Wanton
Page 18
“Armie?” Ignoring the others, she trailed a finger up his arm and over his shoulder. “I’m free tonight.”
“Yeah?” Armie looked at Justice. “So is he. You two should hook up.”
Justice straightened. “Gospel truth, ma’am.”
The brunette’s eyes narrowed. “I was talking to you, Armie.”
“And I handed you off. Take it or leave it.”
Vanity slugged him.
Stack coughed.
Justice just looked hopeful.
The brunette asked expectantly, “Will you join us?”
“No!” Justice said quickly. “He won’t.”
Armie looked at the lady’s pout, Vanity’s disapproving expression, Justice’s appalled frown, and he had to laugh. “If you’ll all excuse me?”
Paying no attention to questions, he threw some bills on the bar and took off. Halfway toward the door, Miles called out to him.
Armie kept going.
Two women tried to waylay him, but he pretended not to notice. Once outside, he sucked in the cold evening air, but it did nothing to clear his head. And suddenly, without looking behind him, he knew Cannon Colter was there. “Shit.”
Cannon laughed. “You’re okay to drive?”
Working to clear all emotion from his face, Armie turned to his friend. “Can’t get drunk on nasty lemon water, now can I?”
“Is that what you wanted to do? Get drunk?”
No, he wanted to drag Merissa to bed and keep her there until his blood no longer burned and lurid thoughts of her cleared out of his brain. He popped his neck, shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”
“It’s not the fight.” Folding his arms, Cannon leaned back on the outside wall of Rowdy’s bar. “I know you too well to think you’re concerned about Carter.”
“I’ll either win the fight or not. I’m prepared.” Armie shrugged, showing his indifference. He never thought in terms of winning or losing. Just winning. And to that end he did what he needed to do to ensure success.
“Everyone assumes there’s added pressure because you’ll be in the SBC now. But again,” Cannon stated, “I know you better than that.”
“A fight is a fight,” Armie confirmed. “The size of the crowd—”
“Or the size of the paycheck?”
“—doesn’t matter to me.”
“I know.” Cannon lifted a brow. “So you want to tell me what’s eating at you?”
A bad case of desperate lust for your little sister. Not something he’d ever share. Rather than deny the problem, Armie shook his head. “I’ll deal with it.”
“By avoiding sex?”
He jutted his chin. “Who says I am?”
Cannon didn’t blink. “Man, I know you. Better than anyone. You thought I wouldn’t notice when you went cold turkey?”
That so shocked Armie that he took a step back. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say. If he tried to blame it on fight preparation, Cannon would just laugh at him again. “I don’t suppose you’d butt out?”
“Sure. If that’s what you really want.” Cannon straightened away from the wall. “But if you want to talk, if you need anything—”
“I know.” Once, a lifetime ago, Cannon had been the only person to back him. Against all odds and ugly accusations, he’d stood with Armie and never, not once, showed a single shadow of doubt. Uncomfortable with the idea of ever again being that needy, Armie flexed his shoulders and said, “Thanks, but it’s fine.”
“I know that.” Cannon squeezed his shoulder. “You just need to start believing it.”
Armie glared at his friend as he went back into the bar. He didn’t need that melodramatic crap heaped on him. Breathing hard, he looked around at the moon-washed blacktop, the frost-covered bus bench, then up at the inky, star-studded sky.
What was Merissa doing right now? Was she with another man—as he’d suggested?
It’s what he wanted, what would be best—for her—but at the same time… Jesus, it tortured him.
After the life he’d led, the background he’d overcome and the physical ability he’d gained, he wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone, except Merissa Colter’s effect on him. That scared him all right. Bone-deep, heart-sucking fear…
Copyright © 2015 Lori Foster
ISBN: 9781459294813
Wanton
Copyright © 1999 by Lori Foster
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com