Right Where You Are Read online

  My mouth dropped open, terrified he’d known what I’d been thinking of doing only a second before, but then his eyes widened and his forehead fell onto his arm. When he peeked up again, his face looked a shade darker.

  “That honestly wasn’t a line.” A grin twisted his lips up. “I’m a little rusty with all this.”

  Yeah, right. A guy who looked like that probably didn’t have to make any effort at all. I’d already noticed more than one interested glance sliding over him since we sat down. I had to give him credit for his effort. It was boyishly cute. He even had the self-conscious grin down perfect.

  There were worse people I could be spending the evening with.

  My mind shifted back to my earlier internal debate. I watched Seth again from the corner of my eye. I hadn’t planned on leaving with anyone tonight, but would it be so very bad if I did?

  The music shifted into a slow, sultry beat. I had to clear my head before I did something crazy. “Want to dance?” I asked.

  “Love to.” He stood, and when I stepped in front of him to lead the way, his hand came to rest on my lower back again. It stayed there until we were close to the middle of the dance floor.

  This wasn’t middle school, and I didn’t even pretend I didn’t want to know what he felt like under the shirt. I slid my hands up his chest and around his neck. Who this bold girl was inhabiting my body was a mystery, but I let her have control.

  Seth felt too good not to touch.

  He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me loose enough that I could feel air moving between us. We moved slowly side to side. I glanced up at him through my eyelashes and saw he was watching me.

  “So, do you? Come here often?” For all I knew, this was his thing. Pretending to be all innocent while picking up a new girl every week.

  He shook his head. “First time.” Then he leaned down until his mouth brushed across my ear. “Looks like I’ve got some incredible beginner’s luck going on.”

  Goose bumps exploded over my bare arms when his teeth nipped at the sensitive flesh right under my ear. Before I could react, he straightened as if the floor hadn’t just tilted under us. Sweat beaded on my forehead. I took a tiny step closer, brushing my chest against him.

  I felt his shoulders stiffen under my fingers.

  Good. I wanted to rock him a little too.

  If this was a game, I was going to give him a run for his money. Or try. I had no idea how to seduce a man, but judging by the way Seth’s breath hitched out, I must be doing something right.

  And feeling him react to my touch soothed the ache of Grant’s betrayal a little. If that bastard didn’t appreciate what I had to give, then Seth would. Tonight.

  His arms tightened and his thigh moved between my legs, so now we were pressed together from shoulder to ankle. There was no way I could miss the stab of excitement that shot through me when I swayed my hips and felt his thigh rub between my legs.

  I pushed back a little and wound my fingers behind his neck, then leaned away and let my head fall back. I pressed against his thigh harder and swung my upper body to the left, then back to the right. I was grinding on his leg now, but damn, it felt good.

  Buzzed on vodka and excitement and the sweet taste of screw you, Grant, I didn’t want to stop.

  When I finally straightened, he tightened his arm around my waist and dropped his mouth to my neck. He growled into the curve of my shoulder and closed his hot mouth over my bare skin. I whimpered and twisted my fingers into his hair, holding him there.

  Holy hell. I wanted to climb him right there on the dance floor, the hell with who was watching. The bulge in his jeans grew harder, and it pressed into my stomach.

  I drew his head up, enough so that he could kiss along my jaw. The music continued to thump, sensual bass beats that made my insides throb with need. Unable to take it anymore, I tugged his head and turned my face so that our lips finally touched.

  I wanted him to kiss me, but he held back, running teasing touches over my lips until I was ready to scream. I yanked at his hair, ground myself against him, but he still didn’t kiss me like I wanted. He did the exact opposite and pulled back enough so that he could look into my eyes.

  I saw desire and hesitation. Hunger and sadness.

  I wanted to give in and take it all away at the same time. I wanted to ask him why he was so sad, but I had a feeling he would deny it. It was buried very deep. I only saw it because I had a tendency to gravitate toward people who were hurt. To those who needed help.

