Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“Are you leaving?” I ask.
“No. I just wanted to get some air. I thought you left.”
“My phone’s still in there.”
She nods and walks past me out the door.
I head back into the bar, where Sage is now hanging on Dragon.
Dragon, who I’ve told in no uncertain terms to stay away from the awesome foursome.
But…I’m not here to enforce that rule.
Do I need to stay?
My head’s not here, though, so I find my phone, wave bye to the guys again, and leave the bar.
Brianna’s standing outside the bar, leaning on the brick building.
She looks amazing in her Levi’s and cowboy boots. A black leather jacket covers her long-sleeved tee.
She nods at me. “Hi again.”
“Hi.”
“So you’re heading out?”
“I am. I’m playing like crap tonight.”
She sighs. “I know. So am I. Maddie beat me twice.”
“Maddie isn’t bad.”
Brianna shrugs. “No, she’s not bad at all. She’s good, actually. But of all of us, including Maddie, I’m the best at pool. Apparently not tonight.”
“Yeah, I hear you.”
Then something comes out of my mouth that I’m not expecting. “You want to take a walk?”
Her cheeks go rosy. “Hmm… Yes and no.”
I step closer to her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means on another night, yes, I’d love to take a walk with you. But I invited Maddie here for a drink, so I can’t just ditch her.”
“True.” I glance inside the bar. “I don’t want you ditching my sister.”
She fidgets with her phone. “I suppose I could go in there and ask if she minds if I take off for a few minutes.”
“It’s okay. Don’t bother. I’m out of here.”
“Jesse?”
I turn, look over my shoulder.
“Yeah?”
She pauses, as if she’s thinking about what to say. Then, “Nothing. See you around.”
“Yeah. See you around.”
But my pulse goes into overdrive, and my already hard dick takes the lead. I take a step and then another. One more, and then I turn around, stalk back toward Brianna, and glare at her.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Doing what?”
“Making me…” I shake my head, rake my fingers through my long hair. “Making me want you, for God’s sake.”
“Jesse, I—”
I grab her then, stare into her eyes. They’re wide, but not in fright or anger. It’s been a while for me, but I still know how to read a woman. Anticipation builds from my pounding heart to my throbbing groin through every inch of my body. Excitement. Nerves. Curiosity.
And again her dark and smoldering eyes.
They’re wide in want.
“Jesus Christ.”
She says nothing, but her lips are slightly parted, and they’re glistening.
God, yes. Those full red lips…
“No.” I let her go. “I apologize.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Jesse.”
“Yeah, I do.” I brush my arms off, as if I’m dusting her off me. “I’m a rocker, but I’m not that kind of rocker. I don’t take advantage of young women.”
She closes the short distance between us. “I know you don’t. Please. If you want to kiss me, just do it.”
Fuck. She knows. How can she not? I all but said it. “No.”
“Please.”
God, her lips are still parted, so sexy and shining, so I grab her again, and I crush my mouth to hers.
I slide my tongue between her lips, and she meets it with her own.
She tastes like smoky bourbon mingled with the sweetness of fresh strawberries.
How long has it been since I’ve kissed a woman?
Too damned long, and even longer since I’ve taken one into my bed.
But what the hell am I doing?
I break the kiss, let her go. Then I walk away.
Chapter Fifteen
Brianna
My lips… Stinging, tingling, and I can’t catch my breath.
I want to yell to Jesse, tell him to come back, but my vocal cords are paralyzed—paralyzed by the arousal and need that has taken me over.
I lean against the brick wall of the bar, steady myself.
The kiss…
It was better than I’ve ever imagined—and I’ve imagined a lot. So many times in dreams and in waking hours.
I always wondered what those full Jesse Pike lips would feel like against my own.
It was so much more than a kiss. It was a moment filled with possibility and vulnerability, where the outside world dissolved away and gave rise to pure sensation.
Absently, I bring my fingers to my bottom lip, touch it lightly.
God, the prickles, the tingles, the sizzles.
This from a kiss.
I’ve been kissed before. Many times, in fact.
And I’ve done…a lot.
But never the actual deed.
Not because I didn’t have the chance. Not because I didn’t want to.
But something always held me back.
It was a gift I could only give once, and I’ve dreamed so long about giving it to Jesse.
Could my dream actually come true?
I inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, and when I finally think I can walk, I make my way back into the bar.
Maddie and Angie are still sitting at our small table, and Sage is still flirting relentlessly with Cage and Dragon.
I sit back down.