One True Thing (11 page)

New shirt, hair perfectly styled (without a single

dark root to be found since I’d remembered to do a

touchup during the week), septum ring removed. I

did look good… even if it
was
a little weird

seeing myself without the piercing anymore. I

could get used to being without it, though, if

Archer wasn’t a fan. It was a small enough thing to

change, if there was potential for us becoming

something real. But first, I had to see how this date

went, see if that feeling came back to me the

moment I saw him. I hoped it would. My belly

quivered just remembering it.

“Well, have fun,” Rue said. “You need a lift

anywhere?”

“No, thanks, hon. I already called a cab.” I

glanced at my watch to do a quick time check.

“Crap, it should be here any minute. I’d better go

wait outside so it doesn’t take off.”

I gave Rue a brief hug, stopped in the

backyard to say good-bye to Erik and Alice, and

made it out the door just as the cab I’d called was

pulling to a stop at the curb. I settled in the

backseat and sucked in a deep breath, nervous,

hopeful despite my misgivings. My life was so

close to being complete. There was really only one

thing missing.

Please let this date end better than the last

one….

THE Indian restaurant where Archer asked me to

meet him was a total hole-in-the-wall. Walking in,

I was a bit dubious—it looked a lot like a fast food

joint, and the decor was minimal at best—but I

wasn’t the type of person to dismiss a place out of

hand. I’d worked at The Bean, after all, which

hadn’t exactly been a beacon of cleanliness. On

top of that, Archer was already there waiting for

me in a corner booth, smiling broadly and

gorgeous as ever, so I couldn’t say I had any real

complaints.

It wasn’t until I saw him, though, that I

realized how much tension had been building

inside me during the cab ride from my house. I’d

worried that I’d get there and he wouldn’t be, that

he’d blow me off even after being the one to call

and ask me out. His presence unknotted the tight

ball of anxiety in my gut, the ever-present fear of

rejection that I tried to fight and usually lost

against. It was a relief to be able to let it go.

Archer’s smile went from friendly to flirty as

I slid into the booth across from him, his brown

eyes appraising me and seeming to like what they

found. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “It

doesn’t look like much, does it? But the food here

is amazing, and I figured what we save on dinner,

we can spend on drinks later.”

I smiled back at him. “I love cheap as long as

it’s good.”

“It is. And bonus, everything they serve is

vegetarian.”

“You remembered,” I said, surprised.

He shrugged a little, casual, as if it wasn’t

really a big deal. And I guess in the grand scheme

of things, it wasn’t. But it showed me he’d been

paying attention the last time we’d seen each other,

and not just focused on how quickly he could get

me into bed. That had to be a good sign, right?

“Let’s order, huh? I’ve been craving this all

day.”

I nodded and started to look over the menu.

Once we’d made our decisions and the waiter

had come and gone, Archer reached across the

table to run a finger along my forearm. “I see you

took out the septum ring. Did you do that for me?”

Warmth bloomed in my cheeks and spread

down my neck. “Um….” He was right, of course. I

had
done it for him. I didn’t exactly want to admit

that aloud, though.

Archer chuckled. “Don’t be embarrassed. We

all have to do things to make sure we look our

best. Some of us more than others, maybe.” I

blinked at that, but before I could comment, he

added, “I mean, I’m hot, right? If the guy I’m

seeing is anything less, it’d be a waste.”

For a second, I wondered if I should be

insulted or flattered. Clearly, Archer wasn’t

lacking in the confidence department, and I

couldn’t say it wasn’t without reason. Still, my

brain couldn’t help but latch onto the last thing

he’d said. “Is that what we’re doing?” I asked.

“Seeing each other?”

Archer grinned and lifted one shoulder in a

half shrug. “Seeing what happens.”

I would have said more, but our waiter

showed up then, placing two large ceramic plates

in front of us. The no-frills presentation matched

the general vibe of the place, but Archer picked up

his fork and dug into his mix of cauliflower and

potatoes with obvious enthusiasm. I decided the

rest of the conversation could wait and did the

same with my food.

It only took a couple of mouthfuls to find out

how right he’d been. My chickpea curry was

flavorful and delicious with a mild kick, but not

too spicy. His
aloo gobi
looked good too, but I

wasn’t comfortable enough yet to snag a piece of

cauliflower off his plate like I might have done

with Rue or Erik. He must’ve noticed me looking,

though, because after a moment he offered me a

bite from his fork.

I hesitated for a second, indecisive—take the

fork from him or just lean forward and let him feed

it to me? But before I could reach any real

decision, instinct took over, and I parted my lips to

accept it from him.

As I chewed, he watched my mouth with such

rapt attention it left me a bit flustered. I swallowed

nervously, squirming in my seat. It wasn’t often

that men looked at me the way he was, all hungry

and focused, and that look only intensified when I

drew my lower lip into my mouth and sucked

lightly at one of my studs. It was sheer force of

habit, not an attempt at seduction, but Lord only

knew how it appeared to him because the grin he

gave me in response was naughty enough to send a

rush of heat to my groin.

“Let’s finish up and get out of here,” he said.

“I want to dance with you.”

