Free Plastic Confidence (Good Bye Trilogy #1) by Alisa Mullen

up and brought my smiling lips back to graze his and hummed. He hummed back into mine and tingles dragged up and down my back. I wanted his hands there. I wanted his hands everywhere.
    “Hmm ... I am doing what you wanted to do when you knocked on my hotel room. Lie down on the bed and let me show you how special we are together,” I smoothly cooed. I owned the seductive voice on the stage and in the bedroom. Perhaps, it was from all the voice lessons in college or the summer I took the undercover job at the phone sex company. All the callers wanted “Pony Girl”, which was the first thing that came out of my mouth when the owner asked me my call name. I even had a few female callers that loved to listen to me coo to them as they took care of their business.
    Johnny never asked how we managed to pay our bills with left over cash. He just expected that I would take care of it. When he did have money, he made sure to hand over half of what he had on him, even if it was just a twenty dollar bill. Johnny did contribute, but certainly not as much as the sixty year old in Idaho who said he imagined me riding him like a pony. Ugh, the thought of what I said for money was disgusting.
    Brennan pushed back from me a little and shook his head slightly, looking down at the ground with a frown overwhelming his beautiful face. Dark eyes, lush lips, beautiful straight chin, and dimples that made me want to lick again and again. This man was going to make me beg. Hell no, I never begged.
    “ Did I say something?” I asked, incredulity bleeding from my body.
    “I did not come here for sex , Julia. I mean, I am attracted to you. God, I do want you, but I came here because I have a compulsion to be near you. Maybe I want to get to know you, or understand why I feel this... this pull towards you. We don’t have to do anything. I just want to be in your presence. I know you feel it too... or am I all wrong here?”
    Brennan was nervous but the confidence he exuded when he spoke about me was palpable. He knew there was a magnet between us and yes, I did feel it too, but I couldn’t tell him that. I smiled inwardly at his declaration–his words about just wanting to be near me–as he ran his fingers through those silky black curls, I watched the way he moved with pure fascination.
    Brennan looked uncomfortable under my scrupulous and drawn out examination of him. I crossed my arms over my chest and decided to throw him a bone, the poor guy. A small smile on my face got his attention and I almost heard the moment when he exhaled the breath he was holding. I held out my hand in greeting.
    “My name is Julia Delaney. Friends and family call me Jules and strangers call me the singer from that band. I grew up in the state of New Hampshire. I tour with my band and I love to have sex. I would like to have sex with you,” I stated, looking his square in the eyes. “So, that’s it. I don’t have any hobbies. I don’t play sports. I don’t remember the last book I read, and I think my favorite movie was released five years ago, but I only saw it once.”
    I waited for him to say something about himself , about what I admitted to, or just anything at all. He watched me in amusement as I started to twirl my hair.
    “ What was your first concert?” he asked softly. He had his easy composure back. His heart wasn’t thumping as badly through the pretty shirt he’s wearing. His eyes, however, still burned fire into mine and my stomach clenched.
    I felt like he was poking at the secret insides of me, that no one ever dared to touch. My heart? My soul? Did I have those? No, my heart is solid rock and so is my band. It has been my mantra for years. But... with Brennan? It didn’t feel truthful to chant the mantra with him around. He was poking at my plastic shield just with his eyes. It was unnerving, threatening, and I was going to get out of this exchange with my shield intact.
    “What the fuck are you talking about? My first concert?