  Seth shifted and drew my body closer to his.

  “If you’re drunk, just tell me where you live and I’ll make sure you get home safe.” Seth’s lips were very close to my ear, and when he exhaled, his hot breath washed over the sensitive flesh there and made me shiver in a delicious way.

  “I had one drink. I’m only slightly buzzed,” I said, pressing my lips against his neck. I was so close I saw him swallow. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

  Okay, maybe I really didn’t have a clue, but he made me feel reckless and turned on and desired. For once in my life, I wanted to give in and let go and just feel.

  “Your chivalry is appreciated, but will you please kiss me now?” I asked against his skin.

  A low groan vibrated his chest. His arm pulled me closer, held me tighter against his body, if that was possible. Every nerve in my body ignited with need. His hand slid up my back, tangling in the hair at the base of my neck. He tilted my head back with a nudge. His hungry gaze moved over my face, like he was searching for something.

  I had no idea what it was, but I wanted to give it to him.

  My lips parted and I moved my body against his.

  He closed his eyes for a second, as if he was savoring the feel of us together. His hand slid around to cup my jaw. He brushed his thumb over my lips. He had me pulled tighter than violin strings at that moment.

  “Fucking kiss me already,” I growled. The foreign sound grated out of my throat.

  I darted my tongue out and ran it over his thumb, then nipped it between my teeth. His eyes flew open, and the hunger in them turned my bones to jelly. I heard him curse, and then his lips crashed down over mine and I forgot my own name.

  I expected roughness, maybe even overzealous teeth bumping, but that didn’t happen at all. His touch was demanding and in control, but not forceful. His hand at the back of my neck guided my head to the right angle, and his tongue slid between my lips.

  It was molten and sensual, and I moaned into his mouth.

  Holy hell, he could kiss.

  I stopped moving in the middle of the dance floor. All that mattered was Seth and the way his hot tongue worked me over. I rocked against his thigh, oblivious of anyone around us.

  “Do you want to get out of here?” he asked against my lips.

  “Yes.”

  I didn’t know where this girl came from. I’d never had a one-night stand in my life. I’d never had this uncontrollable urge to go home with anyone. Well, before right this second. If I didn’t find out what Seth looked like under his shirt, I might die. Actually die right there.

  I heard his rough inhale, and he dragged his fingers up my arm, entwined around his neck, and tugged on it.

  As we walked out of the bar, the fire in my veins grew hotter with each step.

  I was leaving.

  With a guy.

  A few envious stares followed our path, and I wanted to grin like an idiot. This felt . . . amazing.

  Shari went home with guys a lot. She told me freshman year that she wanted to experience everything before she had to settle down and become the trophy wife of some rich businessman.

  And she had done just that.

  I, on the other hand, had known Grant all my life, and we’d gotten together officially the summer before college. That had been it. It felt like I had already settled down and lost the opportunity to do something crazy stupid.

  I shoved Grant and his cheating ass out of my mind.

  This was
my night.

  If I wanted to doing something crazy now, I damned well could.

  And oh, my God, I wanted to.

  Seth led me to an old truck parked on the street. It was dented and rusted out in places and had a different-colored door. I expected Seth to open the door for me, but instead he leaned back against the metal and tugged on my hand. I took a few wobbly steps closer, standing between his slightly spread legs.

  His free hand snaked around my waist and he pulled me closer, until my body pressed up against his. I had to tilt my head back a little to look at him.

  I ran my tongue over my kiss-swollen lips.

  That seemed to ignite something in him because he slid both hands down my sides and wrapped them around the back of my thighs. In one swift movement, he lifted me, and my legs wrapped around his waist.

  He spun, and now I was pressed up against the cold metal door.

  I grabbed at the hair on his neck and moved my hips, rocked back and forth against the hardness in his jeans. Need burned in my veins. With every pulse it drove deeper into my body, twisted and writhed under my skin.

  I had never felt this desperate for release.

