Fantasy Boyfriend #2 (A Tattooed Bad Boy Romance) (5 page)

It was Saturday evening and Greg was due to pick me up
any moment. We had spoken earlier today and he told me he was taking me out to
a nice restaurant. For the occasion, I wore a simple pencil skirt and silk blouse.
Flats and a clutch bag completed my ensemble. Greg was the epitome of courtesy,
but I still couldn't quit comparing him and Luke. In fact, I couldn't keep
myself from thinking about Luke constantly. The other girls had dates for the
evening as well, nothing special, and no repeats for them, but they were the
epitome of excitement and anticipation, while I on the other hand was a bit
wary.

Perhaps it was the results of my last
"official" date, but I couldn't help it. I didn't know what was going
to happen tonight, but I could tell you what was not. I wasn't going to let
Greg take advantage of me, or even give him any indication that I would be easy
to take advantage of. No way would I be caught being so vulnerable again, not
after the lesson I had learned from Luke the hard way.

“Don’t forget, after your date with Greg, come by the
hall and help us decorate, okay?” Becky reminded Jessica. “We’ll be there with
our dates, with bells on our toes.”

I shook my head. “I don’t even know what that means,
and I don’t care,” I said. “And I’ll try.”

“Look, Jessica,” Selena said. “We’ll understand if you
don’t feel like it. And who knows? Your date with Greg might be great and you
guys will go do something after dinner…” she gave her friend a look. “Just give
him a chance, okay? He seems like a really sweet guy.”

I looked at her and the others and then nodded. “I
will.”

It wasn't long before the doorbell rang downstairs,
and one of the girls who lived on the first floor answered it and then called
upstairs.

"Jessica! There's a guy named Greg down here for
you!"

I bid the girls goodbye, and their voices floated down
the stairs as I made my way to the first floor, my heart thumping nervously. It
wasn't like I had the hots for Greg, and in fact I even wondered why I was going
out with him at all. I wasn't really interested. Nothing against Greg, but with
going out at all. Wouldn't I be safer to staying at home, lying in bed, and
reading one of my books? Probably, but then again, nobody had ever pegged me
for a coward.

Greg stood just inside the door, glancing around the
interior of the old Victorian, paying special attention to the molding around
the doorways. When he heard me coming downstairs, he glanced up, did a
double-take, and then smiled broadly. It made me feel good to know that he
noticed me and appreciated how I looked. He met me at the bottom of the stairs,
holding out his arm. I have to admit that got me. It was such an old-fashioned
gesture, but one that I appreciated. I wrapped my hand around his forearm, feeling
its solid strength underneath my fingers. His forearm was so big around, I
wouldn’t be able to even wrap my fingers around it if I had tried.

"This is a beautiful house," he commented.
"You're lucky to live in a place with such history."

"You like history?" I asked as he opened the
door and gestured for me to precede him.

"Very much so," he said, closing the door
softly behind him.

He retrieved my arm and guided me toward his truck, a
relatively new Ford 150. Thank goodness I didn't have to go careening through
Boston on the back end of a motorcycle, although that thought brought me right
back to Luke and his sexy charisma. Greg opened the door of the truck and then
helped me inside. It was a rather steep step up, but he made sure I was settled
inside before he closed the door and walked around the front and entered on his
side. The truck interior was well maintained, but didn't have that unique smell
that most new trucks did, so I knew it must have been at least a few months old
if not more.

"I hope you're hungry," he said, grinning.

I glanced down, thinking that the creamy ivory silk
blouse I wore wasn't exactly the best choice for a rib place. He read my
thoughts.

"Don't worry, they provide paper bibs!"

He laughed and I joined in. As we drove through the
streets of Boston, he made small talk, nothing important really, just asking
how long I had lived here, how long I had gone to Boston U and things like
that. I literally forced Luke out of my thoughts. He drove carefully, paid
attention to the speed limit and traffic signs, which was nice, and I gradually
began to feel more comfortable in his presence. He was nonthreatening, despite
his size, and I had a feeling that this was his natural persona. Then again, I
didn't really know –for all I knew he could be a serial killer in disguise. I
made a face at the thought and then decided I was just being silly, trying to
find a reason not to like him. I also had to quit comparing him to Luke. That
thought brought me to Luke's full sleeve tattoos, which I found so incredibly
sexy.

