She dropped her hand and cocked her head. “Your eyes are so pretty.”
Shit. Was she drunk?
She shook her head. “Sorry, I . . .” She frowned, stumbling over her words. “What did you ask me? I swear I’m not drunk. You’re just distracting, is all.”
In that second, I felt like a million bucks. “I’m distracting?” I started to compliment her further, but stopped myself by clearing my throat. “I asked what you think truly matters.”
“Oh, right!” She pointed a finger in the air. “Not money. Sure, it’s nice to have, and it does make things a lot easier. But I’d rather be happy. I require honesty and trust in my relationships. And I want the man in my life to have passion not just for his work, but for me too. I need passion. I can’t be an afterthought.”
Her voice changed when she said the last part. She sounded vulnerable, yet confident. It was an odd mixture but was as sexy as hell. I wanted to take her into the back office and show her just how much passion I had flowing through my veins in that moment.
“I can’t imagine anyone seeing you as an afterthought, Claudia.”
She dropped her gaze to her feet for a second before meeting my eyes again. “You’d be surprised.”
I had the sudden urge to deck every guy in her life who had ever treated her badly. It didn’t make any fucking sense, especially since she told me how she valued honesty, and I wasn’t being entirely truthful with her. Not that I had lied, but she obviously didn’t know I had a girlfriend, and I clearly wasn’t filling her in on that fact. Maybe I needed to deck myself first before I decked anyone else. Nothing made any sense when it came to her and my reactions.
“Sounds like you’re dating all the wrong guys.”
She sucked in her bottom lip, pulling it between her teeth, and I lowered my gaze, entranced by the way that lush lip moved gently in and out of her teeth’s grasp. And when her tongue darted out to lick it, I thought I might lose my load in the middle of my own damn bar.
“It’s hard to find any good ones,” she said. “Have any recommendations?” She smirked, her cheeks blushing the tiniest bit, but I noticed.
“I might. I’ll get back to you.” I winked and turned to leave.
“Wait!” she called out with a melodic-sounding laugh. “Where are you going?”
“I have to get back to work.”
I walked away knowing that I was leaving her wanting more, and hoped like hell I could convince myself to want her less.
Go Be Bold
Claudia
“You can thank me later,” Britney said as she reached for my hand and pulled me back onto the couch next to her.
“Thank you for what?” I shot her a look.
“For getting those assholes to leave.” She tipped her head in the direction of the guys who had been hitting on us earlier. They had already moved on to other women, thank God.
“What’d you do?” When her lips formed a mischievous grin, I got a little nervous. “Britney, what’d you say to them?”
She laughed. “I told them you were Frank’s girlfriend and that he wasn’t really friendly. I might have equated him to a rabid dog who bit if provoked.”
“A rabid dog? Seriously?”
“They’re gone, aren’t they?” She shrugged. “If I had to listen to one more story about who they knew in Hollywood or all the parties they get invited to, I would have rolled my eyes so hard into the back of my head, they would’ve stayed there.”
“So you’d rather go blind than listen to them talk anymore?”
“Yes.”
“Kind of dramatic, don’t you think?”
“I’m nothing if not a little dramatic.” She flipped her hair with one hand. Dramatically.
“Clearly.”