From my July 1 2020 release of WOKE a Sleeping Beauty redux.
Do you ever lose the art of flirtation? This little scene has Aurora thinking like that old Celine Dion song It’s all coming back to me now.
“I was picturing the two of us playing poker.”
I shrugged. “So why the grooved forehead and squinty eyes?”
He held my gaze for a beat, just long enough for me to fidget again in my seat.
“Strip poker.”
Okay, what now?
That damn grin was gonna be the end of me, I was sure of it. Cade squeezed my hand, his lips pulling back into a wide and open smile that was so sexy and mischievous I found I didn’t really care what he’d said.
“You should see your own expression right now. I’m betting you’re torn between slapping my face and wondering if I’m kidding,” he said.
I thought he might be, but something in his manner suggested he was as serious as a heart attack.
“I don’t think you’re kidding, but…are you?”
The grin stayed in place, but the playfulness in his eyes turned on a dime to something hot and smoldering. So hot, in fact, it was a wonder my face didn’t catch fire from the flames shooting toward to me. The air around us heated and I started to stress sweat in very inconvenient places.
“What do you think?” he asked, his fingers now gently squeezing then releasing mine, the rhythm so like a heartbeat I could feel the motion thumping against my ribcage.
Desire was such an alien creature to me these days I didn’t know how to handle the sensations catapulting through my system. I couldn’t find the words to respond to him. I was so out of practice in the seduction department, for a moment I thought I’d gone mute.
Twenty-year-old Rory decided to rear her head right then in order to answer his question. She’d always been a bit of flirt and knew the secret art of just how to seduce a man into a frenzy without leaving him upset or angry when she didn’t follow through. In others words, I’d been a tease with a heart of gold, to quote one of my college boyfriends.
I relaxed my shoulders and softened my spine from its erect posture. My breathing slowed and calmed and my heart rate went from a banging drum line in my ears to the sound of a gentle falling rain.
I leaned in toward him, my gaze taking a lazy drag down to his mouth, where the corners were quirking, and then back up to his eyes, now half closed as he regarded me. I swiped my tongue across my bottom lip in a full-on and blatant seductress move. My heart rate sped up a bit again when he sucked in a breath, his own gaze now dropping to my lips.
“I think,” he bent closer so he could hear my intentionally lowered voice, “your…”—I let my fingers drift across his palm and felt a shudder sluice through him—“burger is getting cold.”
I kept leaning in for a few moments, just enough to notice his hooded eyes widen. When they began blinking in a rapid staccato, I shot him a full-toothed smile and sat back upright. Sliding my hand out of his, I lifted my sandwich, took a bite, and while chewing, tossed a smirk his way.
I may not have flirted for a while—okay, way longer than a while—but it obviously didn’t mean I’d lost any of my previous skills. Or, at least, Aurora hadn’t. A.J. might need some fine-tuning in the art of toying with a man. From the befuddled but sexy look on Cade’s face, though, it wasn’t going to be a long and drawn-out refresher course. More like a quick review.
Heehee.
Until next time, peeps ~Peg
Blurb
Peggy Jaeger, Author 