It's Complicated, page 8
“Oh, not at all.” He looked me up and down again and I could feel my arms tingling.
“Sorry, I was just admiring your dress.” Very, very flattering.” He looked down to the hem. “And very short. I like that.”
“Oh yeah. Why do you like that?”
“Easy access.” He laughed at the expression on my face. “I’m just joking Gemma, sorry.”
“That’s okay, I just... I don’t really know what to say to that.” I was a little taken aback. That was a lot more forward than I’d been expecting.
“I know, I had to try it though. I mean, if I’m honest, if you would’ve responded with, ‘Yeah, let’s go around the back or get a room.’ I would have said, ‘Let’s do it, right here right now, I’m good to go.’ But you’re a classy girl and I like that.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I mean, does it make me a classy girl just because I don’t go to have sex with a guy I met two minutes ago?”
“Trust me, it does,” he winked.
“Shall we go inside?” My face turned red.
“Yeah, I think we should.”
We walked inside the hotel and entered a lobby. I looked over at him because I wasn’t sure where to go. There was a piano all the way to the far left and I started heading toward it.
“No, that’s the public bar.” He grinned. “They play jazz there too, but we’re going to a cooler spot. Follow me.” He grabbed my hand and then led me down a small corridor and then to some stairs. We walked down the stairs and then we came to a little hallway.
“One second.” He stopped, looked at me and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.
“Whoa, what was that for?”
He grinned. “I just wanted to have at least one kiss with you, because if we don’t hit it off and the night doesn’t go well, obviously you’re not going to give me a kiss at the end of the night. And I think I’d die if I never got to learn what your lips tasted like.”
“Oh, wow. Well, what did you think?” I smiled at him, licking my lips nervously.
“I think that wasn’t a long enough kiss for me to figure it out. Can I have another one, please?”
“Actually, I think not, Connor,” I said with a small smile, teasing him. “I think you have to earn a real kiss from me. And if you’re man enough and good enough, then you’ll get one.”
“I see, I see,” he smirked. “If I am man enough and good enough, huh? Well, it seems like you’ve just issued me a challenge, Gemma.”
“I believe I have, Connor.”
“I think I’m man enough to take that on,” he grinned, “I think by the end of the night, you’ll be wanting to do a lot more than kiss me.”
“We’ll see,” I said and pressed my hand into my hips to stop my fingers from shaking. Oh my God, he was sex on legs and he was a flirt and he had already kissed me and wanted more. I didn’t want to tell him, but his lips had felt amazing; warm and sweet with enough pressure to let me know that he knew what he was doing. I told myself that I didn’t want him to make out with me on the first date. I told myself that I was just getting to know each guy on the first date, but I had a feeling that Connor might be the one to make me break that rule. Guiltily I thought about Lucas. Lucas had wanted to kiss as well. Lucas had wanted more too and I turned him down. And it wasn’t because I wasn’t also really attracted to him, but he hadn’t been as aggressive as Connor.
They both were alpha males, that was obvious, but it seemed that Connor was much more alpha, much more straightforward and aggressive about what he wanted, and I liked that. I liked to be bossed and thrown around and have the man take charge. Not that I was going to tell either of them that, they had to figure it out for themselves.
“So Gemma, this way,” Connor squeezed my fingers and pulled me to the side. We walked through a small door and entered a room that looked like a cavern. It was larger than I thought, but really cool. There was a small stage to the right of us and a bar to the left. “We’ll have a seat and then I’ll bring us some cocktails, sound good?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
He led me over to a table directly in front of the stage and then he looked at me. “You know what? I wanted us to sit up front so you could see the musicians up close, but it will be hard for us to talk. So let’s go to the side, that way we can listen to the music and get to know each other better.”
