Page 22 of Inked Persuasion

He grinned, and I rolled my eyes before Paige went up on her tiptoes to kiss him soundly. I averted my gaze because some things having to do with my little sister I did not need to see.

“He seems nice,” Brenna said, watching Colton walk away.

My sister smiled. “He’s great. He makes me laugh, he’s kind, he has a good job, and he isn’t riddled with debt.”

Eliza laughed. “And that’s what you’re worried about?” she asked.

Paige shook her head. “No, that’s what my dad would worry about, so I’m learning to tack it on for when I’m around him. Sorry. I’m just trying to get used to the idea that I have a committed boyfriend. Not some guy I date for a couple of days and never see again. And it’s not like a high school boyfriend where it’s all about weird anxiety and wanting to throw up.”

I looked at Brenna and analyzed that comment, then we all snorted, holding back our laughter. “I’m sorry, but high school boyfriends make you want to throw up?” I asked, pressing my lips together after I’d said the words.

“You know what I mean. When we were younger, it was always stressful and anxiety-riddled because of social constructs inherent within school walls. This feels nice.”

“So, it’s serious?” Eliza asked.

“Maybe.”

I listened with half an ear as my friends and Paige began discussing Colton and all his qualities. I liked the guy, but I didn’t know him well enough to judge. He’d have to run the Montgomery gauntlet if he wanted to go the distance with Paige. And not because we were overprotective. Okay, notonlybecause we were overprotective. Mainly because Paige wouldn’t date anybody seriously without us loving him. We were family, and that’s how we worked.

It had been different with Jonah because it hadn’t been real. And Paige hadn’t even been old enough to drive, so I knew she didn’t have as many memories of him as I did. There hadn’t been love there. Not the kind shared between a husband and his wife. But there had been love between two best friends who didn’t want to leave each other alone in the dark.

I shook away those melancholic thoughts as Eliza looked at me, her gaze troubled.

“What’s wrong?” my best friend asked. She’d pulled her dark hair away from her face tonight, all twisted together on the top of her head. It would tumble around her shoulders later when we danced, and she would look like a beautiful princess in the woods, carefree and happy. I knew she missed her husband with each passing day. And Marshall would be coming home soon, God willing. I didn’t know how she did it day in and day out, but she was a force to be reckoned with and a light in all of our lives. It helped that she was brilliant, sweet, and always had my back.

“Okay, seriously, what is with you?” Brenna asked.

Brenna had dark hair, fair skin, and the most kissable lips I had ever seen. At least, that’s what one of our guy friends back in college had said when he was drunk and had pulled away from very kissable Brenna. She was gorgeous, and I had never actually seen her go on a date before. She might razz Paige and me about relationships and the men in our lives, but Brenna did not date.

I would love to know why, but I had a feeling I knew exactly why. I looked over her shoulder at the group of my brothers and held back a wince.

That was why.

“I think I need to dance,” I said. My brain was going in a thousand different directions, and I couldn’t focus.

“Dancing would be good,” Eliza said, studying my face. “Or maybe you should go over and see if Jacob Queen needs anything.”

“He is my neighbor. He’s Jonah’s brother,” I whispered fiercely. All three sets of eyes softened, and I could have cursed myself. “Okay, no bad feelings. These are happy times. It is our weeknight, single beer, dancing night. We all have to go to work in the morning, so let’s make sure we get our dancing out of the way now so we can go to sleep early.”

“You’re so responsible,” Paige said as if she weren’t the first person at the office each day.

“Go see Jacob.”

“Too late,” Brenna said, wincing, and I looked over as Archer, Benjamin, Beckett, and the two boyfriend tagalongs made their way to the bar.

“Oh, God, no. No, no, no, no, no.”

Paige snorted. “I cannot believe that Colton and Marc are going along with this.”

“I think they probably just didn’t want to be left behind,” Eliza said. “I mean, it’s a lot of testosterone and posturing. Look at them being like peacocks, fluttering around that poor, sweet man at the bar all alone, needing to be rescued...”

I flipped off my best friend, and she laughed, Brenna and Paige joining in.

“I hate you all.” I stomped my way over to the bar where my brothers were now glowering down at Jacob, who was calmly licking his thumb, trying to get some wing sauce off.

My gaze zeroed in on his tongue as it swiped over his skin, and I swallowed hard, telling myself that I was losing my mind. It was hot. And I was parched. That’s all it was.

I was not having deliciously decadent thoughts about Jacob Queen’s tongue. There were things that I shouldn’t do. Lines I could not cross. And weird, sweaty thoughts about where that tongue might go on my body was not something I should ever think about.

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