Sinners' Playground (The Harlequin Crew #1) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,55

was done. This girl didn't look like some asshole had nearly killed her. She looked strong and determined and damn fierce. And if I could look like her then I sure as fuck was going to be her. The Harlequin boys might have been aiming to break down my barriers and be testing me in ways I'd never expected to be tested, but I wasn't going to bow down to their desires. If they wanted to come at me, then I was going to be ready.

JJ was paying up when I emerged in my new clothes and I had to fight a blush at the look he gave me as I walked towards him. Goddammit, I wasn’t a blusher. I certainly wasn’t sweet enough to get flustered or innocent enough not to know what to do with that look he was giving me if I wanted to. But I was also repeatedly being made into a teenage girl again by these boys as my memories and reality collided in ever more flustering ways. I just needed to be sure I didn’t let them know it.

Lucy looked as pleased as pie as she took a crazy amount of money from his hand and I had to fight the urge to let my eyes bug out of my face while JJ didn't even flinch at the price.

"Give me a twirl then, pretty girl," he urged, his eyes light and full of mischief that made me want to play along.

I rolled my eyes then spun in a circle for him, only stumbling a little bit – because free champers and all – then gasping as his hands caught my waist, stopping my movement with my back to him.

"You forgot the tags," he murmured, the heat of his body caressing mine even though he wasn't actually pressed up against me.

I held still as he gently brushed my multicoloured hair over my shoulder, his fingertips dancing across my skin and raising goosebumps in their wake before he found the tag hanging from the tie at my neck and snapped it free.

Instead of releasing me right away, JJ's fingers slid down my shoulder blades, making my breath catch as he caressed the ink on my skin.

"Why angel wings?" he asked in a low voice, his lips almost brushing my ear with the closeness of him.

"I liked the idea of someone having my back, even when I knew I was all alone," I murmured, not entirely sure why I'd offered him that truth, but the large pair of feathered wings which ran down my back always made me feel a little like someone might be watching over me.

I turned my head to look at him as his fingers continued to slip down my bare back and was surprised by the pain I found in his gaze.

"Rogue..." he began, his voice rough like he had something desperately important to say to me and because I was a damn fool, I just stayed there, his hands on my body, my heart thrumming with the closeness of him, my gaze locked on his as I waited for…what exactly? I didn’t know, but for one weak moment I wanted it to be something.

JJ glanced away from me, seeming to remember where we were and he offered me a tight smile.

"You look unbelievable." He pressed a swift kiss to my cheek which burned my flesh then stepped away from me, turning to grab the bags of shopping and leaving me breathless as I tried to figure out what that had just been.

I quickly regained my composure, smiling at Lucy as I said goodbye and following JJ to the back door again.

Fox's men all greeted him as we emerged from the salon, their curious gazes taking me in but not lingering too long.

I ignored them and walked with JJ back to the black pickup. He tossed the shopping in the back and opened my door for me like a real gent which we both knew he well and truly wasn't and before I knew it, we were driving back to the lions' den.

JJ was quiet on the way back, though he kept shooting me glances that I was pointedly ignoring while enjoying the fading buzz of my champagne. If he had something to say then he could damn well say it without me forcing it out of him.

A sign for Subway caught my attention up ahead and I groaned, shooting him a pleading look which finally dragged a grin back out of him.

“Fine.