THE LANDLORD (BBANGSAZ)

Chapter 2 (M)

MINJI

Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was the fact I'd barely eaten dinner, on top of drinking, when I never drank much to begin with. Or maybe I'd just been a little pent-up after a six-month dry spell spent having tea parties and braiding my four-year-old daughter's hair. Whatever the reason, there was only one thought running through my mind the first time I laid eyes on Hanni from across the bar.

I want her.

And once I saw her in that skintight dress, doing a horrible job of pretending to not be checking me out? I got all kinds of ideas about how to expend that pent-up energy. And now we were here, standing in my living room, surrounded by photos of my daughter. Which was pretty much the exact opposite of an aphrodisiac.

When we'd climbed out of the cab, I'd realized that the topic of my daughter never came up in our bar banter-and that we were about to be confronted with the babysitter. There really wasn't any way around it.

Casual flings didn't tend to handle the whole single-dad thing well. Single moms, on the other hand, fucking loved it. The idea of a man devoted to his kid had them panting for days. But casual, no-strings hookups? To them, me being a parent screamed one of two things: I was either an irresponsible asshole who couldn't properly wrap it up, or I was a total commitment addict trying to lure them in with my adorable four-year-old child in need of a new mama. Either way, it usually didn't go over well. But so far, Hanni was handling it fine.

Then she crossed the room toward me, and a single thought pervaded my brain.

Fuck, she's sexy.

All those curves and her throaty laugh, coupled with her confidence? I was a total sucker for a confident woman who knew what she wanted.

"Happy birthday," I whispered, placing my hands on her waist and drawing her in close.

Just because this would most likely be a one-time thing didn't mean I wanted to rush through it. Quite the opposite, actually. I wanted to savor and enjoy every minute of this. Starting with the perfect kiss.

"It's almost midnight," she murmured, her lips just inches from mine.

Placing one hand on her cheek, I guided her mouth to mine, sealing my lips over hers in a slow, soft kiss.

She responded perfectly, opening her mouth in a silent invitation for my tongue to slide against hers. My hands found those curves wrapped under that black fuck-me dress I'd been admiring, and God, she felt even better under my palms than I could have imagined. Soft and warm and so inviting.

I pressed one more slow kiss to her lips and pulled back to study her reaction. I rarely did this kind of thing. Having her here was surreal . . . and really fucking turning me on, knowing what was probably about to happen.

"Can I get you something to drink?" I asked, slipping my hand around her waist. If she'd changed her mind or wanted to slow things down, I wanted her to know that was fine too.

"I can think of other things I'd rather be doing with my mouth," she replied, her voice low and sultry as she ran her fingertips over my chest.

God, I love a woman who knows what she wants.

Wordlessly, I placed my hand around the back of her neck, guiding her face to mine for another sweet kiss. She wrapped her arms around me and pressed her hips into me, lining up perfectly with my quickly growing erection.

As our tongues moved more urgently together, I slowly guided her down the hallway toward the stairs. Our breathing became heavy and labored, and with each step closer to my room, my cock grew harder. I was sure she could feel it pressing into her belly as we crossed the threshold into my room.