The Bacelor: Make A Sex Deal

I cleared my throat. “Vodka on the rocks. Make that a double, please.”

“Nice choice,” Camden replied, and I could still feel the warmth from his stare even though I was no longer looking at him. “I’ll have the same.”

One more of those, and I’d be taking a rideshare home.

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Something told me I was going to need a second round.

And possibly a third.

“Great. I’ll get those ordered for you,” Kimmy said. “Do you have any questions about the menu, or would you like to put in any appetizers?”

“Let me ask you something,” Camden voiced to her. “Are there any starters on the menu that Kimmy just can’t live without?”

She pointed at her chest, her cheeks reddening. “Me?”

“Yes. You.”

Camden had this unbelievable talent to make you feel like you were the only woman in the room. That he was whispering the question directly in your ear. Even his tone was tantalizing.

Her smile widened, and she reached for a chunk of her hair, holding it, curling it around her finger. “I have two faves. I eat them almost every shift.”

“Bring them.”

She giggled. “But I haven’t told you what they are.”

“You don’t need to.” He traced his lips with his thumb and pointer finger. “I trust you.”

“Wow, okay. You’re definitely going to be my favorite table of the night.” She didn’t glance at me at all when she added, “I’ll be right back with the drinks.”

Once we were alone, I asked, “What if I’m a picky eater?”

“You’re not.”

I tried to find the answer in his stare and couldn’t. “How do you know that?”

“Oaklyn, come on. You’re forgetting we’re friends on social media, and you’ve been in my life for how long?”

Details I was surprised he’d picked up on.

Shocked actually.

But I wasn’t going to focus on that. I was going to change the subject.

“You know, you have such a way with women. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like it before.”

“What do you mean?”

I searched his eyes. “How can you possibly not know what I’m talking about? You just made Kimmy want to straddle you in a matter of seconds.”

His head cocked to the side. “Does that make you jealous, Oaklyn?”

This time, when I laughed, it was the most honest sound even if the reply wasn’t. “No.”

“No?”

“There are zero feelings involved here; therefore, there’s no jealousy.” And because I felt like he needed a little dig for even thinking that, I added, “Don’t flatter yourself, Camden.”

With his arms still resting on the table, his thumbs rubbed together. “With this being the first major lesson, I needed to make sure.”

“Fair enough.” To try and throw him off from reading me even more, I glanced around the large, open space and asked, “Why here? And why a restaurant and not a bar?”

“There are three reasons. For one …” His voice faded out until I met his eyes again. “I’m fucking hungry.”

“Bars have food.”

“But they’re loud and filled with chatter and music. You can hide in a bar, sort of fall into the background and no one will notice. Which brings me to reason number two-restaurants are more transparent, and it’s a setting that will really test you.”

“Are you trying to set me up to fail?”

He licked across the same lip that he’d scraped earlier. “Now, wouldn’t I be a stupid man if I did something like that? You’ve promised me your ass, Oaklyn, and that’s something I want so fucking badly. If I haven’t already told you, your ass is perfect.” He shook his head. “Shit, it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, and I get to slide my dick inside its tight little hole. And then I get your pussy-another territory that no one’s ever been inside of before.” He leaned even closer to me. “You picked the lesson. You told me you wanted it to happen in public. So, tell me, why would I want you to fail?”

I knew I had to answer his question, but I was drowning in what he’d just said.

I wasn’t sure I was even capable of forming words at this point.

That was how hard his words had hit me.

I’d known long before tonight why he was the king of one-night stands, but the more time I spent with him, the more I realized why.

That statement, that description-if we were back at his condo and not at this restaurant, I would probably tell him to forget all the lessons and just take my virginity now.

That was how turned on I was.

He smiled. “Nerves got your tongue?”

“You would like that to be the case, wouldn’t you?”

I paused to get my brain straight and focused again.

“Why would I want you to fail?”

Because maybe he was afraid he was going to fall in love with me and wanted to end my proposition before it even started.

That was a long shot, but it was still an option.

One I wasn’t sure I could even wrap my head around.

Or maybe he was having second thoughts about all of this, and he wanted to make lesson number two so extremely difficult that he was hoping I’d quit, and he wouldn’t have to be responsible for taking my virginity.

Or maybe he really just wanted to see me come at a table inside a restaurant.

The problem was, I couldn’t read Camden like he could with me.

And something told me he’d never tell me the truth.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “It’s just a little hunch I had. It looks like I was wrong though.”

Kimmy returned with both glasses of vodka in her hands, and she set them down in front of us. “The appetizers should be right out. Have you decided on your main courses?”

I hadn’t even opened the menu. “No-”

“I think we’re just going to start with apps,” he said, cutting me off. “We’ll see where that takes us.”

She gazed at him as she replied, “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

When it was just us again, I asked, “What’s reason number three?”

He gave me a sly grin. “I didn’t think it would hurt for us to have a little conversation before the lesson went down. Like I said, bars can be loud. This atmosphere almost forces us to talk.”

I couldn’t believe that was what he wanted. This proposition was physical, nothing more. Conversation opened up avenues I was positive he didn’t want to explore.

But if that was what he wanted, I’d give it to him, so I said, “Am I allowed to ask about the Hooked case?” I held up my hand before he had a chance to respond. “Hannah didn’t tell me. I know she can’t speak about the cases that you and Declan are working on since she can’t violate the rules of professional conduct. But it’s been all over the internet, so she didn’t tell me anything I hadn’t already read.”

“Trying to save my sister’s ass, are you?” he teased, winking.