Irresistible Nights by Kaylee Monroe

Chapter Seven

Marcie

Five days without a single word from Denton.

It’s fine. It was just sex. He can’t be involved with you anymore,I scolded myself.

And without Denton’s handsome face, amazing body and our sizzling-hot chemistry to overwhelm me, my rationalizations made a lot of sense. My dad would probably be royally pissed off if he knew that his business partner and his daughter had slept together, but my libido—and maybe my feelings, as much as I tried to deny it—had their own opinions.

“What’s up with you?” Kresley asked on Thursday.

It was late morning, a couple of hours after we unlocked the doors. Customer traffic was still fairly light, with just a few people browsing the racks. I sat in my office just off the floor, chewing on a pen and daydreaming about Denton’s hot skin against mine while I was supposed to be running payroll for the week.

I startled, dropping my pen to the floor.

“Nothing,” I muttered as I bent down to retrieve my pen. “Anyway, I could say the same of you.”

She flushed. “Nice try, but we’re talking about you right now. You’ve been distracted all week. What’s going on?”

“Distracted like how?” I asked as I stood up and stepped out to the store floor, with Kresley following close behind.

I paused in front of a shelf full of high-end handbags and started carefully straightening them.

Kresley gently pushed my hands away. “You don’t need to mess with those. They look perfect. And if you don’t want to tell me what’s up, you don’t have to. But something is up, isn’t it?”

I opened my mouth as I tried to think of a good answer. Not much got past Kresley, and I knew that trying to mollify her with some bullshit answer would just hurt her feelings.

Before I could say anything, the bell on the door jangled, and my head swiveled in that direction as someone came in from the street.

Not just someone.

“Denton,” I breathed as he stepped into the store.

All six-and-a-half feet of him, muscular body well displayed in a pair of jeans, lace-up boots and a pull-over sweater. My heart sped up, and between my legs, my pussy pulsed as I remembered our erotic night together.

Kresley looked between us as her face lit with understanding. Behind her, Frankie popped out from the stockroom. Her eyes went wide as she recognized Denton from the night at the club, when she’d deliberately pushed me toward him, starting a chain of events that couldn’t be undone. Not that I wanted them to be.

He glanced over at her, and she gave him an impish wave before she disappeared again into the back.

“So this is the store?” he asked, his attentive gaze darting around every corner, from the high-end accessories to the mannequins in locally designed couture. “This is fantastic, Marcie.”

I smiled nervously, though warmth spread through me at his genuine praise. “Yeah, I think we’ve done okay with the place.” I took a step closer, resisting the urge to touch him. “What brings you here?”

He towered a full foot above me, so incredibly confident and gorgeous, and I had to crane my neck to look up into his bright blue eyes. Eyes that practically stripped me bare with his hot, hungry gaze, even while we both stood fully clothed in my store during the workday.

“I came to see if you wanted to have lunch with me,” he said, a slow, sexy smile tipping up the corner of his mouth. “If you have the time, that is.”

“She definitely does,” Kresley butted in before I could formulate a response. “Frankie and I have this place under control, and she could use a break. She works way too hard.”

“It’s true!” Frankie called from the rear, backing up Kresley’s claim.

I shook my head. “Will you two stop with the meddling," I said to my rebellious employees as I turned to face Denton again, huffing a deep breath.

He looked like he was holding back his laughter. It was no use, I decided. Frankie and Kresley would lock me out of this place to get me to go, and honestly, I was so glad to see Denton again that I didn’t want to resist.

“Lunch sounds really good,” I finally said. “Let me grab my purse and my jacket.”

“You look beautiful today,” Denton said as we hit the sidewalk and the shop door drifted closed behind us. “Are you sure you have the time? I don’t want to interrupt your day. I know you’re busy.”

His hand lightly settled at the small of my back as we walked side by side, his touch distracting me for a moment. “It’s honestly fine. Things won’t get busy until later in the afternoon, so they really do have everything under control while I duck out for a little while.” I paused for a second. “And thank you. For the compliment.”

He flashed me a lopsided smile. “It’s not a compliment, it’s an observation. You’re more beautiful every time I see you.”

We settled on a little restaurant a few doors down from my store, the kind of deceptively humble place that only locals knew about and served delicious diner-style food. Denton opened the glass door for me and pulled my chair out when we were seated—chivalrous gestures, but he offered them without any performative self-consciousness. As though being a gentleman came as naturally as breathing and without any expectation of over-the-top praise from me.

