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“Uh...share?” Rose’s hand tightened on her drink.
“Yeah,” the man said. “Unless you’re waiting for someone.”
He was reclined casually in the small booth under the blimp. A big white guy with long, light brown hair, which was tied back.
She’d always had a thing for long hair on men.
He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world as he sipped his beer. His lips curved easily into a smile.
She didn’t understand why he’d want to share. He should recognize that she had claimed this table and slink off to another one, dammit! How else was a single person supposed to hold a table while getting a drink? It wasn’t like she would have left her purse.
Then the fight went out of her.
She’d spent most of the day giving herself a pep talk, and it was exhausting. This table was rightfully hers, but she didn’t want to argue.
She sighed. “It’s okay. I’ll go.”
“Wait.” He reached out, then seemed to think better of it. “You’re right. It’s your table. But I’ll keep you company and buy you a drink, if you’re interested.”
“I already have a drink.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized what was happening.
He was hitting on her!
It had been a little while since that had happened. And this guy was super attractive and a bit younger than her.
She eyed him suspiciously.
He started to get up. “There’s another table in the corner. I’ll—”
“No, no. You can, uh, stay.”
She wasn’t very smooth, but he just smiled and sat back down. She took the seat across from him. It was a bit cramped in the booth, especially since he was a large, sturdy guy. She couldn’t tell how tall he was, but his knees knocked against hers. He was wearing a Jays T-shirt, his biceps bulging underneath it. She bet he had nice muscles elsewhere, too, and he seemed to have a good amount of cushion as well.
When she looked back up at his face, he winked, and her skin heated.
He must have noticed her staring, but he didn’t say anything about it. No, it was just that wink, and she swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Rose.”
“I’m Cal. You been here before?”
“Yeah,” she said. “It’s a neat place, isn’t it? I love that there’s a steampunk bar like this in Toronto.”
“Steampunk?”
“You know, like science fiction inspired by the Victorian era.”
“Huh. Never heard of it. Coming here was my friend’s idea.”
She felt a moment of disappointment. He’d head off once his friend arrived.
But then his gaze lazily trailed over her, and her throat was even more parched. He shot her a crooked grin, as though he knew exactly how he was affecting her, and she shifted in her seat.
“What’s a nautilus?” he asked. “Some kind of steampunk thing?”
“A type of sea creature, I believe?” It was hard to think clearly right now. “It’s also the name of the submarine in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.”
He didn’t seem familiar with the novel, but he shot her a grin once more.
Damn, that look should be illegal.
She turned away to steady herself. Though it was fairly cool for a summer day, it felt almost uncomfortably hot in here. As a distraction, she examined the nearby mural and imagined taking a picture of Fred with it. “I wish I’d brought my stuffed alpaca.”
Oh, God. She gave her head a shake.
Why was she saying such things? Why was she being so damn awkward?
She wasn’t usually so awkward, but then again, she wasn’t usually talking to a strange guy at a bar. Her friend Nicole made it look easy, but it wasn’t. Far from it.
“He has his own Instagram account,” Rose said. She’d already mentioned her stuffed alpaca, so how much worse could it get? “I could have taken a picture of him with, I don’t know, a little hot air balloon or a kraken. Maybe they have a small aviator hat with goggles somewhere.”
Okay, she'd been wrong. It was definitely getting worse, and she could see no way to salvage this conversation.
She stood up. “I’ll get going and investigate the rest of the bar. You can have the blimp to yourself and—”
“Rose.” He lightly touched her wrist, and she whipped her head back around to look at him. “I’d like if you stayed.”
“Uh...”
“I mean, you don’t have to. But if you’re leaving because you’re embarrassed for some reason, there’s no need.”
He folded his arms behind his head. She didn’t know if he was aware of how good his muscles looked like that—was he intentionally showing them off?
Probably.
But that was okay with her. She’d always had a thing for arms; she didn’t care about abs. No, arms were where it was at, and his were particularly nice.
“Do you like me?” she blurted out, taking a seat once more. She still felt the warmth of his fingers on her wrist.
“Yes, Rose, I like you.”
