Endless Obsession (28 page)

I smile at her when she finally accepts it, and I pull her from the car. My hand settles once again at her back, but a little lower this time. I laugh and shrug when she gives me a pointed look. We walk inside the small dive style restaurant and are immediately seated by the host at a small table in the corner.

Poppy looks around the room. “I never would have pegged you for a guy who liked this type of restaurant.”

“Like I said, they have the best Texas meals around. You’ve never been here before, and I wanted you to experience the local food.”

She smiles and looks up at the waitress that appears at our side.

“Hey y’all. I’m Renee, your waitress for this evening. What kind of drinks can I start you with?”

Poppy chooses a white Gallo Moscato, and for myself, I choose a bottle of Shiner.

She looks at me strangely when the waitress walks away with the promised return of our selections.

“Beer? Again, you don’t seem like a beer man.”

I smile lazily at her. “I’m a man, Poppy. Any man worth his salt likes beer. Just because I’m rich, doesn’t mean I’m not a typical man.”

She unwraps her napkin from around her silverware and smooths it out on her lap.

“I guess that’s true. Maybe I don’t see you as a normal man because I haven’t seen you outside of work. You always have that businessman persona going on.”

I quirk a brow. “Businessman persona? And what exactly is that?”

She carelessly flips her hand in the air. “Oh, you know. The serious, dark, broody face that never shows any emotion.”

I laugh and she laughs with me.

“Broody? I never have a broody face. And besides, you have seen me outside of work.”

“Only once.”

“You’ll get to see it more now.”

The waitress walks up with our drinks, places them in front of us, and walks away. Poppy picks hers up and swallows half of it down. She’s trying to hide her reaction to what I said, but I can see the slight shake in her hand. She puts it back down and picks up the thin plastic menu. I study her face as she does so. Every once in a while, she looks up at me, and each time she does, I smile. She’s uncomfortable again.

“Tell me about this Sterling.” I’m curious to see what she’ll say.

“I’d prefer not to talk about him,” she says, still looking over the menu. I’d bet my life that she couldn’t name one damn food dish on the thing.

“He’s my rival. I need to know what I’m up against. Is he the one that sends you the flowers every week?”

I’m playing with her. It’s a sick game, but I want to know what her thoughts are about Sterling.

She sighs and puts the menu back down, foregoing the ruse. She runs her finger through the condensation on the outside of her wine glass.

“Yes. And I don’t know who he is. I’ve never met him.”

“What do you mean, you’ve never met him? You’re saying my rival is some mysterious guy?” I feign my surprise.

She looks embarrassed. “Yes.”

“Don’t you think that’s dangerous? What if he’s some psycho?”

I’m going to hell for this. I know I am, but I can’t help but enjoy it. She squirms in her chair and it only makes my dick hard. I’m a twisted bastard.

“I don’t know what to think. I’ve talked with him over the phone and have texted with him. I don’t
want
him to be some weirdo. I—” She stops talking and shakes her head. “I can’t discuss this with you. It doesn’t feel right.”

The waitress comes back to our table for our orders. Before Poppy can ask for more time, I order for her.

“An order of oysters on the half shell and a plate of shrimp gumbo for the lady. And for myself, white catfish sprinkled with Cajun, a large order of hush puppies, and a Mexican cocktail.”

She writes down our orders, grabs the menus, and scampers off.

“I love oysters,” she says.

“I know.” Before she can question me, I brush my leg against hers underneath the table. One reason I picked this restaurant is because the tables are so small. There’s not much room under them, which gives me the perfect opportunity to touch her. I just wish it was without clothes. I keep my leg against hers, and I’m pleased when she doesn’t move hers away.

She fiddles with the tablecloth, looking anywhere but at me as she blushes. She is such an intriguing contradiction. One minute she’s fine and talking normally, and the next she’s blushing and can barely hold my gaze. I like both sides of her. My new mission is to discover all the ways I can make her blush.

She’s looking down at her lap, her eyes flicking back and forth over something. I bet she’s looking at her phone. I know she’s looking to see if Sterling has messaged her back. I decide to take pity on her.

I scoot my chair back and drop my napkin on the table.

“Restroom. I’ll be back in a moment.”

She nods. I smile secretly as I walk away. I go far enough out of sight so she can’t see me and pull my phone from my pocket. There’s a potted plant at the edge of the hallway, so I can see her as I type out my message.

Me:
How is your trip so far, Beautiful?

Her body jerks when she hears her phone ding. I feel envious when she smiles her gorgeous smile as she looks down and sees the message. She lifts her head and looks around the room briefly. A moment later, my phone vibrates.

Poppy:
It’s hot, but it’s beautiful here.

I smile and lift my head to see her eyes still aimed at her lap.

Me:
Is Asher behaving himself?

I chuckle quietly when her throat bobs with her thick swallow. She lifts her thumb to her lips and bites down on her nail. It takes her a few seconds to answer.

Poppy:
Yes. He’s being very nice.

Hmm… so my little Poppy can lie. It’s a good thing I’m Asher, but I still think she needs her ass tanned for not telling me the truth.

I play with her a bit more.

Me:
I think you’re lying, Beautiful. I think Asher wants to strip you bare and fuck every hole you have to offer. I bet he’s thinking about it right now. The question is, are you thinking about it too? Do you want him to lick every inch of you? To play with your pussy and suck on your tits? Are you thinking about sliding your tongue along his cock and taking it deep in your throat until you gag? Or maybe him gripping your hair tight with your face smashed against the wall as he fucks you hard and dirty from behind? Are you going to give Asher my pussy tonight, Poppy?

Fuck!
Now my dick is hard and aching from that little stunt. I watch as her face flushes once again and it does nothing to help my situation. Before she has a chance to respond, I walk from the hallway and back over to the table. When she sees me coming, her eyes grow wide and she fumbles with the phone in her lap. I hear a clunk as it falls to the floor.

