8. Luca

Chapter eight

Luca

" O h!" Her eyes widen and her hand flies to her throat. Her delectable gasp sends a zing down my spine making me hard.

Fuck. Did she realize what that did to a man?

The woman is even more beautiful up close. I indulge myself by trailing my eyes down her body. The neckline of her dress shows off the top swell of her breasts and is a perfect place to nuzzle her skin while I imagine her running her hand through my hair.

The skirt of her dress is hiked past mid thigh as she sits on the bar stool with her legs crossed. Her hands are gripped together—lying right where I really want to be.

The possessiveness in me is battling for control. I want to pull her chair close to cage her in-between my thighs, hiding the view of her bare legs from the other men in the room.

And they're looking.

Fuck, even her hair is calling my name. Her beautiful auburn mane is long enough for me to wrap around my hand twice. I want to take hold and tug. To pull her head back and expose her creamy throat.

I fight the urge to leave my mark on her for everyone to see.To show she's already claimed .

Image after image flashes through my mind of all the dirty things I want to do to her. It's a good thing she's in shock or I swear she would be able to read my expression and run screaming from the club.

Little does she know, I'll get off on the chase. Just one more thing to add to our playlist.

Thank fuck she didn't apply for the dating service. No way I would've been able to keep my hands off her. It's already taking everything in me not to throw her over my shoulder and take her home right now. Knowing I'll have to wait until tomorrow for her to sign the contract has me calculating ways to get it done tonight.

Forcing my thoughts under control, I smirk at her wide-eyed stare and nudge her mouth closed.

That seems to wake her.

Her skin goes from pale to a beautiful shade of rosy pink in an instant. Still, she doesn't say anything, nor does she take her eyes from me. I stare right back as Frankie walks over to take our order.

"Scotch for me, Frankie. And get Angel whatever she wants."

She gapes at me again. Seeing her mouth open in an O makes me groan. I'm going to enjoy having those full lips wrapped around my cock.

Her face flushes even more at my groan. She has no idea what she's doing to me. Clenching my jaw, I inhale through my nose and force my body to relax.

"Angel, what would you like to drink?"

"I-I'm sorry, but I'm waiting for someone?" She phrases it as a question, her eyes darting to Frankie.

I don't hold back a chuckle. "I'm the one you're waiting for. Now give Frankie your choice of drink so we can go somewhere more private." I should try to make her feel more comfortable, but I admit, I'm enjoying throwing her off balance.

"Oh. Uh … " she turns back to Frankie before her eyes dart around the liquor bottles. "I'll have an Amaretto Stone Sour. Please." She swallows before turning back to me. Unable to hold my gaze, she darts her eyes back to Frankie to watch him pour our drinks .

"Angel?" I wait until her focus is back on me. "Was the contract to your liking?"

Her eyes widen before she darts her gaze around the room. She's like a skittish colt who was dropped into a world she knows nothing about. I know it makes me an ass, but I chuckle again, which brings her gaze back to mine. This time with the temper of a lioness.

Fuck, what I wouldn't do to have all that fire in my bed.

"Relax. No one is close enough to overhear our conversation. To anyone in the room, I approached a beautiful woman and offered her a drink, that's all." She has no idea Gio's heading off anyone wanting to approach me so I can have this time alone with her.

Her shoulders relax, but she's still fidgeting. I glance down to see her twisting the ring on her finger and I instantly want to know who gave it to her. The desire to replace it with one of my own is strong.

I narrow my eyes at the unexpected thought.

"Sorry. It's just … this is new for me and I don't want anyone knowing I'm …" She cuts off and looks down at her hands.

I don't like the shame on her face.

"Hey." I lift her chin, bringing her eyes back to mine where they belong. "There's no shame in what you're doing." She opens her mouth, but I continue before she can speak. "That said, I won't ever tell anyone why you're with me." She gives me a sweet smile, but it vanishes when I continue, "I would've had you either way."

It gives me great satisfaction to see the fire back in her eyes.

