Park Avenue Player(60)

His admitting I’d win softened me. “Fine. Five minutes.”

Hollis waited until I sat and then looked away. “Thank you.” He blew out an audible breath. “As I was saying, I’m not the right man for you. You’ve been hurt, and yet underneath all that armor you wear, you still believe Prince Damn Charming is out there. I’m no Prince Charming.”

I tilted my head. “Well, at least we agree on something.”

Hollis chuckled. He took one more deep breath and finally looked me in the eyes. “You deserve Prince Charming. But I’m a selfish enough bastard that I don’t give a shit what you deserve.”

My heart fluttered. My head knew it was dumb, and that the other shoe was probably about to drop, but I had no real control over the giant muscle in my chest.

“Can you just spit out what you want to say? The push and pull is exhausting.”

“I want to try, Elodie.”

I had to be misunderstanding. “Try what?”

“To be together.”

I squinted at him. “You mean, you want to fuck me?”

“No. Yes. No. Well, of course, I do. But that’s not what I’m trying to say.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“I want to…I don’t know, date you?”

Well, this was a turn of events I hadn’t expected. I couldn’t help but be suspect.

“You want to date me?”

“Yes.”

“And what does that entail?”

“I don’t know. Dinners. Spending time together…”

“What if I said I won’t have sex with you? Would you still want to date me?”

His brows rose. “Forever?”

I smiled. “No. Not forever. But…I’m not sure I believe you want to date me, Hollis. I think you’re frustrated and know that’s the only way it’s going to happen between us. It’s a means to an end for you.”

He frowned. “Not to be a dick, but if getting laid was all I wanted, that isn’t too hard.”

I wanted to believe him so badly, but it wasn’t that easy. “Why? Why the sudden change of heart? The other day our kiss was a giant mistake, and you regretted it. Today I go out with someone else, and you miraculously figure out you want to date me?”

Hollis leaned forward on the couch and looked directly into my eyes. “I’m not going to lie to you. That probably is what got me off my ass. But does the reason I pulled my head out of my ass even matter?”

I searched his eyes. He seemed so sincere… Yet so had Tobias when he said his vows at our wedding. This man could easily crush me. But let’s face it, I’d already given a piece of my heart to him, and it was going to happen whether I dated him or not. I suppose I might as well get a few good dates out of it.

“Fine. But I want to eat at the restaurant in the Mandarin Hotel. When I worked for Soren, I had to meet assholes at the Aviary bar there, and the restaurant always smelled so good. It’s out of my price range.”

The corner of Hollis’s lip twitched. “Done. Anything else?”

Hmm… As long as he was asking…

“I’ve never taken a carriage ride through Central Park.”

“We can do that.”

“Or gone ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza.”

That lip twitched again. “It’s July, but maybe at Christmastime.”

My heart swelled. Christmas was a good five months away. That simple answer told me he wasn’t planning a short fling—not intentionally, anyway.

“Anything else?” He raised a brow.

I tapped my finger to my lip. I’d been teasing, but something important did come to mind. “We don’t tell Hailey what’s going on between us—not at first, anyway. She already wants us to be a family, and I don’t want to disappoint her if things don’t work out.”

Hollis’s mouth formed a straight line, but he nodded. “That’s fine.”

I picked up my wine and drank a sip. “I guess we have a deal then.”

Hollis’s eyes sparkled. “Not yet. You haven’t heard my terms.”

My brows jumped. “Your terms?”

He smirked. “That’s right. Don’t I get terms?”

“I guess that depends on what they are.”

Hollis reached out and took the wine glass from my hand. He lifted it to his lips and proceeded to gulp the remainder. Setting it on the table, he extended his hand to me.

I hesitated, but eventually placed my hand in his. The second I did, Hollis yanked hard, and I was out of my chair and onto his lap. He cupped my cheek. “Number one. No other men. Especially not Benito.”

I pretended to deliberate and then shrugged. “I guess so.”

He scooped a hand under my ass and squeezed. Hard. “Cute. Number two, if we’re not going to be having sex for a while, you’ll need to wear something other than lace panties.”

I pulled my head back. “You don’t like my lace panties?”

“I love them. But since I’ll have to take care of myself for the time being, you’ll be leaving your panties behind at the end of our dates. The lace can be chafing.”

My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe he’d just told me he rubbed my panties against his dick so hard that it chafed him.