Kissed Read Online Free

me to one charity gala or another, hell even out to dinner at some swanky restaurant, before fucking me was apparently an acceptable use of my time for him. But even he wouldn’t check into a hotel room with me after one of these dinners, fundraisers, etcetera for fear of being seen. I mean, why would a well-known man who lived in Chicago check into a hotel with a young woman unless the woman happened to be someone he probably wasn’t supposed to be sticking his cock in?
    I’m pretty sure all the aforementioned bullshit had led me to hating men at this point. Of course I might hate myself just as much.
    I entered room 511, flipping the security bar out and letting the door rest, slightly cracked, against it as I waited for David. I liked the Peninsula. David liked nice things, nice cars, nice clothes; he even fucked like a gentlemen, all nice and neat like.
    I untied the dress and hung it on a hanger in the closet. I carried my small cosmetic pouch to the bathroom with me, and I stopped at the bathroom counter, staring at myself in the mirror. It was hard to play sociopath when faced with my image staring back at me. It was harder still as my eyes took in the skimpy, white low-rise underwear and matching demi-bra.
    David liked white. Maybe it was the innocence of it, maybe not. He also liked red. I knew this about him—odd, it might be the only thing I knew about him. But I didn’t really care to know more. I pulled the dark red lipstick from my pouch and started to touch up my lips, using my fingertip to wipe it away from my cupid’s bow. This color always felt overdone to me. It was too bold for my taste. But this wasn’t about my taste. It rarely was.
    My phone rang from beside me on the bathroom countertop. Jessa’s image, complete with her tongue sticking out, stared up at me, and I glanced at myself in the mirror as though worried she might see me and my garish red lips. My eyes shifted down to the countertop as I hit the speaker button, and then I returned to wiping the excess crimson from around my mouth, still refusing to make eye contact with myself.
    “You swear we’re going to a movie tomorrow?” She rarely bothered with a “hello” or even a “hi.” We were casual that way.
    “I swear.”
    “You owe me, Gabe. I’m not kidding. You know I could be out doing all sorts of inappropriate things for a seventeen-year-old.”
    “But you won’t,” I said dryly as I looked back up to my eyes in the mirror again—finally convinced she couldn’t see me. Or was I finally just able to tolerate seeing myself?
    “Of course I won’t. Not with a responsible conservator like you as a sister.”
    Responsible. What a joke. I looked back down at the countertop, avoiding the sight of myself again, and I listened as the door in the main suite opened. It was time.
    “Listen, I have to go. Tomorrow. I promise.”
    “Scout’s honor?”
    “My honor,” I replied quietly. “Bye, kiddo.”
    “Bye, Gabe.”
    I hit the End button. I stared at myself in the mirror for another moment and brushed a few loose wisps of hair away from my eyes, and when I was finally ready to flip that switch and turn it all off for a while, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I could hear the approaching footsteps, and I forced my lips into a smile as I waited for David to peek his head in.
    “Gabrielle.” Keegan’s deep voice was droll and warm as he stepped into the doorway. “Or is it Gabe?” He cocked his head to the side as his arms crossed on his chest.
    That switch in my mind failed to extinguish anything, and as I took in the sight of him, I panicked. I gasped, and that sudden intake of breath turned to all-out panting as I watched him in the mirror. I could see my mouth hanging open in my periphery, but my focus was glued to him.
    He smirked as his eyes locked on mine, and then he sauntered easily and casually toward me, closing the space between us and bringing his body up behind mine. He was close. He was too