"So Greg, tell me, do you have any tattoos?"
No sense in beating around the bush. He already had one checkmark on my list,
and I wanted to see if I could add another one.

He grinned and shook his head. "Nah, I'm a good
old boy from Texas that doesn't have much use for tattoos. In fact, I think
that they can look kind of trashy."

I was disappointed by that, but I didn't show it.
After all, he had some other things going in his favor. He was a gentleman, he
was handsome, and he played sports. I got the impression that he was trying to
be on his best behavior, but then again, most guys usually were on the first
date. Again, my thoughts reverted back to Luke. He hadn't put on any airs, and
with Luke, it was pretty much what you saw is what you got, which certainly
wasn't bad. At the same time, now that I was able to compare him with Greg, I
definitely got the impression that Luke, despite his charisma and sexuality,
probably didn't spend too much time thinking about other people or their
feelings. I wasn't making any judgments about it just yet, just making an
observation.

 
Before long, we
pulled up in front of a nice steakhouse whose sign was emblazoned with a bull
on one side, a pig on the other, and the words, "Beefy Pig BBQ" in
the middle. Okay, I was used to this kind of place, commonly found throughout
Montana where nobody really tried to be fancy-
schmancy
.
Good eats were good eats. I could imagine it was much the same throughout
Texas. To be quite honest, I would probably feel more comfortable eating here
than I had at the sushi restaurant. Then again, up came thoughts of Luke
feeding me bits of sushi with my eyes closed and what happened afterward.

Chapter 9

We approached the front of the restaurant, but before
I could open the door, he pulled it open and gestured for me to step in. Well,
that was nice, I thought. We entered the restaurant, his hand placed discreetly
on my lower back. A server guided us toward a small table near one of the
windows and I was again impressed when he paused on my side of the table and
held out the chair for me.

When the waitress asked for a drink order, I asked for
a glass of water, but Greg ordered a bottle of Cabernet. I didn't have the
heart to tell him that I had not intended on drinking any alcohol this evening.
I guess he wanted to make the evening somewhat romantic, and I thought it was
rather sweet of him to do so. I decided that I would have one glass, and sip
the wine very slowly while I ate.

After looking over the menu and letting him know what
I would like, I allowed him to take our order: a mixed platter of beef and pork
dry rub ribs with sides of fried potatoes and coleslaw. It smelled delicious in
here, and I realized I was pretty hungry. As we waited for our food, we
continued to exchange idle conversation, and I found it really sweet that he
asked lots of questions about me. I realized he probably liked me more than
Luke had. Luke hadn't seemed all that interested in knowing anything about me.
At least, that’s the impression I got now. I found it rather depressing to
realize that, and then realized that maybe Greg was a better choice if I had to
choose between the two guys, anyway. I might as well give Greg a shot.

Within moments, we each had a glass of red wine in
front of us. The server returned to the table with a small basket of sliced
sourdough bread and a platter of soft butter. I was really touched when Greg
reached for a piece of bread, buttered it, and then placed it on the small
bread plate beside my silverware. Then he did the same for himself. Wow. I
couldn't help but be impressed, but I found myself continually comparing him
and Luke.

They both had good things going for them, despite my
annoyance at Luke's behavior after our first date. Like Greg, Luke had taken
the lead, so I guessed that I could consider that Greg was an alpha male, too.
Another check, so actually he was only two behind Luke. Luke had also been an
alpha male, and did have tattoos, was a womanizer, and great in bed, or on
tables, or in the woods. I had no idea whether Greg was a womanizer or whether
he was good in bed, but the checkmark that he did have over Luke was that he
played a sport. Then again, how much did I really know about Luke? He could
have played a sport, for all I knew – something unique, like lacrosse, maybe. I
would never know now.

I tried to keep my attention focused on Greg and what
he was saying, smiling at all the right times and making appropriate comments
as he told me about his life back in Texas. When he asked about me, I felt an
affinity with him and his small-town upbringing and the rustic environments
that we both shared. At the same time, I felt a little bored. I had to admit
that I was having a pleasant enough time and the ribs were delicious. I didn't
feel at all self-conscious eating the ribs with my fingers, and Greg had been
right; I had been given a paper bib, and we both wore them, not taking
ourselves too seriously, which was another plus in his favor.

