She clutches at her chest, face flushing as she laughs. “Oh my, you cowboys are all the same, aren’t you?”
I narrow my gaze, not understanding.
Her eyes now rake over my face in a way that feels . . . weird. Uncomfortable. “You might not be able to give a woman everything she’s asking for, but you still find a way to give her what she needs.” Her tongue makes a sweep along her bottom lip as she watches for my reaction.
I frown, impatient. “Lady, do you want lemon juice vodka or not?”
Now she’s leaning forward too, running her claw-like red nails up the skin of my forearm. “What’re you doing tonight?” she asks in what she must think is a sultry voice.
I pull my arm back and straighten. “Working.”
Her brown eyes pinch in challenge. “What about after?”
“Kasey!” Ava shouts over the Red Clay Strays song that’s now blaring through the bar’s speakers. I lift my eyes over the woman’s tired blonde hair to see Ava marching back toward me. She looks adorably windblown and there’s a sheen of sweat along her forehead. My heart snags as I take it all in, distracted enough not to notice the dangerous edge in her gaze. “I’ve been looking for you,” she says, eyes trained on the woman between us.
The woman rears back. “Me?” she asks.
Ava scoffs. “No, not you.Him.”
Her tone is sharp enough to let me know what’s coming. “Ava,” I say—a gentle warning, even though there’s a strong part of me that would love to see her show her teeth. Especially over me.
“Actually,” Ava continues, her focus still centered on the woman. “I’d appreciate it if you kept your fucking hands off of my husband.”
Andthereit is. I beam.
The woman’s eyes grow wide as she looks back and forth between us. “I had no idea—I’m so sorry!”
Ava shrugs. “I imagine you wouldn’t. You seemed too busy cataloging all the things you’d like to use him for to notice the ring on his finger.” Her eyes finally rise to mine, and there’s something playful in her expression now. Her own gentle warning. “But to be fair, he likes to flirt with other women when he knows I’m looking for him—tries to get a rise out of me. It’s alittle game we play because the sex it leads to is alwayssodamn good.”
The woman gasps, snatching her purse off the bar. “Pig!” she yells at me before turning back to the table her friends are sitting at.
“What is the matter with you?” I ask Ava, though I can’t help the grin that slices across my face.
She giggles, rolling her eyes. “Youwere the one putting the foundation of our marriage in jeopardy, flirting with someone in front of all these people. And so quickly after saying your vows to me?” She tsks. “You make it too easy.”
“Says the woman flirting withtwoguys.” She laughs again, playful. “Plus, you know what my flirting looks like, sugar, and that wasnotit. Though I have to say, jealousy looks real good on you.”
Her eyes flash, and suddenly I’m back in my room, watching her put her mouth around me. Watching her touch herself as I start to move inside of her.
She must sense it, because her expression changes. Morphs into something on the cusp of feral. Wild.
I swallow. “Be good, Ava. I’ve still got a few more hours here.”
“So do I.” She grins, letting her gaze linger on my mouth.
And then she’s off again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
AVA
Idoze off in Kasey’s truck on the way home from the bar. It’s past midnight, and I’m exhausted. The next fleeting sense of awareness tells me I’m in a soft bed that smells like Kasey and a strong arm is hooking me closer to a warm, broad chest. It’s so comfortable, soright, that I immediately fall back to sleep.
The next morning, he’s gone. Again.
I pull on one of his old shirts. Again.
I find a coffee waiting for me in the kitchen. Again.
