Chapter 83


    I walk out of my room sassily when I’m dolled up in the figure-hugging cocktail dress. It’s knee length,


    has a tight pencil skirt and a bust popping upper bodice that has off the shoulder straps and a serious


    amount of boning to give me a vampy tailored body. I think I’m even more in love with it now than I was


    the first time I tried it on and it’s one of those dresses that look nd on the hanger, but stunning on a


    body. It’s definitely not something I would have worn in the past months, to go to some seedy bar with


    seedy friends, but Arrick’s friends hang out in upmarket, ssier clubs, and this dress will totally fit in.


    “Wow! You look stunning.” He’s on his feet in a sh, his eyes devouring me in a way that is not Arry at


    all, and I get that he suddenly feels ufortable when his eyes drop away with a slight tense of his


    jawline. He picks up his jacket and slides it on while avoiding looking at me, then I hand him mine to


    help me with it. The dress may look amazing, but it’s not easy to do much in the way of maneuvering


    my body without a little help and getting my arms into my jacket by myself impossible. Hees


    behind me and pauses before helping slide it on, and I have to wonder if he just checked out my ass;


    the dress certainly molds to it back there and perks everything up.


    “Don’t look too bad yourself. Totally make Batman and Robin jealous.” I grin, pushing aside the fact that


    I think he’s checking me out, ignoring that rosy glow that develops deep down within my feminine parts.


    “Yeah, I think we are way hotter than those two, and look a hell of a lot better arm in arm than I think


    they could ever pull off. Maybe we are Batman and Catwoman after all.” Arrick slides my jacket the rest


    of the way over my shoulders and turns me, to help button it up. Reverting to taking care of me, as


    Jake does to Mia. I watch that focused set of hazels on my buttons and sigh at just how ridiculously


    wless that face really is and how sweet Arry can be.


    “Oooh, I like that, she’s sexy and phraaar.” I make a cat w motion at his face and meet an amused


    frown.


    “You’re definitely that alright. You’ve always have been a little ‘phraaaar’. Ferocious kitty cat!” He gazes


    at me with no expression, and I can’t tell if he’s being funny or just odd, wondering why he’s pulling his


    guard up.


    “That’s not sexy Arrick. That sounds like I’m a rabid stray.” I answer him tly, a deadpan expression as


    he seriously killed my self-perception.


    “Yep... Sounds about right to me.” He smiles and then grins when my p gets him in the shoulder. He


    pulls me into him by the jacket with a sharp tug, body colliding softly into his, so my palms immediately


    go to his broad chest, and kisses me on the forehead. A tense moment as I really did think he was


    pulling me in for something a little less tonic, with the ferocity of how quickly he did it. He lingers


    there a moment, and when he brings his face back down, I can’t miss the way he grazes my nose


    intimately, eyes panning my face to my mouth and for a second pulls my pelvis into his groin subtly. It’s


    over so fast that I can’t really gauge what it is. He sighs and moves away.


    “Now move, kitty cat, I have a cab waiting downstairs.” He shoves me forward and pats my ass as he


    ushers me towards the elevator, making me jump that he would smack my butt this way, when not


    actually fooling around. I widen my eyes at him, torn between reading more into this than I should and


    letting it go. I’m definitely getting a flirty vibe, and I have no idea if I’m imagining it. If this dress has


    triggered some sort of horny Arrick tonight, then I’m all for working that angle.


    Wishful thinking and all that.


    Ushering me in when the doors slide open, he catches my hand in his andces our fingers together.


    Back to hand holding again it seems and pulls me to face the door with him. It closes in front of us as


    he swipes his key card, enters the pin to lock his floor and then hits the ground floor button.


    “You obviously don’t get ID’d, right?” Arrick nces across at me quizzically, that hotshot look of a dude


    in control once more, and knocking my head out of whack, wondering if I’m reading into things too


    much. I blink at him with a ‘Really?’ expression, as though he surely can’t have forgotten how many


    bars he collected me from in the past eighteen months of my life. I’m only twenty, and before the new


    haircut, I never looked like I was even hitting eighteen. It’s amazing though, how a push-up bra and


    barely any clothes can make your face unimportant to security at trashy bars.


    “Not normally, no … although, I do have a pretty awesome fake if you’re worried they may not let me


    in.” I turn back to the closed chrome doors and admire the reflection the two of us make. We look right


    together, I guess we always have, except I agree with him on the dark hair thing. It’s the only part of us


    that stands out as odd. It just reminds me of Cami and that creep from the hotel, and I nce away


    from the reflection with a sour taste in my mouth.


    “I don’t even want to know where you got that.” He shakes his head, another furrowed brow overtaking


    his paternal expression. “I doubt you’ll get pulled looking like that, so try and refrain from illegal ID’s in


    future.” He chastises me and I eye roll dramatically.


    “When did you get so boring? Don’t try and tell me you never had a fake, as I know for a fact you and


    that brother of yours were hitting it hard when you were only seventeen.” I raise my eyebrows


    knowingly at him, throwing him a serious look,pletely aware of his past because the fool was


    always open and honest with me.


    This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    “It’s different for guys.” He shrugs infuriatingly, and I catch the way his eyes scan my legs in the


    reflection, as he’s pretending not to look at me. It makes me feel smug, bold, and I subtly pose a little


    more sexily.


    “That’s so sexist!” I hit him with my closed fist in the arm, softly, but enough to make him chuckle at me.


    “Mm, hmmm” He presses his lips together then dodges when I swing a proper p at his shoulder in


    sheer outrage this time. I hate when he tries to goad me on the sexism front.


    “Hey! I was agreeing with you.” He catches my hand mid-air, stifling hisughter, pulls me forward by


    the hand, and for a moment, the way he moves in against me, sends bells ringing. He seems like he’s


    contemting kissing me, moving in with a head tilt and easy smile so that he bumps me with his body,


    but instead pulls me in under his arm, to hook me about the shoulders.


    “Rabid kitten!” He nts a kiss on my temple, snuggling me in close, a little more ‘couple’ than tonic,


    a hand sliding down lower than the small of my back and stopping just at the groove of my ass. Risky,


    not a usual Arry move, definitely causing a burning ache in my lower pelvis as his fingers linger on my


    butt dimple, yet not quite over the danger point enough for my liking. I sink against him and will his


    hand to just pass thest distance and do something about this obvious tension building here. If this is


    how horny feels then I’m definitely all over that, aching, tingling, and warming from the inside out, with


    just the briefest of little signals from him.


    Who knew I could even feel this way?