No Choice (3 page)

He may have been the one who started the staring game, but he wasn’t the only one fixated. The man had done something to my common sense. I found myself staring at him when he wasn’t looking. Sometimes I thought he felt my admiration of his nice backside because he would turn the moment I’d lick my lips.

The man had a spectacular ass. I wanted to just give it a pinch, but I’d never have the nerve. I’d never hit on a guy, and more so a guy that was too fucking hot and had a girlfriend. As much as his arrogance and player status was on blatant display for me, I still couldn’t stop thinking about him.

I just sat there and stared right back. I know it was passive-aggressive, but I wasn’t the type to make a scene. I lived through that growing up; I wouldn’t subject myself to that scrutiny again. I dared him to look away, but he refused. I was about to get up and tear him a new one, but Emmy pulled me back down.

“She’s coming,” she said in a hush. I looked, and sure enough, she—Vanessa—was making her way to my handsome stranger.

“Good. She needs to know he’s a douche,” I growled, jealousy corrupting my common sense. I got up out of my chair and huffed over to their table.

I was sitting at the same table while I waited for my sister to get out of class, and like the days before, she was there. Damn, she was sweet on the eyes. There was something about her that was super-hot; it was hidden to the naked eye, but to me, all I saw was her raw beauty.

As I watched her, she decided to stare right back, unlike before when she hid her beautiful face from me. She was challenging me, and I knew what this was about. She thought Van was my girl, not my sister. I gave her a wink, and she blushed a pretty pink. Then I watched as she turned her head slightly to the side at her pal and whispered heatedly while still glaring at me.

“You should just go talk to her. Since when did you turn into a pussy?”

“I’ve got to go back to work tomorrow. I staved off leaving, but I’ve got a meeting scheduled that I can’t miss. She graduates in two months. I’ll be here before then, and she’ll be mine. She’s single, and I expect you to keep her that way,” I said sternly to her. She was just about to respond, but my three-day, hauntingly beautiful angel approached.

“Excuse me. Is there something wrong with you? Is there something on my face?” she asked, clearly completely pissed off.

“It’s a possibility, and no, but you are freaking stunning, Natalie,” I said with a smile.

“Damn. You’ve got no respect for your girl,” she hissed. Then she turned to my sister and said, “You could do better than this ass. So what if he’s handsome. No woman should put up with this crap.” Her anger was a fucking turn on. She was adorable when she looked around to make sure she didn’t have an audience, which for her sake I was glad we didn’t.

“Hi, Natalie. I’m Vanessa, and this ass is my brother, Cameron James,” she cheekily said before I could make introductions.

My poor Natalie’s face flushed and turned beet red in embarrassment. She fidgeted, not knowing how to come back from that one. I chuckled, which made her turn and run. I let her walk away back to her friend because I was too busy staring at her round bottom in a pair of jeans that hugged her rear but hid the shape of her legs.

I sat there for a few more minutes willing my ever-present erection down before excusing myself and making my play.

“Van, I’m letting her know what it is. I’ll see you back at your dorm before I go.” I gave her a peck on the forehead, stood straight up, and made my way to the two girls blushing and laughing in embarrassment.

“Sweetheart, I hope you aren’t laughing at me,” I said as I walked up on them.

“Umm…” she paused, but before she could speak, her friend answered for her.

“No, handsome. We’re laughing at the fool she made of herself,” Emmy said, unable to keep from cracking up.

“Natalie, you didn’t make a fool of yourself. Well, not much, really. I thought it was sweet that you were brave, ballsy, and kind. Had she been my girl, then it would’ve been in bad taste for me to stare at you like that.”

I decided to start over with her and remove some of her embarrassment. “Let me do this right,” I said as I stuck out my hand. “Hi, I’m Cameron James—you are?”

She just stared at me nervously, afraid to take my hand.

“She’s Natalie Cromwell, and I’m her best friend, Emmy Watts. Since you’re single, I’ll let you talk to her. Wait, are you single?”

I chuckled. “Yes. I am. Now, I don’t mean to be rude, Emmy, but I’d like to speak to Natalie—alone.”

“Okay,” Emmy said as she looked at both of us. “Nat, you need me, just text, and I’ll come and junk punch him.” She gave me a nod in warning, but Natalie didn’t have anything to fear from me. Well, maybe she’d have to fear her ability to walk straight.

“So now that we’re alone, I’m going to make this plain and simple. I’m leaving to go back to Seattle in the morning, but as far as I’m concerned, you and I are together.” I got that she would be shocked by my words, but she’d get over it in time. I’d given her two days too many already.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she said with attitude.

