Page 15 of South of The Skyway

“How was your morning, Ace?”

“Fine, thanks. Yours?”

“Better now.”

Heat crept up my cheeks, the accompanying eye roll big enough to knock over a building. “Shameless.”

“Are you working today?” He nonchalantly pulled his shoulders back, ignoring my quip and straightening despite the incessant begging of my suddenly needy dog as she nuzzled into his limp hand. For pity’s sake, the traitor was straining against her leash to get to him. Rhyett complied contentedly, absently rubbing up and down her jaw without dropping his gaze, sending her tail into a frantic fan.

“Uh—yes, yeah, I am. I’m heading in now, actually.”

Did the fucker just swallow a laugh?

“When are you off?”

Oh, hell no.

Noel, the nosey-nancy-turned-mind-reader, was quick to interject, “We close at seven.”

“Excellent. Let me take you to dinner.” The demand should have been aggravating. That machismo bullshit never worked on either of us. Only, my belly ended up clenching as his eyes drifted down my face, lingering on my lips until I nervously bit the lower one. He jerked his gaze up, satisfaction lining his eyes. When he brought a hand up to brace his jaw, heat rushed through me at remembering exactly what those fingers had felt like on my neck, my breast, down the line of my waist…buried inside me. Thighs clenching, I cleared my throat.

“I’ve got plans afterwards.”

Noel, grinning maniacally like the meddlesome psychopath she was, went to open her mouth before I could glare pointedly enough to keep her quiet.Freaking twatwaffle. She was going to throw me under the bus for the fib. Instead, Noel cleared her throat.

“I better get the place open. See you in ten, Brex?”

“Right behind you.”

She patted a palm on his broad chest as she passed him by, taking my traitorous wretch of a dog with her. Rhyett’s chuckle only partially distracted me as she turned over her shoulder, pointing two fingers to her eyes and then back to me. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Brex?” He quirked his head. When I nodded, anxiously tucking my hair behind my ears, he mirrored the motion, face saying that was right on par. “Nothing serious. I’m checking out some commercial spaces today, but then I’m just doing recon all afternoon. There’s a Brazilian bar a few blocks east of Three Leaf with rave reviews, cocktails on fire, smoked whiskey, skewers of meat served however you like it.”

“I don’t know, Rhyett. I think I had my fill last night.”

“Come on, Ace,” he said, shifting forward and cupping either side of my jaw in his warm palms. A trail of sweat dripped down my spine, settling on my low back. I wanted to say something sassy, wanted to push back for all the reasons I’d decided I was done dating. For all the reasons Robby had ripped my heart out in the first place. I wasdistant, flighty, and scared of grabbing life by the horns. I wasn’t entirely sure I was mother material, and even if I was, did my life need to be consumed by a ruckus group of crotch goblins?

If not, was there even a point in compromising my finally content little bubble to make room for someone else?

But something in Rhyett’s touch made me feel likely to turn into a puddle of puree, the words freezing somewhere between my mind and mouth. He lowered his face until he was an inch away, resting his forehead on mine as the heat of his breath parted my lips.

“You and I both know I haven’t even gotten started with you.” A chill snaked down my spine as everything went hot. But when his lips should have taken mine, should have liquified me into a puddle seeping into the cracks of the sidewalk, the fucker pulled back. Cocky smile twisting his expression, he obviously knew exactly what he’d just done. “I was dumb enough to let you slip through my fingers last night, Brexley. I’ll be damned if I do it again.”

Putty. My bones had turned to putty. It was a fight to not clear my throat. “Cheesy line, Rhyett.”

“Did it work?” He chuckled.

“No,” I said, too quickly. The slant of his mouth told me he knew it. “Maybe,” I admitted, trying to will my body to reclaim its faculties. Sucking down a breath, I peeled away from him, needing a few feet between us to screw my spinning head back into place.

“You feeling lucky?” He parroted my challenge, laughing when my eyes narrowed.

“The deal was that you get my number, not that I’d come out with you.”

“The number is a good start.” He slid his phone from his back pocket, handing it to me. “How else could I text you the address?”

“You’re a cocky little thing, aren’t you?”

“You know as well as I do there’s nothinglittleabout me, Ace.” If it hadn’t been so goddamned sexy, that smile laced with pure masculine satisfaction would've had me seething. But the man was not wrong. Our scandalous tryst in the bathroom had been the best damn sex I’d ever had. I’d seen stars.Twice. Once when he fucked me breathless and once when I remembered it, alone back in my apartment.

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