Always His Girl (Fit Mountain Instaloves #16)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

JULIE

Eighteen Months Ago

I swipe my finger across the screen of my phone, my eyes glued to the steamy romance novel I’ve been devouring for the past hour.

My friends, Jessica and Becca, stumble over. Their cheeks are flushed from too many shots.

“Julie!” Jessica slurs, tugging on my arm. “Come on, you can’t spend your twenty-first birthday hiding at the bar!”

“Yeah, let’s dance!” Becca chimes in. “The night is young and so are we!”

I glance around the packed Las Vegas club at the flashing strobe lights and gyrating bodies on the dance floor. It all makes my head spin. I’m torn between wanting to join in the revelry and wishing I was back in my hotel room in my PJs.

“You guys go ahead,” I tell them, mustering a smile. “I think I’m gonna hang here a bit longer.”

“You sure, babe?” Jessica asks, her brow creasing with tipsy concern.

I nod. “I’m sure. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

“Okay, well you know where to find us if you change your mind!” Becca says. She and Jessica envelop me in a group hug that smells like sweat and vanilla body spray.

Then they disappear into the undulating crowd, their sequined dresses glinting under the pulsing lights. I breathe a small sigh of relief as I turn back to my book, secretly glad to be left to my own devices.

I mean, I feel a little bad. I got all dolled up in this sexy new dress and everything. And I came all the way to Vegas for my twenty-first birthday. I should be out there living it up with my girls, right?

But as I survey the wild scene before me of girls grinding up on random guys and sloshing drinks on the sticky floor, I realize I’m just not feeling it tonight.

With a sigh, I turn back to my romance novel and take a sip of my virgin mojito.

At least I can vicariously experience a thrilling fantasy in these pages, even if my real life is decidedly unglamorous.

For now, I’m content to sit here and read about the heroine succumbing to the mysterious, sexy stranger.

It’s not like that kind of passionate, whirlwind romance will ever happen to boring old me anyway.

I’m just getting to the good part when a deep, masculine voice booms from behind me.

“That must be some book.”

I gasp and whirl around, my phone tumbling from my fingers in my shock. I bend down to grab it, but a large, tanned hand beats me to it.

I look up, an embarrassed thanks on the tip of my tongue, but the word dies in my throat.

Holy hottie.

I’m staring into the most striking blue-gray eyes I’ve ever seen, set in a chiseled face with a sexy hint of stubble. He towers over me. His tall, muscular frame makes me feel delicate in comparison.

“I... um...” Coherent thought escapes me under his penetrating gaze. “I’m sorry, what?”

The corner of his mouth ticks up in a devastating half smile. “I said, that must be some book. To command all your attention in a crazy club like this.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, it’s... It’s pretty good,” I stammer lamely, drinking in the sight of him. With dark hair, full lips, and broad shoulders that strain against his expensive-looking shirt, he’s like a romance novel hero come to life.

“Yeah?” He leans an elbow on the bar, his forearm corded with veins. “What’s it about?”

I fidget on my stool, debating how much to reveal. “It’s uh… a romance novel,” I finally admit. I wait for the condescending eye roll I usually get from guys about my literary tastes.

But to my surprise, he just grins. “No judgment here. We all have our guilty pleasures, right?”

I exhale a relieved laugh. “Right.” It comes out more breathless than I intended.

Ugh, Julie. Get a grip.

He slides onto the empty stool next to mine. His large frame dwarfs it as his knee brushes against my bare thigh.

“I’m Blake, by the way,” he says and offers me his hand.

“Julie,” I manage to respond as I slip my hand into his.

“So, Julie. What’s a gorgeous girl like you doing hiding out with a book at a bar like this?”

“It’s Vegas,” I reply, trying to sound nonchalant. “Isn’t everyone here hiding from something?”

Blake chuckles. “Touché. Mind if I ask what you’re hiding from?”

My responsibilities. My life. Myself.

But I don’t say any of that. Instead, I say, “My friends, if I’m being honest.”

“Sounds like you need better friends.”

“No, they mean well, it’s just...” I groan slightly. “It’s my twenty-first birthday, and they’re determined to make it this whole big thing, you know?”

“Well, happy birthday.” His smile is a white flash in the strobing lights. “Let me buy you a drink.”

Shyness grips me and I duck my head. “Thanks, but I don’t drink.”

