She held direct eye contact as she leaned down to put my tablet away, and it brought our faces only inches apart.
God, what was it about her that made me so overwhelmed?
I could admit to myself that she was hands down the most sensual woman I’d ever met before in my life. She was breathtaking, even with the thick black eyeliner and dark red lipstick. I felt like a boring brown duck in the presence of an elegant swan.
There was more than just being in awe of her beauty and presence, though I couldn’t define it.
“I have a ten o’clock appointment tomorrow, I want you to see it.” She stated with that velvet voice of hers, not asking, yet I would have agreed even if she did.
“Okay.” I whispered, nodding my head slightly. Was my mouth hanging open like a freak? I closed it and swallowed, shaking myself out of her spell.
“Have a good night.” She took a step back and leaned her butt against the tattoo bed behind her, just watching me with that powerful gaze.
The same gaze Brody gave me all the time. It was watchful and said so many things without using a single word.
“You too.” I backed up, knocking into the doorjamb and wincing before correcting my course and making it through the door. “See you tomorrow.”
Chapter 5 – Lex
“You’re all sorts of twisted up tonight.” Parker eyed me over the top of his beer bottle with a raised brow. “Care to share the cause with the class?”
I tossed back yet another shot and licked my lips, savoring the taste of the liquor on them. I didn’t reply to him, though, and instead turned my head to look out over the crowd of Mav’s tavern. The place was packed for a Wednesday night, but that was Nashville for you. The party crowd was always in town and the bars were always open.
“Damn.” Parker mused humorously. “She must be something special.” He cocked his head to the side and pointed at me with one finger off the hand still holding his bottle. “Unless it’s that grumpy biker that’s still got you all messed up.”
“Don’t you have a wife and husbands to get home to?” I finally quipped back, trying to express how unwilling I was to chat about it.
“I was due back an hour ago.” He sat his now empty bottle down and raised his hand to our waitress for another round. “But I can tell when a friend needs me more than they do and I’m choosing to sit this one out for a while.”
“I don’t need you.” I retorted, hating how aggressive it came off.
“Okay.” He droned on, ignoring my tone the way only a best friend could. “Then what do you need?”
“Nothing you can help me with.” I replied, hoping he’d catch my drift and leave.
“Sex.” He nodded and looked out over the bar. “Any prospects?”
“None with you lurking around.”
“Gah.” He gasped theatrically. “You wound me. I’m always the best wing man on taco nights.”
I snorted, “You’re disgusting, you know that, right?”
He smirked and leaned on the table between us. “But it got you to smile.” He cocked his head, “And that’s the first time that’s happened since you walked in. So spill. What’s going on in that dark and twisted little mind of yours?”
“Nothing.” I flicked my hair over my shoulder as I played with the label on my beer bottle.
“Couldn’t have anything to do with your journalist visitor today, could it?” Parker watched me like a hawk. I felt heat ignite across my skin at the mention of Hannah while I tried to play the entire thing off.
“No.”
“Interesting.” He crossed his arms and waited, knowing I’d fold if he was right. We’d been friends for years now, and he had seen more than an indecent number of women come and go through my front door to read into things a little too easily. “She doesn’t strike me as your type.”
“She’s not.” I scoffed. “She could apply for the role of the Virgin Mary.” I didn’t meet his eyes as I kept my face trained out over the crowd, like I’d find the answer to my problems out there.
He snorted, “Hannah is anything but virginal. Quite the opposite, actually.”
I snapped my head back to him and he raised his eyebrows at me, and I knew I’d given myself away. “What does that mean?”
“Not my story to tell.” He mused, “But remember that her and Rey have been friends for years, so believe me when I say she gives off good girl vibes, but she’s not innocent.” I opened my mouth to contradict what he said, but he held his finger up, silencing me before he continued. “Tell me the truth.”
“I don’t know what the truth is, Parker.” I admitted, holding his gaze.
“And that’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re attracted to her and can’t figure out why. Twice in one day with two different people totally out of your normal type.”
I rolled my eyes, hating how on point he always was with my emotions. It was aggravating, to say the least. “I want to ruin her.” Leaning forward on the table, giving it to him straight. “I want to ruin her perfect little outfit and hairstyle and show her exactly how good it can be to be bad.” I challenged him to argue with me. “And that’s fucked up, because a girl like that isn’t the type of girl to be single or into women. Which means she has a man at home, and I have a list as long as my arm of women willing to let me do that to them, yet I’m thinking about little Susie Q and what she would taste like when she came.”
“Then find out.” He challenged, and a darkness that didn’t take root in his eyes often clouded the normal clarity. “Maybe the only way to find out why she’s got a hold on you is to give into it.”
I scoffed, angry that he was purposing the one thing I couldn’t do. “Dallin told me to be on my best behavior. Ruining the good girl doesn’t exactly fall in line with that objective.”
He chuckled and stood up, grabbing a wad of cash from his wallet and handing it to our waitress as she laid his beer down on the table, paying for it. He pushed his beer my way and when I reached for it, eager to add to the alcohol content in my stomach, he held onto it, making me meet his gaze. “Something I learned a long time ago is that Dallin Kent always plays the game better than anyone else could ever dream of. He’s always in charge and always five steps ahead of everyone else. If he paired you up with Hannah, knowing full well what your tendencies were, there was a reason.” I didn’t reply and he let go of the beer. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He walked away without another word, leaving me alone in the bar with only my thoughts and his words to entertain me.
“Good girl.” I praised, watching her head tip back as she gave into the ecstasy I was providing. “Just let go of everything else and feel it for what it is.” I laid leisurely, slow kisses along her neck, dragging the edge of my teeth over the sensitive skin as her hands tangled in my hair, pulling me closer.
