I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Why in the hell would she think she’d get that response when she asked if you wanted to sleep with me?”
Brighton shrugged. “Your mom is…well, not to be rude, but she is so much worse than my mother. I’m pretty sure my mom wouldn’t ask you if you wanted to sleep with me.” She looked up for a moment, frowned, then added, “On second thought, she might if she got a look at you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh again. “Christ, I like you, Brighton. I don’t want this night to end.”
She dug her teeth into her lower lip as her cheeks turned the most beautiful shade of pink. “Are you saying you still want to kiss me?”
I put my hands on her hips and pulled her closer. “I’m saying I want to do more than kiss you.”
“Are you asking me to sleep with you, Luke Morrison?”
“What I want to do with you will not involve sleeping, Ms. Rogers.”
Her eyes went wide, and I could tell she was trying to hold back a smile. “Every sensible part of me is warning me to stay away from you,” she said as she studied me. “That it’s not worth risking my job.”
We both looked over to where my parents were sitting. My mother waved her fingers at us and my father lifted his glass. I laughed.
Brighton turned back to me. “Do you think your dad thinks I’m easy? That maybe I’d sleep with you, and that’s why he asked me to be your date?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think that at all.”
She nodded. “I don’t think it would be wise for me to stay with you tonight.”
Smiling, I replied, “Would you like me to call Hank? I can escort you home, at least.”
Her mouth dropped open slightly. “Wait. That’s it?”
I lifted my brows. “Excuse me?”
Brighton sighed. “Ugh. I’m not this type of woman…the needy kind. I never wanted a man to beg me for anything…but why would you give up so easily?”
“You said no. I’m respecting that.”
She blinked a few times, then whispered, “Oh. Well, I said I didn’t think it would be wise. However, I didn’t say I didn’t want to.”
Trying not to smile again, I asked, “Do you want to spend the night with me?”
With a quick nibble on that delicious-looking lip of hers, she answered, “Yes. I want to spend the night with you, Luke. But I need you to know I don’t make a habit of this—one-night stands, that is.”
I traced along her jawline with my finger before I lifted her chin and leaned down. “Good. Neither do I.”
The moment my mouth covered hers, I knew everything was going to change. My life was about to get very complicated, and I was going to turn Brighton Rogers’s world upside down. The problem was, I wanted her too much to care about anything but being with her. Knowing what our bodies would feel like when I pushed inside of her. God, I could come just thinking about it.
We broke the kiss. I leaned my forehead against hers, trying to catch my damn breath.
“Maybe we should dance,” she whispered.
“I think so, or I’ll be tempted to make it an early night.”
She laughed and took my arm while I led her out to the dance floor. For another hour, we danced and mingled with my father and his guests before I finally decided we should call it a night.
“Mom, Dad, I’m going to escort Brighton home.”
My mother beamed with happiness. “That’s wonderful, sweetheart! I hope you two exchanged phone numbers.”
Brighton’s cheeks went red. “We did, yes.”
Dad nodded and took a sip of his whiskey. “Thank you for coming, Brighton. I hope you weren’t too bored.”
She blinked in surprise. “I wasn’t the least bit bored. Luke was an amazing date, thank you for having me.”
He nodded once more, said his goodnights, then turned and started to speak to someone else, politely dismissing Brighton.
“I guess that’s our cue to leave,” I said, placing my hand on Brighton’s back.
My mother reached for my arm. “Call me tomorrow! I want to make sure you know where to meet us for dinner.”
I leaned in and kissed her on the check, said my goodbyes, and then led Brighton out of the ballroom.
Even though I’d told my folks I was taking Brighton home, we never made it out of the hotel. One quick stop at the front desk and I had a suite booked for the night. As we headed to the elevators, Brighton kept looking around.
“Who are you looking for?” I asked.
“Your parents, other lawyers from the firm.”
“So what if you see them?”
She stopped and looked at me. “They’ll all know we’re sleeping together.”
I placed my hand on the side of her face. “Does that bother you?”
Brighton thought for a moment before a brilliant smile appeared on her face. “No, it doesn’t. I mean, I pretty much already admitted to your mother that I wanted to screw you, so…”