Chapter 84

In heels as high as these, it makes me the perfect height to snuggle up close; my head just past his shoulder and his eyes move to my mouth. I frown away the urge to lock mine on him, as it’s the third time I’ve gotten the vibe he wants to kiss me and get overly frustrated.

What’s stopping you already?

“Asshole.” I spit back, nestling closer to him in his embrace, encouraging more, but also so I don’t need to face him and see exactly how he’s looking at me if he isn’t going to do anything about it. If he wants it, then he has to make some moves. The elevator pings and the door slides open.

“What happened to Massive Douchebag? I like that one, it has a sexy ring to it.” He nudges me suggestively with his hip, so I’m moved but not knocked over, his face sliding close to mine again as he gazes at me with humor. He bites on his bottom lip, very ‘dude’, sexy, playful yet that hint of flirt again and the sudden heart hammering ups a gear, making me unable to remove my eyes from that crazily kissable mouth of his.

I’m really not imagining there’s something subtly different since I walked out wearing this dress. I don’t know if I should ignore it or act upon it; he seems to be testing some sort of internal boundary and I want him to stop holding back. He has my stomach fluttering, and my body all goosebumps, arousing parts of me that I never knew could even get aroused. It’s making me unsure of myself, more than a little nervous and definitely antsy around him.

“You are all of the above and much, much, more.” I frown petulantly, yelping when he slaps my ass to propel me out of the elevator and this time, I know for a fact this is not how he normally behaves. Arrick slaps asses when carrying on, usually with a little intent, just to piss me off, but this feels more sexual.

Where the hell did this come from?

He lets me go as I half run, half skip out in front of him, onto the shiny marble floor of the foyer to his building, purely with the force of that butt slap that about knocked me off balance. I can still feel where his palm landed, and it’s lower than where he normally smacks me. I liked it too, which opens up a whole other can of brain worms, considering my father used to beat me.

He comes up behind me, catches my hand again, something sizzling between us as he leads me out into the guarded main entrance in front of huge glass doors onto New York’s busy streets. He nods at the security man sat behind a marble desk., I recognize the little old man and beam at him, because he’s my favorite of the desk clerks and usually only on at night, so I don’t see him very often anymore. He’s been here for years, the whole two years Arry has lived here anyway, and I always love to chat to him.

“Have a good night, Mr. Carrero, Miss. Huntsberger.” He grins at us and holds out a red lollipop as we pass. I squeal my delight, letting go of Arrick’s hand so I can collect my familiar offering from just about the best security guard in the whole of the city. Completely elated that even after months, he still remembers, and still keeps these for me.

“Thank you, Mr. Frankie, always a pleasure. Tell Mrs. Frankie. I said hi.” I giggle sweetly and unwrap my candy, dropping the paper in the trash can he holds out to me and give him my most genuine smile.

“Strawberry whirl, your favorite. Been keeping you one for a few days now.” He beams back at me and Arrick tugs at the back of my jacket softly, smiling at me from behind.

“You too, Frank, we shouldn’t be too late. This one has a curfew.” Arrick smiles at him and pulls me back to follow. I give Frank a little finger wave and a smile as I pop the lollipop in my mouth to suck on its sweet yummy flavor. I catch Arrick’s eyes go to my mouth as I do so, and the uncomfortable frown he gives off before looking away, confirms his head is definitely on sex at this moment. He clears his throat softly and carries on regardless. I, however, grin to myself. A little smug that the guy who could only ever see me as platonic, just got an urge from me sucking off a lollipop.

High five.

Always sucker for these things, and Frank’s been plying me with them since Arrick moved here. I’m a hundred times happier with candy in my mouth, a hint of sexual tension from my favorite man, like somehow everything just got so much better.

We get out onto the street and the doorman, holding the door for us, motions to the yellow cab sitting patiently on the sidewalk. Arrick leads me to it and opens the door for me. As I go to slide in, he whips the lollipop out of my mouth in a super sleek, fast move that I don’t see coming.

“Hey! That’s mine.” I snap petulantly, shocked at his sneaky maneuver, but he closes my door before I can grab it back, skirts the back of the cab and gets in the other side with it in his mouth. Smirking at me with that devilish look in his eye and I just gawp at him in open-mouthed shock. I snatch it right back, yanking it out of his mouth and stick it back in mine without hesitation. He looks amused, like he gets a kick out of being an asshole to me sometimes, being the highlight of his day and all that.