She refrained from asking why. Though she knew she had many good qualities, she didn’t think they’d been on display in the last five minutes.
“You’re amusing,” he said, answering the question she hadn’t asked. He didn’t say it in a patronizing way. “And pretty.”
She sipped her drink to hide her blush. “What do you do for a living?” There. That was a normal topic of conversation, wasn’t it?
“I work for a landscaping company,” he said. “You?”
“I’m an electrical engineer.”
He whistled, looking impressed. “No wonder you knew what a nautilus was.”
“They don’t have any relation to each other.”
“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.” The corner of his mouth quirked up, as if he knew he was being goofy. Like she’d been, when she’d mentioned Fred the Alpaca out of nowhere.
Rose found herself smiling back.
“Why don’t we check out the patio?” she said, speaking without thinking once more.
But this time, upon reflection, she didn’t regret her words. It was rather hot and stuffy in here, and this place was supposed to have a nice patio.
“Sure,” he said.
After stuffing her cardigan into her purse, she bounced out of her seat, a few drops of her drink splashing over the edge of the glass, and instinctively reached for him with her other hand. He’d enfolded her hand in his before she realized what was happening.
Whoa.
They were holding hands.
She enjoyed his large hand around hers as she skipped out to the patio, feeling slightly giddy—and she didn’t think it had anything to do with the booze. She hadn’t drunk much, after all.
At the edge of the large patio, there was a tentacle trellis of sorts, which sported many pink roses. The sun had set, but there was ample lighting out here. Many of the lights looked like old gas lamps. She scanned the area for a table—it was getting busy.
“What about there?” Cal pointed to a wrought-iron swinging bench at the far end of the patio.
The words had barely left his mouth before she was scampering toward the bench. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten that she was wearing heels, and she fell onto the flagstone, somehow managing to hold her drink aloft.
“You okay?” he asked, helping her up.
She nodded before taking off again, at a slightly more practical pace. Nobody was going to get there before her. Nobody. The swinging bench seemed romantic, and it was in the shadows, so no one would notice if...
What do you think is going to happen, Rose?
She slid onto the bench, laughing, and put her drink on the table beside it.
“Wow,” he said, taking a seat next to her, “when you know where you want to sit, you really are serious about it. First the blimp...”
She glared at him, and he laughed at her faux outrage. She wasn’t angry about that anymore. No, instead, she was very aware of his thigh pressing against hers. He had nice thick thighs. She was also aware of her bare knee touching his—he was wearing shorts, and the skirt of her dress had ridden up. Although there was nothing particularly sexy about knees, there was something about his skin against hers that made her breath catch.
She turned to look at him and nearly startled. For some silly reason, she hadn’t been prepared for his face to be that close. He had a neatly trimmed beard, and she couldn’t decide whether she was more fascinated by his beard or his mouth.
“I’d happily bring you drinks all night,” he murmured, “so you wouldn’t need to save your seat with a sweater.”
“Yeah?” she said rather breathlessly.
“Mm-hmm. And I think me taking pictures of you under a hot air balloon would be cuter than pictures of your alpaca.”
“Fred is very cute.” She tried to muster some defensiveness for her alpaca friend, but it was difficult when she was sitting right next to Cal.
His lips curved into that crooked smile once more. “I’m sure he is, but not like you.” He curled his arm around her, and the end of his ponytail tickled her neck.
Desire coursed through her body. She wanted to untie his hair and stroke it. Wanted to feel those big hands on her body. And when she looked at his fingers, curled around the chain of the swing, she thought of having one inside her, and she nearly moaned.
He inclined his head in the direction of one of the servers, who was wearing a black corset. “Maybe you could wear one of those.”
“You think I’d look good in a corset?”
“I do.” When his brown eyes searched hers, she really did forget to breathe for a moment. There were so many things she wanted right now, and he seemed to want what she did. Unlike usual, she didn’t overthink it; she let her body guide her.
And when he dropped his head, she tilted hers upward.
* * *
Tonight wasn’t what Cal had expected when he’d left his basement apartment a couple of hours ago. He’d expected a little baseball and beer before his friend showed up, but Marv still hadn’t texted. If it were anyone but Marv, Cal might be worried, but he wasn’t worrying now.
