I liked Valentina’s mix of strength and sensuality. And I also loved that delightful side she’d shown in that message she’d sent me by mistake. A picture was worth a thousand words, and that one was going to be my undoing. In fact, it already had been. After we’d exchanged messages, I’d hopped into my shower. All I could think about under the warm spray of the water was how it would feel to take that dress off her, uncover every inch of her sweet body. I ended up jacking off to the fantasy, crying out her name. My dick twitched at the memory.

“Looks like we did need the entire bottle after all,” I commented when I refilled our glasses for the third time.

Val giggled. “It was a small one, though.”

I wondered why a woman like her was single. When I saw her with that guy tonight, my gut had clenched tightly. They were so close that I’d first thought that they were an item, or about to become one. Then when I’d glimpsed her uncomfortable expression, I saw red. I was proud that I hadn’t forcibly removed the guy from her proximity.

“My back hurts from being on my feet for so long.”

“Press your thumbs into the quadratus lumborum muscle. It relieves some of the pressure.”

“The what?”

Without thinking, I reached to her back, pressing three fingers in the muscle in question. Val straightened, then leaned into my touch.

“Just here.”

After I took my hand away, she pressed her thumbs at either side of the spine.

“Ah, that’s so good.... Where did you learn about this?”

“From my fitness instructor.”

“Figures,” she mumbled, more to herself.

“Figures what?”

“That you like to work out.” She pointed at my chest, then promptly dropped her hand, as if just realizing what she’d done.

I smiled lazily. “Oh, yeah? You like... the package, Val?”

“I’m trying to decide if my honesty will go to your head.”

I laughed, and Val playfully slapped my shoulder.

“Well, you probably own a mirror, and you see what I see, so there’s no reason for me to be dishonest.”

Despite knowing it wasn’t the smartest thing, I leaned closer.

“I want to hear you say it, Valentina.”

She narrowed her eyes, as if weighing the pros and cons.

“No, I don’t think I will. Too much self-confidence is as bad as no confidence. It’s what my dad used to say. He was Irish and tried to pass all sorts of weird sayings as old Irish proverbs, but my friend Google disagrees. I think Dad just made them up. But I like them.”

She relaxed—until I moved even closer. “Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook about the other thing.”

Val licked her lips, then shrugged one shoulder playfully. “Suit yourself. I can’t be pressured.”