"Here you go, sir." Frankie sets our drinks on the bar top before walking away to give us privacy.

Kylie picks her glass up and drinks half of its content before setting it back down and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

Amused, I take a slower drink before standing. "Come on Angel, let's go sit at a booth."

Grabbing her drink, I guide her to a VIP booth in the far corner, tucked away for privacy. It’s for reservation only and used for the sugar baby meet and greets. However, we offer them for the dating site's first connections as well. We do that so any assumptions about the couple can be explained as a match through Sweet Connection's dating service.

I nudge her to slide in first before following her in. She tries to move all the way to the other side of the booth, but I stop her by placing a hand on her thigh and settle next to her. I set her glass in front of her and by the time I set mine down, she's already picked it up and downed the rest of its contents.

"Angel, if you don't slow down, you'll have to go home with me tonight so I can keep you safe," I threaten.

She shoves her drink away with enough force, it almost slides off the table. Chuckling, I shake my head at the sheepish look she gives me. As much as I want to begin our contract tonight, it's obvious she needs more time.

I take my hand off her thigh to give us both a break and shift to place my arm on the ledge behind her.

The back of the booths are high for privacy, with a small ledge about shoulder height, making it perfect for allowing a man to hover over his date. This is as much as I’ll offer her for space.

Her pull to me is strong. As much as she thinks she doesn't want to be here, I can tell she's struggling with our attraction as much as I am. I study her face while she looks anywhere but at me. I'm a little annoyed that she's wearing so much makeup, but I can admit the smokey look suits her.

It was the first thing I registered as I viewed the monitors from my office. That all eyes turned her way when she walked into the club had me gritting my teeth. I've never felt such possessiveness toward a woman. Surely this need for her won't last.

Kylie finally braves eye contact and I can tell she's worked herself into asking me a question. She straightens her shoulders and shifts minutely to face me.

"Can I ask you something?" She bites her lip as she waits. Knowing what that'll do to me, I free her lip before nodding. "Why are you doing this? I mean, look at you." She waves her hand in front of me as if I'm unaware of what I look like. "You don't need to …" she looks over my shoulder to make sure no one is close an d misses the smirk on my face. Turning back, she leans in before whispering, "You're offering a lot of money and I can't wrap my head around someone like you doing that. You can't tell me you have issues finding women to … date." She blushes as she sits back and tilts her head down while keeping eye contact.

Does she know how seductive that look is?

"Fuck, you're beautiful." I can't take my eyes off her and she's fast becoming an addiction.

Maybe I do have a thing for innocence.

Her eyes widen, and her face flushes again. How any man could walk away from her, I don't know.

Sighing, I glance around the room to give me a minute. I need to get myself under control before she ends up controlling me.

I want to wince at what I'm about to say, knowing it can set me back with her, but it's best she understands things from the start.

"Something tells me you prefer I give it to you straight." Arching my eyebrow, I wait for her acknowledgement before continuing. "I don't want the entanglement of a relationship." I lift my shoulder.

She cants her head to the side and gives me the cutest frown. "That's all?" She gestures toward the other men in the room. "You don't have to date a woman to have her. Come on, I know most men prefer not to have the entanglement," she says with air quotes. "But it doesn't mean you have to," she leans in to whisper, "pay for it." Sitting back, she darts her eyes around the room again. She’s so fucking cute.

Grinning, I run a finger down her cheek. She whips her gaze to mine and stills—back to being cautious again. Good. She should be.

I slide my finger back to snatch a piece of hair and pull it forward to play with before explaining further. "Fucking someone for a night is not an entanglement, but no matter how much you set things straight from the beginning, telling a woman you only want to have a casual affair always ends with the woman wanting more. I won't be arrogant and say they all fall in love. It's more that they fall in love with the idea of falling in love. Going this route fixes the misunderstanding. You can't claim things have changed if I'm paying you."

I hate how harsh it sounds, but I'll only ever give her the truth. When the time is right, I'll set her free.

I sigh, not liking the disapproval on her face. She already has me wanting to smooth those frown lines.

Fuck me.