“It means that we’re a couple. I won’t see anyone else, and neither will you.” For some oddball reason, the thought that she’d find someone else here was eating at me.

“The long distance thing isn’t going to work for me,” she stated plainly like there was nothing to discuss.

I wasn’t going to walk away that easily. Hell, I wasn’t walking away at all.

“Why?” I asked.

“Why? First, we don’t know each other. Second, I don’t trust you,” she said as glared at me.

“Both of those can be rectified in time. The first one’s easy. I’ll call you every day, and we’ll get to know everything about each other. As for the second, I can only prove that to you in time, but just to let you know, I’ve gone months and months without fucking, so I’m sure I can wait two months.”

“Two months?”

“Yeah. You graduate May twenty-ninth. That’s less than two months away.”

“So you’re planning to come back here then.”

“Yes.”

“Then, if you’re supposedly so interested, why not sooner?”

“Because I’ve got to work, and you need to focus on the last bit of schoolwork. If I was here with you, you’d do nothing but come on my cock and tongue.”

She flushed at my reasoning. I knew I was moving fast as fuck, but something about her called to me. From what I learned, she was smart, kind, and honest. My attraction to her was inexplicable to me, but I knew that I needed her more than I needed anyone else. I never wanted a woman for more than sex. I was too focused on work to care for more than a causal lay.

“What about what I want?”

“Valid question. You’ve been staring at me too. I felt it before I saw it, but I still saw it,” I said while I glided my hand across hers, slowly caressing it, and looking deeply into her eyes. I could feel her shiver, and I knew it was for me. She wasn’t scared—she was turned on.

“Here’s how it’s going to go. I want you, and you want me. I’m going to call you every day, then when you graduate I’ll be here, and then we’ll go back to Seattle.”

“Look, you may be handsome, and yes I find you attractive, but I’m not going to just play this game with you. I should’ve stayed away,” she said, fully frustrated.

I’d had enough. She needed to see that I was serious as fuck. I stood up, took her hands in mine, lifted her up from her seat, and pulled her close to me. The room was virtually empty, but I didn’t need a large audience; rumors would spread with just a few. I looked down at her, smiled, then whispered to her, “I’m as serious about us as can be.”

I closed the distance between us and slid one hand around her neck under brown silken hair that captivated me. I didn’t say anything else before I bent down and kissed her lightly. I wanted more the instant our lips met, but if I didn’t pull away, I’d never want to go, and I had to. I slowly moved my mouth away from hers and looked into her eyes. They were glossy and green, a light shade of green with a hint of brown. I guessed they were hazel, but the green in them just popped.

“Now tell me no. Say no and mean it,” I growled.

“But…” I put my finger to her kissed-plump lips.

“No. I won’t take any buts, unless it’s your round ass in two months,” I said with a wink.

“You’re insane.”

“Well, three days ago I was normal as they come. Now, I feel certifiable. Fucking insane for a woman I just met.”

“Yeah, and you know nothing about.”

“I know enough. I know I want to fuck you raw. I know that I want to hear you giggle like you did the first time I saw you. You’re graduating with honors in Business, so I know you’re smart. You grew up not too far from here, and your parents are divorced.”

“So you dug up my info…brilliant. Is this how you get your women? You stalk them and dig in their backgrounds.”

“Nope, never stalked a woman before. I usually don’t bother with getting to know women.”
That divorce did a number on her,
I thought.

“Before you start arguing with me, know that I never lose. I want you, and that’s it.”

“So I’ve got no choice?”

“No. No choice. You’re mine.”

“So do you want my number, or do you already have it?”

“You seem grumpy—let’s fix that.” I took her mouth again, claiming my woman in case anyone missed it the first time. Damn, I thought I wouldn’t feel like I did the first time, but I was seriously mistaken. Her lips were soft, and this time she opened her mouth with a little moan. I took advantage of her slip and slid my tongue inside. Our tongues danced together as she melded into me. Wow, she packed a punch. My cock was excited and leaking with just a kiss, like I’d been pumping into her sweet pussy. I was a goner.

“Um…ahem…” I heard the cough behind me. I turned to see one of the school officials looking sternly at us. What the fuck ever. This was a place for supposed adults. The guy needed to get a grip.

“Miss Cromwell, please refrain from such behavior in the student union,” the stick-up-his-ass official said. I turned back to my girl who was full of shame and mortification.

“Sir, excuse us. My fiancée and I were just leaving.” The look of shock on her face was almost laughable. I told her I was serious.

