The Rules of Dating a Younger Man

Dinner with Brayden tonight had not helped my predicament in the least. I was even more hot for him than I’d been earlier in the day. Our conversation had flowed so easily. After I’d asked him to tell me more about his job, Brayden had explained some of the ideas he had for future prosthetic designs. He really impressed me. And for a guy who could be cocky when he wanted to, Brayden was quite humble. He hadn’t bragged about helping Charlie. He could’ve used that to his benefit, but he didn’t.

After we came back from the restaurant, we stepped into an empty elevator and headed upstairs to our respective rooms.

“I don’t want this evening to end,” he said. Brayden stared hungrily at my mouth but stopped short of doing anything.

I desperately wanted him to kiss me. Suddenly his lips were only inches from mine. But he still didn’t budge. Is he waiting for permission? I couldn’t wait another second to taste this man, and in a flash, I decided to go for it. Leaning in, I pressed my lips to his, appreciating the low groan of satisfaction that emanated from his throat.

“Fuck, yeah,” he muttered over my lips. Brayden pulled my body close, his rock-hard erection growing against my abdomen. Opening wider, I let his tongue in, appreciating the hint of beer. Our kiss grew deeper as I raked my fingernails through his hair.

Oh, God. This is—

Then the doors slid open.

We pulled back, but not before a few of the volunteers from Ryan’s House who’d been waiting for the elevator caught us.

I looked down as Brayden and I walked past them, without acknowledging anything. Once we were a few feet down the hall, I got a glimpse of the massive bulge in his pants.

He caught me looking. “What do you expect? I’m like a fucking animal in heat for you, Alex.”

Panting, I knew with absolute certainty that if one of us stepped into the other’s room tonight, we’d be having sex. And as much as my body wanted it, I wasn’t ready to cross that line. Because then what? “Goodnight,” I announced before walking away without looking back.

I wasn’t surprised when a text from Brayden came in shortly after I’d escaped into my room.

Brayden: How am I supposed to make it through two more days with you?

Alex: That’s exactly why I left. The less time alone the better. Look what happens when we’re alone.

Brayden: I liked how you took what you wanted.

Alex: It can’t be more than that kiss.

Brayden: You’re killing me. But I know this isn’t about you playing hard to get. You’re not ready. I need you to be a hundred percent comfortable. Because I want you to give every bit of yourself to me with nothing holding you back. I can be patient.

Alex: There’s pretty much just a tiny string holding me back at this point.

Brayden: Remind me to bring my scissors tomorrow.

***

The following morning, I slept in before heading to the worksite. I needed the sleep after being wired with uneasy excitement the past couple of days. When I finally showed up around eleven, Brayden was nowhere to be found.

After last night’s blue balls repeat, had he decided he couldn’t stand to be around me? My mind ran wild as to why he was a no-show. He had questioned how he was going to get through two full days with me. Maybe he’d finally agreed that the less time we spent together the better?

One of the women I knew had seen Brayden and me kissing in the elevator last night came over as I was about to get started peeling some wallpaper.

“Hi,” I said. She looked as though she wanted to say something.

“I don’t believe we’ve formally met, even though you and I have been working alongside each other.” She held out her hand, which had some paint splatter on it. “I’m Cora.”

“Alex. So nice to meet you.”

Cora was tall with short brown hair. She was wearing denim overalls.

“Can I be nosy?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“You and that hottie Brayden… A few of us saw you kissing in the elevator last night, as you probably know.”

“I do.” I cleared my throat. “Sorry for the spectacle.”

“Oh, please.” She waved her hand. “It was hot as fuck.”

“Well, happy you think so. It wasn’t meant to be a show, though.”

“You guys were so into it, you barely noticed the elevator doors opening.”

“We got a little carried away.”

“I think that’s amazing.” She tilted her head. “So when’s the wedding?”

I turned to the wall and began scraping. “There’s no wedding. We’re not even dating.”

“Really? Well, you had me fooled.”

“We’re mainly…flirting.”

Scrape.

Scrape.

Scrape.

“Damn. That’s some flirting, then.”

“He’s too young for me.”

Scrape.

Scrape.

Scrape.

The longer Brayden and I hung out together, the more my excuses seemed flimsy. If I didn’t believe what I was trying to sell, how could anyone else?

“Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I made a play for him?” Cora asked. “Dude’s smoking hot.”

A rush of heat rose from the base of my neck to my head as I abruptly stopped scraping.

“Oh my God. You should see how red you just got. I was totally joking. Also, I’m totally gay. I have more interest in you than him. You don’t swing both ways, do you?”

“I don’t.”

She laughed. “Okay, then why are you denying what’s obviously an amazing connection? Age is just a number anyway.”

“Even aside from the age difference, Brayden and I…are in two different places in our lives.”

“It looked like you were in exactly the same place last night.” She looked over my shoulder. “Speak of the devil…”

I turned to find Brayden walking in with Charlie. Immediately, I felt like an idiot for wondering where he was. That’s right. Brayden had told me yesterday that he was taking Charlie this morning to get fitted for a suit.

