AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"It's not that I don't want you, Claire. You're gorgeous and sexy as hell. And that dress—"
She gives a short, derisive nod. "Is no match for your noble nature. That's just perfect."
She starts to walk away from me, but I grab her arm and pull her back. "For what it's worth, I've never seen you do anything you didn't put your heart and soul into."
"And I would have approached whatever we did together the same way." Her words send another wave of heat through me. "I want to let loose for a few months and I can't think of anyone I'd feel safer letting go with than you."
"I'm sorry," I repeat, nearly choking on the words.
She shrugs out of my grip. "Not as sorry as I am."
"Where are you going?"
"This is the second time you've turned me down, Dylan. I'm not masochistic enough to try for a third."
"Claire..."
"I'm going back to the side of the bar where I'm a paying customer. And I want another Cock-Sucking Cowboy."
As I watch her walk away from me, I wonder whether I've done the right thing. She just called me noble, but I don't feel noble at all.
I keep an eye on her while I pour her shot. She's barely been standing at the bar for thirty seconds before the guy standing next to her, waiting for a drink, starts talking to her. I don't recognise him, so the man isn't a regular, and the way he'slooking at Claire causes the giant knot in my gut to twist in reaction.
"I can't think of anyone I'd feel safer letting go with than you."
She's right to think she would be safe with me. And if she's going to persist with her plans, shouldn't she be with someone who will make sure she's taken care of? If she goes home with the wrong guy, she could end up hurt or much, much worse.
A chill goes through me as I imagine just how much danger she may be about to put herself in if I let her proposition someone else. The idea of something happening to her...It makes me feel violently ill.
Austin would hate me for sleeping with Claire, but if I let Claire walk out of here with some creep, Austin would hate me anyway, and I would never be able to forgive myself. As long as Claire is safe, isn't Austin's hatred worth it?
Yeah, and the fact you've been dying to sleep with Claire since you were a teenager makes you such a bloody martyr, doesn't it? You're really taking one for the team.
I ignore the voice in my head and slam the shot down in front of her a little harder than necessary. The anger and resentment I saw in her eyes on Thursday night are back when she finally looks at me.
"You took me by surprise before," I tell her. "Now that I've had time to think about it, I've realised I might have been too hasty in my refusal."
Her eyes widen, and her lips part, then she looks from me to the guy standing next to her and back to me. And now she looks even madder than a moment ago.
"Give me a break, Dylan. I've had about as much of your big-brother attitude as I can take for one night."
I don't bother pretending I don't understand the comment. She's never going to believe that my thoughts on her walking outof here with someone else is anything more than me wanting to protect her.
"Wait for me to finish my shift and I'll give you a ride home," I insist.
"Forget it. If you think I'm going to let you turn sleeping with me into some big-brotherly chore, you can forget it."
It's so absurd, I laugh. "Big-brotherly chore?"
Hot colour rises up her neck and spills into her cheeks. "I don't need you to do me any favours."
I lean on the bar in front of her. "Claire, I've never considered sleeping with a woman a favour before and I'm certainly not about to start with you."
"Please just forget I asked. I sure as hell intend to," she says before downing the shot I put in front of her.
Her pride is hurt, and that's on me. The thought makes me feel as tall as a pile of horse crap. I wish she was still behind the bar with me so I could prove to her just how much I want her – how much sleeping with her would not be a chore.
Instead, I lean in closer and drop my gaze to where her breasts are straining against the material of her dress. Then I leisurely run my gaze up over the wildly beating pulse in her neck, all the way up to her lips. She used pink lip gloss tonight. I can't wait to find out what flavour it is. Fuck it, why wait?
