Mav said he would do everything he could, but they just didn’t have a big enough department. That left it in my hands to ensure her safety. I had no problem being there for her. Asidefrom the fact that I had a feeling it would only make it harder to walk away from her when my career took off.
“Got your eye on something?” Jeff asked, striding over and taking the seat his brother had just vacated.
“Nope.”
A low chuckle left his lips as he slouched back in the seat. “Sure doesn’t look that way.”
“Everyone’s so fucking nosy in this town.”
“Which is why I walked over here to tell you that you’re doing a shitty job of hiding your intentions.”
“My intentions?”
“Yeah, like the fact that you want to storm over to that table, lay her out flat, and fuck her until she screams your name. Those kind of intentions.”
“I’m not that obvious,” I retorted.
“Sure. I just pulled that out of my ass. Why don’t you go over there and see if you can say hi without your eyes telling everyone in the restaurant that she belongs to you.”
“There’s no one else in the restaurant. That might be a problem for you,” I countered.
Winking, he leaned forward. “That’s because they don’t come here for the food.” He jerked his head at my woman. “So, you up for it?”
I knew I couldn’t do it. Not even if I tried really damn hard. I was hopelessly infatuated with that woman and her body, and sooner or later, everyone else in town would know as well.
I took a final pull of my beer and stood, tossing down some money, leaving a shitty tip just to piss him off. He deserved it for being right.
“I am not infatuated with that woman. I have no desire to bend her over the table. And if she walked up to me right now and hit on me, I’d spit in her face.”
A slow smirk spread across his face as his eyes flicked over my shoulder.
Fuck, she was standing right behind me. I knew it. I could feel her presence as if she was crawling up my body right fucking now.
“Well, here’s your opportunity,” Jeff leaned in and whispered.
Swallowing hard, I pulled the strength to tell her to fuck off from somewhere deep in my gut, but I knew the moment I turned around and saw those kissable lips that I would lose the battle I was warring with myself. Hell, I’d lay her out on the floor and fuck her for everyone to see.
And that was a major problem. I had a career to hold onto, and if I let her get the better of me, I’d never be back in the ring.
I had to do this. I had to get her out of my head once and for all. So, I turned on my heel, prepared to let those tormented words rip from my lips.
Except, she wasn’t there.
Jeff’s hand landed on my shoulder with a heavy thump as a low chuckle hit me like a smack upside the head.
“Sure. You don’t want her. The three minutes of absolute torture on your face said it all.”
23
CASSIDY
“I can’t letyou pick up dinner for me,” Alyssa said, reaching for the check.
I snatched it anyway, keeping it out of her hands. “Last I checked, you only just started working.”
“Yes, and now that I am, I can stop mooching off everyone, including my brother.”
The smallest laugh left my lips. I knew for a fact that she still needed her brother’s help. She might be working at Ellie’s shop to get it up and running, but there was no way she was making enough to pay her rent.
