Opening Up
Page 18
“I’ll say you got started.” Audra took two quick shots. “That’s better. No wonder you look relaxed.”
“Whatever. Stress is bad for you.”
“We need music.” Audra stood, rooting through her bag for change.
“We do. I need your change,” PJ told everyone at the table.
The jukebox was one of her favorite things about the place. The selection was fantastic, with every type of music imaginable.
She was happy. It was a good day, even without the shots and music that made her dance as she and Audra sang along.
That’s when she realized the prickle on the back of her neck was someone watching her. She turned and halted as she caught sight of none other than Asa.
Well.
“So that happened,” she said to Audra without taking her gaze from Asa.
“Go break off a piece of that. My god. And then you have to tell me every last really dirty detail at brunch on Sunday.”
PJ faced her friend. “Such confidence! You don’t think you’ll be seeing me until Sunday?”
“He’s currently looking at you like he wants to eat you up with a spoon. You’re pretty and relentless when you want something. He wants what you have in your pants.”
“He looks like he does. Yes. But he’s wily.”
They both continued to watch him and he watched PJ right back. Walt, the server, walked by and PJ stopped him, arranging to have shots sent to Asa’s table. She waved at Asa and then turned to go back to her table with her friends.
“Why are you headed over here instead of jumping on his peen?” Audra asked.
Asa’d had his chance to catch all the softballs she’d pitched his way over the last five months. She wanted him, yes she did. But that hadn’t worked.
Maybe he liked to do the coming over.
Or not, but she wasn’t going over there. He knew she was into him, but she had some pride, for goodness sake.
“He knows I want to jump on his peen. He needs to work for it. But nothing says I can’t be as alluring as I possibly can to help that along.”
Audra nodded. “All right then! By the way, you look seriously hot. He can’t miss that part.”
She didn’t sit. The booth was full anyway, so she stood with Audra near the windows, just next to the table. Trixie Whitley’s “Undress Your Name” came on and PJ swayed a little.
“This song is sex on a stick.”
Asa couldn’t take his attention from PJ. When she’d seen him first a few minutes before, he figured she’d come over and say hello. He could flirt with her and jerk off when he got home, thinking about what he should have done instead of saying good night.
But she waved and went back to her friends. And then she’d sent over drinks, which were currently warming his system and eroding his decision-making skills. He’d be making bad choices in no time.
Thing was, she wasn’t looking over. Or paying any attention their way. Her group seemed lively enough. More men than women, and certainly he wasn’t the only man in the bar looking at PJ right then.
None of them mattered though. She seemed to throw off some sort of pheromone that pushed his every damned button.
She’d changed her hair. Again.
It was still blond, but this time it had streaks of blue shot through it. He bet she twisted it up into one of those bun things she liked. So you’d see mainly blond but a flash of color. Unique, like her.
Who was that guy leaning so close to her? Asa couldn’t see his face as the other guy bent to speak to PJ.
“Who is that guy on PJ?”
Duke, who appeared annoyed to pull himself away from the voluptuous brunette halfway in his lap, peered across the room. “Isn’t that Craig Salazar? He does transmissions, I think. Yeah, up in Lake City. He appears to be pretty enchanted by Penelope’s breasts. Can’t blame him.”
There it was. If he continued to sit there with his friends, she’d leave with Craig and he’d have survived another day not giving in and fucking her.
Question was, could he? For months he’d been circling her. Knowing he should leave it alone but always finding himself unable to do it. Could he sit there after he’d tasted her? Neither of them had mentioned that kiss at Twisted Steel, but he certainly hadn’t forgotten it. Could he really let another man take her from that bar? To have what Asa could if he just made a move?
With PJ, though, it wouldn’t be just a move. He knew that right to his toes. What he felt about her, he knew it would be more.
Which brought him right back to the question. Was it enough to let her leave with another man?
Asa shot Duke a look and got up. “I’ll see you later.”
“Finally.” Duke tipped his chin in good luck before Asa headed over to where she stood.
She leaned against one of the scarred and carved-up wooden posts lining the long room. Smiling.
A great smile. Full of pretty, perfect white teeth. A dimple peeked to the right of her mouth. Her mouth. Christ. The memory of that kiss slammed into him.
But those big blue eyes widened and then went half-mast when she finally noted him approaching. And that smile she’d been wearing with her friends changed into something else entirely just for him.
And then she shifted to brush her hair back over her shoulder and he was gone.
She waited. And he liked that too.
The problem was that the place was jam-packed and it took him longer than he wanted to get to her.
Once there he didn’t bother scowling or paying any mind at all to the other dudes around her trying to catch her eye. He had her focus and that was all he needed.