“That sounds good to me,” I nodded gratefully. Yeah, I wanted to hear the music, but I wanted to know what he was about as well. I mean, it was obvious we had sexual chemistry, but was there more here? Could there be more? I mean, I was already thinking about making out with the guy and I really wanted to make sure that he was a good guy before I did that. I mean, I’d made out with plenty of assholes before, plenty of jerks. I didn’t need to add another one to my roster. We sat down and then ordered some drinks and I watched as Connor pulled out his phone.
“So, I know this is a little bit unconventional,” he said with a small smile, “but I wanted to ask you a couple of questions. Well, actually it’s a couple of questions that we’re going to ask each other, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure. What sort of questions?” I wondered if he was going to ask me if I liked having my toes sucked or something. Please God, not another guy with a foot fetish.
“So,” he said as he scrolled through his phone, “Please forgive me for being unsociable here. I really hate having my phone out on dates, but I’m really only doing it to read these questions because I have a shit memory and I wouldn’t remember exactly how they were phrased, and apparently the wording matters.” He let out a deep breath. “Sorry, that was a lot, wasn’t it?”
“Hey, no worries. It’s not like you’re reading emails or sending texts or anything,” I laughed. “I appreciate the apology though. That’s really nice. A lot of guys really don’t care about having their cell phones out.”
“Have you been on a lot of dates since you’ve been on the service?” He looked at me with a curious expression.
“Is that one of the questions that you wanted to ask me?”
“It’s a question I’d like the answer to, but it’s not one of the questions on the sheet that I have here,” he laughed. “I was just thinking a pretty girl like you seems like she would have been snapped up a long time ago.”
“I could say the same thing to you,” I said, feeling slightly offended. “A hot guy like you seems like he would have been snapped up a long time ago if he was looking for a real relationship.”
“Who said I was looking for a real relationship?” He shook his head and laughed. I watched as he ran his fingers through his tousled blond locks. I wanted my fingers to be running through his hair, seeing how silky his tresses felt. I shook my head to stop those thoughts from invading my mind. I could not be thinking about touching him, I just met him.
“But true,” he said, “I guess that’s my other question. What exactly are you looking for on this thing?”
“Well, it did cost two thousand dollars so I’m kind of looking for a real relationship,” I said honestly. I mean, I know on a lot of dating apps, a lot of girls say, they’re just looking to see what happens and yada yada, which is all good and fine on the free apps, but I’ve got a high credit card bill and I don’t have time to play around.
“So you’re looking for your husband, huh?” He looked surprised, but impressed. “Okay, so you’re just going all out, huh?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m going all out, and I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily looking for my husband,” I paused. “Well, I do eventually want to get married and I do hope that I meet the guy who will eventually be my husband, but I’m not going to just try and force some random guy I’m dating for a couple of weeks to propose or anything like that. I mean, the whole point of this is to go on dates, to match up with different guys and see who I like best. I’m sure it’s the same for you. What are you looking for, Connor?”
“Honestly,” he shrugged, “I don’t really know what I’m looking for. I’m a musician, I’m a DJ, I like to have fun, I like to listen to music, I like girls who like to have fun and listen to music... Sort of take it from there. But my family wants me to meet someone, so here I am.”
“Oh, funny. I think it’s the season. The Christmas season always has families acting crazy, right? My family really wants me to meet someone too.”
“Oh yeah?” He laughed. “Tell me about it. You got a big family, huh?”
“Yeah, I have the typical big Greek family, and let’s just say that every single one of them is interested in seeing me get together with someone nice. A nice man, you know?”
“Yeah, I understand. My family wants to see me with a nice woman,” he shrugged. “I don’t know though. I guess we’ll see what happens. Well, I mean at least you’re on the app and you’re dating.”
I wondered how many different girls he was dating, shit. With the pictures and emails he was sending, I bet every girl he emailed was accepting a date with him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a date every single night.
“Yeah, it’s fun and cool to be dating.”
“Yeah. It’s kind of cool. It’s nice to meet different girls or, sorry, I should say women, I don’t know why I say girls.”
