one with my mouth on your pussy two minutes ago, no.”
Macy didn’t know if she’d ever get used to the way he talked to her. If it had been anyone else, she’d have been appalled, but with him…she loved it. Part of it was knowing he didn’t give a damn what anyone thought, not even her. She would love to be that way. It just wasn’t in her nature.
“You seem different,” he said.
Now that gave her pause and a little surge of unease. She leaned back to look at him. “How so?”
He trailed a finger down her cheek. His gaze held hers, seeing way too much. “Are you sad?”
“I—” What did she say to that? In a scant few minutes, he’d pinpointed something she’d been hiding from everyone for months. Something her best friends hadn’t even picked up on…any more than usual, at least. But she couldn’t confirm his suspicions. He might think it had something to do with him. “No.”
That too-knowing gaze narrowed. “Then are you always a mopey drunk? Because that would suck.”
She scoffed. “I’m not drunk. Not that drunk. And I don’t know why you think I’m…mopey.”
He shrugged. “Well, let’s recap. I seem to remember us hooking up in this very backseat in the parking lot of Dermamania. I remember us talking almost until the sun came up, laughing our asses off at stupid shit. You amazed me with how funny you were. I wasn’t expecting that. The ‘killjoy’ thing was a private joke because we both knew I saw a different side of you than anyone else. And then suddenly, you pulled a disappearing act. Then I had to cut out of town. From what I’ve seen of you tonight, I wonder if you’ve laughed much since then.”
As he spoke, she’d busied herself by absently tracing the collar of his T-shirt, not meeting his eyes. “You know what’s crazy? Despite all that, I don’t even know your real name.”
He sighed at her diversion. “Seth.”
“Seth,” she echoed, needing to feel it on her tongue. “That’s nice. Why didn’t you ever tell me before?”
He suddenly became very interested in picking at something invisible on her shirt. “You never asked.”
Her bottom lip trembled. Great, so he thought she was a stuck-up bitch on top of a depressed drunk. “But I did wonder. What’s your last name?”
“Warren. Why?” He smirked. “Gonna run a background check on me? Need my date of birth too?”
His question gave her a split second of panic. She really didn’t know much about this guy. Her brain ran through its usual gamut of worst-case scenario. Does he have a record? Is it bad? What if he’s done time or something? Some of those tattoos look kind of suspect—
He sat back, exasperated. “Jesus, Macy. No, I’m not a convicted felon.”
“I wasn’t thinking—”
He put a hand pensively to his chin. “Except for that one bank robbery that went terribly awry…”
“Quit making fun of me.”
“Hey, it’s cool. I didn’t mean anything. You okay?”
She only nodded. Considering how tiny her voice had just sounded, it would be nonexistent now, so she didn’t even try to use it. He must have noticed her distress, because he reached up and rubbed her shoulder.
Macy couldn’t help it; her eyes closed, and she knew he didn’t miss her intake of breath. All at once, she wished she could feel the warmth of his skin on hers. She’d been denied it even before. Bare flesh to bare flesh…his hard, hot and intricately marked, hers soft and yielding and…
The images swirling through her mind had her temperature rising again. He smelled unbelievably good. Something darkly sweet and almost lemony. She didn’t want to talk; she just wanted to bury her face in his neck and breathe him in, knowing he tasted as delicious as he smelled.
“So what’s the story?” he asked.
The question pulled her back to reality hard and fast, and the truth came tumbling from her mouth before her brain gave it permission. “I don’t belong.”
She didn’t have to see his reaction. His surprise was palpable. “Don’t belong where?”
“Here. With you. With…them.” She lifted her head and nodded in the direction of the club.
“Says who?”
“Me.”
“Well, then…what are you doing here?” Genuine curiosity laced the words.
She shrugged.
“So…what? Are you thinking about turning your back on everyone, just going your own way?”
“No, I don’t want that. At all.”
“Look,” he said, “I don’t know what happened to you to make you go from the cool, confident woman who always made me feel a million times better when we