Page 19 of Loving Lex

“No,” I said, turning to face him and folding my arms over my chest so that I could have a normal conversation without nipples. “I—wanted it. All of it. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just—I don’t normally do that kind of thing. Oranykind of thing, lately.” I closed my eyes for a second and chuckled before opening them and then averting my gaze before he could see my embarrassment. “I’m not usually a one-beer-and-I’m-yours kind of girl so I guess I’m a little shocked at myself, and—I can’t have this conversation half naked, so...”

“Well, I don’t usually make a habit of jumping women in their doorways, so let’s just call it even and start over,” he said, stepping forward again and leaning into my line of vision.

His expression was adorable and sincere. Gorgeous. Believable.

Fuck, I was so gullible.

“I’m Shay,” I said, holding out one hand.

He grinned. “Johnny. Johnny Bravo.” At my laugh, his eyes danced. “Stage name, you know. Very few people know about it.”

“Well, of course,” I said. “Although you could have come up with a better one.”

“Can’t take credit for it,” he said. “It was gifted to me.”

“Gifted?”

“By a duchess.”

“Oh,” I said, giggling. “Well, she should have dug deeper for something more fitting. Thor for instance.”

“Thor?” he said, looking incredulous.

“You think Johnny Bravo is better?”

He laughed heartily. “No.”

Oh, man, this guy was like a delicious roller coaster, and I couldn’t get off the damn ride. I saw Mariah coming down the hallway though, and I knew it was about to be cut short. “Okay, I really have to get back to work.”

“So, in all seriousness, though,” he said. “Why are you up here?”

I blew out a breath. “Because I suck down there.”

“Shay, I’ve been up here for all of two hours and already I don’t like the rich pricks in these rooms,” he said. “Entitled and smug and—”

“I’m familiar with the type, remember?” I said, giving him a sad smile. “It’s okay. I know the breed, I can handle myself.”

His gaze dropped for the briefest of seconds like it had gotten too heavy to hold. He blinked back up and looked into my eyes so intently it took me off guard. “If anyone touches you...”

That was all there was to his sentence, but I got the message. Warmth spread over me at the protectiveness in his ticking jaw. I patted his arm as Mariah stepped up and held the door open for me. “I got this.”

I walked in, expecting to see something along the same lines as the first room. The alcohol table was mostly the same, minus the champagne, plus a bottle of caramel rum, but the blow job going on at the window as the man watched the show below stopped me in my tracks. He had his shirt sleeves rolled up and his belt loose, as his hands were buried deeply in a redhead’s luxurious tresses. He didn’t stop fucking her mouth when we entered, as if he was accustomed to the interruption, and Mariah’s hands at my back propelled me forward.

“Anything we can bring you,” she whispered from behind me.

“Um—I—” I stuttered, clearing my throat in an extremely uncalm, unsexy way. I tried making my voice smooth and low and unobtrusive like she had. “Anything I can bring you, Mr.—” I glanced at the name card on the tray and frowned, completely forgetting my tone. “Sloan?”

Irritation covered his face as he glanced over his shoulder, his eyes quickly going hooded as they landed on me and Mariah. Or, our tits, rather. A growl escaped his throat as he pumped harder into the woman’s mouth.

“Pour me a glass of that rum, will you?” he rasped.

But my feet were rooted to the floor.

My hands flew to cover my breasts.

This was my worst nightmare about this place come to life.

The move brought his frowning gaze up to my face, where lazy confusion morphed to recognition, then panic, slowly through troubleshooting, and back to the lecherous lust he started with. “The precious little golden girl, all grown up,” he said slowly, rolling the words as if tasting them.

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