His gestures were comfortable and genuine. During my relationship with Lucas—which lasted way too long—he used to give me the cold shoulder all evening if I failed to thank him profusely for opening my car door or some other token courtesy. It was annoying, and the longer we stayed together, the worse his shitty attitude got, until I was exhausted with all of it.

Denton’s self-assuredness and good manners were second nature to him, and he clearly didn’t need that kind of flattery.

I liked it. A lot.

“I’ll be honest,” he said once we’d placed our orders and our server delivered our drinks. “Your dad wanted me to check in with you while I’m here, and make sure you’re doing okay. Not like a babysitter—he just misses you and I told him I would drop by the store now and then.”

I cocked my head and looked at him as I toyed with my napkin-wrapped silverware. “Is that the only reason you came by today?” I dared to ask.

He laughed and shook his head. “No. Of course not. You’ve been on my mind nonstop since last weekend, but I didn’t want to come on too strong, since this whole thing is—”

“Pretty weird,” I supplied.

“Not weird,” he said, as he reached out and took my hand in his on top of the table, for anyone to see, despite our noticeable age difference. “A big surprise, sure. But I don’t regret it, do you?”

His fingers were warm and gentle against mine, the skin just a little bit rough, like he lifted weights or did something outside all the time with his hands. I shivered as I remembered the way they’d brushed against my body, and while I wanted to insist that night was a mistake because of his partnership with my father, I looked into Denton’s sincere eyes and found that I couldn’t.

“No,” I said simply. “I don’t regret anything.”

He looked relieved with my agreement. “And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to do it again,” he added, his voice lowering to a husky almost-whisper. “My dick has been hard as a rock since the second I walked into the store and saw you.”

“Shush,” I admonished him with a giggle, his strong fingers still gripped in my much smaller ones. “We’re in public.”

“Admit it,” he breathed, a small measure of desperation to his voice. “You want me too.”

“Not right now, okay?” I looked around, willing away the warm blush he’d put on my cheeks. “Let’s just have lunch.”

He pulled my hand to his lips and brushed a light, warm kiss against my knuckles. The simple touch rocketed through my nervous system like lightning, and moisture trickled into my panties as I fought to control my breathing.

“Sure. But I’m here if you change your mind.” He winked at me.

Just as he’d promised he would, Denton backed off for the rest of our lunch, and we spent our meal getting to know each other. Everything about our conversation was easy and enjoyable. I learned that Denton had a law degree from Yale and a practically endless appetite for new adventures and ideas. And he listened attentively as I told him about moving to Seattle with just a shitty boyfriend and how I fought so hard to open my own store.

Our connection, even beyond the sexual chemistry, was undeniable. He was brilliant and kind and cultivated. A good listener and an even better thinker—the kind of man I had always hoped to meet.

After lunch, he escorted me back to my store. We walked just a few inches apart, not holding hands, but I felt the electrical sparks jump between us all the same.

“Here we are,” I said as we reached my storefront, turning to face him with a smile. “Time to get back to work.”

Without a word, Denton leaned down and tentatively touched his mouth to mine, surprising me with the bold move. His tongue stroked softly against my lips, once, twice. Unable to deny myself this pleasure, I granted him entrance. He groaned as he looped an arm around my waist and pulled me in closer, bringing our bodies flush as he deepened the connection.

Too soon, he broke the kiss with a shaky breath, then moved in to brush his lips gently against mine again. “Will you call or text me later?” he whispered.

“Denton,” I started, hearing the hesitation in my own voice. “What about my dad?”

“What about him?” A frown pulled at Denton’s brows. “You’re a grown woman, Marcie. What feels right to you?”

I unwound his arm from my waist, hating that I felt so conflicted when I wanted him more than any man I’d dated before. “It’s more complicated than that, and you know it.”

Denton shook his head, but didn’t try to pull me back into the warm curve of his body as I took a step back. “It’s really not.”

“You’re his business partner and . . .” you’re twice my age.

I swallowed that second reason, because somewhere along the way that issue had become the least of my concerns. My father, however, probably wouldn’t be so accepting of his “little girl” dating someone twenty-three years older.

“I have to go.” I turned and pushed the door open just a crack, then looked back at Denton again. His face was serious as he gazed at me, but I saw no trace of anger when I searched his eyes. Just his usual intense curiosity, like I was a mystery he wanted to solve.

“You know how to find me,” he finally said. “When you’re ready.”

I slipped back into my store without another word and headed toward the back. When I glanced out at the sidewalk again, just before I stepped into my office, Denton was gone . . . taking a piece of me with him.