Page 29 of Undeniable

“Don’t blame you,” Grady muttered and glanced to his left. A wide smile split his face and he tossed the rag onto the bar top. Turning to face the hallway leading to the second-floor employee area and the bathrooms, he said, “Well, there she is. Look at you.”

I leaned forward, bracing my elbows on the bar, to peer around Devon. Striding toward us, a small smile playing on her lips, was Ivy.

“Good?” she asked Grady playfully, looking down at herself.

Good?Good wasn’t even close.

Her hair was curled, half of it pinned at the back of her head. Her eye makeup was darker than usual, but the brown tones smudged along her upper and lower lids made the green of her eyes pop.

But her outfit…holy shit.Her top was emerald green and wrapped around every single one of her curves like a second skin. The neckline was deep enough to show off the freckles across her chest and the curve of her cleavage. Her black skirt was skintight, and the black tights underneath showed off her long legs.

Beside me, Devon cleared his throat, and I didn’t have to look at him to know why he’d done it. I scrubbed a hand over my mouth and knocked back the rest of my drink. The sound of the glass connecting with the bar top made Ivy’s eyes lift to mine, and the smile she’d worn dropped immediately.

But that didn’t keep the itch at bay. The itch in my hands to reach out and touch her. To run my hands over every inch of her.

She was breathtaking. Possibly more beautiful now than she had been when we were in high school. If that were even possible.

“What’s this guy’s name again?” Grady asked.

Her eyes narrowed on mine momentarily, then she turned to Grady. “Derek.”

I should have put two and two together—the skirt, the makeup. It was all classic date night attire.

Derek.He sounded like an asshole.

“And where are you going?” Grady inquired while retrieving my empty glass from the bar. He got started making a new one, but not before throwing me a look that told me I was wearing all of my thoughts on my face.

My jaw hurt from grinding my teeth together. I wasn’t listening to Ivy relay to Grady the plan for her date with the asshole because I was too busy keeping my thoughts to myself.

Grady slid a new drink to me, and I immediately reached for it.

“Don’t,” he warned, “down this one.”

Devon chuckled, and I glowered at them both.

Ivy deposited her small purse on the barstool on the other side of Devon, and a part of me was envious of their easy conversation. She told him about the volleyball team’s first week of practice and then asked him about his sister’s upcoming freshman year of college.

They talked while Ivy reapplied her lip gloss. And I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the way she layered on the rose pink over her plump lower lip, then her upper lip. She pressed her lips together twice before screwing the lid back on and replacing it in her bag.

She looked like she tasted the same—sweet and floral, with a hint of spice. I’d never get that taste out of my head. And knowing I’d never get to experience it again only made it worse.

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” she said to Devon as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

“Bye, Grady.” She waved at the bartender.

As she stepped past us, she looked directly at me but didn’t utter a word. I didn’t say anything either. Her black heels clicked on the dark-hardwood floors, and I watched her ass sway and her calves flex on her way out the door.

It closed behind her and I stared at it for longer than necessary, imaginingDerektouching her, making her laugh, enjoying her company. All the things that I once did. All the things I did before and would never do again.

I couldn’t stop the part of my brain that considered all the things I could do to occupy her pretty little mouth. She couldn’t be sassy or snarky or bring up all the things she despised about me if her lips were on mine or wrapped around my cock.

Unfortunately, the way she wore that skirt or the perfect pout of her lips didn’t change anything.

The mental images were enough to make me turn back and sip my drink, doing my best not to down it as Grady instructed.

The man himself was on the other side of the oval-shaped bar, but Devon was side-eyeing me like it was an Olympic sport.

“Don’t.”

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