Page 23 of Betrayed

Fuckface fit him perfectly.

“Fine. As long as he doesn’t come.” He straightened out his shirt, so I’d be sure to see it.

Ignoring the movement, Blake said, “Bye guys, I’ll call later.”

“Bye,” they said together.

I took Blake’s backpack and shouldered it, grateful she didn’t argue.

I opened the door for her and instinctively put my hand on her lower back. It was a move we used with clients to control their movements. But that wasn’t the only reason I did it—I wanted to stake my claim for everyone to see.

She didn’t pull away, and her warmth bled through the sweater to my hand.

I am right and truly fucked.

I had to find a way to get her out of my head because she’d never go for a guy like me. Blake Davenport hated everything I stood for, everything I was. And she had every reason to be afraid of me.

Chapter 14

Blake

Iwanted to be pissed off at AJ for stepping in and chasing Stan away. After all, I was a modern, independent woman and didn’t need some man coming to my rescue. But the only emotion I could find was gratitude. Stan had been getting progressively more insistent, and more handsy, each time he asked me out, refusing to accept I wasn’t interested.

His ego was bigger than AJ’s biceps.

Which were huge and bulging against his sleeves.

I let him open the bar door for me and looked at the ground as I walked by, hating how far I had to tilt my head back if I wanted to look him in the eyes.

I rarely cared about my height.Or having plenty of padding. But AJ’s physique made me acutely aware of my short and curvy body.

Most days, I didn’t care about not being skinny and felt comfortable in my skin, but anytime I was near AJ, I felt like a fat little shrub standing next to a giant redwood. Priscilla’s voice rang out in my head. “You’re too young to let yourself go. You should cut back on your carbs.”

Bitch. I was a smart, kind, and confident woman. I didn’t-

The gentle pressure of AJ’s hand on my lower back sent an electric shock up my spine, short-circuiting my brain.

I should have called him out for touching me, but I couldn’t speak.

If I was being completely honest with myself, I kind of liked the comfort of his touch.

Not because I liked AJ, I didn’t.

A few steps past the door, AJ asked, “Where to?”

I shrugged, missing the warmth when he lowered his hand.

I turned my head and got an eyeful of solid chest muscles.How often does he work out?Iglanced down at his abs. Of course, his stomach was flat. I bet he had a six-pack under his shirt.Is a twelve-pack a thing for abs?If it was, he probably had one.

When I finally lifted my eyes to his face, he grinned.Great. He noticed me staring. He was just arrogant enough to assume it meant I was into him. Which I wasn’t.

“Want to get out here, away from all this,” he swept his hand out, “for a few hours?”

Before I could stop myself, I said, “Yeah, that actually sounds good.”

AJ suggested going to Weatherford. “There’s a great local coffee shop, Grannie’s, where you can relax and get some homework done.”

Wow, that was remarkably nice of him. Maybe there was more to AJ than just muscles. I had to admit, he’d done his best to give me space at lunch, until Stan acted up. Now he was offering to drive me ninety minutes away so I could have some peace and quiet to do my homework.And he didn’t do anything too violent to Stan. Even though he could have taken him down as easily as he had Danny. I forced myself not to laugh.

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