Seductive Guest by E. L. Todd

clear it annoyed her, and more importantly, it wouldn’t change her mind. I’d been searching for a girl to settle down with, and the first cool girl I meet wants some douche that doesn’t want her. Was that a sign I should stop searching and just embrace my bachelor life? Maybe it was. “He will, Meadow. As long as he’s not gay, it’ll happen.”
    “Why are you so sure?”
    “Just trust me on this.” There wasn’t a doubt in my mind he got a hard-on the moment he saw me grope her like she was an orange about to be juiced. I saw his eyes move to her firm ass while I held her. He was definitely checking her out. But what Meadow didn’t understand was his interest was purely lustful. There would be no happily ever after even if she got him.
    “Trust doesn’t come easy for me,” she said. “But I guess I will.”
    “Can I ask you something?” I said as I turned to her. “In all seriousness.”
    “I suppose.” She turned her face toward mine. To an outsider it would look like we were together.
    “If you do get Nathan’s interest…where do you see it going?”
    She stared into my eyes for a moment before she found her response. “I don’t know. But does anyone ever really know? Isn’t that the beauty of it?”
    “If you just wanted to sleep with him to get this crush out of your system I would agree with you. But it’s pretty clear that guy isn’t a one-woman type of man. And those types of people never make exceptions. Since you’re in love with him, I’m afraid he’s going to hurt you. I just don’t want to watch you get crushed.”
    “Well, he might change his mind…”
    Nothing I said would change her mind. “I guess.”
    She turned away and changed the subject. “So, does Jett work with you?”
    “He’s an escort too.”
    “I guessed as much,” she said. “He’s really cute.”
    “He’s taken,” I blurted.
    She chuckled. “I wasn’t going to go for him. Calm down, River.”
    “I’m just warning you. His lady is feisty.”
    “You think I’m not?” she asked.
    “I think she can take you.”
    “Hey, I do kickboxing.”
    “Yeah?” I asked with a grin. “That’s pretty hot.”
    “So, don’t mess with me. I could kick your ass—literally.”
    I chuckled. “I don’t know about that. But okay.”
    “I could,” she pressed.
    “Well, I have a move that will beat anything you throw at me.”
    Her eyes narrowed in interest. “What is it? How does the move work?”
    My hand dug into her hair then I stole another kiss. This time, I made it last longer than all the other ones. My lips massaged hers and I slipped my tongue into her mouth. Hers met mine and they danced together.
    I kissed her because I loved doing it. She was unnaturally good at it, and it got me fired up. She gave me just enough of her, but didn’t overdue it. Some girls had no idea what they were doing. But Meadow did. Her full lips massaged mine with just enough aggression to make it passionate but not intense.
    I was the one to pull away first, like always.
    Her eyes looked dazed, like she just awoke from a beautiful dream. “Why do you always kiss me?”
    “Why do you always kiss me back?”
    She stared at me but held her silence.
    Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I guess I hoped I could make her fall for me and forget about that asshole, Nathan. She’d been in love with the guy forever so I knew I was wasting my time. But that didn’t stop me. “You want to come over for dinner?” I blurted that out without thinking.
    “That depends. What do you mean by dinner ?”
    “As in, a home-cooked meal. What else would it mean?”
    “Judging the way you keep kissing me, I assumed dinner was either a make out session on your couch or a passionate round of sex.”
    “If that’s what you want…I’m not going to say no.”
    She glared at me but there was amusement deep in her eyes.
    I chuckled. “I really meant dinner. Cooking is a hobby of mine.”
    “Yeah?” She seemed impressed.
    “Yep.