Page 64 of Body Shot

“I’m the tequila expert.”

“Right.”

I turn my head to watch Beck, down at the end of the bar, chatting to a group of women. Gorgeous women. Same as last weekend, he attracts a lot of female attention. My chest tightens, watching him smile at them, nodding at something one of them says. That smile that makes my panties melt is probably having the same effect on them.

“He looks like that at everyone.” Marco leans closer. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

I repress my sigh and smile, “I know.”

Which means it doesn’t mean anything when he looks atmethat way. And I need to remember that.

I glance around the bar, which has grown quieter. It’s getting late. Fatigue settles over me, the euphoria from my earlier adventure deflating like a balloon. I want to go home.

I watch Beck approach behind the bar, drying his hands on a white towel, looking so damn gorgeous, his tattooed biceps flexing against the short sleeves of his black T-shirt, his dark eyes intense, his smile blinding. Marco disappears.

“I’m going to head home,” I tell Beck. “I just got so tired all of a sudden.”

His smile vanishes. “Thought you were coming to my place.”

“Yeah.” I drop my gaze to my nearly empty glass. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

He leans in and growls, “You thought it was a good idea when I was licking tequila off your hot little body.”

Beck

I eye Hayden. “Did those assholes tell you more shit stories about me?”

“No!”

“Then what’s the problem?” I pause. “Are you upset because I was talking to those girls?”

“Phhht. Of course not.”

“Good. Because they’re customers.”

“I know that.” She sighs. “I’m not jealous. Exactly.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” She blows out a breath, her forehead creasing. She shoves a hand into her hair and pushes it back off her face. “I told you . . . I’m not experienced at this. I’ve never had time for this kind of thing, and I don’t know how to do it.”

Yeah, I get that. I have plenty of experience when it comes to women, but not when it comes to actually getting to know a woman. Usually getting to know a woman means finding out whether she likes to swallow or spit. So this is new territory for me, too.

Why did I invite her to come here tonight? I’ve never done that before. Sometimes girls I know show up and hang around, but I’ve never asked them to come to the bar. For some strange reason I wanted Hayden here, and I wanted her to meet Marco and Cade, even though they’re going to bust my balls about it.

As for jealousy . . . I’ve never been jealous. But seeing her the other night with that dumbass made me want to punch someone. Preferably dumbass. Because Hayden is mine.

Whoa. Back it up, buddy. She isn’t mine and I’m not hers and neither of us have any reason to feel jealousy. Okay, we just need to get things back on the right track. The fun track.

“Babe. That’s what I’m here for . . . to show you how to do it. We’re just having fun, right?”

She eyes me. I thought I was making progress in teaching her to let loose and live a little bit wild. Tonight it hardly took any coaxing to get her to lie down on the bar and let me do a shot off her stomach. But now she’s back to straight-laced, buttoned-up, careful Hayden.

I’m not sure why I’m bothering, because I could easily have one of those chicks at the end of the bar in my bed tonight. If not two of them. I’m not used to working that hard to get a girl to go home with me. But for some reason I can’t let this go.

Finally, she answers, “Right.”

I lean way over the bar. “I’ve got a bottle of Don Alvaro Extra Añejo we can take turns licking off each other. You know you want to do that.”

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