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He barked out a laugh, clapping me on the back. The move jostled my shoulder, but I managed to keep the wince in check. “You act like I don’t know you better than most. So quit screwing around already and point her out.”
Truth was, I’d started scoping the place the moment we walked through the door, looking for Presley, but I hadn’t seen any sign of her so far. Disappointment coated my skin like a gross, clammy sweat I couldn’t manage to wipe off.
I opened my mouth, about to tell him she must have the night off, when I caught a flash of blonde hair coming around the corner.
She moved through the crowd on her way to the bar, stopping every few tables to check on customers and give them that beaming, sunny smile before finally making her way behind the bar.
I watched as she talked to one of the guys working back there, showing him something on the iPad she was carrying, unable to look away.
“Ah, so that’s her.”
I twisted my head to look back at my friend as he watched Presley with curiosity brimming in his eyes.
“What? How?—”
“You’ve been staring since the moment she appeared, brother. Said your name three times, and you didn’t hear me because you were all over watching that woman like she’s your next meal. And I can’t blame you.” He nodded his head with approval. “She’s shit hot. You got good taste. If I were single I’d be all over that.”
A growl rumbled deep in my throat, the sound so feral it even took me by surprise. “Talk about her like that again and I’ll feed you your own dick.”
For some inexplicable reason, that only made him laugh even harder.
“Shit, man.” He pulled his phone from his back pocket and started messing around on the thing. “Carmen’s gonna love this. I just thought maybe you needed to fuck the woman out of your system or something. I didn’t realize you were sprung.”
If only he knew how right he was.
Chapter Nineteen
PRESLEY
I felthim the moment I exited the hallway into the main part of the bar. It felt like the air was charged with electricity, making the tiny hairs on my arms stand on end. It took a crazy amount of strength not to look in his direction when I could feel his eyes on me as I moved through the bar, doing my best to appear unaffected, even though my heart rate had kicked up, making the blood whoosh through my veins like a tidal wave.
I could feel his attention in the pull deep in my belly, in the way my nipples stiffened beneath my bra, and in the nearly uncontrollable desire to squeeze my thighs together against the dull throb building there.
I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since our little showdown at the Sand Dollar a couple days ago, about the dirty words he’d whispered in my ear and the heat from his body as he caged me against the wall. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I’d been desperate for him to take it further. I’d wanted to know what it would have felt like to have him pick me up and pin me in place against that wall as he kissed me the same way he had on the beach, like he wasstarving for me. I wanted to know whatkind of sound he’d make if I had wrapped my legs around his waist and ground myself against his erection.
My panties had been soaked through after that encounter, and every time I replayed it, a tingle built behind my clit, so insistent that I’d end up slipping my hands inside my panties as I lay in bed in the middle of the night, rubbing myself until I came on a silent cry with Beau’s face on the backs of my eyelids.
I couldn’t remember the last time a man had gotten to me to the point I had to touch myself to take the edge off, only for it to come raging back in no time. I felt out of control. Beau was the only person in the world who could do that to me. It was his gift. Or his super power.
I could feel the heat from my chest spreading upward, past my neck and into my cheeks, as I worked diligently to keep my gaze away from the barstool he occupied while I went over the schedule on my tablet with Donovan and showed him the distribution schedule I’d worked up.
I’d just finished that task and was about to whip around so I could spend the rest of my shift back in my office—nothiding—when a large, tanned hand shot out, right into my line of sight.
“Hi. Luis Romero. Nice to meet you.”
I blinked up into a pair of smiling brown eyes, my brain taking a moment to click back online. I recognized the guy on the stool beside Beau. It was impossible not to. Since the whole town rallied behind Beau, his team had become the Whitecap favorite, their games being featured on the TVs hanging all around the bar. Everyone in this town knew who Luis Romero was. Myself included.
“Uh, hi,” I responded, reaching out to his offered hand. His large palm engulfed mine, pumping up and down with such power I was afraid he’d pop my shoulder right out of socket. “Presley Fields.”
His smiled got even wider. It was the kind of smile that was totally infectious. You couldn’t possibly look at it without grinning in return.
“Jesus,” Beau grumbled from behind his pint glass. “How about you don’t try to rip her arm off, Rome?”
The guy chuckled, Beau’s glower clearly rolling off him like water off a duck’s back.
“Ah. Lovely Presley. It’s great to meet you.”
I let out a giggle. Something about this guy was so freakingcharming. He was giving off massive golden retriever vibes. Unlike the man sitting next to him, scowling into his beer.