Lord, my panties were soaked. So, I made a total ass of myself, and instead of him running, he was claiming me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but I knew that I enjoyed his kisses. That was a first for me. All the other times, I usually pushed the guy away because I felt nothing. They would be gorgeous, athletic, or brilliant, but there was just nothing there. This guy got me so hot and bothered that I wanted to fall into his spell of seduction.

He just called me his fiancée after kissing me stupid in front of my academic advisor. I didn’t buy it. He was probably trying to save me the hassle.

“Come on, babe. Let’s go talk.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me along. I didn’t give much fuss, and we popped in a cab. Nervous was just the tip of the iceberg on how I was feeling. We didn’t say much because the ride was short, and I was too tongue-tied to answer the simplest question. I only managed to tell him that I wanted a venti with cream and sugar.

We got to Starbucks, ordered, and took our seats. The whole time he’d been touching me in one way or another. I tried not to react, not to shiver with anticipation and thrill, but it was a lost cause. The man just did something unexplainable to me.

I wasn’t the loving and cuddly type. I spent the last decade just trying to survive. Getting close to someone who was going to abandon me wasn’t a priority of mine. Emmy had been the closest thing to a family I’d had in a long time, and she’d proven her friendship over and over throughout the years.

“So, pretty little Natalie, how old are you?”

“I thought you’d know, since you’ve got my information.”

“True. I just wanted you to tell me. So you’re twenty-two—young and beautiful.”

“If you want my trust, don’t play games with me. I don’t have a file on you, so how old are you, Mr. James?”

“I just turned twenty-nine.” He smiled at me, which did funny things to my heart and core. I blushed and looked down at my coffee cup.

I looked up at him when he started to speak, “Now back to you. So, what do you like to do for fun?”

Let’s see how fast he could run once he realized how lame I was. “I go to the local Salvation Army and help out. I know it’s not fun for someone like
you
, but I enjoy it. If I’m not there or busy studying, I go swimming at the gym.”

“Yeah, helping out doesn’t seem like it would be fun, but if it makes you happy, then that’s cool. Giving back is great. My mom does that stuff all the time, but it’s with her snooty friends. I just prefer to give the money.”

“You don’t like your mom’s friends?”

“No, most of them have daughters that they keep trying to pawn off on me.” Thoughts of my father and all his mistresses popped in my mind, giving me verbal diarrhea.

“Please spare me the lies. You’ve probably fucked them all, but with no intentions of settling down with them,” I stated sternly, but immediately blushed with embarrassment from my outburst.

“No, I haven’t. Dating those girls means dealing with the speculation and the unrealistic expectation that you’re going to marry them.”

“Then, why do you want to date me? Do you think I’m not going to have any expectations or rather that I shouldn’t?”

“No, you should have every expectation of marrying me. I’ve already told you and that ass at the union that you’re mine and that you’re my fiancée. Did you think I was just saying it to save face? I meant it, babe.” Whoa—this was moving too fast. Hell, he skipped all the preliminaries and went straight in for the kill. “Don’t you think you’re moving in a hurry? Hell, hurry is an understatement—more like lightning speed?”

“Yes, I know, but like I said before, I know what this is between us, and soon, so will you. I’m going to walk you to your dorm, then I’ve got to get back. Just so you know, I not going to give up on us the moment I’m gone. Fuck, right now I don’t want to even go, but I’ve got a corporation to run.” He actually sounded annoyed at the prospect of leaving.

We walked back to the dorm because he wanted more time alone with me. He held my hand the whole time like we were some high school kids in love for the first time, but I was still skeptical of his motives.

“Besides women, what do you do for fun?” I asked.

“Ha-ha. I actually don’t have a lot of time for women. I’d rather be watching a baseball game or playing it than chasing women.”

I didn’t know how much I believed that, but I’d roll with Cameron’s claims of like sports over women.

“Do you like baseball?” he asked.

“It’s okay. I really don’t watch sports often. I’ve been focused on school.” It was true.
He was going to think I’m so lame and run
, I thought.

“Then I’m going to have to take you to a game and show you what you’re missing. I’ve got season tickets for the Mariners. I go as often as I can, but sometimes I just give up the seats.”

“I’m not sure I can picture you having fun at a baseball game. Do you wear a suit there, too?”

“No, you little brat. I wear tee shirts and jeans or some relaxed-fitting clothes, but I’m a businessman, baby, and suits are my regular. You’ll just have to get used to it.” He had no idea that suits on a man were sexy as hell. Then again, this man could dress like a bum and still be hot.

“What kind of business are you in?” I was curious and eager to know more about this handsome stranger.

“I own my own investment brokerage firm,” he said proudly.

“So you’re always busy, aren’t you?” I was actually disappointed by the revelation.