But that's just it. I was having a pleasant enough
time, but it wasn't particularly stimulating. Luke and Greg were like night and
day, and while Greg was certainly more of a gentleman, I felt that with my date
with Luke, I had been an adventure. Perhaps that wasn't a fair comparison.
After all, I had never been on a motorcycle and I'd never eaten sushi. With
Greg, I did feel more comfortable because of the similarity in our backgrounds.
I smiled at him across the table, noticing he had a smear of barbeque sauce on
his chin. I brought his attention to and we both laughed as he lifted his napkin
to his chin and wiped it off. As I lifted my wine glass to take a last sip, I
glanced toward the bar area of the restaurant and nearly choked. There, at the
far end of the bar, sitting with yet another girl, was Luke!

I coughed delicately into my napkin, my eyes wide with
shock. How had Luke found out I was eating here with Greg? Or was it just a
coincidence? No, I shook my head. There was no such thing as coincidences – at
least, not like this. This rib and steak place was not exactly the most well-known
in town and wasn’t even close to campus. No, somehow Luke had known that I
would be here. Maybe he’d been spying on me! I wasn’t sure how I felt about
that. That could be a good thing, but then again it could indicate something
less so and head into the realm of stalking. Again, I shook my head. I was
allowing my thoughts to run away with me.

I suddenly had a wicked thought. Perhaps I could turn
the tables on Luke – big time. I don't know what possessed me, but I actually
thought it might be fun to make him even more jealous than I thought he already
was. After all, I had now seen him in the presence of several different women.
He was indeed a womanizer, no doubt about it. Well, like I had told myself
before, two could play this game.

"Are you okay?" Greg asked.

"I…I think I'd like to visit the restroom,"
I said, pretending to cough softly again into my napkin. "Would you excuse
me?" I was surprised when he actually half-stood as I left my chair.
Moments later, I was walking away from the table toward the end of the bar. As
it just so happened, the restrooms were located at that end of the restaurant.
As I strolled past the bar, I caught Luke’s eyes. His eyes widened in surprise,
and I thought maybe that perhaps it was indeed a coincidence that he attended appeared
here of all places tonight. Nevertheless, I offered him a little grin and then
ventured into the short hallway where the bathrooms were located. At the far
end of the hallway was a door with a lit up Exit sign over it. I casually
glanced over my shoulder and saw Luke slide off his bar stool to follow.

I walked slowly down the short hallway, an idea
forming in my mind. It was wicked, something that I'd never done before, but
turnaround was fair play, wasn't it? I cast another glance over my shoulder,
saw Luke entering the hallway to the restrooms behind me, and grinned. Instead
of turning into the Ladies’ room, I hurried out the exit door. I wasn't sure if
he would follow me or not, and I waited with bated breath as I continued to
step away from the back door of the restaurant. I headed toward the area where
the dumpsters were located in the far corner of the parking lot, where the
outside lights of the restaurant didn't reach. Seconds later I heard the back
door open and then slam shut. Casting another quick glance over my shoulder, I
saw that Luke was following me.

My eyes widened with dismay when I saw that he was
grinning, and both his hands were on his belt buckle. At first I thought he was
just trying to look cool, sauntering after me, then then when I did a double
take, I realized that he was already unbuckling his belt! I quickly stepped
around the painted cinderblock barrier that contained the restaurant dumpsters
and had just turned, my back pressed up against a hard wall when Luke rounded
the corner, his buckle hanging open and the top button of his jeans already
undone.

Without a word, he unzipped his zipper, dipped his
hand inside and shifted slightly. The next moment, his already stiff penis
jutted out from his jeans. Without any prompting whatsoever, and again
surprised at my actions, I grasped his penis in my hand and ran my thumb softly
over the smooth, already slick head. I began stroking, quickly and hard. His
lips reached for mine. The kiss was hard, and our teeth actually bumped before
I had a chance to open my mouth and play tag with his tongue. Without a word,
he pressed up against me. His breath caught as he kissed me, both his hands
reaching for the bottom of my skirt, shoving it upward. I felt those same hands
yanking down my panties. I should've stopped him, but I was hot and wet and so
filled with a sense of sexual tension and excitement that all I could do was
gasp his name.