Brayden headed straight toward me, carrying two coffees.

He held one out. “I figured you could use this.”

I took it. “Thanks. I had a coffee at the hotel, but could really use another.”

“Long night?” Brayden arched a brow.

I felt my face heat as I peeled back the plastic lid.

“Were you up late doing anything in particular?” He flashed me a mischievous grin.

“Why is that any of your business?”

He lowered his voice. “Because we started it, and I want to know how it finished without me.”

“It finished great.”

“Damn, what I wouldn’t have given to be a fly on the wall for that. Or better, a bedbug with a front-row seat.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

He winked. “I forgot… I’m not supposed to say bedbugs around you.”

Taking a sip of my coffee, I couldn’t believe it. Is that cinnamon? A hint of caramel? It was precisely the way I liked it. Glancing down at the details printed on the side of the cup, I noticed he’d indeed figured out my usual order.

“How did you know how I take my coffee? I never told you.”

Brayden tapped the side of his head. “I’m just smart like that.”

“No way. Oat milk with two sugars, one pump of caramel, and a dash of cinnamon? That’s way too specific for you to have gotten lucky.”

“You brought a coffee with you to the house one time. I memorized what was on the sticker on the side, so I’d know what you like.”

Wow.

For some reason, my thoughts went to my husband, God rest his soul. Richard was always too busy with work to bother with such minute details. He couldn’t have told you how I took my coffee if his life depended on it. I never faulted him for that. I understood. It just wasn’t in him. Now, though, it felt foreign to have such attention placed on me.

“That’s not the only thing I know about you,” Brayden went on to say.

“Oh really?” I blinked. “Do tell.”

“Blue is your favorite color. You’ve worn it approximately four times. That’s how I know.”

He’s right.

“One of your eyes is slightly darker than the other. It’s subtle, but I notice it because I’m constantly staring into them.”

It’s getting hotter in here.

He continued, “You write with your left hand but eat with your right. You lick the corner of your lips when you’re nervous.” He smiled. “Should I go on?”

Please don’t, because I don’t know how to stop liking you.

***

After work that afternoon, Brayden accompanied me back to the hotel. We somehow found ourselves in an empty elevator again. Before I could even contemplate whether we’d end up in the same predicament as last time, Brayden had backed me up against the wall.

“You kissed me first last night. So…an eye for an eye,” he muttered over my lips before taking my mouth with his.

Ohhhhhhh. My legs felt weak as I melted into him. He wrapped his hands around my face and kissed me harder than I’d ever been kissed. So commanding. So freaking perfect. When the doors opened, he pushed back immediately. Thankfully, this time there was no one standing there who knew us.

We started down the hall, and I knew that kiss had been way too short. My mouth burned with unsatisfied desire. I needed more. My nipples were hard, and my body was in flames as I walked along with jelly legs.

He brushed against me. “Come to my room so I can finish what I started.”

I wanted to. Or at least every inch of my body did. But I knew what would happen.

“I can’t,” I said.

“This isn’t just about sex, Alex.” His hair was sticking up a little. “I want to date you. Why can’t you take my interest in you seriously?”

“Are you dating anyone else?” I blurted.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway. “No.”

My chest rose and fell. “You’re not seeing someone back in New York?”

“What part of no don’t you understand? Now, what time are we going to dinner tonight?” When I hesitated, he said, “I’ll meet you downstairs at eight.”

Then he walked back the other direction, toward the elevators, and disappeared.

I caught myself licking the corner of my lips. He was right. I did do that when I was nervous.

***

That evening, Brayden took me to an Indian restaurant he’d wanted to try. The food was spicier than I normally liked—too hot to handle, like pretty much everything else about this day.

At one point he left his phone on the table while he went to the bathroom. It lit up with a call, and a woman’s face appeared on the screen. She had long black hair and dark red lipstick. She was beautiful, and I panicked inside.

Jealousy tore through me. I’m too old for this shit. He said he wasn’t dating anyone. I wanted to believe him. But who was this gorgeous woman?

Brayden returned to the table, and his smile faded as he got a look at my face. I guess I wasn’t very good at hiding my emotions.

“What’s wrong, Alex?”

I slid his phone toward him. “You missed a call.”

He narrowed his eyes and looked down. “Yeah. Okay. It was Billie…”

“Who’s Billie?” My heart pounded.

“My buddy Colby’s wife.” His eyes widened. “Wait, did you think…” He exhaled. “I get why you might’ve assumed that.”

“Who bothers to upload a photo of his friend’s wife to his caller ID? I would never have imagined that’s who she was.”

Brayden rolled his eyes. “I didn’t upload it. She did. Billie grabbed my phone one day and did it to bust my balls. Did you not notice she’s giving me the middle finger in that pic?”

I hadn’t. I’d been too busy noticing how beautiful she was.