  Every noise we made just fed the flames of desire raging between us.

  Screw going back to the apartment. I pulled my head back enough so that I could see his eyes. “I want you. Now.”

  He fumbled behind me and stepped back, opening the door to the truck. His lips were back on mine as he lifted me up onto the seat. He slid his hands under the excuse for a shirt I had on and skimmed up over my ribs.

  Seth easily slid his thumbs under the gap in my shirt and grazed them over my nipples. I arched back, a loud moan ripping from my chest. Cool air washed over my heated skin as he lifted my shirt.

  He moved off my lips, dragging his mouth over my chin, down my neck. I tangled my hands in his hair, urging him on. He teased one tip, then the other, with tiny flicks of his tongue.

  I growled, arching my back and pulling at his head.

  He nipped and kissed all around my breasts, avoiding the spot where I ached to be touched. The need grew so strong it buzzed in my ears. I whimpered, begged, but he kept teasing me.

  Tears burned the back of my eyes.

  “Please,” I choked out.

  He lifted his head, kissed along my jaw, the corner of my lips, then sank his tongue into my mouth. He stroked slower this time, fanning the flames just enough to keep me teetering on the edge.

  I cried out when he pulled away again and rested his forehead against mine.

  His eyes were almost black with desire.

  I couldn’t look away.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful.” His lips brushed over mine, and a new wash of goose bumps rippled over my skin.

  A deep moan echoed in my chest and filled his truck. Seth swore and dug his fingers into my hair, holding my head still while I rocked my hips against him. Pure pleasure made every inch of my body tight with awareness.

  Seth dipped his head and flicked his tongue over first one nipple, then the other. I arched off the seat, a strangled cry falling from my lips. I would say or do anything right that second to make him never stop what he was doing.

  “Baby,” he whispered, dropping kisses from my chest to my ear and along my jaw, “do one thing for me and then I promise I’ll make you scream my name until you beg me to stop.”

  Air lodged in my chest and his words ratcheted the need in my blood to inferno level. No one had ever said anything so dirty to me before. If he touched me again, I was going to implode into myself.

  “Anything,” I moaned. “Anything you want.” And at that moment, I would give it to him. Anything. As long as he kept doing whatever this was he did to make my body so wild. So needy and desperate for release.

  None of this was me, and I loved it. Wanted to shout to the world that I was getting my world rocked in a pickup truck in a bar parking lot. Me. Avery Hartley.

  Seth kissed over to my lips and took them in another deep kiss, rendering me mindless. When he pulled back, he was breathing hard and his eyes were so black with hunger, he looked inhuman in the shadowed light.

  “I just want one thing, sweetheart.”

  His gaze kept me prisoner. I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t speak. So I nodded.

  “Tell me what your name really is.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Seth

  I had officially lost my fucking mind.

  I had the legs of a hot chick wrapped around my waist while she begged me to fuck her right there in the parking lot, and I stopped.

  To get her real name.

  What. The. Fuck.

  I don’t remember most of the names of the girls I’ve had sex with, so it really shouldn’t matter about one more. If she said her name was Fancy, then Fancy she was. Or so I thought. It had been over twelve months since I’d been inside a woman, and I’m pretty sure I could crack walnuts with the hard-on in my jeans.

  I watched her eyes widen and her hands fell from around my neck.

  It was like watching a switch flick from on to off.

  Shit.

  She pushed back onto her elbows. I left my hands there on either side of her hips, trying to catch my breath. Apparently I had a latent sadistic streak inside me. Why else would I have done something so fucking stupid?

  I started to apologize, to tell her it didn’t really matter because she smelled so good and her body fit mine too perfectly, but she was already readjusting her clothing.

  “Look, this was a mistake.” Fancy nudged my arm, and when I moved it, she slid out of the truck. Her breathing still sounded ragged, and passion made her face red, but her eyes were wide. “I’m sorry. This isn’t really me. I’ve never done this kind of thing before.”

