“What man wouldn’t?”
She grows wistful. “Not everyone wants me.”
“You’ve been with the wrong men.”
She opens her mouth, then instead of saying anything, drags her teeth along her lower lip.
I reach the duplex in record time. And thank God my sister and I are both on the tidy side, because bringing a girl to a pigsty?
Just no.
Elizabeth takes a quick glance at the place. It’s all inexpensive functionality topped with neat. Most of furniture came secondhand or from IKEA. The large high-definition TV is a prize from last year’s Black Friday sale, where I beat a rabid crowd to the only sub-five-hundred-dollar unit in the store. A few photos of my family are lined up on the mantel of a small gas fireplace, which had to have been put in just so the landlord could claim the unit had a fireplace.
“Got anything to drink?” she asks.
“What are you in the mood for?”
“What do you have? Other than water, tea or coffee.”
“Vodka good?”
She nods. I pour two glasses of Stoli—I’m off the clock now—and take them to the couch. We sit and clink before taking a sip.
“Do you really go by Elizabeth with everyone?” I ask, enjoying the smooth taste of the vodka. “No nickname?”
“Yeah. Everyone calls me that, except this one cousin who calls me Eliza. I think he felt rebellious when he was younger, you know? And it stuck. With him, anyway.”
She’s probably wrong about her cousin. Elizabeth is too formal a name for this woman. She’s too vivacious, too open and too sexy. She needs a shorter, snappier name.
“But…” She knocks back the second shot of vodka. “You can call me Liza. Nobody calls me that, and I think it suits me better than Elizabeth or Eliza, don’t you?”
I nod, ridiculously pleased I’m going to get my own name for her.
“So what’s your name?” she asks.
“Dominic.”
“Nice. I like it.” She smiles and runs a fingertip along my lips as she leans forward. “Can I call you something else, though?”
I feel the touch like an electric shock. My heart thuds. If she keeps this up, she can call me Idiot. “Like what?”
“Mine.”
Chapter Five
Elizabeth
Dominic’s eyes flare with heat, and I can’t help but smile. I’m not the only one feeling the pull.
Unable to help myself, I lean forward and kiss him. His mouth is as soft as I imagined, but also slightly firm with a sweet aftertaste of the vodka. I pull back and run my tongue over my lower lip. His gaze darkens, and this time it’s Dominic who leans forward and slants his mouth over mine.
He doesn’t push with his tongue, but uses his lips, coaxing and seducing me. We fit perfectly, our rhythm heated without being hurried.
Then he nips me, the sharp bite of his teeth sending a hot, pulsing streak to the flesh between my legs, making me ache. I open my mouth, and our tongues glide past each other, then tangle—tasting, teasing, playing and making each other feel so damn good. Heat flushes my cheeks, and lust knots in my belly.
This…this is true desire. The kind that makes you forget logic, intellect, common sense…everything.
Dominic pushes at my shirt, and I pull back long enough to help him get rid of it. Before he can reach for my belt, I undo it and push the skirt down my legs, leaving me in nothing but matching red lace underwear and silver heels. I ought to thank Vanessa for dragging me to a lingerie store last week. She has a great eye for stuff like this.