Running After a Heartbreaker (Brides on the Run #4)

by Jami Albright

  She snatched her phone back from him. “That’s what you got from what I said.”

  “Well, yeah. Isn’t that what you were saying?”

  “No!”

  Correction. He did need caffeine if he was going to decipher what she was going on about. “Then what are you saying?”

  “I’m in the video too!”

  “Yeah, you sound great.”

  She took two steps toward him and poked her finger into his chest. “Everyone and their dog is going to see me up on that stage. The Instagram post talks about the heat between us and makes us sound like we’re having some torrid affair. It’s a total shit show, and it’s all your fault.”

  “How is this my fault? I didn’t make you get on stage.”

  “Because…you make me do crazy things.” Her wild whiskey eyes flashed with fire and fury. “Like get on stage and pretend to be a singer, and…this.” She flipped her hair back and pulled down the collar of her button-up shirt to expose the column of her neck. “I didn’t even try to stop you.”

  The hickey on her creamy skin glowed like a full moon in a pitch-black sky. The sight of that purple and blue bruise made him want to mark her again. Bad idea if the furious look on her face was any indication. So he stayed where he was and kept his mouth shut.

  His silence only made her madder. “You gave me a freakin’ hickey like a horny teenager!”

  Laughter tickled the back of his throat. He had no idea why he found this so funny, but he did. His teeth clamped down on the inside of his lip. If he smiled she’d whack off a body part, and he knew the one she’d go for first. He bit harder when the corners of his mouth began to twitch. But he couldn’t control the snort that he tried to disguise as a sneeze.

  “Are you laughing?”

  All he could do was shake his head. If he spoke, he’d lose the battle. Maybe he should go ahead and laugh. If she stayed angry with him, it would make it easier to tell her that what happened in her office couldn’t happen again. He released his lips, and the laughter rolled from his mouth. “You should see your face.”

  She crossed her arms and glared at him. “You think this is funny?”

  “Yes. I mean, no.” He wiped his eye with the heel of his hand. “What I mean is your reaction is a little funny. But I understand you being upset about the hickey, and I’m sorry. Why are you upset about the video though? You look incredible, and you sound even better.”

  That seemed to take the fight right out of her, and she dropped to the sofa. Her elbows went to her knees, and her head fell into one of her hands while the other still gripped the phone. “It’s just…everyone will see this.” She stared at her blank phone screen. “I guess I should be grateful they didn’t use my name.”

  Oh, shit. “You didn’t see the interview?”

  Her head jerked up so fast he was surprised she didn’t have whiplash. “What interview?”

  He took a cautious step away from her and rubbed his hand over his mouth. “The next video after the one of us singing is an interview. They asked me about you, and I told them your name and that you own Boon’s.”

  Her mouth hung open for several seconds before she found her voice. “Why didn’t you tell me they interviewed you?”

  “We…ah…we didn’t really discuss anything but the weather.” He ducked his head and looked at her through his lashes. “The sunshine is very nice today.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Very funny.” Her attention went to the interview. “It has almost as many views as us singing.”

  The dismay in her voice caused an ache beneath his breastbone. “They said some really nice things about the bar. And they thought you were great. They said we sounded perfect together.” Even to his own ears, those justifications sounded lame.

  “Oh, please. It wasn’t perfect.”

  Chills raced over his torso. The air conditioner was making the damp towel uncomfortable. “Do you mind if I put on some pants?”

  She flicked her hand at him with her gaze glued to the comments on YouTube. He moved to the closet and retrieved a pair of basketball shorts. “Nobody expected you to be perfect, Hailey. We were just grateful. You can be perfect next time.” He dropped the towel and got dressed behind the door. Once he was covered in something other than terrycloth, he made his way back to the sofa but stopped at the look on her face. “What?”

  She held a finger in the air and shook her head. “There’s not going to be a next time. That was a one-time shot, buddy, never to be repeated.”

  He sat on the other end of the sofa and stretched his arm along the back. “Oh, really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “What about the father–daughter dance?”

  “What about it?”

  He rested one ankle on the other knee. “When were you going to tell me you volunteered me as the entertainment, and how were you planning to convince me to do it, pro bono? I’m assuming it’s an unpaid gig.”

  She nodded and made a strangled sound in the back of her throat. “I… How do you know that?”

  “I saw your pal Marla in town and she told me how excited everyone was to hear me sing at the dance.” He shook his long bangs from his eyes. “She’s a real peach, by the way.”

  Hailey was making a meal of her lower lip. “Soon. I was going to ask you soon.” The warm, friendly expression on her face didn’t fool him at all. “And as for convincing you, I thought you’d do it for a good cause.” The last part of the sentence was said with no real conviction.

  “I’m a reasonable man. I’m sure we can work something out that would be mutually beneficial.” He stroked the stubble on his chin a few seconds longer than he had to, just to make her sweat. “I know.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, but she didn’t say a word.

  “I’ll perform at the dance if you continue to be my backup singer until I leave to go on tour. That’ll give me plenty of time to find a replacement.”

