Page 17 of Needing Your Love
“Thanks, sugar,” I said with a wink. “See you later.”
“Promise?”
“Absolutely—and I always keep my promises.”
She rapped on the bar. “Good man,” she said before moving off to help another patron waving at her.
Sutton still stared, so I wiggled my ass, calling him out. His gaze slid upward, latching onto mine in the mirror. Breath snagged, I soaked in his lustful eyes before he got a hold of himself and shut that shit down.
Too late, Chief.
I winked, my lips curling into a smirk as I turned to face him, completely ignoring Dexter on my right.
“Chief,” I attempted a purr, trailing a fingertip over his starched shirt while clutching my dinner in my other hand. “I’ll be underfoot for a while, but I promise to be behave—for now.”
I swore he held his breath, a huge rushed exhale sounded in my wake as I sauntered away, every muscle in my body twitchy, my pulse racing.
The tone for our coming interactions had been set, and I could only hope my plans landed me in the chief’s bed rather than the jail cell cot.
Chapter 7
Sutton
“That man is either going to be the death of you or your happily ever after.”
I scowled over Dex’s declaration, my gaze glued to Jimmy’s lush ass as he walked toward Frenchie’s exit without a backward glance.
I’d hoped to see Jimmy again in this lifetime, but goddamn. He made me salivate as though I hadn’t eaten in a week. I thirsted like it was late July and a heat wave smothered our town. Lust tightened my balls when I’d noted his shaped brows and eyelashes were darker than his light, blond hair. And that nose ring, along with the one in his belly and the hint of metal I’d seen through his tongue, made me wonder if there was any below his waistband too.
Thank fuck for tight briefs because the thought of a piercing anywhere near that boy’s groin caused blood to head southward again with serious intent. And with how he continuously licked his lips, drawing my attention to their plumpness, how he lowered his voice while sidling up close to me—the boy was pure sex and full of promise of a good time.
He’d had plenty of practice while sowing his wild oats and making some serious cash down in Boston.
Which he hadn’t admitted to when I’d asked what he’d been up to since leaving.
Not that I’d expected him to up and spill the truth, but still. Would have gone a long way toward helping me rouse the tiniest bit of trust in the boy.
Jimmy might be all big, innocent eyes and flirtatious smirks, but anyone who’d seen shit and dealt with it on a daily basis would recognize he hid his true self. One that still called to the caretaker and fixer in me even though I knew better to get involved with someone like him.
I couldn’t help the desire to tear down his walls, rip off the facade he wore to experience the real man beneath. Every part of my being yearned to take him apart piece by piece until he went quiet and pliant, a sated, blissed-out beauty snuggling against my chest where he would finally find the acceptance and peace he’d been desperate for as a kid.
Goddamned kryptonite.
Needing to adjust myself but not about to offer Dex something else to give me shit about, I turned away before Jimmy slipped out the door, flagging down Iris, Frenchie’s wife.
“Another round,” I said, holding up my empty beer bottle, hoping a third drink would numb my body enough that thoughts of Jimmy wouldn’t make my hormones behave like a teenager’s.
Dex set his empty atop the bar as well, accepting a cold one from Iris along with me.
We sipped in silence for a few seconds, both of us lost in own heads.
“He’s changed.”
I glanced over at my best friend who studied the label on his bottle. “What did you pick up on while hanging out beside him unnoticed?”
“You have eyes in the back of your head.” Dex huffed. “Swear to God.”
I chuckled and took a long pull.