“Hey, no worries. You know, girls grow up to be women.”
“Yes they do, and some of them very fine looking women indeed.” He gave me another look up and down and I shivered. Wow, he was a smooth talker.
“So, do you have a big family, Connor?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Not at all.” He didn’t say anything else and I didn’t pry. If he didn’t want to tell me more, I wasn’t going to make him.
“So, do you have those questions up yet? I’m really curious to see what it is you wanted to ask me.”
“Yeah. Now, I know this is a little forward for a first date.”
“Oh God. You’re not going to ask me if I want to go to a sex club or something,” I groaned. “Please, no.”
“No.” He laughed. “But hey, if you’re kinky and into that sort of stuff, I do have some—”
“No, I’m not,” I cut him off quickly. “Sorry.” I beamed at him as he laughed. I wasn’t being one-hundred-percent correct. I was definitely someone that was curious about the kinkier side of life, but I’d never actually ventured there and I wouldn’t venture there until I had a serious boyfriend and someone I trusted. There was no way in hell I was going to one of those sort of places with someone I didn’t trust, because who knew what could happen.
I could wake up the next day having slept with four different guys not knowing any of their names. And that is not something I was interested in doing. Yeah, I didn’t mind dabbling on the darker side of eroticism, maybe some candle wax, some handcuffs, some whips, a ball gag, that sort of thing, but once I was ready and once he was ready and we could explore together. That was something I had learned not to tell a guy too soon in a relationship because once a guy thought you were down for the kink, he would start trying to do all sorts of naughty things before you were even dating for a couple of weeks.
“Hey, I’m just joking Gemma, don’t worry about it. I have the first question if you’re ready.”
“Sure. I’m ready. Go ahead.”
“So, I don’t want you to think I’m a geek.”
“Okay,” I said softly.
“But these are actually questions that the New York Times came up with.”
“Oh wow. Okay.” I looked at Connor in surprise. He didn’t strike me as someone who’d read the New York Times.
“You know, I’ve got a couple of surprises up my sleeve,” he laughed. “But yeah, these were questions that they come up with that you should ask before getting married.”
“Wow, is this our first date or what?” I grinned. “Before getting married?”
“Yeah, I know it’s a little unconventional to ask them now, but I think it’s a good way to get to know someone and the music is not going to start for half an hour. So, I figure this way we both see where we’re coming from and we can see if we’re even compatible to explore where else this could go, you know?”
“Okay,” I said to him in surprise. “Sure. What’s the first question?”
“Okay. So the first question is...” he cleared his throat, “Did your family throw plates, calmly discuss issues or silently shut down when disagreements arose?”
I started laughing. “There’s nothing silent about my family. No one was ever silent when they were upset. I can’t say that anyone ever threw plates, but they definitely didn’t calmly discuss issues. When my mom was mad at my dad, she would definitely shout and scream. And my dad would just sit there and take it until he got angry and then he would shout back. And then the next thing I know they’d be kissing.” I paused. “Yeah, I guess a little bit dysfunctional, but it was just how they did it, I guess. What about you?”
“My parents didn’t really argue that much,” he made a face. “In fact, my mom was a bit of a doormat, and so I’m not really looking for a woman that will just accept everything. I need a woman that’s going to speak up to me if she doesn’t like something that I’m doing. I hated to see my mom in that position.”
“Oh wow. That’s crazy.”
“Yeah. I guess that’s just the way she was raised; she believed that the man was always right. But I could see that she wasn’t happy. So I’ve always told myself that I want to be with a woman that knows how to speak up for herself.”
“Well, I’m definitely a woman that knows how to speak up for herself. So we have that in common.”
“Okay, that’s good.” He laughed. “Okay, so second question. Will we have children? And if we do, will you change diapers?”
