“Could have fooled me with how you keep looking in my direction.”
“That’s because you stare too much. You need to stop.”
“Why?”
“It’s distracting.”
“How so?” he asks with feigned innocence. I glare at him but don’t answer. He knows exactly what he’s doing, and there’s no way I’ll inflate his ego by spelling it out. “Will you make him sign a contract, too?”
“It’s none of your business.”
The woman finally notices me and comes to take my order. Once it’s placed, I watch as she prepares it.
“Did you really not think of me?” Jake asks, his voice like warm honey pouring down my ear.
The tips of his fingers graze up my spine, where the zipper of my dress is, and lustful shivers run across my entire body. When something pulses between my legs, I press my knees together, adamantly shushing it. I shake my head, aware that my body just gave the opposite answer.
“I see,” he whispers. “I, for one, have been thinking of you a lot, red. Every time I’m fucking another woman, I find myself regretting she isn’t covered in freckles, with fire for hair and legs for days. That taste of yours haunts me, and when I close my eyes, I can still hear your sweet moans, those whimpers when you begged, how you screamed my name…”
This time, I can do nothing to muffle the way my clitoris palpitates. Wetness nearly gushes out of me, my core begging to give in and accept the invitation he’s so brazenly issuing.
His hand is on my hip now, pressing me closer to him, and I can’t think past the lust to pry it away. “Ditch the boy toy and spend the night with me, red. I promise you won’t regret it.”
But I will regret it. One night with him and he’s been in my head ever since. A second night would be a stupid decision because how am I supposed to move on then? It would be like tempting the devil, and I know better than to do that.
The bartender sets the drink on the counter before me. “Fourteen dollars.”
“It’s on me,” Jake tries.
“No.” I set the bill on the counter and grab my glass, eager to escape him. “Keep the change.”
My knees are unstable as I make my way back to Owen. Crap, my enterprise couldn’t have gone worse. I’m even more likely to get distracted by Jake’s looming presence now, and my mind is filled with the lustful desires he ignited.
I still haven’t recuperated by the time I sit back down, but two long sips of my drink are gone. Soon, the alcohol will help me relax, and I’ll be free of Jake’s invisible hold.
Owen looks tense, and I realize he could see everything from here, including Jake’s hand slithering up and down my back. When he speaks, my worries are confirmed.
“You and the guy at the bar have history, right?”
My eyes instantly dart to Jake, who’s looking at us again. “No. I mean—it’s complicated.”
“I told you I can’t do complicated.”
“He won’t be an issue.”
Owen discreetly glances at Jake, who gives him a dark, dangerous glare. “He looks like someone who owns a shovel and knows ten good spots to bury a body.” I want to deny, but yes, Jake does look like that. “I think I should head home,” Owen decides.
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah, it’s better. You told me it would be a simple, no-strings-attached thing, but it looks like more than that.”
“We can go to another place if you want. Another bar.”
“No, I think—I think it’s safer to leave it at that.”
Baffled, I watch as he gets up from the bench and picks up his jacket. Is it cowardice, or is Jake much more intimidating than I give him credit for? Or maybe I’m not tempting enough to make up for the potential complications.
“Whatever’s up between you and this guy, I hope you sort it out.”
