Page 65 of Wild Card
It wasn’t me.
I could get off with anyone I wanted. Hell, I could pull Ginger aside and convince him I was the one he wanted.
But when Ginger returned with all our drinks, I took mine without comment. Without so much as a flirty look. Damn it. Dalton had me off my game.
Dalton cleared his throat. “So, you were saying you looked outside the box?” he prompted Allison again. “Any luck?”
She sipped her Rum Job, which looked a lot like a simple rum and Coke. “Mm. Some. But not for the shelter. I found some potential grants for animal rescue efforts. They wouldn’t mesh with a public entity like the shelter, though.”
“Damn. So there’s no way to help the shelter?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “Depends on how you look at it. The shelter is overtaxed. An animal rescue programcouldrelieve some of that stress. It just can’t run through the shelter.”
“Who would run it, then?” I asked.
Allison met my gaze boldly. “I don’t know, Axel. Who do you think?”
My heart lurched. “Who,me?That’s just crazy.” I laughed. “Gray can tell you. I’m too erratic to trust with something like that. I mean, hell, that must be a big job, right? Starting up something new like that.”
“You love the dogs you take in,” Emory said. “I bet you’d be great.”
I tossed back the shot of tequila, itching to get away from this conversation. I shook my head. “No. I don’t see it. Sorry. Maybe someone else, but not me.”
“You already take in abandoned strays,” Dalton said. “Consider it a way to formalize what you do. Maybe expand on it. Right, Allison?”
“No,” I snapped out, shoving my chair back. “I’m a fuckup. Find someone else to do it.”
“Axel, you’re not—” Gray said.
I walked away, heading for the bathrooms, before he could try to convince me I was someone I wasn’t.
I wanted to help these animals. Of course I did. But that’s why they needed someone else to take this on. I wasn’t good enough. I’d make a mistake or get in trouble with the law again, and then this whole opportunity would go down the drain.
I slammed through the bathroom door, startling a couple kissing by the sinks. They broke apart, giving me an uneasy look. I was feeling a little wild, so no doubt, I looked unhinged.
“Sorry,” I said. “Just needed a minute alone.”
“Sure,” a dark-haired guy with pretty long lashes said. “We were just leaving.”
He grabbed his guy’s hand and hustled past me out the door. The door clicked shut behind him.
I ran water and splashed it on my face. When I came up for air, Dalton was behind me, his forehead creasing with concern. “You okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I whirled toward him. “Especially now that you’re in here with me.”
“But out there?—”
“How about we focus on in here?” I suggested, grabbing a fistful of T-shirt and pulling him into a kiss.
Dalton was hesitant, like he wasn’t sure this was a good idea. I bit his lower lip, making him gasp, then drove the doubts out of his head with my tongue. By the time I drew back, his eyes were dilated and his cheeks flushed.
I shoved him toward the large stall in the back. “Get in there.”
“What? But?—”
I pressed up behind him. “Unless you want everyone to see me fucking you in front of the mirror? You want to watch while I wreck your hole, Dalton? Maybe let other people watch?”
He shuddered hard. “Fuck.”
