Page 54 of Made For You
“Don’t you want to hang out with your friends?” I asked.
“Naw, I want to be here with you, baby,” he replied, leaning so close to me I could smell the whisky on his breath.
“I amnotyour baby. You dumped me, remember? Your family’s political aspirations didn’t involve a girlfriend whose dad is a farmer. I’m pretty sure those were the exact words you used.”
“You know I didn’t mean that. It was all a thing to please my mom. Marry the broad she picked out, and I can have a mistress on the side. That’s how it works.”
I was disgusted. It wasn’t that he and Talon weren’t doing something similar with the fake wife situation, but I knew Talon wasn’t the kind of guy who would keep someone else on the side. He’d been honest with me from the beginning. And there was no denying I wanted something more than a kiss with him.
They were both guaranteed to inherit their full trust funds with marriage, and they each were doing it for their mother. But with Jeremy? He made his entire arrangement seem dirty. Talon did not.
“Franny,” I said as I leaned around Jeremy, trying to ignore him, “I think I made a mistake.” I’d given her the basic reason why Talon and I had been fighting. She was still in the dark about our marriage being a sham, but I’d convinced her that the argument was over Talon’s inheritance. She just didn’t know the specifics.
Thinking I was talking about him, Jeremy leaned closer to me, his hand on my waist slipping up to touch the bare skin of my upper back. “Of course you did, baby. But I forgive you.”
“Jeremy, no—”
“Oh my gosh,” I thought I heard Franny whisper.
“If you want to guarantee you still have a hand to jerk off your tiny little pecker later, you better get your hands off mywife.” Talon’s voice behind me, though menacing, was like a life vest pulling me out of an ocean during a storm.
But instead of dropping his grip, Jeremy reached around and drew me closer to him. My face was nearly pressed to his neck, and the pungent cologne he wore assaulted my nostrils.
“Your wife? I don’t see a ring on her finger,” Jeremy pointed out.
Even with my back turned, I could feel the fury emitting from Talon in waves, but not toward me. Jeremy was the sole recipient.
“So, you just assume any woman not wearing a piece of metal around her finger is up for grabs?”
“Well, yeah. That’s how it works.”
“You’re a fucking moron.” Stepping closer to the two of us, I could feel Talon’s chest press against my back as he pried Jeremy’s reluctant fingers off my bare shoulder. The moment I was free of him, I tried to lean closer to Talon, but he had moved right into Jeremy’s space.
Talon towered over my ex by a solid five or six inches. Jeremy was always on the shorter side, but that never bothered me, since I was barely five feet myself. But watching their heated exchange, knowing Talon had both height and weight on Jeremy, it was almost funny.
I couldn’t hear what Talon was saying, but the threats turned Jeremy’s fake tan into an ashen hue. In a flash, Jeremy slipped from between Talon and Franny, nearly tripping over her stool in the process, and stomped back to his friends. I didn’t try to make out what their group was saying, but the longer they were in town, the longer I was going to have to watch my back. Talon didn’t know Jeremy was known for getting revenge in the sneakiest ways possible. It was why all the walls in my house were barren.
“You have five minutes to get your things and say goodbye to your friend.” Talon’s nostrils flared as he gripped the edge of the bar, his knuckles turning white in the process. But he didn’t look in my direction.
“Talon.” I rested my hand on his forearm, surprised he didn’t jerk like he had so often before. Instead, his body deflated beneath my touch. He turned his head to peer at me over his shoulder, his eyes heavy in a way I hadn’t seen before.
“That was so hot,” Franny said beside us, but we completely ignored her as our gazes locked. My throat and lips were growing drier with each passing second, and my skin was so hot I felt like I’d been sunbathing in the desert. My tongue darted out unconsciously to wet my lips. Talon groaned, closing his eyes as if the movement caused him pure agony.
In a flash, he dropped a hundred-dollar bill on the counter of the bar.
“Say goodbye to your friend,” he rumbled, as he finally fully turned in my direction.
“Oh, let me introduce you. Franny, this is Talon—”
“Her husband. We’ll make pleasantries later. Let’s go, Aurora.”
“But my dri—” Wordlessly, he pushed the drink toward Franny and then placed another bill on the counter. “Make sure you call someone to take you home. Do not drive, and stay away from the assholes in the back,” Talon commanded my best friend, and I was certain Franny was going to listen.
Hell, I was pretty sure the entire bar was going to listen.
“Yes, sir,” she replied with a full salute.
“Ready?” He held out his hand to help me off the stool I finally managed to climb back up on.
