Page 23 of Cocky Tech God
She nodded at Brett and me. “Very nice to meet you. See you around the conference.” She walked away, but not before she squeezed Hansen’s forearm with inuendo.
The intimate conversation she had with Hansen made me feel icky. None of this was my business, and I didn’t have any logical reason to feel anything about whose room Hansen visited. In fact, I wanted him to be in someone else’s room tonight, because I was still having cravings I couldn’t deny. I didn’t trust myself to not break more rules after having tasted what intimacy with Hansen might be like.
Those thoughts had no business wandering through my mind here in the middle of a conference where I was supposed to be making professional connections.
I needed to go somewhere, away from the noise…away from Hansen.
“Time for something stronger. Excuse me, gentleman.” The polite plea was tight on my lips. Why couldn’t I just be my normal self? The same self I was before Hansen and I shared a bed. Before we kissed.
Before I knew it, I was plowing my way through the attendees drinking free wine and beer. By the time I got to the main lobby bar, my thoughts cleared a bit. I was feeling somewhat balanced again. I picked an empty stool in the packed bar and sat. It was the same stool I sat in when I arrived. God, things seemed easier then. Just twenty-four hours ago.
“Amaretto sour,” I said to the same bartender from the night before who spotted me and came over right away.
I sucked in a deep breath, feeling the air move through me, freeing up the jammed spaces inside. But the relief was in vain because I couldn’t lie to myself. I wanted to touch Hansen. And I wanted nothing but nakedness with him. I wanted to fulfill my fantasy that I overzealously expressed on the conference call.
“I thought I’d find you here, Mendez.” His voice warmed my back. Why was he always showing up?
I turned on my stool to face him. “Oh, did you? Do you take me for a lush?”
He chuckled low. “Not one bit.” But then he leaned in, inches from my face. “I can’t stop thinking about last night.”
I turned my face. “That sounds like a personal problem.”
He stood straight, the smirk back on his face. “Don’t you just want to fuck the rules?”
Oh, God.
He lifted the side of his lip, contemplating. “Don’t you just want to give in to what we both want? I mean…” Again, he leaned in, this time his lips touched my ear. “You said my name when you came, for fuck’s sake.”
“Oh, did I?” My breath hitched, and I swear a million tingles fluttered between my thighs.
“Stop playing, Lucia.” He departed from his position to sit on the empty stool beside me. Now all the stools were occupied, and the room got even louder.
“But we play so well together.”
The bartender came over then and put down my amaretto sour.
Hansen took out his phone and typed a message, then he put his phone down on the bar, his large hand moving to mine, but stopped just before he touched me.
My phone buzzed. Our eyes met.
I pulled out my phone from my messenger bag and read the text.
Hansen: And we’d fuck together even better.
Where was the lie? We would fuck together even better. My eyes snapped up to meet his and they were liquid green, catching me and holding me so tight I couldn’t move on the stool. I couldn’t breathe.
“You and me. This week. And then it’s over. Never to mention again.” His words were fast, said with intention. And his face didn’t show an ounce of emotion.
This was a business proposition.
“Do you want to sign a contract, too?” I couldn’t laugh if I tried.
“Will that make it easier?”
Maybe. Ugh. What was I thinking?
“And what can I get from this deal?” I took my glass but didn’t drink.