The Force of Gravity(73)

She smirks. “In the Tahoe?”

“What?”

“We haven’t had sex in the Tahoe yet.”

I shake my head, and she laughs.

“It’s my birthday,” she pleads.

“Whatever you want, my love.”

She reaches up to kiss me, throwing her arms around my neck. “I can’t believe you did this.” She pulls back, admiring her necklace. “It’s unreal.”

“Let’s go celebrate your life, baby.”



I’M IN THE middle of my entrée when I see him. Our eyes meet across the room, and I’m relieved that Kaley’s back is facing him—but I need to think fast. I should get up and go over there to avoid him coming to my table. I nod his way, and I’m about to tell Kaley I’ll be right back when he narrows his eyes at me, causing a heaviness to hit my stomach that’s in no relation to the plate of pasta I ordered. He glances at the back of her head, then glares into me again.

Is he really not going to nod back? He can’t even be polite? We golf together every Sunday. He’s opened up to me about every detail of his life. We’re pretty close . . . he has to know his behavior is rude. He breaks his stare, and I bring my focus back to Kaley, but it’s impossible to pay attention to what she’s saying, so I just nod along.

I glance back at him a few times, but he’s no longer looking my way. I don’t think I know the man he’s with, but I can’t be positive because it’s difficult to see his face from this angle. I don’t understand how he can recognize Kaley so quickly from the back of her head. Did he see me come in with her? I really didn’t pay attention to my surroundings when we first sat down, which isn’t like me at all.

“You full already?” asks Kaley.

I realize I don’t even have my fork in my hand. “Yeah. Not used to eating pasta, I guess.”

“So, I take it you don’t want dessert?”

“Huh? Uh, no. No thanks.”

She tilts her head, noting my odd behavior.

“I’m sorry, do you want dessert? If you do, maybe we can go get some gelato somewhere.”

“They serve gelato here,” she says.

“Right,” I say. “Well, we can do that. Whatever you want.”

“No thanks,” she says. “You’d probably make them sing happy birthday to me, and I’d have to leave you.”

I laugh along with her, but it’s forced. I raise my hand to the server, and she makes her way to our table.

“Any dessert for you guys?” she asks.

“No, just the check please.” I glance at Kaley. “Oh, are you even done?”

She sets down her fork and gives me a slight nod.

Our server looks back and forth between us, then slides the check on the table. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“We’re ready now,” I say, scrambling for my wallet. I pull out my card and hand it to her.

“Is everything okay?” asks Kaley as soon our waitress leaves.

“Yeah, why? What’s up?”

“You’re acting a little nervous. I was perfectly fine having dinner out of town like normal.”

Yeah, and I should’ve listened to you.

“No, it’s fine,” I say.

I was so at ease when I came in here with her earlier. Didn’t feel stressed at all. I let my damn guard down. How could I do that? I never do that when I’m in any type of public setting with her. The one time I do, my boss sees us. I glance back at Stan, catching his hard stare again.

Mother of God, this is bad.

When our server comes back, I snatch the check out of her hand and sign my name, leaving a thirty percent tip. I rise from the table, refusing to look Stan’s way. Kaley follows me, and my body goes rigid as she slips her arm around mine. Any chance of lying my way out of this is now gone. She pops a mint in her mouth from the host desk and grabs one for me. I cringe as she turns, revealing her profile to Stan, and presses the mint to my lips. I part my lips just enough for her to slide it into my mouth. Bad decision on my part, but I don’t want to alarm her, and it’s obvious he already knows what’s up anyway.

Anxiety shrouds my thoughts as we drive home. I do a pretty good job at maintaining normalcy, even asking her if she wants to grab dessert. She doesn’t, and I’m relieved. As we pull into the garage, she’s quiet. I hop out and meet her on the passenger side, opening her door as she slides out. I take her hand and start to lead her inside.

“Wait,” she says, pulling her hand away. I turn around and she opens the door to the backseat. She gives me a shy smile and runs her hand through her dark hair. “You promised.”

“Now?”

She ignores my hesitation and grabs my hand, pulling me into the back. She’s practically on top of me before I can even shut the door. I still can’t understand her fascination with the Tahoe. As soon as I can afford it, I’m trading it in for an Escalade.

The taste of her lips slowly withers away my stress. She unbuttons my shirt, and I slide my hands up her silky, smooth thighs.

Damn, she’s incredible.

“You feel tense, Slate,” she murmurs as her lips run down my neck.

“I’m good, baby.”

Stan is the last thing I want to discuss right now. And I don’t need her worrying about it. She’s had enough stress to deal with this year. This is my problem.

My big, huge, gigantic, worst-case-scenario problem.

Her lips return to mine as she unfastens my belt, and Stan’s hard stare dissolves in the back of my mind. This girl is worth it. And I’m not just saying that because she’s unbuttoning my pants right now. She’s the most intoxicating woman I’ve ever met without a trace of pretentiousness. She’s funny and charming and down to earth—and much more innocent than she realizes. And these lips—good God, these lips. I never want to let her go. I won’t. I can’t lose her again—no matter what happens. I scoot down on the seat and lean my head back. The tension from tonight’s disturbing dinner quickly fades into the background as I let the most beautiful woman in the world take control.