Surprise flickers over his chiseled features before an admiring grin replaces it. “Ah, a responsible birthday girl. I like that.”

My cheeks burn, and I pray the club’s shadows conceal my flush.

“So what do you like to do for fun, birthday girl?”

“Umm, read mostly.” I cringe internally even as I admit it. Could I be any more boring? “I know, I’m a total nerd.”

Blake’s grin widens. “Nothing wrong with being a nerd. I think it’s sexy when a woman has brains to go along with her beauty.”

My heart stutters in my chest. Is this really happening? Is this insanely attractive man really flirting with me?

I’m so not used to this kind of attention from guys. The guys at my college are such immature assholes. I’ve never even had a real boyfriend before. But Blake seems different somehow. Genuine.

Like he might actually be into me.

Needing to deflect before I make a fool of myself, I change the subject. “What about you? What are you hiding from tonight?”

Amusement dances in his eyes. “Same as you, believe it or not.”

My brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

“My friends.” Blake jerks his head toward the pulsing dance floor. “I’m here for a bachelor party, but honestly, I’m not feeling it. Clubs aren’t really my scene.”

“That makes two of us.”

“I guess it does.” Then his gaze rakes over me, sparking a slow burn low in my belly. “Would you like to dance, birthday girl?”

It’s phrased like a question but feels more like a command.

Every sane part of me screams to refuse, to run far away from this insanely hot man and the unsettling things he makes me feel. But for whatever reason, I slip my hand into his, surrendering to his magnetic pull.

“Okay. One dance.”

Triumph flares in his eyes. “We’ll see about that.”

He closes his hand around mine and leads me out onto the dance floor.

Blake wraps his strong arms around my waist and tugs me flush against the hard planes of his body. I can’t hold back a gasp at the sudden, electrifying contact.

He lowers his head, his lips grazing the shell of my ear, and murmurs, “I’m really starting to change my opinion on clubs.”

I tilt my head to look at him, my hands sliding up his muscular chest of their own accord. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“Because of you. I love the way you feel in my arms. Like you were made just for me.”

And then his lips are on mine in a searing kiss that obliterates every thought in my head.

I’ve never been kissed like this before—never been kissed, period. But Blake certainly seems to know what he’s doing as his tongue delves deep, exploring and claiming me in the most exquisitely erotic way.

I melt against him, gripping his shoulders for dear life. Part of me knows we’re in the middle of a packed dance floor and anyone could see us.

But I don’t care.

All that matters is Blake and the incredible things he’s doing to my body with just a kiss. A moan rises up in my throat, and it takes me a second to realize the needy sound is coming from me.

Blake groans and drops a hand to my hip to press me tighter against him. “Fuck, I love the sounds you make, sweetheart.” He walks me backward until my spine meets a wall.

Then he cages me in with his arms on either side of my head and deepens the kiss even further.

Feeling bold, I hitch one leg up over his hip, desperate to feel more of him. My heart rockets into overdrive as he pushes the hem of my dress higher.

Blake’s hand slides up my thigh. “Is this okay?” he murmurs.

I can only nod frantically and whimper as his fingers graze the edge of my panties. I arch into his touch, silently begging for more. He indulges me and rubs me through the damp lace until I’m dizzy and panting.

“Fuck, baby.” Blake drops his forehead against mine. “Can I take you somewhere?”

Breathless, I repeat his words. “Somewhere?”

“Somewhere we can be alone. I don’t want anyone to hear your sounds but me.”

I don’t even hesitate. “Yes. Take me.”

I know it’s crazy. I just met this man. But I’ve never wanted anything more in my entire life than I want Blake at this moment. Screw being responsible. Just this once, I’m going to throw caution to the wind and take what I want.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas... right?

Blake leads me through the pulsing crowd until we reach a hallway at the back of the club. He pushes open a door marked “Private” and pulls me inside what turns out to be a fancy, single-occupancy bathroom.

The lock clicks into place behind us, and before I can even catch my breath, Blake’s mouth is on mine again.

His hands are everywhere—in my hair, skimming down my sides, gripping my hips to yank me flush against the hard ridge of his erection. I moan into the kiss, already addicted to the way he makes me feel.

“I want you so bad,” he rasps against my lips. “Wanted you from the second I saw you at the bar.”

“I want you too.” The admission tumbles out. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Me either.”

