“And I’m second pick?” Considering the number of men in the bar tonight, I guess that’s not too bad, but it still makes my empty stomach want to turn in on itself.
“I like shy guys,” she confesses, her pink tongue sneaking out to wet her bottom lip.
I manage to hold my groan in, but the sparkle in her eyes tells me that she knows just how she’s affecting me.
I feel like a sitting duck, and she’s the hunter with me in her sights. Despite knowing it, I just stand here in blissful ignorance as she takes aim.
“I came back to talk to you.”
“Yeah?” I don’t even have any useless facts in mind to detract from this situation right now.
“To give you this.”
She places a card in my hand, and thankful for the distraction, I pull my eyes from her and glance down.
There are two pieces of information on the expensive cardstock.
Her name.
An address.
“I’ll see you in three hours, Jude Morris. Don’t keep me waiting.”
I watch her walk away, my jaw hanging open so wide a car driving by on the street could run over it.
The card feels like a prized possession, something so precious I’m bound to treasure it forever.
I know what she’s insinuating. I know she doesn’t want to drink a beer and laugh over small talk.
The woman invited me back to her place for sex. My balls swell in anticipation, cock starting to come to life before I can remind them that I’m not the type of guy to hook up with a woman just because she’s gorgeous.
Mainly because I’ve never faced the situation before.
I’ve never hooked up.
I open my wallet, shoving the card inside even though I know I should toss it in the trash and head to work. I’d never open my mouth to tell the guys this happened. It’s not like they’d believe me if I did.
I do know that I’m going to act out every single thing I can imagine about Parker Maxwell when I get home later tonight in my head.
Chapter 4
Parker
I smile down at my phone, wondering how long it’s going to take Hayden to respond to my text.
Me: He’s absolutely adorable. You should’ve given him your number.
It’s been five minutes since she read the text, but she’s yet to respond. I can just picture her rolling her eyes and cursing my name.
Me: Or Quinten.
Hayden: What about Quinten?
I knew that would get her.
Me: He couldn’t take his eyes off of you, which I find insanely rude since you spent all night flirting with Jude. I think he was jealous or something.
Those three little dots appear and disappear several times before the next text pops up.
Hayden: I wasn’t flirting with Jude.
It doesn’t go unnoticed that she completely ignored the fact that I mentioned Quinten seemed jealous. She’s going to avoid that topic of conversation as long as she possibly can.
Hayden: I was being polite.
Hayden: He seems like a nice guy.
He’s hot as sin, and I’ve imagined licking chocolate off his body more than once already.
Hayden: Parker! I wasn’t flirting with Jude.
I continue to look down at my phone, taking a little joy in knowing my best friend is freaking out a little right now. She’s so obvious about her crush, I honestly can’t believe she’s fighting it as hard as she is.
Hayden: Do you really think he was jealous?
Hayden: I caught him watching my mouth.
Hayden: Every time I looked at him, he was looking at me.
Hayden: Who cares? It’s never going to happen.
This one forces me to pick up my phone. I hate a self-deprecating attitude more than anything in the world. Shyness and lack of confidence are one thing. Belittling herself because of those traits I won’t tolerate.
Me: Not with that attitude it won’t.
It’s her turn to stay silent, and I use the time to check the clock for the billionth time since I got home. I was able to kill an hour and a half after walking away from Jude in the bar parking lot by showering, shaving, and preparing for a wild night, but I know the chances are slim.
If the man looked anymore confused standing in front of me earlier, I would’ve been concerned about his greater brain function. The chances of him showing up tonight without being led by the hand are slim to none.
And that may be for the best. I had turned my car around and waited for Quinten to walk away before approaching him with a plan. I knew I didn’t want him here so early. Approaching a man and taking him home was against one of my many rules, but I had the genius idea to invite him over later.
The man is either so shy he can’t function without direction, or he thinks I’m crazy.
Either way, it leads me to believe that he’ll never knock on my door.