The woman stuck out her bottom lip in a pout that looked ridiculous, then ran her leg up my side. She wasn’t giving up easily. “One kiss. Just one really good kiss,” she said, leaning into me again.
I had to hold her body back forcefully this time. “I don’t kiss mouths that I know have sucked a c**k that isn’t mine,” I said bluntly, knowing it would stop her.
She froze, and her eyebrows shot up. “You mean you only do virgins?” she asked, incredulous.
I laughed and shook my head. “No. I mean I don’t kiss. I f**k, but I don’t kiss,” I clarified.
She leaned back and looked at me. “Really? And girls are OK with this?”
I had started to respond when I saw that Blaire’s date was alone on the dance floor. Fuck! Where was she? “Move,” I demanded, shoving the woman back so I could get out of the booth. “Now, dammit, move!” I yelled.
She scrambled backward, glaring at me, but I didn’t have time to explain. Blaire was gone, and I didn’t see her leave. I was supposed to be watching her. I sucked at this.
I had to find her. Her dance partner started for the door, but some woman walked up to him and distracted him. I’d deal with him later if I needed to. Right now, I was going to see if Blaire had gone outside.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
My heart was pounding so hard that the relief when I saw her standing outside the bar, leaning against the building, made my knees weak. She was here. She was fine.
“Blaire?” I called out to her.
She had her arms crossed over her chest defensively. I wasn’t sure what had happened in there, but if the redneck wannabe cowboy had stepped out of line, I was going to rip his arms off.
“Yes,” she answered. There was a hesitation to her voice. Something was wrong. She didn’t sound like herself.
“I couldn’t find you. Why are you out here? This isn’t safe.”
“I’m fine. Go back inside and continue your make-out session in our booth.” She was jealous. Fuck. But I wanted her to be jealous. It made a warmth course through me that felt so wrong, but I couldn’t help it. I liked knowing she was jealous. Even though there was nothing for her to be jealous of.
“Why are you out here?” I asked, slowly taking another step toward her.
“Because I want to be,” she said, shooting an angry glare in my direction.
“The party is inside. Isn’t that what you wanted? A honkytonk with men and drinks? You’re missing it out here.” I was trying to lighten the mood. The look on her face said it wasn’t working. She was really pissed. All this because she thought I was making out with the blonde in the booth?
“Back off, Rush,” she snapped. Well shit, she was mad at me. I hadn’t done anything. She’d been the one dancing with the cowboy wannabe.
I took another step toward her. I couldn’t see her clearly enough in the darkness. “No. I want to know what happened.” She was upset, and I had a hard time believing it was all because of the blonde in the booth with me. There had to be something else.
Blaire put both of her hands on my chest and shoved me. “You want to know what happened? You happened, Rush. That’s what happened.” Her voice verged on a scream. She turned and starting walking away. What the hell?
I reached out and grabbed her before she could go too far. I wasn’t letting this one go. She was pissed, and it made no f**king sense. All this anger, even though she’d seen me with other women. She had been dancing with another guy just minutes before. Had it all changed for her, too? Was this not just all me now? Because if she wanted more, then I wasn’t going to be able to say no. I was past that. “What does that mean, Blaire?” I asked, pulling her back up against my chest.
She squirmed in my arms, making frustrated little growls. “Let. Me. Go,” she demanded.
Not a chance. “Not until you tell me what your problem is,” I said. She began to twist and fight against me harder, but I held on to her easily enough. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I needed to understand what was wrong. Either I’d pissed her off or that guy in the bar had.
“I don’t like seeing you touch other women. And when other men grope my ass, I hate it. I want it to be you touching me there. Wanting to touch me there. But you don’t, and I have to deal with it. Now, let me go!”
I hadn’t been expecting that. She took advantage of the fact that she’d just surprised the hell out of me and jerked free from my hold, then took off running. I wasn’t sure where she thought she was going in the dark by herself.
She wanted me to touch her . . . there. Shit. I was sunk. I couldn’t fight this. I needed to. If I wanted to save us both pain later, I could turn around and go back inside. But damn, I couldn’t find the strength to fight this need. I wanted her. I wanted her so f**king badly I was ready to make this work. Denying myself was one thing, but denying Blaire was a whole other issue.
I didn’t think about it. I couldn’t. I just acted on instinct.
I went after her.
Once I was close enough to the Range Rover, I clicked the unlock button. I was touching her tonight. Right now. Right f**king now. And it was the stupidest thing I could do. For both of us. But I just didn’t give a shit anymore. I was taking what I wanted. What she wanted.