Page 226 of Broken Brothers

When I pulled back, I was pretty sure that I could have kissed her right there. The look in her eyes was one of surprise, but a kind of impressed and aroused surprise that suggested I could have done just about anything in that spot and she would have gone with it. But I wasn’t quite ready to spoil all the fun yet; that would have been too much, too soon. I needed to drag this night out so I could get over it all.

Get over what? How you screwed up with a woman that you loved? Still love?

“Oh, Chance, you are on some kind of a run tonight,” she said. “I think we need to go inside and get some drinks before I lose my mind out here.”

I smiled as I led her down the steps, keeping my hand firmly on the small of her back. It was mighty tempting to smack her ass, but there was a difference between a seducer and agrunt idiot. I was going to seduce Sarah and then turn into the dominant monster when the time was appropriate; I didn’t need to scare off two women tonight.

Just for the hell of it, I took her to the booth Layla and I had sat when I got my underhanded handjob. I put my hand on her knee as the cocktail waitress came by and took our orders.

“Where did you get into the mood like this, Chance?” she said. “You were so distant on Saturday, you had me wondering if there was something wrong with my face.”

“Haha, not at all,” I said.

I thought of telling her the truth about Layla right now. I could have just started the night on a brutally honest note.

But this was not a note for good Chance. This was a night for the bad, naughty Chance. This was a night to break out the Chance who could charm and seduce just about any woman he came across. This was a night to sleep with Sarah, not convince her to date me when she came back.

You’re still going to be the same person you are now even if you sleep with you, you idiot.

“I think I was just affected by Edwin’s death, you know,” I said. “I wasn’t that close to him, but shit like that hits you and makes you think, you know? Like, Morgan is taking it really hard. I look at him and how he reacts, and it makes me think about my biological parents.”

“Aww,” she said, taking my hand in hers as it rested on her thigh.

“I know my father died a few years ago. My actual father. But my mother is still alive. I’m actually going to go and see her tomorrow.”

“Really!” she said excitedly. “We can’t have you getting too drunk tonight then, I’d hate—”

“Nah, ah, ah, ah,” I said, wagging a finger by her face and then running it alone her chin. She closed her eyes and let out a gentle, breathless moan.This is fun.

But is it fulfilling?

“I know exactly how to handle myself, Sarah,” I said, and then I decided it was time for my first flirtatious comment of the night. “And if you’re lucky, later on, you’ll see I’ll know exactly how to handle you.”

I pulled back quickly at that, putting my hands on the counter, but I could practically feel the heat radiating from her. Her cheeks were red, her eyes were narrowed on me, and she was seconds away from pouncing on me. This was absolutely perfect—after over a decade, Sarah Hill would finally be mine again.

And that means… what, exactly? You get pussy and then you still mourn losing Layla?

“Chance…” she said, blushing.

She was waiting for me to kiss her. But I was enjoying teasing her like so. It helped that our drinks came out moments later, giving me an excuse beyond just playing to not kiss her.

“Cheers,” I said, holding up my glass.

“Cheers, indeed,” she said, clinking glasses with me but maintaining some of the most intense eye contact I had ever seen in my life.

I drank about half of my drink right there, determined to let the tongue get even looser before I made my move on Sarah.

“You know,” she said, coming close, pushing her chest together and forward, giving me a rather nice look into her cleavage. “I always did want you when we were in seventh grade. I felt so bad leaving you, but I knew that my father would never let me hear the end of it if I dated someone adopted into a family.”

“Hey, it’s all good,” I said.

That was a true statement. It hurt then. But now? I had Sarah on a string. She could remind me all about the time we’d broken up, and it didn’t matter.

It also doesn’t matter because you know she’s not the one who is going to love you. She’ll be your girl tonight, but she’s not the girl for the rest of your life.

“But he’s totally out of the picture now.”

I swear, her eyes looked practically predatory as they locked onto mine. I couldn’t ever remember a woman looking at me with such lust before.