Nonstop (Open Skies #3) - Becca Jameson Page 0,7

she tipped her head back with a smile.

Her face fell, however. Instead of Bracken, she found Roger staring down at her. She hadn’t seen him in months, and it would have been fine with her if she never saw him again. Another man was with him, and both of them were smirking.

“Hey, Bex. You look nice.” His gaze roamed up and down her body as she pushed to standing and smoothed her skirt down.

When he stepped closer, she could smell alcohol on his breath, which explained why he was swaying a bit.

She shuffled backward, nearly tripping over the bag.

“What’s all this?” he asked, waving his hand around to indicate the bag with the blanket spilling out of it.

Suddenly, Bracken was at her side, a hand on the small of her back, possessively. “You okay, Rebekah?”

A smile spread out on Roger’s face, one eyebrow lifted. He started laughing. “You on a date, Bex?”

Her face heated. Somehow, she knew he was about to humiliate her.

Bracken slid his hand tighter around her waist and pulled her closer.

“Oh, this is rich.” Roger clapped his friend on the shoulder and glanced at him. “This is that chick I was telling you about a few months ago.” He turned to look at Bracken. “Might as well give it up now, man. This chick does not put out. She may be cute and all, but you’ll end up with blue balls if you waste your time on her.”

Bex couldn’t breathe. How humiliating. She wanted to fall through a crack in the earth.

He was laughing harder now, and swaying her direction. When he lifted a hand toward her, she was certain he was about to grab her by the arm. In a flash of movement, Bracken intercepted, a firm right hook nailing Roger in the jaw and sending him reeling backward.

Bex gasped, her heart pounding from shock and fear. Roger groaned, his hand coming to his face.

Bracken stepped between her and Roger, blocking her view as he spoke in a calm voice. “How about you and your friend get the fuck out of here? If I ever hear about you coming anywhere near Rebekah again, you’ll answer to me.”

“Jesus, asshole. Chill. I was just joking around.” Roger was backing up as he spoke.

Bracken stepped toward him. “You must have flunked out of comedy school if you think harassing a woman is funny. Get the fuck gone before I show you my uppercut.”

Roger and his friend scrambled out of Bracken’s reach and finally turned around and jogged away.

Bracken spun around and reached for Bex, pulling her closer. “You okay?”

She stared at him. “You punched him.” She was still in shock, but she couldn’t keep from smiling.

He returned the grin. “Yeah. He deserved it.” He reached for the bag at their feet and then threaded their fingers together. “Let’s get out of here.”

Her mind was reeling as Bracken drove toward his house. She couldn’t believe he’d decked Roger. She wasn’t sorry. It had been very chivalric, and just plain hot. Like he’d defended her honor or something. Part of her felt uneasy about the things Roger had said about her and what Bracken would think, but he didn’t mention it again.

She gave herself ten pep talks on the way. Bracken was a great guy. She liked him a lot. He seemed to like her too. For the first time in a long while, she felt like she was with someone she really would be willing to “put out” for as Roger stated. At no point when she’d been with Roger had she considered letting him so much as touch her. Bracken was different.

Instead of being afraid that Bracken might want to have sex with her, she was kind of hoping he did because sex was a hurdle she wanted to get across anyway. Life would be so much easier if she slept with him and got it out of the way.

His house was in an older neighborhood with huge trees that shaded the front yards and hung over the sides of the street. He pulled up to a brick ranch and parked in the garage.

She jumped down from her side of the SUV and followed him into the kitchen. Although the outside of the home led her to believe it was about forty years old, the inside was completely modernized and recently updated.

The kitchen had light wood cabinets, large off-white tiles, and a breakfast area. He’d purchased a table that matched the cabinets. Out the sliding glass doors, she could