Page 81 of Filthy Lovin Heroes

It was more than a dress, though. It was like the armor she’d been wearing had been stripped away. Armor I wanted to strip from her to find the true curvy, beautiful woman underneath.

I knew her mind. Always craved to know the rest of her and now I might have waited too long.

I turned to Oliver, whirling my whiskey rather than drinking it.

“I don’t know what she sees in him.” I took a sip, wincing. Tonight called for a better drink than this overpriced tourist shit.

My eyes kept drifting back to her and the way the Vee of her dress revealed the unblemished skin. It was like an irritant in my mind that I couldn’t smooth out. I prided myself on being an excellent observer. I picked up on details most of my colleagues missed.

Yet, I’d been oblivious to this whole other part of Holly. Never saw her as a person who dated. Jesus, I needed some fresh air, better whiskey and maybe a one-nighter.

“It’s his cock,” Oliver announced in a voice that carried a few tables over from the stares that turned our way.

He didn’t seem to care.

He only paused to order drinks for the three women two tables over. The blonde with an expensive dye job didn’t try to hide the fact she was eye-fucking me. When the waitress left, he continued. “I’ve seen him in the gym shower. He’s hung like a bull and it speaks to him like some attached spirit.”

I laughed, sliding my drink his way. “You either need another one of these or to lay off. I’m not sure yet.”

Beside me Lucas groaned. “Please, no. Now I have that image seared into my brain.”

It didn’t matter that an hour ago, I’d never thought of Holly outside of the hospital. Now I knew what she hid from me under those scrubs and turtlenecks.

Oliver and Lucas flirted with our neighbors, but that little dance didn’t interest me at all tonight.

Instead, I excused myself and headed for the restroom. I turned away from that door and found a space at the end of the hallway. I made a call, waited two minutes, then returned to the bar, just in time to see Noah heading for the exit.

My body tingled with electricity.

The night suddenly felt different. Important.

I’d been alone with Holly plenty of times before, though I’d never experienced the kick of nervous energy coursing through my veins. Hell, we’d even slept in the same call room on bunk beds catching a few hours’ sleep. I appreciated that she didn’t snore and she didn’t kick me out if I had.

Now, I approached Holly sitting alone. “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” I slid into Noah’s vacant seat.

She’d watched me threading through the crowd toward her. Without her glasses, I noticed the gray-green of her eyes and her thick, dark lashes.

“Who said I’m a nice girl? You know you should never assume you know things about people.” Her lips wrapped around the straw of her drink, and I felt the pull of her suck like she had my cock in her mouth instead of a piece of plastic.

“Is that club soda?” I nodded to her drink. My throat grew hoarse from trying to remain calm.

“I’m a one-drink kind of girl, so the merlot was it. From here on out, I’m ginger ale all the way.” She cocked her head to one side, considering me. “Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed. Based on your reputation, I had high expectations for your bar banter. I must be catching you on an off night. That one-liner felt kinda lame.”

I wasn’t too surprised to learn I had a reputation. I might not fuck around at work, but for a city of eight million people, word gets around more than I would’ve guessed when I first moved to town.

Right now, I didn’t care about any of that.

I considered finding a dark corner to fuck her into submission. Too public. Not her style. My desire to publicly claim her warred with my need to protect her from harmful gossip.

Clearly, my cock is doing all the thinking tonight.

“You got rid of him, didn’t you? Noah. That was all you.” She played with her straw, keeping her gaze glued to her drink. Those wispy strands of hair she hated brushed against lightly blushed cheeks.

I shrugged a shoulder, never taking my gaze off her. “I don’t hear you protesting. Does that mean you don’t mind?” I pushed Noah’s discarded drink aside.

“It depends on the reason.”

“Truth. I can’t stand the thought of you with him.” There. I laid it out between us. No sexy innuendo or flirty dialogue with her. That was like wearing an ill-fitting suit anyway. I respected her too much to put either of us through more corny banter neither of us liked.

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