His brows furrowed. “Just wondering if there’s a reason you feel the need to take such risks. You got some skeletons in your closet I should know about?”
“No more than anyone else.” My eyes drifted to the ground. “I just don’t want to look back one day and wish I’d done something when I had the chance.”
A sexy smirk crossed his handsome face. “I like your way of thinking.”
I knew the guy was trouble. It was written all over his handsome face, but I didn’t care. I enjoyed being with him. I enjoyed it a lot. I took another sip of my beer, then gave him a playful smile. “So, what about you? Are you a risk-taker?”
“I’m sitting here with you, aren’t I?”
“I’m not sure I’d count that as taking a risk.”
“Oh, I’d say it definitely does.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
He glanced up at the clock, then muttered, “Damn, I gotta be getting back.”
“Oh, I’m sorry ... I didn’t mean to keep you.”
“It’s not you, babe. If I could, I’d stay till they booted us both outta here, but we’ve got that work going on over at the club, and I need to help them finish up.” He tossed a twenty on the table to cover our drinks, then said, “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”
I nodded, then followed him out of DJ’s and back across the street to Stilettos’ parking lot. As soon as we reached my car, Lynch had a strange look on his face, and I suddenly started to feel nervous. Really nervous. I couldn’t help it due to the way he was looking at me, like he wanted to kiss me.
After several moments, he finally said, “I want to see you again.”
“Oh, really?” I batted my eyelashes and smiled, teasing him. “So, you’re a risk-taker after all?”
“Only when it counts.”
The words had barely left his mouth when he reached for me.
I took a step back but was too late. Lynch had already wrapped me in his arms, his lips pressed against mine. Every single nerve in my body came alive as rough, calloused hands held me against his broad, muscular chest.
I’d never felt anything so intense.
My insides felt like they were on fire.
In a matter of seconds, the man literally had my head spinning.
I wound my arms around his neck and held on tight, pulling him closer as he deepened the kiss. When his hands started leisurely roaming over my body, I knew I was about to get carried away. As fun as it might’ve been, that couldn’t happen. We were in the middle of a parking lot with God knows who lurking about. I quickly placed my hands on his shoulders, and with great, great reluctance, stepped back and broke our connection.
Licking his lips, he flashed a devious smile and asked, “So, how about tomorrow night?”
LYNCH
“Was that her?”
“Who?”
“The girl?” Widow asked. “Was that her?”
I grabbed a putty blade from the table and then went back to work on the bathroom drywall as I answered, “No idea who you’re talking about, brother.”
“Oh, come on. You know better than to try that innocent bullshit with me,” Widow snapped. “She was the girl from the other night, wasn’t she?”
“A lot of girls pass through here, brother.” I knew exactly who he was talking about, but I couldn’t help but fuck with him. Widow was so easily roused, and I was feeling better since the cut on my head had healed. Country, Rafe, and Jagger were all ears as I glanced back over to Widow and goaded, “You’re gonna have to be more specific.”
“The girl that was sitting in the back of the fucking cop car! How’s that for specific?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty specific.”
“So, it was her.” Without giving me a chance to reply, he barked, “What the hell was she doing here, and why was she asking for you by name?”
“I don’t know what to tell ya, brother.” I gave him a nonchalant shrug. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated?” Widow’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell did you do?”
“Nothing. Really. It was no big deal.”
“What. Did. You. Do?” Widow pushed.
It was clear he wasn’t going to let it go, so I gave him a quick rundown of everything that had happened. I’d barely finished telling him about bailing the girls out when Country interrupted me, “Whoa, hold up. You’re telling me those girls jumped off a rooftop in downtown Nashville?”
“Yeah.”
“They just jumped off,” he repeated. “Like the shit you see in movies and stuff?”
“Yeah, brother. That’s what I’m saying.”
“Holy shit.” An amazed smile crossed his face as he mumbled, “That’s badass.”
“Trouble is what it is, and the last thing any of us needs is more trouble.” Widow shook his head and grumbled, “I told ya to let it go.”
“I just helped them out,” I replied defensively. “It was no big deal.”
“It’s clearly a big deal to her,” Jagger interjected. “Otherwise, she wouldn’t have shown up here tonight.”