All I could do was nod. Yeah… dancing.

That sounded good.

THE club he took me to wasn’t all that much

different from Reilly’s—bigger and with a second

level, but sharing the same music videos and

topless bartenders theme. I knocked back a couple

of appletinis and did a few lemon drop shots with

Archer, not even paying attention to how much

alcohol I was consuming. We were running a tab,

and it was easy enough to flag down a passing

waiter and place another drink order. Too easy,

maybe, because by the time Archer was grinding

and undulating against me on the dance floor,

sweaty and hard and smelling irresistible, I was

too caught up in that dazed, happy-floaty feeling to

do anything but go with the flow.

I looped my arms around his neck and let him

cup my butt and hold me in a position that left

almost nothing to the imagination about the size

and length of his erection. He felt big enough as he

rocked against me that I couldn’t contain a pleasant

shudder. I also couldn’t stop myself from saying

yes when he bit my earlobe and asked if I wanted

to go back to his place. My mind was hazy, fogged

by heat and desire, and it had been so long, so
very

long, that even when a tiny part of my

subconscious tried to rear up in protest, I shot it

down without thinking.

The cab ride was a blur of hands and lips,

whispers and biting kisses. Before I knew it, we

were on a leather couch and he was on top of me,

between my spread thighs, and I had no real

recollection of having gotten there.

I had a brief moment of clarity when he

stopped kissing me long enough to take his shirt

off. His hands reached for the hem of my V-neck

and started yanking it upward. He urged me to sit

up, and a few seconds later, my own shirt had

disappeared, and my skin erupted into goose

bumps at the cool air in the room.

“Wait,” I tried to say, because the cold had

brought me out of my lust-haze just enough for me

to realize how quickly the situation could get out of

hand if I didn’t stop it. “I don’t—”

Archer’s insistent mouth swallowed the rest

of my words, his tongue sweeping in and tangling

with mine. I couldn’t deny it—the guy knew how to

kiss, and it was majorly distracting—but not so

much that I didn’t notice when his fingers went to

work on my belt buckle.

I tore my lips from his and turned my head

before he could kiss me again, breathing roughly.

“W-wait. Wait, Archer, I—”

“Come on,” he said, his mouth at my throat.

His fingers had gotten my belt undone and started

on my button and zipper. “No one likes a cock

tease. You know why you’re here.”

I froze beneath him.
Cock tease?
Was he

right? I hadn’t promised him sex with words, but

had my actions—agreeing to come to his place,

allowing him to kiss me, eagerly returning his

gropes and kisses—signed a check my body now

had to cash?

I stayed stock-still as I thought about it.

Archer didn’t seem to notice. He bit and sucked at

my neck, his hand tugging at the waistband of my

jeans and the briefs underneath.

I’d never intended to tease him. And maybe

s ex
had
been on my drunken brain when we left

that club.
But a guy can change his mind. He can

always change his mind.

“Don’t,” I said, turning my head so I could

look him in the eye, let him see how serious I was.

“It doesn’t matter why I came here. I—”

But once again he didn’t let me finish. His

lips cut off my words, and a little-bitty part of me

started to panic. I didn’t want to believe he’d force

me. I was pretty sure he was just drunk and horny

and he’d stop if I put up a fight, but one way or the

other, I didn’t get to find out.

Suddenly, the door to the apartment swung

open, and light from the hallway angled across us,

illuminating our tangled, half-naked bodies for

whoever it was who stood frozen on the threshold.

There was a sigh, and the person in the

hallway stepped into the apartment, closing the

door with a quiet click. I heard the flick of a

switch, and the room, which had been mostly dim,

brightened enough to make me flinch.

“Dammit, Arch.” Another sigh. “Can’t you at

least take this to your bedroom?”

Archer growled and pulled away from me.

“Fuck off, Asher,” he said. “I thought you were

gonna be out of town until Monday.”

He stood and went to collect his shirt from

the coffee table. I was too stunned to move. That

voice—
Asher’s
voice—had slid down my spine in

an icy caress and kicked my pulse into overdrive.

I knew that voice. I couldn’t say how, but the

knowledge was there in my head, unwavering.

Somehow, somewhere, I’d heard it before, and a

part of me responded to it, coming alive with a

sharp, deep, vibrating buzz that resonated in my

body like a tuning fork being struck.

Oh God. That voice….

“The job got canceled,” Asher replied, what

must’ve been only a second later, though it seemed

so much longer to my alcohol-soaked brain. “And

since that couch is both of ours, I’d appreciate it if

you didn’t—”

The words broke off abruptly. While I’d been

lying there, shocked, too surprised to even think

about buttoning up my pants or covering my bare

chest, he’d rounded the couch and gotten a glimpse

of me. Which meant, of course, I also had a clear

view of him.

“Oh, shit.” It was the first thing I’d said since

he walked in, and I was amazed the words were

even coherent. I didn’t swear all that much, but the

moment seemed to call for something stronger than

“crap” or “damn.” Because I was staring up at this

guy, Asher, whose brown eyes made my chest

burn, and unless I’d gone totally crazy, which I

wasn’t ready to rule out just yet, he was Archer’s