Page 64 of Love Lies Bleeding

I narrow my eyes at him knowing he’s up to something, but not willing to take the risk that he did want to talk about Lexi and ignoring him. “Oh, okay. Do you mind, Eddie?”

Eddie cups my cheek with a wink, playing his part to perfection. “Course not, sugar.”

I lead the way to the back room and see Jake close the door and give Eddie a smug smile. Before I can start he’s stepped into my personal space and has me pinned between his hands on either side of my desk. A whoosh of air leaves me as I lay my fingers on his chest with the idea of pushing him back, but he covers my fingers with his hand, pressing my hands against his pecs.

“Are you really seeing that playboy?”

His question is almost a snarl and I feel a grave sense of satisfaction that my plan has worked. “Eddie isn’t a playboy.”

“Oh, please. He has a different woman on his arm every week.”

“Eddie and I are different.” Not a lie. We were different in that I had no intention of being anything more than his friend and he feels the same way.

“He tell you that?”

Tilting my chin, I give him a haughty smile, but the warmth of his body beneath my fingertips takes the bite out of my words. “Yes, he did, and I believe him because he isn’t a lying jerk like some people I know.”

“He’s not right for you,” he says again through gritted teeth, a vein pulsing in his temple so hard I think he might have a stroke.

“Disagree.”

“Have you fucked him?”

“My sex life is none of your business.”

His body relaxes just a fraction. “You haven’t.”

“Well, even if I haven’t today, hopefully by tomorrow I will have. More than once.”

A growl comes from deep inside his throat as he crowds me back, his head dipping to my neck and skimming his lips over my pounding pulse. My eyes fall closed as desire makes me light-headed.

“I can still taste you on my tongue, Blossom. Every time I jerk off, it’s with the memory of your pussy wrapped around my cock, the sweet salt of your climax on my lips. He doesn’t get that.”

My breaths become choppy as I picture his words, and feel his lips on my skin. “He gets whatever I decide to give him.”

Jake lifts his head, his hooded eyes heavy with hunger. “If he touches you, he dies.”

I start to roll my eyes, but he lifts his finger to my neck, a dangerous look of determination on his face.

“I mean it, Blossom. He touches you, I’ll kill him.”

With that he pushes off me, dropping my hand from his chest, and walks out the door.

My body sags against the desk as I hear the door to the shop open and close and then the roar of a powerful motorbike. My hand trembles as I push off the desk and blow out a breath.

I thought I’d seen every side of Jake, but that right then had been different. He’d meant every word of that threat and I should be afraid. I should be freaking out, but I wasn’t. I was turned on.

“So, that’s the infamous Jake.”

I nod at Eddie who stands in the doorway, his shoulder braced against the jam, hands in his pockets.

He looks calm, almost amused. “Yep, that’s him.”

“Not what I imagined if I’m honest, sugar.”

On wobbly legs, I push past Eddie, not sure how to respond to his comment. I feel him at my back as I lock up the shop and set the alarm. The sun is shining as we leave and I tip my face up and close my eyes, letting the warmth breathe joy back into me.

The last few months have been a slog, and it’s taken everything in me to remain strong and keep my mask in place. I am the strong one, the one who fights for her friends and family, who smiles despite feeling hollow inside some days.

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