“No shit. But I’m not the kind of guy who lets a lady leave alone, so let’s go, sweet thing. Smile and head for the door.”
“You’re so pushy,” she said as they cut through the crowd.
She’d said it teasingly, but he knew little Miss Independent better than that. She was proud of being self-reliant. What he didn’t know was why she was dead set against letting anyone else take care of her.
“What did you say to him?” she asked.
“I told him the date was over.” He held the door open, scanning the lot as he followed her into the warm night. “Do you see his car?”
“No. He was parked over there.” She pointed to the far end of the lot. “He’s gone,” she said.
Justin put his arm protectively around her. As they walked to her car, he slid his hand to her waist and pulled her closer. She lifted her eyes to his and the temperature spiked. Her cheeks flushed, and he knew she felt the same soul-searing impact he did.
She jammed her hand into her purse, moving out of his grasp as she withdrew her keys. “I owe you one,” she said a little breathlessly.
“You’ll never owe me anything, baby. Why do you waste your time with losers like that?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “On nights like this, I have no idea.”
“A woman like you shouldn’t be screwing around with dating apps and Ken dolls when you’ve got a real man standing right in front of you.”
“Justin,” she said apologetically. “You know I swore off dating bad boys a long time ago.”
“That’s what you keep saying, but you have no idea how good bad can be.” He stepped closer, trailing his fingers along her arm, loving the hitch in her breath. “When you realize the error of your ways, you know where to find me.” He kissed her cheek and said, “’Night, hot lips. Be safe.”
Chapter Two
TUESDAY AFTERNOON, CHLOE was in her office gathering supplies for an orientation meeting while she spoke to her younger sister, Serena, via her Bluetooth earbuds. “What about the grass skirt and coconut top you wore to that Halloween party a few years ago? Do you think you can find it for me?”
“Sure, but let me just remind you how much you teased me for wearing it. I believe you said I shouldn’t strut my tatas for every Tom, Dick, and Harry.”
“Yeah, well, this is a book club meeting with the girls. I think I’m safe.” Chloe ran an online erotic romance book club with her friend Daphne. They were reading a romance novel set in Hawaii, and Chloe had spent weeks planning an island-themed night for their next meeting, which was taking place on Cahoon Hollow Beach a week from Friday.
“What about leis and that kind of thing?” Serena asked. “Do you need any of that stuff? I’m not sure I kept any, but I can look.”
“I already bought them and everything else. I even found an awesome drink hut with a grass roof that I can set up over my card table. It came with a grass-skirted tablecloth. I’m going to play tropical music, serve fruity drinks in coconut cups, and grill kebobs over the bonfire. I’m ridiculously excited. I mean, it’s a book club meeting, not a banquet.”
“It’s too bad Harper and Tegan are going to miss it.” Harper and Tegan were two of their friends. Tegan owned an amphitheater and she and Harper had recently started their own production company. They were too busy preparing for the opening to join them for the meeting.
“I’ll take lots of pictures. They’ll feel like they were there.”
“Maybe one day I’ll become a reader and join your club.” Serena sounded serious, but she’d never been one to sit still, and now that she was married to their childhood friend Drake Savage, her downtime was spoken for.
“I won’t hold my breath,” Chloe said as she opened her file cabinet drawer and fished out the files she needed. “You and Drake could probably write the erotic scenes.”
“We could write them better.” Serena laughed. “Hey, Mom called me this morning. Did she call you about going to her house Sunday morning to meet another new boyfriend? What is this, like number two thousand?”
Their mother introduced them to her new boyfriends several times a year, always with excited whispers about him being the one. When Chloe and Serena were growing up, their mother had spent more time hunting for a man to pay her bills than parenting. Sometimes