Damn it, the guy already pressed every single one of her “want him b-a-a-a-d” buttons, and now she was getting all flushed thinking about how that scruff would feel against her fingers. The sensitive skin of her lips. The tender, intimate places between her thighs.
As soon as he reached her, she muttered, “Wow, it looks like I really do have the crappiest luck in the world.”
“We need to talk. Now.” Everything from his posture to his tone relayed a hard, biting tension.
“We have nothing to talk about.” She started to walk around him, her jaw dropping in shock when she suddenly found herself being hauled right back in front of him, his big hand wrapped around her upper arm. “Get your freaking hand off me!” she hissed, glaring up at him.
“I’m not hurting you,” he grated, before letting go of her. He studied her upturned face with a narrowed gaze, then gave a low, humorless laugh. “You know, most women don’t find it such a chore to talk to me.”
“I’m not most women.” That right there was one of her biggest pet peeves: being thrown in with the masses. Gah!
“Oh, trust me, Natalie. I noticed.” The huskiness of his voice made her shiver, and then she flushed with a scalding wave of heat as that dark, heavy-lidded gaze started to move slowly over her body.
So. Freaking. Slowly.
He started down at her sexy high-heeled black sandals, then up the bare length of her legs, to the flirty hem of her dark gray, retro-styled dress. Then higher, over her too-wide hips, up to her way-too-big boobs, and…Oh, God, the way he lingered at the base of her throat, where her pulse was hammering to a frenzied beat, had her chest going painfully tight.
His attention stayed right there, on her throat, for a breathless span of seconds, and then he licked his lower lip, and dragged his searing gaze up just a little bit more. He lingered over her mouth for another excruciating span of seconds, before finally looking her right in the eye. That’s when she gasped and took a shaky step back, the physical awareness in his hot, beautiful stare hitting her with such a sharp, intense jolt that it made her flinch.
No other man—none—had ever looked at her like that. With so much raw heat and possessiveness. It was unnerving as hell, but also incredibly arousing, and she hated it. How was she going to hold her own against this player if he melted her freaking brains down every time she set eyes on him?
He cut a look over to where the tall guy he’d shown up with was still talking to the cops and her date, a frown settling between his dark brows as he seemed to study Matt for a moment. Then he cast a look over the otherwise quiet parking lot, and finally brought that unsettling gaze back to her. “What are you doing here, Natalie?”
She sighed. “I work here, remember?”
“Not this early, you don’t. Your Saturday night shifts usually don’t start until later.”
She arched her brows. “It could be considered entirely creepy that you know that.”
“Or observant. And you’re sure as hell not dressed for work.”
Not feeling quite as smug as she would have if she were out with anyone other than Matt the Jackass, she told him, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m not working tonight. I’m actually here for a date.”
He swept that heavy-lidded gaze over her body again, the color of his eyes a darker, stormier blue when they clashed with hers. “You’re on a date?”
She nodded, shivering a bit from the chill that was settling in the air, the cloud cover growing thicker.
There was no mistaking the scowl that settled deeply between his brows. “With who? And please don’t tell me it’s that jackass in the stolen car.”
“It isn’t stolen!” At least she hoped to God it wasn’t. “And who he is isn’t any of your business.”
“Wait,” he ground out, carefully catching hold of her arm again when she started to shove past him. “Are you kidding me?”
She looked down at his long fingers curled around her upper arm, her bare skin tingling from the contact, then slowly lifted her gaze, locking it hard on his. “Let go, Sean. Now.”
“Natalie, get over here!” Matt called out, the whiny edge to his voice making her cringe. “I need you to set these jerks straight.”
Sean gave another low laugh, then shook his head and let go of her. She blinked as she watched him take a step back, sensing that he’d finally decided she wasn’t worth the effort. It left her feeling weirdly…empty. Her reaction didn’t make any sense, considering how badly she wanted him to leave her alone. But there was no denying the hollowed out feeling in her stomach.
What the hell is happening to me?
Matt called her name again, his tone even whinier than before, and she wondered for the hundredth time what had possessed her to say yes to this adolescent. She’d sat beside him in Advanced Econ since the start of the semester, and yet, she didn’t know much about him beyond his penchant for preppy clothes and hair gel. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and so she’d ignored the little voice of warning in her head when he’d asked her out again, and finally said yes.
Which might just be one of the biggest loser moments of my life!
When the first thing he’d asked when he’d picked her up was if she got an employee discount on food and drinks at Manolo’s, she should have called the whole thing off then and there. What kind of giant asshole took his date to the place where she worked?
And what exactly did he think she was going to be able to help straighten out with the cops? They probably knew more about him at this point than she did.
“Your boy’s waiting for you,” Sean said in a low voice that couldn’t have contrasted more with Matt’s whiny tone if he’d tried. One belonged to a man, and the other to a spoiled little brat.
“He’s not my boy,” she muttered without looking at him, her gaze lifting to the darkening sky as she just stood there. She didn’t understand half the crazy stuff going on in her head at that moment, but the last thing she wanted was to be anywhere close to Matt.
