A Song for Julia Teaser
“So you’re like…a society girl. An heiress.”
“Something like that.”
“That’s wicked hot.”
I stumbled, trying hard not to blush, and failed. “What?”
He let out a loud belly laugh. “Just kidding.”
A couple years ago, this would have thrown me way off balance. But I wasn’t eighteen anymore, and it took more than a pretty guy flirting with me to do that. “Seriously. What’s hot? Is it the heiress part or the society part?”
He smirked and gave me a frankly appreciative look, his eyes sweeping from my feet, all the way up my legs and entire body. I felt a shiver as he did it. Then he said, “I’d say, all your parts.”
Nice. “In that case, I guess I’ll forgive you.”
“Man,” he said. “You’re too easy.”
“Easy? No. Just forgiving.”
“Sure, whatever. So you like, went to high school in Moscow?”
“No, three years in Beijing, then I finished out here.”
“In Washington?”
“Well, Bethesda-Chevy Chase. It’s just outside DC, in Maryland.”
He shook his head. “Too much. Way too much. So what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. What about you?”
He stepped close and looked me in the eyes. “I want to take you back to my hotel and have my way with you.”
I sucked in a quick breath. Not what I’d expected him to say. I swallowed, meeting his eyes, then dropping mine to his lips. Bad idea, because his lips looked very kissable, and I found myself wanting to find out what that felt like. Then I tried to speak, but my voice caught a little. I coughed then said, “I don’t sleep with guys on the first date. And we’re not going to have a second one.”
In a motion so quick I would have missed it had I not been watching, he licked his lips, then stepped even closer. Too close. Way up in my personal space. I could smell his sweat from the performance. He said, “Then I’ll have to settle for a kiss.”
I opened my mouth, speechless. No one was this forward. He was nuts. I took a breath, said, “I…” and then he stepped forward just enough to close the gap between us and touch his lips to mine, and he was kissing me, and more disturbingly, I was kissing him back. Shivers ran down my back as he put his hands firmly on my waist. His tongue darted forward and pressed between my lips, and mine met his, and I think I may have made a little bit of sound because he pulled me closer, and I was lightheaded, even though I’d barely touched my margarita.
I gasped and pulled back just a little bit. “We should…stop.”
He sighed and met my eyes. “Why?”
“Because I don’t do this with guys I’m not serious about.”
He replied, “I don’t get serious about anybody.”
“Neither do I,” I said, trying for a flippant tone, but knowing I was failing. It’s hard to be flippant when you can barely breathe. Crank was setting off every alarm I had. Crazy, assertive, a little arrogant. I’d been down that route before, and it ruined my life.
A Song for Julia will be published December 15, 2012.