Page 54 of The Sacrifice
“I don’t know what he sees in you. You’re not dressed–”
“Like a whore? You’re right. I’m not. I’m dressed like a college-educated woman with self-respect. I’m sorry you don’t have anyone who loves you. I hope someday you find what you need to love yourself.”
“Bitch.” The girl, who I still don’t remember or know her name, twists on her heel and stomps off.
Fuck my life.“I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have come here tonight.”
“Boy.” She grabs two handfuls of my T-shirt and yanks me forward. “You owe me for that. Especially the mom comment.”
“I’m sorry.” My heart thunders in my chest. “I don’t know what to do to make it up to you.”
“Oh, I think you do.” One corner of her mouth raises, and she waggles her eyebrows.
When she yanks my head forward until she can whisper in my ear, “You’re going to dance with me until I’m slick and ready for your hard cock. That cock that everyone in this place has taken a ride on, and you’re going to beg me to fuck your brains out. Because I’m not about to be the only one who hasn’t been banged by you in this building. And when you’re a good boy, I’ll decide where I’ll take you–the VIP room, the bathroom, or the alley. Maybe all three.”
I swallow hard over the lump in my throat. The fact she’s not tossing me out on my ass is a miracle, but there’s no way she’s not affected by my past. She’s hurt and lashing out. One other thing I’ve got to fix.
But damn. My punishment sounds like heaven.
Chapter Thirty
Mia
Okay, girl. You can deal with this.Conquer your low self-esteem and get it over with. So what if he’s worked his way through the phonebook? That was before I even gave him a second look.
“Babe,” He tips my chin up as the people around us dance in time with the music. “I might not remember much of it, but it was only for a couple of weeks. Three at the most. There can’t be that many of them.”
“That’s not helpful right now.” I was fine before we walked to the dancefloor, but somewhere along the line, I got into my feelings. How am I going to keep someone like him happy? I’m not wild and crazy. I’m not twenty years old. I don’t have big tits. I can’t give him another baby. What am I doing here?
“Put your arms around me.”
“Why?” The band that’s been unloading their gear, moves around the stage, checking for last-second issues.
“Humor me.”
“Fine,” I huff. When we were standing by the bar, I was pissed, but the second a slow song came over the loudspeakers, all the adrenaline disappeared, leaving me dejected and wishing I was anywhere but here.
I wrap my arms around his waist, and he cups my face. “Mia, I love you, and it would kill me to lose you. There’s no one more important to me than you and Hadley. I wish things were different. I wish we had the results back on Hadley’s paternity. I wish Roxanne was permanently out of the picture, so I could make a big embarrassing production of asking you to marry me.”
“You’re doing it again.” How could I stay mad at him? It’s impossible.
One corner of his mouth raises. “I know. That’s why you love me.”
“Yes, it is.” I lick my lips as my heart skids in my chest. “I wish we were married, and Hadley was my stepdaughter.”
He shakes his head. “No. She’ll be your daughter as much as mine. When she takes her first step, you’ll be there. When she learns to put her hair into a ponytail on her own, you’ll have taught her how to do that. And when she has her first boyfriend, you’ll be there to hold my hand while I freak the fuck out.”
The waterworks started by the time he got to the ponytail part of the list. “That’s the biggest gift I could ever receive. I don’t know what to say.” I clear my throat and inhale to gather my wayward emotions. “I promise to put both of your hearts above my own. I will do anything to make sure you’re both happy and safe.”
His lips claim mine, and the earth stands still. The music stops, and the couples around us lace hands and walk back to their tables. The scent of fried food, whiskey, and spilled beer ceases to exist.
It’s the two of us in our own world. Until his tongue sweeps between my lips, and everything crashes back into focus. His hand threads into my hair, and the walls of my sex clench. As I rock into him, he grinds his erection into my belly. The band shouts out to the crowd to a loud eruption, and a fast song fills the space around us. More people clamor to the dancefloor, pressing us closer together.
Without breaking our kiss, his hands travel down my back. Not close enough. It’s not close enough. Nothing is. I lace my hands around his neck and accept his leg between mine. The vibration from the floor, the buzzing energy from the other guests, combined with the pressure of his thigh, and I’m about to come undone.
His lips trail along my jaw. “Let’s go home.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Do you still have the key?”