Seconds later, he thrust himself inside me and began
to pump. This was nothing like anything I had ever experienced, even in the
woods. This was fast, indiscriminate, and even savage sex – sex born of passion
and impatience. It was a bit on the rough side, but not as if he were
deliberately trying to hurt me, or vice versa. I responded in kind, my hands
pulling him closer to me, cupping his buttocks, trying to pull him deeper,
harder inside me as I rocked my hips in time with his. I had never behaved in
such a fashion and while I realized it, it was as if something had taken me
over, something deeply sensual and passionate – a feeling I had never
experienced before. Lust. Wild, animal lust.

I pulled my lips away from his and trailed my lips to
the base of his ear, clasping his earlobe gently between my teeth. Then, my
lips dipped lower to the side of his neck, the place where his neck met his
shoulder. The sex was rough, hard, and explosive. I don't know what got into
me, but I suddenly began sucking on his neck. In response, his hands reached
up, not even bothering to slide underneath my blouse, squeezing my breasts, and
then my nipples in between his thumb and index finger. It wasn't super hard or
painful, but was intense. Instead of cringing, I thrust my breasts closer to
his chest, as if daring him to do more.

My lips trailed down his neck, felt and relished his
hot skin, tasting slightly salty with sweat. Then, I was overcome with an
entirely wicked thought. I would give him a hickey that his girlfriend couldn't
fail to notice! As he pumped hard into me, and with my hips meeting every
thrust he made, I bit down on his neck while sucking at the same time, hoping
to leave the largest, reddest hickey he had ever seen in his life.

The sex was intense, rushed, and incredibly powerful
as I achieved yet another mind-blowing orgasm at his skill, this time in less
than a minute. Seconds later, I knew he had also come to orgasm; his hot semen
filling me, making me even slicker and wetter than I already was. We both stood
like that, chest to chest, panting hard, and for a few moments, as we just
stood there, frozen in place, my back against the cinderblock wall, his hands
on my hips, his penis still inside me, I wished he was mine, all mine.

Still, this was payback. It took every iota of
purpose, but the second he pulled out of me, I reached down and yanked my
panties back up. Grinning at him, I smoothed my skirt over my hips and then
casually began to walk back toward the restaurant. As I stepped past him, I saw
his eyes widen in surprise. He didn't see me grin.

"Jessica, wait-"

I could barely concentrate, but I tried to sway my
hips seductively, ignoring the dampness on my panties as I felt some of his
semen respond to gravity. Every fiber in my body was thrumming with sensation.
My hands shook as I reached for the door to go back inside. I quickly darted into
the women's restroom and stepped into a stall. My panties were wet with semen,
so I pulled them off, rolled them into a ball, and stuffed them into the
sanitary napkin holder installed on the side of the bathroom stall. Then I
cleaned myself up, flushed the toilet, and then stepped to the sink to wash my
hands and splash cool water on my cheeks. I stared back at myself in the
mirror, my flush faced and the pulse that I could still see throbbing in the
pain in my neck.

I heard the back door of the restaurant open and
wondered if Luke would follow me into the bathroom, or if he had already gone
back into the main room to sit next to his date. I didn't really care. Despite
what I had just given to him, I could still play hard to get. It was time for
Luke Bradford to make up his mind.

Chapter 11

With one last effort to smooth my clothes, calm my
racing heart, and smooth my hair down, I took a quick glance in the mirror,
smiled, and then left the restroom as if nothing had happened. I made my way
back through the restaurant, noticing that Luke had not returned to the bar.
His girlfriend still sat there, nursing a colorful drink through a tiny straw,
gazing at the muted television screen with disinterest as a basketball game
played in the background. Good. I returned to the table and sat down across
from Greg. I realized that I had been gone for more than a few minutes it
would've taken me to use the restroom, and I shrugged an apology. "Sorry,
there was a line," I smiled. "Come to think of it, I've never seen a line
out of the men's restroom."

