my throat, and he looked up
with a crooked smile.
"You can ask me anything. I just might not
answer." He dipped two fries in ketchup and bit them, chewing
thoughtfully. "Depending on what your question is."
"Are you living here?" I plucked at the front
of the t-shirt I wore and jerked my thumb toward the loft
overhead.
He took a sip from a bottle of water before
answering. "Just for now. After the divorce was finalized,
Elizabeth had sixty days to move out of our apartment. I spent most
of those in London, but I had to return before they were up. In ten
days, she'll take possession of the house in L.A., and my life can
go back to normal."
I thought it was pretty sad that "normal" for
him was being alone, even though he had been married for two years.
Still, I didn't know all the particulars. I didn’t feel it was my
place to judge.
"Do you want to know what happened?" he
asked, gesturing with a fry. "It isn't tragic, I wouldn't be
offended if you asked."
"I wasn't fishing, if that's what you think,"
I clarified firmly. "But sure, if it isn't tragic, what
happened?"
He shrugged. "We didn't communicate our
expectations well before we got married. She interpreted my not
wanting any more children to mean that I didn't want another child right now . And it took two years for the both of us to
figure out that things weren’t going to change for the better."
"Yikes." There wasn't much else I was
qualified to say.
"I certainly don't recommend it. If you ever
find yourself in a similar situation, forging ahead as though
nothing is amiss is definitely the wrong tactic."
"Thanks for the tip," I snorted. I felt
weirdly possessive, though I had no right to be. I didn't want to
talk about his ex-wife. I didn't like the idea of him being with
anyone. And I certainly didn't like the fact that I felt any of
those things. I wiped my lips with my napkin and pointed out the
window, continuing the game we'd started while waiting for the food
to arrive. I drew an invisible circle around the window of a
neighboring building. "What about the people in that one?"
Neil embraced the change of subject gladly.
"They're enormous perverts."
"Really?" I giggled, tipping my head to one
side.
"It's disturbing, the stuff they get up
to."
"What if I wanted to get up to something
disturbing?" A little thrill went through me. I didn't really know
how to do anything truly disturbing, but I was pretty sure he
would.
A slow smile spread across his lips. "Forgive
me, if you've extensively broadened your repertoire in the past six
years, but when we slept together before you seemed to be under the
impression that a bit of light spanking was disturbing."
"I was only eighteen," I reminded him, and I
took a little selfish pleasure in the momentary flash of shame that
crossed his face. "But no, I haven't been going crazy with the
whips and chains."
"Is that something you'd be open to?" He
asked the question so casually it threw me for a moment. He'd
seemed more uncomfortable asking me to eat dinner with him than
asking if I wanted to be chained up.
I cleared my throat. "Well... I'll try
anything once. Though whips might take some convincing."
"Then we'll save that for the second date."
He laughed, and my heart skipped a beat.
"How do you do that?" I shook my head and
smiled to myself, looking down at my nearly empty plate. "It's not
fair that you get to be cool and rich and own a company."
"And I have a huge cock," he reminded me, and
I threw a fry at him. "I suspect what you're perceiving as 'cool'
is the fact that I have the emotional maturity of a toddler coupled
with the libido of a seventeen year old boy, and absolutely no one
in my life telling me no."
"That's a pretty specific and insightful
answer," I mused, dropping my napkin to my plate.
"I've heard it enough. Sometimes shouted at
me in anger. It's not as attractive an existence as it may appear."
He took another sip of water then moved the room service tray from
between us, settling it
with a crooked smile.
"You can ask me anything. I just might not
answer." He dipped two fries in ketchup and bit them, chewing
thoughtfully. "Depending on what your question is."
"Are you living here?" I plucked at the front
of the t-shirt I wore and jerked my thumb toward the loft
overhead.
He took a sip from a bottle of water before
answering. "Just for now. After the divorce was finalized,
Elizabeth had sixty days to move out of our apartment. I spent most
of those in London, but I had to return before they were up. In ten
days, she'll take possession of the house in L.A., and my life can
go back to normal."
I thought it was pretty sad that "normal" for
him was being alone, even though he had been married for two years.
Still, I didn't know all the particulars. I didn’t feel it was my
place to judge.
"Do you want to know what happened?" he
asked, gesturing with a fry. "It isn't tragic, I wouldn't be
offended if you asked."
"I wasn't fishing, if that's what you think,"
I clarified firmly. "But sure, if it isn't tragic, what
happened?"
He shrugged. "We didn't communicate our
expectations well before we got married. She interpreted my not
wanting any more children to mean that I didn't want another child right now . And it took two years for the both of us to
figure out that things weren’t going to change for the better."
"Yikes." There wasn't much else I was
qualified to say.
"I certainly don't recommend it. If you ever
find yourself in a similar situation, forging ahead as though
nothing is amiss is definitely the wrong tactic."
"Thanks for the tip," I snorted. I felt
weirdly possessive, though I had no right to be. I didn't want to
talk about his ex-wife. I didn't like the idea of him being with
anyone. And I certainly didn't like the fact that I felt any of
those things. I wiped my lips with my napkin and pointed out the
window, continuing the game we'd started while waiting for the food
to arrive. I drew an invisible circle around the window of a
neighboring building. "What about the people in that one?"
Neil embraced the change of subject gladly.
"They're enormous perverts."
"Really?" I giggled, tipping my head to one
side.
"It's disturbing, the stuff they get up
to."
"What if I wanted to get up to something
disturbing?" A little thrill went through me. I didn't really know
how to do anything truly disturbing, but I was pretty sure he
would.
A slow smile spread across his lips. "Forgive
me, if you've extensively broadened your repertoire in the past six
years, but when we slept together before you seemed to be under the
impression that a bit of light spanking was disturbing."
"I was only eighteen," I reminded him, and I
took a little selfish pleasure in the momentary flash of shame that
crossed his face. "But no, I haven't been going crazy with the
whips and chains."
"Is that something you'd be open to?" He
asked the question so casually it threw me for a moment. He'd
seemed more uncomfortable asking me to eat dinner with him than
asking if I wanted to be chained up.
I cleared my throat. "Well... I'll try
anything once. Though whips might take some convincing."
"Then we'll save that for the second date."
He laughed, and my heart skipped a beat.
"How do you do that?" I shook my head and
smiled to myself, looking down at my nearly empty plate. "It's not
fair that you get to be cool and rich and own a company."
"And I have a huge cock," he reminded me, and
I threw a fry at him. "I suspect what you're perceiving as 'cool'
is the fact that I have the emotional maturity of a toddler coupled
with the libido of a seventeen year old boy, and absolutely no one
in my life telling me no."
"That's a pretty specific and insightful
answer," I mused, dropping my napkin to my plate.
"I've heard it enough. Sometimes shouted at
me in anger. It's not as attractive an existence as it may appear."
He took another sip of water then moved the room service tray from
between us, settling it
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