No, instead he was very, very close to kissing a pretty woman in the garden.
When she puckered her lips, he wrapped one arm around her, pulled her even closer, and kissed her.
He certainly hadn’t expected her when he’d shown up at this steampunk bar, or whatever it was. But Cal was good at going with the flow, and she was a pretty great way to flow. Her mind kept leaping from one thing to another, and he didn’t always keep up, especially when he was distracted by her breasts, which were now pressed against him.
Her mouth was sweet and eager, and when he dipped his tongue between her lips, she released a sigh that went right to his cock and filled his head with various images.
Rose shuddering as he licked her clit.
Rose riding him.
Rose underneath him.
Okay, he wasn’t very creative. All the images involved her naked. Though she didn’t even have to be naked. He wanted to see her naked, of course, but he could also flip up the bottom of her skirt...
Her sigh turned into a giggle. “I can’t believe I kissed someone I barely know.”
“Not something you do often?” he asked.
“No. And we’re in public! Do you think anyone noticed?” She gestured toward the tables on the patio.
“I dunno. Probably not. But we can find somewhere a little more private.”
Her eyes widened, as though this was a shocking suggestion, and he was just about to take it back when she said, “Okay!” and hopped up from the bench.
Damn, she seemed excited, and his cock hardened further.
The bar was in a big old house, with various sections sticking out. Lots of corners. Around the back, they found a hidden area behind a tree, and he lifted her up and pressed her against the brick wall. She squeaked in surprise.
“How’s this?” he asked with a smile. He found her reactions to everything so freaking delightful. “Private enough for you?”
She nodded.
He could hear traffic, as well as chatter on the patio. They were definitely still in public, but nowhere near as easy to spot as before.
He kissed her again as he held her against the wall, his hands under her ass. Though the fabric of her dress was thin, it was still too thick for his liking.
One of her hands came up to cup his cheek, and she groaned against his lips. Her touch was tender, but her kisses were needy, like she couldn’t get enough of him. He ground his hips against her.
“Oh!” she cried upon feeling his erection.
Yeah, this was going to be a very good night.
He set her down on her feet. Her glasses were no longer straight, so he fixed those before slipping down the neckline of her dress along with one cup of her bra, baring her breast to the night air. As he sucked on her nipple, her hand gripped his hair, urging him on.
When she’d gotten pissed at him for stealing her table, he’d certainly never imagined she’d be like this.
He slipped one hand under her dress and ran it along the edge of her panties. “What do you think? Should I try to get you off here?”
“You want to...oh!”
She seemed rather innocent, even if he figured she was about his age.
“Yeah,” he said. “I wanna finger you and feel how wet you are for me. You into that?”
She nodded eagerly once more.
He pushed aside the crotch of her panties and slid his fingers through her wetness. Her moisture dripped down his fingers. And her breast was still bare, the nipple a tight peak.
This woman would be the end of him.
Cal bent to suck it again, and she made some strangled noises, followed by whispering his name as her pussy clenched around his finger. He added a second finger and thrust them in and out of her channel, while continuing to pay attention to her breast. He wasn’t usually much of a multi-tasker. But this sort of thing? Hell, yes.
When he circled his thumb over her clit, she arched against him.
“Good?” he asked.
Another nod.
Damn, he really did want to get her naked in his bed, but he wanted to make her come here first. Give her a little taste of what he could do.
He lifted his head to kiss her sweet mouth. Her tongue plunged between his lips, catching him off guard, but he sure wasn’t complaining. One of her hands dipped to grasp his cock through his shorts, and he gritted his teeth before he returned to kissing her.
Christ, she was even wetter now, and he could smell her arousal. He wanted to bury his face between her legs right here, but he had a feeling that would be a step too far for Rose.
He pushed his fingers a little deeper. “You like that, baby?”
“Yes.” It sounded like a struggle for her to get out that single word, and he couldn’t help feeling pleased.
“Are you going to...”
He trailed off because she was already trembling in his arms and making soft noises of pleasure. It was the prettiest fucking thing ever.
“Want to come home with me?” he asked.