I had to stop thinking about her. I had to stop thinking about the way she smelled of vanilla and the way her cheeks and the tips of her ears turned pink when she was caught off guard. I had to stop thinking about the sound she made in the car, the light hitch of her breath when I reached over to help her.
Luscious black hair. Full, pink lips. Doe eyes with long, curling lashes that made my chest tighten. I could have kissed her right then. I’d wanted to. But that would have been wrong. Maybe that’s what I found so appealing.
I shook my head and finished my whiskey.
Something was wrong with me. It was inappropriate, being this turned on by someone so young. This desire I felt was alarming. Had I finally hit the threshold of becoming one of those dirty old men? My half-hard cock certainly thought so.
She was just so magnetic. Enticing. Good enough to eat.
My phone rang. I answered immediately even though it was well after business hours. The thing about being your own boss was you never had a day off. I was on-call at all times just in case one of the bodyguards on my roster needed assistance.
“Hey, Jesse,” came the overly sweet voice I recognized in an instant.
Melissa. Talk about a boner killer.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
“Oh, don’t be like that,” Melissa cooed. “I just wanted to check on you.”
If that wasn’t a red flag, I didn’t know what was.
“You never check up on me unless you want something.”
“That’s not true, Jesse.”
“Get to the point or I’m hanging up.”
She sighed dramatically. “I need to borrow a thousand dollars.”
Red flag number two.
“Borrow? Or spend and never pay me back.”
“Look, I’m in a bit of a bind.”
“Not my problem. I already pay you alimony out the ass. Go ask that son of a bitch boy toy of yours.”
“Alexei isn’t a boy toy.”
“Goodbye, Melissa—”
“Wait, wait!” she exclaimed. “Come on, Jesse. Won’t you please be reasonable? You make tons more now than when we got divorced. A grand means nothing to you.”
“You’re right, it doesn’t.”
“So can’t you spot me the money?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What do you need it for?”
“I made a bad bet,” she replied coolly. “Thought I’d try my luck at my girlfriend’s poker game. I just wanted to have some fun, but I wound up losing more than I bargained.”
“This sounds like ayouproblem.”
“Jesse,” she said, lowering her voice. “Please? For old time’s sake? You used to take care of things like this for me all the time when we were together. Didn’t all that time mean anything to you?”
I had to give credit where credit was due. Melissa always knew how to get me right in the gut.
Of course our time together meant something to me. In fact, it had meanteverything. I’d loved Melissa with all my heart. She was the first and only woman I’d ever truly loved. I was poorer then. Just an Army man counting down the days I had left on each tour to motivate me until I could get back to her. I wanted to give her everything. Would have worked my hands to the bone to give her a good life.