AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sullen, moody, introverted…in the past, she never would’ve painted outgoing, life-of-the-party Deuce Dixon with those descriptions. Now she didn’t know any others that would fit. Except possibly brute, protector and sexy as all hell.
She bit her lip. Heck, not hell. Apparently you could take the girl out of church, but not the church out of the girl. And she wasn’t even out of church. She still went regularly, minus the occasional missed service due to Saturday night shenanigans.
During which she was thinking very chaste thoughts, naturally. As she always did. Like right now. Hey, window shopping with an option to buy didn’t hurt anything, right?
She tried to glance away from her current preoccupation with Chase’s super snug pants. Either Chase was packing a baseball bat in there or her tendency of looking on the bright side had reached critical mass. Literally.
“Since when do you call me Deuce?”
She shrugged. “It’s your name, isn’t it? Don’t you have the tat to prove it?”
“I was drunk when we…” He trailed off, apparently as unwilling to finish his statement as he was to respond to her tat question. She knew the answer anyway. She’d ogled that spread of cards on his muscled back enough to be able to recreate it from memory using chocolate body paint. “Which you well know,” he gritted out.
“Yeah, I do. I also know I kissed you, and you liked it.” She stepped into his personal space and slapped a hand on his wide chest. It was like trying to cover the land mass of China with a pocket ruler. “So why’d you run like a scared little girl?”
“I didn’t run. And look who’s talking about little girls.” He smirked down at her from his lofty height. Being short blew chunks. “Isn’t that in your job description?”
“I’m of age,” she said, hating the haughty edge to her tone. Couldn’t be helped. Her older and wiser bestie cautioned her frequently about being careful, but that wasn’t because Summer was inexperienced. Cass had walked the straight and narrow for so long that it was second nature for her to caution Summer to always keep an umbrella in the trunk of her car and to never forget to hide a spare twenty at the back of her wallet just in case.
As for the spare condom Cass instructed she store in her purse, Summer had done her one better and carried two. Emergency sex with multiple orgasms? Yes, please. She didn’t partake in pleasures of the flesh that often—despite her liberal view toward her religious upbringing, she usually only made love when in a committed relationship—but lightning struck now and then. Just in case, she brought a rubber umbrella. And sometimes attended confession twice a week.
Chase sneered down at her, though oddly she didn’t feel like the expression held any weight. What was his deal? So she was a little younger than him. From the pictures she’d seen in the gossip rags, he didn’t limit himself in any way. “You need to stick to your side of the playground and stop reaching for things you’re not ready for,” he said, his voice hard and tight.
She nodded pleasantly. As if she needed a lecture from a guy who regularly had threesomes, if the tabloids were to be believed. And she did. Believe them that is, not have threesomes. “Thanks so much for that piece of advice. Now you’ve schooled me.” She’d just get her stuff and get the hell out of there.
Darting around him, she made a run for the door. He grasped her waist in one of his forklift arms, hauling her off her feet and stealing her breath. Caught in mid-air, her arms flailing like a demented bird, she heard him laugh and her indignation increased tenfold.
“Knock it off, slugger.” He set her on the ground, his meaty hands still clamped around her upper arms. “You’re not going in there alone, not after that scene. We’ll go in, get your banjo dude and speak to the management about rescheduling your set. How many songs did you have left?”
Oh God, her set. She’d been so flustered by the fight and Chase’s appearance that she hadn’t even considered she’d essentially taken off in the middle of her gig. Her first major-ish—and now likely only—chance, and what did she do? Fight and flee.
“Three,” she whispered, deflating in his hold.
Everyone was right. Obviously she didn’t have it together. She wasn’t ready for the big time. Maybe she wouldn’t ever be.
“So we’ll get you another night. From the posters I saw and the crowd that couldn’t get enough of you, I’m guessing this wasn’t your first show. Or your last.”
That still remained to be seen, but she mutely shook her head.
“You clearly don’t have a personal team.” He gave her a tight-lipped smile and ushered her toward the door. “That needs to change.”
She stumbled on another icy spot and he righted her seamlessly, practically from the force of his steel will alone. His brusque touch somehow became gentle by the time it reached her flesh. “A personal…team?” She almost asked what he meant, then bit down on her lip and hoped he’d explain.
“Security that goes with you, not provided by the establishment. You need someone, especially since you are—”
“Female?” she snapped.
“I was going to say petite. Plus I saw you and Cass get into a fight once. She whipped your ass.”
“Cass doesn’t count. She’s my best friend. Do you really think we’d be out for blood?” Especially considering Cass’s heart condition, which could be adversely affected by stress.
He lifted a brow. “How do you feel about a deal?”
Suddenly cold all over again, she rubbed her arms and took another sideways glance at the door. She’d never make
it before he tackled her again.
Though that didn’t sound altogether bad, assuming they could lose their clothes…
