Ego Maniac(40)

I swallowed, watching her swallow. “When was the last time you actually had sex?”

She coughed, almost choking on a piece of shrimp this time. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me right. Sex. When was the last time you had it?”

“You already know my history. I haven’t had a relationship in almost a year.”

“You meant a sexual relationship? I assumed when you said that, you meant you hadn’t dated anyone consistently in that long.”

“I haven’t.”

“You do know that not all relationships need to be more than sexual?”

“Of course I know that. But I need more than just a one-night stand.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Off the top of my head, I need to feel safe with the person. I need to be physically attracted to them. We need to be able to get along after the act, and I need to feel like I’m not being taking advantage of—that our relationship, whatever it is, isn’t one-sided. If it’s purely sex, that’s okay, but we both need to have that understanding.”

I nodded. “Those are all fair.” By that point, I’d pretty much lost my mind. Which would explain how my next thought made its way from my brain and shot right out through my lips. “How do I apply for the job?”

“The job?” She actually seemed confused. I thought I was pretty damn clear.

“Of sexual partner. I think we should have sex.”





Emerie

“You’re insane.”

“Because I think we should have sex? How does that make me insane?”

“We’re pretty much opposites. You believe a relationship is the period of time people spend together before one screws the other over.”

“So?”

“I believe in love and marriage and making things work.”

“I’m not talking about those things. I’m talking about sex. I know it’s been a while, but that’s when a man and a woman—”

I cut him off. “I know what sex is.”

“Good. Me too. So have it with me.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Do you feel safe with me?”

“Safe? Yes. I guess so. I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”

“Are you physically attracted to me?”

“You clearly know you’re good looking.”

“And if we were both clear on what was going on, you wouldn’t feel like you were being taken advantage of.” Drew tilted his chair back. “I meet all of your criteria.” He winked. “Plus, I have a big bathtub. That’s a bonus. Come to think of it, maybe I should be vetting you better. I’m a catch.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

“See. Another bonus. I make you laugh.”

He wasn’t wrong there. Honestly, in the last two weeks, Drew Jagger had stirred a lot of things inside of me that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I bit my lip. My stomach felt like a dryer with a half-empty load of laundry—bouncing around randomly as things heated up. I couldn’t believe I was even considering what he’d suggested.

“How long ago was the last time you were with a woman?”

“The day before I met you.”

“So only a few weeks ago. Were you dating her?”

“No. I met her while I was on vacation in Hawaii.”

“Did you get to know each other before having sex?” I had no idea why I was even asking the question.

Drew set his container down on the table. “She gave me a blowjob in the bathroom less than a half-hour after we met in the restaurant bar.”

I scrunched up my nose.

“Did you want me to lie to you?”

“I guess not. I think I’d have preferred that not to be your answer though.”

He nodded. “You wanted to believe there was romance and an exotic setting—that it was more than it was. It was just sex between two consenting adults. There doesn’t always have to be more to it.”

I finished my Chinese food and leaned back, folding my hands on top of my full stomach. “While it’s tempting…” I grinned. “…mostly because of that bathtub. I don’t think it’s a good idea. We spend too much time together for it to just be sex.”

Drew’s thumb rose to his mouth, and he rubbed his full bottom lip. “I could evict you.”

“Then I’d definitely want to have sex with you. Because nothing puts me in the mood like being tossed out on the street,” I teased.

Drew came around to my side of the desk and took my empty box and his to the garbage. I felt him come up behind me when he returned. Leaning down, his head over my shoulder, his breath tickled my neck when he spoke. “You change your mind, you know where to find me.”

Even though I didn’t really feel like being alone, a little while after we finished eating, I told Drew I needed to get home to do some work. His text earlier had said he had hours of work to do when he got back to the office, and I didn’t want to keep him from it. Plus, I needed some time to let the discussion we’d had tonight sink in. While the entire proposal was bizarre, I couldn’t honestly deny that the thought of having a sexual relationship with Drew was appealing.