Chapter 14 #2
“Nice to see us agree on something. Smiling looks good on you, Cinnamon Roll,” she added as the bartender headed our way and she ordered another round for her table.
I suppressed another smile as hers lit up the room.
Gesturing to a bottle behind the bar and then to the mixers lined up beside the ice bin, her arms waved and her shoulder brushed against mine.
And like a touch-starved idiot, I adjusted myself so I’d be closer.
My arm prickled where our skin connected, and a bolt of desire zipped down my spine.
Now, pictures of my vivid dream, of her taking my dick in her sweet mouth, invaded my mind as I pursed my lips and then finished the beer.
I wasn’t sure when it had happened, but I knew right then and there, the mesmerizing woman beside me had captured my attention, and I wanted nothing more than to bask in her warmth.
“Want another?” she asked, leaning closer so I’d hear her. Another moron had taken the stage, doing an awful impression of some big-named country singer. “It might make your evening more bearable.”
“The evening might yet be salvageable, because the company has improved drastically,” I said, shaking my head as she gestured to my beer.
That last one went down way too smoothly, and if Summer, Addison, and the rest of those lushes at the table kept ordering rounds, someone needed to be the voice of reason. It wasn’t like I could count on my brother, since his tongue was busy inspecting Brooke’s tonsils.
Not that I blamed him—since he at least had the foresight to keep things mostly PG.
“Was that a compliment?”
“It sure as shit wasn’t an insult.”
“Good to know.”
The bartender returned, pushing a strawberry margarita closer to Summer, and causing her to lean over the edge of the bar, not taking her gaze from mine.
Her pink tongue peeked from between her lips, and she swiped it over the salt on the rim of the glass.
I swallowed and met her eyes, watching as her pupils dilated in the low light.
I recognized that look. It matched what I’d felt since the moment I recognized her voice on stage.
“Isn’t there something we need to finish, Mav?” she asked as Brooke and Magnum broke away and carried the rest of the drinks back to the table.
“Finish?”
“Yes. I distinctly remember you almost demanding that we continue our conversation from the other day. And I’d much rather discuss that than whatever Trey wanted.”
“Oh, really?” I answered, taking a step away from her and immediately missing the contact.
Her tone was teasing, sounding like a mix between annoyance and irritation, and reminding me I never explained why her dipshit of an ex came to see her.
I’d become invested in her well-being and was more than a little curious to hear about this inheritance he said he was rightfully owed.
Mentioning that he needed the money to build a nursery seemed especially spiteful, and I had no desire to pass that information along.
“Yes. I’ve been thinking about things since you left, and I want to answer you.”
Her words caressed my skin, and she faced me, licking the salt from her lips and pressing her body closer.
I stood straighter, spreading my legs and crossing my arms. This was not the time or the place to discuss that nonsense I’d spewed, when I allowed my dick to do the talking.
Still, there was something about her that had burrowed beneath my skin.
What would be the harm in simply letting myself give in?
I’d asked her how she felt that evening in her kitchen, and now I had to live with the consequences.
No. That wasn’t right.
I’d demanded that she agree with my sexual depravity, longing to take my frustration out on her willing body. Nowhere in our very one-sided conversation did she respond with anything original; it was simply a knee-jerk reaction to my words.
“Is that right?” I growled, grasping her hip and sliding my fingers beneath her shirt.
The soft skin of her stomach felt electric, and in a pathetic moment of weakness, I allowed myself to give into the temptation that was Summer Winston.
My hand crept higher, brushing along her spine, and tracing random patterns on her back.
“Think hard, woman. I don’t want you to answer me in a drunken haze.
When you sober up, I want you to tell me every thought inside that head. ”
I removed my palm, hating that the contact was broken, and gently tapped her forehead with my index finger.
Her eyes widened, and she pulled away, allowing another tendril of hair to fall across her face. Instead of tucking it behind her ear like I wanted, I shoved my hand in my pocket, replaying my comment.
“Sober up?” she hissed, trying to wiggle away from my other hand.
But I refused to release her. She felt too good, and I needed to prolong our contact to get through the rest of this pitiful evening.
“For someone who couldn’t keep his eyes off my table, you sure are dense. Not that I owe you an explanation, but this is my second drink in what? Two hours? Not to mention that I’ve consumed enough tater tots to feed a small army. Just because I’m smiling and enjoying myself doesn’t mean I’m lit.”
She raised her hands from where they were clenching by her side and pressed them against my chest, muttering, “Idiot,” as she pushed me away. I let her go, furrowing my brows as she huffed and shook her head.
“You can’t blame me for assuming, Summer. Not after you took the stage and sang the hell out of that song.”
Her eyes widened, and I realized my mistake a second before she crowded my space and poked one purple-painted fingernail into my chest. “Right. I see. There’s no way an uptight bitch like me could enjoy meeting new people, making new friends, and singing karaoke without being drunk.”
“That is not what I meant, and you know it,” I said, raising my voice in the loud space and brushing her hands away from my chest. “You saunter up to the bar looking so goddamned sexy I can’t keep my eyes off of you, with this flirty little smile and sweet words.”
“Exactly! I can’t do that without being drunk, right?”
“Fuck, woman. Lower your shields. I just didn’t want you to say something you’d regret tomorrow.”
“Enough of this pitiful excuse of an apology. I’ve played enough games with members of the opposite sex to last a lifetime and refuse to do it with you. You don’t want to hear my answer or trust my judgement. Fine. Whatever. I don’t need another complication in my life.”
I raised my arms, hoping she’d see reason, and for a fleeting moment, I swore she did. But as quickly as I watched her eyes soften, it disappeared, and I groaned, wondering how I’d screwed things up so badly.
“I am not playing games,” I cried, sounding pitifully exasperated with this turn of events.
“Sure. You just left me standing in that kitchen with wet panties and a bad attitude, then ignored me for two days. Now that I’m here, finding the courage to talk to you and maybe even flirt a little, all you can do is look for excuses why I can’t.”
She stepped away from the bar and ran her fingers through her hair, loosening the clip that held it away from her face. The smell of sweet citrus assaulted my nose as she shook her locks free and sighed.
“Listen, Maverick. I get the hesitation more than you think,” she said, allowing her voice to drop and her hands to go to my chest. Where her palms connected to my body, it felt electric, like she’d zapped my heart, bringing it back from the brink of death.
“But your need to exert control over every single aspect of your life and everyone around you is eventually going to nip you in the ass. I’m too old and too jaded to deal with this. ”
Fuck. She was right—more than right. I was a pathetic excuse of a man, so frightened of the answer to one damn question, I’d rather push aside the sweet-smelling woman touching me than face rejection.
This time, she walked away, leaving her almost full drink on the bar. I watched a bead of condensation drip from the glass and onto the dark wood, regretting that I’d ruined something before it even began.