Page 5 of Easy On Me

His eyes lit up. “Yeah?”

“Sure.”

His bottle hit the table with a thump. “Let’s go.”

I downed the remainder of my drink in one gulp, warmth spreading out from the rum. His hand at the small of my back – oh, my Lord, those fingers – he ushered me ahead of him.

He was a quick study and had good rhythm. Half an hour in, I stopped to catch my breath. Brushing my hair back, I frowned up at him. “I think you’ve done this before.”

“Promise I haven’t.” That easy grin flashed once more, and with his index finger, he drew an x in the center of his chest. “Cross my heart.”

My memory jiggled, a video clip that had made its way across my social media feed a few months back. He’d shot that same grin at the camera, drawn that same x, drawled the same words. He was @LittleTownLuxe’s fiance. I couldn’t stand her, but still.

Ugh, I hated a cheater.

Lips pursed, eyes narrowed, I stepped back. His thick brows jerked down to a frown. “What?”

“You’re engaged.” I spat the words at him in a poisonous tone that was ugly to my own ears.

“No.” He didn’t move, no defensive lift of his hands or even a shake of his head. “I broke it.”

“So you’re looking for a rebound.” Just like a guy.

“No.” He did shake his head then, shoulders rolling in a soft shrug. “Saw you tonight, just wanted to spend time with you.”

The idea of who he’d chosen to be engaged to gave me pause. She was as fake as shit in those videos, same as she’d been in real life, and she was mean. What kind of man asked that to marry him?

“You broke it off.”

“I did.” His tone brooked no argument, and a fierce light glinted in those blue eyes, like lightning. “Decided that was not how I wanted to spend the rest of my life.”

“Huh.” I winced. The monosyllable had been Colt’s response to everything, which drove me nuts, and now I was doing it.

“How about you and Colt?” His gaze sharpened on my face. “Who ended it?”

“I did.” I lifted my chin. I would not shrink from what I’d been, what I’d done. I’d worked incredibly hard this year not to be her again. “I couldn’t love him like he deserved.”

“I get that.” His shoulders relaxed, and that brilliant grin made another appearance. The man had pretty teeth. My brain threw up images of all the ways he could scrape them over some part of my body, and I repressed a shiver. “I like an honest woman.”

“Some people think I’m too honest.” Although that wasn’t usually the word that got used. Cold, hard, bitchy . . . I’d heard them all, but damn. I hadn’t lived a life that invited or rewarded softness, now had I?

“Let ‘em.”

Now I grinned, an irresistible tug at the corners of my lips. Oh, I liked him, his previous taste in women notwithstanding.

Everyone was entitled to a mistake. And sometimes those mistakes – those bad choices – lasted years.

So who was I to judge?

At least he’d been smart enough to make a new choice.

The music shifted to John Michael Montgomery’s “I Swear,” the slower tempo part of Angel’s design to get people ready to go home.

Jase held out his hand. “Now this I know how to do.”

I hesitated half a second, staring at his callused palm. But what the hell? I laid my hand in his, and he tugged me into his arms.

Sweet baby Jesus.