When I didn’t say anything for two long seconds, the man tilted his head slightly to the side in curiosity. He bit on one side of his bottom lip in contemplation, before saying, “Do you want to get out of here? I have a hotel room booked not far from here.”
“Hotel? You don’t live here?”
“No, I live in New York.”
I nodded. This was perfect. There was even less of a chance of me running into him later. “Don’t I get a name first?” I asked.
“Jace Reed,” he said, and I tried to gauge his expression as to whether or not he was lying. I couldn’t tell. “What about you?”
I smiled. “Hazel Cline.”
The humor dancing in his bright blue eyes told me he knew I was lying, but he didn’t call me out on it. “It’s nice to meet you, Hazel.”
“You, too. And yes, I want to get out of here.”
“Perfect.” Jace grabbed my hand in his large one, encasing it whole in a cocoon of warmth. I tried not to let the simple touch affect me so much.
I failed.
We walked out into the chilly cold, and I immediately shivered, having left the house in nothing more than a sweater.
Jace, probably unconsciously, moved in closer to me, blocking out some of the wind with his body. I peeked sideways at him. I didn’t think I had ever seen someone this beautiful before, not even in movies.
It was funny, to me, how someone who looked like Jace wanted to come home with someone like me. I wasn’t insecure about my looks—I knew I could look pretty when I tried, but I didn’t try today, even though I had gone to a bar with the intention of finding a hook-up.
But I liked the way his eyes had taken me in, as if I looked like one of those models they put on billboards, and I liked the way he took charge, because I didn’t have the energy to play any games tonight.
He led me to a black Mercedes and held the passenger door open for me. My eyes met his before I climbed into the car, and for one short moment, it felt like time had stopped and nothing else mattered except for the man’s blue eyes on me.
I broke contact first, and Jace closed the door gently behind me.
It didn’t take long before we were headed to his hotel. We didn’t say anything on the ride over, but the air hummed with sexual energy, making me feel restless.
I squirmed in my seat and tried not to stare at him too much.
I couldn’t wait to get him naked.
I couldn’t wait to feel him against me.
I hadn’t been this excited since my first time back in high school, and that turned out to be a disaster, considering it had happened a few months after my mom passed away and I ended up crying alone in the bathroom of my then boyfriend’s parents’ house afterwards.
I shook away the thought. I didn’t want to think about that right now.
I wanted to stay here, in the present, with Jace.
The drive was torturous.
And then we pulled into a fancy hotel parking lot, one of those skyrises with a gazillion floors that I could never afford even one night at, and the valet opened the door for me.
Jace got out and placed his hand on the small of my back, leading me inside.
I felt out of place in my jeans—everywhere I looked, people were wearing something much more professional.
I briefly wondered how silly I would look doing the walk of shame later, but that was a problem for another time.
Now, I just want to feel Jace.
We got into an empty elevator, and I didn’t wait.