  She slipped into a good-girl routine too quickly for it to be real. God, of course I had to end up with one of those chicks who couldn’t take responsibility for their own desires.

  “Bullshit.” I called her out and waited for the coy look. It had been a shit long time since I’d played games, but if that’s what turned her on, I could do it. She looked like she might be worth a little extra effort.

  She whirled around, blond braid swinging behind her back. “Excuse me? I am not some kind of bar slut!”

  “Yeah, neither you nor your friend are, right? I get it, you’re really a nice girl and you don’t pick up random guys at a bar to screw in the parking lot.” I let my gaze roam over her body. “Except you’re a stripper and, dressed like that, we both know what you wanted tonight.”

  Now her eyes were narrowed dangerously. Jesus, she was at least six inches shorter than me and it still felt like she was looking down her nose.

  She put her hands on her hips and glared at me. Christ, she looked hot as hell all flushed and wound up like that. My dick jumped back to life, and I tried to backtrack and start over. “Let’s just cut to the chase. You want me and I want you. Forget I asked what your name is. Momentary lapse in judgment. I really don’t care if you name is Winnie the fucking Pooh.”

  Emotion flashed in her eyes. My gut tightened. Now I’d hurt her? Fuck. I started to apologize for being an asshole, but then I saw the anger burning there now. It was like watching a steel rod suddenly slide into place the way she stood up straight and threw her shoulders back.

  “I think we’re done here,” she said coolly. “I’d say we both had a momentary lapse in judgment tonight, and thank God we stopped before something else happened.” She waved her hand toward the truck and exaggerated a shudder.

  I fought the urge to step closer and shake her. This chick had just pulled the ultimate cock tease, but my conscience still wanted to do the right thing.

  “Look, I told your friend I’d get you home, so I’ll drive you.”

  She snorted, and her gaze swung from me to my truck. I swear she wrinkled her nose. “That’s okay. I have Uber.” She pulled a sleek iPhone from her pocket and hit a button. She took several steps away, and her fingers flew over the keyboard. �
��Three minutes,” she said, shoving her phone back into her pocket. “You don’t need to wait,” she said over her shoulder. “Go ahead back in and have another Bud, or whatever swill it was you were drinking.”

  Was that a dig at my choice of beer?

  “What’s your problem anyway? Five minutes ago you were humping my leg with a room full of people watching.”

  Her mouth opened and closed like the fat guppy my sister had when she was five.

  “Guess I was drunker than I thought. So sue me.” Her dismissive shrug dug under my skin. “And I’m pretty sure you were ready to go right there too. Unless that was your wallet in your pocket, which”—her gaze roamed over me—“is highly unlikely.”

  I clenched my hands into fists. I’d been working on my temper in group therapy, another condition of my early release, but I wasn’t to the point where I could just rein it in. Especially when it felt like someone thought she was better than me.

  Not after the bullshit with Melissa, an ex from high school who showed me what a bitch really was.

  I took a step closer to her and narrowed my eyes. My gaze dropped down over her, and I pretended that her body had no effect on me. I shrugged. “I’m a guy. Any port in a storm works for me, sweetheart.”

  “You’re an asshole,” she snapped. Her heels clicked on the pavement as she stormed away from me. The lights of a cab bobbed down the street. When it reached her, she yanked the door open and disappeared inside.

  The window of the cab rolled down as it drove past me. A blond head leaned out. “The thing is, sweetheart, this”—she waved her hand at me, at the bar—“is just a distracting game to me. I have a feeling, though, that this is right where you belong.”

  Then she was gone.

  I swallowed the rage and slammed my fist into the side of the truck as soon as it was within reach. Pain exploded up my arm, but I didn’t care. It would be so easy to go back inside, pick a fight with some bruiser who would make me work for it.

  I grabbed a fistful of hair and slid down to the cold ground. And if I did that, it would be an automatic ticket back to prison. I might not be able to get near Sara out here, but I could damned well keep an eye on her.