ready for outdoor activity. It didn’t matter what she wore—she always looked good, she was comfortable with who she was, her body, how she looked. She had confidence and rocked whatever look she was going for.
But right then, she was strutting her fine ass toward my truck in a tight skirt, heels, and a sheer blouse. Her hair was down and it had a sexy wave to it, and on top of all of that, she was wearing makeup. Enough that even from a distance her jade eyes were highlighted to the extreme.
She was the epitome of sexy librarian.
A wet dream fantasy come to life.
And when she smiled, my cock jerked and I clenched my jaw. If I’d been fifteen years younger, there was no doubt the vision of her would’ve made me instantly come in my pants.
She opened the passenger side door of my truck, tossed her purse in, and looked up at me.
“Thanks so much for getting me.”
I mentally chastised myself for not getting out and opening the door for her. But with my dick hard enough to pound nails, that wasn’t an option.
I cleared my dirty throat before I answered, “No problem.”
Hadley tilted her head slightly at my tight response.
“I hope I didn’t put you out too much.”
“You didn’t. When’s the tow truck gonna be here?”
She squinted her eyes, and sweet Christ, getting a good look at her sophisticated makeup that enhanced her natural beauty instead of creating it, I fought the urge to haul her ass into my lap and take her glossy lips in a kiss that would once and for all show her the fire she was playing with. The inferno that burned inside of me. The flames she kept fanning but didn’t comprehend.
“Thirty minutes. But I don’t have to wait. I called the garage my dad uses. They’ll take care of me.” She paused, and for a moment she looked unsure, something I’d never seen coming from Hadley before. “Um…I’m really sorry—”
“Nothing to be sorry for, babe,” I sighed, realizing I was acting like a total asshole. “Get in.”
She hesitated a moment, then hefted herself up. Since I was already behaving like an ass, I continued my bad behavior when my gaze dropped to her bare thigh. An involuntary growl left my mouth as her skirt rode up. I tore my eyes from her legs and when they hit her face, the pink tinging her cheeks had me swallowing a groan.
Good goddamn, I was going to hell. Life hated me, fucking hated me, putting her in my truck in the sexy librarian getup. All that thick black hair, those green eyes, that damn skirt that looked hot pulled tight while almost exposing her panties. But it would look infinitely better bunched around her waist with those panties around her ankles, her heels still on and hooked over my shoulders, with my mouth between her legs.
Yeah, life fucking hated me.
God must, too—not only putting Hadley in my path but installing her in my life.
She was inescapable.
She’d intruded on my thoughts, my dreams, and had taken over my body.
“Brady?” she whispered.
“Don’t. Not right now, Hadley. Don’t say a word.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, okay. I don’t ever want to make you uncomfortable.”
I was uncomfortable, all right. My cock throbbed, my chest ached, and I wasn’t a big fan of my heart pounding.
I didn’t allow myself to get uncomfortable. I controlled every part of my life so nothing intruded. I liked boring, I liked bland, I liked tasteless.
When you crafted every experience to mean nothing, you didn’t risk losing things or people that meant something to you. And when you’d lost everything, you protected yourself against losing more.
The biggest reason I had to stay away from Hadley—she wouldn’t mean more, she’d mean everything. And that kind of loss was one I’d never recover from.
“Do you have everything?” I asked.
Her forehead furrowed then her eyes widened. “Shit. I left my phone on the desk.”
Hadley threw open the door, hopped down, and I was treated to the backside of her as she made her way back to the building.
Coming or going, the woman had it going on.
I closed my eyes, gripped the steering wheel, and willed my cock to soften.
Nicole.
That single thought deflated my erection but made my soul hurt.
I didn’t watch Hadley make her way back to my truck. I didn’t turn my head when she climbed in and I said not a word as I drove her home.
Her condo was decent, it was the neighborhood that was iffy. I knew