself for the sudden thought. Not all women are like my ex. ‘I didn’t say that.’ But fuck if I don’t want to. ‘I’m not easy, Paisley. I’m gonna make you work for it.’
‘You’re what?’ she says, giggling.
‘I don’t dole out my favours to just anyone.’
‘Oh, I believe it,’ she replies, still amused.
‘This isn’t Halloween, and my sexual favours aren’t M&M’s.’
‘So what does a girl have to do to get you into her bed again?’
‘I think we should start with dinner on Friday. How are you fixed?’
‘Fixed?’
‘What’s your schedule look like?’