“She said I never answer my damn phone, and that’s why she did it.” He sighed, and then a lightbulb seemed to go on. He snapped his fingers. “You know what? You and Billie need to talk.” He scrolled on his phone.

“What? What are you doing?” I asked.

Brayden waited for her to pick up. “Hey, Billie. What’s up? I saw you called…” He scratched his chin. “Oh, yeah. Tell Colby I got them down to two thousand. I meant to fill him in on that.” He paused. “Listen, I need a favor. I’m on a date right now. Her name is Alex. I need you to talk to her and tell her she can trust me.” Without further warning, he handed the phone to me.

I cleared my throat. “Um…hello?”

“I can’t believe that jackass just handed you the phone.” She laughed.

“It’s because I saw your photo on the screen when you called and thought you were more than a friend after he’d told me he wasn’t dating anyone.” I sighed. “You’re very beautiful, by the way.”

“Aw, well, I like you already and don’t even know you.”

“I’m sorry. This is terribly awkward. Not sure what I’m supposed to say right now…” I looked over at Brayden, who stared at me intently.

“I don’t know you or what’s going on between you and Brayden,” she said. “But I can tell you a couple of things even so.”

“Okay…” I licked the corner of my mouth.

“Brayden never talks about the women he dates. He’s generally the most secretive of the bunch. So, the fact that he wanted me to speak to you says a lot. And one thing he’s not is dishonest. None of the guys in their circle are. If you ask them a question, you can bet their answers are the truth, even if you don’t wanna hear it.”

“Thank you.” I nodded, letting out a relieved breath. “Anything else?”

“Not that I can think of. Just if you’re ever in the city and need a tattoo, I’ll get you in without an appointment. Any friend of Brayden’s is a friend of mine.”

“Well, that’s very generous of you. It would be my first tattoo, if that ever happened.”

“Then we definitely need to rectify that.”

“It was nice talking to you, Billie.”

“Same, Alex. Bye.”

I handed him back the phone.

“Thanks, Billie.” After he hung up, he crossed his arms. “Did she have anything interesting to say?”

“She deems you trustworthy.”

“See?” He winked. “Don’t get me wrong, Alex. I like that you might’ve been a little jealous.”

“It wasn’t only jealousy. It was also…fear.”

“Why are you so afraid of me?” he asked. “I swear, I’m not out to hurt you.”

“I know you’re not looking to hurt me, Brayden.”

“But you’re still looking for reasons this can’t work.”

“I’m not gonna lie…sometimes you seem too good to be true. I do believe you’re a genuinely good person. The way you’ve been helping Charlie, your work with kids—both with the prosthetics and volunteering. You never brag about anything or try to use it to your advantage. All of that stuff makes you even hotter than the way you look.”

“If that kind of stuff makes you more hot for me, I should let you know I helped a little old lady across the parking lot today.”

I cackled. “You’re funny, too. That’s another thing in your corner.” I paused, trying to collect my thoughts. “My fear, though, relates to whether I am the right woman for you.”

His expression turned serious as his tone grew softer. “Let’s talk about it, then.”

“I think sometimes in life you have to look beyond the present moment. There’s not a single reason why you and I don’t work right now. But there are things that will come up in the future and cause us to end badly. For example, you want kids. You said it yourself. That’s not something I would likely be able to give you. So, essentially, isn’t that a deal breaker?”

“Of course not,” he said.

My eyes went wide. “How can you say that?”

“There are ways to have kids besides biologically. Unless you wouldn’t be open to that, either?”

“I don’t know.” That was the truth.

“While I understand you thinking ahead about the potential problems we could face many months or years from now, that’s not how I operate, Alex. If Ryan’s death taught me anything, it’s that we need to live every day like it’s our last. I could get hit by a truck tomorrow. And you know what? The thing I’d regret most is not getting to see where things went with you.”

My heart lurched. “You’re unbelievable,” I mumbled.

“Come back to my room tonight, and I’ll show you unbelievable.”

“That’s dangerous, and you know it.”

“Absolutely.”

“I don’t think so.”

“How about if I promise to be good? Not try anything. Seriously, I hate that our nights end so early because you’re afraid to be alone with me. We have such limited time as it is. Why can’t we be in a room alone together and not have sex?”

I was still pondering that question as we headed back to the hotel. Tonight, we didn’t get lucky with an empty elevator, so I never got my kiss. After we stepped off, I still hadn’t decided whether to go back to his room.

Brayden stopped me midway down the hall, wrapping his hands around my waist and backing me against a wall. A shiver ran the length of my body.

“How about this…” he said. “I swear on Ryan’s soul that I will not make a move on you if you come back to my room. I won’t touch you.”

I nodded. “Well, now I know you’re telling the truth. But I’m still going to my room.”

“Why?”

“I don’t trust myself not to make a move on you.”

His eyes filled with mischief.

“Goodnight,” I called as I once again ran off to my room alone.

“It’s a good thing your favorite color is blue, because it matches my balls perfectly,” he yelled after me.