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“And when we joined the military,” he reminded me, “you met Demi and hung on to her for sex and nothing more. Now here you are, living in the same house as a woman you’re sleeping with. The writing’s on the wall, so to speak. This isn’t you. So, what makes her different?”
Her gorgeous face popped up in front of me, and I suddenly wished I had her in my arms, and not just under me to curb the pain I was carrying.
“I don’t know,” I lied. I wasn’t about to try to explain it to him when I didn’t know myself. “She just is.”
“So, say I told you that she told Shelly she was meeting up with someone named Justin, you wouldn’t mind? I mean, Ivy going on a date with someone else.” My face fell, and he rolled his eyes and took a big swig of his beer. “Is this how it’s gonna be?”
“You’re an ass.” I cleared my throat and felt the sudden anger fade away. “And you and Shelly are officially shut off from talkin’ to one another.”
“That’ll never happen,” he assured me. “But remember I know you better than anyone else, so you better be nice, or I’ll feed Ivy some information on you.”
“Watch it, my friend, or I might be forced to find some exposed mountaintops,” I teased, but I could see the darkness that comment brought him, to both of us.
“Those were some bad times, weren’t they?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, and the sadness we’d just forced away swept back in. “Once you’re settled at the house, let’s have a drink for us and Brown.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” He laughed a little too heartily in an attempt to keep the mood light and finished off the rest of his beer. “This new chapter will be interesting for both of us.”
“Can’t wait to have you back, brother.” We paid our tab and headed back outside.
I grabbed a cab and went with Moore to the airport. I found it hard to say goodbye, but I knew it would only be a short time until he joined me at Shadows. I was more than ready to focus on building my own team.
I tried to decide if I should stick around town for a bit or see if I could get an earlier flight. I decided on an earlier flight and went back to the hotel to grab my suitcase. I stood in the lobby and checked the time to see how far away my driver was.
“Ty?” Her voice made my shoulders tense, but I turned to her. Demi stood dressed to kill, and I tried not to react. “I forgot how sexy you look in your uniform.” I moved toward her. I didn’t want to be a jerk. She’d come all this way to support me, and I’d just ducked out on her.
“Would you like to get some coffee?” I could cancel the car.
“Coffee or a hotel room?” She smiled hopefully as she held up a hotel key card. I ran my tongue over my teeth then cleared my throat as my taxi pulled up out front.
“All right. Just let me cancel the taxi.” I indicated the car out front. I jogged out and handed him a bill then waved him off. I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake.
“Give me a sec.” She smiled as she held up her phone. “I just need to take this. Won’t be a sec.” She threw me a kiss, and I sat back in a lobby chair to wait. As I questioned myself about what the hell I was doing, I slipped into a memory.
“Ooowee!” Brown wiggled his eyebrows at me as he elbowed Moore in the ribs. “Seems someone’s got eyes for Beckett.”
“Where?” Moore didn’t miss a beat and craned his neck to see.
“Your three.”
I followed their line of sight and saw a woman with long dark hair and seductive eyes. There was no doubt they were on me; I could feel the heat. Her breasts were on display, and she looked to be on the prowl.
“Not really my type,” I muttered and looked down at my beer.
“No?” Brown smirked. “Yeah, hot as shit women aren’t mine either,” he mocked me.
“Twenty she’s a freak in the sheets and wins him over by the end of the night.” Moore slapped a twenty down.
I gladly took the beer the waitress held out and downed more than half of it.
“Oh, shit, here she comes,” Brown hissed. “Jesus, she’s a tiger! Be ready, Beckett. This one’s got some balls.”
Fuck me. Fine, here we go. I figured, what the hell. I hadn’t had a woman in nearly thirteen months, so this could be a good break for me.
I waited for her to sit, and she did, right on my lap. She pulled the beer out of my hand and took a sip while those eyes burned through me. She was just the kind of woman I needed right now. She seemed to want control. I wondered how hard it would be to get her to submit. This could be fun.
I let my mouth run to see how she’d handle it.
