Page 70 of The Very Naughty List

“Oh, sure.”

She, Michael, and Iris start making their way toward Reid, and I head off in the direction of the bar.

It takes a while to get my drink, and by the time I start heading back to join my sister, Michael, and Reid, Iris has wandered off to play with a couple of other kids her age. They’re standing near one of the tables laden with beautiful centerpieces, and I watch Iris’s face bloom with delight as she realizes that one of the flowers from the centerpiece has fallen onto the table.

She picks it up, bringing it to her nose to sniff it—but before she can, one of the other little girls standing next to her gives her a hard shove, snatching the flower out of her hand.

“Hey!”

My mouth opens, but the word doesn’t come from me. Instead, it comes from Hailey, who swoops in like an avenging angel. Her face is angry as she stoops down beside them, plucking the flower back from the girl who stole it as she says something that makes the little girl flush guiltily.

Hailey stands up, offering the flower back to my niece before taking her hand. Iris beams up at her, looking as enamored as if she had just come face to face with Wonder Woman. I can see Iris chattering away happily as Hailey leads her back over to mysister and Michael, and I trail along behind them, unable to stop watching.

Once Hailey has deposited Iris safely back with her parents, she shares a look with Reid and then starts to walk away.

She’s supposed to be here with Nick. I know that.

But goddammit, I need to kiss her.

Seeing her stand up for my niece was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen, and I feel like I’ll die if I don’t get Hailey into my arms right now.

So I pivot to keep following her through the crowd, and when she skirts around to the edge of the large room, trying to get past a particularly loud group of people, I see an opportunity and take it.

Picking up my pace, I snag her wrist quickly and tug her through a door leading to an adjacent hallway. We walk quickly down the hall, and when I see a door on our left, I test the knob. It opens, thank fuck, revealing what looks like a storage closet.

Good enough for me.

Not bothering to turn the light on, I pull Hailey into the little room after me, shutting the door behind us. The darkness in the space presses in around us as I turn around to face her, taking in her shadowy features by the light creeping in from under the door.

Hailey’s wide green eyes flutter until they adjust to the dim light, then lock on mine, surprise clear in her expression.

“What’s up?” she whispers. “Is everything okay?”

“I saw you with Iris just now.”

“Oh. Is that why you brought me in here?”

I smirk, reaching up to trace the curve of her jaw. “No. I brought you here because it’s been driving me crazy to not be able to kiss you all night.”

I press my lips to hers to punctuate my words, and she moans as if the kiss is helping her let out some pent-up tension of herown. Her hands rest on my chest, and I can’t stop myself from cradling the back of her head and pulling her deeper into the kiss.

Her hands snake down my back until they find the waistband of my pants, and she follows it around to the front and my belt buckle, which she fumbles with in the dark. I love the way she responds to my touch like this, how eager she is to reciprocate every time I put my lips on hers.

And the way she lights up when I brush kisses down her neck is intoxicating. But a flash of possessive anger flares inside me when I think about just how little that fucker Dylan appreciated what he had in Hailey.

I don’t know how I’m ever going to let her go. This whole act we’re putting on for the benefit of our nosy ass town has to stop at some point, but there’s a part of me that can’t stand the idea of seeing Hailey with anyone else. Or of any other man besides me or my brothers getting the chance to light her up like I am right now.

I kiss the soft, sensitive skin where her neck meets her collarbone and groan at the goosebumps that ripple across her shoulder. Without letting my lips leave her skin, I walk her backward a few steps until her back hits the door behind her.

Then I breathe into her ear, “One of your bucket list items was to have sex in a public place. Is this public enough for you?”

My eyes meet hers as I draw back, and her pupils dilate. The sight of it makes my cock twitch in my pants, straining toward her as she nods eagerly.

“Yes,” she whispers, still nodding. “Fuck me. Please.”

I grin at her through the darkness. “Good girl.”

Our lips meet again, ratcheting up the heat raging between us even further. She wraps her arms around me, her fingertips digging into the skin at the back of my neck, desperate andclawing. I trail a hand up her bare thigh and slip it under the hem of her dress, stopping at her panty line.

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