Yve narrowed her gaze on JP. “What did you do?”

JP grabbed her drink and chugged. When she lowered the glass to the table, she replied, “Maybe surprised him with a little naked JP. I’ve never seen a guy look so horrified or throw my clothes at me so quickly. Embarrassing. I can never go back to Voodoo Ink. Which sucks, because who’s going to finish my sleeve now?”

The table went silent before laughter broke out.

“You didn’t!”

“Seriously?”

“Oh my God, that’s epic.”

“Stop!” JP said. “This is my pride we’re talking about. Maybe if my tits and ass were bigger, he’d be into me?”

“Or maybe he’s not into girls,” I tossed out.

Once again, silence fell.

“Oh, he is definitely not gay,” Vanessa finally offered. “He’s lumbersexual to the extreme, and definitely not gay.”

“I don’t know what any of this means. Someone please explain.”

For the rest of dinner and dessert, I was introduced to an entire culture I’d never heard of. Apparently men took beards very seriously these days. I was all for male grooming, so more power to them, but I couldn’t help but be thankful that Rix leaned toward clean-shaven or the occasional stubbly look.

Wait, what?

I couldn’t think about him. I wouldn’t think about him. There was nothing between us. And I was sort of dating a guy who would arrest him in a heartbeat. Who I also appreciated leaning toward the stubble more than the beard.

My life was officially a hot mess.

Pushing it all out of my mind, I followed the women as we piled into the car that Elle and Yve had picked me up in, and we headed for the jazz club.

When Elle called for shots, I didn’t argue. Not thinking was exactly what I wanted to do.

“YOU SURE YOU’RE GOOD, GIRL?” Yve asked as she walked me up to my door.

“I’m fine. No worries. I think I drank about a gallon of water before we left.”

“That explains your seventeen trips to the bathroom.”

I giggled, because she didn’t know that I was also learning how to drunk text. I had a very distinct feeling that this would be something I regretted in the morning, but tonight, I was altogether too entertained to stop.

I pulled out my key and shoved it in the lock of the portico door. “Thank you for inviting me. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

Yve hugged me. “Take care. And make sure you get on that artist to put some more work in the gallery. We love the painting and definitely want a few more of the same style. You better not sell them to anyone before you let us see them. I’m calling dibs.”

“Mmm, okay. I’ll let you know,” I mumbled, pulling the door open. “Soon.”

If she hadn’t walked away at that very moment, I might have spilled my secret. I was feeling altogether too chatty right now, so inside my house I went. Shutting the door behind me, I unlocked the door that led into the house, slipped inside, and punched in the code to my alarm. I didn’t even notice the figure sitting on my staircase until I nearly tripped over him.

Slamming my hand against the light switch, my heart in my throat, my scream died when Rix stood and covered my mouth with his hand.

“Should be getting used to me waiting for you, duchess.”

I wavered on unsteady heels, and he dropped his hand to wrap an arm around me.

“Didn’t expect to see you.”

“After those texts? You’ve gotta be joking.”

Oh God. “What texts?” I decided that playing dumb was an excellent choice.

“The ones that said you were thinking about me. That you wanted to—”

This time it was my hand covering his mouth. “Stop. I don’t want to remember. I need to go to bed.”

His lips moved beneath my palm, and I couldn’t tell if he was pressing a kiss or whether he was smiling. He peeled my hand off and spoke. “I’ll get you to bed.”

“No, you need to go to your bed.”

“I like yours better.”

“Too bad.”

But apparently my protests were going to go unheeded, because Rix ducked and swung me up into his arms.

I struggled for a moment, but once he was climbing the stairs, I stilled. Alpha, my brain whispered.

I curled my hands around the soft cotton of his shirt and sniffed. “You smell good. You always smell good.”

“Glad you think so.” He lowered me onto my bed, but I didn’t let go. “Tempting as fuck.”

“Tired too.”

Rix pried my hands off his shoulders and stepped back. “You need anything, or are you gonna pass out?”

I could think of one thing I needed, but I wouldn’t give voice to that particular thought. “Shoes off. Skirt and blouse too.”

Rix came back into view, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I think I can handle that.”

He slid off my heels and rolled me partially to the side so he could unzip the skirt and tug it down and off. I’d worn a black thong under my skirt to combat the panty-line issue.

“More than tempting.” Rix bowed his head, his lips close to my hip. I waited for the contact . . . but got nothing. He moved up my body and in a low voice said, “Arms up.”

My shirt was off and gone in a matter of seconds.

“Bra too,” I whispered, and Rix squeezed his eyes shut.

“Trying to see if you can break me?”

Break him?

I didn’t know what he meant, and I was drunk enough to say it out loud. “I don’t understand.”

Rix reached behind me to unclasp my bra and drew it down my arms. With a growl, he tugged the duvet free from behind me before pulling it up over my body.

When he deemed me suitably covered, he met my gaze again. Liquid silver. That’s what his eyes looked like in my drunken state.

“You confuse the fuck out of me. I want you, made that shit clear. You want me, but you can’t seem to wrap your head around it. I don’t like it when a woman changes her mind when I’m rolling a condom down my cock, but I ain’t ever not gonna listen. I’ve put it out there every way I know how, but you’re a different breed, duchess. You’re gonna have to ask for it. Beg for it, even, before we get that far again.”

“I don’t beg,” I said. “For anything.”