Free RockMeTonight by Lisa Carlisle

setting,” I agreed. “Do you paint?”
    She shook her head. “No. I just take photographs. Mostly
black and white.”
    Business-minded, well read, fit and perhaps a creative side
as well. This woman definitely intrigued me. The more I learned about her, the
more I wanted to know.
    Not to mention she was hot as hell.
    “I’d love to see some one day.”
    She laughed in a girlish way. “Maybe sooner than you think.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “Never mind right now. Are you hungry? There’s a great
little café on the water here.”
    “I’m always hungry, Lily.” I hoped the look I gave her made
my intentions clear.
    “Maybe later, rock star,” she said, indicating she got my
double entendre. At least she didn’t shoot me down.
    Within a few minutes, we had reached a café. Since there was
no line, we ordered a couple of roast beef and Boursin sandwiches and had our
choice of tables. We sat down to a great view of the ocean and watched a couple
of kids trying to convince their parents to let them walk out onto the jetty.
    “I told you my tale, now it’s your turn. Tell me all about
you.”
    She bristled almost imperceptibly. Then she took a deep
breath before beginning. “There’s not much to tell. I grew up in New Hampshire
and moved to Massachusetts to go to Salem State College. No fancy Cambridge
high-tech university like you. But it was just my mom and me in New Hampshire
so we didn’t have much money. I got into a communications program, found I
liked the area north of Boston, and decided to stay after graduating. I got a
decent job and have lived here ever since. In fact I bought a condo last year
so I think I’m sticking around for a while.”
    “Good for you. It looked like you had a nice little place
there when I picked you up.”
    “I like Beverly. How do you like Peabody?”
    I noticed she’d turned the conversation back toward me. Did
she not want to talk about herself? That was not the usual case in the women
I’d dated. “It’s good for me. I can get wherever I need to go.” I wanted to
steer the conversation back to her. “Does your mother still live in New
Hampshire?”
    “Yes.”
    Just a one-word answer?
    “Where?”
    “Near the White Mountains.”
    Four words.
    “I get the feeling you don’t like to talk about yourself.”
    “Not too much.” She took my hand. “Do you mind?”
    “Not at all. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” I
rubbed her hand to reinforce I was okay with it. “I’m really glad you came out
here with me today.”
    Her face froze for a split second but then she smiled. “Me
too.”
    “I got you something. Back at the pewter store.”
    “How did you do that? I was in there with you.”
    “A wink and a nod to the sales clerk while you were
browsing.”
    I handed her the box. She turned it around and looked at it
from all angles.
    “Open it.”
    She looked up at me before she opened it. Then said, “A
butterfly. It’s beautiful.” She picked up the pin and turned it as she examined
it, light bouncing different colors off the gems.
    “It made me think of you.”
    “That’s funny.”
    “It is? Why?”
    She raised an eyebrow in a way that shot sensations straight
to my cock. “You’ll see.”
    “Don’t look at me like that—unless you want me to dive over
this table right now and jump on you.”
    She laughed. “I like the sound of that.” Then she handed the
box back to me. “Thank you, but I can’t accept it.”
    Puzzling. What was the issue? “Why not?”
    “Because it implies something between us. Something
starting. And as much as I’ve enjoyed spending time with you today, I don’t
want to lead you on. It’s not fair to you.” She put her hand on mine. “I want
to be straight with you, Nico. I want you. I’m so attracted to you I can’t even
think straight sometimes and I’d like us to be lovers. But I can’t offer you
anything more than that.”
    Most guys would be thrilled about an offer like this.