Hard Checked (Ice Kings #4) - Stacey Lynn Page 0,51

at Sebastian while I place the drinks on the tray. The expression I see on his face wipes the smile off mine. “What is it? Are you okay?”

“Can we talk a minute in private?”

I scan the bar on instinct. “I’m kind of busy. Can it wait a little while?” Or tomorrow, with the way this crowd is going.

“Not really.”

I swear, beneath his beard his jaw is clenched. “One minute. Won’t take long.”

“I’ve got this,” Dom says, grabbing the tray from the bar. “Take your minute.” His dark brown eyes flicker between the two of us. I know he recognizes Sebastian. Hard not to when I’ve had the televisions constantly on hockey games.

“You sure?”

With Sebastian looking all growly, I’m not sure I want to be alone with him. He seems to understand my hesitancy because he makes a face that makes his features loosen.

“Please, Gigi.”

“Okay. Sure.” I turn to Dom who has the tray in his hands and has now loaded it with six different beer bottles. “Thanks Dom.”

“No problem, Georgia.”

I huff a laugh as he walks toward the bar back. Very few people call me my given name so much so that sometimes it surprises me it’s my actual name. I hold the lift for Dom before following him out.

Sebastian has pushed his way through the small crowd at the bar and meets me at the end where I take off down the hall. The office is small and messy, and usually smells like stale popcorn. Which is weird. We don’t sell popcorn. My dad has a habit of leaving piles all over his desk and the small leather loveseat is so old there’s barely any padding left in the cushions. There’s a tear on one side of the back I think has been there longer than I’ve been alive.

Embarrassment floods my cheeks at how old and junky it looks. I turn to Sebastian to say something, ask him what he wants, apologize for the lack of space or do something when I realize he’s so close to me, I can make out all the tiny lines on his upper lip.

“What is it?”

His hands fist at his sides and he flexes them. “I want to see how something feels.”

“What?” I jerk back, but I’m stopped by those large palms of his. One at the side of my neck, one on my cheek.

“Sebastian—”

“This,” he mutters, still growling, right before he slides his lips to mine and presses.

And oh my… he’s kissing me. Sebastian Hendrix, my crazy year-long crush has his hands on my face and his mouth pressed to mine and what in the world is going on?

My head spins. I’m so confused I’m still tense when he tilts my chin and changes the angle. I gasp, shocked from everything that’s happening which means my lips part and then his tongue slides inside my mouth along with a groan that seems to shoot straight from his gut.

It’s that sound, the rumble of his chest pressed so firmly against mine that snaps me back to the present with the sting of a rubber band.

My hands find their way to his chest and I shove.

“Don’t ever use me like that again.”

My chest is heaving. The taste of him is on me, inside my mouth, and I wipe my lips to brush it away. “Don’t ever do that again,” I repeat.

“I’m not—”

“Please. I won’t be your experiment to see if you can enjoy kissing women when you’re still strung up about Madison.”

He jerks back. Eyes widening in a swirl of emotions. He gapes at me, closes his mouth. His nose scrunches and lips curl as he takes a step forward.

I step back, bumping my backside to my dad’s desk. Papers go flying and I’m pretty sure I’m sitting on an uncapped pen due to the poking sensation in my left ass cheek.

“That’s not what this was and if you think back to all our interactions in the last few weeks, you’d know that.”

I refuse to believe this. He’s not even divorced yet. Technically, he’s still married and while this wouldn’t make me a homewrecker, it doesn’t feel right.

“Madison—”

“My divorce is finalized. And I’ve spent the last week thinking of what you’ll taste like and you know that because you know what I said the last time you got out of my car. And as for kissing?”

He smirks.

I swear it makes my lady parts tingle. Especially when he leans in closer and that tingle turns to a full-on torment deep in the apex of my