Page 7 of The Sadist and the Brat

His eyebrows formed straight slashes over dark brown eyes, and his chestnut hair, glinting with red and gold highlights, spilled in waves to his shoulders. His jaw was covered in a full beard in the same gorgeous color and was clenched so hard she could see it even through the thick pelt.

And of course, his face was fixed in his usual ‘resting-dick-face’ expression, like the world was on his last nerve.

It was an almost distressingly handsome face, even with the scowl, and she wondered idly how gorgeous he would be if he didn’t always look like he was about to get a prostate exam.

She swallowed a giggle at the thought and cleared her throat. “Going home instead of doing your demo.”

He spared her a brief glance, then circled the low table to Nikki’s other side. His leathers creaked when he squatted down and laid one big hand on Nikki’s knee. “What happened?”

“Work accident,” Nikki said with a sigh. “I can probably still do the demo—”

“No, you cannot,” he interrupted. “You’re going home, putting your foot up, and taking a pain pill.”

Sadie let out a sigh of relief, then blinked when Jack frowned at her. “What?”

“You didn’t actually think I’d let her do the demo like this?” he asked, and he sounded so pissed off that she forgot herself and scowled back.

“Of course not,” she began hotly, and bit back a curse when his eyes narrowed in warning. She gritted her teeth and made an effort to keep her tone respectful. “But she was too worried about disappointing you to believe me.”

“I feel bad bailing on you,” Nikki admitted, and her voice was so small Sadie put an arm around her for comfort. “I know it’s important.”

His tone was firm. “It’s not more important than your health, or your safety.”

Nikki bit her lip. “You’ll have to cancel it.”

“I’ll make it a lecture instead of a demo,” Jack said. “It won’t be as fun, but it’ll do the job.”

“There, see?” Sadie gave Nikki’s arm a pat. “Problem solved.”

“But it’s on the schedule as a demo,” Nikki said, displaying the stubborn streak that lurked beneath her shy exterior. “People are expecting it, and James said there’s been a lot of interest.”

Jack’s expression had shifted, and he was regarding Nikki with an almost thoughtful look on his face. “This is important to you.”

Nikki shrank a little under his steady gaze but nodded. “I don’t want to be the reason it doesn’t happen.”

“You’re not,” he said, and Sadie was a little impressed that he could sound compassionate and absolutely implacable at the same time. “It’s my decision, not yours.”

Nikki sighed. “Yes, Sir. I’d just feel better if you were able to find a replacement.”

“Maybe I can do it,” Rebecca put in. “I’m sure Nick wouldn’t mind.”

“Aren’t you and Nick supposed to be on the role-play panel?” Sadie reminded her. “It’s the same time as the demo.”

“Oh, right. I forgot.” Rebecca winced. “Well, I’m sure someone can do it. What about Amanda?”

Sadie shook her head. “She did a pretty hard scene earlier, she’s not going to be up for it.”

“Olivia?”

“She’s on bar duty.”

“Excuse me,” Jack said, and Sadie looked at him. She was surprised to see amusement in his expression. “Didn’t I just get done saying this was my decision?”

“We’re just trying to help,” Sadie said and tried not to notice how damn good he looked. She could usually ignore the ridiculous level of hotness he walked around with—the whiskey and cigar voice, the tight ass, the romance novel hero shoulders—because he was always such a crab ass. But with a half-smile on his face and a warm, almost mischievous twinkle in his teddy bear eyes, he looked not only handsome but approachable.

Frankly, it was upsetting.

He looked at her, and while he didn’t stop smiling, the look in his eye went from a warm twinkle to a nerve-inducing glint. “You want to help?”

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