"Force!" someone yelled from across the room and waved wildly at Gabe.
Gabe waved back.
"Why do they call you Force?" she asked.
"That's my lame stage name." He adopted a menacing expression-lip curled, brows drawn together-and cracked his knuckles. "I'm a force to be reckoned with." He grinned and lifted her hand so he could capture her fingertips in sucking kisses.
"Oh." An aching throb continued to build between her thighs, and she knew there was only one thing that was going to alleviate it. And only one man she wanted to drive it away. The excitement of being with Gabe, of overcoming her ridiculous fears, was far too seductive for her to deny. "I'm not normally attracted to guys like you."
"So you said."
Her heart thudded faster and faster as she gathered courage. She wished she could be more like Nikki and make it perfectly clear what she wanted. "If I tell you that I want you, would you believe me?"
"Try me."
"I want you."
He caught her gaze and held it for a long moment. "Do you want to get out of here?"
"Will you show me your tattoos?"
"That would require me to get naked."
She grinned at him. "I'm okay with that."
Chapter 5
Gabe wasn't sure what it was about this woman that had him so fired up. Yes, she was attractive, but that didn't explain it. He knew innumerable attractive women. Maybe it was because she liked him despite him being a rock star and not because of it. Or maybe it was because she'd turned down Jacob-no one ever turned down Jacob. Or maybe it was because there was something naughty and wild just beneath her conventional exterior, and he very much wanted to unleash her inner vixen. Whatever it was, he was hooked. He never questioned his little head's instincts. His dick had excellent taste.
He followed Melanie out of the stadium to a convertible, melon-orange Volkswagen Beetle wedged between two gargantuan SUVs in a parking garage.
"Cute," he said when the she pressed her key fob and the Bug's lights flashed. He'd hoped one of the gas guzzlers was hers. No such luck. Normally he wouldn't be caught dead in such a feminine car, but he wanted to show her more than his tattoos. He had the pressing need to be alone with her. To figure out what made her so appealing. Yeah, that belly chain and navel piercing of hers had turned his thoughts thick with lust, but it was more than that.
"It's Nikki's. I should probably text her and let her know I took off without her. Or maybe I should let her worry about me for a change." She paused to squint at him with assessing eyes. "Does she have a reason to be worried?"
"Only if she plans to see you before morning."
"Just how many tattoos do you have? It shouldn't take you all night to show me."
She offered him a challenging smirk. It made him want to kiss the sass out of her.
"But it will take me that long to work you out of my system."
Her breath caught. After a moment she closed her gaping mouth and squeezed her tight little body between the SUV and the Bug on the driver's side of the car. "Are you hungry?" she asked as she inched open the door and sidled into the car. "I'm starving. I missed dinner so we could stand in line for two hours. There has to be an open restaurant around here somewhere."
He took note of her rapid words. He hoped she didn't freak out and leave him hanging. Well, actually, he was more hard than hanging. Did she have any idea what he had in mind? It had been a while since he'd had to work at seducing a woman. They tended to fall out of their pants and into his. Maybe he was off his game. She wanted to have dinner first? For real? He was wondering how she was still clothed.
Gabe squeezed into the car with her and closed the door. Folded into the small space, he felt he was in danger of kneeing himself in the eyeballs. "Does the thought of being alone with me make you nervous?"
"No," she squeaked.
"Good. Then we'll order room service," he said, fiddling under the seat for a lever to give himself some room. He sighed in relief when the seat shifted and offered him a few extra inches for his legs.
"But-"
"You do realize I plan to fuck you, don't you?" No sense in pretending this was something it wasn't. "If you're playing games with me-"
"I'm not playing games, Gabe. I plan to fuck you until you can't move. I just thought we could get to know each other a little better first. I've never had a man seduce me this quickly. I feel kind of . . . um . . . slutty." She whispered that last word as if it had never applied to her before.