“Lola—”
“How about a wager then?” she asks, her face hopeful.
“A wager?”
“Yes. Let’s bet on it. A game. Any game you want. Poker, whatever.”
“I hate poker.”
“How aboutLotería? It’s like Mexican bingo.”
I can’t believe I’m considering this. “What’s the bet?”
“If you win, I pretend to be your girlfriend for two months in exchange for the twenty grand and guitar lessons. But if I win . . .” Her smile is mischievous. “If I win, I get the guitar lessons, and you fuck me.”
My jaw drops, and I have to sit back at the table to hide my hardening erection. She’s killing me here.
“Lola, your first time shouldn’t be a fuck. You should make love your first time. Preferably with someone you care deeply about.”
She shakes her head. “That’s not what I want.”
“You say that now—”
“Please don’t insult me by assuming I don’t know my own mind.”
I sigh and run my hands through my hair, pulling on it. This woman is testing all my self-control.
“Karl Sommer? Are you a romantic?”
I roll my eyes. Then I smile, because maybe I am. Instead of answering her, though, I ask my own question. “And the money?”
Her brows knit together in confusion. “What?”
“You said if you win, lessons and—and—having sex. But you didn’t include the money.”
She scrunches her nose up in distaste. “I’d feel funny about getting money from you if we have sex.”
God. She couldn’t be more perfect if she tried. I like that she has a moral code, even if it’s dodgy at the moment with regard to her virginity.
“Why me?” I ask, wanting to understand her.
“I like you. We share a lot of interests, which makes me feel like there’s a connection, so it wouldn’t be like doing this with a total stranger. And youarevery handsome.” She smiles approvingly as she eyes me up and down. “You’ve also been very kind to me. I want someone who knows I’m a virgin, someone who I know will be gentle.”
My eyes snap up to meet hers. “What? Do you even like me?” I ask, more hopeful than I enjoy feeling.
“Of course I do.” She stops for a moment like she is thinking of how to word something right. “Being around you alone . . . it makes me feel things . . . how you held me by your side in front of Ethan . . .”
I sit up tall in my seat. “Oh?”
She nods. “I know it was for show—that you only did it to help me save face with Ethan and Megan. I’m not delusional; I know what it was. Even so, being so close to your body made my entire body feel hot.”
My eyelids fall to half-mast with arousal. I want her. I want her body. And I want to—more than anything—be her first. “What else did you feel, Lola?” I ask hoarsely.
“My pulse . . .”
“Yeah?”
“I could feel it in . . . new places.” Her gaze goes past me as she studies the wall behind me.