“Is that your way of asking me if I want to have children someday?” I was taken aback. These questions were pretty hardcore for a first date. Ten minutes ago, he was telling me he wanted to feel me up and make out with me, and now he was asking me if I wanted to have children? He’d gone from zero to sixty way faster than I’d thought possible. But if this was what he wanted to ask, I guess he knew what he was doing.
“Yeah, I definitely would like to have children someday, and I think as the mom, I’d change diapers. What about you?”
“I don’t know about how I feel about kids if I’m honest.” He shrugged. “I don’t particularly like them. I don’t feel like they fit in my lifestyle. You know, I’m a rock and roller.”
“Oh. So, is that what you do? You’re in a band?”
“No, I’m a music producer and I DJ at some clubs sometimes. Maybe you’ve seen me around on some posters?”
“No, sorry. I haven’t.”
He grinned and started laughing. “I’m kidding you, I’m kidding. I’m not on any posters, but I do produce music.”
“Okay. And if we had kids, would you change their diapers?”
He made a face. “Shitty diapers? Can I plead the fifth?”
I laughed. “Yeah, you can plead the fifth.”
“Okay,” he said. “I feel like these questions are a little bit more serious than I remember them being. So maybe we’ll just do one more and then listen to some music for a little bit.”
“That sounds good to me. What’s the third question?”
“Okay. Will our experiences with our exes help or hinder us?” He sat back. “So, I guess tell me a bit about your past relationships, if you’ve had any bad breakups or anything.”
“Honestly, I’ve dated a lot. I am a woman in New York City who enjoys dating. I haven’t had any particularly serious relationships. My longest relationship was two years. It didn’t really work out. We weren’t looking for the same things and we had some other issues that made it so we were not going to be a good fit long-term.”
“Oh, what were those issues? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“I don’t really like to kiss and tell.” I made a face and he raised an eyebrow.
“Now you have to tell me, what was the issue?”
“Well, he couldn’t pleasure me in bed.” I could feel myself blushing.
“Oh,” he grinned. “He couldn’t pleasure you in bed, and I’m thinking you’re talking about intercourse? Are you saying that you couldn’t come when he was inside of you or are you saying that you just never came with him at all?”
“I’m saying that he wasn’t good in the bedroom, whether he was inside of me or not,” I laughed. “And that’s all I’m going to say.”
“Well baby, I have something I want to tell you.” Connor leaned forward.
“Oh yeah. What’s that?”
“That’s one problem you’ll never have with me.” He winked slightly and then licked his lips. And all I could think of as I stared at the tip of his pink tongue was, “Oh shit. I want this man very, very badly.”
Chapter 8
“So Sarah, I really need your help. I’m going out of my mind. I just don’t know what to do.”
“What’s going on, Gemma. You know you can count on me for anything.”
Sarah beamed at me. She looked absolutely beautiful. She’d recently had a makeover and, well, I was proud of the work that I’d done to help her. She looked like a supermodel, even though she didn’t realize it herself.
“So you know I’ve been going on these dates.”
“Yeah, and they sound absolutely amazing. I’m jealous.”
“Sarah, you could be going on many dates as well, if you wanted to. In fact, we need to go out for a night on the town; just dance and have some fun, you know?”
“Yeah. That sounds like it’d be really cool.” She grinned. “I’d be totally down. But first tell me about these guys, and what’s the problem.”
Okay. So, so far I’ve just been on dates with about four different guys, but my top two are Lucas and Connor. Lucas is the attorney, and Connor’s the guy that’s a music producer that DJs sometimes.”
“Oh yeah. Super cool, a DJ. Maybe he can get us hooked up at an exclusive club or something.”
“I think you’re the one with the connections, Sarah. Can’t Harry get us hooked up into some VIP somewhere? Or even your parents?”
She burst out laughing. “My parents can’t get us hooked up into anything. Yes, they’re rich, but they’re not cool-rich. And Harry? Well, I’m sure he does have access to exclusive clubs, but I don’t think he’s going to be getting tickets for me anytime soon.”
