In fact, this was the first time in a long time that I wished I had somebody bymyside, holdingmyhand. And that momentary crack in confidence was most likely what had me flagging down the blond baseballer in skintight joggers heading in my direction.
“You.”
Pink looked up from the canvas bag in his hands.Fuck.The man used recyclable bags. The gray sweatpants molded to the outline of his cock combined with his surprisingly sexy eco-consciousness was enough to tip the scales (momentarily) in his direction.
“Morning, angel.” He sauntered over, a pep in his step that had no business being there so early in the morning. “You going to wish me a happy birthday?”
“Yeah, yeah. I need a favor.”
His brows furrowed with surprise. “Let me explain to you how birthdays work—”
“Jared.” I groaned, the desperation leaking through my voice. “I don’t have the time for you to mansplain birthdays to me. I need you to be my boyfriend for the next five minutes.”
“Um, what—”
“No questions asked, no stupid jokes.” There wasn’t time for either. Kay and her . . .Ryanwould be back any second.
“Fuck, they’re about to cross the street.”
“Who are you—”
I didn’t give him the time to look over his shoulder, instead grabbing two fistfuls of his sweat-drenched shirt and yanking him closer until his chest collided with mine and he released an audible, “Oof.”
His fingers found purchase on my hips, sending shivers up my spine. “Look,” I told him squarely. The curb gave me the added inches I needed to look him in the eye. “Fuck everything I told you at the bar. If you care about me at all like you say you do, you’ll do this favor for me.Please.I need you.”
This wasn’t a game. Well, maybe it was, but the stakes had changed, and I wasn’t going down without a fight. I needed him to understand the severity of the situation.
Those baby blues of his shifted to a hue darker than the depths of the ocean.
“You need me,” he repeated. It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes.”
“You need me to be your boyfriend.”
“Mypretendboyfriend.”
“And you’re not going to punish me later for anything I say or do in the next few minutes?”
I hesitated. It wasn’t like I was asking him to fuck me outside the Green Goddess, our local dispensary. Yet.
“I need to hear you say it, angel.”
My attention slipped over his shoulder, just as Kaylani’s and Ryan’s feet met the curb. It was a terrible idea, one that, no doubt, I would regret ten minutes from now. But bad idea or not, it felt good—reallygood—made better when those rough, limber fingers of his slid around my waist, dipping beneath the hem of my blouse. I wanted to feel them lower still.
Ah, hell. If I was going to go down swinging, I might as well enjoy the ride.
“Angel,” he growled.
With one hand, I traced the rough edge of his jaw, coasting over his barely parted lips. “Are you gonna kiss me or what?”
It was the last thing either of us said before his mouth covered mine, leaving me breathless.
If this was how Jared Pink kissed, I might never breathe again.
Pink
Ihad never understood the dudes who didn’t enjoy kissing. The ones who treated it as nothing more than an appetizer, a taste of what was still to come.
