Page 5 of Wet and Welder

I nod to Kurt, who seems to read my unspoken request, and cuts off the beauty before she gets very far.

“Hey beautiful, where have you been all my life?” He smiles down at her, and my fists instantly clench.

I know this plan could backfire. Kurt is a damn good welder, but if he ever wanted to quit, I’m man enough to admit his pretty face could land him a modeling job.

“Fuck off!” She barks at him at the same time I do.

I’m standing close behind her and when she spins to look up at me, I catch the scent of Vanilla. Maybe it’s her shampoo. It’s subtle, but there’s no mistaking it’s her. Simple and delicious.

With his hands up in surrender, Kurt steps back into the crowd. Disappearing as the feisty redhead turns to glare up at me. I have her full attention now…what the fuck am I going to do with it? With a deep breath, I lean down to her ear. I cut off whatever she is about to say, and her words die inside her gaping mouth.

“Play pool?” I ask.

She looks unsure, so I nod to the VIP lounge, which is much quieter and houses the only pool table in the establishment.

“Please,” I add closer to her sweet-smelling skin this time. To my amazement, she nods. It might be a bit skeptical, but she takes my offered hand. She places her small, soft one on my big, ugly one, and I lead her through the crowd. People don’t need much motivation to move for my big ass, and we approach the bouncer who nods his approval at the sight of me, letting us in. Needless to say, I’ve spent my share of money at this establishment, and with that comes recognition.

The beauty walks past me as I hold open the door, her scent wrapping around me like a spell. She’s intoxicating and making my mouth water at the mere thought of how her skin must taste.

Without a second glance back or further invitation, she puts her drink down and grabs a pool cue. The balls are set, so I follow suit, thinking about what I should say, all while feeling tongue-tied and afraid to say anything that will send her running. I’m a brute, and I’ve never been called charming, but for the first time in my life, I wish that fact were different.

“That was pretty impressive wing-man action out there. Thanks for the assist, I’m Mic,” I say, attempting casual chat as I pull my own stick from the wall.

She lines up and takes a shot, breaking the balls across the table and dropping in three solids.

The woman is a ball buster, that’s for fucking sure.

“Mallory, and who said I did it for you and not to save those poor women from heartache?”

Mallory. I cement the name to my memory, positive I’ll never meet another woman who affects me so easily.

“Why do you assume I had any plans with them at all?” I retort, rubbing the nape of my neck.

She shrugs, then sinks in one more ball, but misses the next. I line up to take my shot, pointing to the side pocket. I drop one stripe in and miss my next shot.

“Call me wrong, then. Tell me you didn’t have a threesome in mind.”

I should lie. If I ever needed to lie in my life, it should be right now. The problem is I’m fucking horrible at it. Blame it on my Pastor father, but I never pull off an untruth even when I really need to.

“No. Nope.” I say, shaking my head, but I feel the heat crawling up my neck. Fuck. “I wasn’t thinking that.”

Curly red hair falls back off her shoulders as she tips her head up, laughing hysterically at me. Pretty white teeth and sparkling green eyes take the sting of embarrassment away. Hell, I’ll act a fool just to make her laugh again.

“Wow, you are officially the worst liar I have ever met.”

I feel the heat and must look red as a tomato, but I say nothing more while she takes her shot.

“I think I like that about you, though. You must be an honest man, since you definitely can’t get away with lying.”

With a deep sigh, I relent. “It’s not something I normally do, but I sure was hopin’ it would get me out of that awkward truth.”

“Eh, don’t be too hard on yourself. If truth be told, I hoped to join those two myself.”

Then she fucking winks at me as my shock, and instant erection destroys all my working brain cells.

“You alright there, big guy?”

I shake my head, not bothering to pretend I’m not affected. She blesses me with laughter again, then slides up in front of me.

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