It tastes a little of him, but I like it, realizing that we just sucked the same lollipop and it could kind of be classed as kissing in a very vague way. It reminds me of what it’s like to be kissed by him, and I have to push it away before the fire in my panties gets any hotter.

“I have herpes.” He nudges me jokingly and pulls his door shut; the cab driver nods and utters the address he’s been told by the doorman, Arrick nods and sits back to get comfy as we move off.

“Yum! Add it to the ever-growing list of weird stuff Arrick Carrero has given me over the years” I answer sassily.

“You’re welcome.” He winks and I eye roll in answer, happy to sit and suck on my candy and ignore him for the ten-minute journey, to try to calm these damn hormonal flushes. No one comes between me and candy, it’s like a major weakness on the ever-growing list, and I don’t care if it ruins my lipstick.

Arrick gazes out the window, strangely closed off, and I wonder if he’s contemplating his own reactions. He automatically places his hand in my lap, his hand moving to curve around my thigh, which means his fingers end up nestled between my legs sensually, just above my knee. I look down at the way his hand is connected to my naked skin, in a gesture that I wouldn’t expect from him, more something I would expect to see Jake do to Emma and glance his way. He’s looking out the window, completely oblivious, and I don’t know whether to relax and accept this as innocent or enjoy the tingles and heat his possessive hold is giving me. Torn that this might be deliberate, and disappointed he didn’t aim higher. It’s another little clue that his head is not thinking platonic where I’m concerned tonight, and I wonder if this is going to go anywhere, with a sense of excited nerves. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but he’s giving me a whole different set of vibes tonight.

Thank you, purple dress!

He’s never laid hands on me this way before, and the fact he’s not reacting or has even noticed has me even more aware of maybe the possibility it’s innocent. I try not to shift in case I draw attention, but as we stop abruptly when the driver hits the break hard, I’m catapulted forward. His hand tenses on me to keep me seated, but the combination of slippy leather seat, and satin dress over my butt, means I slide forward, dress hitches up and Arrick’s hand ends up firmly planted between my thighs and he cups me fully. I gasp loudly, and my lollipop meets the floor in a dramatic release.

Hot, strong male hand, most definitely bumps and squeezes, malfunctioning, throbbing, lace covered lady parts, the sudden turn of his head, eyes meeting mine with sheer mortification and the retraction of said hand has us both looking away awkwardly. Arrick clears his throat and shifts in his seat, while I push myself back and wriggle my skirt down as the car moves on again. I note the car in front was the reason we stopped. A broken down, hot mess, trashy pickup, is sat in the middle of the street, spewing smoke as our driver moves around it and gets us back on track.

I most definitely got a reaction, down there, low in my crotch. I can still feel the heat of his hand on me as my heart and stomach do joint somersaults. I can’t say it feels anything but freakishly good and now the ache inside of me has me squirming and wanting more in a much more agonizingly intense way.

What the hell is wrong with me?

“Sorry.” Arrick mumbles out of the window, and I blush. A giggle threatening to creep up, and I cannot deny that his hand down there did not send off any of my usual crazy, repulsive defense alarms. I just wanted to pull my dress up and sit on his lap.

Jesus Sophie, what the hell?

The thought shocks me, yet also makes me a little bit hopeful, knowing that he can not only touch but ignite, something down there. Meaning that maybe there is a slight chance I could go further with someone. All the way, as in sex. Maybe with him if he ever thought of letting us try and stopped cooling off this weird tension between us tonight. I don’t know how to feel about that, and all this craziness in my head has me squirming and blushing, my mind no longer on candy anymore and pretty sure he’ll be able to read this in my face if he looks my way.

I feel super weird, naughty, wanton, and a little uncomfortable that my brain is even going there. I glance his way and realize he’s staring at me again. I hadn’t even noticed he turned back to me and catch his eyes with a little jump. His gaze is completely unreadable, eyes focused on mine and his pupils large. For once, the look sends a hot fiery pulse right to my core, like somehow, I know, without much experience in this when it comes to him, he’s looking at me like he wants to get naked with me too. His head on taking this further. I swallow hard as nerves literally kill all my bravado in one fell swoop.

I throw a casual ‘forget it’ smile and dart away quickly, trying to hide the craziness erupting inside me. His eyes are still on me, but this time he feels for my hand, pulls it into his, and entangles our fingers securely, cupping both with his free hand and giving me the impression he is making sure that little incident doesn’t happen again. Back to cooling his jets and back to platonic.