Dirty by Gina Watson Page A

cheeks.
                  “Courtney, I’m so out of my comfort zone here. I’ve never felt so much desire for a woman before. It’s obvious what being near you does to me, but as I said before…I’ve got responsibilities that keep my life from being my own.”
                  There was that phrase again. Who owned him? “Everybody does. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t exist. Not to make light of your needs of course, but sometimes it’s okay to accept a little help from friends and lovers.” Lovers? Why’d she have to say the L word?
                  His brow furrowed and his thinking wrinkle appeared across his forehead. Over-thinking wrinkle she suspected. She clasped his hands and gave them a shake. “Hey, let’s not overthink this, okay? I want to take you to a nice dinner. No strings, no expectations. Can I just ask you one thing?”
                  His eyes were wide on her. “What?”
                  “Just try not to dismiss what we have because you think it can’t work with your responsibilities.”
                  “But I can’t—”
                  She leaned in and placed a chaste kiss to his lips. “I only said try. ”
                  He smiled. Wow . She hadn’t seen him smile much, but then it grew into full on laughter and wow…oh wow. He was magnificent. His smile could establish world peace. She liked smiles. Usually it was the first thing she noticed in a guy, but he’d not laughed since she’d known him…until now. When he exposed his full-on smile it squared his jaw further and pushed his plump lower lip out—corner to corner his teeth were symmetrical and dazzling. He was sexy as hell.
                  “Okay…I’ll give it a shot.”
                  They agreed on a kiss, and then she drove them to Mon Ami Gabi, her favorite French restaurant.
    ***
                  The first thing he noticed was how decadent the restaurant was. He couldn’t remember existing in a space that was any fancier than where his old booted feet stood now. Courtney in her blue-green dress and heels looked like she was born from the mortar that pieced the building together. He on the other hand was severely under dressed.
                  But just look at her…she shone like a new penny. God, she was gorgeous. To kiss her was to kiss something that wasn’t of this world. He’d never felt emotion like that. Her dress came to mid thigh and he knew he’d be fighting his eyes to focus on her eyes for the remainder of the night. When she turned to speak with the greeter he got a shot of her extremely shapely derrière and had to lift his jaw from the floor. Courtney. He didn’t even know her last name. And shouldn’t he know it after he’d manhandled her in the car?
                  He felt a tinge of remorse building beneath the surface. He was angry with his father for putting him in his current position. Oh, he loved his sisters and nothing could change that, but he was twenty-seven and should be free to date Courtney if he wanted to.
                  To her credit she’d been inside his home. She’d seen he didn’t have the money for a proper oven or even refrigerator. They used a mini fridge they’d purchased for forty-five dollars on black Friday. She hadn’t flinched then. In fact, she’d appeared quite content in the home he’d made. She also knew he had no money and worked several odd jobs and she’d accepted him as is. But…there was so much more for her to accept. She didn’t know about his family’s history and she didn’t know that he had full custody of his two sisters. But what if she did know? What if he brought her home and showed her?
                  He’d been so deep in thought he hadn’t realized the commotion, and now standing before him was the greeter. She held a jacket open in front of him and