“Allow me.”

Smiling internally, I walk to her side of the table to grab her phone, but she beats me to it.

“No!” she squeaks, straightening in her seat, her phone clutched tightly in her hand.

It’s hard to hold in my laugh, but I manage. Instead, I lift an eyebrow and fake concern.

“Everything okay?”

“Y-yes,” she stutters. “Yes. Sorry.”

“You sure?”

Swallowing hard, she nods.

I retake my seat, placing my leg back against hers. She jerks away this time and I grin. I glance down and notice that her pert little nipples are pressing against her dress. Her breathing is coming a little faster than normal, and the flush has expanded down to her chest. Her eyes look wild as she looks around the room.

“Did something happen while I was gone?” I inquire, secretly enjoying the hell out of her discomfort.

She wipes a few strands of hair away from her face. “No. I just have the shakes because I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten today.”

Pretty little liar. That deserves another swat to her ass later.

As if the waitress heard her, she walks up with a tray carrying our food. After placing our plates in front of us and inquiring if we need anything else, she walks off.

“This looks so good,” Poppy says, picking up an oyster with shaky hands.

“You know what they say about oysters, right?” I place my napkin in my lap and pick up my fork, my eyes never straying from hers.

She stops with the oyster halfway to her mouth.

“Is that why you got them for me?”

“Maybe.” I wink.

“Does it really work?”

I give her a sexy smile and reply, “I guess we’ll see.” I laugh when she puts the oyster down and grabs her fork instead. “Spoilsport.”

That earns me a grin.

I lean across the table and whisper, “You won’t need them anyway.” I grab the oyster she just put down, tip it to my lips, and let the silky mollusc slide between them. She licks her lips as I do so, and her eyes flare with undisguised lust.

Oh yeah. Poppy is mine tonight.

We sit in silence for the rest of the meal. Every few minutes, Poppy will look over at me, and each time she does, she finds my eyes on her. I can’t stop myself. My eyes are always drawn to her when she’s in the room. She draws me to her like the sun pulls a flower. I may not have shown my interest to Poppy over the last year, but I’ve always had my eyes on her.

We both decline dessert and I pay the bill. When we walk out of the restaurant, I lead Poppy away from the car.

“Let’s walk back.”

She gives me a wide smile and nods. Her head whips this way and that way as she takes in everything surrounding us. Downtown Dallas is stunning, especially if you’re looking at it through fresh eyes. We stop and browse at a few local shops. She laughs when I buy her a black cowboy hat. She looks hot as hell wearing it with her black dress, heels, and her hair braided to the side. I might have to take her with her just wearing the hat and heels.

Although we’re only a few blocks away, it takes us over an hour to make it back to the hotel. The sun has fallen behind the tall buildings, so the heat hasn’t been as harsh on the last leg of our walk. The doorman holds the door for us, and I usher Poppy into the cool building. The elevator ride seems to take forever. She shifts nervously at my side, her sweet lavender scent taking up the small space. I turn to face her, knowing I’m making her uncomfortable by doing so, but I can’t help it. She hasn’t given me an answer, but I’m taking away her chance now.

When the elevator dings our arrival, Poppy bolts out as soon as the doors open. I can’t hold back my laughter. She looks at me over her shoulder as she hurries over to her room.

“You can run, but you can’t hide, Poppy. I always get what I want,” I tell her, right before she closes the door.

Shaking my head, I walk to my portion of our suite while unbuttoning my shirt. I drop it on the end of my bed and walk to the bathroom. One thing about living in Texas is multiple showers are needed often during the day to wash away the sweat.

With the spray beating down on my shoulders, I grab my already hard cock and give it a few strokes. I’ve been hard all evening. Hell, who am I kidding? I’ve been hard all damn day. Poppy does that to me. She doesn’t realize the control she has over me. I may have taken her privacy away, but it’s
her
that holds my future in her hands. It’s her that can completely destroy me with just a snap of her fingers.

Stepping out of the shower, I run the towel roughly over my body, before wrapping it around my hips. I grab my phone from my pants pocket and sit at the desk to answer a few emails. I’m sure Poppy went straight to the shower also, and she’s probably still in there, so I’ll give her a bit of time to finish up.

There’s one email that I’m most interested in. It’s from Eric, with the subject line “Cellphone Number Inquiry.”

Fuck!

He wasn’t able to find out anything. He said something about their security system being unhackable. It’s a fucking cellphone company, how hard can it fucking be? Eric is good, damn near as good as me, so I don’t understand why he’s having trouble with this. Looks like I’ll need to take care of it myself.

There’s another email from Rex, letting me know that there’s been no news on the guy that broke into Poppy’s house. He still has a man on her place while she’s gone, but nothing’s happened so far.

I go through a couple more emails, before looking at the time on my phone. Thirty minutes have passed since I sat down. She should be done by now, and if she’s not, I’ll go in there after her. I pull on a pair of worn jeans before opening the door. I’m surprised when I see Poppy standing at the window. It’s not dark yet, but the sun has dropped low enough that the sky has a beautiful pink and purple glow to it. The lights on the skyscrapers surrounding us are starting to flicker on. Once it’s full dark, the view from up here is amazing. Poppy will love it.

She hasn’t noticed me yet, so I walk on bare feet over to her. My reflection alerts her of my arrival. I hear the hitch in her breathing when her eyes meet mine in the glass. She’s wearing a pale blue tank top, paired with white cotton shorts. I can tell by the hard points of her nipples she’s not wearing a bra, and it makes my mouth water. Her tanned skin glows against the material. She’s unbraided her hair, but it’s off her shoulders and piled messily on top of her head.