A low rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, out over the ocean, and she could smell the distant rain on the crackling air. A storm was definitely coming, brewing out over the Pacific.
As Natalie lowered her head and glanced at Sean, it struck her that the storm was a perfect complement to the chaos churning up inside her. She felt…restless. Edgy. Trapped inside her own tight skin, with no way to break out.
He held her stare with those dark, incredible eyes, his breaths getting harder…deeper, just like hers. God, she needed to find the strength to turn around and walk away, before she did something stupid, like attack him with her mouth. But she couldn’t. She just stood there, until he suddenly muttered a low curse and grabbed onto her arm again. He pulled her to the far side of the Range Rover, where they were out of sight of the others, then let go and faced her.
“Enough of the goddamn game,” he growled. “I give.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
He stepped closer, filling her head with his mouthwatering scent, his narrowed gaze as sharp and raw as his tone. “Don’t do it, Nat.”
“Do what?”
“Don’t go out with that asshole.”
“Asshole?” she sputtered, even though she’d been thinking the exact same thing just a few seconds ago. “You don’t even know him.”
“I don’t need to know him. Aren’t we all the same in your book?”
“Yeah, well, I’m taking a chance that he’s different,” she lied, uneasy with the way he was looking at her—as if he were seeing so much more than she wanted to show him. But there was no denying that it was insanely hot, the way he was so completely focused on her. It made her feel like she was the only woman who’d ever been the recipient of that heady, potent look—and if that wasn’t dangerous, she didn’t know what was.
“No,” he ground out.
“No?”
He came a step closer, erasing the space between them as her head went back and he put his face rig
ht over hers. “If you’re gonna take a chance on someone, then take it on me.”
Her eyes shot so wide she knew she must look ridiculous. “Are you serious? Do I look like a freaking idiot to you? Or a backstabbing bitch?”
“Backstab…? Wait. What the hell are you talking about?”
Shoving hard at his chest, she snarled, “I would never be with a cheater, Sean! I would never do that to another woman!”
His dark brows drew together as he stared down at her, the line of his jaw rigid. The blue of his eyes had gone from stormy to outright pissed, his rough voice little more than a guttural blast of sound when he demanded, “The last time, Natalie?”
“What?”
He pointed a long finger at the restaurant, his voice even lower than before. “When was the last time you saw me in there with a woman on the weekend?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and tossed him a bland look. “I don’t keep track.”
He got right in her space again, all hot and hard and angry, but sexy-as-hell. “You should. Because I haven’t gone out with anyone since you and I met. The day that Sophie moved in with Chris. That was almost a month ago.”
“Just because you haven’t brought a woman into the restaurant the past few weekends doesn’t mean you aren’t hooking up. This is San Diego. There are nice restaurants on every corner. And you’re still having dinner with the blonde every Tuesday night!”
With a slow shake of his head, he told her, “You have some serious trust issues, you know that?”
Bristling over the fact that he had the nerve to look freaking disappointed in her, as if she were the one at fault here, she snapped, “What I have is a brain. One I plan on using to keep me out of trouble.”
“And out of my pants? Is that what you’re saying?”
“This conversation is over.”
He rubbed his hand over his mouth, then exhaled a rough breath as he stepped back from her. “I don’t waste my time on women who aren’t interested, and I sure as hell don’t force myself on them,” he said in a flat tone.
What the…? “I didn’t think you did.”
A smirk twisted that beautiful mouth. “No, you just think I’m a cheating piece of shit, right?”
She swallowed the painful lump in her throat, wondering why this all felt so freaking wrong, when she was only trying to do the right thing.
Taking a careful breath, she waited until the group of people walking past them reached the restaurant’s entrance, then said, “I should probably go back and find out what’s happening with Matt.”
He jerked his chin toward the restaurant. “You’d be better off going in there and calling a taxi. From what Adam, the cop, told me, your friend Matt’s night is fucked. He’s gonna be busy trying to explain why he’s driving his girlfriend’s car without her permission. From the sound of it, she got pissed he was going out tonight without her, so she reported it stolen about an hour ago.”
Filled with the sudden urge to kick Matt in his scrawny backside, she croaked, “He has a girlfriend?”
“Yeah. Apparently he lives with her.”
“Jesus.” She leaned back against the side of the SUV and sucked in a deep breath, feeling like she needed the air to keep her from completely deflating. “I’m gonna freaking kill him.”
“I’d wait till the cops clear out first.” And just like that, he started walking away from her.
With every step he took, she felt a jolt in her stomach, as if she were losing something she’d never even had. Something she didn’t even want—on an emotional level. Not when it would mean getting her heart trampled into mushy little pieces of stupidity.
But, damn it, that didn’t mean she wanted to watch this man walk away from her. Not when she was still struggling to figure out what it was about him that drew her. And, yeah, he definitely drew her. Made her want to freaking cling to him, when she didn’t cling to anything or anyone.
