“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get home safe.”
She let out a shaky laugh and gasped when she took a sip of beer and spilled some down her chin. While I watched her lick her lips, and then the tip of the bottle, her eyes darted to mine. “Okay.”
5.
***Violet***
“Myphoneisdownhere, perv.” I elbowed Jayden in the arm and shoved my phone closer to his face. “In New York, I ran my own farmer’s market. The town just hadn’t put one together, and I jumped at the chance. That’s my booth.”
Wrapping his arm around my shoulders, Jayden moved even closer and studied my screen. “What are you selling? Also, I’m not a perv. You press them against me, I’m going to look.”
I giggled and then groaned. “I knew I shouldn’t have done that last shot. Dumb. How did I get over here?”
He pushed the phone away and looked down at me, just as intensely as he’d been staring at my picture. “You walked over. With your legs. I like these leggings and Uggs, by the way. I’d be an amazing fake boyfriend. You’d never have to wear anything and I’d still be impressed.”
I slapped his thigh, leaving my hand there. “Did you build your dream house yet?”
“Not yet. I’m just waiting on the right time.” He put his hand over mine. “You didn’t say what you were selling.”
“I make sexy candles. Some normal ones, too.” I couldn’t believe how brightly blue his eyes were. Against his tan skin, they practically glowed. “I should’ve just asked an ex to be my fake boyfriend.”
“Oh, yeah? Why is that?”
“Chemistry.” I looked away after I said that and cursed my loose tongue. “The candles I make, I sculpt them into certain… shapes and sizes. Depending on a woman’s preference.”
“You definitely had no chemistry with that clown from earlier.”
I heard that silent challenge in Jayden’s voice again and sat up straighter. His arm dropped to my waist as I did, and his hand settled firmly on my hip. “Would you have left me to my fake date if there’d been chemistry between us?”
He held my gaze and searched my face as he seemed to think over his next words. “No. Are you selling candles or sex toys?”
I giggled again. “Candles! Though, I guess in desperate times, there could be some double usage. I use organic materials, but that doesn’t mean they should be inserted, though. After all, arsenic can be organic. Still probably better than the pesticides sprayed on cucumbers.”
“Hold on. I think we should dissect that.” Jayden cast his eyes down at my crotch and then back up to mine. “Any personal experience?”
I pulled my hand away from his and smacked him in the chest. Was it just an excuse to feel his muscles? Yep. Was it obvious? With the way I left my hand there, stroking his chest? Definitely. “You can’t ask that!”
“What if I were your fake boyfriend? I’d need to know these things.” He took a pull from his beer and then held the tip up to my lips. The liquor flowing through my veins made me a little too free as I ran my tongue around the bottle top before taking a long drink. Jayden dropped the bottle to the table and gripped the back of my neck, pulling me closer. “I volunteer.”
When had I shoved my hands into his hair? Oh, well. I dragged my nails over his scalp and lightly tugged at the soft strands. From that close, I could see where the sun had lightened some of his brown hair to golden. “Oh? In your free time, or…”
“To be your fake boyfriend. Feel free to use my services, Violet.”
Flutters of excitement tickled my stomach. “Full services?”
Jayden shoved his chair back from the table and had us both on our feet in a flash. “I’m not offering an oil change, woman. However, I’d do just about anything else if you leave with me right now.”
“A real fake boyfriend would offer to change my oil.” I bit my lip and leaned into his chest. “Lucky for you, my car and I are having a silent argument about which one of us will crack first over the oil change debate.”
He held up his hand and shook his head. “Don’t tell me another thing. I’m toeing the line of drunk and sober, but if you start telling me about driving around in a death trap, responsibility is going to kick in.”
I faced him completely and pressed my body into his chest. “Jayden?”
His hands settled on my sides, his thumbs just under my breasts. “Yeah?”
“It’s been years since I’ve had good sex.”
His grip tightened. “Time to go.”