"I have, once at a Jethro
Tull
concert down in Dallas," he said. “The beer was flowing, the smell of pot
heavy in the air, and it seemed as if everybody all of a sudden had to go take
a leak at the same time." He grinned. "Although, I guess that isn't
usually typical, is it?"

"Always seems to take us girls forever," I
smiled. I felt funny sitting there in my skirt without any panties on. I
couldn't believe how naughty I had been and wondered if this was something I
would be willing to share with my girlfriends.

"You feel like any dessert?" he asked.

His voice brought me back to attention, and I sat
back, placing a hand on my stomach. "Oh, no thank you, I'm full. But go
ahead and order some if you want." He declined and we continued to sit for
several moments, still making polite conversation until he managed to catch the
attention of the server. She came over to ask if we’d like any dessert and he
declined, stating that he would take the check anytime she was ready. While he
was talking to the server, I casually looked toward the bar. There Luke was,
sitting there, staring at me over the shoulder of his date. Our eyes locked,
but I didn't give him any indication of what I was thinking, even though,
surprisingly, my privates began to thrum once again. Seconds later, he said
something to his date, and then abruptly stood and left the restaurant, leaving
her to follow.

I hoped he was jealous. In fact, I hoped he was
choking on it. Even more so, I hoped that he assumed Greg and I would be having
sex tonight, right after I had allowed him to have sex with me. So what if he
thought I was a slut? He deserved it. Let him think what he wanted. I had no
intentions of allowing Greg any liberties, but Luke didn't know that.

The waitress came over and handed Greg the bill, and
as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and placed a credit card in the
sleeve, I felt tingling of guilt. He was a nice guy. I felt guilty for using
him to make Luke's jealous, but maybe there was more to it than that. Greg did
have a lot of good things going for him, so maybe I should give him a better
chance. No sense in writing him off completely, whether I was sexually
attracted to him or not. Come to think of it, there had to be more to the
foundation of a relationship than basic sexual chemistry.

While most of my romance novels built upon sexual
tension between the hero and heroine, it was often after they got to know each
other that they actually fell in love. Maybe I just had to be a little more
patient with Greg. After all, this was our first date. It wasn't like I was
looking for marriage declaration from anyone, whether it came to Luke or Greg.
So why couldn't I just allow myself to have a little bit of fun for a change?
Of course, knowing that Luke would be jealous when she saw me with Greg was
icing on the cake.

I wasn't a mean-spirited person – most of the time –
and didn't intentionally plan on using Greg as a tool, but there was nothing
wrong with taking advantage of the situation, was there? Then again, was I
doing the same thing to Greg that Luke had done to me? I shook my head. No, of
course not. I wasn't planning to have sex with Greg and then dump him. I was
just out enjoying a nice evening with a nice guy. It wasn't my fault if he had
greater expectations, and come to think of it, I didn't even know what to
expect. Would I go out on a second date with Greg if he asked? Perhaps I would.
He was a nice guy and I had enjoyed spending the evening with him. Just because
I wasn't sexually attracted to him at this point, didn't mean that I couldn't
enjoy his company, did it?

At the same time, I knew deep inside that I was
allowing myself to stoop to a position that I had never found myself in before.
I was using another man to try to make someone else jealous. Did I really think
Luke was worth all the effort? I felt conflicted and not just a little guilty
about what I had just done behind the restaurant. At first, I tried to tell
myself it was all Luke's fault for treating me so callously in the first place,
but then I realized that I also had to accept responsibility for my own
behavior. Did I really want to play this game? An image of Luke flashed in my
head. Why was I doing this? Was it out of revenge or was I desperately trying
to get Luke back, not that I had really had him in the first place. My
conflicted feelings whirled in my head and before long, I felt a headache
throbbing in my temples.

As soon as the bill was paid, Greg stood and walked
over to my chair, pulling it out for me. Ever the gentleman. I smiled up at
him. I allowed him to walk me out of the restaurant back to his truck. On the
way home, we once again engaged in small talk, commenting on how good the food
had been and how stuffed we both were. When he pulled up to the old Victorian,
he turned and smiled at me. He put the truck in park, but didn't turn off the
engine.