  She jumped to her feet. “That’s extortion.”

  “You should know.” The shit-eating grin might’ve been a mistake. It seemed to piss her off.

  Her arms went across her chest again. She turned her head to the side and stared out the window. “Fine.” The agreement slipped between barely parted lips.

  “Great. I’m glad we got that settled.”

  She nodded but didn’t look very happy.

  Now for the hard part. He stood and moved to stand in front of her. He respected her enough to look her in the eye when he cut things off between them. “One more thing.” His sick stomach knotted at what he was about to say, but this had to be done for both their sakes. He just hoped she understood. “Hailey, last night…”

  “Can never happen again,” he said, as she said, “Shouldn’t have happened.”

  They both chuckled, but it was the uncomfortable sound you hear when someone passes gas in church.

  “Thank God.” She straightened her collar and pulled her hair back over her shoulder. “That’s a relief. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

  The niggle of irritation worming its way around his gut was unexpected. This was exactly what he wanted, but the smile she flashed him annoyed the crap out of him. No idea why…probably because he thought he’d be the one ending it instead of it being a mutual decision.

  He rested his butt against the back of the couch and crossed his arms. “Same page. Same sentence. Same word.” Nonchalance bled into every word.

  She didn’t like that. Annoyance crackled around her like lightning flashing across the sky. “Excellent.”

  “Great.”

  “Fabulous.”

  “Yep.”

  Their exchange was thornier than a bouquet of roses.

  “Thanks for stopping by.”

  “No problem.” She moved to the door, and stepped outside. “See ya later.”

  “See ya.” He might’ve closed the barrier between them harder than he needed to, but the bit of irritation from earlier was now a full-on ca
se of pissed-off-ness.

  Women didn’t snub him or act like it was no big deal to walk away from him. He pulled cold air into his lungs. Maybe he could extinguish whatever it was that made him want to fling the door open and go after her and give her a piece of his mind.

  That was crazy. He’d gotten what he wanted. He should let it alone.

  His good sense battled with his ego.

  His good sense never stood a chance.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Hailey stared at the white door of Beau’s apartment. Her belly churned with aggravation. His automatic dismissal of her stung way more than she cared to admit. He’d blown her off like she meant nothing. Like they hadn’t had mind-bending sex less than twenty-four hours before.

  She should go back in there and rip him a new one.

  She should run and not look back.

  “Screw it.” She raised her fist to knock, but the door flew open.

  “You.” He stepped back and pointed to the interior of his apartment. “Get inside.”

  “Gladly.” She put enough attitude into the word to be voted queen of the mouthy teenagers and marched inside without looking at him. “I have a few things to say to you.”

  The door slammed behind her. “Good, because I have a few things to say to you too.”

  She turned to face him and a bolt of something dark and thrilling shot straight between her legs. He stalked toward her like a wild animal on the hunt. Anger grabbed her and yanked her spine straight. “I think you need to be taught a lesson, cowboy.”

  “Oh, really?” He loomed over her, fire shooting from his livid eyes. “And who’s going to do that?”

  “I am.” She put some extra oomph behind the words so he’d know she was good and pissed. He was so close that the scent of his body wash filled her head. He smelled delicious, and that ticked her off even more. Her palms went to his chest to push him away, but instead, her fingers massaged over his amazing pecs.

  His big hands framed her head, and he tilted her face up to his. An angry thunderstorm roiled over his spectacularly handsome face. “That feels incredible.” The clipped, furious tone of his words ricocheted off the wall like bullets from a gun.

  “Yeah, well, you smell incredible.” She hurled the accusation at him to let him know she meant business.

  “I’m going to kiss you,” he shot back at her, anger riding every word, while his fingers tanged in her curls.

  “Yeah you are.” She dared him to defy her.

  His lips took hers, and their tongues battled for dominance.

  It was hot, heady, and hurling them straight toward naked.

  And then…it changed.

  He loosened his grip on her hair and slid one hand to the back of her neck, while slow licks of fire followed the path of his other hand down her back. He cradled her body against his and took his time discovering her mouth.

  Every unhurried lap of his tongue and grind of his hips was a declaration of the things he intended to do to her body. He made love to her mouth like it was the main event, like there weren’t other places to explore and orgasms to be had.

  When he kissed his way to her ear, her brain synapses began to fire again. Something… There was something that should be said before they went any farther, because they were definitely going farther.

  “Beau.”

  His tongue traced the shell of her ear. “Hailey.”

  She gently pushed on his shoulder. “Wait.”

  He pulled back to give her his attention. “What’s wrong?”

  Her forehead fell to his chest, and she willed her thoughts to organize. This was important. She was probably making the biggest mistake of her life, so it would be on her terms. She shuffled her feet back to put some distance between them. It was too hard to think with his scent surrounding her. How did the man smell so damn good?

  He ran his finger down her cheek. “You okay?”

  A deep breath to fortify her, and she nodded. “If we’re going to do this—”

  “Oh, we’re doing this.” He hitched his lips up on one side in true Heartbreaker fashion. It should’ve put her off, but it only stoked the desire throbbing through her blood.

