With divine timing, Larry places three fresh shots in front of us.Emily hoists her shot glass on the right as Hannah reaches for the glass on the left.Still doing my best to ignore the quixotic pull of the hunk with white-blond hair and cheekbones that look like they are made of chiseled marble, I lift the center glass as Hannah holds hers high to make a toast.
“Here’s to making new mistakes.”Hannah’s talking to us, but she’s looking atthem.
I follow her line of sight and lock eyes with the sexiest man I’ve ever seen.He’s still here and the longer I stare, the better he looks.He stares back.Does he ever blink?Shit, he’s hot.
“A-fucking-men, sister.Amen.”Emily clinks her glass with ours and swallows the tequila in one gulp.
New mistakes?Like hooking up with a stranger I just meet in a bar?So, yeah, Nicholas never shoved me up against the wall and rocked my world like a bad, bad boy.Not that I want a bad boy.Oh wait, hell, yes, I do.Or at least, I want to feel like a very bad girl.I could smile at him.I could go over there and introduce myself, see what happens.Why not?Why the fuck not?
The dream I had of the perfect husband, the white picket fence and two-point-five kids went up in flames today.It’s all I’ve ever really wanted.To find my person and plant roots.The roots part I’ve got.It’s the guy thing I seem to have trouble with.I wasted over a year with the wrong guy because he seemed perfect and checked all my boxes.
Makes me feel like a fool for following the rules.Maybe it’s time to break a few instead.“Can they be sexy new mistakes?”Did I just say that out loud?
“To sexy new mistakes!”Hannah lifts her glass high before tapping it on the bar top with a loud clink.Tequila sloshes over the edge, but she doesn’t seem to care about her wet fingers as she takes several sips of fiery drink and promptly coughs and sputters.As usual.
Her flushed face and embarrassed grin make me chuckle over her antics.Or maybe that’s the tequila.Hell, maybe it’s the fifty-ton boulder that’s been lifted off my not-getting-married-today shoulders.“Maybe I should go ask him to marry me.”
Hannah and Emily burst into laughter.It wasn’tthatfunny.Was it?
I stare into my shot of tequila like it’s a magic eight ball with all the answers.A blazing hot tingle races up and down my spine.I’m being watched.
I dare another glance in Mr.Hottie’s direction.Our eyes connect.His blue gaze is glued on me, his eyes dark with desire.
My skin heats.My vag throbs.My mouth goes dry.Pulse pounding like thunder in my ears, every cell in my body reacts with a surge of raw lust.Iwanthim.It’s not logical.Or sane.My body doesn’t care.
His gaze drops to my lips.Lower.When he’s looked his fill, his gaze returns to mine.His attention is focused.Absolute.He wants me, too.
Me.
Three
B.I.L.L.: Nothing will fuck you up faster than an astral bond.Nothing.
Bucking Bronco Cowboy Bar, Saturday, 4:30 pm
I can seehis desire under that suit, large, bold, plain as day.He doesn’t even try to hide the sizeable bulge in his pants.In fact, he’s still watching me like he wants me naked.
Am I hallucinating?Have I lost my mind?This is the kind of reaction I read about in romance novels.Insta-lust doesn’t happen in real life.Right?
Fumbling, I reach for my forgotten shot glass and take a sip without breaking eye contact.
I literally can’t look away.Blue eyes.Not just any blue, but crystal clear and piercing.He’s tall—professional basketball player tall—with broad shoulders, a tapered body, and muscles, on top of muscles, on top of, yep, more muscles.My inner vixen is clasping her hands against my chest and batting her lashes.Damn, that is aman.
My skin is too warm and I’m still not breathing.God, he’s freaking gorgeous.Tie me up, tie me down, take me now, freaking gorgeous.My delicate lace panties are soaked and I have goose bumps.My pulse hammers inside my head like it’s racing for gold at the Olympics.
I’m staring.I know it.But he’s staring back.At me.
The tequila burns the back of my throat, but the bulk of it lands in my stomach like a heat bomb.Excellent.The shock to my system breaks the holy-shit-he’s-hot spell and I gasp.“Oh, my god.I can’t stop staring at him.”
“Told you.”Emily’s gaze follows mine and Hannah joins us to make us three bobbing heads who can’t look away from the tall, blond, gorgeous trio that has absolutely no business being in this western bar.“I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers.”
Hannah giggles, her smile bright and backed by tequila.“Which one?If we’re calling dibs, I want the one on the left.”
Right?Which one indeed.They are all gorgeous, but I can’t look away from the man in the middle.Why?I have no idea.There’s just something about him that makes me want to strip naked and jump on him like a wild, desperate animal.“Middle.”
“Right,” Emily says at the exact same time.Tipsy, we giggle like fifteen-year-old schoolgirls.Emily lifts her empty glass and wiggles it at the bartender as he sets our food order down in front of us.My stomach growls and mouth waters at the delicious aromas.
Guess we won’t need to argue, which is kind of perfect.
