“Promise me you won’t fuck him,” he boldly demands.

“James! Okay, first of all, you can’t just throw down rules like that. I’m a grown­ass woman, and you can’t dictate who I choose to get familiar with. Second, do you actually think I would fuck somebody after only one date?”

“No. You’re a good girl, Lola, and I know you wouldn’t do some shit like that, but I just worry. Eric’s so much older than you, and based on what you’ve told me about him, he seems like kind of a smooth talker. I don’t want him smooth talking you right out of your panties.”

“I want you to look at me when I do this because I’m doing it as hard as I can.” I point to my face before dramatically rolling my eyes.

“Fine, don’t listen to me,” he says, smirking. “Go out there and give it up to that Viking motherfucker ’cause he fed you some line of bullshit to get into your pants. Let’s see how you feel after that, huh? Let’s see what happens when you’re all bummed out about it and I have to build you back up again and show you that you’re worth a lot more than that.”

There’s an underlying tenderness to what he said that makes me smile.

“You are, you know?” His voice sounds softer, more sincere and even a bit shy. “You’re worth way more than a dude like him.”

“You don’t even know him,” I murmur in response.

“But I know you,” he says, looking right into my eyes. “I know what you deserve, how special you are. How beautiful.”

My throat moves as I swallow heavily. Pure, unadulterated honesty. Whenever he says things like this to me, he sounds so genuine and forthright that it catches me off guard. I’m used to Total Smart­ass James, but Heartfelt­and­Sincere James can stop me in my tracks.

“Give me your other foot,” he says, breaking the moment as he puts my left foot up on his knee. A big smile slowly spreads across my face as I watch him return to the task with such care. “Lola,” he says, grinning, “don’t tell anybody about this—that I’m sitting here painting your fuckin’ toenails like we’re at a slumber party or something.”

I laugh loudly and nod my head. “Afraid this would damage your rep?”

“Beyond belief!” he replies, giving my foot a squeeze. “I can’t be the dude who ties girls up and spanks them and the dude who sits around pampering you like you’re a fuckin’ princess. How the fuck could I maintain any level of coolness if people found out that I spent my whole night cooking dinner and painting your toenails for your date with some other guy?”

That makes me laugh harder, and he gives me that mischievous smile.

“Your secret’s safe with me, dude,” I reply, barely containing a snicker. “I won’t tell anybody how you’re my big sweetie pie.”

“Shut up,” he says, his face taking on the tiniest hint of embarrassment.

“Nobody will find out that you’re my big, honey bunny, teddy bear,” I tease in a baby voice. “Zip it!” he commands with a laugh.

“I’m not gonna tell everybody how you’re my cuddly, snuggly schmoopy.”

“I will put this bottle down, tear your clothes off and fuck you on the goddamn floor, and we’ll see who’s cuddly and snuggly!” he warns, trying to sound menacing.

“All talk.” I shake my head. “Bark and no bite.”

He takes a deep breath, puts the lid on the bottle, and gives me that predatory grin that says he’s primed to attack.

“You wouldn’t dare!” I giggle, tensing in anticipation.

With that, he lunges onto me and pins my arms above my head. He’s pushing down on me with his full body weight, and I have no chance of escaping his grasp. I feign a struggle, but I’m laughing too hard.

“You’re lucky that I am your schmoopy or I’d have to teach that smart mouth of yours a lesson,” he says in a slightly more seductive tone.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I smirk as he lets my hands go. I reach around him and swat his butt, which makes him laugh. “Now finish my toenails, cupcake.”

About the Author

Bianca Giovanni was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. She grew up with a single mother and Italian grandmother, who was an avid reader. She has had a love of writing since childhood, but self-published her first short stories in 2012. Bianca’s strong female characters and witty dialogue have struck a chord with readers and lead to her popularity on self-publishing platforms.

In 2013, Bianca signed with Omnific Publishing to bring the ‘Vice, Virtue & Video’ series to readers. The series contains First Dance (free introductory short story), Revealed (book #1), Letting Go (book #1.5), and four more novels to be released in 2014.

She currently resides in Denver, Colorado, where she can often be found jotting down story ideas in a notebook.

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Other titles in the Vice, Virtue, and Video series:

REVEALED (Book, #1)

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