I was pretty sure if you Googled the phrase “fake it till you make it,” you’d run across a video of me ushering Ace Bennett out of the comedy club like I was a regular femme fatale.
And I could be, by the time this night was over. I’d figured out a way to have my cake and eat it too. I could make out with the notorious Ace Bennett, and I could exact revenge for his assholish ways on behalf of women everywhere. His friends didn’t even try to defend him. Okay, maybe that one guy did a little, but even he said they’d play along with me. They knew he deserved it.
Asshole men deserved to be treated like the assholes they were. How many times did Karma let them off the hook, let them prance about with their dashing good looks, bamboozling women across the globe to fall for bullshit? All while nice guys—like Paul—
Ick. Paul. Wait, I didn’t want to think about him. He was perfectly nice. Definitely not an asshole. But also safe and boring. Tonight wasn’t about safe and boring. It was about excitement—and revenge! Fuck yeah!
All I had to do was make out with Ace and then go back to my job, and the next time he came into the bank with some stupid ruse like the Crown Royal bag and change for his “nephew,” I could stoically ask him for ID as if I’d never seen him before.
It was perfection. Corrie would surely freak, and I would be Cara’s heroine! I would be standing up for women everywhere. I was a regular Susan B. Anthony, all #girlpower and shit.
“So, where do you wanna go?” his deep voice spilled out into the cool night air. “My place?”
“Let’s go to my place,” I offered, not wanting his buddies to interrupt anything. I knew my roommate would stay overnight at her boyfriend’s place. It was inevitable. So we’d have privacy, and I wouldn’t have to take the chance of one of his friends ruining an…um…intimate moment.
He squeezed my hand, and I shot him a confident smile as we stopped at the corner to wait for the signal. “I’m only three blocks this way.” I pointed.
“Convenient!” he agreed, and when the light changed, he offered his arm like a gentleman and escorted me as we swept through the crosswalk to the other side. It was quite the unexpected display of chivalry, but Ace Bennett was undoubtedly a master of charm, whose dastardly ways would reveal themselves in due time.
We took the stairs up to my third-floor apartment because we didn’t have fancy elevators in my building. I was sure Ace Bennett’s elevator at 2 Liberty Place was gold-plated. I just hoped my heart wouldn’t explode from our climb, during which I tried to pace and even out my breaths like my lungs weren’t on fire. Despite climbing these stairs three or four times a day, I still wasn’t in shape. I would have sighed, but I didn’t have any extra breath to spare.
I dug in my purse to retrieve my keys, hoping he wouldn’t notice if I panted a bit while I fumbled to get them in the lock. But as soon as I attempted to poke the key into the hole, he grabbed me from behind, whipped me around and pressed me up against my door. My heart, which was just starting to calm down after our strenuous trek up the stairs, raced off again, and I thought for sure it was going to shatter my ribs at any given moment.
“Ace,” I gasped, but it was the only word I could push out of my mouth before he claimed my lips with his own. His hands rose to my cheeks where they cradled my jaw in their warm, strong embrace. He pressed his tongue against the seam of my lips, urging them open. It was all I could do to surrender to him, to let him delve into my mouth, his passion penetrating my skin and seeping all the way down to my soul.
My breath hitched as soon as he pulled away. “I’ve been wanting to do that ever since the first time I saw you at the bank,” he admitted before he took me into his arms and kissed me again, devouring me like I was the most sinful dessert he’d ever tasted—and he could never get enough.
Get control of yourself right now, Missy! my head screamed out when his fingers threaded through my hair, pulling me closer to his body. He felt so strong, so firm, with his chest pressed against me, his thick, muscular arms banded around my waist, holding me upright when I thought for sure my knees would give out.
You’re doing this for all of womankind! my brain reminded me.
But an increasingly loud and insistent voice—or was it some sort of a primal growl?—was in swoon-mode and said something to the effect of mmmmm, I need more!
Let me be the first to satisfy your curiosity with regard to the rumors I’d heard about Ace’s kissing skills.
They. Are. On. Point.
And then some!
When he pulled away for the second time, my legs felt like they were made of jelly. I was mere seconds from collapsing in the hallway outside my apartment and needed to lean up against the wall to keep myself from succumbing to my precarious condition. When my eyes fluttered open and met Ace’s, all I saw was his smirky grin peering down at me from his gorgeous face. Before I could protest, he snatched the key I was (apparently) still holding in my hand and firmly thrusted it into the lock.
My door swung open just as I was regaining my composure. He gestured to the open space in front of us—oh, yeah, it’s my foyer— “After you, milady.”
I took a deep breath as I tried to gather my wits—which seemed to be scattered about haphazardly. I realized I should offer my guest something to drink, but before I had a chance to assume the role of Miss Manners, I seized Ace’s hand and pulled him down the hall to my bedroom. I wasn’t even sure I’d shut the door to the apartment, but by the time I flung myself on my mattress, pulling him down on top of me, I didn’t rightly care.
New plan! my brain shouted, struggling to keep up with the massive surge of hormones and desire coursing through my veins.
Making out with him was a great idea, but let’s take it up a notch!
Sleeping with him and then forgetting his name would be EVEN BETTER!