Dirty by H.J. Bellus Page A

boost the votes that year.”
    “Smart people.” Zane finishes off the other half of my burger.
    “Jesus, do you have a hollow leg?” I point to the two empty plates.
    “Something like that. You still in college?”
    “No, graduated this year.”
    “In?”
    “Are you writing a damn book, Zane?”
    “If you’re going to be the first girl I ever date, I should know if you’re a serial killer or not.” He shuffles out from his side of the booth and then slides right into mine. His strong arm wraps around my shoulders and he pulls me into him. Now this is a place I could get used to.
    “I majored in journalism to my parents’ dismay. Not a prestigious enough career for them and so you know they have a healthy list of approved men for me to marry. Everything in my family is campaign, public image driven.”
    “So, I take it there’s not a construction worker by day and stripper by night on their list?”
    “Nope.” I shake my head side-to-side, letting the loose curls fall over my shoulders. Zane’s hand runs through them. “But it is sure as hell on my list.”
    “Ava.” Zane cups my cheek with his free hand and stares down at me. “I can’t quit stripping just yet.”
    “Okay.”
    “It’s not because I want to keep going, but I need to keep making money just in case anything else happens.”
    “I get it.” I sit up straight, facing him. “I’ve been to a few strip joints and let me tell you, you gave the show of a lifetime.”
    I don’t give him a chance to heckle me about my interpretation of his performance. My lips brush against his, relishing the fact he’s not running away from me. Zane only reacts by gripping onto my hair. I dart my tongue out and run it along the seam of his lips, taking in everything about this moment. The fact he opened up to me and has agreed to me asking him out on dates.
    My patience runs thin when he curls his lips into a smile when my tongue outlines the border of his lip. And in the same moment of time, both of our mouths crash together. Our lips move in unison as we devour each other. Zane is quick to pry his tongue between my lips and performs his lazy trail with his tongue around the inside of my mouth. He swallows my moans of approval and holds me to him when I push my body into him as far as it will go. My hips begin to move, trying to release the pent-up need for a release. I need his fingers in me again, working me over.
    I have to force myself to pull back from his lips. “Let’s pay now and get out of here.”
    It takes no convincing before Zane is on his feet and rushing to pay the bill. I follow him and wrap my arms around the front of him, pressing my front to his back. I try to snag the check from his hands.
    “I asked you out. I pay.”
    “Bullshit.”
    “Zane.”
    He cranes his neck enough to make eye contact. “I’ll make you pay in other ways.”
    “I won’t argue.” I squeeze him even harder.
    It’s more than an attraction with him. The first time I ran into him or more like walked in on him, I saw the lost look in his eyes. His attitude was all a defense mechanism and now that I know why, it makes me want him that much more. It’s a war I’ve entered and by damn I’ll win, showing him he is worthy of being loved.
    He whirls around towards the door and I remain cemented to his back, taking each step with him.
    “So this is what dating is like? Having a hot ass woman on your back.”
    The outside breeze hits both of our faces as we step outside.
    “On, in, behind…yep all of those things.”
    Zane catches one of my forearms and twirls me in front of him. He has me lifted up and clutching to my ass before I realize what’s going on.
    “Looks like I landed a naughty little girl.”
    “You did.” I catch his bottom lip between my teeth and tug back. Zane lunges forward, pressing his lips to mine. It’s not a slow sweet kiss, but a possessive one that sends me reeling with each of his movements.
    He pulls back and opens the