“Whatever. Stress is bad for you.”
“We need music.” Audra stood, rooting through her bag for change.
“We do. I need your change,” PJ told everyone at the table.
The jukebox was one of her favorite things about the place. The selection was fantastic, with every type of music imaginable.
She was happy. It was a good day, even without the shots and music that made her dance as she and Audra sang along.
That’s when she realized the prickle on the back of her neck was someone watching her. She turned and halted as she caught sight of none other than Asa.
Well.
“So that happened,” she said to Audra without taking her gaze from Asa.
“Go break off a piece of that. My god. And then you have to tell me every last really dirty detail at brunch on Sunday.”
PJ faced her friend. “Such confidence! You don’t think you’ll be seeing me until Sunday?”
“He’s currently looking at you like he wants to eat you up with a spoon. You’re pretty and relentless when you want something. He wants what you have in your pants.”
“He looks like he does. Yes. But he’s wily.”
They both continued to watch him and he watched PJ right back. Walt, the server, walked by and PJ stopped him, arranging to have shots sent to Asa’s table. She waved at Asa and then turned to go back to her table with her friends.
“Why are you headed over here instead of jumping on his peen?” Audra asked.
Asa’d had his chance to catch all the softballs she’d pitched his way over the last five months. She wanted him, yes she did. But that hadn’t worked.
Maybe he liked to do the coming over.
Or not, but she wasn’t going over there. He knew she was into him, but she had some pride, for goodness sake.
“He knows I want to jump on his peen. He needs to work for it. But nothing says I can’t be as alluring as I possibly can to help that along.”
Audra nodded. “All right then! By the way, you look seriously hot. He can’t miss that part.”
She didn’t sit. The booth was full anyway, so she stood with Audra near the windows, just next to the table. Trixie Whitley’s “Undress Your Name” came on and PJ swayed a little.
“This song is sex on a stick.”
Asa couldn’t take his attention from PJ. When she’d seen him first a few minutes before, he figured she’d come over and say hello. He could flirt with her and jerk off when he got home, thinking about what he should have done instead of saying good night.
But she waved and went back to her friends. And then she’d sent over drinks, which were currently warming his system and eroding his decision-making skills. He’d be making bad choices in no time.
Thing was, she wasn’t looking over. Or paying any attention their way. Her group seemed lively enough. More men than women, and certainly he wasn’t the only man in the bar looking at PJ right then.
None of them mattered though. She seemed to throw off some sort of pheromone that pushed his every damned button.
She’d changed her hair. Again.
It was still blond, but this time it had streaks of blue shot through it. He bet she twisted it up into one of those bun things she liked. So you’d see mainly blond but a flash of color. Unique, like her.
Who was that guy leaning so close to her? Asa couldn’t see his face as the other guy bent to speak to PJ.
“Who is that guy on PJ?”
Duke, who appeared annoyed to pull himself away from the voluptuous brunette halfway in his lap, peered across the room. “Isn’t that Craig Salazar? He does transmissions, I think. Yeah, up in Lake City. He appears to be pretty enchanted by Penelope’s breasts. Can’t blame him.”
There it was. If he continued to sit there with his friends, she’d leave with Craig and he’d have survived another day not giving in and fucking her.
Question was, could he? For months he’d been circling her. Knowing he should leave it alone but always finding himself unable to do it. Could he sit there after he’d tasted her? Neither of them had mentioned that kiss at Twisted Steel, but he certainly hadn’t forgotten it. Could he really let another man take her from that bar? To have what Asa could if he just made a move?
With PJ, though, it wouldn’t be just a move. He knew that right to his toes. What he felt about her, he knew it would be more.
Which brought him right back to the question. Was it enough to let her leave with another man?
Asa shot Duke a look and got up. “I’ll see you later.”
“Finally.” Duke tipped his chin in good luck before Asa headed over to where she stood.
She leaned against one of the scarred and carved-up wooden posts lining the long room. Smiling.
A great smile. Full of pretty, perfect white teeth. A dimple peeked to the right of her mouth. Her mouth. Christ. The memory of that kiss slammed into him.
But those big blue eyes widened and then went half-mast when she finally noted him approaching. And that smile she’d been wearing with her friends changed into something else entirely just for him.
And then she shifted to brush her hair back over her shoulder and he was gone.
She waited. And he liked that too.
The problem was that the place was jam-packed and it took him longer than he wanted to get to her.
Once there he didn’t bother scowling or paying any mind at all to the other dudes around her trying to catch her eye. He had her focus and that was all he needed.