His lips blaze a trail of fire down the column of my throat as he hikes up my dress. When he pushes two thick fingers in deep and curls them just right, a broken cry escapes me.

“You take my fingers so well.” Blake’s voice is a low rumble that I feel in my bones. “Gonna feel so good wrapped around my cock.”

The filthy praise makes me clench and flutter helplessly.

Pumping in and out, he sets a relentless pace. He circles my clit with his thumb until I’m riding his hand with abandon. My orgasm crashes over me without warning, and I fall apart with a sharp keen.

Through the haze of bliss, I’m distantly aware of a crinkle of foil. Then I feel the blunt head of Blake’s latex-sheathed cock nudging at my entrance.

Damn, he’s huge.

“Tell me you want this, baby,” he says roughly, holding himself in check. “Please tell me I can fuck you.”

“I want this,” I breathe. “Please fuck me.”

With a flex of his hips, Blake’s pushing inside, forging into my virgin heat inch by devastating inch until he’s buried to the hilt.

The stretch and fullness are unlike anything I’ve ever felt. It’s intense, almost too much. And for a second, I wonder if I’ve made a huge mistake, but then Blake starts to move and oh.

Oh.

He pulls nearly all the way out before slamming back home. His hard rhythm has me seeing spots. He takes me over and over, hitting a spot deep inside that has my toes curling in my heels.

“Oh, wow, Blake… please, more.”

His chest rumbles with a groan, and he hikes my leg higher around his hip to change the angle so he can grind against my clit with every powerful thrust.

“So fucking perfect,” he grits out. “Taking every inch like you were made for me. Come on my cock, baby. Let me feel this sweet little pussy milk me dry.”

The tension in my core ratchets tighter with every roll of his hips. And when he reaches between us and rubs tight circles around my clit, I shatter with a silent scream, my nails scoring down his back.

Blake’s rhythm falters as I spasm and clench around him. With a harsh shout, he slams home one last time, jerking and twitching as he hits his peak.

Holy.

Shit.

I had sex. For the first time. In a public bathroom. With a man I just met.

My legs are trembling so badly I’m not sure they’ll hold me up.

But then Blake’s gathering me close again and nuzzling his face in the crook of my neck.

“Jesus Christ, sweetheart,” he says hoarsely. “That was... I don’t even have words.”

When he pulls back to look at me, I’m struck by the raw emotion swimming in those stunning blue eyes. He looks as stunned and shaken as I feel.

“I don’t want this night to end.” Blake cups my face in his hands. “There’s this great twenty-four-hour diner around the corner. Let me take you there, let me feed you, let me talk to you some more. Please.”

My heart squeezes at the note of pleading in his deep voice.

Is he... Is he asking me out on a date? After what we just did?

I’m reeling and struggling to make sense of all these new, unfamiliar feelings rioting through me. But looking up into Blake’s hopeful face, I know there’s only one answer I can give him.

“I’d like that,” I say shyly. “Just let me grab my purse.”

Ducking out of his embrace, I bend to scoop my little bag up from the corner where I dropped it. Just as I straighten, my phone vibrates with an incoming call.

Frowning, I dig it out, and my heart plummets when I see the caller ID.

It’s Melissa Graham, my sister’s guardian ad litem.

With shaking hands, I answer. “Hey, Melissa. What’s up?”

“Julie, there’s been an accident,” Melissa says, her voice strained. “Josie’s in the hospital...”

The rest of her words fade into an indistinct buzz as a tidal wave of dread crashes over me.

Our father abandoned us when Josie was just an infant.

He ran off to Wyoming with his mistress and left us with an alcoholic mother who could barely take care of herself, let alone us.

Now that I’m about to graduate college, I’ve been fighting for custody of Josie for the past year.

I’m determined to give her the stable home she deserves.

And the one time, the one time, I let my guard down and do something for myself...

“I’m on my way,” I tell Melissa, my voice breaking. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Ending the call, I gather my things with fumbling hands, barely able to see through my tears.

With furrowed brows, Blake asks, “Everything okay, sweetheart?”

I can’t even look at him, too awash in shame and panic. “I’m sorry, I have to go. It’s an emergency. My sister... I have to get to her.”

“Wait, slow down. I’ll go with you, let me help—”

But I’m already pushing past him and running out of the bathroom on unsteady heels. “I’m sorry,” I call over my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Blake.”

And then I’m fleeing through the club, desperately searching for the exit as a sob clogs my throat.