Page 20 of One More Song

I’m drunk, I know I am, but I don’t care. I want him to hold me, to get lost in this crowd, in each other...and it makes no sense.

I barely know the man. We’ve only talked a handful of times. But it doesn’t change the fact that every time he walks into a room, my body betrays me, makes me want things I know will only leave me with another broken heart.

But what if I can keep my heart out of it? Women do it all the time. Booty calls, hookups, friends with benefits.

Trouble.

Trouble.

Trouble.

My heart pounds.

But I don’t want to listen. Not tonight. Tonight I want to give in to temptation.

I close my eyes as Ash’s hot breath runs against my ear. And when I do, I see him bowing to Cady. Pen in hand, bent over a journal. Eyes that blaze with regret, same as mine.

I know him.

“That was quite a performance up there,” he says, his voice deep, intoxicating, pulling me deeper under his spell.

I exhale, unable to speak. What can I say?

Fuck me.

It’s what I want.

It’s been so long since my needs mattered to anyone. I’d be a fool to think they mattered to this man who holds me now.

He is so wrong for me. But maybe in this precise moment, he is exactly right.

“I want you so bad, Ember,” he whispers.

I moan, knowing I’m in deep, deep trouble.

Millie said I deserved some fun. Butisthis fun? It doesn’t feel like it. It feels intense. Raw. Real. Like a very bad idea.

The song ends, but Ash doesn’t let me go. Those stormy gray eyes sear through me, inviting, promising, demanding, and all I hear is the pounding of my own heart in my ears.

“Ember?” A voice breaks through the moment. Granger’s hand is on my shoulder. “You okay?”

I lick my lips.Am I okay?The question is so insane I literally laugh. I step away from Ash.Am I okay?

No. Not even close.

“Yeah, I’m good,” I lie.

The men look at each other and I can see them sizing the other up. But there’s no comparison. Ash’s presence takes up the whole room. Granger may have a few extra pounds on him, but Ash is larger than life.

“You’re Asher Stone,” Granger finally says, both defeat and awe in his voice.

How does Granger know that? My head is still spinning with the mixture of alcohol and Ash being so damn close. But I know I’m missing something. Something important.

Ash rests a hand on my lower back, possessively, and it seems like the whole bar has gone silent, watching us.

“And you are?” Ash asks

“This is Granger,” I say. “My...date.” The word is extra tight. And both men must hear the edge in my voice because I see Ash’s nostrils flare, sense the way Granger stiffens.

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