  “If we do this….” She raised one brow, daring him to speak. When he remained silent, she continued. “There will be rules.” He was too much in every way, and if she didn’t put some safety measures in place, then she’d lose everything to him.

  “Rules?”

  “Yes.” She swallowed to force saliva past her dry vocal cords. “First, this is a fling—a wild, passionate, down-and-dirty fling. No hearts and flowers. No analyzing the other’s motivations. Nothing long term. This ends in a few months, or sooner if one of us decides they’re done.”

  “Okay.”

  “Rule number two. We’re exclusive for as long as this thing lasts.” When he didn’t automatically agree she went on. “I’m not kidding, Beau. This is a deal breaker for me. You want to be with other women, fine. But you won’t be with them while you’re with me. If you have a problem with that, then I’ll leave now.” She’d taken that ride before and had no interest in once again paying the price of admission.

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t have a problem with that, and I’m insulted that you’d think I would.”

  “Fine. Last rule…no beds.”

  He cocked his head to the side like he hadn’t heard her correctly. “Excuse me?”

  “We’re not having sex in or on a bed.” Too intimate. She’d be giving away more than she could afford to lose, if that kind of intimacy was involved. She gathered all her sass around her and rested her fist on a popped hip. “Beds are boring. If I’m having a fling, then I want it to be with someone thrilling and imaginative—someone memorable.” She looked him up and down and cocked a brow. “Unless you’re not up to the challenge?”

  His jade gaze raked her from head to toe. Like a panther circling and hemming in his prey, he moved behind her. “Oh, I’m up for the challenge. The question is, are you?”

  “Ye…yes.” She’d willingly taunted him and would now pay for that error in judgment. Her brain called her every kind of fool for making such a mistake, but her body screamed…

  Best mistake ever!

  Chills danced along her skin when he buried his face in her neck and inhaled a long deep breath. His warm exhale was like melted chocolate sliding over every inch of her overly sensitive skin. He stayed there, torturing her without touching, until she was ready to beg him to end her misery.

  A surge of excitement rode every heartbeat blasting through her chest when he grabbed a handful of her hair and placed his lips next to her ear. “Bend over.”

  Raw, unadulterated, raging lust pounded through Beau’s body. Need overrode good sense, but at the moment he didn’t give a damn about anything but getting skin to skin with this maddening woman. “Put your hands on the back of the sofa.”

  “Um—”

  “Do it.”

  She complied, and the movement brought her round ass into direct contact with him. The thin material of her leggings and his basketball shorts meant there was only the thinnest barrier between them. The pleasure/pain of it all short-circuited what control still remained after her direct challenge. He bent to her ear and ground into her. “Is this what you want, Hailey?”

  The arch of her back and a deep rasping moan was her only answer. He’d take that as a yes. A slight tug on her hair to turn her head so he could capture her smart mouth. The taste of her lips and tongue was an infusion of rocket fuel to his already over-the-top desire. He released her hair but didn’t break the kiss, while his other hand went to work on the buttons of her shirt.

  Her arm came up and snaked around his neck, securing him in place. The scrape of her nails against the sensitive skin there yanked a groan from his chest. “Woman, you are playing with so much fire right now.”

  “Prove it.”

  She tried to turn to face him, but he held her in place with his body. “Ah, ah, ah. Di
d I tell you to move?”

  “No.” The word slipped out on short, gruff pants.

  “Then stay where you are.” He unhooked the front clasp of her bra and peeled one of the cups from her perfect breast. His fingers played with the tip, flicking and circling until she was writhing and whimpering beneath him. “Mmmm, just like that.” He licked the side of her neck. She tasted like the worst and best mistake of his whole fucking life.

  “Beau…”

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “I want…”

  “What?”

  “Everything.”

  His hands went to the waistband of her leggings. “I plan to give you that and more.” He peeled her pants and underwear from her body and couldn’t hold back a groan at the sight of her. He smoothed his hands over her bare ass. “I’m going to do all kinds of filthy things to you, Hailey Odom. Are you ready for that?”

  “Yes.” It was more of a plea than an answer.

  He turned her in his arms and lifted her to sit on the back of the sofa. “Don’t move.” His wallet was on the bedside table behind him. He grabbed it and retrieved a condom.

  His mouth went dry as a bone, and if it was possible, he got even harder at the sight of her naked and waiting for him.

  She separated her legs slightly and cocked her head. “You gonna stand there and stare, Heartbreaker, or are you going to put that condom to good use?”

  This woman would be the death of him. He unclenched his jaw and rolled on the condom. “You’ve got a sassy mouth.” Three stalking steps to her, and he grasped a handful of her glorious hair and tilted her mouth to his.

  “So I’ve been told.” She nipped his chin. “What are you gonna do about it?”

  He hitched one of her legs over his hip. “I’m more of a shower than a talker. Hang on.” That was all the warning she would get before he was inside her. Psychedelic sparks exploded behind his closed lids, liquid fire screamed along his vertebrae, and he nearly lost his damn mind. “Holy, fuck.”