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“Thank you, honey.” I tapped her nose. “You’re gorgeous too.”
“I think I’m ready to go home now,” she declared, pushing away her half-eaten food.
“Me too,” I told her.
In the time it took Jake to clean up our trash, Nellie started to droop. I carried her nearly unconscious little body to the car and slipped her into her car seat. She settled in with the stuffie she kept in my car and closed her eyes. Shutting her door, I spun around, and Jake was right there, eating up almost all my personal space, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
“No point in driving an hour when we can enjoy each other’s company right here in Denver.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Give me your number.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not dating. I have Nellie and—”
He interrupted me with a low laugh and a loaded look. “I didn’t say anything about dating, Clara. I want to fuck you, and I want to do it locally. The way you’ve reacted any time I’ve gotten close to you tonight, I think you want the same. There’s no need to play games. Only time I enjoy those is when you’re naked and I’m winning.”
I couldn’t breathe. Air expanded my lungs, but I couldn’t force it out. This man, slightly less than a stranger by a narrow margin, had the ability to control my body without even touching me. I couldn’t decide if it made me furious or turned me on.
Probably both.
“Clara,” he crooned. “It’s not difficult. I’m not going to intrude on your life. When you’re free and I’m free, we—”
“Give me your number.” I couldn’t allow him to say “fuck” one more time. If he did, I might’ve taken it as an invitation. I wasn’t equipped to handle a man like him. The only time my ex had said “fuck” was when he’d stubbed his toe or accidentally worn black shoes with brown pants.
Interrupting Jake and shoving my phone at him had been my desperate attempt at catching my breath. I needed him to turn off his rumbly voice and look away so I could force my lungs back to a normal, functioning state.
He stared at my screen for a moment, the corner of his mouth hitching. “Cute as hell,” he muttered.
“What? Oh.” My wallpaper was a picture of Nellie and me dressed as pirates on Halloween. I hadn’t been a sexy pirate either. I’d given myself gnarly teethe, a hairy mole on my nose, and had smudged dirt all over my face. My hair had been a rat’s nest of tangles, and I’d stuffed a pillow down my tunic. Nellie and I had laughed our heads off at how silly I’d looked, but maybe it was time to switch my picture.
He handed my phone back, but before I could draw away, he pulled me into him and cupped the back of my head. It had gotten dark outside, making it easier for me to look at him straight on. Jake in the dark, I could almost handle.
“Like that you dress up goofy with your girl. You two look thick as thieves.”
I nodded. “We are. We have family close, but most of the time, it’s just the two of us.”
“And I’m not looking to encroach on that.” He dragged his lips down my cheek to the corner of my mouth. “I just want to fuck you until I get your teeth clattering again. And again.”
I put my hands on his shoulders, intending to shove him away, but nothing happened. I didn’t push, and he didn’t go.
“I can’t think when you’re this close.”
His mouth ghosted over mine. “Why do you need to think? I’m not asking for anything more than you’ve already given me.”
He was right, yet I couldn’t allow myself to agree. Meeting him by chance at The Tavern was one thing. It was removed from my real life with no chance of entanglement. This was different. We’d had dinner with my daughter, for Christ’s sake. My personal boundaries had been trampled on, and I’d been the one to do it. I blamed Jake for smoldering at me the way he did. He’d confused me to the point I didn’t know which end was up.
“I should go,” I said with as much conviction as I could throw behind it.
His forehead creased, and he sighed. “I see.”
“What do you see?”
He took a step back, nodding toward me then my car. “It’s too real now. You drive a Porsche and dress like that. I’ve got grease under my nails, and you saw me in my coveralls fixing cars. I get it.” He reached around me to open my door. “Hop in, Clara. Get your girl home.”
My spine went ramrod straight, and I stiffly slid around him to put the door between us. “That’s an ugly accusation, Jake. Really ugly. But I’m not going to bother arguing with you. I won’t be seeing you again, so your opinion of me doesn't matter.” I climbed into my seat, my grip on the door shaky and white-knuckled. “You can live the rest of your life thinking the snobby, rich woman doesn’t want you because of your job and not because she’s trying to protect herself from more devastation she can’t possibly handle.”
If he had anything to say about that, I didn’t stick around to hear it. Door slammed and locked; I backed out of my spot and drove away.
Nellie was asleep in the back seat, blissfully unaware anything had happened. I was a little jealous. I wished I could’ve slept through the last five minutes. What Jake had said to me, he’d looked down his nose at me, was seared into my brain.
Fuck him. And not literally. He’d ruined his shot of that happening again.
