His Curvy Beauty by Lana Love

Chapter 2

Boyd

Dude, you should go.”

“What?” I put down a wrench and wipe my hands on my jeans. “I should go where?”

“To Sonia’s birthday party.”

“Gordon… That’s not a good idea.”

“Boyd. That woman is hot for you. Give her a little kiss and a squeeze and that’ll be the best gift she’s ever had.”

The truth is, I want Sonia. In fact, it scares me how much I want her. She’s made her interest in me clear, but…I can’t. She deserves someone better than a grease monkey. As soon as she finishes her college degree, she’ll move on to bigger and better things. I’m not going to be the one to hold her back from the potential anyone can see.

“That is not a good reason. There are laws about that, you know.” I try to make my response a joke, but it falls flat.

“Man, fuck the laws.” Gordon shakes his head, then sticks his head back under the hood of the vintage Mustang he’s been working on this week.

I head back toward the office, not because I have anything to do in the office, but that I need a minute to myself. Sonia has left a sweater behind and it’s draped over the back of her chair. I reach out, wanting to stroke this fabric that is lucky enough to caress her skin, but I pull my hand back before I stain it with car grease.

Ever since I hired Sonia as my bookkeeper, desire for her has taken over my life. It started as a physical desire, because…fuck. Who wouldn’t want to get lost in Sonia’s soft curves? She’s fucking sexier than any of the girls on the calendars that the guys bring in.

You don’t get to forty without trying at relationships. None of them have worked and it’s all my fault. There’ve been women in the past, women who wanted more from me. Yet I never loved any of them. And so I stopped looking, figuring I was fated to be a bachelor for the rest of my life.

Then Sonia walked into my life.

Every time I look at Sonia, something deep inside of me springs to life…more than just my cock wanting to claim her body for my own. I know from the way she looks at me that she desires me, but…I want more than her body.

It terrifies me that I think she might be the one. She’s young, she’s smart, she holds her ground with the crude men who work for me. I hide my desire from her, because I’d be no good for her. She deserves someone closer to her own age and someone who isn’t a failure at relationships.

I wrap up my work and close up the shop, unease filling my body. Behind the wheel of my car, I stare at the road. It’s a Friday night, but I don’t have plans. The idea of going to my empty home fills me with a dread that makes my hands shake. Where I live is the place I lay my head at night, but it’s not truly a home. A home needs more than a lonely man.

“Fuck!” I slam my palms on my steering wheel.

Normally, I can keep my loneliness locked away. I think of Sonia and her inviting smile and curves, and a sense of purpose comes over me. I’ll head home and get cleaned up. Then I’ll go to Roscoe’s.

One beer. I’ll have one beer, wish her happy birthday, and then take my sorry ass home.

“Oh, hey handsome!”I jerk my head at the sound of a woman’s voice shouting in my ear. Turning toward the voice, the woman grips my bicep, then caresses my skin.

“What?” I narrow my eyes as I look at her, then carefully pry her fingers off my arm. She’s pretty, but even if I wasn’t here for Sonia, skinny women like her have never done it for me. At the end of the day and first thing in the morning, you want a woman with curves in your bed.

“Care to buy me a drink?” She bats her eyelashes and me, and I have to fight the urge to physically push her away from me.

I know from a glance that this is the kind of woman looking for a man to take care of her, nothing else. My dream woman can stand her ground and isn’t expecting someone else to foot the bill for everything. I didn’t have anything handed to me in life. A woman who goes for what she wants and is willing to work for it is a woman I respect. It’s a pleasure to show a woman I care by treating her to nice meals and gifts. But I ain’t looking for a freeloader.

“I’m meeting someone.”

I turn away and push my way through the thick crowd of the bar. The sound of friends laughing and the scent of beer on the air make me realize it’s been far too long since I spent time with my friends. But most of my friends are married and building their own families, and the ones who aren’t? Well, they’re horn dogs prowling for the type of girls like the one who grabbed me when I walked in here.

Fresh beer in hand, I lean against the bar and search for Sonia. In a long second between songs from the jukebox, I hear her laugh. Once again, powerful desire rises up in me. My heart pumps faster and the idea takes hold that maybe Sonia is just as perfect as I think she is, that maybe I need to get my ass in gear and put myself out there for once. Maybe she likes me as much as I hope she does.

I watch her dance a few more songs with her friends and I long to be there with her, celebrating her, dancing with her and touching her soft curves. Is the desire I see in her eyes deeper than a passing physical attraction? I think it is, but…I’m not good at putting myself out there or sharing my feelings.

But tonight, I’m going to do just that. I’ll never find out if she’s the one if I don’t take a chance.

If anyone is worth risking my heart for, it’s Sonia Dean.