The Earl's Outrageous Lover Page 0,7
center of the table, mixing it in with the pot that had been building from the most recent round. “Besides, I was going to win that pot as well,” she said and turned her cards over to show three kings.
Six men stared in horror at her cards, ending in groans and guffaws as they smacked each other on the back, arguing on how they were going to split the money now that Jessica had comingled all of the funds.
She noticed Edward’s thunderous expression and knew that she needed to get out of this situation quickly so she could diffuse his anger somewhat. “Okay, I think I need to leave now,” she said brightly and moved around the table. “I think Nate should be here by now anyway.” She reached out and hugged each man, giving some a kiss on the cheek and others a punch on the arm. Each burly officer took her kiss or her jab with good humor, but he could tell that every single one of them wanted to claim her for his own.
“Thank you so much for the ride from the airport, guys!” she called out as she pulled open the conference room door and walked out. She turned back slightly to Edward and Tony. “I’m really sorry about the confusion,” she said. “I told Officer Mike to just let you know I would be later than anticipated meeting you at your office.”
Edward turned to Tony, both of them looking a bit shell-shocked by what had just happened. Edward was the first to snap out of it and he followed the young woman out of the room, determined to find out exactly what was going on. Unfortunately, by the time he caught up with her, he found her chatting up a man who had his hands handcuffed behind his back, a leather strap circling his neck with metal studs coming out in every direction and tattoos on every visible piece of skin. Since he was only wearing a leather vest, there was a lot of skin to be seen!
Looking down, he noticed one more thing about her. She was wearing red cowboy boots! He wasn’t sure why, but of all the things that surprised him most about today, the boots actually hit the top of the list. They worked somehow, but they were so unexpected, especially when she looked so sweet and….delectable…everywhere else.
Jessica smiled at Joe and patted him on the shoulder, careful to not punch him on his most recent knife wound. “You’re a lawyer, right?” she asked as Tony approached.
Tony hesitated, once again at a loss which was extremely rare. “Umm…yes,” he finally answered, looking from the slender beauty to the huge, tattooed man and then to Edward, his employer.
“Good!” she smiled brightly. “This is Joe and he’s been completely misunderstood,” she explained.
Edward already knew where this was going. “Absolutely not!” he grumbled and pushed Jessica towards the exit. “Move,” he commanded.
Jessica glanced up at the tall man nervously. She didn’t want to leave with him when he looked this angry. She remembered him so differently from his mother’s funeral!
Her dreams had definitely not come close to the reality of the man, she realized quickly. He was well over six feet tall with thick, black hair cut short and neat. His hazel eyes were no longer filled with pain, thankfully, but they were definitely filled with anger over something, although she had no idea what that could be. And the intensity of those eyes was almost terrifying. Over the past several years, she’d compared every man she met to the sixteen year old boy she’d remembered from the day of his mother’s funeral, the man who had been so filled with emotion and a love for his mother but with an inner strength that had impressed the five year old girl. Standing before her now, she knew that he retained that inner strength and deeply bred integrity and paired that with a killer body that made her mind freeze in surprise and….well just something she couldn’t really define.
Shaking her head suddenly, she reminded herself that she needed to forget about him and focus on finding someone more suitable. Unfortunately, all other men paled in comparison, seeming weak or pallid, not nearly as intelligent or honorable. And now that she’d been face to face with the man, she could add ‘sexy’ to her list of adjectives other men didn’t match up to.
With a bright smile, she turned to fully face the man, not allowing him