Stripped Bare (Stripped #1)(52)

“I can’t imagine any situation in which a man who’s almost eighty would need to do the limbo.”

“My uncle’s fiftieth birthday party. It was set up for the kids, but in my family, that doesn’t mean people under the age of eighteen. It’s more mental age.” He pulled into the parking lot of Rock Solid and got out before I could reply.

I jumped out and grabbed my things. “Yet you’re so serious,” I mused, closing the door before following him into the club. “How does that work?”

“I’m not that serious.” He leaned in toward me. “If I were, I wouldn’t be thinking about f*cking you again.”

My cheeks flared, and I cleared my throat. “Inappropriate, West.”

“So was what I did to you an hour and a half ago, but you enjoyed that.”

I slapped his arm with the back of my hand. “Stop it.”

He grinned, taking my things from me and setting them on the edge of the stage. We were the only people in the club, judging by the empty bar and the eerie silence, but even still, I squealed when he grabbed me and sat me on the edge of the stage.

He laughed, grabbing my knees and pushing my legs open. He slipped between them before I could close them and locked his hands at the base of my back. My heart thudded against my ribs a little too loudly as he met my eyes and fully held my attention.

All I saw was a blue sea of mingled emotions, from hesitance to desire to amusement, and maybe I was crazy, but I wanted to swim in it.

I wanted to drown in his eyes.

He didn’t move, so neither did I. He stood with his arms wrapped around me, and I had my fingers lightly clutching his shirt, both of us just breathing. Just...being.

It felt all kinds of wrong but completely right at the same time. So many of our interactions had been sexual, rooted from desire, but this... This wasn’t.

This was sweet. Gentle. This was...this. Natural, almost.

It was how he was looking at me though. The amusement and desire faded from his eyes, and in its place, I saw a hint of confusion, a flicker of warmth, something almost hope-like.

He looked at me as though I mattered to him. As though I were important. As though the thought of not looking at me were ridiculous.

He looked at me as though he wanted me. Truly wanted me—all of me.

And it hurt.

It was, perhaps, the way I’d wanted to be looked at my whole life, but now that I was, I didn’t want it. Because West Rykman was not the man who could have all of me.

He knew it.

I knew it.

This wasn’t destined to last.

I slid my hands up his body, cupped his cheeks, and touched my mouth to his. His fingers dug into my back as he tightened his grip on me, responding to the kiss. It was slow, easy, the kind that would take your breath away if you’d let it.

Just like he would.

And that was the problem, wasn’t it? West Rykman could easily steal my breath. Hell, he did it every time he walked into a room I was in, or every time he spoke, smiled, or looked at me. Getting it back? That was a whole other ball game. I didn’t know how I was supposed to make it through the next few days until I could go home again.

I’d never really been in this position before, of wanting someone I couldn’t have.

And I did.

I wanted West Rykman. I wanted him desperately, more than I’d ever thought I could want someone. But I couldn’t have him.

It wasn’t how this worked. I didn’t know how it worked, just that it didn’t work the way I wanted it to.

I could never have him, and he could never have me.

My heart clenched as I broke the kiss. “I have a question,” I said before I lost my bravado.

“Mm?” West met my gaze. “Which is?”

“I…kind of need a date for Allie’s wedding on Saturday.”

He stepped back and rested his hands on my thighs, his lips curving to one side. “Mia, are you asking me on a date?”

“No. I was going to ask if you think Beck would go with me.”

He grabbed the back of my neck and tugged my mouth down to his. The forceful kiss sent tingles through my body, and I couldn’t help but bite my lip and smile when he released me.

“Kidding.” I straightened his collar, as it’d gone crooked when he’d kissed me. “And…yes, I guess I kind of am. I wouldn’t ask, except my ex tried to get back with me, and I kind of already told him I had a date, except I don’t have a date, so I need a date.”

He looked at me for a long moment, before his lips slowly tugged up into his dirty, sexy smirk. “Do you know you ramble when you’re nervous?”

“I’m not nervous,” I lied right as the nerves tap-danced through my belly.

“Angel,” he said in a low voice, taking my chin in his strong hand. “You are so nervous, and it’s the most f*cking adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Okay. Fine. I’m nervous.” I exhaled, partially huffing, and dropped my hands from his shirt. “I’m not used to asking people on a date.”

“I seem to remember very vividly that you had no problem informing me that you swallow when you suck cock, but asking me to accompany you to your best friend’s wedding is scary?”

I glared at him. “I was drunk.”

“There’s a bar right over there.”