She blinks at me, looking around with wide eyes. The place is in complete chaos, so she rolls her eyes and shrugs.
“Congratulations.”
She sits up on the edge of the bar, curling her finger toward me. I step up between her thighs, my body heating.
I have no idea how to convince her I can’t take her doing this shot for any other man, not anymore. I want her to quit this job and stay home with the boys so I can take care of her. She can get another job if she wants, but I’m getting sick of having to sit up here for most of her shift to make sure no one messes with her.
But I know I can’t say that. It has to be her choice.
“You’re gonna get me fired,” she whispers.
I look down over her, the skimpy cropped top and Daisy Dukes making her look so unbelievably sexy that I wish I could take my shirt off and wrap it around her.
Mine, mine, mine.
“Damn. Sorry.”
She laughs, shaking her head. “You don’t seem very sorry.”
“I am. Ireallyam.”
My stomach clenches when she grabs my upper thigh. The need for her approval, for her just to like me, is so strongthat it overwhelms me. I’ve never cared about anyone like this. No woman has ever affected me this way.
I would’ve killed him for her.
I wanted to. My brother stopping me is the only reason I didn’t.
But even more so, I would embarrass myself and destroy my reputation for her.
Even after my brother stole my first girlfriend right from under me, I felt slighted, but I got over it within a few days.
She lifts the tequila bottle to her lips and fills her mouth with it. She sets it down on the counter and leans over, grabbing my jaw and spitting it between my lips. She gets closer this time than she did before.
Once it’s all out, she rears back, splashes me with the water, and slaps me hard across the cheek.
I whistle, shaking my head as I lean toward her. “You enjoyed that a lot, didn’t you?”
“Maybe.”
“Taking out some frustration on me?”
“I … I guess I am, yes.” Her voice is quivering.
I slide my hand up her thigh, my fingers squeezing around her flesh when I get close to her hips.
“You go right ahead, darlin’. I can take it. I want it all—all your darkness, all your rage, and the pent-up reactions you’ve always had to keep hidden. I’m here to take the broken pieces of you and fuse them back together. It might be painful and brutal and messy, but I’m in love with you. I won’t give up until you’re whole again.”
37
DALLAS
Something about Duke’s presence brings me peace. He brings calm to the chaos of my life and my mind.
I was feeling good until Matt’s mom texted me and asked if she could pick up the boys for him this Friday. My eyes are puffy from the meltdown I had after reading it. My heart feels like it’s going to crumble inside my chest.
Duke was outside, working the cattle, and he took both the boys with him on the side-by-side. When I hear their happy little voices and feet coming inside, I make my way to the back door near the kitchen.
Duke is grinning widely, holding Dutton in one arm while bracing his hand on the wall so he can remove his muddy boots. It started raining a few minutes ago, and by the looks of it, they were caught in it.
