Extraits

« …Mon père, toujours ivre suite à une cuite qui avait duré toute la nuit, était monté dans sa voiture et avait failli tuer M. et Mme Duke en venant me chercher.

Et je venais de laisser Duke, qui faisait probablement partie des trois hommes sur terre qui avait raison de me détester, me faire jouir. Et il avait ma culotte. »

« …Je voulais éprouver des choses. Me sentir belle. Me sentir attirante. Unique. Désirée. »

« Nous avions toujours pensé que nous trouverions la même femme. Celle faite pour nous deux… Nous partagions tout depuis que nous avions cinq ans. Revendiquer une femme ensemble paraissait tout à fait sensé. »

Spoiler(cliquez pour révéler) She stepped back. “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t plan to meet you. Really.”

I frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”

“I didn’t know who you were.”

I relaxed a little, relieved. “That’s good, angel. I’d rather not be known as the rodeo champion. The stupid nickname Sir Loin of Beef. I want to strangle those stupid papers who’d come up with it. That’s not me anymore. I can just be Duke to you, or Landon.”

She shook her head, her dark hair sliding over her shoulders. This morning, she wore jeans that showed off her thick curves, but her shirt was a knit top in pink. The color looked good on her and the cut, well, it framed her full breasts really well. She had a name tag pinned to it with her first name and Raines library above. Fuck, she really was a librarian. I itched to lift my hand and cup her plump tit again, feel the weight of it. Get her eyes to go all blurry behind her glasses.

Hell, at least get some color back in her cheeks and get rid of the miserable look on her face.

Slowly, she shook her head. “You don’t understand.”

“If this is about the fact that you thought I was a stripper, I told you, I’m flattered.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then let me come in and tell me over coffee. Hell, I’d be happy to strip down and finish what we started. I want nothing more than to watch you come again. This time, I want my mouth on that pussy. I bet it’s as sweet as can be.”

Bright spots of color blossomed on her cheeks, and I loved seeing how I could rile her up. That she had an innocence to her.

She lifted her hand, put it on my chest. “No.”

I took a deep breath, let it out. It was best to change topics so I didn’t scare her off any more than I already had. “How am I going to give you a quote for work if I don’t see the house?”

Sighing, she pushed her glasses up. Yup, nervous.

“I can’t afford much, but roof work is first. Not the whole thing though. Only the section over the family room is leaking and needs to be redone right away. I wanted a quote for just that. I’ll do other stuff when I have the funds.”

“You’re upset because you’re on a budget?”

Her eyes flared and she rolled her shoulders back, tipped up her chin. “No. I’m used to being on a budget. Living frugally.”

I sighed. “Angel, tell me what it is. I admit, we took things a little fast last night, maybe skipped the get-to-know-you stage, but we can change that. Tonight. Dinner. I’ll tell Jed and we’ll pick you up at six. We’ll be perfect gentlemen.” I held my fingers up in a Boy Scout salute.

“I have to work.”

“Okay, tomorrow.”

“I have to work.”

I was starting to get a little frustrated. She had to give me something. Toss me a bone, at least. Rejection was one thing, and she could have told us she wasn’t interested at any time the night before. But she hadn’t. She’d been into it. And by the kiss we’d just shared, she was still into me. I knew it. I’d seen it. Felt it. Until something made her stop. Again.

“Every day?” I asked.

“Yes, I work every day.”

I glanced down at her nametag. Kaitlyn, the librarian. And that was hot as hell. I hadn’t been to the town library since I was in eleventh grade and had to write a book report on Hamlet. It seemed I’d been missing out. I wanted to strip off that prim exterior and get to the soft, wet places. “The library’s not open every day.”

“I have a second job.” She sighed, flicked her gaze up to mine. “It’s not just that.”

“Then what? I’ll apologize for both me and Jed if we were too forward, not gentlemanly enough, but you were right there with us.” I licked my lips, getting more of her taste. “Still are.”

She laughed, but she didn’t sound amused. Closing her eyes, she took a breath, then another. “You’re going to hate me.”

I stilled, glanced down at her left hand, but didn’t see a ring. “Are you married?” We didn’t fool around with a claimed woman. Never had, never would.

Behind her glasses, her eyes widened. “What? No, I’m not married. Worse.” She bit her lip. “Well, you’ll think it’s worse.” What the fuck was worse than fingering a married woman?

“No way. There’s no chance I could—”

“I’m Kaitlyn Leary.”

That cut off my words. My breath. Stilled my heart. I stared at her, then stared some more, trying to remember her from fifteen years earlier. She was Kaitlyn Leary.

“Holy fuck,” I muttered. My hands clenched into fists and everything I felt from that time surged right back to the surface. This was Don Leary’s daughter.

“You’re right, I hate you.” The words were easy and they slipped from my lips because right then, all I felt was hatred.

She flinched, as if I’d hit her with my fists instead of my words. I might be losing my shit, but I’d never raise my hand to a woman.

“I understand,” she replied, her voice calm, as if she were resigned. “Last night, I didn’t mean to… I wouldn’t have… if I’d known.”

Non. Nous la trouverions, putain. Et quand cela arriverait... nous ne la laisserions pas repartir aussi facilement parce que nous voulions faire plus qu'utiliser nos doigts avec elle. Nous voulions nos queues à l'intérieur d'elle, bien sûr, mais nous voulions aussi passer du temps avec elle. Un dîner et un film. En savoir plus sur elle, et pas seulement comment elle remontait ses lunettes quand elle était stressée et les bruits qu'elle faisait quand elle était sur le point de jouir.

« Je veux savoir ce qu’il se passerait si je déboutonnais un de ces boutons. »

Je retins ma respiration et restai immobile. La discussion sur les bijoux avait clairement touché à sa fin. Il prit mon silence pour un oui – ce qui était le cas – et déboutonna l’un des boutons. Ouais, j’allais le laisser faire. Un simple bouton n’était rien comparé à quand il avait eu ses mains à l’intérieur de mes cuisses… sa bouche presque sur ma chatte.

Ils n’étaient pas montés sur scène pour n’importe quelle femme, ils l’avaient fait pour moi. Bon Dieu, n’était-ce pas torride ?

Derrière le bar, je donnai un coup de pied au tibia de Jed pour attirer son attention, mais quand je détournai mon regard assez longtemps pour le regarder, je vis que son attention se portait exactement sur la même personne que moi.

Elle.

Elle se tenait un peu en arrière par rapport à la femme tape-à-l’œil, mais il était clair, de la manière qu’ont les femmes à rester ensemble, qu’elles étaient venues ensemble. Elle était… timide. Silencieuse, peut-être ? Définitivement pas aussi directe que son amie. Elle n’était le genre à être directe. Et à la façon dont elle avait levé les yeux au ciel, je savais que je n’étais pas le premier mec que son amie avait dragué. Et une fois que je l’aurais rejeté, je ne serais sûrement pas le dernier.