Didn’t she need an answer for that? Because if she didn’t figure one out, how the hell was she going to find this feeling again? Hopefully with a guy who wasn’t guaranteed to break her heart?
“Look, you want me to take Paul’s truck and give you a ride?”
She choked back a relieved gasp at the sound of his voice, shocked when she realized he’d stopped and turned around to face her again.
He was trying to look casual as he waited for her answer, as if he didn’t really care if she accepted his help or not. But she could have sworn it was an act, given the way he watched her. Sharp, laser focus. Every ounce of it zeroed in on her.
“Wh-what would your brother do?”
He angled his head a bit to the side. “He can either go ahead and grab dinner and wait for me to come back for him, or have Adam and Kelley drop him off at his place. It’s not far from here.”
“Oh. Okay,” she heard herself say, walking toward him. “I mean, yes, please. And thank you.”
He gave her one of those sexy chin jerks, waiting for her to reach his side. Then they made their way over to the truck he’d shown up in.
“Natalie! What are you doing?” Matt called out. She looked over to find him scowling at her from the far side of the police cruiser. When she didn’t immediately answer, he tried to come toward her, but the female cop blocked his way, saying something that made him scowl, but thankfully brought him to a stop.
Shifting her gaze to Sean, she said, “The quicker we get out of here, the better.”
He nodded in response. “Wait here while I grab the keys from Paul.”
She stood by the front of the truck as he shared a quick word with his brother. Paul shot her a curious look, the sexy, almost knowing slant of his grin reminding her of Sean. They were a sight to see, standing next to each other, both tall and ripped and dangerously good-looking. They’d apparently been planning on having dinner together, and she could only imagine how giddy the female waitstaff would have been. They were a great bunch, but tended to go a bit starry-eyed when so much delicious man-candy came into the place.
And damn if she didn’t drool a little at the sight of Sean walking back to her, the way his incredible body moved in the casual clothes so freaking hot it should have been illegal. Or at least come with a warning label.
“Do you need anything from his car?” he asked her.
“No. I’ve got my purse,” she murmured, lifting the small black purse that was strapped over her shoulder.
He nodded and put his hand on her lower back as he guided her to the passenger-side of the truck. She literally shivered from the heady touch of his hand, and it made her frown. She didn’t like thinking about how right his touch felt. Or how freaking good. And the feeling only deepened as he took her arm, helping her up into the truck, which wasn’t easy in her dress, since she was trying not to flash too much skin.
Her pulse hammered, and every goddamn breath she sucked in only pulled in more of his scent—that hot, woodsy, masculine scent that made her want to taste every inch of his gorgeous body with ravenous laps of her tongue.
Mayday! Mayday! No spontaneous licking allowed! Keep tongue between teeth and think about something disgusting, like smelly socks. Or public restrooms. Or…
Shit! It isn’t working!
Desperate for a way to stifle her traitorous libido, Natalie blurted, “Will…will you tell me something?”
“What do you want to know?” His voice was all rumbly and low, and still close, since he hadn’t moved back to shut the door yet.
Turning her head toward him, she found his wary gaze, and held it. “What’s the blonde’s name? The one you have dinner with every Tuesday?”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he slowly exhaled and took a step back, gripping the top of the door. She thought he was going to close it without giving her an answer. But she was wrong. “Peyton,” he grated. “Her name’s Peyton.”
She took that in as the door shut with a solid thud, thinking it figured. Even the woman’s name was pretty. And as she watched Sean�
�s tall, jaw-dropping body make its way around the front of the truck, his profile hard with irritation, she knew she needed to keep Peyton’s image front and center in her mind, the way an alcoholic used their coins. Knew that she needed to roll it over and over with her mental fingers, burning it into her brain.
It was the only way she could find the strength to walk away from him without doing something stupid.
Something she could never take back.
And never forgive herself for.
Chapter Three
As soon as he’d shut the truck’s door, Sean cursed under his breath. Natalie Richards was a stunningly gorgeous, whip-smart, irritating pain-in-the-ass. One he wanted to put over his knee as badly as he wanted to goddamn devour her.
Years. It’d been years since he’d wanted a woman this badly, and it had to be her. A sarcastic, backbone-of-steel, snarling little man-hater who was almost too freaking young for him. He’d have thought he’d lost his ever-loving mind, if he didn’t know there was a hell of a lot more to her than the attitude she kept shoving in his face.
Goddamn Peyton. He loved her, but he kinda wished she lived on the other side of the fucking country right then. He couldn’t believe their dinners were giving Natalie the ammunition she needed to shoot him down.
Though it isn’t like all the other women I’ve taken into Manolo’s haven’t done a good job of that, he thought sourly. But he knew it was Natalie’s belief that he was stepping out on Peyton that kept putting that seething look of disgust in her beautiful eyes. And he was done with it.
Done to the point that it was going to be damn satisfying to set her straight. Yeah, there was a chance that it wouldn’t make a bit of difference in her eyes, since she was so dead set on putting him in the dickhead category. But it would still be fucking satisfying.
Keeping His Promise: A When It Happens Novella, Book 2 Page 3