Page 7 of Break Out

She mimicked my posture, leaning closer. “Love them.”

The urge to kiss her overwhelmed me, but I wouldn’t do that in public. Instead, I lowered my lips to within an inch of her ear. “Can you handle that much whiskey, Jade?”

Her head turned and those lips were a breath away. “You can’t imagine how much I can handle.”

Our gazes held for a long, loaded moment. I hadn’t wanted a woman this fucking bad in years.

“Have you thought about it?” she asked, her hand gripping my thigh.

I reached down and laced our fingers together. “Haven’t thought of anything else. Are you trying to be naughty?”

“Definitely,” she whispered, grazing her nose against mine.

I sat back in my seat, breaking part of her spell. To keep her from being disappointed, I squeezed her hand. “Good to know, woman.”

Her brown eyes roved my face. “Do you like naughty?”

The bartender garnished two glasses. I waited until he delivered our drinks before I answered. “There’s a time and place for everything, Jade. The better question is whether you can handle the consequences.”

With her left hand, she swirled the red stirrer in her glass. “Consequences?”

I moved our hands to her upper thigh and leaned forward. In a low voice, I said, “Naughty girls get spankings where I’m from.”

Any other place, that ghost of a smile would have made me groan. The man to her left watched us avidly. He’d been watching all along, but he’d been better about hiding it. I didn’t want him witnessing anything between me and Simone other than our very sexually-charged banter – even that was too much for his ass.

“Where are you from?” she asked, sipping her drink and setting it down.

Mentioning the word ‘Georgia’ in this college town could start a fight. “Not from here,” I said, letting go of her hand to grab my cocktail.

“And you’re just … passing through?”

There was another thing that appealed to me about her. From her tone alone, I could tell she didn’t want an attachment, but she damn sure wanted me.

That was mutual, and not just because she was fucking gorgeous. She wanted me because of that undeniable attraction between us.

Not because I was president of the Devil Lancers.

Not because it would give her more status with a bunch of sweet-butts.

I loved that she didn’t know who I was. She oozed sweetness and sexiness that wasn’t geared to catching a man like me. Her question made it clear, she damn sure didn’t want to trap me.

She was perfect.

“I hit the road at noon. No offense to your alma matter, but I won’t ever come back here. Hard to say which ‘-ville’ I hate more, Gainesville or Jacksonville.”

Her face twisted fast in my direction. Those gorgeous eyes were wider than ever, but then she shuttered the outrage, nodded, and a calculating look took its place.

That wasn’t good. Seeing as I’d come to the bar to drown my thoughts about my shitty luck and bad timing, maybe this chance encounter was going to crash and burn like everything else had today.

“Thinking awful hard over there, Jade.”

She took a sip of her drink. “Not really. Just marveling at how life turns out sometimes.”

“And how has life turned out?”

She leaned closer as though she didn’t want anyone to hear us either. “My lame ex-boyfriend dumped me slow-burn style, and I wander into a place he swore wasn’t any good. He was wrong though, because it’s fucking excellent, and unless you’re too chicken, I’m gonna get exactly what I want.”

My nose grazed hers. “And what do you want, Simone?”

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