She’d agreed to something that she couldn’t follow through on. She had to call him and tell him that she’d lost her mind. That she was sick. That she had a client. Anything so that she could avoid meeting with him tonight.
She couldn’t do this!
A knock on her window startled her and she jerked around, staring up into the sharp, green eyes of Luke. He was waiting patiently for her to get out of the car, but she just sat there. Not moving. Terrified out of her mind.
He helped her by opening the door for her, taking her hand, and gently tugging her out.
“It’s going to be okay, Naya,” he assured her and kissed her temple. “Just come on up to my place and we’ll talk.”
Naya stared up at him, her whole body trembling, but for a different reason this time. Normally, she trembled around Luke because she was fully, completely aware of him as a man. And what he could do to her as a woman.
Right now, she was trembling because she was afraid she was making the worst mistake of her life.
“I shouldn’t,” she started to say.
“You should,” he interrupted. The two simple words and his gentle, coaxing touch made her feel better somehow. His thumb rubbed against the back of her knuckles, somehow reassuring her that his words were true.
For a long moment, she just stared up at him, her mind fuzzy and confused. “Why?”
He smiled and pulled her closer, slamming her car door closed. “Because we need this, Naya.” He led her over to the elevator, his fingers holding her hand while his thumb continued to rub against her knuckles gently.
She concentrated on breathing. In and out. Slowly, so she didn’t start hyperventilating. The elevator smoothly brought them up to his floor and opened. She stood there for a long moment, looking at the hallway. Looking at the long steps towards his condo. There weren’t many doors on this floor, which meant he had one of the larger condos. Not the penthouse, she thought. Relieved.
“It isn’t a walk to death row, Naya,” he teased. Putting a hand to the small of her back, he coaxed her to his door and pulled her gently inside. When the door was closed, he released her hands, moving deeper into his condo.
“Wine?” he asked.
Naya looked at the already open bottle and nodded her head with short, jerky movements. Wine would be good. Wine would be prefect. She should object to wine because it sort of fell into the romantic category. But she was so relieved that he wasn’t going to pull her into his bedroom and strip her naked that she grasped onto anything.
“Why were you sitting in your car?” he asked as he poured two glasses, then handed one to her.
Naya took the offered wine, looking down at the dark liquid and wondering if it would be too revealing to guzzle the whole thing. Probably. Especially since he was staring at her like she was going to explode at any moment.
“I’m fine,” she told him, not really answering the question, but she was still standing almost near the doorway.
“You’re not fine,” he laughed softly. “Tell me what’s going on in your head.”
Naya’s shoulders slumped. This was the point that she didn’t want to reveal but he was going to know soon anyway. “I’ve never done this before.”
He chuckled again. “You’ve never laid down the law to a potential lover in such an obvious manner?”
She shook her head, setting the wine glass down on the counter before she spilled it with her shaking hands. “No. I’ve never done any of this before. I’m terrified and think I should just…”
His eyes sharpened as he looked at her, noticed her trembling and pale cheeks despite the additional makeup she’d put on for tonight. “Naya,” he interrupted. “Are you saying that you’ve never had sex with anyone?” he demanded, moving across the room to stand directly in front of her. The idea that Naya was a virgin had never entered his mind.
When she looked down at her glass of wine again, he knew that he’d hit it right on the mark. Naya was a virgin! Naya’s body, her lush curves, and her amazing smile…they were all his!
“Yes. I haven’t ever had sex before. But I don’t like the term virgin,” she told him fiercely. “It seems like an archaic term.”