Voyeur - Lacey Alexander [28]
Drat—that almost got her. She felt guilty and mean.
But there was nothing mean about it. He was a big boy—he’d get by just fine without her company, she was sure of it. And for all she knew, he was dating twenty different women. And would have one of them in his bed tonight. Or maybe he was dating only one woman—a special one. And this was sort of like cheating on her. More than sort of—definitely cheating. She let out a sigh and kept typing, reminding herself that these were just more good examples of why it was a mistake to get intimately involved with someone she didn’t know from Adam.
A few feet away on the desk, an antique black phone rang. She flinched—the phone hadn’t rung since her arrival, and she’d thought this particular device only served as a decoration; she’d never dreamed the thing actually worked.
She knew almost certainly that it was Braden calling—insisting she talk to him. If she answered, she could finally hear his voice. She would definitely feel as if he were a little nearer, even if it was only an illusion. If only she dared.
Of course, it could also be Monica, or her mother, who also knew where she was—but they’d more likely call her cell.
Staring at the phone, then casting a slow glance back to the computer, she took a deep breath and reached for the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, honey. It’s me.” As she’d suspected, his voice was deep and dark, flowing over her like thick, melted chocolate. Just hearing it made her breasts feel heavy and her inner thighs ache.
“Hi,” she replied shortly. She glanced down, away from the screen. She couldn’t let him see how just the very sound of him affected her.
“Don’t be mad at me, okay?”
She suspected he’d used the persuasive tone on women before—and she also suspected it had always worked. “I never said I was mad.” She swallowed back the nervous lump that had grown in her throat at this unexpected push closer to him. “I’m just . . . very uncomfortable.”
“I don’t want you to feel that way. I want you to love what we’ve been sharing as much as I do.”
“Well, sure, that would be nice, but . . . I can’t.”
“Why do you think sex is wrong?”
She sighed. “I never said that, either. I don’t think sex is wrong at all—I think sex is great. But I’m not comfortable doing weird things with a stranger. It might be different if we were together, in the same room, but we’re not even in the same state, so . . . it’s just a bizarre way to be intimate, that’s all.”
She heard him breathing on the other end of the line and, despite herself, couldn’t help enjoying the continued illusion that he was somehow closer now. “I’d think most women might like it better this way—I mean, since you keep telling me I’m a stranger, I’d think you’d be glad I’m far away. That it would make you feel . . . safer or something.”
“I’m not most women. I’ve told you, I’m conservative and sensible. Nothing about this is conservative and sensible.”
“And if I asked you to meet me at the computer tonight at ten o’clock?”
“You’d find an empty room this time—I swear it.” And she meant it—sexy phone voice or not. Because if there had been any safety through the anonymity provided by the computer, this kind of changed that, made him even more real than he’d been before. She simply didn’t think she could muster another masturbation scene for him now that she’d heard his voice.
“So you’d really stand me up?” He sounded disappointed, but his voice also held a hint of teasing. “I hate to hear that, snowflake.”
“Why?”
“You get me hotter than anyone has in a long time.” No teasing this time. All serious, all heat.
“Why is that?” she asked frankly. “Why not find a real woman—one you can touch yourself ? I hear they have attractive ones in California.”
He laughed softly, although it held little humor. “You’re real enough for me—trust me on that. More real than most women I know.”
“Too much silicone and BOTOX in your world?”
“Maybe something like that. Just suffice it to say you’re the woman I want right now.”
She blinked slowly, then finally lifted her gaze to the camera, feeling she needed to face him if she