Page 17 of Love Me, I Dare You

However, Bailey’s been off for the last few nights or is simply doing everything she can to avoid me. I didn’t ask around about her, didn’t want to make it obvious that I can’t get the girl out of my mind, but I’ve heard my fair share of town gossip on Crossroads’ most eligible bachelorette.

Apparently, after Bailey suddenly went from prim and proper princess and became this sultry and sensual seductress, there was a lot of shit talking. Mainly because the most beloved girl in all of Crossroads, the epitome of a sweet and Southern Belle, had suddenly become someone entirely unexpected—a woman every other woman in town hoped to one day have the balls to become. They hated her for it. Resented her for having what it takes to do what she did, and give a big fuck you to all the cynics who lived to judge and criticize the choice she made.

On the other hand, every male over the age of eighteen was obsessed with her, including all the assholes in this bar who currently have their eyes on her and look fucking smitten.

I don’t blame them, but fuck does it make me want to shove my face into their smug faces. Trying my best to hold back, I grind my teeth together as I watch a group of burly old men at a table in the far left corner whisper to themselves as she passes them by on her way back behind the bar.

Bailey’s completely oblivious, or simply doesn’t give a fuck, about the way every male in the room has their lewd gazes on her and that perfect ass I want to sink my teeth into.

I’m mesmerized by the woman, completely caught off guard by the way my body, mainly the dick between my legs, reacts to just the sight of her. Then there’s that spitfire attitude she’sdeveloped that surprised the hell out of me that first night. All it did was further fuel my desire to provoke her in order to watch the blaze in her eyes burn brighter.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Lexi, the bartender who’s so graciously given me the boot for the past couple of nights, says the moment she spots me approaching them.

The girl’s grown sweet on me, though she pretends I’m nothing more than a nuisance. An incredibly sexy nuisance, if the fuck-me eyes I’ve caught her point my way on more than one occasion, are anything to go by. I may use it to my advantage, hoping she’ll eventually give in and give me the information I want on Bailey.

Meanwhile, I’ve actually gotten to know a little about her and how she ended up here working for Bailey. It’s true what they say about bartenders being the best people to talk to when you want someone to listen and not try to solve your troubles. Though I have shared nothing about why I’ve been in here all week.

Bailey’s body goes still, her back straightening and going rigid like she knows I’m the one Lexi’s talking about. Slowly, she turns to meet my gaze, giving me a perfect view of her incredible body and curves I damn near want to beg to feel beneath my fingers. Bailey King looks fucking delectable, and I want to trace my tongue over every single tattoo that shocked the fuck out of me when I first saw them splattered along her skin. Her hair is up in some sort of messy updo with a few wavy strands of gold hanging out that somehow only make her look sexier.

Yet it’s her eyes, bright blue hidden behind the dark eye makeup she wears, that stand out against her pale complexion. Bailey was always beautiful beyond comparison, but this woman what she’s become is sinfully sexy, and it completely throws me off my game.

How the fuck am I supposed to act nonchalant around her when all I want to do is bend her over the bar top and fuck her until neither one of us remembers the last ten years?

My dick strains in my jeans and I clear my throat, feeling it close up the longer I stare at her perfect tits and the cleavage showing over the dip of her top. Fuck, those tits are incredible. “Bailey, fancy seeing you here again,” I say, giving her my best smile.

Her shocked expression hardens, and she casts a frosty glare in my direction, no longer baffled by my being here, but reminded of how much she hates I am.

“I own the fucking bar, Bishop,” she snaps with a spark of fire, grabbing a bar towel and wiping the already sparkling clean counter just to keep her hands busy. “Not that you would know, since you’ve been gone all this time.” There it is again, her constant reminder of how long I've been gone. My smile grows at her purposeful dig that gives so much away.

Her plump lips turn into an adorable pout. “You sure love to remind me how much time I’ve been away, and you say you didn’t miss me,” I mock and fuck do I love the way it riles her up.

My dick strains even more against the zipper of my jeans when her cheeks grow a pretty pink flush. She bites her tongue and stops herself from saying what she really wants to say, instead deflecting and changing the subject.

“I hear you're the one hanging around my bar in hopes of seeing me.” She smirks, a little too sure of herself, but it’s fucking adorable to see. Though I can't let her get the wrong idea about why I’m here.

“I’m here for Jameson,” I tell her and immediately her confident smile drops. Back in its place is the scowl she’s perfected and seems to only have when I come around.

It’s really something, seeing how this new persona she seems to have taken on shifts back into the girl I’ve always known whenI’m around. According to the same rumor mill, Bailey’s still the sweet girl she’s always been, unconditionally caring for and looking after the people of her town who turned their back on her. But with me, all she’s shown is this cold exterior she wants to make me believe is equally matched on the inside.

Throwing the towel over her shoulder, she moves over to the touch screen tablet mounted up on the wall and enters the total amount for someone's tab, printing out a receipt and slipping it onto a small, black clipboard.

“Well, my brother’s not in. Hasn’t been for four days now. So if you see him before I do, please, by all means, tell him I’m looking for him too.”

Bailey picks the pen out of her hair, and a mass of thick blonde waves delicately fall along her shoulders and down her back. It’s like the woman is moving in slow motion or I’m just that fucking entranced.

Running an eager hand through my hair, I look away, trying to regain my composure. I hear Lexi chuckle as she swipes the check and pen out of Bailey’s hand. “I’ll go take this to Jenkins.”

Bailey looks away from me and at her for just a second, but when her gaze flicks back to me, there’s something different in her eyes that wasn’t there a moment ago. The same desire coursing through my veins is visible in the blue depths of her irises as they trail up and down my body. She’s checking me out and isn’t even being shy about it. Either that or she can’t help the reaction her body has to my presence.

Bailey was never good at hiding the way my closeness made her feel.

The night we slept together for the first time wasn't the only time I almost gave into temptation and it sure as fuck wasn’t the first time I found out Bailey King had a crush on me. The girl could never hide the blush that crept up her neck when I came around, nor the giddy smile she got when I talked to her, unableto meet my gaze head on. I kept my distance as much as I could because I could see right through her and knew if I allowed myself, I’d get both of us into a boatload of trouble.

However, that night, Bailey caught me off guard when she slipped her dress off her shoulders and stood bare fucking naked before me. The vivid memory flashes in my mind and I have to reach out to the stool in front of me to steady myself as a burning need courses through me.

“Well, since I’ve already come all this way, how about a stiff drink to take the edge off?”

Just as she’s about to answer, Lexi walks back over and deposits the cash tip into the front pocket of Bailey’s waist apron. Bailey clears her throat and pretends she wasn’t just eye-fucking me, her cheeks turning the prettiest shade of pink when‌ I’ve caught her red-handed.

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