Page 38 of The Darkest Knight

“Go on…” her frown deepened as she dropped her hands to her hips which drew his gaze to her slender waist, another part of her that he needed to steer clear of.

“I’m just saying, while we were sitting around at Mountain Mug, they mentioned your name.” He plucked at a loose thread on the arm of the chair.

“Your friends mentioned me? Why?”

“They think you’re pretty.”

She blinked. “Well, you can tell them thank you from me. Good night.” She took a step toward the door.

“Not so fast.” His words stopped her. She turned on him, the blue color of her eyes darkening. “You got a thing for Lex?” Now where the hell was he headed? This wasn’t what he’d meant to ask.

Her snort bounced off the walls. “Are you being serious?”

“Well do you?”

With a frustrated shake of her head, she came back to the middle of the room and he caught a glance at her red painted toenails. “If it’s any of your business, no, I don’t have a ‘thing’ for Lex or any of your buddies. Now are you happy?”

An unexpected war raged in his body between logic and desire. Her scent seemed to replace his oxygen. And those legs sticking out of the thin shorts were never ending and only making him want to wrap his hands around her thighs and dive into heaven here on earth. He should have resisted the beer…no, he should have stayed cleared of her cabin, but now he was neck deep in a conversation that wouldn’t end well. He’d bet his life on it.

And he was a bit drunk.

“No, I’m not happy,” he grumbled.

“Surprise, surprise,” she moaned. “Go ahead, clear your system.”

She dropped down on the end of the bed and brought her legs up crisscrossed. The hem of the shorts lifted on her thighs and again he caught a glimpse of ass. His zipper cut into his balls and all he wanted to do was reach into his jeans and adjust the problem, but now was not the time. Not only would she think he was an ogre, but a pervert as well.

“Don’t you see what’s going on here?” He finally decided just to throw it all out on the line.

“Yes. Clearly You’re jealous of Lex.”

“Yeah…wait, what?”

“You asked and I can see it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be worried.”

“I’m not jealous.” He tore a hand through his hair.

“Okay then, what’s this about?”

He blew out a long breath. Where to begin?

*****

Reese could see the stress lines around Seth’s eyes and mouth. She should put him out of his misery by sending him on his way, but in reality, even drunk, she was glad to see him. In fact, she found it sort of amusing that he was a lightweight when it came to alcohol.

“Why did you do this to yourself?” she asked.

“Good question.”

“Is there something else you’d like to tell me? I’m all ears.” Two sheets to the wind and he was still the best-looking thing she’d ever laid eyes on. His eyes were bright and the layer of beard made him appear dangerous—sexy and dangerous. A big smile crossed his handsome face.

“I forget, but I know there was something.”

“I’m sure there was.”

“I’m not a bad guy, you know.” The low, sexy timbre of his voice made her inner thighs tremble.

“I never said you were.” An abundance of words hung on the tip of her tongue, things she wanted to say, but the business side of her warned her to keep a safe distance. Already things were out of hand and they hadn’t even kissed. She felt a strong desire to add ‘yet’ to the end of the thought.