Fall Into You

6

“Oh, please, it’s fun, escapist fantasy. It’s also feminist, because it encourages us to explore our own s****l pleasure. Are you afraid women will have too high of standards after reading about being loved by fictional men?”

“No, I’m afraid their standards will fall too low.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Christian Grey has multiple personality disorders caused by intense childhood trauma. Edward Cullen is a controlling stalker who wants to kill Bella by drinking her blood. Mr. Darcy is an arrogant prick with crippling social anxiety and prejudice against the lower class. Yet all these flawed characters have inspired millions of women to think that broken men are somehow ideal, or could be, if only the right woman loved them.”

I’m glad there isn’t any cutlery on the table. Judging by her expression, Shay would’ve already thrust a knife into my spleen.

“I think you’re the most annoying man I’ve ever met.”

“Only because you know I’m right.”

She looks around, as if to ask the nearest person for a meat cleaver.

The waiter returns with our drinks. Sensing the tension, he carefully sets the glasses down, his gaze darting between us, then sends us a stiff smile and runs away without a word.

Shay picks up her glass and chugs the whiskey, making a face and shuddering when it’s gone. “Blech.”

“Why did you drink it all so fast?”

“It was either that or murder.”

I shock both of us then by chuckling.

She turns to me with her brows raised and says drily, “I must already be drunk. That sounded suspiciously like a laugh.”

I scowl at her. “It wasn’t.”

She studies me for a long time, her expression unreadable and her eyes intense. Then she slowly sets her empty glass back onto the table and levels me with a look of such frank s****l desire, I’m stunned.

I’m even more stunned by what comes out of her mouth next.

“I’m no angel either. I’ve got all kinds of faults.”

“Really? Like what?”

“Like that I’m reckless.”

“How so?”

She doesn’t even hesitate when she pulls the rug out from under me.

“Well, we only just met, and until tonight, I was sure I’d be celibate forever, but I’m seriously considering asking you to get us a room in this hotel.”

Everyone and everything else in the bar vanishes. A distant roar fills my ears and my heart starts to hammer.

Then I tell a lie so f*****g outrageous, I barely manage to force it past my lips.

“Don’t ask me. I’ll say no.”

Shay

M

y smile is almost as incandescent as my humiliation. “Ah. In that case, you’ll have to excuse me. I’m leaving now.”

“Your ten minutes aren’t up.”

“I know, but I have to go to the ladies room so I can drown myself in the toilet.”

When I make a move to rise, he grasps my wrist and pulls me closer. His tone low and urgent, he says, “Don’t mistake that for a rejection.”

“Funny, but I always thought the word ‘no’ is a pretty good indicator of rejection.”

“It doesn’t mean I don’t want you.”

My cheeks burn with embarrassment. My ears are scalding. It feels as if someone turned the temperature up by thirty degrees. I have no idea what possessed me to say that, but the cat’s out of the bag now. I can’t take it back.

I also can’t meet his eyes when I say, “Okay. I understand.”

“Shay. Look at me.”

It takes a while for me to gather the courage. When I do, his intensity is so intimidating, I forget to keep breathing.

He says, “You don’t understand. Not only is your ex an idiotic clown, he’s a f*****g child. He needs to have his face rearranged. I want to beat the living s**t out of him.”

While I process that, I hear Chelsea cackling in the background. Painfully aware that we’re being observed, and that I’ll have to recount this story later, my face grows even hotter.

“There’s a lot to unpack in that statement. However, embarrassment has clogged my normal brain functions, so you’re going to have to explain it to me like I’m a toddler.”

Nostrils flaring, he inhales. He hasn’t blinked in thirty seconds. He’s trying hard to stop himself from doing something, but I’m not sure what it is.

By the looks of it, throwing his whiskey glass against the wall.

“First explain to me why you’d ask a total stranger to have s*x with you.”

Pride rears its head. Snooty as a schoolmarm, I sniff and lift my chin. “I didn’t ask. I said I was thinking about asking. And I didn’t say anything about s*x either. Maybe I just wanted to cuddle.”

“Give me a break. You don’t want to cuddle.”

God, this guy is impossible. “I know. You could’ve been a gentleman and let that one slide.”

“I’m not a gentleman. Finish the explanation.”

Exasperated, I sigh. “You’re not going to let me leave until I do, are you?”

“Correct. Stop stalling.”

My tone is irritated, but I can’t help it. He’s pushing all my buttons, and not the right ones. “You’ll have to sit there while I think about it, because I honestly don’t know.”

His frustration is palpable. Not only is he unused to being challenged, he’s not used to being made to wait, either.

What kind of work does he do? Probably something involving barking orders at terrified underlings.