“Tall, dark hair, eyes, broad shoulders. Is this one jealous, too?”
“Uh, not so much.”
“I still can’t believe how he came in here that night—angry and pissed off at Reggie over there. I thought I was going to have to call the police.”
“Yeah, that was pretty crazy. Um, why didn’t you call the police?”
She gives me a weird look. “You promised me it was fine. I took your word for it.” She glances over at the bar where Reggie is watching us. “He didn’t like it much.”
“Well, you know me, what’s the point if it’s not causing a little chaos,” I reply, channeling my inner Rose. I add to it by slapping on a mischievous grin, one I saw her do a million times.
“That chaos is going to catch up with you some day, Rosie. Be careful.” She takes back the drink and walks off. Ezra slides back into the seat next to me, our thighs touching.
“What was that about.”
“I have an admirer. Someone I’ve apparently encountered before.”
He glances over at the bar where the man at the bar continues to watch us. He doesn’t look pleased. Ezra, on the other hand, has the same expression he wears right before he walks onto the football field. Aggressively confident. He lifts up my hair and lowers his head, planting a kiss on my neck. A shiver runs down my body.
“What’s that for?”
“Just marking my territory.” I feel his tongue against my ear and his hand slips between my thighs.
“Jealous of an old guy?”
“No, but sending that drink to a woman with another guy?” He shakes his head. “He needs to understand that you came here with me, and you’ll be leaving here with me.”
I’ve never been one for public displays of affection, and with our current arrangement we’re more careful than normal—but Ezra and I aren’t in the hallways of Thistle Cove. We’re thirty miles away, and I’m in disguise. Ezra’s territorial act is hotter than I’d ever expect, and when he continues to kiss along my jaw and he tilts my chin up, I don’t resist sinking into him.
His tongue is warm, and he’s discreet with his hands. I’m both thankful and regretful that I’m wearing pants instead of a skirt. His long fingers start at my knees but slide dangerously up my thighs. The move kickstarts my heart, my panties warming in anticipation. My body knows what his fingers can do and it’s very hard for me to put on the breaks.
He must realize I’m putty in his hands, because he doesn’t stop. His fingers move in lazy circles, until he grazes between my legs. I shudder and bite down on his bottom lip, forcing us to stop.
I pull away, my heart about to burst out of my chest and every pulse point in my body throbbing with desire. I look at him under my bangs and say, “I think you’ve made your point.”
His eyes are darker than normal. He licks his lips. “You think?”
“We should go.” I tell him, overwhelmed by the sound of my heartbeat in my ears. “Pay the tab. I’m going to the bathroom.”
I scoot out of the booth and walk across the bar, pretending there aren’t a dozen eyes boring into my back. In the bathroom I look in the mirror. My eyes look wild—my cheeks red. I do my best to straighten my hair and freshen up my lipstick. My heartbeat has finally stopped racing when there’s a gentle knock on the door. My stomach flip-flops. If Ezra comes in here, I’m not sure I can be held accountable for my actions. We’ve been playing cat and mouse for months—his father always lurking nearby. But not tonight. Not here.
I take a deep breath and open the door, “Babe, we’re not screwing in the bath—”
The man from the bar stands on the other side. “I should hope not, but I can get a room upstairs.”
My blood instantly cools. “Sorry. I’m not interested.”
“I just want you to talk to me,” he pleads. “I know the last time we were together things went—well, badly, but it’s nothing that we can’t work out.”
I cast my eyes down, not wanting for him to bust me for impersonating Rose. “No. I made my decision.”
“Rosemary,” he says, calling me by the name Rose used on her Sugarbabies profile, “I’ll do whatever you want. Up your allowance. Get you a nicer place. I just want you back in my life.”
I glance up at this man. He’s handsome. The cut and fabric of his suit looks expensive. But the whining? Not attractive. I can see why Rose wouldn’t want to be with him. She’d never want to be with someone weak. Finn was the top of the social structure at Thistle Cove. Coach Chandler above that. This guy? He may have money, but he’s lacking confidence, arrogance, entitlement.
All things she’d want in a lover.
“I said no.” I push past him and walk into the bar. Ezra’s stands straight when he spots me, eyes narrowed on the man behind me. He takes one look at Ezra’s stature—his broad shoulders and his height—and he scurries away.