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Chapter 1
Ember
“That guy over there is so hot,” I said to my friend across from me at the scarred wooden table of our favorite bar, Shot Therapy.
Trudy peered over her shoulder and mumbled, “Yeah, I guess.”
“Oh, come on, Trudy, he’s fucking hot! He’s got a friend, too. Why don’t I bring them over?”
Trudy rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m not interested.”
Trudy Winter and I had met years ago when we went to college in Maryland, and out of the blue, she’d contacted me to crash at my place while she interviewed for teaching positions. It sounded like more work than I wanted to do, but Trudy was a lot more focused and intense than I was.
Back in college we were housed in the Weaver Dorm and hung out with some of the same friends. I was a year ahead of her in school and had never expected to hear from her again once I graduated with my business degree—which I managed to obtain by the skin of my teeth.
A week ago, Trudy had sent me a message on Facebook asking if she could stay for a few days while she underwent her interviews. I’d cringed at the thought of sharing my small place, but I owed it to her. I couldn’t remember the number of times she’d been my excuse to get some random dude out of my room after a quick hookup.
Trudy had spent a lot of time hanging in the common space on our floor. Sometimes she’d watched television, other times, she’d read. Many times, I’d found her lost in her own world as she’d stared at the painted cinderblock wall.
“You sure?” I asked Trudy as she sipped her water.
“Yeah, I’m sure, but knock yourself out.” Trudy drummed her fingers on the table.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” I wet my lips as I slid out of the booth and straightened my short skirt. I winked at Trudy and strutted between the tables to the bar. The guy was eyeing me as I approached, a cocky smile on his full lips. His brown eyes predatory as they slid down my body, and it jacked up my need.
Oh, yeah, I was getting lucky tonight.
“Can I buy you a drink?” I asked as I stopped close enough to him that I could feel the body heat wafting off his nicely-built chest. I was never shy when it came to approaching men. If I wanted someone, I went for it. Well, as long as he didn’t have a wedding band or an indentation on his ring finger. Even I had my limits.
Here at Shot Therapy, men were a dime a dozen. I wasn’t in the market for one man to keep. The last thing I was interested in was settling down. The mere thought made my wrist tingle where I had a forever reminder of what settling down could do to a person. I absently rubbed my wrist to stop the tingling as I popped my hip to the side and gave the guy a smoldering look while batting my eyelashes seductively at him.
A burst of laughter reached my ears, and I turned to find the source. A guy with short dark hair eyed me with a bright glimmer of humor in his light green eyes. “I thought guys were supposed to offer to buy the ladies a drink.” he interrupted as I tried not to let my jaw drop. He was freaking gorgeous. In fact, he put the guy I had just approached to crying shame, but as my eyes roved longingly over his body, I noticed the fancy watch on his wrist and the large gold class ring on his right hand.
D-O-C-T-O-R—my internal radar screamed. It was obvious that the guy had money, and that alone put him ten times out of my league. The fact that he was hanging out in Shot Therapy meant, he probably worked at the hospital around the corner. Doctors were my other limits. I gave him a knowing smirk and turned my attention back to the guy I had already propositioned.
“I’d love a drink.” He threw his buddies an I-got-this smile that kind of irked me and climbed off his stool. “Want to head over to your table? I can bring a friend for yours.”
I glanced over my shoulder towards Trudy. Her knee was bouncing a fast rhythm under the table. “No, she’s not up for anything tonight.”
The guy snatched my hand and led me back to my table. “What’s your name?” he asked as we wiggled between the packed tables.
“Ember, what’s yours?”
“It’s Jed.” He threw over his shoulder, and I wrinkled my nose when he turned back around. Jed? What the hell kind of name was Jed? It sounded like he should be driving a tractor out in Hickville, not hanging around the Big Apple.
We slid into the booth, and I introduced Jed to Trudy. She nodded unthinkingly but didn’t say much else for a while. During the next hour, I tried to pull Trudy into a conversation, but she seemed more intent on tearing apart the bar napkin in front of her.
Jed, on the other hand, seemed quite thrilled with Trudy not taking part in the conversation. In fact, he wasn’t much for conversation at all. Instead, he was more interested in rubbing his hands up and down my legs and throwing out sexual innuendos. He was also throwing the shots back and had just finished his fifth one when he leaned over and whispered in my ear.
“Let’s blow this joint. I can think of better things to be doing.” I gave him a sly smile and found myself flicking my eyes back to the table on the other side of the room where the high-rolling hottie was sitting back in his seat and unabashedly watching me. What the hell was his problem?
“Trudy, do you mind hanging out here for a little while? Maybe an hour?” I dug into my purse and pulled out a spare key. “Here’s the key to my apartment. You remember the address I gave you earlier?”
Trudy stared at me and then at Jed. I felt guilty for doing this to her, but I wasn’t going to turn down a little bit of action. As it was, it had been over a week for me and I needed the release—bad. It could be her payment for crashing on my couch.
“Just give us like an hour.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her and pushed Jed out of the booth. As we stood, I turned to find a man over six feet tall, built like a brick shithouse and hotter than Hades staring at Trudy like he wanted to eat her for dinner. I suddenly didn’t feel so bad for ditching her, so I grabbed Jed’s hand and strolled out of the bar.
The cool night air felt good on my hot skin, and the minute we were on the sidewalk, Jed pulled me into the alley beside Shot Therapy and pushed me up against the brick wall. “You are so fucking hot,” he said before he began kissing my neck—well, more like mauling my neck, but it still felt good.
