I ignored my inner voice and lowered my gaze to his mouth when he licked his tempting bottom lip. I imagined his slick, wet tongue gliding up my inner thigh, slowly moving toward my lonely, needy pussy. The bastard. Shame on him for making me yearn for him to devour me from the inside out.
A tingling quiver worked its way to my core, forcing a gush of arousal to soak my panties. Mortification and embarrassment nearly paralyzed me. How could I react this way with a man who didn’t seem interested beyond flirting? Because I had never had such an all-consuming, lustful reaction toward anyone.
“What else would you be?” I clawed my nails into my thighs, doing my best to stay calm—and failing miserably.
“You tell me.” He grinned, showing off his perfect pearly white teeth. The cocky bastard. It should be a crime to be so goddamn confident and gorgeous.
The electricity between us, this magnetic draw pulling me toward him, was too much for my racing heart. What had gotten into him? What had gotten into me? Whatever freak occurrence in the atmosphere that had occurred, I didn’t want it to disappear.
“My friend, of course.” I shrugged one shoulder and tried to rip my eyes away from his. It was impossible to be unfazed by him after he had soaked my panties.
“Yes, I am, but—”
“But what?” I blurted, unable to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want him to reject me and extinguish the fire between us. If teasing me was how he got off without following through, I’d walk out of here and be done with him. Screwing with my emotions was a dealbreaker.
“But I don’t know.” He sat straighter in the chair, studying my face.
“You don’t know what?” I leaned toward Joseph, swallowing my fear of rejection. “If you want to be more?”
Something flashed in his eyes. “I just remembered I have a meeting in…” He checked the time on his cell phone. “Crap, ten minutes. Sorry.” He got to his feet and scanned the room as if a police squad would jump out and arrest him.
“Wait.” I grabbed his hand, making a total fool of myself.
“I need to go. I’m sorry.” The pained look in his eyes told me he wanted to stay but honestly couldn’t.
“Can you meet me later? Or go out for coffee? Or hang out in the park.” Would someone please save me from myself?
“I don’t know.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that. Nevermind.” I let go of his hand. “I’ll see you around.”
“Yo, Brynne!”
“Yeah?” I turned toward Ethan’s voice and groaned.
“I look forward to seeing you later, gorgeous. You can perform for me.” He winked and blew me a kiss.
Fuck, I didn’t need him saying shit like that in front of Joseph. I shook my head and ignored Ethan while I collected my things. If I played it off like he didn’t bother me, maybe Joseph wouldn’t ask questions.
“Who is he?”
So much for no questions.
I flicked my eyes at Joseph, dialing into an unfamiliar tone in his voice. He appeared normal, but something had changed.
“Who is he, Bonita?”
“Just a friend.” I showed zero emotion, but I didn’t think Joseph bought my act the way he kept looking from me to Ethan. He wouldn’t be wrong to suspect more, not entirely anyway. I’d never been with Ethan, but he knew intimate things about me that most had no clue about.
“Friend like me?” Joseph’s eye twitched. Curiously, he sent off a murderous vibe. It didn’t make sense after keeping me at a distance. Although, I had to admit, observing the fire in the quiet Latino turned me on big time.
“Yeah, sure. Have a good weekend. I hope your buddy recovers quickly.” I lifted my backpack in one hand and reached for my tray.
“I got it.” Joseph swiped it off the table.
“You don’t have to. You’re gonna be late for your—”
“I already have it.” He put his hand on my lower back, pushing me toward the exit. His touch sent a powerful wave of desire through me. Could he feel it too? Would he do anything about it?